Again, the codes:

Arrogance or Pride

Selfish or Inconsiderate behavior

Tyranny / Abuse of power

Out of Touch mentality

Judgmental Attitude

Lust for Status / Envy

Lust for Power

Sycophantic behavior or cowardice

Betrayal of a personal nature

Dishonesty

Protagonist Syndrome {behavior that is absolutely contraindicated unless the character knows she is a main character in a fantasy novel and thus critical to the resolution of the crisis, or bound for greatness against all in-story expectations}

Hypocrisy

Foolhardiness / Reckless endangerment of herself or others

And some that are venial level sins, or not explicitly bad or evil:

Flat out incompetence or incorrect conclusions or assessments

Stupid or Clueless behavior

Sociopathic mentality or desire toward violence or to victimize others (as opposed to actual action)

Petty, nasty or spiteful words and attitude / General rudeness

Uncooperative, resisting doing her part.

The Pattern at work, sometimes against Egwene, sometimes her going against it

Not a fault per se, but a noteworthy point of interest or milestone

Part 6Lord of Chaos, vol. 2

The beginning of the end. Egwene is in her penultimate mode. What’s more, she now possesses a considerable amount of agency and influence, whatever the reality of her power, which magnifies the degree of wrongdoing on her part.

Appropriately enough, Egwene is now the title character of this particular novel, or as much as anyone. My interpretation of the title refers to the Feast of Fools, a widely celebrated holiday in the wetlands, where society and rank is inverted. As part of the celebration, a low-ranking or stupid person is chosen to be the “Lord of Chaos” who pretends to rule and issues decrees, while the high-ranking and respected curry favor, serve him and obey those commands. Throughout the novel, we see the normal order inverted, as in the poem epigraph in which the title is cited, “the sun by day and the moon by night/The lions sing, and the hills take flight…let the Lord of Chaos rule.” The story features rulers and powerful people held prisoner or taken captive, and false rulers and figureheads raised to lead. If there is a “blind woman” or a “jackdaw fool” better qualified to rule as the Lord of Chaos than Egwene al’Vere, I don’t know who it might be.

Oh, and be warned. Courtesy of her idiotic gamble with Logain and her appalling confrontation with Mat, this is a heavy entry, especially for only half a book.

Just as a point of issue, since I don’t want to have to repeat this every time someone wrongfully makes this claim: Egwene is not the true Amyrlin Seat. She was elected by a pack of women with no true claim to be Sitters in the Hall. At most, those women represented no more than one third of their Ajahs, and many of them were plants who were holding their office under false pretenses anyway. Even if Elaida was not the true Amyrlin, the Salidar Hall has no legal standing under which they are empowered to elect one. No one is claiming that the Sitters who met to depose Siuan were unlawful, or those who retained their seats, or took seats under the authority of the actual heads of the Ajah, forfeit their status. This means that the women in Salidar have no claim to be a true Hall, since there is already a valid Hall sitting in Tar Valon.

But that is immaterial, because Elaida IS the Amyrlin Seat. Anaiya admitted as much when Siuan arrived in Salidar, and Egwene later characterizes her as among the vehement of the Salidar leadership, and bearing the strongest grudge against Elaida and the loyalists. Anaiya is bound by the Three Oaths, and unable to state something she does not sincerely believe to be true. Cadsuane has a similar perspective, and nothing in the perspective of any Tar Valon loyalist shows that any of them, from Elaida, to Alviarin, to Pevara and Seaine, believe there are any grounds under which Elaida is not the legitimate Amyrlin. Even RJ himself stated that Elaida was elected properly and that the rebellion was due to her actions, not any unlawful aspect of her rise.

As far as the criticism against Elaida, those will be dealt with when relevant, such as if Egwene and her sycophants bring them up, but remember, that the first hint the Wondergirls had that something was wrong in Tar Valon was when Nynaeve and Elayne intercepted a message proclaiming a general amnesty. Elaida might have harsh intentions toward the rebels, but she offered a clean slate, back in tFoH, after which the rebels began claiming Elaida and her Ajah had supported and aided false Dragons, committing the double sin of slander and revealing private Aes Sedai issues to the outside world. Whatever Salidar might believe, the Reds and Elaida know for a fact the stories are a lie. Even Egwene’s reaction in the early part of this book is anger at the rumors.

Seen through the eyes of a leader who offered a blanket amnesty to rebels who went on strike during the greatest crisis the world has seen since the Tower was founded, only to have that amnesty ignored in favor of lies accusing her publicly of the most abhorrent betrayal of her vocation imaginable…well, banning the Blue Ajah is not that drastic a response.

On every other count, where Elaida has a misdeed or abuse of power, we can see a similar one, either alike, complementary or inverse, on the part of Egwene. Does Elaida think Rand should be controlled by Aes Sedai? So does Egwene. Does Elaida have a Black Ajah Keeper? So does Egwene. Does Elaida seek to have sisters swear fealty to her? Egwene actually imposes such oaths. Does Elaida neglect the well-being of Tar Valon? Egwene sabotaged the harbors to starve the city, matching Elaida’s neglect, with active harm. We will even later see that Elaida is trying to keep the city clean, but with a Forsaken in the city, the populace undergoes a marked shift in attitudes, as we see in Caemlyn under Rahvin, Illian under Sammael and Tear under Bel’al. Blaming Elaida for their dereliction of duty is akin to blaming her for bubbles of evil. If Elaida is bad, Egwene is worse.

1: Once raised as Amyrlin, Egwene asks Elayne and Nynaeve to keep treating her the same in private, saying that she needs someone who sees the person, rather than her power “or I will go crazy”. Either this a complete 180 from her behavior towards Rand, when he was starved of people who saw the man instead of the Dragon, what with her flinching in fear every time he channeled, or what might be even more scary, considering her horrible treatment of him, she thinks she was being friendly to Rand. Whatever her intent, Rand never enumerated her among those who saw the person before the power, and sometimes contrasted her with those who did, like Aviendha. Even if she was trying, epic fail.

2: As soon as Elayne and Nynaeve propose doing something useful, Egwene starts seeing difficulties, and hemming and hawing. Literally moments before, she was assuring Elayne that if she wanted to run off to Caemlyn to hook up with Rand, she could “…any time you want. Nobody can stop you.” But when Elayne says, “No, I want to go save the world instead,” oh, wait. It’s much more complicated. She has a feeling there will be objections.

I joked in prior editions of this work about her aiding the Dark One, but all too often Egwene undercuts my jokes or attempts at hyperbole by all but living up to them.

Her explanation of why leaving is all of a sudden complicated is “…I raised you because…you’re my friends…you are who I can discuss things with.” Egwene needs confidantes, so, saving the world can bloody well wait. The Amyrlin needs a sounding board more than the world needs rain.

3: When discussing the discoveries made by Nynaeve and Elayne, in the context of the length of their trip to Ebou Dar. Egwene says “…if I can puzzle a few things out, I may have one of my own.” The reference is Traveling. Egwene, a few minutes before her friends bring in Moghedian, has still not figured out how to Travel. It will take Moghedian’s information to push her the extra distance, rendering her singular discovery significantly inferior to those of Nynaeve and Elayne. It’s something they could have learned from Moghedian at any point if they actually had anywhere to go, while there is no way Egwene could have duplicated either of their personal discoveries, and she certainly did nothing to enable them the way their capturing and holding a Forsaken enabled Egwene’s.

4: While waiting for Nynaeve & Elayne, Egwene notes with annoyance that she has been left with “Not a report to read, no records to study. Not so much as pen and ink to write…a decree.” She had no idea, 24 hours previously, that she would have any authority among anyone, ever, in her future. She did not even know where Salidar was located, much less have any sort of knowledge with would be the basis of an agenda. But how DARE they not give the eighteen year old initiate with less than two years affiliation the means to hit the ground running and issue absolute directives!

Later, while waiting for Nynaeve to bring Moghedian, she articulates her “dream” to tie every single female channeler to the White Tower. “Every last one.” This on the heels of her relating to Elayne how very well the Aiel have managed untethered thus far. When exactly did she formulate this dream? Why did she never mention or even hint at it, even in her own head, until “tied to the Tower” suddenly meant “answering to Egwene al’Vere”? Maybe because she could not have cared less what the implications of the issue meant, until it came down to her getting to boss around as many people as possible, and suborning anyone who could provide resistance or a viable alternative to her authority.

She even tacitly admits that it’s partly in reaction to Rand gathering channeling followers. Rand getting power? We have to DO something about it!

5: Rather indicative of their relative attitudes is the exchange after Egwene interrogates the Forsaken and then apologizes to Nynaeve and Elayne, whose reaction is “Why should you be sorry? You are supposed to take over….”

Because in your shoes, Elayne, Egwene would have been fuming at having her captor taken from her, and used to make discoveries, by some little snip of a girl who had been in the Tower for X amount of weeks fewer, on her first day in Salidar, and what were they thinking raising this peasant girl as Amyrlin, in place of the daughter of a Queen, who rediscovered ter’angreal! Egwene apologizes, because she believes she needs them, and has just done to them what would have infuriated her in their shoes.

6: When Egwene confronts Siuan, the former Amyrlin initially makes an effort to stand up to the younger girl by pointing out how the blackmail Egwene implies can cut both ways, only to be shamed into cooperation by Elayne’s rebuke, and the presence of Nynaeve, who restored her ability to touch the True Source. Perceiving this, Egwene of course, gets rid of them, because she can’t have anyone else, even the friends she claims to need, having any authority that she did not grant them.

Siuan’s words to Egwene, and thoughts while with Lelaine, are taken by many to be proof of something or other good about Egwene, in the apparent sincerity of her submission and admiration for Egwene. Nonsense. It is Stockholm Syndrome, pure and simple. We will later see it afflict Romanda and Nisao, and possibly the Tower sisters, if their stream of consciousness were not mostly written by a nincompoop who thinks a carrot is a type of medicinal herb.

Siuan's options are to view herself as a complete failure, outsmarted by Nynaeve, an ill-tempered wilder whose allegiance is more to her village than the Tower, to whom she owes a debt few non-channelers can conceive, and forced by her own failures and her obligations to said wilder to help the least competent of her three former novices take the power she herself once wielded. Or she can view herself as the trusted and valued adviser, the eminence grise of the new administration, who has not blundered into a trap, but who willingly serves an even greater leader and stateswoman. The more she inflates Egwene’s qualities in her own mind, the more she preserves her self-esteem. Hadnan Kadere describes the psychological phenomenon in the context of WoT, back in tFoH (ch. 29, Memories of Saldaea). The mind never wanted to admit it was running from something, so she would soon convince herself that she really wanted to obey, that she really wanted nothing more than to please…

In short, all these people in the Tower find themselves under Egwene’s rule, as well as her reign, due mainly to the efforts at first of Nynaeve & Elayne and later, the strategies of Siuan. They have personal reasons to find the latter’s triumph distasteful, so it is easier to give the credit to Egwene, and as with Siuan, Egwene has plainly won, or is in the process of holding her own against them. Therefore, they are generous with their admiration, because an accurate assessment of her shortcomings only redounds to the discredit of those who have failed to take the power she now holds.

7: When Team Egwene scatters to spread the hints that will incite the collective leadership to agree to march on Tar Valon (though, remember how Egwene will later castigate the collected Salidar sisters for this very action), it’s noteworthy that Nynaeve and Elayne and Siuan are the ones to actually do the legwork, while Egwene takes a bath^. For the important jobs, you send the very best.

^ and for all the Elayne haters, I would just like to point out that the score on bath-taking, which you people seem to think is an egregious sin, is Egwene 2; Elayne 0 at this juncture

8: Mat’s visit with Egwene and company is a continuation of several themes in Egwene’s endless obsession about power and status and her double-standards for proper behavior towards friends, particular ones with high rank. The Golden Rule of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is pretty much the furthest thing from Egwene’s rulebook.

Mat’s initial behavior is often faulted, and Egwene’s defended as a reaction to Mat’s own obstreperousness. But what does Mat see, and how does it look? He has no reason to believe that Salidar is pretending to be the White Tower (especially as on his walk through the HQ, he notes aberrant behavior), and no reason to think Egwene would be elected. She herself was told of her raising by Oath-bound sisters, and still thought it was a joke. Why should Mat think it is legitimate? Especially since we can definitively state in the grand scheme of things she was not. Mat figured out the exact same thing that Elaida’s expertise with Tower Law in regards to the raising of the Amyrlin Seat led her to conclude: she was a sacrificial lamb and a figurehead. EVERYone spots that last right away, except Egwene, who is annoyed they have not left her supplies to start issuing decrees five minutes after her inaugural address.

In that light, his trying to get Egwene out of the chair and remove the stole is only sensible, and we see in his perspective that he does so out of genuine fear of the consequences to Egwene and the others. Fears that would not be at all unfounded or exaggerated except for a very unique set of circumstance that could not possibly have been foreseen without at least two books of preparatory hints.

But what does Egwene think of Mat’s behavior? Remember, he did not stride in making belittling comments, citing childhood embarrassments, or spouting unsubstantiated accusations of arrogance and egotistical affectations. All he did was try to help her conceal a grievous misdeed that is universally punished in the harshest manner in WoT (such lovely people Egwene has taken upon herself to lead and protect). Even his derisive comments about the office of Amyrlin of Salidar should redound to his credit, since even with the stole on her shoulders, it does not occur to him that Egwene could actually be the “poor blind fool” who isn’t bright enough to avoid letting them "shove her into the job”. Egwene refuses to believe that Rand is a figure of importance to the Aiel, no matter how many times she is hit over the head with that, because she is obsessed with putting him down. Mat refuses to believe Egwene is a rebel Amyrlin for a doomed cause (bear in mind, the rebels did not win, and were in never in a position to do so, even after the Seanchan attack), because he thinks better of her than that!

But Egwene reacts to this by attempting to assault him with the One Power, despite having ample evidence of his distaste and resentment of such treatment, and of her own hatred and fear every time something similar is done to her, even after she provokes anger with her condescension and insults. She even hates when men carelessly exert their greater physical strength over her, and makes a big deal about it in her head, even when Rand or Gawyn are trying to drag her to safety and hide her from her Aes Sedai bosses. You’d think someone who makes such an issue about being manhandled, physically or with the Power, would not be so quick to lash out with it whenever she is confronted with people who cannot defend themselves.
(indicating Mat came off much better by comparison)

9: Egwene also makes the idiotic, yet revealing, equation of Mat with the Dragonsworn, specifically the masterless terrorists who have been wreaking havoc in the southern countries. Dragonsworn has two connotations in this context. One is a sworn vassal of Rand al’Thor and the other is the label given to a particular type of criminal. She uses an incorrect equation of Mat with the former, to tar him with the brush of the latter. She even sets forth her rationale that Mat does things for Rand, therefore he is Dragonsworn, and mentally affirms this argument, so it’s not even a rhetorical trick that she does not truly believe. She really and truly does not see the distinction between a man who helps out a friend because as someone said earlier in this very book “The world must follow (Rand) or fail” and a subservient, oath-bound follower.

In the first place, this mental confusion might explain Egwene’s recalcitrance whenever Rand asked her for help – she conflates helping a friend with a subservient action. To cooperate would be tantamount to becoming Dragonsworn, in her mind. This view is, of course, absolutely insane.

And in the second place, even if Mat is a follower of Rand (he is not; nor is he leading Rand’s troops; they are Mat’s men who volunteered to join his army, under his rules, and are paid exclusively by him), Egwene knows better than anyone in Salidar the lack of connection between Rand and the Dragonsworn, and allowing Mat to be blamed for them is both irresponsible and disloyal to both her 'friend' and to the concepts of truth and justice. Three notions for which Egwene has scant respect, absent power to gain from them.

10: She then gets mad at Mat because he did not respond to her threats or thank her for her offer to protect him from the aforementioned imaginary danger* and because, in a tone she herself describes as reasonable, continues to offer assistance and suggest Rand could aid in reuniting the White Tower. As Egwene herself describes her reaction “…she did not like Mat telling her what she knew, liked it the less so for being right. It was a real effort (not to) stand and box his ears.”! She wants to commit violence against him for the crimes of sounding reasonable, stating the truth and being right! That unmitigated bastard!

When he asks after Thom, she assumes he has no other business with the man than getting drunk together. Thom can’t offer rank or power, so why would anyone have any reason to seek him out?

*For the record, the idea that Gareth Bryne could actually, with an army of new recruits drawn from a nation of notoriously undisciplined soldiers, with a dozen of his best officers defecting the minute Mat raised the Dragon banner, effect a victory that would enable him to put on a pike the head of the leader of a battle-hardened force with superior organization and lines of command, that has faced down greater numbers of Aiel troops and won, is pretty amusing

11: Instead she gives the following declaration: “However I deal with Rand, you can be sure it will not be by leading Aes Sedai to swear fealty to him or any other man.” Later to Sheriam, she calls swearing to Rand “ridiculous, of course.”

Hey does anyone remember when this was the mission statement for the Wondergirls going to Salidar? That they wanted to get the rebels to “make it clear to the world that they intend to support him all the way to Tarmon Gai’don” The whole initial point of the search that uncovered the Bowl of the Winds was to find something “that would convince the Hall to support Rand”. Elayne lies to the leadership committee in the hopes that will motivate them to “tied themselves to Rand too tightly to break loose.” It should be noted that while Nynaeve and Elayne were searching for this help that the three of them promised him, Egwene was having erotic dreams that began with her lover murdering Rand.

So now that Egwene is in charge, the mission to help Rand is forgotten, and even healing the Tower split as quickly as possible, in a way that might give Rand influence over the rebel sisters (and thus gain the help Egwene specifically & personally promised him), is unacceptable when Egwene stands to lose power or find herself subordinate to him!

12: When Mat leaves, she switches from defending Nynaeve to Mat (she is always on the woman’s side against a man, no matter how obviously in the wrong the woman. See Aviendha in tSR for an example), to a nitpick at Nynaeve, because she can’t have Nynaeve thinking she’s ever in the right. Her remonstrance is at Nynaeve for using physical violence when Egwene’s attempt to commit violence with the Power failed. She cites the standard of expectations of Aes Sedai behavior when A. Nynaeve is objectively superior to any Aes Sedai since the Breaking and probably before, who were not named Lews Therin, thus suggesting that if Nynaeve is not behaving like an Aes Sedai, maybe the Tower needs to change things up to match her and B. every time Nynaeve and Egwene have disagreed about the proper way to behave as a sister, Egwene has been wrong.

What is more, the woman who was indignant at Mat’s romantic adventures in Tear, and contemptuous of his relationship with Melindhra, switches to mentally defending his sexual aggression the minute Nynaeve starts voicing criticism of that same behavior. Mat is not present, you see, so that leaves Nynaeve as the focus of her reflexive detraction. Egwene isn’t Egwene unless she’s putting down a friend, even in her own head.

13: When the idea is floated of having Warders steal Mat’s ter’angreal, Egwene’s response is that it might adversely affect her plans, rather than the glaringly obvious point that it would be highly immoral.

14: Egwene's assessment of the issues between Nynaeve and Mat, to Sheriam is “Nynaeve remembers Mat as a scamp, but he isn’t ten anymore, and he resents it.”

Setting aside the fact that Nynaeve’s & Mat’s relationship is absolutely none of Sheriam’s business, is Egwene even vaguely aware of the incongruity of her remarks, when held against her treatment of Rand, and ongoing disparagement of his own development and advancement?

Also, considering that Egwene will, in each of the next two books, in addition to this one, be surprised anew at Mat’s command position and hearing of the respect and reputation he has earned as such, she really has no business criticizing Nynaeve for failing to take Mat seriously. Nynaeve, at least, was not present when Moiraine not only enumerated the ways his reputation had spread and the victories he had won as the Band’s leader, but directly attributed that stuff to Mat, personally. Egwene was present, but you’d be excused for forgetting that fact due to her renewed surprise when Gareth Bryne and Talmanes Delovinde each mention it again.

15: In the talk with Sheriam after Mat & co have all left, Egwene fumes at having to pretend to be ignorant, naïve or subservient, thinking how she hates it. But she’s succeeding. Her ruse is being maintained, her allies are protected by it, she retains greater freedom to maneuver, and she is achieving the outcome she seeks! Why would she hate that, unless she resents having to persuade or otherwise use her brain to get people to do what she wants, instead of imperiously commanding her will be done? Or maybe she hates having Sheriam think her less than she is?

And this is the woman who was constantly mentally and verbally berating Rand for his supposed pride and swollen head! When has Rand ever done anything self-aggrandizing, except to establish his authority to abet his mission of saving the entire damn world? And he hated every instance of having to posture like a leader or ruler. Egwene might also want to improve her stature to establish her authority, but her right to that authority is highly suspect. She is not the real Amyrlin, the way Rand is the real Dragon Reborn. The mission for which she hopes to use that authority is nothing more than the illicit seizure of power by a manifestly unqualified and arguably incompetent tyro.

Egwene even regrets at one point that Rand has grown into a man who commands and expects obedience, from the boy who asked and hoped, but she herself hates having to ask, rather than command a woman of greater experience and earned respect. Either that, or she hates that Sheriam does not respect Egwene in spite the lack of outward manifestations of any qualities for which a 20 veteran of the Tower ought to respect this teenager.

She also resents Lelaine explaining things to her as if to a child, when that, in fact, is what Egwene is by their standards. Lelaine is about 300 years old, and a statesman who has been operating at the highest levels of geopolitics for decades, if not longer! What has Egwene done to demonstrate that she is any more than a child to this woman who is 15 times her age, with over 150 times her experience?

When Thom and Mat are discussing Egwene’s chances, Thom attributes, based on the performance of her faction thus far, brains and backbone to Egwene. What Thom does not know is that Siuan is doing the thinking for Egwene’s faction, and we will later see, has to overcome Egwene’s objections in order to implement their more successful tactics. So those brains to which Thom refers are not Egwene’s. As for the “backbone,” that is nothing more than Egwene refusing to accept less than supreme power. She does not show fortitude or resolve or tenacity in her pursuit of power, any more than a zombie exhibits those qualities in its pursuit of human flesh. In both cases, it is simply an overwhelming and unreasoning drive to satiate a craving, regardless of obstacles or apparent limitations.

Even the toughness he says she’ll need to survive is not necessarily a virtue. Some people are tough, because they have the virtue of being able to endure literal and metaphorical wounds. Others exhibit similar resilience because such attacks do not affect them. As in the disconnect with Aviendha over the latter’s belief that Egwene is following ji’e’toh, based on her behavior, the assessing friend is missing the fact that Egwene is so absorbed in the pursuit of power that over considerations are meaningless. Those problems other people need toughness to overcome are meaningless to Egwene if they are in the way of her aggrandizement. Her sensibilities don’t even register what might badly hurt another. A turtle can endure a backstabbing that would kill a lizard, but that is not because the turtle has superior personal virtues – it is simply built differently.

16: Egwene’s release of Logain is often viewed as an altruistic deed, especially since she puts so much effort into encouraging him subtly to go join the Black Tower, making it appear to the casual observer that she is giving Rand a new and valuable follower. But that’s only true from a reader’s perspective, and even then, all a reader has to go on is Min’s viewing that he will one day achieve great glory, which, due to assumptions of the triumph of good, indicates he is a good guy. However, once again, as a mere character in the books, Egwene has no way of knowing this.

Logain didn’t contribute much in saving the Black Tower from Taim in the end, and he might have made it worse, because he was such a douche-nozzle that his warnings to Rand did more harm than good. We saw how he tried to undermine Rand, and took up Egwene’s mantle of Purveyor of Snide Remarks and Jealous Comments, how he persisted in denying Rand’s role in the Cleansing, in the face of highly reliable eyewitness testimony, and extraordinarily plausible circumstances, even to the Sea Folk, who had their own ambassador there to witness it. Obstinate and jealous recalcitrance is the only explanation for why Logain would persist in believing that the Creator intervened to Cleanse saidin at the very moment when every channeler in the world felt a massive use of the One Power, which many unimpeachable Aes Sedai witnesses can attest was the work of Rand & Nynaeve, who has personally demonstrated to Logain her ability to do the unthinkable, particularly to the benefit of male channelers. This man is Egwene in pants. No wonder she turned him loose!

And even if she had no way of anticipating what a pain in the ass he’d be to Rand, she had his back history to go on. The man is an infamous war criminal and terrorist. He waged a war for his own aggrandizement and he attempted to usurp Rand’s own position and title. In no way, shape or form could releasing this man be viewed as any sort of favor to Rand. The only character-relevant fact Egwene knows about him from his time in Salidar is that he is willing to perjure himself to falsely accuse innocent people out of spite. At best, she is turning loose a person of highly dubious character, who could go mad at any point on his journey from their campsite in Altara to the Black Tower in Caemlyn, assuming he can find a location that is being concealed from Aes Sedai. And that’s assuming he truly does decide to flee, instead of lurking around to get some revenge on the sisters who held him captive and planned to thank him for his testimony by executing or re-gentling him.

Egwene was only talking up the Black Tower to Logain, because she wanted to evade the responsibility for what he might do once freed. That was her half-assed attempt to contain the fallout of her ill-conceived plan. She tells Siuan to make sure that Logain doesn’t harm anyone during his departure. Is Siuan going to shadow him across three countries, or does “anyone” now have a new definition that is limited to “persons who can help Egwene get power”, whereby Logain can slaughter thousands of people between camp & Tower, out of madness or malice or simple convenience, just so long as all of the people who are currently useful to Egwene are still functional.

And the reason Egwene herself articulates for letting him escape is that the Hall might gentle or kill Logain if he is kept within their reach. So what? He has it coming. He proclaimed himself the Dragon Reborn and attempted to carve his way from Ghealdan to Tear, killing thousands of people to claim a false title for himself, in a world where doing this has universally been punished by death and/or gentling.

The real issue here, is that Egwene does not want the Hall to make a major decision. As with Elayne’s concurrent objective of establishing control of Mat, if you let people do things on their own, it becomes harder to make them listen when you tell them what to do. That’s why Elayne was so chagrined by Mat deciding to stay at an inn with his men, rather than boarding them all in the palace. It’s also why she could not tell him not to, because she would have no way of stopping him, and by losing the confrontation, she’d lose authority in their dispute. Likewise, Egwene cannot afford to let the Hall take a significant action of their own volition. It would give momentum to the Hall's idependance, and make bringing them to heel as difficult as Elayne’s task became when Mat went off on his own. Egwene cannot try to stop them, because in the first place, she has no legitimate grounds, in the second, the practical grounds of defying Rand’s amnesty is too politically fraught to take up from her position of weakness (and which her history indicates that defending Rand's policies is contrary to her nature anyway) and in the third, trying and failing sets her back even further than if she hadn’t tried at all. Again, recall that despite realizing how Mat has won, Elayne does not try to call him back from the Wandering Woman, lest she lose even more ground. Even if there was a good chance Egwene could win, she cannot afford to expend the political capital or tip her hand yet by revealing that she has an actual intention to rule as well as reign.

The same goes for having Logain killed. Maybe even more so, since once they start with sub rosa solutions like that, Egwene’s campaign is more likely to be discovered, because people are going to be thinking in terms of subterfuge and covert maneuvers. In addition, it could lead to them using similar methods to solve other problems, while Egwene does not want them to get the idea that going around or outside the law is acceptable. Her plans hinge on their acceptance of the technicalities of Tower Law, after all, and if they start deciding they can just do the pragmatic thing instead of what their laws prescribe, they could very well choose to ignore the Law of War that grants Egwene dictatorship.

Finally, as long as Logain was in the camp, and had something to lose, there was the possibility that he could recant his testimony about the Red Ajah. That would be disastrous for Egwene personally, as Siuan would then come under scrutiny, and she’d be deprived of her primary ally & asset, and equally disastrous for her cause, as the realization that they have come so far under false pretenses would demoralize the group, offer an excuse (and mitigation of their rebellion) for the less committed to quit and go back to the Tower, it would strip them of the means many sisters were planning on using to undercut Elaida’s standing with her followers, and publically humiliate the rebels after they had publicized the original lies. Needless to say, all of these would severely impact Egwene’s chances of achieving real power over any sister any time in the near future.

Whatever general good might have come of Egwene ordering Logain’s escape, it was nothing she could have reliably anticipated at the time, she could not have done anything to avert any of the potential disasters or blowback, and she had ample political motivation to want him to get away. As always, when Egwene does something for someone else, the primary goal is to help Egwene. Even if it means she has to betray the primary purpose of the White Tower, protecting the world from dangerous channelers (the function of the two largest Ajahs, one of which Egwene self-identifies with), while leveling an accusation of the same at her rival, knowing it to be a lie. Anything for which they (rightly or wrongly) criticize Elaida, is something of which Egwene is actually guilty.

17: Finally, there is the issue of Egwene’s handling of Moghedian. While some might choose to see a positive trait in her more stringent demands and harder treatment of Moghedian, it is best to recall that her circumstances are very different, and she has more leeway in what she can get away with. Idiosyncratic behavior in an Accepted is something to be viewed askance, and possibly beaten out of her lest she be rendered unfit for the shawl. Anything the figurehead Amyrlin does with her domestic staff, or personal life, is time she is not spending doing political things or listening to one's rivals, and thus is not paid much attention. Egwene is operating with a little more margin for error than her friends had.

An analogous situation to this case, is that of the Hand of the Light of the Children of the Light. The field troops nearly universally scorn them, for how tough could the Questioners really be, when the only enemies they face are shackled captives (or rivals in political maneuverings)? If the Wondergirls can be compared Whitecloaks, Nynaeve and Elayne are the Galads and Troms, who find real Darkfriends and get stuff done, while Egwene is the Questioner. If they were CIA agents, Nynaeve and Elayne would be rounding up terrorists in foreign cities, sussing out threats to national security and acquiring vital intel, while Egwene would be waterboarding captives at Gitmo

Of course the area of activity in which Egwene would show superiority to Nyaneve and Elayne is both morally questionable and generally indicative of a rather unpleasant individual. Her advanced ability at terrorizing captives and wringing the most out of them places her among such luminaries in the series as Semirhage, Rhaddam Asunawa and Jaq Lounalt. They were broken by a spanking, effortlessly dispatched off-screen, and beaten by an injured, taken-by-surprise, channeling-impaired pregnant woman, respectively. The girl who forgets to hide on all her stealth missions, and is never awake or alert for a rescue fits right in, doesn’t she?

Originally, I was ready to post this well before Christmas, until I noticed on previewing it that some of the smiley codes were not working, That led to back checking the others, and then it took a while until Ben graciously attended to the problem. And then there was Christmas and other stuff, and I was away from the computer where I normally do this. So, I'm going to start working on aCoS come the new year, and hope I haven't killed my momentum with such a long break. With any luck that should be a lot shorter. I had no idea how big this one was going to be.