I really disagree with the "bale-crystallization" being an ass-pull. Prior to the start of the Last Battle (was it when she was meeting with the Aiel in T'A'R? and Amys first showed the cracks to her?) she studied the cracks, realized what they were (the Pattern tearing apart), probed them and instinctually placed a weave on them that patched the cracks. This is in line with many of her other discoveries (e.g., Traveling, which she figured out on her own), as well as to the way Nynaeve figures out many of her healing techniques (e.g., removing the madness from the Asha'man's minds). She is one of the most powerful channelers of this Age, so these things are not in any way inconceivable.
During the Last Battle when fighting Taim, he is using balefire, which is tearing the Pattern, and she simply magnifies the weave she previously used and uses it against him. While I agree the fact that it only takes the Sharan channelers could be seen as a stretch, I read into this as something more along the lines of her final release of Power and her releasing her soul into it as if she was able to say, I'm going to die with this, but I have the strength to control this final weave and take out my enemies. The whole soul bit seemed to suggest there was something more to her death--I mean, talk about true sacrifice--so I am willing to accept that she was able to do just about anything in that final moment.
Egwene's Arc (Full Spoilers)
in Wheel of Time Books
Posted
I really disagree with the "bale-crystallization" being an ass-pull. Prior to the start of the Last Battle (was it when she was meeting with the Aiel in T'A'R? and Amys first showed the cracks to her?) she studied the cracks, realized what they were (the Pattern tearing apart), probed them and instinctually placed a weave on them that patched the cracks. This is in line with many of her other discoveries (e.g., Traveling, which she figured out on her own), as well as to the way Nynaeve figures out many of her healing techniques (e.g., removing the madness from the Asha'man's minds). She is one of the most powerful channelers of this Age, so these things are not in any way inconceivable.
During the Last Battle when fighting Taim, he is using balefire, which is tearing the Pattern, and she simply magnifies the weave she previously used and uses it against him. While I agree the fact that it only takes the Sharan channelers could be seen as a stretch, I read into this as something more along the lines of her final release of Power and her releasing her soul into it as if she was able to say, I'm going to die with this, but I have the strength to control this final weave and take out my enemies. The whole soul bit seemed to suggest there was something more to her death--I mean, talk about true sacrifice--so I am willing to accept that she was able to do just about anything in that final moment.