How has your opinion of characters changed throughout the series?

[Rhienne]

So yes, basically what the title says.  Have the characters you love/hate changed as you progressed through the series, and in particular through their actions/role in AMoL? 

 

Some characters like Lan, Perrin, Aviendha, and Mat I haven't really changed my opinion on at all and have liked from the get-go, but others have gone massively in and out of favour for me.

 

Rand: found him kind of boring on my first read through and didn't look forward to his POVs.  In subsequent re-reads I have come to like him more and more, and feel immense sympathy/pity for him and the pressure he is under.

 

Egwene: Absolutely despised her from tEotW-FoH, then had her massively grow on me throughout LoC-tGS, found her very frustrating in ToM, and loved her in AMoL.

 

Nynaeve: Was my least favourite character in tEotW (I actually couldn't visualise her anything other than an aged harpy with twigs sticking out of her hair for some reason).  When I realised Lan was falling for her I thought there must be something good about her for one of my favourite characters to love her, and she grew on me throughout the series to the point that she is probably my favourite character.

 

Moiraine: Loved her on my first read, but now find her increasingly frustrating to read.  The more I like the Emond's Field characters the more I dislike her refusing to share information and trying to manipulate them (even though she had a very good cause).

 

Min: Had no strong opinion on her from tEotW-FoH, then increasingly disliked her from LoC-ToM.  I just felt she was getting in the way of everything, and endangering Rand more than helping him.  Didn't mind her too much in AMoL, but thought her role was a bit out of left field.

 

Elayne: Found her obnoxious and stuck up from tEoTW-ACoS and after that didn't mind her too much, apart from her episodes of insane recklessness while pregnant.  I actually like her a little more with each re-read.

 

Gawyn: Thought he was bland but ok up until tSR and then he was demoted to my least favourite character.

 

Galad: Insufferable until the end of the series, and then surprisingly awesome!

[Sanity's_Theif]

Rand: Always liked him, I got annoyed when chapters would pass without him in it in later books, I felt sympathetic for his situation, although I would've personally been hyped to find out I have crazy ass super powers haha, I started to dislike him in tGS, in the sense that, he's gone too far, but I always hoped he would become normal again, and when he did I was happy, I cried reading his funeral in aMoL

 

Mat: Have always loved this guy, he's just so damn entertaining, and despite what BS did with his character, I still like him in ToM

 

Perrin: Always liked him too, he's simple and straight-forward but that's his charm, plus he can talk to wolves and I love wolves(wolf is my spirit animal), the only thing that irritated me about him is how he's so careful not to hurt anyone too much

 

Egwene: Hated her starting with tSR, and I've hated her since, I've seen enoguh hate on her explained so I don't feel like I need to go into it much, even in aMoL I didn't like her, so when she died I didn't care

 

Nynaeve: Oh man, the queen *****, I hate her even more than Egwene, I remember the scene where Mat manages to get an apology from her and Elayne for pretty much ignoring his help in the Stone, she tried to strangle Mat, I wanted to strangle Nynaeve myself, I don't think I've ever hated a fictional character so much haha, I hated her a little less toward the end of the series when she started helping Rand

 

Elayne: Same as Nynaeve, but once she lightened up to Mat I started to like her and the crazy risks she would take, but I still found some of her political side annoying

 

Aviendha: Always liked her, well, not so much at first but afterwards I did

 

Min: Never had much of an opinion about her, I find some of the stuff she says hilarious sometimes

 

Any other characters I either never had a strong opinion about or it never changed

[Barid Bel Medar]

Good thread, I think this is the perfect type of thing for the end of the series, when the whole story has been told and the characters have come full-circle. I'm a bit busy at the moment, so I'll add my own list in later. But wanted to say good thread. 

[esvath]

Rand I like him and can symphatize with what he was going through. I cheered at Dumai's Well, since I perceived that event as his turning point as the real Dragon in the eye of the Randlanders. I understand why he became harder by each day, but I can't help feeling more and more detached from him. The ZenRand (or RandZen?) was similarly disconcerting, since I felt he became "meta-human". Fortunately that was a trick. I like him better at aMoL, with him showing some emotions etc. I love his and Elayne's scene at aMoL, but I think the ending is less strong than it should be.

 

Perrin was some bland character at the beginning, imho. After the middle books, my feeling for him become more complicated. I grew to love him at Emon's Field siege, but hated his weakness toward Faile. While I admire his leadership (and among the three ta'veren, I think he is the best leader), I also want to smack his head using all WoT volumes combined when he was mopping about Faile. I am forever thankful when the rescue-Faile arc was finished. I think I will symphatize with him better if only RJ explored more on his wolfish/dreamwalker tension, and less on Faile/marriage issue.

 

Mat? I don't like him, but that's maybe because I don't like persons with his characteristics in real life too. I often skipped his story arc and read him on my reread (yes, burn me, the infidel :p )

 

Nynaeve the bully! At first I hated her because of her bossiness and constantly puffing-and-pulling-her-braid attitude. I found her being bullied (usually by Aes Sedai) as a good karma for her (and comic relief too!). But she grew on me, and each step she made toward maturity, each step I made to start liking her. I truly liked her and happy for her when she almost drowned, able to embrace saidar truly, and met Lan. I love her when she helped Lan by raising the Golden Crane. After that point, she became my number one favorite character!

 

Egwene was a bland character in the beginning, but I saw how she embraced ji'e'toh seriously and upheld her honor during Aiel apprenticeship and started to like her. I admired how she took anything she did seriously. I think she would be a great Wise One. I like her as an Amyrlin but curse her decision in marrying Gawyn.

 

Elayne is one character that become worse and worse in my opinion. She was spoiled little princess who had everything wrapped in her little finger, I get that. But she became more obnoxious at the later point, and even continuously put herself in danger, at the cost of someone else's life! Not only once, but many times! If only Min's viewing on her turned to be some sarcastic foreshadowing (like Sheriam's).

 

Min is okay individually but I don't like her as Rand's love. I never understand why Rand chose to spend majority of his time with her.

 

Aviendha I like her since the beginning! It is too bad that her character was not developed more... I feel that she should become a Wise One right after she left Elayne and played greater role as the representative of the Aiel.

 

Moiraine oh I love her! Despite all of her scheming and meddling, she had dedicated all her life and more for the sake of the world.

 

Lan I don't have strong feeling for him at first, but after he showed more of himself (thanks to Nynaeve for that!), I started to like this guy. Lan and Nynaeve are the best couple in the book!

 

Cadsuane honorable mention. I don't like her. I understand what she was trying to do, and I think her mission was important, but still I don't like her.

[Rhienne]

Min is okay individually but I don't like her as Rand's love. I never understand why Rand chose to spend majority of his time with her.

I think you hit on why I started disliking Min in LoC - when she starts spending all her time with Rand.  I found her a bit possessive over him, and she seemed to lose her own character, becoming just an accessory to Rand.  I liked her more when she didn't care how she looked or what men thought of her.  I think she is a very realistic character but, for me, her role in the second half of the series didn't compare well with other characters in relationships who were able to put the greater good before their desire to be with their partner, e.g Nynaeve letting Lan go north to the Borderlands, and accepting that she couldn't go with him, and Egwene putting the White Tower and maintaining her position before her love for Gawyn.

 

Also, realised I hadn't put my feelings on Faile down.

 

Faile I really really couldn't stand her when she was introduced in the story.  Her jealousy was unbearable, and those scenes in the Ways made me want her to fall off a bridge.  She got some points back by bringing the people from Taren Ferry (?) to help in the Two Rivers battles.  I actually didn't mind the rescue plot too much, although I think the Berelain-Perrin-Faile triangle dragged on for far too long.  I didn't like that she could never trust Perrin.  I am more sympathetic on re-reads because I feel like some of her bizarre and infuriating behaviour is just her acting to Saldaean cultural norms rather than her deliberately trying to make things difficult for Perrin.  She was one of the characters who really went up in my estimation in AMoL.  I found the scene where she has to abandon Olver with the horn, and then tries to draw them away to distract them very moving.

[jack of shadows]

part 1:

rand-the ultimate hero and the heart of the wheel of time.

i liked him from the very start and my admiration for him only grew with each

passing year.(including the darth rand phase).he was saddled with a very difficult

job and was always surrounded by tons of "advisors"(aes sedai,kings,queens and

all kind of arselikers)circling endlessly around him like a wake of buzzards

it took me almost a year to finish a crossroad of twilight,and the sole reason i kept

plodding on after that book was rand al thor,this is the highest accolade i could give him.

 

nynaeve-if rand is the heart of the story,nynaeve is its soul.

in the beginning she did annoy me greatly like a stern big sister always scolding her

younger siblings.

in a memory of light,lan said:"rand al thor had began to crack that shell(his),and then

nynaeve's love had ripped it apart completely".

the same can be said about nynaeve's shell,lan's love and rand's friendship cracked it

wide open.

around winter heart i really started to like her and she became my second female favorite

in the story.

 

moiraine-this is a strange one.

i never really liked her,she was too bossy,too relentless,too manipulative,too..well, aes sedai.

i did feel a great sense of loss after the cairhienin docks incident not because moiraine was gone,

because lanfear was.

but,but...but two books later everything did change for me when grumpy granny did arrive hahaha.

(if you are still clueless,i am talking about the grandmother from hell cadsuane).

it was hate at first sight!!!!

suddenly i found myself longing to see moiraine working side by side the dragon reborn once again.

well,i guess i got my wish,rand and moiraine did reunite in a memory of light,and unfortunately i

still don't like her(sigh deeply).

she was absent from the story 17 years and nostalgia can sometimes play havoc on one's memory.

[Lord Ingtar Shinowa]

Egwene- I liked her a little through like the 6th book. And then she just started to go down help. I just reread the scene at the meeting in Merrilor and she is just such a self-confident, full of herself know it all brat. And Gawyn was like the worst guy in the series-he was so stupid. Why did she forgive him for what he did to the White Tower?! That decision to marry him alone made me hate her.

Elayne- Liked her at first but then she went down hill.

Aviendha- Same thing. If she had stayed a Maiden I would still have liked her. But the whole thing about her getting angry she wasn't a Wise One yet thing got me annoyed, even if she felt the right way.  

[Lord Ingtar Shinowa]

Perrin- Liked him at first, but when he lost Faile things got bad. I didn't like him until aMoL. 

[Daniel Boutcher]

Perrin - Loved. Then Faile came and I despised the chapters involving her and Perrin. AMoL though, Perrin became loved again.

 

Majority of female characters - I found their chapters the most grueling up until BS took over. I think Sanderson does a better job of writing women, giving them more dimensions.

 

On a similar topic, an arc that always made re-reads bog down and crawl to a stop for me is the 'travelling with the circus' arc. I don't know what it is, but I think that it just messes with the pacing too much.

[Elynde]

I will do a complete list later, but my two all-time favorites from start to end were Mat and Perrin.

 

Perrin - like the elder of my little brothers in look and mannerism (although my brother's eyes and hair are dark drown).  Big, strong, slow to speak, but very intelligent when it comes to people.  A big teddy bear who fears hurting others with his strength and size (ampliphied empathy here via memories of my own brother accidently breaking glasses as a teenager as his body grew faster than his refined control).  Perrin's only real differences are the wolves and his constant worries of how others percieve him.

 

My favorite side of Perrin's personality comes into his interactions with Faile.  Yes, I know most people hate her, but I think they hate her for taking Perrin off the market, so to speak.  Simply put, Perrin is most girls' dream man.  Strength and power tempered with courtesy and a simple, graceful wit that he is too innocent to realize he holds.  A wolf in blacksmith's clothing.

 

Mat - oh-so-very-much like the younger of my brothers, from lanky and lean, dark haired looks to a girl-swooning smile.  A gambler (brother loves cards and card tricks, but thankfully doesn't gamble real money), strategy (never play my brother at chess or cards, ever), and a infamous chaser of skirts.  This rogue of a character stole my heart, then dashed my hopes like a badger on the green at Beltine.  Again, so much like my bother.  (I remember every little trick my brother, the prankster, played on me growing up and dread the ever more complex tricks now that we live in a flat together.  Yet, he is the most loyal and truest friend I will ever have.  Yeah.  Just like Mat.)

 

Mat's personality shines through in every snide coment meant to scathe with stark honesty, and the dicotemy of running from his responsiblities while never shirking them completely.  Everyone needs a friend like Mat, to make them smile in the most dire of situations.  Someone to make you laugh through your complaints and smile at your own failings, because they can make each failing a strength.  Plus, I rather like Mat's sense of style.  It reminds me a tad too much of my dad wearing his old Stetson and duster, but with a bit of 1800's lace.

[jcb1234]

Rand: Seeing Rand's transformation throughout the series is incredible. By far my favorite character, just so much depth in him. He becomes the most powerful person in the world and does not want wealth, he just wants to get back to being normal. The pressure on him is enough to turn any man mad, even without the taint. I could see myself being great friends with Rand

 

Mat: After TSR, i loved him. Just my type of personality. If I had to chose one guy to hang out with on the weekends, it would be Mat

 

Perrin: Went from being shy to confident. Another great transformation throughout the series. A little creepy with his obsession with Faile. But talking to wolves is so badass.

 

Egwene: Hated her until she got captured by the White Tower. Then I liked her. A little too much of the Armylin's wrath and stuff like that though

 

Nynaeve: So annoying until she married Lan. Her scene when she went to the borderland to get people to go with Lan was one of the most emotional scenes in the whole series. Didn't like her role in aMoL though. Once she started hanging out with Rand she was able to shine

 

Elayne: Always liked her cause I just imagine her being the hottest girl ever (yeah, its a bit shallow). I always loved Rand's politcal scenes, but Elaynes were always a little dry. I loved her scenes with Dyelie though

 

Aviendha: Just so funny with her conversations with Rand.

 

Min: Always been neutral about her. Never found her annoying or awesome.

[Paul H]

Some quick thoughts on the three Two Rivers boys:

 

Rand:  I enjoyed reading about Rand less toward the end of the series, and I especially liked him less after the ending of AMoL.

 

Perrin:  I liked him a lot in the early books, but I liked him less and less as the series went on.

 

Mat:  I liked him more and more as the series went on.  I would say that he is probably the most interesting and most fun character in the series, and he truly grew as a character, while in some ways staying exactly the same.  Even in the slow chapters, he was fun to read about.

[BFG]

I liked Rand at the beginning, from about FoH I couldn't really like him, but I always sympathized with him.  He became a very interesting character to read in tGS, but less so afterwards.

 

Mat grew on me more and more, nuf said.

 

Perrin ebbed and waned with me.  Liked him in EotW, slipped until tSR (but limited specifically to that time) then slipped again until Towers, but never really reached the same heights as tSR.

 

Eg peaked for me as Rebel Amyrlin when she wasn't interacting with the other main characters. 

 

Nyn grew and grew and grew, I think her absolute peak was raising the Malkeri for Lan, but her testing for AS came a close second.

 

Faile I 'hated' right up until ToM.  Following her time as captive she showed a greater ability to empathise and seemed more thoughtful of the traditions and culture of those around her.  She had a high point in tSR, but Towers through Memory was my favorite period for her

[mbuehner]

Great thread, and I came pretty close to just giving Rhienne a +1 on her takes, but why not:

 

Rand Great, great character arc. That, to me, is what will hold up from these books. It really felt like getting to know someone as a boy and watching him struggle and grow and have setbacks but ultimately pull through. Even liked his LTT 'meld' in VoG, the idea that he finally gained peace with the notion that he was LTT, but he was moreso Rand and had been raised better. Gold.

Perrin I was always up and down with Perrin. Some of my all time favorite scenes were his blacksmithing POVs. Some of the most boring, i'll probly always skip over scenes were his. Waaaay too long an arc with Slayer, and not sure I can ever forget him missing his chance to kill Graendal before she could corrupt the captains and wipe out so many at SG. Good work, you couldn't kill a woman, so thousands other women plus countless men died for it.

Faile Fine in small doses. She allowed that classic showdown between Perrin and Bashere, can't forget that. Her abduction arc was way too long and boring but that's hardly her fault. Her AMoL arc was ridiculous, but again, she didn't write it. She was grating at times, but wonderful too (think climax of the Battle of Emonds Field). In small doses.
 

Mat Classic great character, loved his place in the universe. Gambler, Son of Battles, tough to beat those nick names that even the Heroes know you by. Sanderson couldn't get his personality right to save his life (he must be humor impaired) but that didn't ruin Mat for me. Other characters reacting to Mat was always the best stuff anyway.

 

Tuon Im not gonna call her Fortuna, just like im not gonna call the DO by his given name, and im not gonna call Matt Knutsacky or whatever it is. I refuse to be that guy. Other than that, she was ok.

Nynaeve Disliked her intensely early on. She was as reckless as Elayne and as unwilling to learn her lesson. Until she did. The ride across the Borderlands was indeed epic. By the end i think she was a power unto herself. As strong as she started she grew stronger and wiser.

Egwene I never hated Egwene (aside from her abetting the idiocies of Nynaeve and Elayne anyway) and post Salidar I thought she was spot on. She took measured risks for important gains, something the other wonder girls didn't learn for a long time (if ever).

 

Gawyn Nobody is this stupid and self involved.

Elayne I liked her early on and she ultimately became my very least favorite. Reckless, headstrong, hey, lets not put too fine a point on it- she's stupid. Putting her in ultimate command at the last battle had to be the biggest case of Yokoism in the history of time and space.

Min I liked Min early, liked her a lot mid-way, and basically thought she checked out for the finale. Sure she helped out with the Seachan and made good with her Calandor theories, but you lost that intense, devil may care love for Rand she displayed the rest of the series. It just kinda went Poof. Would the Min of KoD have let Moridin-Rand walk off at the end, without dropping everything and pushing anybody in her way to get to him? Just an odd turn that suddenly it seems she feels its her job to guide the Seanchan onto the straight and narrow. Old Min- you people deal with it yourselves, me and my man have done PLENTY.

Aviendha Ehh. I always felt she was dispensable. All her sneaking about and whatnot just grew more irritating as time went on. Putting her in charge at SG instead of Cadsuane was another case of abject stupidity by Rand for his ladies.

Moiraine Loved her as much as everybody, but her finale was actually boring. She deserved to shine one last time (and maybe solve a few of the most nagging riddles). Glad she got Thom but would have expected more.

Lan Pretty much perfect, from start to finish.

 

Thom Always enjoyed him and I think he reached his potential and got his happily ever after.

Cadsuane I love this character. You love her or you hate her, but you can't ignore her. Unless youre writing AMoL of course. She proved herself the equal of any forsaken, any channeler, even LTT feared and respected her. I don't know how she managed to get shunted off to obscurity in the LB, but it sucked. The epilogue helped though. I can forgive a lot for that epilogue.

[jack of shadows]

part 2-rand's three lovers.

 

min-had no strong opinion about her one way or another until the darth rand phase.

in my opinion,min saved rand's life,or at least tipped the scale in favor of light,love,and life.

she was the only one who stood by him in his darkest hour,not elayne nor aviendha shared rand's

pain the same way she did.

one poster wrote that min loved rand the best,not the most but the best-i completely agree with it.

 

elayne-my least favorite out of rand's three lovers.

i liked her up until a crown of swords,she did form a good partnership with nynaeve on three

different mission,but everything did go downhill from the moment she arrived to caemlyn and

became queen,it was one bad decision after another,half-baked plans,carelessness,recklessness etc.

i was happy with her role in a memory of light.

 

aviendha-oh i like that girl,in fact, i like her a lot.

rand ,min and elayne are andorans,aviendha is aiel,so not only we do have a love story between

two warriors,we also have culture clashes(very comical sometimes) between our two protagonists.

i never changed my mind about aviendha,and her role in a memory of light as rand's guardian

is fitting and wonderful.

[PhoenixUK]

Nynaeve was VERY annoying for most of the books. It isn't until she runs off with Rand that I started to truly like her character (she had some great moments fighting Moghedien, and the way she kept calm during the Seanchan occupation of Falme was incredible, but that was overshadowed by her bossiness and pride for most of the books). First she swallowed her pride and went with Cadsuane, to find out about her terangreal so she could help Rand during WH, then she single handedly kept Rand from tottering off into psychosis during TGS, and again swallowed her pride to get Cadsuane's help for Rand, and finally the part where she tells Egwene that she would rather leave the White Tower and all the power she has begun to enjoy from her Aes Sedai status, rather than stop helping people. 

 

Rand + LTT = dull character for last two books, we basically lost the original Rand at that point. 

 

Elayne. She was a reasonable character until she was raised Aes sedai in LOC then she went downhill. 

[Elynde]

Okay...  Now for me to do a proper post.  I appoligise for the earlier post rambling like that.  I guess you can tell who my favorite characters are. 

 

Rand - I developed an interesting love/hate relationship with the Dragon, dreading his sections during his cold phase, but loving all the other mentions.  He was decidedly my favorite in the first few books, but his tendancy to push everyone away (while understandable) pushed me away as a reader.

 

Faile - I actually liked her, even during the long rescue arc.  She brought out the best in Perrin, pushing him to do the best he could.  As to forcing her views of lordship on Perrin....  Well...  He could have always left her, but love means compromising with your partner.  Sometimes that means taking on a bigger job than you would have alone.

 

Mat - My favorite from start to end.  Like I said earlier, everyone needs a friend like Mat.

 

Tuon  - Gah.  How my favoirte character ended up marrying my least favorite I will never know.  Was she innocent of the Damane issue?  Yes and no.  She was a victim of her culture as much as the Damane.  However, her insufferable, stubborn refusal to adjust to Andoran-style life was more than a little annoying.  COMPROMISE!  You married the guy, Tuon!  Call him by the name he prefers and quit belittling the man!  Sheesh.

 

Nynaeve - I liked her, although the braid tugging often got annoying.  She was a tad set in her ways and overprotective at first, but she did grow into an interesting character that I wish had a better showing in AMoL.  Her shining moment was decidedly flying the White Crane in support of Lan.  And Healing the madness.  And cleansing Sadin.  ....  It is a long list of accomplishments.

 

Egwene - I loved her at first, then grew to dislike her.  Everyone else grew by leaps and bounds, but she seemed to revert quite a ways in the last two books.  Fighting Rand every step of the way wasn't smart and nearly ruined the Last Battle for everyone.  She shown bright as a star in taking the Tower, but never learned to let people live their own lives.  Not everyone is a part of a WT plot, and not everyone likes to be danced on AS strings.

 

Gawyn - He grew on me as the story progressed.  Never a favorite, but not despised either.

 

Galad - Light, man!  Nothing is that black and white.  Ever!

 

Elayne - Think political drama and too stubborn for her own good.  The amount of times she endangered her unborn babes annoyed me to no end, but I did like her scenes with her warder.

 

Min - Most likable female in the series, in my opinion.

 

Aviendha - Most independant girl in the series, if a little mule-headed.

 

Moiraine - Liked her at first, then disliked her.  She really needed to trust the Two Rivers boys more.

 

Lan - Loved him.

 

Thom - Tripple loved the master bard and his musthache.

 

Cadsuane - Finally!  A matron figure done right!

[Daniel Boutcher]

I think I started liking Nynaeve around the time she stopped tugging on her braid 

[balefireruinssteaks]

I always tried to envision myself interacting with these people, and that's how I gauged whether I liked them or not, haha.  (plus how they were written which kind of feeds into that) - like an interview with Myriam Margolys (Professor Sprout from Harry Potter) on her take of the movie "The Social Network" - "I absolutely hated that movie, I thought all the characters were complete ***holes, all of them.  It was beautifully acted! But you didn't want to spend any time with any of the people in the movie!" - hahaha.  So anyway:

 

Rand - I enjoyed Rand's journey throughout the book.  He had to accept that while everyone around him could plan their lives in this world, his duty to the world was to die for it in order to save it.  He had to come to grips with the idea that everything he knew about himself was wrong and had to redefine what things like "family" and "friendship" meant to him.  He thought his parents were Tam and Kari al'Thor, but then he found out he was from a royal line and an Aiel line.  That must have been crazy, apart from learning that he could channel with no one to teach him and the likelihood that he was going to go insane.  A heavy burden which I think he did the best he could with.  I liked Rand and I was frustrated with him when he got too arrogant, and then happy when he humbled down a little.  "A king must be as moral as a hurricane, empty but for the force of its gale" - Ilyria (but I was happy that he was able to learn how to laugh and cry again)

 

Mat - probably one of my favourite characters in the book.  I like the mischevious guys.  He didn't follow rules, but he had a deep sense of honour that was unique to him and recognized by those who knew him.  ("Mat is Mat, but if he makes a promise, he always keeps it") I think I had a fantasy that he and I went out drinking a lot.  He seems the type I'd enjoy drinking with.

 

Perrin - I liked Perrin overall, but I get so frustrated when straight guys get all obsessed with the girl that they are with.  I know that commitment is essential for a relationship, but when you invest your own identity into being a "couple" then it gets irritating.  "I don't know, I have to check with my wife" kind of stuff, it's like "uuuuuuugh whatever".  I don't blame Faile for that, I just think it was the way Perrin viewed relationships and marriage, but it annoyed me.  He put so much at stake just to rescue Faile, and ignored the well-being of everyone around him at times.  I like Perrin a lot - he's a big muscly teddy bear with a deep sense of what is right and wrong.  I liked his struggle to accept what was wolf and what was human in him, I identified with that.  So it was I like him - he's so annoying! - I like him! for me.

 

Egwene - I liked Egwene, I don't care what anyone says.  I thought her character was well written and the only thing that changed for me was how her attitude changed when she became Aes Sedai.  She definitely took on the "Aes Sedai know everything" point of view when her journey should have taught her the exact opposite.  Everything she learned from the Aiel and Windfinders and other cultures with channelers in them should have helped her see that Aes Sedai quite often were arrogant and misled, but she didn't seem to learn that.  It was one of her flaws, I thought.

 

Elayne - I liked her in the beginning, but she was SO annoying by the end of the series.  I'm like "uggggh, have those babies already...pregnant Elayne is getting on my nerves".  I like that she rediscovered how to make ter'angreal, but mostly I found her to be a source of frustration for me - especially how she was just hell bent on never accepting Galad as a part of her family.  Get over it already, even Siuan Sanche was like "stop being such a child"

 

Aviendha - I think she was someone I increasingly grew to like.  Her character matured so much and I loved all the POVs from Aviendha.  I just enjoyed watching her grow from a Maiden to a Wise One, and I don't think she ever really became a character that thought she knew everything.  She really thought she knew very little, but learned from her experiences in life and in Rhuidien that she was, in fact, growing in wisdom.  She still listened to other Wise Ones and I think she just really embodied a great character.

 

Min - I liked Min until she pulled a Perrin.  Girls can be just as annoying when they lose their identity in being a "couple".  I liked her independence and how she rough-housed and had her own opinions.  Then she fell in love with Rand and she just became an adjunct to his character.  Even her elevation to Doomseer was lacking because she'd spent so much time NOT being independant that it just looked out of place.  I think EOTW Min would have been a better Doomseer than AMOL Min.  I did enjoy her sudden philisophical side, though.  I like that she was intellectually smart.

 

Faile - I don't know, I kind of liked Faile.  I like a spirited woman.  When I figured out that most of her behaviour had to do with (1) being a noble and (2) being Saldean, her character made a lot more sense to me.  I don't think she had a lot of character growth; she seemed to be relatively the same Faile throughout the series, but I did enjoy her scenes and how sneaky she tried to be.  I like that she accepted Perrin as Perrin and that she was in her own way a fierce warrior.  "Don't growl at me, boy, she'd probably smile to hear I called her a leopard!" hahaha.

 

Gawyn - Ewwwwwwww.  I thought he would be cool at the beginning, but I was SO disappointed.  The main things I hated about Gawyn was that he just accepted the rumour that Rand killed his mother, and that he put on those bloody rings at the end when he KNEW that it would kill him.  I thought that was so ill-thought-out.  Even Demandred laughed at him.  I think his character could have been a lot more intense and great, but all in all I just didn't like Gawyn.

 

Galad - hehe, but I loved Galad.  And not just because he was a Hottie McBody.  I like his scenes and his oblivion to the way people around him perceived him.  What he considered important was his duty, and his sense of right and wrong.  I like that the other characters frustrated him to no end because of those things, and I think it would have been nice to see a sort of closure to the things Morgase was talking about...how she should have spent more time teaching him that the world was not just black and white.  I'm not sure if he ever really got that, but I did enjoy his character.

 

Cadsuane - I really really really really liked her at first.  I thought when the writing style changed, Cadsuane's character changed as well and that left me a little disappointed.  I loved her entrance in Crown of Swords.  (she put her finger under Narishma's chin and moved his face back and forth..."what lovely eyes" she murmurred - hahahaha!) and all the things she said to Rand that made him crazy.  "Where I learn anything is none of your business, boy...now, what makes you think you can tell me what to do?" hahahha.  But the scene where Rand banishes her just did not fit her character.  She was terrified and scared and couldn't find her words or anything.  That just wasn't Cadsuane to me.  I'm not sure how that scene would have gone, but I just don't see her as an Aes Sedai who in that situation would dissolve like she did.  Mostly, though, at the end I think that last scene got her right.  (Well...she could leave this sham of a funeral, then - hehe) So all in all it was like a like-not sure-aaaaah, like! kind of emotion for Cadsuane.

 

There ya go!

[hatsoff]

Rand - I really like Rand's character.  Pre-Callandor, he was just a cool guy who had some amazing adventures.  Then once he took the Stone of Tear he became a truly noble ruler, founding schools and championing human rights, but never sacrificing strength.  Then the madness began to overwhelm him, and he turned into a badass with zero patience.  After he was cured somehow (???) it was neat to see his kindness come back.

 

Mat - Without doubt, Mat is my favorite character in the series.  Really, what needs to be said about him?  He was so awesome in every way---devious but noble, funny but smart, easy-going, etc.  What's not to like?

 

Perrin - At first I liked Perrin, but in the middle of the series I spent some time disliking him.  He just seemed way too mopey and negative, and I didn't like his relationship with Faile (nor Faile herself).  But then I was really impressed when he finally admitted to himself that he was a complicated person whose problems don't all come from the wolves.  At the end I really liked him more than ever, and his battle with Isam was classic!

 

Egwene - She was an interesting character whose POV was always welcome when it came along.  But she made some choices that really bothered me, and kept me from relating to her very much.  For instance I strongly disapproved of her lying to the Wise Ones.  And even though I thought she was right to oppose Elaida, she was still wrong to go about it the way she did (as were the other rebels).  And there were other things she did that bothered me, too.  But I never disliked her, exactly.  She just was a bit distant, and unrelatable.

 

Nynaeve - Nynaeve is my second-favorite character in the series.  And again, not much needs to be said here.  She is obviously an awesome person in every way!

 

Moiraine - I always felt like Moiraine's personality was hidden from me, behind an Aes Sedai mask.  But that seems appropriate.  Moiraine was a legend while she was alive, a legend while she was presumed dead, and then still a legend when she finally returned.  And legends need a bit of mystique.

 

Lan - Here is another really cool guy.  I loved him from start to finish, and he always made great choices.

 

Elayne - At times I liked her but other times she just made me cringe with her childishness.

 

Min - She was cool, and I always enjoyed her POV.

 

Aviendha - With the exception of Rand and Gaul, I was never a big fan of any of the Aiel, including Aviendha.  She just seemed too caught up in her own strange customs, and I could never relate to her very well.

 

Siuan - She was a stern but likable character, from start to finish.  It saddened me to see her die.

 

Verin - What an awesome gal!  Tomas too.  Those two made the perfect darkfriends fighting for the Light.

 

Cadsuane - I was wary of this one at first, and then later I saw her for the manipulative jerk she was.  But I still liked her somewhat, since she tried to do good.  She just failed miserably, as Rand put it.

 

Loial - I always loved Loial, and felt awful when Rand yelled at him early in the series.  It was great to get to see him fight Trollocs too.

 

Faile - As mentioned above, I really disliked Faile at first.  Oddly, I think my opinion may have been influenced by her physical description, which was always given in a negative light.  Towards the end I stopped disliking her, but I still never really liked her.  Instead I just sort of accepted her for what she is.

 

Thom - Who doesn't love this guy?  When I was a teenager some buddies of mine joked around about giving goofy names to their manhood.  So I went along, paying homage to good ol' Thom Merrilin.  My wife doesn't quite know what to make of that.

 

Tuon - At first I disliked Tuon, but after a while I came to appreciate her, during her captivity.  She was never one of my favorites though.

 

Elyas - He was cool, but kept himself too aloof for me to really like as a person.

 

Galad - At first he was distant, but as I saw him more I grew to love him.  He was awesome as a whitecloak!

 

Gawyn - Someone else mentioned that Gawyn was too self-involved, and that is probably true.  But I only very slightly disliked him.

 

Noam - Jain Farstrider as an old man is still Jain Farstrider.  This guy rocked!

 

Talmanes - I wish I could have gotten to know him better.  He seemed like he would have been such a cool guy, but I couldn't see very far past his Cairhienen facade.

 

Androl and Pevara - These two were perfect together.  I loved getting to see their psychic connection.

 

I had better stop there.  I could keep going for lots longer.

 

[Suttree]

Cadsuane - I was wary of this one at first, and then later I saw her for the manipulative jerk she was.  But I still liked her somewhat, since she tried to do good.  She just failed miserably, as Rand put it.

Errmm no she didn't. She saved his life multiple times over and had his back harder than almost anyone in the series. She also was responsible for his VoG moment even if it took a lucky break at the end.

 

ToM

"I was broken," Rand said, hands behind his back. "And then, remarkably, I was reforged. I think he almost had me, Egwene. It was Cadsuane who set me to fixing it...

 

Her diagnosis of Rand was spot on:

 

 

 

"The boy confuses them," she said. "He needs to be strong, and makes himself harder. Too hard, already, and he will not stop until he is stopped. He has forgotten how to laugh except in bitterness; there are no tears left in him. Unless he finds laughter and tears again, the world faces disaster. He must learn that even the Dragon Reborn is flesh. If he goes to Tarmon Gai'don as he is, even his victory may be as dark as his defeat."

 

- The Path of Daggers, New Alliances

 

 

She doesn't suffer fools but if you notice she is always trying to better those around her. She is a throwback to what AS should be. Good breakdown of her actions here.

 

http://13depository.blogspot.com/2010/03/winters-heart-read-through-post-7-about.html

[Paul H]

She doesn't suffer fools but if you notice she is always trying to better those around her. She is a throwback to what AS should be. Good breakdown of her actions here.

 

http://13depository.blogspot.com/2010/03/winters-heart-read-through-post-7-about.html

 

 

That's a great blog post about Cadsuane.  Thanks for posting the link!

[lilltempest]

Rand: I liked him from the start, and always sympathized with him. The more he suffered, the more I felt for him. It really pained me to see him tortured, by others and by himself, and I couldn’t stand when another character treated him like crap. He’s a good guy, and before he found out about his destiny, I thought he seemed like a young version of Tam – a solid, dependable guy who could have fun but was almost a calming influence. There were times I wanted to reach into the book and thump him in the head, but he never stopped being one of my favorite characters. I also think he’s a really good judge of character (when he’s not nuts). I think he and Nynaeve are a lot alike in some ways. I think he’d be a good friend to have, and, though he’s a bit too docile for my tastes, would be a good partner to any girl lucky enough to nab him. I just wish he had stayed with Min and gotten rid of the other two…

 

Nynaeve: Unlike everyone else around here, it seems, I liked her from the start. Maybe it’s due to the fact that I began reading the series after CoT came out, and was not a teeny bopper when I began the series, but whatever the case, I understood her character. A lot of the things people hated about her were either misconceptions or because she was desperately trying to hide her own insecurities. Her foul-temperedness was more a ruse than anything else. Unlike *some* characters, who had all sorts of laws that they could fall back on to force people to show her a modicum of respect, Nynaeve had nothing other than to make a show of being a terror. As young as she was when she got thrust into the position of Wisdom, it’s no wonder she chose that route. Her bossiness isn’t some deep-seated desire to control everyone, but rather a desire to help and protect the people she cares about. Given that she lost both of her parents at a young age and had no other family, it’s no wonder she’s so fiercely protective of the TR crew, since she sees them as her “charges” or siblings, at the very least. She’s strong, but she’s easily hurt. She’s also a very good judge of character, but hilariously blind to her own qualities. She considers herself to be a coward, but doesn’t understand that the very thing of which she’s ashamed – being afraid, but doing what she thinks must – is what makes her so courageous. Courage is doing something despite your fears, whereas doing something when you’re self-certain and confident you won’t fail isn’t courageous or all that impressive, either. Nynaeve never got that, and that is one reason why others found her so easy to bully later in the series. I don’t think she was truly confident in herself, or secure with herself, until after her testing at the WT. As crappy as it was for Egwene and the AS to do that to her – they were basically trying to kill her, toward the end – I really think it helped her. She realized she didn’t need the Aes Sedai, that she didn’t need acceptance from everyone, that she genuinely liked helping people no matter what, and that her family was more important than any ring or anything that went along with it.

 

Lan:  I teetered on him. I liked him to begin with, disliked him for breaking Nynaeve’s heart, thought he was an a$$hole of large magnitudes when he told Rand to tell Nynaeve he was with someone else, and wanted to slap him for acting like he cared more for his dead leash-holder (Moiraine) than for his wife. Honestly, aMoL made me like him more. At least it became obvious that he really loved Nynaeve and deserved her. Plus, he was a mega badass. I thought it was fitting when he killed Demandred. I didn’t not think the two strikeouts first was necessary, however. I’d have liked to have seen Galad hand the reins to him after Gawyn’s death, realizing that Lan was far more suited to face Demandred than he. But it worked…

 

Perrin: I liked him a lot up until Faile entered the picture, then found him to be an annoying jerk. I blamed it on Faile, which was not fair. Perrin was just having…issues. I wanted someone to smash his smug face in when he got in Rand’s face about the Aes Sedai not being treated like goddesses (despite the fact that they kidnapped Rand and tortured him). I grew to like him again, eventually.

 

Faile: I hated her because she “ruined” Perrin, then I realized Perrin ruined Perrin and Faile was just young. She is one of the only two women (Nynaeve being the other) that is not afraid of her man being strong and, truthfully, wants her man to be strong. She wants Perrin to stand up to her when she needs it and is not intimated by his strength. Rather, she sees that having a strong man can make her stronger as well. It is actually a nice change from the typical WoT female attitude of “my man had better be an obedient lapdog or I’ll make his life utter hell!”.

 

Mat: Didn’t like him up until he got Healed from the dagger’s effects, then really began to like him. When he went with Tuon, I began disliking him at times. Never liked his attitude toward Rand. I kinda feel sorry for him, honestly, Being married to Tuon would be like being married to a komodo dragon…he never knows when it’s coming, but sooner or later, she’ll probably kill him. At the very least, she’ll treat him like crap since that just seems to be her way.

 

Elayne: Sometimes she was tolerable. Other times, I found her to be an annoying, entitled little twit who thought too much of herself and wasted other people’s lives when it suited her needs. Most of my problems with her revolve around her attitude toward Mat (“you’re my subject, kneel before Zod!”), her thoughts about Rand and her lack of gratitude for him saving her country from Rahvin, and her land/power grabbing toward the end of the series. I think she’s a good example as to why people feared Aes Sedai taking thrones – as soon as she has hers, she’s aiming for more power. Not a good sign at all.

 

Aviendha: I thought she was meh in the beginning. I still think she’s meh.

 

Min: The only one of Rand’s ladies I liked with him, but there were even times with her that I wanted Rand to tell her to piss off, like when she began betraying his trust to Cadsuane. Which brings me to…

 

Cadsuane: I hated her from the time she made her entrance until the last couple of books. I was convinced she meant to force Rand to be an AS lapdog, and was merely training him to “obey” her commands so she could control him for the Last Battle. I was wrong about that, though I still find her treatment of him to be disgusting. I think I actually genuinely liked her when she stood behind him at the Merrilor meeting and Perrin “smelled” that she was proud of Rand. That made up for some of her annoying attitude, and I realized she really wanted to help him, not control him.

 

Galad: At times, it was hard not to like the guy. I would’ve liked to have seen him and Rand talking about the fact that they were brothers. I think he’d have been a good brother to Rand.

 

Gawyn: A waste of space from beginning to end. He was trained from birth to be a mindless servant to a woman, and it made him warped in the head. I was glad when he got his ass handed to him by Demandred. It was a fitting end, and my secret hopes turned out to be correct: marrying Egwene brought him a bloody, violent end, but if he had killed the twit, he would’ve died happily in bed.

 

 And, finally,

 

Egwene: I disliked her as soon as she made her entrance in the first book. I recognized her for what she was – a born politician in every sense of the word, a user and a suck-up, who would shove her nose up the ass of the nearest person with power so she could soak them dry and trample over their corpses on her way to the next level up. While I understood her dislike of being told what to do, she lacked the qualities that make someone a decent human being, in my book. That Rand didn’t want to tell her what he had seen was very telling, in my opinion…she was clearly the type who was disdainful of anything anyone else said and thought she knew everything. When the kids’ version of tEotW came out, I read the prologue and found that it confirmed my feelings about her. She was all ambition and little else. As the series progressed, I went from disliking her character to flat out hating her. She is a horrible excuse for a friend (her treatment of Nynaeve is inexcusable, no matter what delusions she has about Nynaeve not treating her with “proper respect”, which to her seems to be Nynaeve face down on the ground licking her boots and telling her she’s perfect, and her attitude toward Rand is no better). She is a hypocrite at almost every turn, damning people for doing things she herself does and manages to excuse out of “necessity”. She is just as blind to herself as Nynaeve is to herself, but it is not endearing in her at all because she lacks Nynaeve’s compassion and warm heart. Unless you submit to her completely, and always do what she wants without question or comment, she is one heartless, cold bitch. She’s not the type of person who could ever be a real friend to anyone, and definitely not the type you could give an inch to without her taking your whole damned head off, and she is almost cartoonish in her arrogance and know-it-allism. All in all, I find her detestable and, with the exception of one or two scenes where she seems to magically transform into a somewhat tolerable person with a heart, never found all that much about her that was redeeming.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Alright, I have been meaning to do this one for a while. Here it is: 

 

Rand: I always liked and sympathised with him in every book. From the moment he finds out Tam is not his real father, to channeling, madness and nearly tipping over. His progressive psychosis wasn't a source of frustration. I just felt sorry for him. He did things that were silly, harsh and over the top, but his intentions were always good, even in his darkest moments. I even liked his "Dark Rand" phase. If it wasn't specifically denoted by RJ and various prophecies, or linked with the TP warp and crap, his actual feelings made sense. He was sick of the world and the Pattern pushing him. He wanted to do his bit and die - to be at peace. Normally, this isn't innately bad - unfortunately for Rand, he was up against the DO, which made a "lighter" mindset crucial. The feelings themselves were perfectly understandable. Post-VoG Rand was strange. He was on the right track plot-wise, but became much too apologetic. He needed to retain some of the hardened edge - which he eventually learned to combine with his "light" side. It is strange, because I was far more sympathetic and tolerable of tGS Rand than ToM or aMoL Rand. 

 

Mat: Really, Mat didn't become a character until tDR, before that he was basically a Shadar Logoth puppet, and we didn't get much of him. Even still, I liked him in the first two books. Even under the daggers influence, and all his complaining and paranoia, he still managed to remain a decent guy. TDR - he got progressively more interesting and enjoyable. He hit his peak for me in CoT, when he was courting Tuon. I feel we saw the best of Mat at that time. KoD - he remained likeable (tone change issues aside) but a little too sympathetic to the Seanchan - via Tuon. In aMoL he didn't show any of his previous flair, and was more subdued becoming the Seanchan commander. He was still there, but not like Mat in his prime. 

 

Perrin: As with his personality, he always remained a solid character, there were no major leaps in my opinion of him. I always liked him as a solid, nice guy. His problems were dragged out, and it did get a little dull at times, but my core opinion of him never changed. He was still the same Perrin, just one who had to adapt. ToM Perrin certainly things got interesting, and I was happy to see him make progress, but again, he never really changed dramatically, he remained himself and adapted to the situation. 

 

Egwene: She is like the Counter-Perrin. While Perrin remained himself and adapted through stubborn morality - and no doubt ta'veren help - Egwene's journey was schizophrenic. She was the metaphorical chameleon of the group. Similarly, my opinion of her was never clear. One minute she could be totally awesome, the next, totally stupid. She could have amazing insight one sentence, then the next, show extreme mental density. She changed herself to adapt to her ideal. Which changed many times, according to who she was with. At first, I liked her very much, mostly for Rand's sake, as she was the only one who stuck by him. Then when she went to the Aiel, it depended on which sentence I was reading. One moment I am absolutely disgusted with her behaviour - her treatment of Nynaeve in TaR. Then she turns awesome again - releasing Logain. Her finest moments definitely came in tGS, and she was incredibly awesome. But her awesomeness became more of a plot thing than an emotional thing. After about PoD, I found I had stopped caring about her as a "person". I never felt sick with sympathy like I did with the earlier Egwene, captured by the Seanchan. I became totally detached from her person, that I saw her as a plot-point rather than an actual person. Thus, from PoD onwards, all her triumphs and tragedies didn't make me feel. I was happy that the Seanchan got beat back. I was happy that Egwene became true Amyrlin and ousted the Shadow. But never for her as a person. It was like she became a robot in my mind. Glad when it performed it's duties, but when it shut down (died), all I felt was "Good job, you performed your tasks well." 

 

Nynaeve: I'm going  by my most recent re-reads with this, so I'm not including my 16 year old memories. As a 16yo boy, I obviously sympathised with Rand Mat, Perrin and Egwene at the start, and Nynaeve was more of a Cenn Buie character, rather than someone to take seriously. Of course, that started to change as I read onwards, but my first read wasn't a good example. Now that I am a bit older, I have to say, I like Nynaeve from start to finish. As with all of the characters, there are moments of frustration. Particularly the middle books where she is at the height of her stubbornness. But I always liked her. The only time I don't is with her mid-series interactions with Mat. Which I found to be more of a comic-relief gag than actual interaction. EotW-FoH Nynaeve, I felt for her, and liked her. From then until her block is removed, she becomes a caricature. No-block onwards, she becomes one of my favourite characters. 

 

Lan: Lan has always been a mix. EotW, he wasn't really a person for me. Just the muscle of the group to teach the boys and fend of the harder enemies. When his story starts to develop end-EotW onwards, I began to like him. I liked when he gives Rand advice on meeting Suian, and teaching Rand how to stand up as a man ( or however he puts it) along with his other teachings, like sheathing the sword and the way he empathises and helps Rand see his duty. Both of them face a bleak future of almost certain death. In that, they bond and Rand learns a lot. I also liked Nynaeve's effect on him, where he learns to be a person rather than a weapon. Counter to Nynaeve's moment of awesome in the "Golden Crane" moment, it was at that point Lan began to annoy me. He continued to annoy me with his pointless death-ride nonsense. He finally became awesome again when Alegmar sets him straight and tells him he is being a selfish ass. When he stops trying to get himself skewered by a Trolloc pike and actually starts trying to save lives and win the war, he reaches his peak. Although I didn't like the specifics of Lan v Demandred - (them talking like it's a 19th Century play, chatting about pertinent philosophical points while in the middle of a duel to the death- It would have been much better had Demandred exclaimed once or twice, and Lan remained silent the whole time. Then when Demandred sees his "opening" rejoices, and Lan simply smiles - cue the rest) anyway, apart from that, I liked the idea of the whole thing, and the event itself was good. 

 

Moiraine: A popular character, and it is said many times, people forget or simply forgive her early behaviour because of her later awesomeness. That is not the case with me. I always liked Moiraine. Her scheming, secretive ways all the way to her heroics. She never faltered in her dedication. Always, her actions were to fight against the DO, for the good of Rand, and the good of the world. As Aes Sedai, Cadsuane and Moiraine are my favourites, but Moiraine takes the top. Unlike Cadsuane, she shows a willingness to bend, to suffer humiliation when she believes it is worth it. This sets her apart. 

 

Cadsuane: Speaking of the Green, as I said, an exemplary example of an Aes Sedai. She doesn't put up with most of the crap the others go on with. She is old-school and dedicated to her purpose. She puts her own life on the line and dedicates herself to Rand, saving him several times. Similar to Moiraine, but with the one difference. She adapts within her own limits. Outside those limits, she forces others to adapt. She has a larger limit range than most, so she adapts very well. But when confronting something that is out of her range - like the Dragon Reborn's Two Rivers stubbornness and insanity- things get messy. Her intentions were good - and prophetic plot-armour gave her a great deal of immunity - but she lost control. Of course, plot-armour (or poor writing, whichever you subscribe to) made things turn out right in the end. Nevertheless, she made a mess of things, and luck saved the day. In that, her unwillingness to bend - and I don't mean to say she should have grovelled at Rand's feet - for the greater good, sets her a step below. She wanted to help Rand, but wanted to do it on her own terms.

 

Elayne: She was the beautiful, kind princess who falls in love with the main character for the first 3 books. Perfectly likeable. I liked her even in her travelling days with Nynaeve. When she started the fight for the Throne, and got herself pregnant, she became annoying. With a perfectly good reason, being an emotionally unstable monarch tends to do that. So even when she did annoy me, I still liked her overall. She did well considering, she didn't screw up too much, and in the end came out pretty well. For me, it was the irritation you get with some of your friends' bad habits. Irritation and you get pissed off at them, but you still like them. 

 

Galad: Basically, from the moment Elayne said how terrible he was, I liked him. I saw through the whole "Elayne says Galad is a crap guy" thing, and I always thought he was a decent guy. He wasn't really a main player until near the end. So until KoD where he kills Valda, my opinion of him was pretty mild. I liked him as a decent guy with some issues with "right and wrong". Some of the stuff he did and said was silly and annoying, but not enough to make him a terrible guy. He worked through his own crap and remained a decent person as he adapted to the world. In fact, considering many other characters or people who have the same defining trait "seeing in Black and White", I thought he worked through it rather well. Things often go very wrong very fast with these types of people. 

 

Faile: She was annoying in tDR and tSR, when she was being all "Hunter of the Horn". When she got over that and returned in LoC, she started to get better. Her captivity with the Shaido - although many hate the plotline - really made me like her more. She got better from there, and I liked her the rest of the way. I feel a lot of the hate is because of her early attitude and the general disgust at the captivity plotline rather than her development. 

 

Berelain: I had to add this at the end. I was surprised at how many people were astonished to see that Berelain was actually a good person. It seemed obvious to me that Berelain's image was extremely distorted. We see her mostly through Egwene, Elayne and Faile's eyes - all three who don't like her at all. Egwene and Elayne with the stereotypical reaction from other girls to a woman who is beautiful and draws the eyes of men. They always hate people like that. Faile had more reason to dislike her. She was a bit off going after Perrin and all that, but it was made 100x worse than what it actually was because of the biased PoV's. She wasn't a saint, to be sure, but she was a good person, and she was doing what she thought was best - probably the only way she knew how. 

[Rhienne]

Cadsuane: Speaking of the Green, as I said, an exemplary example of an Aes Sedai. She doesn't put up with most of the crap the others go on with. She is old-school and dedicated to her purpose. She puts her own life on the line and dedicates herself to Rand, saving him several times. Similar to Moiraine, but with the one difference. She adapts within her own limits. Outside those limits, she forces others to adapt. She has a larger limit range than most, so she adapts very well. But when confronting something that is out of her range - like the Dragon Reborn's Two Rivers stubbornness and insanity- things get messy. Her intentions were good - and prophetic plot-armour gave her a great deal of immunity - but she lost control. Of course, plot-armour (or poor writing, whichever you subscribe to) made things turn out right in the end. Nevertheless, she made a mess of things, and luck saved the day. In that, her unwillingness to bend - and I don't mean to say she should have grovelled at Rand's feet - for the greater good, sets her a step below. She wanted to help Rand, but wanted to do it on her own terms.

Really nice summary of Cadsuane's character.  It puts into words how I feel about her, but wasn't able to articulate.  I admire her, and respect her to some extent, but I don't find her likeable.  I think for an AS, and particularly an old AS who is set in her ways and not used to having anyone question her, she is a lot more flexible than most AS.  However, she does still have some of the typical AS character flaws, particularly demanding respect instantly from others, but refusing to give anyone else any until they have 'earned it'.  I found her interactions with Rand (and to some extent, Nynaeve) very frustrating.  Yes, she hasn't seen many of the good things we have been able to see as readers in their personality, but she is downright rude to both of them, and there really is no excuse for that.  Like Moiraine, her goals are noble, but I don't like the route she takes to get there.

 

Tuon: I really disliked her.  She is right up there with my least favourite characters.  I was probably bias against her because I never liked the Seanchan arcs that much after the first one (Egwene's capture in Falme).  I kind of felt that there were enough elements in the story already, and aside from Egeanin I didn't really like any of the Seanchan characters or find them enjoyable to read about.  Part of my dislike also comes from her relationship with Mat which is my least favourite in the series.  I didn't see any emotional basis for it.

 

Verin: Absolutely loved her.  One of my very favourite 2nd/3rd tier characters.  Her big reveal was one of the most moving moments of the series for me.  What a brave woman.  I did find her letters a bit frustrating, as some of the plot points associated with them didn't seem to make much sense.

 

Lan: Really liked him for most of the series, one of my favourite characters.  I thought the way he tried to help Lan even without Moiraine's approval was very, very touching.  I didn't mind what others have found his mistreatment of Nynaeve, as he was just trying to protect her.  I wasn't sure that I liked getting his POVs for the first time in the last three books though.  They didn't really detract from my overall enjoyment of the character but they just weren't quite how I imagined him.  And I guess we will never know if they were how RJ intended him.