06-27-2003, 11:32 AM
Yes, Padan Fain is a "he". I this is a bit of a "run-on paragraph"; first sentence referencing how essentially all the women have become more or less carbon coies of Nynaeve, the second bemoaning the lack of interesting new characters.
In reference to the "all the women being the same" argument, I think this is due to the fact that Robert Jordan is trying to establish the Aes Sedai as far too self-important for their own good; it seems that most, if not all of them, believe that they (Aes Sedai as a whole) are the key to the last battle, not the Dragon Reborn, and this leads to a number of possible dramatic turns, few of which have been reasonably developed by Mr Cigny.
In reference to the "all the women being the same" argument, I think this is due to the fact that Robert Jordan is trying to establish the Aes Sedai as far too self-important for their own good; it seems that most, if not all of them, believe that they (Aes Sedai as a whole) are the key to the last battle, not the Dragon Reborn, and this leads to a number of possible dramatic turns, few of which have been reasonably developed by Mr Cigny.