I think most people don't like Perrin because of his unrelenting obsession with his wife, his wife's capture, and his gonowhere plot. I think his introvertedness plays a minor part in the general dislike. For instance, I am absolutely an introverted person, and I liked Perrin until his plotline absolutely stalled out. Just my opinion though. Cheers :)

Good points, I had forgotten about the early 'Battle of the Two Rivers' episode. This thought just popped into my head, but in a strange way Perrin is as much a fanatic concerning his devotion (Faile) as Galad is to his (Law & Order)....interesting.

Hey, no problem Theodril. I was attempting to compare a friend I have with Perrin in the fact that, more often than not, it appears that nothing is ever more important than their wives. Case in point, this friend once arranged a long and late night guys get together, and then left an hour into it because his wife was home early and 'alone'. He is a cool and fun guy, but not such a great friend.....

I guess this behavior of Perrin's, that he would deal with the DO, and that he would do anything to have his wife back hits a little close to home. So reading Perrin's 'shaido arc' is kinda rough for me. Not sure if anyone else can identify with this but its what makes Perrin a frustrating character for me, personally.

I know one guy whose favorite character is Perrin; course, in real life he falls under this category, as put forth by Theodril:

Blind following of his wife to a degree that almost erases his individual identity...

If you have ever met anyone like this, or have become friends with a person who devotes themselves to no one but their significant other, then you can see why it would be rough to read.

And Elan, I come to appreciate your posts more and more ;)

Hmm...? A lot of people don't remember that Fain and Elaida met? How come? He got the dagger from the Tower (in which event he also met and chatted with Alviarin for a bit). And upon leaving the tower, he claims that he has "left" something on her (Elaida) and Pedron Nial.

The 'how come' is pretty simple in that some of us haven't read the entire series more than once or twice, and sometimes it was quite awhile ago, and even possibly with a younger mind. Also, some of us just check-in to dragonmount at short intervals to see if we catch any of the latest theories or little tidbits that are interesting. Not everyone has the time to dedicate to delving (see what I did there? ) into the series as we may like, due to busy work/home lives.

In this case, I couldn't quite remember how Elaida/Fain all went down because I only done 2 read-throughs and last read the series something like 4 years ago. With the answers provided by the astute members here, my memory does return a bit. I wish I had the time to take and reread the series again before AMoL comes out late next year (just being a 'pessimistic realist' with the timeline....sorry ), but I highly doubt that I will, and I'll just jump right into the end of it all.

P.S. I'm not trying to be snippy or rude, so please don't read it that way. And please keep putting up with these 'simpler' questions from not so hardcore readers as its really great and informative. Thanks!

Thank you both for the answers!

I do vaguely recall Fain being in the tower for some small amount of time, but didn't remember anything specific about him 'spreading' his evil. Glad to see there isn't a specific instance.....I feel much better now....

Hopefully I've got a simple question here...

I was reading the beginning of the Elaida poll thread, and it was stated that Elaida was tainted by Fain. What? When did this happen and how did I miss it? :( Or is someone screwing with me.... I don't know anything anymore it appears....help?

Wow, thanks for this info. I don't know how, but up until recently, I also thought Farstrider was much much older, as in a hundred years dead. This obviously skewed some things in my reading as I couldn't figure out what was up with Noal, being that there was no way he could be Farstrider, even though that was the most likely explanation. *facepalm*

Oh well, all is well that ends well. I do wonder why some of us came away without knowing the correct approximate age of Jain. Maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention ;)

He is quite epic, i wish we could read his book....