Is she perfect? No, but I would say that of all the characters, she is the most like Rand. The qualities you would call "Mary Sue"-like are remarkably similar to being "t'a'veren".
I know you were responding to the original poster, but I had to comment on this. There is a huge difference between a ta'veren (Rand) and a Mary Sue (Egwene).
RJ created the whole ta'veren concept to explain things that seemed too unbelievable to accept, such as: people agreeing to something that goes against everything they believe, dice landing on their edge time and time again, characters behaving incredibly out of character when in a ta'veren's presence, etc. It was wise of him, really. It gave him leeway to force things to happen that, without the entire ta'veren concept ("the Pattern bending around a certain thread" Rand, Mat, and Perrin's journeys (particularly Rand and Mat's) would have been too ludicrous to accept, even in a fantasy novel.
My point is that there is an explanation for what happens around the three ta'veren. It is presented in the books, accepted as fact by the characters, and is simply part of the "world" of WoT.
On the other hand, Egwene is given all of the advantages of a ta'veren, minus all of the disadvantages (like people yelling at her despite fearing her like when Merana blasted Rand for leaving them alone with the Sea Folk) but is not a ta'veren. The ta'veren, despite their ta'veren nature, encounter and deal with people who don't like them and think they're stupid (all the women around Mat and Rand constantly act like the two of them are too stupid to wipe their own asses without being directed by a woman), yet Egwene always manages to have everyone thinking about how brilliant and awesome she is...no one resists her for long, no one stands up to her hypocrisy, and no one ever criticizes her (even those who resist her at first, like Romanda, grudgingly think about how great she is). It goes past suspending disbelief into being flat out ridiculous. If RJ wanted to play it this way for her, he should have made her ta'veren, but I honestly think he didn't want to have to give her any of the negative ta'veren effects so he left her as "normal" while giving her all the advantages of a ta'veren.
Hell, he didn't just give her the advantages of a ta'veren, he gave her advantages that far exceed those of a ta'veren. He overplayed his hand with her, and Brandon overplayed it even more. If just one character stood up and told her off for being a hypocrite, or refused to do what she wanted, or for once she was shown as being flat out wrong and called to the mat for it like others are (instead of her supposedly justified self-righteousness about other people's foibles when she herself commits the same sins), then maybe, just maybe, the character could be a little bit more believable and less of a Mary Sue, but none of that ever happens. Instead, she gets better advantages than a ta'veren but is not a ta'veren. Hence, she's a Mary Sue.
Egwene, a poor leader?
16/12/2010 05:59:15 PM
- 2170 Views
Egwene isn't supposed to be a leader. She's a dictator and a politician.
16/12/2010 08:21:13 PM
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Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
16/12/2010 10:53:20 PM
- 1019 Views
If the Shadow had removed Elaida so Egwene was Amyrlin whilst Rand was still Dark ...
16/12/2010 11:56:08 PM
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Same thing if Elaida was in charge when meeting w/ Dark Rand. *NM*
17/12/2010 02:10:20 AM
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Except Rand wouldn't go to the WT with Elaida in charge, without having to fight
17/12/2010 02:50:18 AM
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Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
17/12/2010 03:07:40 AM
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Exactly how loyal do you think Nynaeve and Elayne are?
17/12/2010 04:52:34 AM
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Re: Exactly how loyal do you think Nynaeve and Elayne are?
17/12/2010 05:44:30 AM
- 999 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
17/12/2010 02:30:48 PM
- 1052 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
17/12/2010 08:25:39 PM
- 831 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
18/12/2010 05:06:21 AM
- 991 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
19/12/2010 08:41:31 PM
- 899 Views
Torturing Nynaeve for exclusively her own political ends. *NM*
20/12/2010 12:14:55 AM
- 545 Views
Re: Torturing Nynaeve for exclusively her own political ends.
20/12/2010 01:24:12 AM
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And the most painful torments were caused by Egwene
20/12/2010 09:31:44 AM
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Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
20/12/2010 12:57:42 AM
- 852 Views
She has the same power base as any Amyrlin - the Aes Sedai, the artisans, Guards & citizens of TV
17/12/2010 05:51:20 PM
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Ta'veren vs. Mary Sue
17/12/2010 07:33:28 PM
- 1363 Views
I see them as being the same thing.
17/12/2010 08:11:30 PM
- 991 Views
I don't think the case can be made for Rand having it easy
17/12/2010 11:04:58 PM
- 908 Views
I would say that in the grand scheme of things, Rand's had good to balance out the bad.
20/12/2010 06:27:35 PM
- 891 Views
Funniest statement I've ever seen on here.
18/12/2010 05:22:28 AM
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But you are just undervaluing Egwene's struggles in comparison to the other characters.
20/12/2010 06:17:17 PM
- 1300 Views
Re: But you are just undervaluing Egwene's struggles in comparison to the other characters.
22/12/2010 05:28:01 PM
- 1075 Views
Yes, but for completely different reasons...
18/12/2010 12:35:23 AM
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You think Egwene has more power than Tuon?
18/12/2010 12:27:01 PM
- 852 Views
Definitely...
18/12/2010 03:24:12 PM
- 892 Views
I think comparing Egwene to McCain is asking for trouble on several fronts.
20/12/2010 12:33:04 AM
- 857 Views
She has a pretty powerful weapon...
20/12/2010 02:41:32 AM
- 885 Views
RJ is more powerful.
20/12/2010 03:25:49 AM
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Re: She has a pretty powerful weapon...
20/12/2010 09:46:22 AM
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Re: She has a pretty powerful weapon...
20/12/2010 09:55:03 AM
- 833 Views
Re: She has a pretty powerful weapon...
20/12/2010 10:27:59 AM
- 918 Views