Agreed.



Actually, agreed here as well. Narishma and Perrin's AM are the only really decent ones we've seen so far. I think Narishma's drawing of Callandor marks him as the next M'Hael (a title which will probably change), and his bond with Merise speaks toward the likely intertwining of the Black and White towers.

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Nevertheless, I still disagree on your primary assertion that the Tower is useless. I think it will prove to be more relevant than other plotlines that have had similar exposure during the series. The only part of it I find irrelevant is Gawyn.

Think of some of the other plots that have occurred:

-Perrin and the Shaido. Nice character development, and I enjoyed this far more on my second read-through, but unnecessary. They could have just been killed by Sammael instead of dispersed.

-Elayne and Nynaeve go to the circus and find a Bowl. Sure, the BotW worked, but just swapped one extreme for another. We've yet to see anything useful happen from that whole plotline, aside from Nynaeve vs. Moghedien.

-Elayne and Andor. Again, irrelevant unless something happens in the next 2 books, but those books could reveal even greater things for Egwene and the tower.

-Even Mat hasn't actually done anything yet. No Moiraine, no useful link to the Seanchan (nor do we know if this will even occur until it is too late), and the dragons still seem inferior to channelling IMO.

Of course, my point here is NOT that the above plot lines are useless or should be excluded. Rather, it's to convey my feeling that not every part of the series needs to contribute something to the Dragon winning at TG. Quite simply, there are other things for the writers to consider. I'll grant that I haven't seen Egwene develop as much as I'd have hoped, but the events at the Tower were very interesting to me. Elaida was an excellent case study in how bad decision making ruins the best of intentions, the Halls were both sharp jabs at politics, the sisters themselves were lessons about the dangers of apathy and of overvaluing traditions.

At the very least, I think its prudent to reserve judgement for two more books. Egwene still may have some serious character development ahead - encounters with Bloodknives, Mesaana and Rand will all be tests that could make her actually think introspectively for a change. In fact, I'd say the fact that she has the wrong opinion about how to deal with Rand, plus the fact that we know this will likely change, points to an event where she actually does pause and act with some humility for once.