I chose to vote on an effect of the wheel, but what I mean really is this... Comparing the way she mysteriously does things by willing it just like Rand does when he lights the pipe, I think they are directly related. I kind of think that it has something to do with that sacrifice of the dragon reborn. So I believe she was once a dragon and when making that sacrifice and correctly doing it (unlike Lews Therin originally did) you become a sort of spirit of the pattern, never to be reborn but to guide the world in subtle ways. The concept of a wheel of time (very popular in the east) makes the whole idea of 1.2.3 ages irrelevant. It means that each of those ages have come to pass, come to pass and once again come to pass. I think Jordan kind of went a little off of the concept of a wheel of time but by him using it he even says how essentially there are no beginnings or endings. In an age some refer to as the 3rd age, I believe it has come before and will come again (the main concept of a wheel of time) so it is kind of a stretch but its just an idea of come to think. There's truly a huge mystic connotation to her, so I definitely believe she is not just some random Aiel.

I have to disagree with this common dislike for her story arc. For MUCH of the books I was annoyed, bored or someway shape or form disliking her chapters. There were some moments here and there but overall she was never one of my favorite characters. I came to value her during the last battle. Honestly, I think that way she handled everything in the last battle was extremely proportional to her situation. Through this whole story leading to where she is, we tend to forget she's barely an adult. She's a young woman who's overcome so much and dedicated herself to becoming an important piece of bringing unity and peace to the world. She looked at every angle to unify the tower with other relative-type organizations (wind-finders, wise ones etc). I really got frustrated with the way she handled the seals, BUT the thing is. If you ignore everyone else story and try to put your self in her eyes... with her position the idea of breaking the seals is drastic. She doesn't have the information that clearly says they MUST be sealed. Rand provoked her into freaking out about the seals by the way he handled their meeting after he finally found peace on the dragonmount. He did this because he knew she would gather everyone together where he wanted them to.

All in all, I really did have a lot of complaints by the last book, but the last scene she is in I found so incredibly powerful. It just seemed so allegorically beautiful and it really seemed to make sense. I think as nonsensical as the anti-balefire sounds it does work. The flame of tar valon being something so strongly symbolic of the strength and light of the pattern was absolutely perfect in my opinion. We knew the sigil but never understood how it came to be and I think as an ancient weave long forgotten it worked. I hear a lot of complaints about the last book but I have to say I thought the tedious and challenging task was handled absolutely fantastic by Brandon sanderson. All in all Egwene, in the end, became one of my favorite characters. And I was saddened at her death. It was a beautiful way of bringing her story intertwined into the fate of the world. Showing her role in the last battle. And showing that even wonderful people you watched grow up die in war.