Another reason why I find Nynaeve one of the WoT’s most rational characters: compare her and Lan in Tear to Perrin/Faile or Elayne/Rand.
As I often post, the way Perrin/Mat/Rand/Egwene view her distort our perception, but the facts prove her side of things more often.
Unable to look at Elayne, she started walking again. “You had every right to laugh. I… “ She swallowed hard. “I made a complete fool of myself.” She had. A few sips, Theodrin said; a cup. And she emptied the pitcher. If you were going to fail, better to have some other reason than that you just could not do it. “You should have sent for that bucket and dunked my head until I could recite The Great Hunt of the Horn without a mistake.” She risked a glance from the corner of her eye. Small spots of color rested in Elayne’s cheeks. So there had been mention of a bucket.
“It could happen to anyone,” the other woman said simply.
Nynaeve felt her own cheeks heating. When it had happened to Elayne, she had dunked the girl to wash away the wine. “You should have done whatever you needed to… to sober me.”
It was quite the oddest argument Nynaeve could remember, with her insisting she had been a total fool and deserved whatever came of it, while Elayne made excuse after excuse for her. Nynaeve did not understand why it felt so refreshing, taking all the blame on herself that way. She could not recall ever doing that before, not without hedging as far as she was able. She very nearly got angry with Elayne for not agreeing that she had been a childish buffoon. It lasted until they reached the small thatched house on the edge of the village where Logain was kept.
“If you don’t stop this,” Elayne said finally, “I vow I’ll send for a bucket of water right this instant.”
Nynaeve opened her mouth, then closed it again. Even in this newfound euphoria of admitting she had been wrong, that was going too far. Feeling this good, she could not face Logain. Feeling this good, it would be useless anyway, without Moghedien and the bracelet she definitely felt too fine to put on.
And of course, all that was to justify the rough treatment she gave Elayne in Tanchico.
Surely Egwene’s more rational even than Nynaeve, even in the way she deals with Gawyn despite KNOWING she’ll bond him.
Looking at Egwene/Nynaeve’s interactions in these early books, Egwene still has a lot to learn. She gets there.
They have very different perspectives, though, which often brings them to arguments. Nynaeve sees people; Egwene sees goals.
Nynaeve the rational one? In her relationship she has the power. Leaving Lan at Land’s End was iffy. Her need for respect is childish.
Well, she DID save Lan’s life in what she did. He’d have been dead before the Last Battle started if not.
I’m still sad Lan apparently dies. He was my favorite character.
Out of curiosity, which of the reasons people think he will die is the one that has persuaded you? I’ve not said either way.
Confession: I stopped reading at book seven. My friends said he hadn’t come back, so I/we assume he’s really dead, not fake-dead. [?]
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