Death

Ty al'Djinn

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Almost half the most notable characters in the series died! Egwene, Galad, Siuan Sanche, Gareth Bryne, Gawyn, Birgitte, all those Forsaken, Rhuarc, Bela, and more.

What makes you think of them as less notable? Each of them played a huge role in the series, and certainly deserve a hero's burial and a fond farewell.
 
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Almost half the most notable characters in the series died! Egwene, Galad, Siuan Sanche, Gareth Bryne, Gawyn, Birgitte, all those Forsaken, Rhuarc, Bela, and more.

What makes you think of them as less notable? Each of them played a huge role in the series, and certainly deserve a hero's burial and a fond farewell.

My opinion does't take or lessen any glory of the dead and they are not less notable. Of course they did deserve to have a hero's burial (maybe not the forsaken at al.).

However those people are still only a handfull of people compared to overall loss (over 2/3 of all men&women fighting?) and the position they actually stood the battles. I expected really huge losses among the ones we know. Birgitte didn't really die, she was restored to the horn to be reborn again. Galad is unsure, I think he survives.
 

Caliden Al'Waes

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I didn't expect a ton of deaths because well... healing. Anything short of death can and will be healed. I imagine that the important people in the book got top priority, such as Perrin. Basically the ones that happened were due to close close combat or freak accidents.
 
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Brigette shocked the hell out of me. Although like Suian the subtle forshadowing right before the event should have tipped me off. Suain giving a moving speech to Egewene, Brigette forgetting everything about her past entirely. But Brigette's death made me go "NO. NOOOO."

I was happy Gawyn died. What a moron, that one. I think we all know the reasons, but from what he was when we first met him, to what he was when he died, the character he became sucked and his own stupidity that was left unchecked by anyone who cared for him, killed him. Shame, that.
Totally agreed with these things. I really grew to like Siuan when I read New Spring.
And Birgitte's death was definitely the one that hit me hardest, because of how brutal it was.

Also, Bela's death was unexpected and sad. Especially because Olver was involved, and he was maybe the best part of the whole book for me. There was just this constant, wonderfully written sadness pervading all Olver's POVs. Kind of amplified what I was feeling when reading anything to do with him.

Kinda wished Galad hadn't miraculously gotten saved.

For some reason I expected Loial to die, and was delighted when he did not.
I also REALLY wanted Thom to live, but figured he and Moiraine would get killed when all the couples were falling (Basheres, Egwene/Gawyn, Siuan/Gareth).
 

Qamra Daielin

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For some reason I was actually expecting Egwene to die, so when she went on her rampage, I knew it was coming. Totally stoked in how it happened, though - go out with a bang.

Bela, however, was the one that got me choked up when reading.
 
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Even though you could see Egwene's coming from a mile away, I just sat there saying no no no no no in my head the entire time - I didn't want her to die!! :( So yeah, it wasn't sudden or anything, but it still made me so sad.

Siuan's got me really upset, too, as she was another of my favorites.

Birgitte's was totally shocking, but I wasn't sad about it - in a way, it's what she wanted, as it meant she was restored to the Horn and was put back into the cycle where she should be. She was always one of the more tragic characters with the way she was ripped out of the dream like that - I was glad that it worked out for her, in the end. If she hadn't died in the battle, what would have happened?

Rhuarc's Compulsion and death were just awful. Out of all of the deaths, that one made me the most bitter, as he deserved so much more than that. Alas - that's the reality of war, I suppose.
 

Jodea Kegan

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I was most disappointing when Egwene died because she is my favorite female character. And my second favorite, Suian, died as well... which was not a surprise, but it made me sad that she was gone. Birgette was brutal, but not sad since she was finally free of Elaynes stupidity.
 

Raeviendha al'Toma

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I was sad when Egwene died, but it was so unbelievably intense and epic I was ok. Bela's death was awful. I was shouting WHY?? WHY THE HORSE DAMMIT????? My husband immediately assumed I'd lost my mind. I hated what happened to Rhuarc as well.
 

Darim Pelegro

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I was saddest at Siuan and Egwene. Siuan after all she had done got a less heroic death than Bela the horse, though I was sad when she died too. I was suprised to even see Bela's name in the novel. Birgitte I assumed would have to die so she could be called by the Horn.
 
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I expected Tenobia, Davram, and Deira to die, so Faile would be Queen. So I wasn't surprised when Faile survived. I expected Rand to die in glorious death like Egwene had. I was shocked Egwene died, she wasn't close to my favorite character but I was really sad. I was also surprised when Hurin died, he was so faithful, that was probably the saddest death for me. I'm surprised that after reading GRRM that the deaths in this book affected me so much.
 
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Another that upset me a bit - at least, made me pause in my reading - was Romanda. She wasn't the most likeable character, but she was always there, and having her die so suddenly, almost as an afterthought, was tragic.
 
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None. Egwene and her overly ambitious personality annoyed me since the first book, and I wasn't too attached to the horse. I did feel some remorse for Siuan, and definitely Lanfear, since she was one of my favorite characters. It would have been cool if she had survived, just to keep the all busy in time to come. Sounds weird, liking a bad girl, right?
 
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I personally think i would have liked to see Faile die. Not because i didnt like the character but because of all the feelings i had for perrin while he was looking for her while he was beginning to realize the truth. maybe he should have found her and been able to have one last conversation and have her die in his arms... finding her alive almost cheapened it for me... idk... maybe im wierd lol
 
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Faile dying would have, admittedly, been awesome. She is just so annoying...

Does that make me a terrible person for saying it? :p
 
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Come on, Bela's a bloody horse, who cares that she died :P

Siuan's death made me sad, I wish she could have got her happy ending with Bryne. Egwene's death made me angry - so much time was spent on her and her plans and her rebuilding of the Tower, and then she's killed off? wtf? Don't get me wrong, I never liked Egwene, it just seems such a waste.
 
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I guess the manner of Egwene's death was a bit disconcerting. After reading book after book of wise people telling Egwene to do things carefully, or she would have an excellant chance of killing or stilling herself, I figured that eventually she'd just "do what she wants" and end up dead. Her death was pretty heroic tho.
 
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A lot of the deaths were sad though. I thought Rhuarc dying which under compulsion, Bela (of course), and Siuan were pretty moving. I especially was bothered by Siuan. She was one of my favorite powerful women in the series (and Cadsuane). But when Min saw Siuan's aura with a "maybe twist" I figured that her future just wasn't important enough for the Pattern to dictate a specific fate. So, since she had a variable fate, I was hoping she'd stay with Gareth Bryne. :P
 

Ealandrelle Melyma

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I suppose a lot of the deaths drove home for me that life doesn't play fair. I have this slightly romantic notion that anyone who dies fighting on the "good" side should have a heroic, meaningful death. To be over-run because the plans have gone wrong (or were Graendal-fluenced to go wrong ;)) or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time... that irks me. I felt that Siuan had suffered so much, regardless of how a lot of it came from her own scheming. It was lovely to FINALLY have her with Bryne after they danced around each other for book after book. So to have her just suddenly be dead, because Min's viewing hadn't been fulfilled after all, that felt... cheap. But I suppose that really is the reality of a large-scale battle.
 
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There is something about her that I have not liked since she was first introduced to us. I never liked how she treated Perrin, how she went behind his back on so many things. I know in the end she is good for him, but I wished he had chosen someone else.

Totally agree, I never appreciated her ways at all - in a world full of manipulation from Aes Sedai and loads of other factions, hers rubbed me the wrong way the most for some reason. Also despise the mentality of 'just wanting a good argument'.
 
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