Again, I never said she is or will become evil. - Edit 1
Before modification by Joel at 21/05/2012 03:04:08 AM
She would be a main character, but not a protagonist, if her story involved a massive fall into evil.
Obviously, forcible turning to the Shadow is more complicated than that; such a PoV would be interesting, but the authors may equal to writing it.
As for our supposed knowledge that Rand MUST break the Seals... I'm confused. What makes you think this? The only reason Rand thinks this way is because of Herid Fel's note, and his books, which were conveniently left behind after the Shadow went through an elaborate assassination to silence him. Both those sources are of doubtful provenance. In person, we have this:
"Is there any reason you can think of to break the seals?"
Herid's eyebrows shot up. "Break the seals? Break the seals? Why would anyone but a madman want to do that? Can they even be broken? I seem to remember reading somewhere they can't, but I don't recall now that it said why. What made you think of a thing like that?"
"I don't know," Rand sighed. In the back of his head Lews Therin was chanting. Break the seals. Break the seals, and end it. Let me die forever.
Herid's eyebrows shot up. "Break the seals? Break the seals? Why would anyone but a madman want to do that? Can they even be broken? I seem to remember reading somewhere they can't, but I don't recall now that it said why. What made you think of a thing like that?"
"I don't know," Rand sighed. In the back of his head Lews Therin was chanting. Break the seals. Break the seals, and end it. Let me die forever.
Actually, we have both Nynaeve and Perrin citing the same logic stated in Fels note, independently of both it and Rand: That the damaged/destroyed remnants of the old Seals must be removed before a new permanent Seal can be affixed. I do not know how it could be made more obvious, short of every character introducing themselves to each other with "Hi, I am Plot D'vice; the damaged remnants of the old Seals must be removed before a permanent one can be applied."
I'm not saying any of this proves Rand is wrong. But the timing of Egwene's Dream about the Seals, added to the Pattern allowing no one but her to speak to Rand in the Hall (while the same effect was certainly not true outside, before he came in), certainly points to something at play here. Likely, they both have parts of the puzzle. The Seals do need to be broken, but only just before they can Seal the DO back again, not before they even have a plan. Likely, that is precisely what Egwene's position ends up being once she can work out the meaning of her Dream in the context of what arguments Rand offers towards the breaking of the Seals.
Rand is not talking about wildly dashing off to destroy the Seals as soon as the thought occurred to him (if that were his intent, he would have already done so without informing Egwene or anyone.) He told Egwene he does yet have all the answers when informing her of his plan, and that he (rightly) desires her aid and counsel in finding them. Unfortunately, Egwene is too Hell-bent on preventing the Seals destruction (even though she was among the first to discover they are gradually failing anyway) to consider the other parts of their conversation. I might be more sympathetic to her view if she had ventured even a crude notion of an alternative, but the sum total of her position is "Rand MUST not destroy the Seals, because it would loose the DO on the world." As if that will not inevitably happen whatever they do or do not do.
Egwene has decided her Dream means Rand must be opposed at all costs, and will not be dissuaded, so if she figures out its ACTUAL meaning it will probably be at the last minute or after the fact. As things stand, her role in what they must do together consists of marshalling the Westlands soldiers and channelers for the Last Battle, to which she will then be little more than a speed bump. Obviously, as a major character, she will ultimately prove more than just a speed bump, but whether positively or negatively is yet to be seen.