Character Growth

[Quokka]

You can take spoilers in this thread as a given.

The Wheel of Time often gets criticised for having got lost in it's own storytelling and for a lack of diversity in it's female characters but what about character growth? I was just thinking that by and large most of WOT's characters are pretty much the same people in book 11 that they are when they we're introduced just in very different circumstances.

We get to see a lot of Rand's internal changes, Mat's a bit wiser and Perrin just seems to be more Perrin but once you start looking at the supporting cast most of them seem to be a little too like the people they were before, especially considering everything they've gone through. The one exception I would make is Egwene who is one of the least annoying characters for me now but Nyneave, Elayne, Gawn, Galad, Lan, Aviendha.... I mean some of these characters have gone from living in an isolated village to touring the world!

Anyway just curious what other people thought? Does WOT do it any worse then other series or am I being unfair here?

 

[Octarine Lantern]

I agree with you for the most part. It's been a long time since I've read the series, but I think we see a lot of change in Nyneave. She's a bit of comic relief compared to the other women she travels with as she tries to stay the same, but changes and is oblivious to her hypocrisy when she calls the other women on their faults.

I don't think there is much of a difference between most of the women in the books though. They all seem the same, despite being from different cultures. Like I said, I can't think of any specific instances, I'm going off memory.