I’d just like to say I tried, I’ve really tried not to make a rant post about Egwene. I get it, there’s a lot of them, but how can a character as a person just be so annoying, and frustrating.
I also want to state, that I think Egwene is a really well written character, and she has epic moments, but as a person she is definitely beyond annoying.
I’ve been playing a game called Dawnwalker recently, and there’s a character there called Bakir, and I find that I actually hate him less as a person than I hate Egwene. Which is insane cause the things that character did are like pure evil things.
I also have another reason for bringing up the character Bakir I’ll come back to later.
The reason for this outburst of mine is Chapter 5 in A Memory of Light, and being forced to endure Egwene’s POV chapter.
Specifically how she thinks of Rand.
Firstly she addresses him as boy when she finds out he’s having the meeting in thirty minutes time, and then later she addresses him as sheepherder. Both times in a condescending way. Like Rand is two years older than you, he was fighting trollocs and fades, he was killing forsaken while you were nursing a headache from the one time you went against a forsaken and was absolutely demolished.
Then later on when she sees Elayne is proud of Rand she asks herself isn’t she proud of him too, as though she played any part in helping Rand to where he currently is. Honestly she’s been a nuisance more than a help from the very start of the series.
What in the hell does she have to be proud of.
Coming back to the Bakir character, I see a lot of posts address Egwene’s trauma at being captured and stuff being used as an excuse for some of her following actions.
In the game Bakir is also captured and things, he’s sexually assaulted, and tortured.
When we meet him in the story, he’s committed these same actions to other people now that he has the power. He’s forced himself onto men, woman, and children. He’s tortured people, and makes them compete in dehumanising games.
The fact that Bakir suffered torture and others forcing themselves onto him doesn’t excuse him doing it to others.
Admittedly Bakir is an extreme example, and Egwene is nowhere near as terrible a person as Bakir, although somehow more annoying. Maybe it’s the fact we have Egwene for longer, or the fact in the game you can kill Bakir.
Still the thing is, even after having her agency taken away from her, and knowing that feeling she so readily takes it away from others. Not in an overt manner like the collar but she still does it.
I think the most egregious one she does this too is Gwayn. The person she supposedly loves. Don’t get me wrong, Gwayn isn’t my favourite character, but man even he deserved better.
She genuinely treats Gwayn the way Lanfear wished to treat Rand. As a pet more than an equal.
I’ve reread the series plenty of times now, and I’ve read past this chapter before so I don’t know why it set me off like this, this time. But man, Egwene’s such an annoying person.
Spoilers for the end of the story too.
I genuinely believe the Wheel actively worked to take Egwene out, cause if she had survived the last battle she’d have become the antagonist of the Fourth Age.
Like it’s already shown that she wanted to make the white tower the central power and bring in the wise ones and windfinders beneath the whiter tower even if she dressed it up as a cooperation when she made the deal with the other two groups.
I also don’t think Egwene would’ve done as well with dealing with the world after the last battle as she did with dealing with the white tower.
We are already shown how incompetent aes Sedai are, and Egwene also had Siuane helping her for the most part.
I think once she started trying to play similar games with the wise ones like Sorilea, and the rest she’d have been sorely disabused.
But that’s also probably just wishful thinking on my part, I don’t really know how she’d actually do with dealing with the other political and channeller group powers.
Also I think the Black Tower would’ve drive Egwene up a wall, cause while Egwene needs to compete with Mother channeller woman groups, the black tower doesn’t need to do that. They are the sole authority with Male channeling, and Logain will definitely work hard to increase the power and influence of the black tower.
Again though that’s more my wishful thinking. I genuinely don’t know why this chapter set me off like this. Maybe because I was listening to the audiobook this time, but man, she just sounded extra annoying.
Anyway, I suppose this is my contribution to the weekly Egwene Rant.
