What most disappointed me about Egwene's arc is that it was in her character that we had the most potential for what I most wanted out of this book--reunion and reconciliation. Instead, she picks a fight with Rand, which is just a pointless mirror of the Latrelle Posae/Lews Therin Battle of the Sexes. Even if you believe Egwene's position might be more reasonable in-universe than from our perspective as people who understand that she's in a book and that the narrative definitely demanded that the seals be broken, you just didn't get to feel enough of the affection/love for Rand shining through the disagreement.

I felt, and feel, the same about Egwene's relationship with Mat. How many books ago did Mat prove himself worth more than a patronizing, "Oh, you scamp, I'll save you"? How many times? She does have that moment where she recalls him jumping into the river to save that child, but she doesn't *tell* Mat what she values about him, it's all cold and provisional and distant. I think it was a missed opportunity to remind us that this battle was won because of trust stemming from the bonds of friendship. And I was also hoping for just a brief moment with Egwene and her wonderful parents, or one of her sisters, to remind us a little more of her humanity.

Her death did seem inevitable once Gawyn died, but also somehow, still, a little impossible. It being the Wheel of Time (where no one ever dies and stays dead), I didn't quite believe it, when it happened, and since I had to be convinced in the aftermath that it had really happened, the whole thing felt deeply anti-climactic. That's the series' fault for having always had such shallow stakes for its hero characters, before this book, more than Brandon Sanderson's.

I think the book, on the whole, gave me what I needed and even some of what I most wanted--it was incredibly fast-paced, you felt the sense of the "whole world being balanced on the edge of a blade" and the costs associated with victory. In addition to being more continuously gripping than any other WoT book, it was also funny--I actually laughed out loud once or twice while reading it, because the gallow's humor was really well-done.

But generally, I think the first three-quarters of the book or so--right through Chapter 37--were much better than the final stretch, where all at once it becomes clear that there were just too many balls in the air. "Oh, yeah, I have to deal with Padan Fain (and bizarrely give him a new name at this stage?)" and "Whoops, the entire book later, and there's still the same fight with Slayer to be had" and finally killing pretty much all the Forsaken at once, at the end. 

Not to mention it's ridiculous to think that *all* of the Sharans would sign on, and no one would break ranks, when fighting alongside Trollocs, but that's a different point.

But I'm kind of mad, because I think the last bit in the ending is kind of silly and tends to undermine the meaning of the whole series. The series seems to be about *choice* and *obligation*--about choosing to meet your obligation or not, basically. The good characters make the choice to do the difficult, right thing. But at the end, Rand, who has two children on the way, a father, a brother, etc., gallivants off to sight-see! I don't forgive him for not telling Tam he's alive. That line earlier in the book, about how Tam had grown into the void in all those years without Kari, and while teaching Rand responsibility... 

The ending we got for Rand was a fine ending for Jack Sparrow at the end of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. He was always a clown and a loner, so he could go off and have more adventures and we felt great about it. But that is not Rand al'Thor. People *need* him, and even if he weren't willing to "stay" as the Dragon Reborn, creating a new identity for himself through which he could be there for his loved ones was the right thing to do. The ending seems like running away, and it seems easy, and it doesn't seem in character.

Sorry, I'm finding it kind of hard to live with.