Robert Jordan created some of the most beloved characters ever in the fantasy genre when he wrote the 14-volume The Wheel of Time series, with the help of Brandon Sanderson. There are over 1,800 named characters in the series, with 147 of these getting at least one unique point of view.
Jordan and Sanderson focused most of their attention on five characters—Rand al’Thor, Mat Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, Elayne Trakand, and Egwene al’Vere. These five make up slightly more than half the total points of view. Of course, they are also part of the lives, scenes, and plotlines of other characters as well.
Each of these five had numerous plotlines that all came together during the Last Battle in A Memory of Light. Each had a significant role to play in that final confrontation with the forces of evil, and each had its own destiny.
Others, however, were set up for bigger roles early in the series, but were cast aside for whatever reason. None of these characters were given clear paths to the end of the story, and none received a satisfying completion.
4 characters who didn’t get the attention they deserved in the books
Loial
Loial is introduced in the very first book, The Eye of the World, when he is a guest at the inn where all the characters congregate after being split up at Shadar Logoth on their flight from the Two Rivers.
He is an Ogier, an ancient race of giant, human-like beings who are long-living, peaceful folk. They are in touch with nature, especially with trees, and they became master builders after the Breaking of the World, 3,000 years ago.
Loial has left his home without permission from his elders to explore the outside world. Though about 90 years old, he is considered a youth by Ogier standards. He first meets Rand and Mat in Caemlyn, then Lan, Moraine, and Nyneave join them, as do Perrin and Egwene.
Loial is quickly drawn in as he opens a Waygate in Caemlyn and helps them escape through the tainted Ways to Fal Dara in Shienar. Loial has a great love for books and reading, and as events start to unfold, first at the Eye of the World, and later, when the Horn of Valere is stolen from Fal Dara, he decides he is going to be the one to chronicle the happenings around the Dragon Reborn.
In the early books, Loial has a visible presence around Rand and his friends, first as they chase after the Horn of Valere, then when many of the main characters meet at the Stone of Tear. When Rand, Egwene, and others travel to Rhuidean, Loial accompanies Perrin and Faile to the Two Rivers. There, he contributes to the battle against invading Trollocs by shutting the Manetheren’s Watgate, cutting off any more Trollocs sent to invade the Two Rivers. (As a side note, this event is where the Prime Video series went off the rails a bit.)
Loial continues to travel with Perrin through some of the middle books before being sent on some necessary errands by Rand. This is where Loial suddenly becomes a background character rather than a key one. Through much of the second half of the book series, Loial is off on errands and does not witness many of the great moments he is set to chronicle.
As the Last Battle draws near, Loial convinces his people that the Ogier must aid the humans at the Last Battle so that the Dark One doesn’t prevail. Again, the readers only learn about this after the fact. The Ogier proved to be fierce warriors and contributed significantly in the Last Battle.
It always seemed unfair how the authors treated Loial in the last half of the series. Of all of the characters with many points of view, he received only six in the entire series, and none while he was off on his own performing assigned tasks by the Dragon Reborn. His character deserved better treatment.
Aram
Aram is a Tinker. Perrin and Egwene first meet him and his family when fleeing Shadar Logoth in The Eye of the World. Tinkers are nomads, with no place to call home. Their most basic, overwhelming belief is that there is no reason whatsoever to commit violence against another person, and they absolutely forbid the use of weapons against people.
Aram reappears in The Shadow Rising when Trollocs attack his clan near the Two Rivers. Perrin rescues the Tinkers and brings them to the village. Trollocs besiege the Two Rivers, and the Tinkers agree to help take care of the children and wounded.
Aram, who is angry about how his clan is constantly attacked by humans and Trollocs, decides he isn’t going to take it anymore, and he takes up a sword in defense of the village. His family and clan exile him, and he attaches himself to Perrin and Faile as a companion and bodyguard. He doesn’t get even one point of view in the series.
He follows Perrin and his wife because he loves each of them. While he is a sullen young man, Perrin relies on him in various battles and skirmishes. When Faile is kidnapped by the Shaido and held prisoner in Malden, Perrin must ally with the mad Prophet of the Dragon. Aram falls prey to the Prophet's ravings and paranoia, and Aram attacks Perrin during the battle at Malden. Perrin is forced to kill the boy.
It begs the question as to what the purpose of Aram’s character was at all, if his end was to be a needless death. Why did Jordan have Aram give up on his belief system and way of life, just to die ignominiously as a traitor? Aram’s entire storyline was poorly executed and underdeveloped.
Moiraine Damodred
Moiraine’s story is incredible. She sets out to find the Dragon Rebord after she and Siuan Sanche overhear a prophecy. She spends 20 years trying to find him, and she does, just in time. Her timely visit to the Two Rivers in the early pages of the series coincides with a Trolloc attack on the same village.
Moiraine and her warder Lan whisk Rand, Egwene, Mat, and Perrin away. At the time, she does not know which of the three boys is the Dragon Reborn, but she’s convinced one of them is.
They are bound for Tar Valon, but Trollocs give chase, and the party takes refuge in the abandoned, haunted city of Shadar Logoth, a place even Trollocs won’t enter. While escaping the city, the party is split up, and Nyneave, who tracked them from the Two Rivers, meets with Moiraine and Lan. They cannot find the other youths and decide to head toward Tar Valon as planned, hoping the teens will survive and follow them there as well.
Once they are all reunited in Caemlyn and flee to Fal Dara, Moiraine leads them into the Blight to find the Eye of the World. Moiraine eventually figures out that Rand is the Dragon Reborn.
After being so involved in the storyline in the first book, Moiraine barely appears in the second as various circumstances split up her charges. She reappears in book three as she travels to Tear with Lan, Perrin, and Loial. In the Stone of Tear, Rand publicly declares himself the Dragon Reborn, and then he heads into the Aiel Waste to Rhuidean.
Rand feels increasingly manipulated by those around him, especially by Moiraine. He does not want to follow the path Moiraine wants him to follow, and he shuts her out. She eventually promises to advise him only when he asks and to follow his instructions. She is willing to sacrifice everything to ensure he is properly prepared for the Last Battle.
While in Rhuidean, Moiraine sees a vision of the future. She also knew that for Rand to advance to where he needed to be, Moiraine had to allow the vision to play out. She made preparations, and when the Forsaken Lanfear attacked Nyneave and the Aiel woman Aviendha in a jealous rage over Rand, Moiraine attacked Lanfear physically, pulling her into an item of magic, an angreal, a twisted doorway that led to another dimension.
The scene unfolds at the end of the fifth book, and everyone assumes Moiraine is dead. Her magic bond with Lan broke when she fell through the doorway, which indicated she was dead. It isn’t until one of the last few books that readers begin to suspect she is alive.
She isn’t rescued until the end of the penultimate book, so one of the main characters is completely removed from the storyline for seven whole books, and reappears only at the very end of the 13th book.
In the final book, she is merely a background character and isn’t even given a point of view. Her sole task during the Last Battle is to protect Rand’s back as he fights the Dark One. It is as essential a task as could be asked, but it completely removes her from the action of the Last Battle.
As good as these books are, and as incredible a story as it is, it has never made sense to remove such a significant character from so much of the series, only to bring her back in such a restrained manner. Rand gives her this task because, at last, he completely trusts her and knows what she sacrificed. Still, that doesn’t excuse how such a fantastic character as Moiraine was written out of the story so early.
Nynaeve al'Meara
Some might argue that Nyneave has some of the most significant moments in the whole series, and they would be right, to an extent. She is the wisdom in the village where Mat, Rand, Perrin, and Egwene grew up, and she feels responsible for their safety. That is why she tracks them when Moiraine and Lan flee with them during the Trolloc attack on Emond’s Field.
Soon, it is discovered that Nyneave has the potential to be the most powerful Aes Sedai in centuries. She battles her need to protect her charges against the need to realize her potential and to form her own destiny.
Nyneave is a main character for most of the early books, but she is written more as a caricature than a real person. While she is often portrayed as a fiercely protective and brave person, she frequently behaves like a sullen child with a tendency to throw tantrums.
Even as she accomplishes incredible feats with her magic, like twice battling, beating, and capturing the Forsaken Moghedien, she begins to slide into a secondary role, first to Egwene, and then to Elayne. For most of the second half of the series, she is merely a background character.
Sure, she is instrumental in two fantastic accomplishments. First, she helps Rand cleanse the taint from saidin, the male half of the magical One Power. She is the only one strong enough in the Power, and the only one he can trust to help him. They succeed in their task.
The second is that Rand has her and Moiraine protect him at Shayol Ghul when he battles the Dark One. The two women actually help Rand defeat his nemesis because he needed both sides of the magic to win in the end. Because of their power and his trust in them, Rand chose these two in his confrontation with the Dark One.
As significant as all of her accomplishments are throughout the series, it always seemed strange to see her pushed aside into a background character after spending so much time developing her personality. She is rewarded with a husband who loves her deeply, but her lack of spotlight during the latter half of the series has always been notable, as was her childish portrayal in the first half. She deserved a more prominent place in the story.
No series can be this gigantic without having some weak spots, and The Wheel of Time has plenty of those in between all of the greatness. These are just a few of the characters who didn’t get the treatment they deserved in the massive narrative.