Except that perspective is only from hindsight. Now that we know the voices are a symptom of a specific mental illness, we can identify this behavior as insane. Before that we were willing to accept it as just another fantasy thing, like the One Power or the Horn of Valere, or ta'veren. Think of how annoyed people were at Tuon for thinking the last was superstition on the part of wetlanders.

What did Rand do that was so egotistical in this book of which Egwene would have ANY knowledge? He might have been a bit over-confident, but he had reasons, as implied in Min & Elayne's conversation. From his perspective, we see he is not arrogant or egotistical at all. Egwene's perception is a reluctance to acknowledge his genuinely elevated status and achievements. Recall too, this book features Rand at the pinacle of his worldly power, before the Shadow's recent influence spread and he had not run into the setbacks of later books. If there is any point when Rand seems justified in being cocky or self-assured, it is here.

Except she was not doing anything other than free-loading, breaking her promises, meddling in affairs that were not her concern, blinding herself to what was going on around her, and assuming an importance and status beyond her true station.

I would agree, just because of the chicken issue...

First of all, he was right about their chances, and his assessment of their situation was accurate. No one gives the rebels any real chance, and the only reason they can possibly succeed is through some unforeseeable circumstance pulling Egwene's fat out of the fire. He never apologized or changed his mind because he was NEVER "proven otherwise!" With Egwene a captive in novice white, exactly HOW would you contend Mat has been proven wrong? As far as the Aviendha thing, he had good reason considering everything he had seen since. Why don't you explain what Mat sees that should have made him realize Aviendha was planning on offering Elayne a chance to kill her, rather than the other way around? Elayne didn't give him any credibility at all, but Aviendha's behavior in the few minutes they were together was enough to make her wonder if this guy she had no respect or regard for COULD be right. And what was so bad about his behavior on this issue? He didn't try to interfere with Aviendha and Elayne or keep them apart or restrain Aviendha. He simply doubted that a woman who reiterated her desire to see Elayne while sharpening her knife for days had peaceful intentions in mind. Considering how almost everyone on this site or its predecessor who bothers to mention the topic claims not to understand the nature of Aviendha's toh to Elayne and Rand, how could Mat, with a fraction of our knowledge be expected to intuit it accurately?

I have. The worst thing is not what she does in this book, but how she refuses to learn from these experiences! While captives of the sisters, Min's presence made Rand's captivity worse. No one can deny this, or make any sort of claim that she did any good by coming along. She was spectacularly ineffective at protecting him from Fain (and when Fain stabbed him, she pushed away the Aes Sedai who was trying to Heal him! ), she herself listed all his accomplishments after he left her in the mountain camp in tDR, and he does it again in aCoS/tPoD, killing Sammael, conquering Illian, and thwarting the Seanchan expansion. Yet she still persists on inveigling herself along on his expeditions in the future, despite knowing her incapacity and having dramatic proof of how Rand reacts to her being in danger. She claims to know him better than he knows himself, but never thinks about what exactly her going along to behave disgracefully and inflate her own self-image by proving to the world that she is not impressed by the Dragon Reborn, and that no matter how powerful or important Rand might be, he is just a smelly hick to her.

Seriously, what business did she have at the meeting with "Tuon"? He did NOT need to abide by their terms, and could have brought another Asha'man in disguise as a woman, or a sister with her ability concealed (as Nynaeve knows how to do), or if he felt he MUST abide by the Seanchan restrictions, he has nobles who would lend status to his party or who could provide political advice, he could have asked for a Sea Folk representative to hash out their issues with the Seanchan, or he could have taken a Maiden to satisfy the debt he sees himself as owing them. Any one of these choices would have been a far more useful and prudent choice than Min, who would have been far more useful back with the rescue-response force, since even if Semirhage had managed her snatch-and-run, Min could have led the rescue force right to his location! This has been a factor in the last two times he has been held captive, with Alanna bringing the rebel sisters and Two Rivers men to Dumai's Wells, and Cadsuane using Min to keep track of Rand in Far Madding, so it is not like this is a revolutionary notion that no one could be expected to think of! Every person there earned the right to accompany Rand by their strength in the Power, their loyal service and their intense training to hone the abilities that made them useful. Min earned her spot on her back.

If she tells him, that undermines anything he does from then on. It might have been unpleasant for a while, but Perrin figuring it out the hard way has made them happier in the end.

She's starting to feel all maternal and she doesn't typically approach things from a woman's point of view. She and Birgitte are both atypical of the female role in their culture (Aviendha apparently took the rejection of men rather far even for a Maiden, especially one who turns out to be straight). Dramatically-speaking, when such women DO evince typically feminine traits, they tend to do so in an extreme manner, as if to overcompensate for their other lacks. In WoT, where a strong theme involves the concept that fighting the inevitable only makes it hit you that much harder when you lose the fight, Aviendha's over-interest in Olver (he is the only kid around or in a position to be of interest) is akin to her experiences being completely out of her depth in dealing with Rand & their relationship. She's over-reacting because this is all new to her, when most women her age have been thinking about and embracing this aspect of their natures for years.

Sulin WAS in charge, before she undertook her penance to meet her toh to the gai'shain, which she incurred using Maiden handtalk when she summoned the Aiel to accompany Rand to Shadar Logoth with the Ogier (this counts as reminding them that they were Maidens before putting on the white). Nandera took over leadership of the Maidens while Sulin was out of the game, and the expedition to Dumai's Wells was Sulin's first time back in action since ending her toh-meeting (because of the extreme of shame she felt acting servile to a bunch of wetlanders including a tree-killer at Dobraine & Perrin's meeting). As a result, the issue of who is now in charge was bound to come up. Both of them were trying to lead, which is what they were fighting over when they actually did fight. Since letting someone lead just because she won a fistfight is idiotic even for Aiel, there was probably more to it than that - even though Sulin won the fight, Nandera either did not give up, or else held her own sufficiently that she did not have to submit to Sulin.

Yes.

She was PO'ed and thought of the knife because Aviendha had drawn her attention to it. Are you saying you would NOT be mad if one of your friends had sex with the person you are interested in? Especially if they A. knew of your interest beforehand and B. beat you to the punch? The fact that she took pains to avoid even the temptation of holding the knife shows that she did not, in fact, WANT to stab anyone. It was Aviendha's idea, and for a moment, she thought it appealing.

Elayne only thinks that when Birgitte is being exasperating. It's probably one of those kidding on the square things everyone jokes about (like I tell my mother whenever she shows signs of incapacity that she's one step closer to being left on an ice floe like the Eskimos).

That's fairly typical. They're concentrating on their weaves and don't see the effects as much as thinking about how they are making it happen. It's sort of the inverse of when you watch a movie with great special effects and are impressed, while the CGI people probably watch it and guess what programs or techniques were used to digitalize the explosions.