you could say the same about a lot of the relationships in this series
Ava Send a noteboard - 28/04/2011 04:59:19 PM
Many of the relationships in WoT have no build-up, are ridiculously one-sided, and would be completely unworkable in real life. Take Rand and his ladies, for example. The only one who got even a bit of foreshadowing was Elayne, and that was limited to one single week of kissing in corners. Most people here in our world wouldn't even call that a relationship in their freshman year of highschool. Then after that single week, they separated for nearly a year, and the very next time they saw each other they got married. Right. The other ladies didn't even get that much foreshadowing; Min was treated like a stranger and Aviendha as an enemy, until both said "oh btw let's get married." Avi has some standing of her own and doesn't necessarily need Rand for social status, but Min is basically riding his coat tails. Similar to how Gawyn has limited standing on his own (he's the first prince of the sword, but that's basically a glorified general, whose role Birgitte has filled, and Elayne is getting on just fine without him); his attachment to Egwene, and more generally to the Tower, is the only thing that actually makes him matter.
You could draw similar parallels to AS and their Warders. Almost none have had any foreshadowing to their relationships and have power balances tilted heavily to one side. Por ejemplo, Mo and Lan, who were enemies until Mo said "btw let's bond". Or Merise, Daigian, Beldeine, and all the other AS with Ashaman warders: all of them barely knew their bondees before bonding them, and most treat their "partners" like crap. Or Myrelle and Lan, who didn't know each other at all, got pushed into the relationship by factors which were unusual if not necessarily out of their control, and then had a highly one-sided relationship in which Myrelle actually tried to prevent Lan from doing something which could save his life (ie protecting Nynaeve) in order to preserve her control of him. And let's not even get into Berelain and Perrin (and Galad), Valan Luca and what's-her-face, Tuon and Mat, or the whole Women's Circle versus Village Council nonsense that seems to govern the 2R. Truth be told I don't have a lot of sympathy for Gawyn, because he was a moron to side with Elaida in the first place, and during ToM he treated Egwene at least as disrespectfully as she treated him, but given how Maury-like most Randland relationships are, he could have done a lot worse.
Anyway, long story short, Egwene and Gawyn have a jacked up relationship, but that is not unusual in the series. The lack of foreshadowing, one-sidedness of the relationship, stupidity of the partners, and disrespect inside the relationship, are endemic to relationships in Randland.
You could draw similar parallels to AS and their Warders. Almost none have had any foreshadowing to their relationships and have power balances tilted heavily to one side. Por ejemplo, Mo and Lan, who were enemies until Mo said "btw let's bond". Or Merise, Daigian, Beldeine, and all the other AS with Ashaman warders: all of them barely knew their bondees before bonding them, and most treat their "partners" like crap. Or Myrelle and Lan, who didn't know each other at all, got pushed into the relationship by factors which were unusual if not necessarily out of their control, and then had a highly one-sided relationship in which Myrelle actually tried to prevent Lan from doing something which could save his life (ie protecting Nynaeve) in order to preserve her control of him. And let's not even get into Berelain and Perrin (and Galad), Valan Luca and what's-her-face, Tuon and Mat, or the whole Women's Circle versus Village Council nonsense that seems to govern the 2R. Truth be told I don't have a lot of sympathy for Gawyn, because he was a moron to side with Elaida in the first place, and during ToM he treated Egwene at least as disrespectfully as she treated him, but given how Maury-like most Randland relationships are, he could have done a lot worse.
Anyway, long story short, Egwene and Gawyn have a jacked up relationship, but that is not unusual in the series. The lack of foreshadowing, one-sidedness of the relationship, stupidity of the partners, and disrespect inside the relationship, are endemic to relationships in Randland.
Egwene vs. Gawyn (ToM spoilers of course)
28/04/2011 05:01:46 AM
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There's fifty feet of crap between rock bottom and your post... *NM*
28/04/2011 07:40:04 AM
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Almost three days since the last post...at least I'm trying.
28/04/2011 12:17:59 PM
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What is to discuss here? You hate Egwene and will spin anything to put her in a negative light
28/04/2011 12:59:58 PM
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But he's so good at it. all the pieces are in there and close to the right place... like a picasso.
03/05/2011 12:51:54 AM
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I'd say there's no need to take it so seriously when there's so few posts lately. You should see
28/04/2011 05:59:19 PM
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while i agree with you on most of this
28/04/2011 04:53:06 PM
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hmpf, i post a good point and nothing
28/04/2011 11:09:53 PM
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you could say the same about a lot of the relationships in this series
28/04/2011 04:59:19 PM
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I agree there are plenty of underdeveloped and somewhat one-sided relationships in the series
28/04/2011 08:15:52 PM
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Re: I agree there are plenty of underdeveloped and somewhat one-sided relationships in the series
29/04/2011 06:55:14 PM
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In regards to the letters...
28/04/2011 05:28:13 PM
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But Gawyn was not Egwene's subject
28/04/2011 06:09:31 PM
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Which was why I thought it was appropriate, since he meant to act as Egwene's Warder.
28/04/2011 06:19:53 PM
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The only issue is that Warders are not minions - they are honored junior partners.
28/04/2011 07:39:18 PM
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No, the junior partners are Accepted. Warders are essentially personal bodyguards and/or assistants.
28/04/2011 08:00:17 PM
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Accepted are not anything, let alone junior partners. Don't think N&E's experience was typical
28/04/2011 09:32:22 PM
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Here's the thing though...
28/04/2011 11:20:32 PM
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No, but it's cute and quirky when Faile does it.
29/04/2011 03:06:50 PM
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But...
29/04/2011 10:52:03 PM
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That's not really clear
29/04/2011 11:41:20 PM
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Actually, it is...
30/04/2011 06:37:42 PM
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Re: Actually, it is...
30/04/2011 11:17:21 PM
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Didn't Siuan, Gareth and Gawyn tell her about the Bloodknife they encountered?
02/05/2011 02:33:08 PM
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Re: Accepted are not anything, let alone junior partners. Don't think N&E's experience was typical
28/04/2011 11:36:24 PM
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My two cents: yes, a little, maybe, and possibly not.
28/04/2011 06:05:09 PM
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Regarding your reference to another Emond's Fielder: What are you talking about?
28/04/2011 09:06:13 PM
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both together, couldn't separate them in my mind - perrin's evasiveness or nyn's trickiness *NM*
28/04/2011 10:16:57 PM
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It isn't the worst romance in WoT
28/04/2011 08:10:23 PM
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Galad is a great option for a political marriage
28/04/2011 09:04:46 PM
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Yes, but...
28/04/2011 09:40:39 PM
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but galad knew nothing of berelain's closeness to rand, so that couldn't have affected anything
28/04/2011 10:12:23 PM
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Yes. An often overlooked point is that ELAYNE, not Egwene, gains the most power in ToM
28/04/2011 09:42:43 PM
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Except they're both really hot.
28/04/2011 10:01:46 PM
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I can only quibble; Egwene became so insufferable in ToM I'm convinced her fate will be unpleasant.
04/05/2011 12:41:53 AM
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Siuan...
04/05/2011 05:42:59 AM
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Re: Siuan screwed up big time.
07/05/2011 03:35:46 AM
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Good points all round (do you switch brains when getting into real world politics? ) & re: the Talk
12/05/2011 02:04:06 PM
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Thanks, (and no, you just become less and less astute as we move farther from fiction. )
15/05/2011 11:46:41 PM
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