We know from various Forsaken POVs that Compulsion can be heavy-handed or subtle. Consider how hawkish Egwene became, and how constant Halima's contact was with her, and especially how Egwene befriended her when that is generally out of character.
The problem with light Compulsion is that it generally only nudges. So, nudge for headaches. Nudge for "Halima's not that bad, right?" Nudge for "Elaida certainly is the most important threat out there, isn't she?" Nudge for "Hm, the reports of what the Dragon Reborn is doing are pretty worrying, I don't know if I'd trust him."
Etc.
Not that this gives Egwene an easy out, since light Compulsion has to be subtle, and as we see from your articles she never really had a dramatic shift in character.
I kind of ruled that out, since Egwene plainly violated her wishes. I took the headaches to be a kind of aversion therapy. She gave Egwene the headache when Egwene sent her away, to associate Halima with relief from the headaches, and suffering with denying Halima. I admit your scenario is possible, I just wonder what would be the point of so much effort for minimal results.
My own theory, which I am saving until this EE stuff is done, is that she was corrupted by Padan Fain in the dungeons of Fal Dara. Fain notes after leaving the Tower that he touched Elaida & Pedron Niall, so neither would ever trust Rand. It would explain Egwene's attitude toward Rand ever since then, with the enumerated occasions where she always thinks the absolute worst of him, even when it makes no sense. There is no reason at all to think that he would have gone to the Tower with Elaida's embassy, and no matter how often Rand says he won't, Egwene won't believe it, and keeps trying new tacks to forestall him, even such absurd desperation ploys as trying to make him hostile and rude to the embassy to drive them off, when anyone with even a cursory familiarity with the Tower knows they would never ever not in a million years let someone a fraction as important as Rand go unmolested just because he was rude. The much more likely scenario is they'd be twice as determined, because the Tower did not rise to the top of the political heap by letting people sass them and get away with it. Egwene SHOULD know this, but she clings to her absurd strategy as a desperation ploy, thinking that if she can't stop Rand from accepting, maybe she can prevent the invitation from being offered, or get it rescinded. This is just one example of the extent to which she is willing to go to rather than extend the smallest iota of trust to Rand. The only word for behavior like that is pathological. Fain's tampering, as he describes tampering with Elaida & Niall would explain that sort of thing.
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
