Perrin and Laila

[WhiteVeils]

1 hour ago, Mailman said:

The "Not like that" is the key for me I have always read that as he has no romantic interest in Egwene and he is having difficulty describing his exact relationship with Egwene to Elyas. She is not his kin but he still loves her but not love as in a romantic way.

 

<nods> It depends on how you read 'that'.  He loves her /not/ like a sister, and /not/ like "that".  Even if we presume "That" means romantically, the tiebreaker that shifts it to more 'romantic-like' than 'sister-like' is how he adds that he needs to qualify it with "but she and Rand...". 

If he truly loved her only like a sister and not at all romantically, her relationship with Rand would have no bearing at all and he wouldn't mention Rand.  Somehow her relationship with Rand impacts or alters Perrin's relationship with Egwene.  That would not be the case if it were purely platonic.

It really doesn't matter which of our interpretations is more true, as long as we are broad-minded enough to accept that the writers for the show went with the version that they felt was most true and worked the best with the adaptation they were trying to create.  They were not writing these characters 'out of character' or from a place of ignorance. They just had their own interpretation of what Jordan wrote, and that interpretation is supported by the text.

[Andra]

43 minutes ago, WhiteVeils said:

 

<nods> It depends on how you read 'that'.  He loves her /not/ like a sister, and /not/ like "that".  Even if we presume "That" means romantically, the tiebreaker that shifts it to more 'romantic-like' than 'sister-like' is how he adds that he needs to qualify it with "but she and Rand...". 

If he truly loved her only like a sister and not at all romantically, her relationship with Rand would have no bearing at all and he wouldn't mention Rand.  Somehow her relationship with Rand impacts or alters Perrin's relationship with Egwene.  That would not be the case if it were purely platonic.

It really doesn't matter which of our interpretations is more true, as long as we are broad-minded enough to accept that the writers for the show went with the version that they felt was most true and worked the best with the adaptation they were trying to create.  They were not writing these characters 'out of character' or from a place of ignorance. They just had their own interpretation of what Jordan wrote, and that interpretation is supported by the text.

When this book came out, I had a good friend whose kids referred to me as their "uncle."

We were both in relationships with each other people when we first met (in my case with her female best friend), and as a result never had any romantic interest in each other - even after those other relationships ended.  But our close friendship remained.

I loved her "not like that," but also "not like a sister."

 

I had no problem whatsoever understanding what Jordan was writing there.

And it didn't imply romantic feelings between Perrin and Egwene any more than it did between Mat and Egwene.

 

Perhaps if Rand hadn't been around, Perrin and Egwene *might* have developed a romance of their own.  Just as I *might* have with my friend if I hadn't already been dating her BFF when we met.  But that didn't happen.

 

The possibility that something *might* have happened that never did, doesn't mean it was simmering under the surface somehow.

 

There's no tie-breaker here.  For whatever reason, Perrin had no romantic interest in Egwene.  He didn't think of her as a sister, but as a close friend.  Knowing that other people are in a relationship may be part of the reason you don't consider either of them romantically yourself.  But it doesn't mean you would suddenly do so if their relationship ended.  Because time has passed, and that window has closed.

[Mailman]

56 minutes ago, WhiteVeils said:

 

<nods> It depends on how you read 'that'.  He loves her /not/ like a sister, and /not/ like "that".  Even if we presume "That" means romantically, the tiebreaker that shifts it to more 'romantic-like' than 'sister-like' is how he adds that he needs to qualify it with "but she and Rand...". 

If he truly loved her only like a sister and not at all romantically, her relationship with Rand would have no bearing at all and he wouldn't mention Rand.  Somehow her relationship with Rand impacts or alters Perrin's relationship with Egwene.  That would not be the case if it were purely platonic.

It really doesn't matter which of our interpretations is more true, as long as we are broad-minded enough to accept that the writers for the show went with the version that they felt was most true and worked the best with the adaptation they were trying to create.  They were not writing these characters 'out of character' or from a place of ignorance. They just had their own interpretation of what Jordan wrote, and that interpretation is supported by the text.

 

The mentioning of Rand for me is more that the 3 boys where almost brothers in there relationships.

The not that way is very definite for me, I think you have to be looking/hoping for the relationship to see it any other way.

[WhiteVeils]

I was not looking/hoping for a relationship. I prefer non-romantic relationships between men and women.  But there was enough textual evidence for me to take this as, again, not a /current/ romantic relationship, and not a /past/ romantic relationship, but a relationship where Perrin would have liked to start a romantic relationship with Egwene at some point in the past if and only if Rand had not started a romantic relationship with Egwene first and if Perrin had been able to overcome his shyness about asking her before Rand did so.

That's not 'simmering under the surface'...The show doesn't even indicate that anything is 'simmering under the surface' or current.  All that time that Perrin is alone with Egwene he never once makes any romantic move towards her at all.  All it does is have Nynaeve make an incorrect observation about behaviors from years before.

 

But if you can't acknowledge that someone could have that point of view rather than 'never never ever possibly could think of the most beautiful girl in town in a romantic way how dare the show even hint that that could have happened!' I can't help you.  

[SinisterDeath]

1 hour ago, WhiteVeils said:

But if you can't acknowledge that someone could have that point of view rather than 'never never ever possibly could think of the most beautiful girl in town in a romantic way how dare the show even hint that that could have happened!' I can't help you.  

If Rand was never in the picture, Perrin would probably be in a prank war (Grumpy old Men style) with Mat over Egwene...

[Nik]

To be fair it seems like there are only a handful of kids in EF in the same age bracket. They probably all at least considered dating each other at one point lol. It's not like there are tons of options to go around.

 

My theory about that scene though is that there was supposed to be some other conflict (probably with Mat involved) and they lost Barney so they had to push this instead. It seems weird imo for Nynaeve to put her foot in her mouth like that, so I'd rather think it was a hurried rewrite. I guess we'll never know.

 

[wotfan4472]

Thanks Nik.

Now I have images in my head of Perrin and Mat having a prank off, and Egwene wants to knock their heads off them both because their pranks are backfiring on her.