Is she perfect? No, but I would say that of all the characters, she is the most like Rand. The qualities you would call "Mary Sue"-like are remarkably similar to being "t'a'veren".
I know you were responding to the original poster, but I had to comment on this. There is a huge difference between a ta'veren (Rand) and a Mary Sue (Egwene).
RJ created the whole ta'veren concept to explain things that seemed too unbelievable to accept, such as: people agreeing to something that goes against everything they believe, dice landing on their edge time and time again, characters behaving incredibly out of character when in a ta'veren's presence, etc. It was wise of him, really. It gave him leeway to force things to happen that, without the entire ta'veren concept ("the Pattern bending around a certain thread" Rand, Mat, and Perrin's journeys (particularly Rand and Mat's) would have been too ludicrous to accept, even in a fantasy novel.
My point is that there is an explanation for what happens around the three ta'veren. It is presented in the books, accepted as fact by the characters, and is simply part of the "world" of WoT.
On the other hand, Egwene is given all of the advantages of a ta'veren, minus all of the disadvantages (like people yelling at her despite fearing her like when Merana blasted Rand for leaving them alone with the Sea Folk) but is not a ta'veren. The ta'veren, despite their ta'veren nature, encounter and deal with people who don't like them and think they're stupid (all the women around Mat and Rand constantly act like the two of them are too stupid to wipe their own asses without being directed by a woman), yet Egwene always manages to have everyone thinking about how brilliant and awesome she is...no one resists her for long, no one stands up to her hypocrisy, and no one ever criticizes her (even those who resist her at first, like Romanda, grudgingly think about how great she is). It goes past suspending disbelief into being flat out ridiculous. If RJ wanted to play it this way for her, he should have made her ta'veren, but I honestly think he didn't want to have to give her any of the negative ta'veren effects so he left her as "normal" while giving her all the advantages of a ta'veren.
Hell, he didn't just give her the advantages of a ta'veren, he gave her advantages that far exceed those of a ta'veren. He overplayed his hand with her, and Brandon overplayed it even more. If just one character stood up and told her off for being a hypocrite, or refused to do what she wanted, or for once she was shown as being flat out wrong and called to the mat for it like others are (instead of her supposedly justified self-righteousness about other people's foibles when she herself commits the same sins), then maybe, just maybe, the character could be a little bit more believable and less of a Mary Sue, but none of that ever happens. Instead, she gets better advantages than a ta'veren but is not a ta'veren. Hence, she's a Mary Sue.
Egwene, a poor leader?
16/12/2010 05:59:15 PM
- 2051 Views
Egwene isn't supposed to be a leader. She's a dictator and a politician.
16/12/2010 08:21:13 PM
- 1208 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
16/12/2010 10:53:20 PM
- 915 Views
If the Shadow had removed Elaida so Egwene was Amyrlin whilst Rand was still Dark ...
16/12/2010 11:56:08 PM
- 872 Views
Same thing if Elaida was in charge when meeting w/ Dark Rand. *NM*
17/12/2010 02:10:20 AM
- 455 Views
Except Rand wouldn't go to the WT with Elaida in charge, without having to fight
17/12/2010 02:50:18 AM
- 979 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
17/12/2010 03:07:40 AM
- 1014 Views
Exactly how loyal do you think Nynaeve and Elayne are?
17/12/2010 04:52:34 AM
- 787 Views
Re: Exactly how loyal do you think Nynaeve and Elayne are?
17/12/2010 05:44:30 AM
- 894 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
17/12/2010 02:30:48 PM
- 931 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
17/12/2010 08:25:39 PM
- 723 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
18/12/2010 05:06:21 AM
- 883 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
19/12/2010 08:41:31 PM
- 770 Views
Torturing Nynaeve for exclusively her own political ends. *NM*
20/12/2010 12:14:55 AM
- 495 Views
Re: Torturing Nynaeve for exclusively her own political ends.
20/12/2010 01:24:12 AM
- 822 Views
And the most painful torments were caused by Egwene
20/12/2010 09:31:44 AM
- 950 Views
Re: Egwene, a poor leader?
20/12/2010 12:57:42 AM
- 761 Views
She has the same power base as any Amyrlin - the Aes Sedai, the artisans, Guards & citizens of TV
17/12/2010 05:51:20 PM
- 879 Views
Ta'veren vs. Mary Sue
17/12/2010 07:33:28 PM
- 1190 Views
I see them as being the same thing.
17/12/2010 08:11:30 PM
- 866 Views
I don't think the case can be made for Rand having it easy
17/12/2010 11:04:58 PM
- 785 Views
I would say that in the grand scheme of things, Rand's had good to balance out the bad.
20/12/2010 06:27:35 PM
- 775 Views
Funniest statement I've ever seen on here.
18/12/2010 05:22:28 AM
- 884 Views
But you are just undervaluing Egwene's struggles in comparison to the other characters.
20/12/2010 06:17:17 PM
- 1181 Views
Re: But you are just undervaluing Egwene's struggles in comparison to the other characters.
22/12/2010 05:28:01 PM
- 948 Views
Yes, but for completely different reasons...
18/12/2010 12:35:23 AM
- 899 Views
You think Egwene has more power than Tuon?
18/12/2010 12:27:01 PM
- 745 Views
Definitely...
18/12/2010 03:24:12 PM
- 763 Views
I think comparing Egwene to McCain is asking for trouble on several fronts.
20/12/2010 12:33:04 AM
- 727 Views
She has a pretty powerful weapon...
20/12/2010 02:41:32 AM
- 769 Views
RJ is more powerful.
20/12/2010 03:25:49 AM
- 870 Views
Re: She has a pretty powerful weapon...
20/12/2010 09:46:22 AM
- 853 Views
Re: She has a pretty powerful weapon...
20/12/2010 09:55:03 AM
- 722 Views
Re: She has a pretty powerful weapon...
20/12/2010 10:27:59 AM
- 778 Views