Perrin has always been one of my favorite characters of the series, though I will admit I liked his storylines in the first half of the books better than the last. I actually thing the original post in this thread made a lot of sense as to why. I also blame the fact that it took 4 books to cover the 51 days of Faile's captivity. Would have been better I think if all of Perrin's story from WH was moved to CoT, as I think it would have been easier to digest and probably wouldn't have felt so dragged out. Plus, the story does take Perrin down a darker path, which is hard for those of us who related to Perrin in the earlier books to take.

The spanking of Faile I feel was justified. I do think it's wrong to do harm to anyone who can't properly defend themself, be them man, woman, child, or animal, but I don't equate spanking her to beating her or abuse. She was physically and verbally assulting him, and he tried to stop her with words to no avail. She was behaving like a child, so he treated her like one (heck, she was only 14-15 at this point so she kinda was a child). A few slaps to the rear didn't do any real damage, and we haven't seen him lay and hand on her since (even though she has slapped him multiple times). If he would have smacked her back, then I'd likely feel differently. In a physical contest, Faile stood no chance against him. Perrin knew this, and I think he showed proper restraint. Granted, I know some see spanking as a bad thing too, so I can see how this could upset some people.

On the Perrin as a good/bad person discussion, I think generally he's a good guy, though he does do some things that definately aren't good. What makes him generally good in my opinion is that he knows they aren't good and hates himself for doing them. He knows what's right and what's wrong and genuinely tries to do good. Sometimes he fails, and in that he's human. One of the themes I like about the WoT books is heroes are human and stories always fail to mention that. Rand likely will be seen as a great hero, but he's done a lot of things many see as questionable at best. Mat will be seen as a great general and warrior, though usually he's just trying to keep him and his men alive. Perrin's the same. Those he saved at Malden will see him as a hero, just as the Two Rivers folks already do, but he's no saint either. He tries to be, and that's enough for me.

Is he overly obsessive about Faile? Definately. Could his story do without the constant reminders that he'd do anything for her? Yeah, I think we got that the first 100 or so times he said/thought that. Do I think their relationship is unhealthy? No. I admit I haven't taken any psychology classes, but when I look at their relationship I see that they both care deeply for each other and are both devoted to the other's well being. Nothing wrong with that in my book. Love is different for everyone though.

Is he being a good leader by using his people to rescue Faile? Yes and no. It's not his mission from Rand, but it's something a large part of his group strongly wants to do. The Two Rivers folk want Faile back to, the Ghealdan army want their Queen, and the Aiel Wise Ones want to see the Shaido stopped as they are betraying what it is to be Aiel almost as much as Cha Faile misrepresents it. Maesma uses it as an excuse not to go to Rand. The Mayeners, Asha'men and Aes Sedai are the are really the only ones who have no motivation to go after the Shaido, though Berelain doesn't stop them, the Aes Sedai are tied to the Wise Ones and likely see the good in stopping the Shaido from killing and taking more innocents, and the Asha'men just sorta go with the flow. I don't think he would have stopped anyone who wanted to stop following him (so long as they didn't jeoprodize his plans by alerting the Shaido).

However, I'd agree that none of that likely played that big of a part in Perrin's decision to go after them (his thoughts make that pretty clear). And while the result of his rescue of Faile does a great deal of good for many others, he didn't destroy the Shaido for the good it did for others. He did it for Faile. All else was second to him. That's not good motivation for a leader to have. Granted, we see few truely good leaders in WoT (Mat does good even though he tries to avoid it and Egwene is getting there, but not there yet). I'd argue that he is a much better leader than Rand though, because Perrin at least cares for the people he leads. Rand just uses them.

Do I think Perrin would turn to the Shadow to save Faile? Probably if he saw no other way. Some people will do whatever it takes to protect those they care about, and Perrin's already shown he's willing to do that. Someone saying/thinking they'd sell their soul to protect their loved ones is common in many stories, so Perrin is by no means unique or do I think less of him for it. He was willing to sacrifice his life to the Whitecloaks to protect to Two Rivers folk, even after his family was killed, and I think he'd sacrifice his soul for those he cared for as well. That's always been the type of person Perrin is. Do I think we will see him become a fallen hero? No. I think RJ started him down that path just so he could redeem himself.

Perrin's story has always been about a good man trying to win out over the monster inside of him and use that nature for good. In the early books, the monster was represented by his inner wolf. Now that he has more control over that, the monster is his anger towards the world for what's happened to the only family he has left. And that struggle is definately taking the told on him, driving him to do things he never would have considered before. This doesn't make those things (like chopping of the hand) right, and a big part of him knows that. I think now that he's given up the axe and has Faile back, he can begin the path back to his own redemption.

Well I didn't make the dice game, just copied what Craig had, but the order he put them in (low to high) is: Wands, Cups, Stars, Swords, Roses, Crowns. Given the effort he put into it, I'd assume he did some research to get them in the right order, but don't have any actual sources myself.

Go Team!