Elayne...The Weakest Link?

[fionwe1987]

Egwene stared from one to another, especially Amys and Bair. “But you told me how wrong you think what I’m going to do is; you said I must not even think about it. I said I wouldn’t, and then I went ahead and worked out how to do it.”

Startlingly, a smile bloomed on Sorilea’s leathery face. Her multitude of bracelets clattered as she shifted her shawl in a satisfied manner. “You see? I told you she would understand. She could be Aiel

 

 

 “I lied about other things, too. I entered Tel’aran’rhiod alone after I promised I would not.” Amys’ face darkened again. Sorilea, not a dreamwalker, only shook her head ruefully. “I promised to obey as a pupil, but when you said the World of Dreams was too dangerous after I was injured, I went anyway.” Bair folded her arms, expressionless. Sorilea muttered something about foolish girls, but it hardly sounded heated. A third long breath; this would be the hardest to say. Her middle was not fluttering anymore; it danced so hard she was surprised she was not shaking. “The worst of all is, I am not Aes Sedai. I’m only Accepted. You might call me an apprentice. I will not be raised to Aes Sedai for years, if I ever am, now.”

...

Egwene lowered her eyes and stared at the colorful layered carpets, her mouth twisting with scorn. Scorn for that small voice. And shame that it could speak in her head, that she could think it. She was going away, but before she did, she had to put matters right. It was possible, under ji’e’toh. You did what you had to do, then paid the cost. Long months ago, in the Waste, Aviendha had showed her how a lie was paid for.

 

 

 

 

“Each of us was chosen because we have some ability at reading residues, Mother. Better than most, in truth.” So they had not been chosen simply because no one stronger was interested. There was a lesson in that. What Aes Sedai did was seldom as simple as it appeared on the surface. Egwene wished she could stop having to relearn lessons she had thought already learned.

 

Just a few quick examples.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sabio]

She admitted she made mistakes, doesn't mean she learned from them or wouldn't do them again if she had to.  She also appologised to Gawyn after he killed the Seancham assassins at the same time still upset he disobeyed her.    But more often than not, she couldn't admit she was wrong.  Leaving Tear with Rand is a good example.  She was against the aiel taking anything, then when Rand said Avi also did she turned around and lectured rand on keeping an open mind about other cultures when it was her saying it was wrong.  In Rhuidean, when she accidently let Rand know it was Moriane who hit him with the power, instead of accepting she made a mistake she started verbally abusing Rand to cover her mistake etc....  She openly blackmailed the Aes Sedai who was keeping Lan alive and the way she treated Nyn in the world of dreams that time to me was horrible.  Very rarely do we see her admitting to anything she did wrong.

[TheSociopath]

Has anyone else noticed that although even though the Tower considered Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve to all be geniuses in things concerning the OP, Elayne seemed to be the least talented of the group? All three were remarkably strong and had different skills and weaknesses​, but somehow she had the short end of the stick when it came to practical application.

Nynaeve was the strongest, able to match Moghedien in raw strength and trying with a past Amrylin as the strongest woman to call herself Aes Sedai since the AoL, only had to be shown a weave once, and was unmatched as a Healer amongst female channelers. Egwene was an amazingly fast and dexterous weaver and was unmatched in her ability to innovate and create new weaves as needed (her ability in this area even amazed Elayne and Nynaeve), and also , like Nynaeve, was equally strong in all five Powers (something that was almost unheard of), and, due to being forced by the Seanchan, was gaining her strength that had never seen before.

 

Where does that leave Elayne? True, her potential matched Egwene's, but in actual strength Egwene haf far surpassed her. She was a quick weaver, but admitted that Moiraine probably could weave faster in her sleep. Egwene was supposedly only average at Healing (although she was good enough to impress the First Weaver of the Yellow Ajah), but Elayne could barely Heal a bruise. Other than her strength, her sole claim to fame was her ability to make ter'angreal, which admittedly​ hadn't been seen since the AoL, but the other girls each had done something that hadn't been since since the AoL. Is just me, or waz she kinda the 3rd wheel? Even Aviendha had some unusual abilities... Does anyone else agreI agree 

I agree that Elayne is a weak link, in more than just the one power. 

She repeatedly does idiotic things despite learning her lesson every time,

she, and nearly every other AS, is a complete moron when it comes to the importance of AS, the importance of soldiers, and so on.

 

To explain what I mean by "idiotic things", 

     She decides to try to capture several black ajah members, with the help of only 2 other AS, one of which (if I remember correctly) she knows is black

     She attempts to interrogate the black ajah members by impersonating Messana without telling anyone what she's going to be doing.

 

I could go on a lengthy rant about the about how AS are morons, but I'm pretty sure that everyone who has read the entire series knows what I'm getting at.

[dexterryu]

As someone who is not an Elayne fan, I don't really consider her to be a weak link overall. In a fight, I'd rather have Egwene, Nyneave, or Aviendha with me for sure, but as far as being an overall character I don't think she's weak. I think she may have chosen her Ajah incorrectly based on her talents which would put her more of Blue/Grey (or Brown depending on how you classify ter'angreal creation).

 

As boring as she is to read once she gets to Caemlyn, she is a decent and fair ruler. She's a decent diplomat.

 

Those things round her out, and while boring definitely don't make her weak.

[Finnssss22]

 

Egwene stared from one to another, especially Amys and Bair. “But you told me how wrong you think what I’m going to do is; you said I must not even think about it. I said I wouldn’t, and then I went ahead and worked out how to do it.”

Startlingly, a smile bloomed on Sorilea’s leathery face. Her multitude of bracelets clattered as she shifted her shawl in a satisfied manner. “You see? I told you she would understand. She could be Aiel

 

 

 “I lied about other things, too. I entered Tel’aran’rhiod alone after I promised I would not.” Amys’ face darkened again. Sorilea, not a dreamwalker, only shook her head ruefully. “I promised to obey as a pupil, but when you said the World of Dreams was too dangerous after I was injured, I went anyway.” Bair folded her arms, expressionless. Sorilea muttered something about foolish girls, but it hardly sounded heated. A third long breath; this would be the hardest to say. Her middle was not fluttering anymore; it danced so hard she was surprised she was not shaking. “The worst of all is, I am not Aes Sedai. I’m only Accepted. You might call me an apprentice. I will not be raised to Aes Sedai for years, if I ever am, now.”

...

Egwene lowered her eyes and stared at the colorful layered carpets, her mouth twisting with scorn. Scorn for that small voice. And shame that it could speak in her head, that she could think it. She was going away, but before she did, she had to put matters right. It was possible, under ji’e’toh. You did what you had to do, then paid the cost. Long months ago, in the Waste, Aviendha had showed her how a lie was paid for.

 

 

 

 

“Each of us was chosen because we have some ability at reading residues, Mother. Better than most, in truth.” So they had not been chosen simply because no one stronger was interested. There was a lesson in that. What Aes Sedai did was seldom as simple as it appeared on the surface. Egwene wished she could stop having to relearn lessons she had thought already learned.

 

Just a few quick examples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem I see with this is that the only time Egwene apologized or she admitted she was wrong out loud was to the Aiel Wiseones and nobody else. 

Even after Gawyne saved her life and proved her wrong about the Assassins not having anything to do with Messana, she still continued to berate him only admitting to herself that she was wrong, not to him.

And she is the only member of the Wonder Twins that didn't apologize/thank Mat for saving her ass in Tear. 

 

I don't know about the rest of you but I for one thoroughly enjoyed Perrin so easily making a fool of her in TAR. She coulda used a few more humblings over the course of the series afaic. 

[Sabio]

 

 

Egwene stared from one to another, especially Amys and Bair. “But you told me how wrong you think what I’m going to do is; you said I must not even think about it. I said I wouldn’t, and then I went ahead and worked out how to do it.”

Startlingly, a smile bloomed on Sorilea’s leathery face. Her multitude of bracelets clattered as she shifted her shawl in a satisfied manner. “You see? I told you she would understand. She could be Aiel

 

 

 “I lied about other things, too. I entered Tel’aran’rhiod alone after I promised I would not.” Amys’ face darkened again. Sorilea, not a dreamwalker, only shook her head ruefully. “I promised to obey as a pupil, but when you said the World of Dreams was too dangerous after I was injured, I went anyway.” Bair folded her arms, expressionless. Sorilea muttered something about foolish girls, but it hardly sounded heated. A third long breath; this would be the hardest to say. Her middle was not fluttering anymore; it danced so hard she was surprised she was not shaking. “The worst of all is, I am not Aes Sedai. I’m only Accepted. You might call me an apprentice. I will not be raised to Aes Sedai for years, if I ever am, now.”

...

Egwene lowered her eyes and stared at the colorful layered carpets, her mouth twisting with scorn. Scorn for that small voice. And shame that it could speak in her head, that she could think it. She was going away, but before she did, she had to put matters right. It was possible, under ji’e’toh. You did what you had to do, then paid the cost. Long months ago, in the Waste, Aviendha had showed her how a lie was paid for.

 

 

 

 

“Each of us was chosen because we have some ability at reading residues, Mother. Better than most, in truth.” So they had not been chosen simply because no one stronger was interested. There was a lesson in that. What Aes Sedai did was seldom as simple as it appeared on the surface. Egwene wished she could stop having to relearn lessons she had thought already learned.

 

Just a few quick examples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem I see with this is that the only time Egwene apologized or she admitted she was wrong out loud was to the Aiel Wiseones and nobody else. 

Even after Gawyne saved her life and proved her wrong about the Assassins not having anything to do with Messana, she still continued to berate him only admitting to herself that she was wrong, not to him.

And she is the only member of the Wonder Twins that didn't apologize/thank Mat for saving her ass in Tear. 

 

I don't know about the rest of you but I for one thoroughly enjoyed Perrin so easily making a fool of her in TAR. She coulda used a few more humblings over the course of the series afaic. 

 

 

AMEN.  

[Calladrena]

Has anyone else noticed that although even though the Tower considered Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve to all be geniuses in things concerning the OP, Elayne seemed to be the least talented of the group? All three were remarkably strong and had different skills and weaknesses​, but somehow she had the short end of the stick when it came to practical application.

Nynaeve was the strongest, able to match Moghedien in raw strength and trying with a past Amrylin as the strongest woman to call herself Aes Sedai since the AoL, only had to be shown a weave once, and was unmatched as a Healer amongst female channelers. Egwene was an amazingly fast and dexterous weaver and was unmatched in her ability to innovate and create new weaves as needed (her ability in this area even amazed Elayne and Nynaeve), and also , like Nynaeve, was equally strong in all five Powers (something that was almost unheard of), and, due to being forced by the Seanchan, was gaining her strength that had never seen before.

 

Where does that leave Elayne? True, her potential matched Egwene's, but in actual strength Egwene haf far surpassed her. She was a quick weaver, but admitted that Moiraine probably could weave faster in her sleep. Egwene was supposedly only average at Healing (although she was good enough to impress the First Weaver of the Yellow Ajah), but Elayne could barely Heal a bruise. Other than her strength, her sole claim to fame was her ability to make ter'angreal, which admittedly​ hadn't been seen since the AoL, but the other girls each had done something that hadn't been since since the AoL. Is just me, or waz she kinda the 3rd wheel? Even Aviendha had some unusual abilities... Does anyone else agree?

Elayne was also special in her own way however as she was the first queen to be an aes sedai/ the first aes sedai to be queen