Brandon, I’m excited for your AMA. Maybe if you see it you could answer this for me?
First off, thanks for A Memory of Light . Probably my favorite fantasy book to-date! ( Way of Kings is competing though) My question is why did RJ have you spend SO much time to build up Egwene as a character (Amyrlin, Dreamwalker, inventor of weaves, super awesome character, etc) just to kill her off in the end? Was this RJ’s decision or someone else’s? She’s the only character I am so angry about dying. It’s been a few months and I’m still distraught over her death. Please tell me why?!
It is never my intention to just “kill off” a character for shock value, and I can assume that RJ felt the same way, from what I’ve read and studied. That said, the answer to your question comes down to believing that almost every character sees themselves as the hero of their own story. Even if you know they are eventually going to die, you usually don’t want to write it that way. (The exception is for tragic characters, where the foreshadowing of their impending demise is a natural consequence of their bad choices.)
In the case of a protagonist being lost, the proper course (in my eyes) is to build them up in exactly the same way that you would build up everyone else. Maybe even more. You must make them LIVE before they can die.
Getting back to what I said at the start, I never “kill off” characters. I allow characters to take the risks they demand, and even sacrifice themselves if they demand, for the good of the goals they want to achieve. Again, I can only assume RJ had a similar philosophy from what I’ve read.
I haven’t answered yet who decided that the particularly character you mention should die—because, in the end, it was the character’s choice, and not ours. My job is not to coddle them, but to make certain their death is a good one. (And if I failed in that regard, I apologize.)
Sigh. Well, while that wasn’t quite the answer I was searching for, I think it’s the answer I needed. Thank you for starting my heart on the road to recovery.
Yes, this death was a good one. Thank you for doing your job in this regard the right way. You’ll always get an upvote from me.
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