I will see if I can dig up the link for you tomorrow if you do not find it first; I do not have many posts on the RAFO WoTMB, so it probably would not take either of us long, but I am headed to bed soon.

Her "dream team" is composed of subordinates, not equals, and creating a covert internal affairs group within the Tower is hardly an example of Egwene sharing power or expanding access to it. The only reform I recall her pushing through the Hall was an amendment to Tower law forbidding the Hall meeting without (and thus making official decisions) without the knowledge and input of the Amyrlin and all Sitters, when she discovered and interrupted yet another clandestine meeting conspiring against her. Necessary and right as that was, it is also another example of Egwene increasing, not decreasing, her own authority at the expense of others. She granted the Hall exclusive control of the Tower army in exchange for exclusive authority to negotiate with the Dragon Reborn and all other heads of state, which she values very much. That is no more than an even trade at best, but even less given that she obviously desires the diplomatic authority very much and just as obviously values the martial authority not at all, since it long ago served its purpose in allowing her to command a march on and siege of Tar Valon. However, given her efforts to marshall every army in the Westlands to extort Rands compliance at Merrilor, that decision reflects dubious judgment, to say the least.


I would not call her attempts to integrate all other channeling organizations with the Tower an example of her sharing power either. She has not (so far...) tried to place the Wise Ones or Windfinders under Tower authority, per se, but only because of a personal bias in favor of the former than Elayne used to demand similar privileges for the Windfinders toward whom she holds a similar bias. Unfortunately for the Kin, they have no such personal connections with Egwene, and are consequently being reduced to a White Tower retirement home. Regardless, it is fairly clear who would gain most from Egwenes intent of making Tower trained Wise Ones and Wise One trained Aes Sedai the norm (hint: The only person with full membership in and extensive knowledge of both groups.) A CEO hiring more staff is not sharing or expanding access power access, particularly not when it takes the form of acquiring whole companies that were previously distinct. If Ford bought Chrysler it would not mean William Ford made Ford more democratic and inclusive, it would simply mean he expanded his leading role at Ford to include Chrysler.


Not many threats, no (those are reserved for Rand,) just a lot manipulation and influence peddling, which has always been far more Egwenes style than open coercion. Few rulers would respond well to threats anyway, particularly given the widespread distrust of Tar Valons influence and machinations, so the only threat is in the form of assurances Rands plan would be disastrous and thus strongly indicates he is already badly insane. It is still the Amyrlin marshalling every army in the Westlands to force her will on the Dragon Reborn for no better reason than her faith in her own uninformed infallibility.


Yeah, see, threatening to still a Sitter for merely SUGGESTING a policy Egwene opposes is also not a great example of her sharing power or encouraging cooperation. "Cooperation" is more than simply increasing the number of people unquestioningly obeying her every command; it requires interaction rather than just recruitment. You listed many examples of the latter, but precious few of the former.


Again, I combed through ToM about a year ago and found so many they took an hour or two to transcribe into a post I will look for tomorrow. In the interim, Egwene made herself quite "clear" to her Keeper in statements following the parlay where he revealed his plan and set the meeting at Merrilor, with which "The Amyrlin's Anger" concludes:

She needs people he trusts to "persuade" him to do things her way; failing that, she needs an army to FORCE him. "Failing that" appears very likely, since her intent of pressuring Elayne, Nynaeve (and Perrin) into pressuring Rand to obey her did not go as smoothly as she "clearly" expected.

The most telling quote, however, is how that "vital" meeting DID go (and was described) in "A Vow:"

That last line is a CLASSIC example of what the literary world refers to as "irony:" Egwene faults Nynaeve for the very thing she is herself doing. Mercifully, she then changes the subject, probably because they gave her a much "more lukewarm reception than Egwene had expected" (Sanderson used almost the exact words I did, probably because I unconsciously recalled the statement.) Considering that immediately before they met Elayne she was manipulating Nynaeve into public obeisance, Nynaeve may be very grateful Egwenes only response to dissent was ignoring it. If she had the sense her new position requires she might have paused to consider there might be good reason why, immediately before THAT, the "Flame of Tar Valon" on the Tower window changed to include the "Dragons Fang" (as it did when there were Aes Sedai of both genders.) At this point, I would consider Gabrelle or even Pevara better Amyrlins for THAT Tower.

Elayne and Nynaeve stated PRECISELY Rands rationale for breaking the Seals; Egwene responded by completely ignoring those strong arguments and reiterating her own adamant position based on pure speculation. If she does that at Merrilor I strongly doubt the assembled armies will even try compelling Rand to obey.


That is your opinion, to which you are entitled, but mine is closer to Elaynes (a FAR better ruler,) who tells her brother in "A Good Soup" that


Amen.

My own belief remains that ToM was Egwenes summit of achievement, and crammed with instances of her manipulating everyone in sight then mentally patting herself on the back each time (as she did with the Wise Ones on the subject of "exchange students" while poisoning them against Rands plan to break the Seals.) She seems to have no idea the Seanchan attack on Tar Valon was merely a raid preliminary to full scale assault, despite the fact her Dreamed encounter with a Seanchan woman has yet to occu. Yet, assuming she manages to navigate that unexpected pitfall, plenty of others await her serene confidence in her own infallibility. It is not as if she seeks much counsel from surbordinates (which she seems to think includes everyone) that might alert her to the dangers she yet faces. Egwene does not "build bridges," she ties and pulls strings. She is interested in building "cooperation," but only cooperation on behalf of HER goals, usually without sharing any more of them than absolutely necessary to secure the "cooperation" (i.e. pliability) she requires. She is a recruiter, not a consensus builder. Consensus building demands the ability to consider multiple propositions, and more interaction with others than simply applying every carrot, stick and lever needed to secure their acquiesence.