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. Note that going forward, this will apply more to her acceptance or tolerance/approval of such behavior, rather than acting that way herself.

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

Not necessarily Egwene’s fault, this will indicate some White Tower or Aes Sedai absurdity

Part 8A Crown of Swords

This book is problematic for many readers, because the point of view issues sway one to empathize with Egwene and perceive the situation entirely from her perspective. Her agenda, and success at it, comes at the expense of heretofore antagonistic authority figures, so there is the reflexive tendency to approve. Furthermore, she is largely isolated from other PoV characters, and especially the “more” protagonist trio of Rand, Mat & Perrin, with whom she will not share a scene again in the author’s lifetime. Thus, there are no clashes with other characters whom a reader might prefer to Egwene, and thus there is less conflict of sympathy on our parts.

But Egwene is still Egwene, and a dispassionate and objective assessment of her goals and actions, beyond the self-serving terms in which she describes them shows the truth clearly enough. So here we go.

Please note as well, periodic entries marked with a symbol instead of a number. These indicate a faulty or stupid practice of the White Tower, to which Egwene is not opposed. I don’t number them among her particular faults, because that’s not exactly fair, but since the White Tower and the supremacy of the Aes Sedai is the hill on which she has chosen to plant her flag above all other considerations, this stuff is relevant to a discussion of her flaws.

1: Because Egwene has to have all the superlatives, she notes that nothing as odd as her has happened in the history of the White Tower. There have been Amyrlins who were raised too young before. Egwene is just an extension of the degree. There have been low-born Amyrlins, with Moiraine noting in New Spring that several were born to beggers, and incompetent Amyrlins and any number of women who have things in common with some aspect or another of Egwene. Yet, her supposed best friends have Healed what the Age of Legends believed unhealable, and created the first ter’angreal ever made by an initiate of the Tower, as well as taken the first Forsaken prisoner in its history. Next to what her friends have done, Egwene is practically run of the mill. Except in her warped little mind where nothing is as real as she.

2: During the conversation with Sheriam that kicks off her arc in this book, Egwene “wanted to snarl or snap or maybe throw something, but after…a month and half, she already had a lifetime’s practice…at (resisting) far greater provocation than this.” That horrific provocation that so provoked Egwene’s ire? Sheriam disagreed about whether they should stop for one day or more than one. Egwene has expressed an opinion, and HOW DARE anyone, even someone twice her age, who was wearing the shawl the day she was born, continue thinking otherwise? The complete dialogue goes as follows:
E: “We must stop tomorrow. Lord Bryne says the army is running short of food. Our camp is certainly short of everything.”
S: “Four of five days would be better. Or perhaps longer. It would not hurt to build our stores up once more.”
E: “One day.”
Sheriam opens her mouth.
E: “One, daughter.” {Wants to pitch a temper tantrum, but fortunately has long practice suppressing her rage over similar incidents}

We are not talking about a factual dispute or a moral issue or even a course of action. It’s a matter of opinion on the degree to which an agreed upon course of action will be followed, and Egwene is swallowing her bile and fury because Sheriam thinks that a teenaged girl less than two months into her first position of merely nominal authority might not be unquestionably right about how long it takes to resupply a group of several thousand people.

3: Egwene also has, at this point, established a policy of oversight on minor administrative and logistical matters. Though rationalized as the act of “a good Amyrlin” using Siuan’s (ironic, in light of her own failings) advice to keep abreast of the functions of the camp, Egwene comes soon enough to the real explanation. Egwene was sure that once she let them pass to Sheriam’s control, she would never again learn anything until it was long dealt with. Siuan phrased her advise as staying informed so you don’t end up with someone dumping a crisis in your lap too late to prevent, Egwene uses that as an excuse to keep power. Siuan's advice as it bears to her own administration is not relevant for Egwene. Given her total lack of experience, Egwene is the last person anyone in the rebel camp will come running to with an urgent administrative issue, and there is no indication in her mind that Sheriam will not handle minor matters well (and a lot of hints to the contrary, as a matter of fact – she is far more likely to know from experience what to do than Egwene). Siuan was worried that people would mess up without her checking on them. Egwene has no reason to believe that, she merely doesn’t want anyone else to have power or influence. This is the heart of most of the issues of her reign – not that people from whom she would wrest power are incompetent or would do something wrong, just that the course of action with which she disagrees will result in less power for her. Egwene would rather be captain of a lost ship, than a passenger on a successful voyage.

4: And as if trying to administer a camp on the move and a rebellion against the most power and dangerous power in the world is not enough of a headache for Sheriam, who has been in charge of this whole thing and keeping it organized and fed back when someone was whining about the baths not being to her liking in the Aiel Hilton, she has to deal with Egwene keeping the unctuous and fawning Chesa around to interrupt while they are trying to work, because she has to run everything she once did just fine at on her own, past a teenager with no relevant experience or training. It seems to amuse Egwene, and never mind the inefficiency, because better the administration of the camp be handled by irate subordinates driven to distraction and exhausted by over-long late night meetings after a day on horseback, than a smoothly-functioning camp realize they do not need Egwene to achieve that status.

Chesa’s blather and idiocy might seem harmless and cute, but it’s no different than the boss’s girlfriend sitting in on a work meeting, interrupting with flirting and endearments. Inappropriate & out of place behavior is inappropriate no matter what the particulars. Chesa’s behavior is inappropriate and inconsiderate. And this is not some senile grandmother, who has earned a degree of tolerance or respect due to her advanced years. Chesa is in her mid-thirties, though you’d never guess from her behavior, which Egwene accurately characterizes as appropriate to a sexagenarian. Her use of such a person as a business tactic is something that belongs in a Dilbert comic strip, not the repertoire of someone held up as a co-savior of the world. Bringing up the matter of Sheriam’s agents provocateur in front of Chesa is an act of extraordinary incompetence or succumbing to flattery or an extreme degree.

Considering one of the first things we see trained novices doing is making a ball of light that relies on no fuel, and can be tied off without danger or continuous effort, why are they whining about running out of candles, and eyestrain? In an era without electronic data storage or off-site backup, why do they have open flames anywhere near their paper records, much less spend precious funds on consumable resources like candles?

And speaking of money, we see the first indication of the Hall’s leadership having a rare moment of unity on the issue of cutting the pay of their soldiers. Not an uncommon principle, as a sizable military tends to increase the power of the executive as opposed to the legislative portions of a government (also explaining how this happens to be one of those stopped-clock instances where Egwene is making the practical & prudent choice), but something to keep in mind when as part of a political deal, Egwene hands over control of that same army to that same Hall.

5: Chesa’s diatribe against ‘Marigan’ includes the phrase “She’d be starving by a road, if not for you. No gratitude at all.” Except it’s common knowledge that Nynaeve and Elayne took her in, brought her to Salidar, obtained for her gainful employment, a roof over her head and food for her and her children. Moghedian was in Salidar for months, before their departure caused her services to be transferred to Egwene.

Historically, the need to rein in rulers’ egos and counteract the flattery they receive has been well known and led to practices like a court jester, who was permitted, and even encouraged to mock the king, or the slave who would stand behind a triumphant Roman general whispering “remember you are mortal”. It is the excuse Egwene uses to rationalize her vicious belittlement of Rand in the two preceding books, so it is not like this is a concept of which she is unaware. But this is what she tolerates, and what inspires affection from her. Chesa does not merely exaggerate Egwene’s virtues or actions, she invents them out of whole cloth, completely rewriting recent events to redound to Egwene’s unnecessary credit. Anyone who tried as much with Rand, even using much more technically accurate praise, was the subject of withering scorn in Rand’s mind. Certainly there was never any thought that Weiramon or his ilk were cute in their earnestness or like old family retainers (a comparison that springs readily to Egwene’s mind, perhaps through her EXTENSIVE experience with "old family retainers"; did she watch a lot of ‘Downton Abbey’ back in Emond’s Field? Or maybe the novices get cable in their quarters? Actually, IIRC, from what I have seen of popular culture portrayals of old family retainers, they are more apt to be backhandedly complimentary or subtly critical, rather than so overtly toadying).

6: Once she learns that Moghedian escaped, Egwene commits an egregious violation of espionage trade craft, calling Siuan and Leane to her tent to let them know (as if that’s not the kind of thing you can put in a note), and endangering the ruse. Ms. A Ruler Needs to Hear Negative Stuff, bullies her two most loyal and competent adherents in camp when they try to remonstrate with her, because she’s scared. She sneers that she’s doesn’t care if the ruse that has been the sine qua non of all her success so far is exposed, although there is literally nothing they can do about this new disaster (since expecting her to recall there is such a thing as an inverted ward seems to be asking too much), though considering how she hates having to play along with that, maybe we are talking about some subconscious self-sabotage here.

Egwene refutes the recrimination that she should have been watched, pointing out that there was nothing a watch could have done, even if they were willing to sacrifice secrecy to do so, yet she has just risked that same secrecy to give orders that Siuan correctly points out would be no more useful than that same watch. But being right when Egwene is wrong is little short of a capital offense, so Siuan gets the Egwene Tongue.

Egwene even sarcastically questions if the useless information that is the best the inquiry she has ordered might turn up is not “more than I have a right to ask?” But it kind of is. She can give no better reason for her demand than curiosity and assuaging her irrational fears, as well as her right to expect obedience to stupid orders, but the risk of exposing her faction’s activities and membership is very great to obtain that essentially useless data. And Nynaeve, Elayne, Siuan and Leane have all gone out on limbs for her and taken great risks which will have severe consequences for them if Egwene goes down or gets caught out. Thom pointed out as much in the previous book. But Egwene is going to risk throwing it all away, and bringing her friends down with her, over a moment of pique, so she can relieve her frustrations & nervousness by giving orders and making people leap to obey her.

No one may be “insolent or impertinent” to the Amyrlin Seat. This is approximately equivalent to dealing with royalty, heads of religions or military officers. Since the Aes Sedai/White Tower claim no supernatural or divine access or authority, and are not, in fact, a military organization whose members are subject to military discipline, the Amyrlin has no claim on the equivalent courtesies. A monarch is a ruler, responsible for the well-being of an entire nation. Whatever the excessive or overwhelming influence of the Tower, the Aes Sedai are not a nation with an organic population, they are an association, or a corporation. The Amyrlin’s actual status is more equivalent to a CEO, granted of a major company, but still only a professional leadership role. Such people, especially those who wield disproportionate influence and power, require impertinence and insolence, lest they loose their might unchecked by practical or moral considerations. A king or pope represents the higher entity they claim to speak for, a nation-state or deity. The Amyrlin represents no such thing, and the White Tower is not the moral equivalent of the former and does not claim any affiliation with the latter.

7: Egwene takes the greetings and courtesies from the servants and non-initiates she encounters as sincere. Based on Siuan’s teaching, she assumes they know the truth and choose to believe in her, and respect her as the real Amyrlin. And Rand has the swollen head.

Much more likely is they know any non-Aes Sedai who doesn’t pay the respect the office deserves in the eyes of the sisters is in for some very unpleasant moments, before being fired, with no future employment prospects.

8: Egwene’s reflections on Merana’s report regarding Rand mean that even when separated by many miles, she still has to get her reflexive criticism of him in there, in addition to being wrong on a veritable flurry of points.

She characterizes Rand’s behavior toward Coiren’s embassy from the Tower as “overbearing” which, for the readers who actually know what transpired, translates as “he didn’t grovel, cringe or fawn on them.” Rand was not rude or ungracious, and put them off without being discourteous or insulting, unless your definition of rude means “behaving as an equal or a person of greater stature and power,” the latter of which is the actual reality. What is more extraordinary is that she can have this view of his behavior, when she and he both knew the embassy came with hostile intent. Yet, Egwene does not think Merana is being truthful, despite being present when Moiraine confirmed that the Three Oaths bind writing as well as speech. She thinks a Grey sister with years of experience, highly regarded by the Hall, did not pick up on insults or discourtesy. The only explanation for this thought is her automatic assumption of wrong-doing on Rand’s part.

She also claims that Rand is not afraid when he should be. From Egwene, who repeatedly tried to channel in the first book, when anyone, even Perrin, could see that was a bad idea, whom Rand had to compel to run rather than pointlessly fight Aginor, this is a risible claim on its own. But she is also someone who has had very little personal interaction with Rand in quite some time, and that not very close or such as to put her in a position to make such a judgment of his thought process or emotional state.

Another assumption is that Alanna might seduce Rand, and this would be an effective means of handling or controlling him. We have seen nothing to indicate Alanna is so devoid of self-respect, or that Rand is so shallowly amenable. Egwene herself got all sorts of pissy the first time she encountered his putting duty ahead of sexual attraction (abetting Elayne’s departure from Tear), and there is not the slightest indication that Berelain’s attempt had any effect. Particularly given the Wise Ones’ respect and favor of her. Only Egwene would think so low of a friend.

Egwene recalls Rand as gloating over the letters he got from Elaida and Alviarin, which is a complete fabrication. Everything he said indicated wariness and hostility, and Moiraine praised his reactions and assessments. Egwene says the letter is “supposedly” from Alviarin, when Moiraine confirmed the handwriting at the time of arrival.

She also appears to believe, on the basis of absolutely no history of him doing this, ever, that being afraid might cause Rand to lash out or otherwise commit some sort of atrocity. What has Egwene seen Rand do, since she first departed for the White Tower, that could be construed as acting out of fear, or when has he been in a situation where he inappropriately failed to exhibit fear? He has not shied away from dangerous courses of action, or from doing what was necessary, simply because it was dangerous, but that has nothing to do with a lack of fear – he simply did not behave in a cowardly fashion.

Finally, on the issue of Rand's fear, recall how hell-bent Egwene was on finding an excuse to use the One Power as a weapon in tDR, with the “bad tempered” and more rebellious Nynaeve, who was prejudiced against anything coming from the Tower, having to advocate adherence to standard Aes Sedai practices, and non-destructive, non-lethal modes of self-defense. If there is anyone prone to lashing out dangerously out of fear, it is Egwene. But that’s her thing, isn’t it? To accuse people of her own faults, to the point where she ends an argument lecturing the other party on the wrongness of her original position.

And after several books of her spitting insults at him in nearly every encounter, of Rand numbering her as someone to be wary of, of thinking of her “as one of them” and preferring the company of suspected spies to hers, Egwene has the temerity to claim that she is the only sister who can deal with Rand safely. Given that the number of Aes Sedai he kills as of the end of the series ranks at one, and that a Darkfriend who helped try to murder his lover, this is both an unearned mistrust of Rand and an obnoxiously revisionist memory of their relationship.

9: The notion that Egwene might be taken for an Accepted from a distance without her stole is “Not the most pacifying thought.” It actually enrages this woman that at a much younger age than anyone has been known to reach the shawl, in an era before photography or mass media allow people to know what strangers look like, she might not be recognized after less than two months in a group of hundreds of people! This should be expected, not a source of ire, that prevents her from calming down.

Remember, because if you are not reminded, you might be led to think otherwise by the evidence, RAND has the swollen head. Rand does. You remember Rand, right? The guy who reveled in every moment of anonymity he could obtain? But the person who fumes over not being hailed & honored at a distance, at night, by people already preoccupied with their work, is the one who gets to call him arrogant.

10: Egwene is positively infuriated at the fact that her power is circumscribed by “irritating customs” and “inconvenient realities” and a single law. At the age of 18, with precisely zero qualifications, she was given a position whose theoretical power is only limited to being forbidden from placing herself in danger without consulting others. How does this not bother any sane, thinking, human being? This position, with this extreme degree of power, exists, AND they let a teenager hold it. And she’s sulking and pouting, and mentally describing the law in terms she would sniff at Mat for using when his life is in danger.

It’s not even all that unique of a law, or rarely imposed, since Siuan describes to Moiraine her own necessity to obtain votes permitting her to come to Fal Dara, back in tGH. And of course, Egwene is also under the impression that at some point, she has demonstrated competence at something, or the ability to make Rand do anything, claiming that the law is preventing her from intervening as only she can, to save Rand from blunders.

WHEN has Egwene, a. changed Rand’s mind? b. Been proven right in a disagreement with him? c. Successfully prevented him from doing something wrong or stupid? Even when she has been in opposition to a course of action he declined to pursue, it was always someone else who actually persuaded him. Usually Moiraine or Aviendha. Rand’s PoV in the past quite clearly showed he no longer took her opinion seriously, if in fact, he was actually aware of her disapproval. Not to mention the generally universal superior success achieved by friends and companions in her absence, compared to their performances when burdened with her help.

11: Egwene considers using her dream powers to terrorize Nicola and Areina, in acknowledged defiance of the prohibitions against it. She refrains due to her unfamiliarity with their dreams & presumptive difficulty in carrying out her notion. She rationalizes doing evil by claiming that as long as you pay the price, it’s not evil, that evil comes from refusing to acknowledge the price or debt incurred by the actions. Further, she claims that she learned this formula from the Aiel Wise Ones, citing “Do what you must, then pay the price for it,” as the rule they taught her.

In the first place, that is a wetlander aphorism, quoted to her by Moiraine and later Siuan. It is not remotely akin to Aiel philosophy, which makes no allowances for wrongdoing. The debts and obligations that you can pay off are incurred by doing things in violation of your duties or promises, basically the kind of things that might cause a lawsuit in modern society. To extend that analogy to Egwene’s mentality, she might be charged with serious felonies, and assume her lawyers can call up the prosecutor and settle the whole affair with an out of court settlement for a sufficient payoff. The distinction between meeting toh and buying your way out of trouble is very fine, but it encompasses the vast gulf between the Aiel, who are horrified at the idea of doing anything immoral, and Egwene, who honestly believes there is a magic price to pay that can mitigate any wrongdoing, that she can do anything evil, so long as she acknowledges it was wrong and endures some inconvenience.

The contemporary real world equivalent is someone who commits a horrific murder and then willingly goes to jail, under the belief that her crime was perfectly acceptable, because she is “paying the price”.

12: And speaking of DreamCrime, we get yet another confirmation of her attempts to violate Rand’s privacy on a scale the real world has no concept of, as she recalls “how many countless fruitless hours she had frittered away trying to peer through his (dream shield).”

Egwene notes during her dream walking that she intends to have sex with Gawyn “at a time of her choosing”, intending to rationalize her away around the appropriate Two Rivers sexual customs that might put off the time she so chooses. This will be an interesting detail when she starts judging women who have never set foot in that place for their failures to live up to Two Rivers sexual mores.

13: When settling down to talk with the Wise Ones in the Heart of the Stone, Egwene seems to have come around to the belief or knowledge that the traps Rand wove around Callandor could have their reflections in Tel’Aran’Rhiod, an opinion she derided when Nynaeve held it back in tFoH. Ooops. Wait, which one of them is the expert in the World of Dreams again? The one who was intuitively right about traps, broke Moghedian’s Compulsion through determination, located a Seal to the Dark One’s prison, impressed a Hero of the Horn, captured the most skilled of the Forsaken in Tel’Aran’Rhiod and helped discover the Bowl of the Winds… or the snippy girl with the natural talent whose commentary on the other’s abilities was entirely negative, in spite of a single achievement on the same scale?

Speaking of the Wise Ones, like Mat, like Elaida and like Thom, they instantly perceive the reality of Egwene’s situation as Amyrlin. Elected representatives in a legislative body choose a nominal leader, with no intention that she follow in the footsteps of her predecessors and overreach with her power, as is obvious to anyone with a sufficiently objective view of the situation. Why is it inherently right that she undo this situation and take rule or leadership? Or is monarchy inherently a morally superior alternative to democracy?

14: Poor silly Bair, assuming the plan made when she was first told about Salidar is still in effect, asks if Egwene intends to lead the rebel sisters to follow Rand. Egwene, of course, is horrified by the notion and states that she would not even if she could. She makes an absurd analogy, comparing Aes Sedai & Rand to Wise Ones & clan chiefs. However, chiefs and Wise Ones are more or less equivalents or analogs within the same system, set up to separate the powers of leadership among the Aiel. Rand is not part of the same system as the Aes Sedai, he is above it. One more time, “the world must follow (him) or fail”. An Aes Sedai is not remotely equal to the Dragon Reborn the way a Wise One is equal to a clan chief. She even defends her position by citing that Aes Sedai cannot be made to swear fealty to anyone, even the Amyrlin.

15: The morning after she reflects on her determination to wrest control over minor administrative matters from Sheriam, she is fuming about Sheriam giving her minor issues she considers beneath her notice. You know, lowly folk appealing their case, petitioning for redress of grievances? She has a WORLD to save, dammit! The Dragon Reborn thinks too highly of himself, and will bring disaster on everyone with his out of control ego! And here Sheriam goes, dumping this trivial nonsense on Egwene’s desk!

16: While the conversation between Romanda and Lelaine does not offer Egwene many opportunities for misdeeds, we see her usual attitudes at play in her stream of consciousness. She is miffed that Romanda and Lelaine are paying more attention to each other than to her. Well, since she does not have any power, and was elected to be a figurehead, why should they not focus on what is important, rather than soothing the ego of a person no one believes makes the actual decisions? That situation might not be right (though that is a debatable question), but it is the reality, and one deliberately arranged and encouraged by her current bestest friend in the world, Siuan Sanche. Romanda and Lelaine are dealing with the reality, not some fantasy world where Egwene has any input worth hearing, or accomplishments on the scale of every single one of her peers, and thus, their arguing with one another, rather than appealing to the woman with no real authority to make a decision on the matter is only common sense, not a criminal slight.

17: On her ride with Gareth Bryne, she manages to fume over him being more popular with his soldiers than she is. What is wrong with people? How can they be more impressed with one of the greatest generals in the world, whose reputation and service go back decades, than with a teenager who has accomplished nothing more than being singled out as sufficiently expendable to be selected as a figurehead? She also chafes at the rules forcing her to endure a less comfortable and less familiar horse, before revealing that it is HER rule that the “Amyrlin” must ride a sufficiently glorious horse.

18: As previously noted, Egwene was present (even giving a sniff in reaction) when Moiraine ran down a list of Mat’s military accomplishments, and she was in the vicinity when Mat defeated the Shaido in four separate engagements, which is four more than any other known wetlander general against the Aiel, and killed Couladin. And yet, she compares the news that he has a positive military reputation to being as surprising as seeing a crow swimming, assuming he only held his rank because of Rand. She was there when Rand questioned Mat about all the men signing up for the Band! If there is a single woman who should know he is not Rand's appointee, it is Egwene, who was privy to the conversation that demonstrates Rand has nothing to do with Mat's leadership.

And this is the girl, who in the prior book, was claiming that Nynaeve was too prone to ignoring Mat’s growth and development since the Two Rivers. It can't bring her power, after all, so why should she pay any attention?

19: Regarding the disposal of Lan, although another case of Egwene interfering in friends’ love lives without knowledge of the facts (that’s okay, she doesn’t need to know the facts, because the woman’s wishes count as an inherent moral good, so that’s all Egwene needs), it all evens out. On the one hand, yes, she is acting like a dippy teen girl with the love-conquers-all argument, and sending a psychologically fraught man to the supervision of an inexperienced, emotional woman barely half his age could have exploded badly. On the other, that doesn’t happen because Lan and because Nynaeve. He’s not a whiny little emo bitch, and she’s awesome, and the most complete and profound fulfillment of the vocation of healer in the history of WoT. And Egwene is personally acquainted with both of them, so you could make the argument that she was not acting out of ignorance in this particular case. But then you can always go back to the point that Egwene has, over the course of the series, demonstrated immense ignorance of her friends, being especially prone to underestimating their abilities, and misjudging their love lives.

Additionally, Egwene herself makes the comparison of Lan’s situation with the bond to rape, and if you flip the genders, how charming is it now, when you think of a relatively helpless woman being sent off and placed under the authority and control of a man who keeps trying to get in her pants in spite of her insistence that she doesn’t want a relationship? Again, Nyaeve. Lan. So the worst isn’t going to happen, because they’re them.

In any event, Egwene can’t really get much credit. Lan arrives at the exact right moment to save Nynaeve from the shipwreck. Too early, and he’d have been aboard with her. Too late, and well, that. He mentions that his timing was the result of the equestrian equivalent of a flat tire, so clearly, this is one of those Pattern-mandated events. Had Egwene chosen not to send him, the Pattern would have contrived for him to be there anyway. Maybe he’d have just been so disgusted after a day or so of Egwene’s posturing that he’d have taken off on his own, and Mandarb would not have thrown a shoe.

Lan does join the extensive list of people to whom the reality of Egwene’s situation is blatantly obvious. Her reaction is that Nynaeve should be careful, because “she always did think men were dimmer than they actually were” (emphasis mine).

20: Once Lan is safely out of the way, and Egwene is not confronted with the fact of the ultimate good Myrelle & Nisao were aiming for, she can go about blackmailing her “daughters” without the chance of their remembering they were saving a life and summoning the nerve to call her bluff. Meanwhile, setting aside the issue of how stupid Myrelle & Nisao were to give the oath, rather than running to the Hall to swear on their First Oaths that Egwene attempted to blackmail them into taking an oath of fealty (the uproar from that revelation would shove the question of the irregularities of Lan’s bond down the memory hole PDQ), there is the point that the blackmail itself is wrong on so many levels.

In the first place, it is flat out immoral. Egwene seems to be aware of this in the abstract, so she offers a torturous rationalization justifying her demand as Myrelle & Nisao having proved themselves untrustworthy, and in need of the oath to keep them under control.

In the second, it is profoundly unethical. Egwene’s responsibility as Amyrlin is, by her own definitions, to protect the sisters and restrain Aes Sedai from wrongdoing. If Myrelle & Nisao did not do anything wrong, as common sense would suggest they have not, Egwene’s duty is to protect her daughters from unwarranted persecution, and repay the care of her friend by helping the women who saved his life. Of course, it is possible that by some torturous Aes Sedai thought process or nit-picky tower laws, their actions do constitute some sort of transgression. In which case, if Myrelle & Nisao are truly in the wrong and guilty of crimes, it is Egwene’s duty to see that justice is done, not shield their crimes from coming to light and obstruct justice for her personal gain.

In the third place, the blackmail is in complete contradiction to things Egwene herself said the prior night. Aes Sedai cannot make themselves useful to Rand, because they are a proud independent bunch who don’t even swear to an Amyrlin Seat. If Aes Sedai status is special and inviolate, Egwene is just as wrong as Rand would be by her lights. Her reprimand of Nicola and Areina was for the very thing she is doing the next morning. The only explanation for this flagrant contradiction on two different instances where she made an explicit point against her current actions, is that Egwene doesn’t believe the same rules apply to her that apply to everyone else, or that she just flits from moment to moment doing whatever she wants at the time, completely devoid of guiding principles or moral standards. Either one fits very well with her demonstrated character to this point.

21: Egwene then gives an unprecedented order, placing Siuan in charge over Myrelle & Nisao, and the rest of the former Salidar leadership committee, whom she also intends to blackmail. She does this primarily to perk up Siuan, who was all depressed about her lack of status and her superiors being as brusque and abrupt toward her as…well, as she was to everyone when she was the Amyrlin Seat. Siuan, you see, is the New Best Friend of Egwene, by which I mean the current person most able to bring her more power. And until someone more advantageous comes along, or Siuan crosses an arbitrary line, Egwene will treat her more nicely than anyone from the Two Rivers since she left. She puts a semi-competent bully, in a leadership position that might compromise their ruse, and will certainly alienate the reluctant underlings placed under her, because this is the person she is fixated on as a guide and role model. Whereupon Siuan proposes murdering two young women for political convenience.

To her credit, Egwene draws the line at outright, senseless murder, but this is the sort of person she not only relies on for moral counsel, but favors and goes out of her way to give advantages to her. A leader or ruler might have to tolerate morally dubious underlings, but good and moral leaders don’t promote such individuals to positions of authority just to buck up their spirits.

What’s more, Siuan’s recommendation to murder an initiate, especially a novice, for ANY reason, is a profound violation of the responsibility the Aes Sedai take by assuming such total control of their lives and restricting their agency to the degree that they do. In short, by calling them children, and treating them as children, the Aes Sedai have admitted a responsibility to them. An Aes Sedai killing a novice is ethically no different than any adult killing a genuine child: in other words, absolutely unjustified, lacking most of the acceptable justifications for killing an adult or peer.

22: Speaking of that murder proposed for Nicola & Areina, it is motivated by the grievous crime of, well, for being just like Egwene, only with more nerve and lacking the shortcuts Egwene was afforded. Egwene phrases her lust for power very disingenuously as “wanting to learn” (funny how she was not interested in learning about the Old Tongue or Aiel history & culture & prophecies on Chaendar, or about new medical techniques from Mother Guenna in Tear or about wolves & the wilderness from Elyas if she could not be a wolf-sister), but those two aren’t lying to get access to greater power. What is more, Tarmon Gaidon is imminent. As Vandene told Moiraine, the Tower is going to need every channeler they can get, at least to face the Shadow, if not to control the Dragon. Why NOT force Nicola, if she consents to it? She is over 21 and was engaged to be married. If she wants to take the risk, why not? That goes for any situation, and so much more with less than a year before Aes Sedai are needed to fight Dreadlords, Forsaken, Black Ajah and Ayyad.

Of course, Nicola is smart, capable, has powers Egwene can’t match, and has made some impressive strides without Egwene’s shortcuts or associations. She might actually surpass Egwene if given her head. And if she is allowed to speed through the training process, the Tower’s brainwashing might not take hold as fully, and she might be inclined to go her own way or do what she believes is right, much like Nynaeve, but lacking the bonds of friendship by which Egwene retains her loyalty. And we can’t have anyone who might be less than perfectly subservient to Egwene or who might outstrip her or show her up.

The forcing issue is yet another one of those cases where Egwene could make a necessary change to improve Tower practices, but as always, chooses to side with the moribund establishment in favor of maintaining Aes Sedai privilege, whether of the sisters over the outside world, or within the Tower and among female channelers.

23: Considering her vicious cattiness regarding Berelain, and her unfounded certainty of the First’s promiscuity, Egwene is surprisingly ready to make excuses for Halima, and rationalize her appearance of promiscuity as merely superficial. It never occurs to Egwene that some people dislike Berelain “just for the war she looked”. At least these critics of Halima “never claimed she had done more than flirt” while Egwene is “darkly certain” that Berelain does just that. On the basis of no evidence at all. Oh yes, Berelain was alone in Rand’s chambers, dressed provocatively and less than 24 hours later, so is Elayne, mostly at Egwene’s instigation. Berelain can’t do anything for Egwene though, so we’ll just slut-shame her from here until Tarmon Gaidon.

Elaida’s dream of her triumph, towards the end of this book, features her imposing an Oath of Fealty. Interestingly enough, it is not a personal oath she demands, but an Oath to the office of Amyrlin. True, Elaida, as occupant of the Amyrlin Seat would benefit from the Oath, but it’s still a policy issue, rather than the personal power grab Egwene imposes.

What is more, her rationale is exactly the one under which Egwene demanded Myrelle & Nisao swear. They have proven untrustworthy and in order to be spared the consequences of their misdeeds, they will have to swear fealty to ensure their future good behavior to the one who would protect them from the consequences.

Elaida is supposedly an unconscionable tyrant, whose deposing must come even before preparations for Tarmon Gaidon…and she’s considerably behind Egwene in both real time, and on a curve, considering how briefly Egwene has held office.

You would not have thought anyone could rack up this long a list in a mere five chapters. A most remarkable young woman indeed.