They certainly are. More so because Aes Sedai are so mediocre. Of the whole lot there are only 2 worthy of the title. To be fair to them though, most of the Forsaken are useless too.

I hear you. Still feels weird for her to just let others lead, diplomacy or not. Even when on the throne, her decision making is suspect (especially where Daved Hanlon is concerned).

Elayne was born to rule. She has been taught to lead from the cradle. But whenever she is with Egwene or Nynaeve she suddenly becomes the village girl and allows the others to take lead while sticks her nose in the air.

The most frustrating thing for me is that, it just seems like the bad guys were born bad. I cannot remember a single character being recruited or converted to the dark side. We hear how each Forsaken converted purely because they came from an era of peace and tranquility. All others seem to just be born into it. I know some obscure characters rethink their path to the dark, but all were insidious to start with. As far as I can tell, since the first book, no named character who was not a dark friend becomes a dark friend aside from Taim's forced conversions in the appropriately named Black Tower (Rand was completely insane by then, I'm sure).

*** Spoiler Alert *** The small three (Rand, Mat & Perrin being the big), were the first to be tasked with hunting dark sisters. This even led to Egwene's capture, something she really hated. Robert Jordan constantly reminds us how much Egwene hated being damane. So why don't these three think about asking Moghedien to point out who is black ajah in the tower? In fact, why does everyone in Salidar, including Siuan Sanche herself, just forget about them completely? I understand they have a lot on their plate, but their little disagreement with the White Tower pales in comparison to the fight to save time itself.

Very frustrating indeed. I remember thinking, this guy is incredibly sane for a mid-thirties, very active channeler. It occurred to me that he was one of the forsaken, given the book theme at that point. He certainly had some kind of protection from the taint. I eventually tossed that idea when he agreed to be a school teacher. On top of that, he himself mentioned he had been channeling for 15 years. Only Ishy was around and he was definitely dead and quite mad. Darkfriend then. Now, as to why Rand did not realise that, still bothers me. Too focused on Sammael in the beginning and then always something else. He also desperately needed someone to train these men, and Taim was the only one who could do it. So, maybe just blinded by his own need for his plans to succeed. He is a super Ta'veren afterall. To be fair, Logain seemed relatively sane as well. But our only interaction with him before he was gentled is his insane laughter at seeing Rand. So maybe not completely sane afterall. But certainly seemed so after being healed by Nynaeve. Completely immune in fact. Maybe he hadn't been channeling for long before the reds nabbed him. The whole thing just feels unpolished.