Character's representations in The Gathering Storm (WoT)...spoilers

[tipbruley]

First I want to say that I LOVED The Gathering Storm. Definitely one of the best books in the series (and this was as much how the story was told than the plot advancement). BS did a wonderful job telling RJ's story through his own words, which I think was why it was so successful. After the first few chapters, I began to forget that the book was written by a different author (or for that matter that the book was written in a much different style)

That being said, I think the thing that caught my attention the most  was the differences in the feel of some of the characters. With the vast array of characters BS had inherited it would be ridiculous to think they would be represented in the exact same manner that RJ portrayed them. Some portrayals were better, some were not in my opinion. I wanted to express my feelings towards some of the differences I notice (and how I thought these different representation contributed to the book overall), and was curious to see how many people agreed/disagreed with me


Characters whose representations were better than what I  expected

Egwene - She seemed much more likable in general than in the other books. To be fair towards the end of KoD she had become much more likable, but I was still having a hard time seeing her as the true Amyrlin. I was not able to see why all of the characters had been blown away by Egwene until The Gathering Storm. Her actions were much more admirable in this book than in the past

Cadsuane well in fact ALL the Aes Sedai - I am a little biased here. I thought Cadsuane was the worst character in the series. She came out of nowhere and was supposed to be this all-knowing Aes Sedai, but we instead we were forced to read hundreds of pages of her schemes and dialog that did absolutely NOTHING for the plot and only made Rand mad?  I had to skip over conversations in previous books because Aes Sedai in general would just annoy and bore me to death at times. While BS maintained their arrogance and a little of their obnoxiousness, he did so in a way that allowed room for you to actually respect these figures that were supposed to have earned respect across the land. PHAW!


Telemanes - Was such a minor character that I'm not sure if I spelled his name correctly. However, I think this is one of the characters that BS was able to make his own. The dialog between him and Matt felt a lot like the dialog in some of BS's other books.

Characters whose representations were worse than what I expected

Elaida - Probably the character who was portrayed the worst IMO. During previous books, Elaida would make me so mad, I had to put the book down. However, in this book I think she came off as a little TOO messed up and arrogant.. I ended up just thinking her as crazy, rather than plain arrogant and I couldn't really hate her for it. I didn't even crack a smile when she was captured by the Seanchan

Min - WTF on this one. After the strangulation incident, I did not see her coming to fear and avoid Rand. Calling out "Please Stop Rand" when Semirhage was forcing him to strangle her still bothers me about her character. She seemed so ready to support Rand no matter what in the other books, then instantly it felt like she had forsaken him. Too much of a 180 for me

Characters I thought were portrayed almost exactly as expected

All of the Aiel - I don't know why but whether it was the wise ones/clan chiefs / Aviendha I never thought twice about these characters.

Gawyn - Will he ever be likable? Doubtful, but at least BS did a good job continuing his character. I'm glad that the perfect love story between him and Egwene was called into question. Seriously, had they said more than 10 sentences to each other before they figured out they were in love.?

Tuon and the Seanchan - Loved the Seanchan parts. Had wished there were more chapters with Tuon, or more development on her recent marriage to Matt (The meeting between her and Rand was a tease)

I'm not going to argue either way for the differences I noticed in Rand, Faile, and Matt. RJ's representation of Rand would be impossible to guess with the plot advancements but I thought it was spot on. Faile did seem different, but this was after her imprisonment and she had far too small of a role in this book.  Matt was Tuon-less of the first time so I was kind of curious to see how he was going to behave in general. There wasn't much reason to include him into the book now that I think about it though...


Like I said I'm just curious, if everyone is going to agree with me or disagree with me.
Can't wait till the next book!

[Aranfan]

Min abandoned Rand?  The only thing that would even suggest this is a thing from Rand's perspective.  And he wasn't exactly right in the head then.

I agree that Brandon dropped the ball on Elaida, she seemed a much flatter character in this book.

[tipbruley]

Min abandoned Rand?  The only thing that would even suggest this is a thing from Rand's perspective.  And he wasn't exactly right in the head then.

I agree that Brandon dropped the ball on Elaida, she seemed a much flatter character in this book.

I can't remember her even talking to Rand after the Strangling incident (there were some, but they weren't memorable). Every other time in the series Rand started stonewalling himself in the past, she made an effort to try and break him out of it. This book she just kind of accepted it. She may not have run away, but he definitely got no help from her when he needed it.

Compare her actions in this book to after Dumai Wells.

[Aranfan]

Well, I think them avoiding each other for a while after Rand was forced to choke her is perfectly reasonable.  It was a very traumatic experience for both of them. 

[happyman]

Well, I think them avoiding each other for a while after Rand was forced to choke her is perfectly reasonable.  It was a very traumatic experience for both of them. 

This.  They may not consciously think about it, but it did probably drive a bit of a wedge between them, despite their very best efforts.  Understandable, really, even if it was probably bad for them.

[Patriotic Kaz]

I thought Rand was avoiding Min and Min let him b/c she was scared that her precense hurt him... i got the impression Rand was the instigator not Min.

[tipbruley]

I thought Rand was avoiding Min and Min let him b/c she was scared that her precense hurt him... i got the impression Rand was the instigator not Min.

This was the same scenario after Dumai Wells, but in this case she let him wall up rather than stopping him or trying to get him to open up again. That is my main problem with the scenario. It seemed out of character for her

[happyman]

I thought Rand was avoiding Min and Min let him b/c she was scared that her precense hurt him... i got the impression Rand was the instigator not Min.

This was the same scenario after Dumai Wells, but in this case she let him wall up rather than stopping him or trying to get him to open up again. That is my main problem with the scenario. It seemed out of character for her

Traumatic experiences change character, often very quickly.

Reading that experience was mildly traumatic for *me*.  How would Min feel?

[VegasDev]

Obviously since Brandon had finished the book rather than RJ, people are going to pick out the perceived differences in characters, however we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves.

First off, we don't know how much Robert Jordan had already written, so it is at least plausible that the parts we perceive as being out of character were actually passages RJ had written himself and not something BS had pulled out of his arse.

Second, each of the characters had changed over the course of the series due to natural progression under RJ's watch, I fail to see why they wouldn't progress now just because BS is involved. When we last left off, Mat had gotten married, Rand had lost his hand, Egwene had been captured, etc. Are we to believe that they would not progress due to these experiences?

Focusing on Mat, I too see a difference in character however given what he has gone through, I don't think the changes are out of the ordinary. This is the same Mat that had told a story about ghost hounds to Adan and then covered Master Luhhan's dogs in flour. The big difference now is that we actually get to hear the story rather than read two sentences about the outcome. I imagine much of that story would be told in the same way that Mat schemed in TGS.

The biggest difference between BS and RJ is that we will now hear much of the conversation that takes place between the characters that surely took place in the other books but RJ focused on other aspects rather than the conversations themselves.

[Omelethead]

Hmm, I don't think Min was avoiding Rand because she was afraid of him or scared of him, but she finally realized that her presence near him puts him in big danger. She's not a last line of defense with her knives, she's a liability. It's surprising she didn't start realizing this after the Semirhage incident in KoD, where she ended up costing Rand his hand, but she realized in tGS that Rands enemies can use her to hurt him. She was re-thinking her role in Rand's life, not really avoiding him.

[darxbane]

^I totally agree.  I actually found it refreshing that someone in this book became self-aware.  Imagine if he had killed her?  He would have been broken beyond repair.  If you re-read the chapters where Min was with Cadsuane and Sorilea, she's still supporting him as much as ever.  Lastly, she had reason to be wary of him; he almost killed Tam in a fit of rage, and he was emanating evil.  I will refrain from the multitude of Star Wars references.

As for Elaida, well, she was progressing down the same path Matt had with the dagger, only much more gradually.  Mordeth's touch on her came to a head in this book.  Does anyone else see Elaida as Jack Nicholson from A Few Good Men in that second dinner scene?  I have no idea why I picture it that way, but "I am Tower Law" sound just like "You can't handle the truth!"

[Batchman]

Darxmeat, that is an interesting theory. I can see the time spent with Mordeth being involved in the changes in Elaida. It would go a long way to explain her change from slightly obnoxious to absurdly controlling and egotistical. And yet, I have to wonder, could Mordeth have such a strong influence with the relatively short time he spent interacting with her? Or would he have had to keep interacting with her?

Either way, it is an interesting theory to think on.

[Patriotic Kaz]

He outlived his prison? I mean Shadar Logoth is dead and he can't take Fain's body b/c the DO twisted Fain himself so i don't know how he would escape...( though my last reread was around 14 months ago though i've read bits and pieces since then)

[douglas]

He outlived his prison? I mean Shadar Logoth is dead and he can't take Fain's body b/c the DO twisted Fain himself so i don't know how he would escape...( though my last reread was around 14 months ago though i've read bits and pieces since then)

Mordeth merged with Fain offscreen way back in EotW.

[darxbane]

^This.  Mordeth couldn't take over Fain's body, so they became some hybrid evil thing.  RJ confirmed that Fain and the dagger are still just as evil as ever, despite the cleansing.  Only Shadar Logoth itself was affected.  Which reminds me; is anyone going to tell the AS how Rand cleansed the taint?

Batchman, I guess it would depend on the individual.  Elaida was overconfident and not very trusting as others to begin with, so it wouldn't take much to push her over the edge.  Add that to the Black Ajah screwing with her, the rebels at her doorstep, etc, and it would only feed into the madness.  She could very well have lost it anyway, but old Morfain certainly helped things along.