Line #9 YMMV/TheWheelOfTime


1	%%
2	%%
3	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without expanding them to explain how the trope applies. A character name on its own is not context. "In spades" and like phrases are Administrivia/WordCruft, not context.
4	%%
5	%%
6	----
7	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
8	** Elaida, despite becoming something of a HateSink, is a divisive character. Was she a WellIntentionedExtremist doing what she felt had to be done to save the world, [[UnwittingPawn undermined]] by the Black Ajah and DrivenToVillainy in the process? Or was she always an [[ItsAllAboutMe egotistical madwoman]] who leapt at the chance to take over as Amyrlin, sealing her fate through her own follies?
9	** Egwene's character has many debated points as well. Is she needlessly self-centered and hypocritical, or was she the capable and self-confident woman the Pattern needed to make the Tower whole before the Last Battle? Did she truly always love Gawyn, or was she suddenly infatuated with him after being drawn unwillingly into his EroticDream of her? Was her icy reception of Tuon a reasonable response to someone responsible for the horrors of ''damane'' slavery, something she herself suffered, or a rash and unwise action that nearly fractured the Forces of the Light right before the last battle?
10	* AntiClimaxBoss:
11	** After five books worth of build-up, Sammael gets eaten by Mashadar after a short, not particularly spectacular fight with Rand. When questioned about this, [[WordOfGod Jordan]] said that he felt Sammael was a "louse" who didn't deserve a dramatic death, so this trope can be safely said to have been [[InvokedTrope invoked]]. It also doesn't help that you'd swear Sammael wasn't actually killed with a quite striking case of NeverFoundTheBody, until Jordan had to step in and clarify that "Sammael is toast."
12	** [[spoiler: Padan Fain/Mordeth/Shaisam, thanks to running straight into Mat, who is immune to his powers from previous exposure]].
13	** Moghedien is an invoked example, exemplifying that for all the all the [[TheDreaded horrific myths]] surrounding them, the Forsaken are ultimately just people, and fallible as all people are. Sure, she's quite formidable when she's the one holding the cards and she [[spoiler:survives the entire series,]] but almost every time she gets her hands dirty it ends [[HumiliationConga very badly]] for her.
14	* ArcFatigue: Sets in around the eighth book and doesn't let up until the eleventh. In particular, Elayne vying for the Lion Throne and Perrin's conflict with the Shaido remnants are generally acknowledged as having dragged on for too long. Even before then, the Aes Sedai civil war arc begins in the fifth book and isn't resolved until the [[spoiler:''thirteenth''.]]
15	%%* AwesomeEgo: Demandred.
16	* BadassDecay: [[spoiler:Moiraine, who despite facing down four Forsaken and defeating two before her apparent demise, is largely removed from the martial side of battling the Shadow after her return and plays a more advisory role.]]
17	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
18	** Egwene is probably the most divisive character in the fandom. The fact that she is considered by many to be overly perfect, coupled with a lack of introspection, means you either love her or hate her.
19	** Tuon is another who tends to provoke strong reactions one way or the other. A big factor is whether or not one can get past the fact that she's the heir apparent to a militaristic empire that treats a major segment of its population (female channellers) as subhumans who need to enslaved and essentially {{brainwashed}} not just for the good of society but for their ''own'' good - and the fact that Tuon herself not only defends this state of affairs but is personally involved in it as one of the slave-handlers. She does have a lot of good qualities otherwise (including what some would call the best-written romance plot in the series, just by virtue of being the only one that's not LoveAtFirstSight), but it's understandable that some people find the ''damane'' situation very difficult to overlook, and grow frustrated that the series wants to present her as an overall sympathetic character despite this background.
20	* BrokenBase:
21	** Mat in the books co-written by Brandon Sanderson is either hilarious or acting totally out of character, depending on who you ask. Big points of contention: the "character sheets" in ''The Gathering Storm'' and the [[spoiler:letter to Elayne]] in ''Towers of Midnight.''
22	** "Crossroads of Twilight" is one. While it's generally considered to be the weakest entry, some consider that it's actually not ''that'' bad and maybe should have been marketed and released as a "Side story" due to its lack of plot progression.
23	* TheChrisCarterEffect: Fans believed Robert Jordan's promise that Book 12 would be the final book of the series. The list of people who believed it would succeed in ''wrapping up'' the series was... rather smaller.
24	* CommonKnowledge: The series will "never end". A common fan cry in the late 90's/early 2000's was that the series would never actually end, and in fact did not think Jordan's "final" book, which he was working on when he died, would actually resolve the series. When he did pass away, fans took for granted for a time that the series would remain unfinished. Thanks to copious notes and a good deal of finished work from Jordan, author Brandon Sanderson was able to finish the ([[KudzuPlot last three books in the]]) series. (There is also a metaphorical component to fans' insistence, since one of the first sentences in every ''Wheel of Time'' book is, "There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time," and the epilogue continues that theme.)
25	* CompleteMonster: ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has the worst of [[Characters/TheWheelOfTimeTheShadowAndDarkfriends the Forsaken]]:
26	** [[TheAntichrist Ishamael]]--aka Elan Morin Tedronai, Ba'alzamon and Moridin--is a scholar and philosopher who determined that [[TheAntiGod the Dark One]] was destined to triumph over good at the end of time. With that in mind, Ishamael signed on with the Dark One's forces, eventually driving his former friend, Lews Therin, [[DrivenToSuicide to suicide]]. Sealed in Shayol Ghul, Ishamael managed to free his spirit, and eventually his body. Ishamael makes the life of Lews Therin's reincarnation a living hell while in his Ba'alzamon identity, tormenting him with nightmares and doing everything in his power to make him miserable, while sending his troops to lay waste to the world. Following his apparent death, he is resurrected in a new identity--Moridin--and takes over leadership of the Dark One's armies, brutally punishing the rest of the Forsaken when they fail. Unlike the rest of the Forsaken, who think they will [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the world]] when the war is over, Ishamael believes that the Dark One is an OmnicidalManiac, and is perfectly fine with this.
27	** [[TheDreaded Semirhage]], one of the most terrifying of the Forsaken, was once the most gifted healer of her age, but also a cold {{sadist}} who [[TortureTechnician enjoyed torturing]] those she healed as "payment". Eagerly joining the Dark One, Semirhage's territories were marked by hideous torture, with Semirhage [[PlayingWithSyringes experimenting]] with ways to cause agony, such as replacing human blood with similar substances. Semirhage massacres the court of the Seanchan Empire, personally torturing the Empress to death, and tries to [[MindRape emotionally destroy]] Rand Al'Thor before the last battle.
28	* CondemnedByHistory: Nowadays, ''The Wheel of Time'' is considered by many to be a horrendously cliched example of how all fantasy books are too long, with series that go on seemingly without end and yet little happens in them. When the first volume was published, in 1991, most fantasy novels were actually quite short, and/or tended to be trilogies or quintets at the very longest. The series is also often blamed for inspiring so many other writers to [[{{Padding}} pad out their volumes]] and stretch their stories over ten or twelve volumes that it eventually got active hatedom, with the concept of having a fantasy novel that drags over a course of 800 pages without moving the plot forward even an inch becoming one of the most reviled things in the genre, rather than an interesting formula experiment.
29	* DamselScrappy:
30	** Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve are popular choices. Especially Elayne and Nynaeve, because they spend a lot of time getting into trouble and are positively ''bitchy'' to the people who pull them out, particularly Mat. Having said that, other characters eventually call them out on it, so one could argue that their irritating behavior was intentional.
31	** The key reason why Egwene is such a BaseBreakingCharacter depends on how much the reader might notice how much this applies to her. Because Elayne and Nynaeve spend so much time together, while Egwene separated from them early in Book 4, it's often forgotten that she was just as much trapped as they were before Mat rescued them in Book 3, and that she treated Mat just as badly as they did if not moreso (early in Book 4, there's a scene between Mat and Egwene told through her POV showing us just how much she despises him). Unlike Elayne and Nynaeve, Egwene has never apologized for it nor been made to see that she needs to.
32	** In Book 2, Nynaeve took charge of rescuing Egwene from being a [[FateWorseThanDeath damane.]] While Egwene was grateful at the time, she quickly forgot or never realized how important Nynaeve was to that rescue and spent the next several books rebelling against Nynaeve's authority, often for no good reason. In Book 5, she used ''Tel'aran'rhiod'' to [[KickTheDog pull a nasty, mean-spirited trick on Nynaeve]] (which greatly contributed the BreakTheHaughty storyline Nynaeve went through in Book 5) solely to cover up Egwene's own misdeeds. Egwene has never apologized to Nynaeve for this, nor been made to see that she needs to.
33	%%** Faile even more so.
34	* DracoInLeatherPants: Most of the series' villains are [[CompleteMonster vile]] and/or inhuman enough to avoid getting this, but the "Big Three" Forsaken -- Ishamael/Moridin, Lanfear, and Demandred -- ''do'' get a certain amount of it (being just about the only Forsaken to make it through the series with their badass-cred intact helps, as does all three being fairly nuanced in their motivations), as do the Seanchan as a whole.
35	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Bela. Really ''is'' a horse, but fascinates the fandom anyway.
36	** Jain Farstrider also has quite a following. [[HesJustHiding JAIN LIVES!!!]] [[http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/Noal_Charin Really.]] [[spoiler:Well, not anymore...]]
37	** Demandred probably appears in person less than any of the other major Forsaken [[spoiler: at least until ''A Memory of Light'']], but it certainly doesn't stop him from being one of the most popular in the fandom.
38	** Asmodean is killed off relatively early, but is fondly remembered and commonly ranks high on fans' favorite Forsaken lists.
39	** And Narg. [[YouNoTakeCandle Narg smart.]] Narg dead now... ''[[ThanatosGambit just as planned.]]'' Also, according to [[TrollingCreator Word of God]] Narg was the one [[RiddleForTheAges who killed Asmodean]]! [[spoiler: Not really.]]
40	* EpilepticTrees: In the fandom these are known as "Loony Theories." This is ''not'' a derogative term, however -- some of them have turned out to be dead accurate. A whole new crop has grown since the conclusion of the series, in part due to the official ShrugOfGod regarding anything that happens after the final page. There are two major mysteries that the ending left unresolved that have spawned all sorts of fan theories. [[spoiler: The first is the nature of Nakomi, the mysterious Aiel woman who visited Aviendha during her trip to Rhuidean. Was that a message from The Creator? A Forsaken? Verin? Some random Wise One? The second is what the hell was up with Rand's magically lighting pipe at the very end of the epilogue. Did someone channel it for him? Is it a ter'angreal? Does Rand have some sort of new power, and if so, what?]] The fact that we'll never know has only fueled the theory fires.
41	* EvilIsCool: Deconstructed with the Forsaken; their mystique is impressive, but strip it away and what you're left with is a bunch of strikingly dysfunctional people with way too much power.
42	* FanPreferredCouple: Moiraine is canonically paired with Thom. However, while that ship still has its fans and was generally her most popular when the books first released, in more recent years most fans have taken to shipping her with her best friend Siuan due to feeling that they have better chemistry and the fact that the two were "[[SituationalSexuality pillow friends]]" while they were younger. It certainly doesn't hurt that the [[Series/TheWheelOfTime2021 2021 series]] made them an OfficialCouple.
43	* FridgeBrilliance: Elayne's inheritance of the Sun Throne and the Lion Throne unites the kingdoms of Andor and Cairhien, and creates the largest and most powerful kingdom in the Westlands. A perfect counterbalance to the Seanchan in the future.
44	* GrowingTheBeard: The first novel can be read as a fine standalone adventure (although admittedly, it's not for nothing that Dorothy Jones Heydt coined the EightDeadlyWords while reading it) but it's often said that its first few sequels (particularly ''The Dragon Reborn'') are what really got fans of the series hooked.
45	* HarsherInHindsight: An out-of-universe example; in Jordan's dust jacket biographies, it always said he intended to keep writing "until they nail shut his coffin". Robert Jordan [[{{Determinator}} continued to say this]] after he found out that he was terminally ill.
46	* HesJustHiding:
47	** [[spoiler:Moiraine]] got this in spades due to dramatically toppling through a PortalDoor rather than dying outright. [[spoiler:The belief was vindicated when Mat's group rescues her from the Aelfinn and Eelfinn.]]
48	** [[spoiler:Sammael]]'s high-powered WizardDuel with Rand is cut short when he's unexpectedly overrun by [[FogOfDoom Mashadar]]. The [[NeverFoundTheBody lack of a body]] and the rumours of someone commanding Shadowspawn in his name caused much speculation that he'd escaped, but Robert Jordan broke his usual "Read And Find Out" policy to say that he was a "louse" and got the anticlimactic demise he deserved.
49	* HilariousInHindsight:
50	** One of the principal reasons for splitting ''A Memory Of Light'' into three volumes was that as one book it would be literally unprintable. This is funny because Robert Jordan had said there would be one more book even if Tor had to invent a new binding format. Turns out they literally ''would'' have to invent a new binding format -- and wouldn't you know it, they don't want to, so three books it is.
51	** Later, when Brandon was working on his own high fantasy series, ''The Stormlight Archive'', he quipped that if Book 2, ''Words of Radiance'' was a single page longer, the publishing company would be literally unable to publish it.
52	* IKnewIt: [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4975913/1/Sherlock_Holmes_Examines_the_Death_of_Asmodean THIS fanfic.]] It was written in the early 2000s, and got Asmodean's murderer right, down to the little details. Brandon Sanderson mentioned that it was in the notes on the end of the series, with one phrase handwritten on it: THIS IS RIGHT. It's the one RJ kept referring to when he said that someone on the internet has it right.
53	* InferredHolocaust: With the Dark One's influence causing massive food spoilage throughout the continent, if not the world, to the point that channelers are routinely needed just to heal food poisoning, it's likely that a significant portion of the population, if not the majority, die of starvation before the end of the Last Battle. And that's leaving out the countries actually invaded by Trollocs.
54	* ItWasHisSled: Seriously, did anyone ''not'' figure out that Rand was the Dragon by the end of the first book? With the benefit of hindsight, many things that happen to Rand are clearly the symptoms of a wilder channeling, but with so much other crazy or horrific things going on (YourMindMakesItReal, {{Farm Boy}}s receiving an unwelcome CallToAdventure, the ArtifactOfDoom, [[WeAreEverywhere Darkfriends everywhere]]), this reader didn't notice their significance until a reread. Lan is a plausible [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Aragorn]], which is a different kind of ChosenOne and would have made this a very different kind of series.
55	* JerkassWoobie: Rand in the second half of the series, as the weight of being TheChosenOne hardens his heart and his actions become much more ruthless, ambiguous, and grey, accompanied by him developing a colder disposition and a willingness to commit indefensible acts for the sake of [[IDidWhatIHadToDo doing what has to be done]]. ''Many'' characters worry for where this will take him, and even his oldest and closest friends begin arguing that he's [[MoralEventHorizon crossing lines]]. [[spoiler:This reaches a climax in ''The Gathering Storm'', when after an introspective reckoning on Dragonmount, Rand comes to terms with his destiny and resolves to make things right before his death.]]
56	%%** Lanfear fits this, and [[spoiler:Ishamael, of all people, has shades of it in the final books.]]
57	* LesYay: Loads of it between Elayne and Aviendha.
58	* LoveToHate: Most of the Forsaken, particularly Moghedien, who despite being an easily spooked DirtyCoward is one of the most enduring and [[{{Determinator}} driven]] villains in the series.
59	* MemeticBadass: Bela is the Dark One! Bela is the Creator! Bela killed Asmodean! Bela is... an unusually reliable horse.
60	* MemeticMutation: Whenever the series is mentioned, there's a pretty solid chance [[CharacterTic Nynaeve will tug her braid]].
61	** After [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZMzGJfCaM8 this]] Youtube Poop, some people have taken to saying "Flicker flicker flicker flicker flicker" or "IS THIS NECESSARY?"
62	* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Rand]] comes dangerously close to this after spending the last two to three books walking nearer the edge, almost going off the edge when [[spoiler:he almost kills Tam, his father, after learning that Cadsuane had brought him to Rand]].
63	%%** All Forsaken have crossed it.
64	* MyRealDaddy: While this series has millions of devoted readers who have read and re-read the series many times over, it also has its more disgruntled fans who grew frustrated with Jordan's pacing, needless side-plots and additional characters that added nothing to the story, not to mention his penchant for going overboard describing dresses and having characters argue and deliberate the same points multiple times, and had given up on the series in disgust. These sorts of fan think the last three books, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-writer, were a great improvement and that Sanderson has a better grasp of pacing, dialog, humor and action than Jordan did. Meanwhile, fans who loved Jordan's writing style will tell you that silly humor and brainless action are all Sanderson brought to the series.
65	* NeverLiveItDown: One of Nynaeve's biggest motivations for joining the White Tower was to put herself in a position to get revenge on Moiraine for plucking the Two Rivers' folk out of their village. This is, on several levels, absolutely ridiculous: in helping the protagonists escape from the Two Rivers, Moiraine not only saved all of their lives, but also diverted the Shadowspawn trying to kill them all away from their hometown. Nynaeve eventually realizes how stupid this is [[spoiler:and even becomes close friends with Moiraine in the final book]] but her detractors are still quick to point this out.
66	* NotBadassEnoughForFans: Among a cast of badasses, most with one supernatural magic power to invoke or another, and the rest firmly in BadassNormal territory, Min, despite being thrown into death's jaws quite a lot, falls very short. She tries to remedy this by having Thom teach her the art of throwing knives, which she picks up quickly, but she's still little-to-no help (and in one very important case, a dramatic hindrance) against almost all of the enemies she comes up against. Her fans tend to point out that this is somewhat unfair to hold against her, since despite her lack of conventional strength, she's still a very important character.
67	* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: Brandon Sanderson's name is almost a swear word to some of Jordan's more devoted fans, who reacted as if Creator/MichaelBay had been hired to complete the works of Shakespeare. To a reader of this mindset, Sanderson is a stupid child trying to drive his father's car, and all but destroying it in the process, shoving Jordan's insightful narrative and solid character development to the side for silly jokes and action scenes. In particular they detest the way Sanderson portrayed Mat Cauthon, but in general they tend to suggest that any part of the last three books they don't personally like had to have been the parts Sanderson wrote, while if they did enjoy any of them it must have been from Jordan's manuscript. Even Sanderson's original works aren't immune from their ire, with a majority of them claiming that his books are utter garbage. Chances are very high that any author chosen would have been subjected to more or less the same treatment, with only the specifics changed. There is another branch of the fandom that sees this all rather differently.
68	* {{Padding}}: It would be easier to list the stuff in this series that ''isn't'' padding. For instance, late in the plot, Elayne has to spend some time jockeying for the Lion Throne. This was generally felt to take way too long. It doesn't get particularly bad until Book 7. But after that, hoo boy. Books 7 through 10 are full of it (although at least ''Winter's Heart'' moves the plot forward in a very significant way). By ''Knife of Dreams'' Jordan appears to have realised he was taking way too long to resolve plot issues and began taking steps to correct this.
69	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
70	** Nynaeve is listed in the BaseBreakingCharacter section due to how bitchy several readers found her early on. However, a vast number of fans will note that she has one of the loveliest journeys of CharacterDevelopment in the series, to the point where she's one of the most beloved characters among those who've read all the books. Her portrayal in the Amazon Prime series has helped too, thanks to a lauded performance by Zoe Robins.
71	** Mat spends most of the first two books either whining or dying from the cursed dagger he stole, being an idiot at the time. However, after being cured of the taint and recovering, he Takes a Level in Badass, gains reality-warping super-luck, and has a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome ''on the first walk he takes after getting out of a sickbed.''
72	** Egwene after ''The Gathering Storm'', especially her behavior against Elaida and [[spoiler:the raid on the White Tower]].
73	** Gawyn defeating three elite assassins on his own despite the fact that he could barely see them in ''Towers of Midnight'' helped him, too, not to mention his turn against Elaida.
74	** Or even Faile after ''Towers of Midnight''. She might not be anyone's favorite character, but nine books and the events of Malden have [[CharacterDevelopment left their mark]]. It helps that at the beginning of ''Towers of Midnight'' she admits to not liking who she was in the first couple of books and takes it down a notch. She still maintains a fiery attitude, but seems to handle it better than simply hitting the thing that annoys her i.e. Perrin.
75	* ReplacementScrappy: For some, Cadsuane, who becomes Rand's foremost Aes Sedai advisor after Moiraine [[spoiler:appears to die]]. The fact that Moiraine cooperates with and defers to Rand after he becomes ruler of multiple nations, while Cadsuane shows up on his doorstep and immediately starts trying to bully him into line, doesn't do her any favours.
76	* TheScrappy:
77	** Cadsuane was probably meant to be the one Aes Sedai who could actually live up to the order's lofty reputation. Instead, she comes off as embodying the worst of the Aes Sedai; an arrogant, controlling bully who just happens to be much better at it than her sisters. But unlike other such characters, Cadsuane neither finds herself humbled by significant failure nor does she ever get any character development.
78	** Faile, being Perrin's love interest is a very significant character, but few readers enjoy her scenes. She often comes off as a terrible wife to Perrin, getting mad at him when Berelain flirts with him despite Perrin repeatedly and emphatically telling Berelain he isn't interested. Furthermore, Faile believes that when Perrin disagrees with her in a calm and civil manner, he's being ''dis''respectful to her. And all of this is compounded by how the story frames their conflict, putting the onus on Perrin to accomodate Faile and do things her way, even when that's clearly unhealthy behavior.
79	** Gawyn is disliked for several reasons. He has an IrrationalHatred of Rand, believing that Rand [[spoiler:killed Gawyn's mother]] based solely on rumor and refusing to believe multiple people telling him Rand is innocent. Gawyn's also noted for his supposedly rigid concept of morality, even though he repeatedly joins the worst die in various conflicts and often proves an unreliable ally to people who trust him.
80	** You would be hard-pressed to find anybody who likes Queen Tylin. Already a major figure in the controversial Ebou Dar plot, Tylin uses her position to basically hold Mat prisoner and repeatedly force herself on him, at one point even having servants drag him to her room and cutting his clothes off with a knife. [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale This situation is entirely treated as lighthearted comedy, both by the story and by every character aware of it in-universe]]. This is futher worsened by Tylin being irrationally vindictive, with Mat noting that she would retaliate harshly against him for tying her up at one point, even though he did so at her behest.
81	* SeasonalRot:
82	** ''Crossroads Of Twilight'', the tenth book of the series, is the worst part of the series if you believe the [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000FFJRI6/sr=8-1/qid=1187882157/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful/104-1520169-6111945?ie=UTF8&n=283155&qid=1187882157&sr=8-1#customerReviews reviews at Amazon]]. The action consists of the same two days from the point of view of every tenth character we've ever met... that is to say, loads of characters.
83	** Some would argue the actual rot began with ''A Crown of Swords'', which is the first book to literally not move the plot forward at all, and was followed by a book that was similarly stagnant. However, ''Winter's Heart'' concluded with a ''major'' game changer, even if it was the only real progress the plot would make until ''Knife of Dreams''. Some readers are more harsh, and will claim the rot started even earlier, with ''The Fires of Heaven'' or even ''The Shadow Rising'', which is the largest novel in the series, and the one where several of the more-hated aspects really came to the fore.
84	** Things seem to be getting better in the next book (''Knife of Dreams''), and the 12th and 13th, though, due to streamlining the plot as much as possible on [[TheOtherDarrin Brandon Sanderson]]'s part.
85	* ShrugOfGod: According to Sanderson, there were certain plot developments (most notably who or what Nakomi is and how Rand was able to light his pipe after his rebirth) that Jordan's notes explicitly stated were not to be explained.
86	* {{Squick}}: Shadowspawn can breed. Think about it too much and you'll probably need BrainBleach.
87	* StrangledByTheRedString:
88	** Loial's match with Erith. Sweet, but not particularly developed. Like most of the romances in the series, really. Some of the characters are even GenreSavvy enough to realise this is happening to them. Possibly FridgeBrilliance: given how slowly Ogier mature, their relationship is the equivalent of a high school crush. And shotgun wedding.
89	** Depending on your point of view, Mat and Tuon are either this (two people who don't really care about each other dragged together by prophecies they've been told) or start off as this and learn to enjoy it. On Mat's side, at least, he's initially uncomfortable because Tuon is pretty much the exact opposite of his normal taste in women, and grows into it once he gets used to the idea that Tuon is one of the few people in the series who can keep pace with his IndyPloy thinking.
90	** Mostly avoided by Rand and Elayne, but it really didn't help that she spends considerably less time around him (both chronologically and on screen) than Min and Aviendha do but apparently has just as strong a relationship with him.
91	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Asmodean, for some. Rand having a [[DePower de-powered]] former Forsaken as his TokenEvilTeammate and channeling coach was an interesting angle to take, but Asmodean's arc is cut short on the cusp of a true HeelFaceTurn when he's KilledOffForReal.
92	** Also, Alivia. A former damane, freed by Rand with a chip on her shoulder against sul'dam and also entirely unaware of how the world works due to her several hundred years living as a pet. She also has a prophecy that states that she will help Rand die, and is even more powerful than Nynaeve in the One Power. As important as she sounds, she ends up not doing very much in the series. The only notable things she does in the series is [[spoiler:fight Lanfear solo during the cleansing of saidin, and her talked up prophecy of "helping Rand die", which ultimately only amounts to stealing some clothes and money for him to leave and start wandering the world.]]
93	** Masema. Someone who was an ally to Rand in early books, but who went on to become an insane zealot, committing atrocities in his name. There is a lot of potential for his character, but he ultimately ends up doing nothing important throughout the entire series.
94	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: After numerous books of Masema being an evil zealot causing all kinds if misery in Rand's name, just about everyone was eagerly looking forward to his inevitably meeting Rand again and being destroyed to discover that he didn't want any of it, and he'd done nothing but make the world worse. Instead, he's anti-climactically killed at the start of "The Gathering Storm," and by Faile rather than anyone who'd personally been affected by him.
95	* TrappedByMountainLions:
96	** Faile's capture and captivity by the Shaido and Perrin's attempts to rescue her; it lasts for three books, during which we get constant repeats of Faile and the other ''gai'shain'' being abused by their captors and Perrin moping about.
97	** Elayne's political plot in the later books, while arguably important to the plot as a whole, drags on far longer than it should.
98	** The entire Ebou Dar/Bowl of the Winds plot. It spans three books (admittedly it was a subplot), and does little except solve a relatively minor problem (never-ending summer). Even if it introduces a ton of new characters, none of them particularly add anything.
99	* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Mat is one of the most popular characters in the fandom because of his sense of humor and derring-do. This popularity ''does not'' hold to the other characters -- many of whom simply do not see what he gets up to, since there's FourLinesAllWaiting between Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene and the Supergirls, and very little overlap between them. As an example, Mat is a FourStarBadass and BornLucky, but ''absolutely nobody knows why''; while most every character would accept the explanation that he has a lot of PastLifeMemories of military tacticians, he simply doesn't ''tell'' anyone this, leading to the impression that he is FallingIntoTheCockpit (which, in fairness, he ''and'' every other character is) and that a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome is completely possible (the way it has been for everyone else). Only Rand really trusts him or believes in him -- mostly because Rand, as TheChosenOne, knows Mat is there BecauseDestinySaysSo.
100	* TheUntwist: Several.
101	** The biggest is that ''everyone'' figured out that Moiraine was going to come back at some point.
102	** That Mazrim Taim had some kind of ulterior motive in his involvement with the Asha'man. He is perhaps the single most blatant [[TheStarscream Starscream]] in literary history.
103	* VillainDecay: It's apparent by the fifth book, if not before, that not all of the Forsaken are worthy of the intense dread their reputation has inspired, especially when fate pits them against the heroes' ever-increasing skills and powers (particularly [[WorldsStrongestMan Rand]]). On the other hand, [[spoiler:Demandred, Graendal, and Moridin]] more than live up to the hype and dominate much of the Last Battle.

Context YMMV / TheWheelOfTime