What's up with the hate on Nynaeve?

[chiamac]

On 1/12/2026 at 12:43 AM, Sabio said:

Spanking was usually seen as an embarrassment/ humiliation.  Novices were spanked becuase they were viewed as children and that was how one disciplines a child.  It was rare for Accepted.  It wasn't something the Aiel went right to, it was usually something someone asked to be done.  When *forgot her name" was punished by the maidens for stealing, they welted her all over so she would itch, they didn't spank her as punishment.  

I think it was also used later on to that extent, to show how bad the white tower could be sometimes, in contrast to comments Tuon made in later books about damane treatment. In ways, both groups are similar to each other. Which to me is kind of the point of the whole book. No one single group is really any better than the others (well unless dark friends), they are all self interested and only really looking out for themselves. 



 

[chiamac]

On 12/27/2025 at 5:17 PM, CrescentoTWNR said:

I finished book five a day ago and went to see what other people were thinking about it online, and I've seen a lot of people voice their dislike of Nynaeve in this book. I don't know if I'm missing something because I really enjoyed Nynaeve's arc in the Fires of Heaven, and even at her worst I can't really see her as "bratty" or anything like people describe her to be.

I think a lot of it has to come from the only characters we see doing things at an expedited pace are the main characters out of the Two Rivers. So we get to see Nynaeve be herself for a while, then grow rapidly, and become extremely strong at the end of the books. 

I think some feedback about her and others could have been why New Spring was written. Because it puts the tower into another context, and somewhat shows that young sisters have been able to achieve great things in a short period of time.