Gawyn Trakand - Tumblr Posts

I have this interesting tendency where if I like a character but I acknowledge their flaws and I see other people hating on said character I will immediately decide that character is now precious and I will like them even more because they deserve some love

Okay, so I completely understand why so many people are annoyed by Gawyn in Wheel of Time, but I also think that he deserves a little more understanding than most people give him. Gawyn was left by both Elayne and Galad during Elaida’s coup. Galad was Gawyn’s sounding board, and all Gawyn knows is that Siuan is the reason his sister is missing. Gawyn is left alone with very little information and he tries to do what he thinks is morally right. Now yes, it does take a bit for him to finally believe that Rand didn’t kill Morgase, but in light of this we have to remember that no one has any idea where the heck Morgase is! Gawyn is the victim of his circumstances. I also want to mention that while I actually really like the pairing of Gawyn and Egwene, Egwene’s treatment of Gawyn after he rescues her from the Tower during the Sean Chan attack seriously IRKS me. Egwene wants Gawyn to let her do what she believes is best and necessary, but how is he supposed to be able to beat help her if she doesn’t flipping tell him anything?! Gawyn is consistently given the short end of the stick and I feel like no one actually cares

Yes!!! This is exactly what I’m talking about! Gawyn gets bulldozed repeatedly and then gets blamed for everything!

Okay, so I completely understand why so many people are annoyed by Gawyn in Wheel of Time, but I also think that he deserves a little more understanding than most people give him. Gawyn was left by both Elayne and Galad during Elaida’s coup. Galad was Gawyn’s sounding board, and all Gawyn knows is that Siuan is the reason his sister is missing. Gawyn is left alone with very little information and he tries to do what he thinks is morally right. Now yes, it does take a bit for him to finally believe that Rand didn’t kill Morgase, but in light of this we have to remember that no one has any idea where the heck Morgase is! Gawyn is the victim of his circumstances. I also want to mention that while I actually really like the pairing of Gawyn and Egwene, Egwene’s treatment of Gawyn after he rescues her from the Tower during the Sean Chan attack seriously IRKS me. Egwene wants Gawyn to let her do what she believes is best and necessary, but how is he supposed to be able to beat help her if she doesn’t flipping tell him anything?! Gawyn is consistently given the short end of the stick and I feel like no one actually cares

Yes!! This is exactly what I’ve been trying to say! Gawyn makes dumb decisions, but he is also used and consistently given the short end of the stick!!

I'm to the point where Gawyn actually makes a decision, and a lot of the criticism he receives seems misplaced to me. He makes shit choices because he has shit information because the women he trusts to provide him with information refuse to communicate. Elayne, then Siuan, and then Egwene all misused him.

He followed Elayne to Tar Valon and undertook his training there, doing his duty without complaint. Then his sister vanished. His mom freaked out. He worried, and also BLAMED HIMSELF.

When Elayne returned, I don't remember if she even bothered to say 'hi' in his direction before running off again. Now he's really worried. Siuan won't tell him anything. Min won't tell him anything. He's trying to keep Morgase from blowing a gasket. Galad's joining the Whitecloaks. And then... there's a coup. Siuan, having given him exactly zero reason to trust or back her, he knew Elaida as a respected advisor, and he thought that her ascent was legal. He also thought that he would be able to get the information he wanted out of Siuan. All of this makes sense.

Then he stumbles. The change in Amyrlin doesn't fix his problems. He still doesn't know where his sister is. He lets Min rescue Siuan (and Leane and Logain). I don't remember his reasoning, probably because it wasn't very good. This particular point was all him.

Now he has his Younglings, and Elaida wants him disappeared, and he's sent on the mission to scoop up the Dragon Reborn for Elaida. He's heard rumor that Rand murdered his mom, maybe his sister as well, and he has a bloodlust for revenge. All of this is really reasonable, frankly. Then he runs into Egwene.

Egwene has the power to divert Gawyn from his path of doom, but she instead chooses to ignore him (in the political sense) and withhold information from him, while also sort of using him as a spy but not very well. Instead of using her rather impressive people skills to push him onto a healthy path, she uses him for some snogging and makes him promise not to harm the person who is supposed to save the world. She doesn't tell him where Elayne is. She doesn't give him any evidence about Morgase beyond being a character witness for Rand. She doesn't explain about the fractured tower, nor emphasize her allegiance to the rebel faction. She makes no effort whatsoever to sway him to her side, to even try to convince him to abandon Elaida. She doesn't even respect him enough to read him in as a spy for her. She also seems to think that a low-level soldier will be able to protect Rand from Aes Sedai. You know the ones, the women who can channel? Yeah. Not fucking likely.

So off he goes, swimming with his misperceptions, making ever more desperate decisions, experiencing increasing trauma and stress, until he finally comes to his senses and seeks out Egwene's side.

What I'm really trying to emphasize here is that Egwene could have had him on her side beginning in Cairhien, but she couldn't be arsed.

So when he goes back to her, and people criticize her for being with his loser self, my heart deflates a little. He deserves so much better. Even if he is a loser.

I also find the claim that Gawyn exemplifies toxic masculinity to be backwards. If anything, Elayne and Egwene are the ones displaying the traits usually associated with toxic masculinity: arrogance, withholding information or training, refusing help and then being upset when the helper isn't around, seeing the opposite sex as deficient (this one is only Egwene), acting invincible/infallible, not listening to good advice because of the gender of the person giving it ... you see? Don't be fooled by his masculine-coded job of bodyguard; everything else about the gender roles in his world are reversed from ours. He has a prescribed support role, and when he can't fulfill it, he becomes lost. He doesn't get to determine his destiny, so he doesn't train in how to make life decisions, but rather in how to follow orders and to walk his prescribed path.

So much about Gawyn's journey matches with the experience of women in our world who were raised and trained to be homemakers, but then had to claw their way out of abusive relationships, or find meaning after infertility, or push forward as a single parent after being abandoned by a husband or family.

So yeah, I have a really difficult time accepting a lot of the scorn he gets, especially from supposedly feminist critique.

Wheel of Time crew at the beach

Rand: Goes because he was convinced to by Min, Aviendha, and Elayne. Is wearing a bright red bathing suit that Moiraine gave him. Is the first to leave because he hates sand.

Egwene: Keeper of Sunscreen. Makes sure that everyone reapplys several times during the day. Is infuriated at Elayne because she keeps insisting that she doesn't need to wear any, even though she is clearly getting a sunburn.

Nynaeve: Brings a cooler full of water and snacks. Gets frustrated when people (Mat) asks her for drinks they know she didn't bring (whiskey). She lets out her frustration in a game of beach volleyball. Stops playing when she spikes the ball into another beach-goer's face.

Moghedien: Gets drilled in the face by a volleyball and has a bloody nose. Will get her revenge on Nynaeve one day though she kind of liked getting hit.

Elayne: Has Birgitte take pictures of her rolling around in waves and on the sand while pretending to laugh. Consults with Aviendha which is the best picture, and they decide Birgitte has to do them over, who is nowhere to be found. She isn't getting sunburn, and if she does, it'll tan. You'll see.

Aviendha: Has the best day at the beach. Took so many pictures, although they were all of the ocean. Except one of Elayne, which happens to be Aviendha's favorite.

Birgitte: Runs away when Elayne goes to look at the pictures with Aviendha. Spends the rest of the day with Mat.

Mat: Brought his own cooler that had alcohol. He and Birgitte spend most of the day together, though Elayne eventually finds them. Somehow, she's already drunk even though she didn't have anything to drink yet. Is being buried up to his neck in sand by Olver, who is lured away with the snacks Nynaeve has. No one goes to help him out because Nynaeve still has that volleyball.

Perrin: Looks forward to spending a nice day on the beach. Berelain is there, and by the Light her bathing suit is very revealing. Faile sees him glance at Berelain's general direction and yells at him before leaving him to spend time with Loial. All he was looking at was the dog someone else brought with them.

Loial: Spends all day under an umbrella writing about the day. The beach is fascinating to him, but he doesn't get why humans spend so much time there, given how hot it is.

Faile: Enjoys the time she spends with Loial after she got mad at Perrin. Is totally aware of the dog that Perrin was looking at but is on Amazon ordering a bathing suit similar to Berelain's.

Berelain: Takes as many selfies as she possibly can. Pretends her hat blows away in the wind and asks Galad to help her catch it. She just threw it.

Galad: Is glad to help Berelain get her hat back, though he's confused as to why she threw it at all. Tells Morgase that Elayne refused sunscreen which is why she's burnt to a crisp the next day.

Min: Happily reads under an umbrella she shares with Rand. Convinces him to put his feet in the water.

Tuon: Is either sitting in a chair that is on a towel or is on Selucia's shoulders. She will not set foot on sand; it is unseemly. Egwene accidentally brushes sand on her towel. It was just an accident, Tuon.

Lan: Is in a black t-shirt and black jeans. Doesn't try to help Mat out of the sand. He thinks it's funny that Nynaeve is keeping him there, though he hasn't smiled all day.

Thom: Drove everyone to the beach. Is playing music on his towel.

Moiraine: Bought everyone ice cream and didn't get a thank you from anyone except Thom and Egwene. Warns everyone that she saw jellyfish, but no one listens.

Gawyn: Goes to swim in the water and gets stung by a jellyfish. Egwene tells him he only has himself to blame, but he blames Rand for it. Rand left two hours before this even happens. Elayne says someone should just pee on him like in Friends.

people are always splitting the trakand family dynamic into elayne vs. her brothers, but if you ask me it's actually more like