I find it difficult to refute your points, I think Nynaeve vs Egwene is a good comparison to make, they were both exposed to similar situations, both somewhat weathered it and kept true to themselves, however Nynaeve's self was a lot better than Egwene's self.

I still think that I'm not finding Egwene as bad to read as before, but your counterpoints are showing that it isn't necessarily because I judged her too harshly in the past (though I think I still always thought the worst, even in situations where what she did wasn't that bad), maybe she is changing from a character I just hate, to a character I like to hate more, one I can understand better, and accept given what ultimately happens to her (I think if she survived, and remained Amrylin, I would have a different view).

Interestingly, I find Perrin still just as difficult to follow as previously, though at least he did seem to finally 'grow up' (not really right words, but can't find them) in last couple of books, becoming a decent character, but up until that point, boy is it painful reading / listening to....