Oh sure, no book is perfect. Anyone who hates battle scenes is going to loathe this book. Anyone who expected Fain to play a larger role is going to be a bit miffed. Anyone who misses the dress-smoothing and sniffing is going to be...well, non-existent, actually.

But, overall, it was a wonderfully satisfying conclusion to the story. Many plotlines closed, a few left open to keep us wondering, lots of scenes we've been waiting for all series, lots of theories resolved once and for all...I loved it.


My favourite:

-Holy battles, Batman. It was tedious at times, but have you ever read a more epic extended battle scene in fantasy fiction? Maybe it's not your favourite, but it fits the (non-poetry) definition of "epic" to a tee.

-The Forsaken were actually bad-ass in this book! Demandred and Graendal have been the only two to ever show themselves capable, truly. They provided the two greatest twists of the story, too - the gradual realisation that Graendal has compelled all the great captains to sabotage their battles and Demandred finally revealing himself at the head of an army from Shara were two of my favourite scenes. Actually, the Sharan army's appearance was maybe my favourite scene full stop. I loved the way Sanderson hinted at so much backstory there, without ever fully revealing it. All those hints that Demandred has been doing something worthwhile proved to be true - he probably had the smartest plan of an Forsaken in the series.
(Also, I totally predicted Moghedien would be the only one to survive the Last Battle. Er, well, I guess Graendal survived too, although only in a way.)

-We see characters fallible for once. Gawyn goes off to fight Demandred and...dies. Galad goes off to avenge him and...fails. Logain goes to show them who's boss and...retreats. Again, Demandred was clearly the best Forsaken - he actually defeats three main characters in a row, even killing one, even despite their enhancements (Gawyn's rings and Galad's medallion).
Also, how about Mat not being a perfect general after all? Demandred basically defeated him, despite all of Mat's gambles. It was down to a suicidal charge. And then Lan kills Demandred, the Sharans panic, and Mat can finally turn things around. Yes, it was his plan all along to appear weaker than he was, but it didn't really work - Demandred was still beating him until a Mat got a lucky break.

-It sure was dark before the dawn. Everyone was on the precipice of defeat. Not just near it, but hanging over the edge and clinging tightly by their fingers.

-Characters die! Okay, not many main ones - really just Egwene and, if you count them, Gawyn and Siuan and Bryne and Birgitte. But Egwene's sacrifice was awesome. And unexpected, really - she was the golden child Amyrlin, supposed to rebuild the world after TG. Nice to see RJ not be afraid to kill off a few of his creations.

-Not sure if this was RJ or BS, but it was great to see characters finally get innovative with gateways. I know fans have speculated all along better ways to use them in battle, so it was great to see Androl dump lava on Taim, Bryne and Mat survey the battlefield from the air, etc. Hiding the dragons in a cave and opening gateways to quickly fire out a shot was also a very neat tactic.

-Personally, I liked Rand and the DO's struggle. It was reminiscent of "I win again, Lews Therin" and, if anything, I felt it should have received a bit more screen time. I also like how Rand couldn't go through with killing the DO. The Wheel of Time turns...and he'll get to do it all again seven ages from now.



Ahh, I'm just going off the top of my head here. I'm sure there's more that stood out to me.


The flaws:

-I was definitely one of those who expected more out of Fain. The appearance of Mashadar at Shayol Ghul was very cool, and set up for a whole new twist. And then...Mat kills him and it's over. Huh. I was waiting all book, wondering what Fain was up to, and he barely got any screen time. Oh well, I don't think it detracted from the story. I think it was a fitting end, with Mat being "immune" and killing him, I just wish it got more build-up along the way and Fain killed a few more people, maybe threatened Rand a bit.

-Yes, the battle scenes were tedious. I didn't even try to understand the movements of this light cavalry or those pikemen, and I also didn't try to imagine the numbers, as despite several heavy defeats they always seemed to have enough to hold on. Whatever, I suppose battle is tedious like that, and it didn't detract from the overall momentous feeling of what was taking place.

-Lan should have died. I felt cheated out of a heroic last stand sort of scene. But RJ/BS refused to kill off only one character of a "pair". I mean, think about it - Siuan and Bryne both died, Egwene and Gawyn both died, so no one had to face life without their partner. But Lan lived and Faile lived, even though both felt like they should have died. (I'm actually kind of glad Faile lived. Perrin deserves happiness. But Nynaeve would have been able to handle Lan's death.)



But basically, I thought it was a very fitting conclusion to a wonderful series, and anyone who thinks otherwise is either too involved with the intricacies of the plot to ever be satisfied, or someone who renounced the series long ago because they lost sight of what it actually is: an incredibly entertaining fantasy saga.

Because seriously, tell me that wasn't the most epic journey you've ever been taken on.