I don't think that Gawyn is an utter idiot.  I think that there were some issues with how he was written and inserted into the story  and much of that results from there being little time to flesh him out.

Throughout the books, he's always suffered from a lack of information whether it be about the location of his sister and her friends, the Tower revolt, the reported death of his mother, etc.  He doesn't have the benefit of all the information that we as readers have.

There is a logic to him going after Demmy during the last battle.  He thought that he had the advantage because of the rings.  It turned out that he really didn't.

I can kind of see his internal logic in not telling Egwene about the rings once he decided to use them.  I doubt that she would have told him much about what her overall plans were as a result of her being the uber-Aes Sedai and he being just a warder.  Nor, I suspect would she have listened overly much to whatever he thought about her plans.  When they had a similar disagreement during the period after the reunification of the tower when he saved her life, he actually turned out to be correct.    His actions tend during the last battle tend to build on that.   If he had managed to take Demmy out at that point it could have turned the battle early.   I find it hard to fault him on that.

On the balance thing...no, I don't buy it either. Egwene is not the Dragon's equal. Her actions did not bring "balance" to the world. All she did was provide a temporary bandaid over the damage caused by the balefire. There's no way in hell she's as important, or as connected to the land, as Rand. In fact, I don't see her as being any more connected to the land than any other channeler. She just happened to be in the right place at the right time because she was too egocentric to let someone else take the sa'angreal and face Taim. In the end, her "I have to do it all because no one is as awesome as me!" attitude led her to her death, one which she embraced fully once she realized she had burned herself out from channeling too much (something that should've been obvious to everyone around her given how she was constantly channeling and doing it all herself).

My biggest issue with the idea of Egwene being the balancer of Rand, is that I've envisioned the 'balance' in the series as being more a see saw, with the forces of the Shadow on one side, the forces of the Light on the other, and the Dragon acting as the fulcrum in the middle.  It is after all his choice to agree or disagree with the Dark One that is the real heart of the Last Battle.   The shadow's force could defeat the Light armies everywhere and he could still decide to keep fighting.  The light's force could defeat the Shadow's armies everywhere and he could still decide to accept oblivion. 

Even though, I'm not generally a fan of Egwene's character, I was still hoping to see her and Rand's relationship resolve in some meaningful way.  The lack of that resolution does bother me a little bit.   But, at the same time, the lack of resolution is consistent with her general character throughout the series.   She is consistent and with RJ's original concept of inverting the 'battle of the sexes' and I wonder if her death in the Last Battle is part of that original concept.  An example, of what I mean by this, is before the meeting in the tent at Merrilor, while Rand is walking across the field with the grass greening up around him, she wonders how he does it, but doesn't think to ask him.  Instead, she sends Gawyn to ask the Ashaman how he does it. 

 

 

 

 

Egwene is the worst character from the series. From her selfishness to her insistence on the seals not being broken then to be broken by her(?) to wanting Saiden to be tainted again(that would be convinent for her eh?) to wanting the white tower to have leadership of the light's forces. Her ending was also cr@p. Thankfully she died while Tuon lives.

Seriously what is wrong with you xxx? Your are either trolling or have no concept of what you are reading. She didn't actually want Saidin to be tainted, Moiriane told her she needed to break the seals and her death helped heal the pattern itself. Her ending was well done, even people who dislike her have been claiming that.

 

Lastly contrary to what you have so shrilly claimed over and over we now see the direct balance between Dragon/Amyrlin and how they both have a connection to the land. Balance is the main theme of the books and it was highlighted in this instance.

 

There is no connection between Egwene and the land like what Rand has.Did the grass grow green around her? Did sunlight show where she walked?.The Dragon is a special soul.Egwene is not.She is not even a hero of the horn.Taking some of Egwene's own observations when she held Saider and connecting it to what Rand does with his very presence(not the OP) is quite a stretch.

 

She did not want Saiden tainted? She suggested Rand do the same thing he did in the last age and then said we are prepared to handle tainted Saiden this time.What book are you reading?

 

 It was brought up and then quickly dissmissed. She did not seriously "want saidin to be tainted again" as you claim above.

 

Further the connection the land is made clear and then hammered home even more so with her healing the pattern with her death.

That whole sequence is rather poorly constructed but I think that a blanket allegation of 'troll-ness' for citing it is a little overdone.

She is obtuse and stubborn about breaking the seals and she does seriously suggest a course of action that would essentially repeat LTT's mistake.  And, given the circumstances of the confrontation between Rand and Egwene in the tent, Rand's response about the taint does fit. 

--

"Is that so bad?" Egwene said.  "At least it's sure. You sealed the Bore last time.  You know how to do it."

"We could end up with the taint again."

"We're ready for it, this time.  No, it wouldn't be ideal.  But Rand.... do we really want to risk this?  Risk the fate of every living being?  Why not take the simple path, the known path?  Mend the seals again.  Shore up the prison."

"No, Egwene."  Rand backed away.  "Light! Is this what it's about?  You want saidin to be tainted again..."

--

Obviously, Rand's reaction here isn't the best.  However, it is understandable emotional reaction given what Rand has experienced as a result of being a male channeler. He's felt the direct effects of the taint, lived with the fear of being gentled, and  endured the stigma related to men channeling.  (Somewhat, ironically in the last case, given her reaction to him in the last chapter of TEOTW.) But if we look at what Egwene's proposed course of action, it does have the potential to result in the taint again.  If Rand attempts to seal the bore again and the Dark Lord counters in the same way Saidin gets tainted.  If Egwene attempts to seal the bore the same way... the taint happens.  If both men and women work together to seal the bore in the same way both sides of the source get tainted.  Egwene may not have wanted the taint, but the taint may very well be an unintended consequence of her stated position in this argument.

On the whole 'balance' thing it may well be a feature of this book.  I don't necessarily buy it at this point because it feels too much like a Sanderson invention without significant foreshadowing in the earlier RJ books which makes me tend to think of it as a bug rather than a feature.

Did anyone else get the impression that pikes/pikemen are invincible from this book?

Well, historically in the right circumstances, they were.  The problem is that the right circumstances only occurs rarely, and only under the right circumstances.

I think that we can chalk this one up to BS not understanding what made the development of the pike significant in history.  Or, if he did, not having the time and space to develop its use clearly.

Egwene actually seems kinda like how Lews Therin was supposed to have been. She's a hero, but she's also an intensely proud, arrogant person, who's a prodigy at everything she sets her mind to.

Very good observation.  But, do you think that she becomes the 'dragon' for the next age or does she just get remembered as the great amyrlin that died during the last battle?  Does she need redemption or does her death suffice?

 

A rather quick thought on Egwene, just before the Dragon's Peace meeting, she mentions that she has a headache that wasn't as bad as when Halima was treating her.   I've been wondering if that didn't suggest that she might have still been suffering the results of Halima's tampering with her or even some additional Shadow tampering like we saw with the great captains.  

 

I agree, Halima's "treatment" must have had something to do with her attitude in opposing Rand. It's hard to understand what Halima was doing otherwise. Although I don't know if compulsion can survive the compulsor's death.

I wasn't really thinking that Halima was compelling her, because we know from Rand's attempted super-balefiring of Grenny, that compulsion doesn't survive the death of the channeler who wove it.  I was thinking more along the lines of a Semirhage style conditioning using pain/pleasure.   In Semirhage's case it was stated in the books that she was able to turn individuals to the Shadow by that method alone.  (Not, that I'm suggesting that Egewene was turned to the Shadow because there is no evidence of that).

A really quick point.  Even with maintaining four battlefields you could still concentrate on one battlefield at a time and leverage your ability to travel. 

Caemlyn and Tarwin's Gap are the best examples.  You leave sufficient forces in place to hold the Trollocs in the city and in the Gap.  And, you free up the rest of the forces for use as a more mobile offensive force.

Basically, it is not necessarily an either/or matter.

A rather quick thought on Egwene, just before the Dragon's Peace meeting, she mentions that she has a headache that wasn't as bad as when Halima was treating her.   I've been wondering if that didn't suggest that she might have still been suffering the results of Halima's tampering with her or even some additional Shadow tampering like we saw with the great captains.