2.2.11 Is Egwene Ta'veren? --New

 "It will be as you say, Mother. Tell me, are you sure you are not ta'veren too?"

 [TPoD 18: A Peculiar Calling]

Many fans have take this as a hint from Jordan that there is more to Egwene than just being one of Rand's many sidekicks. After all, she does become Amyrlin after a series of events no more unlikely than Perrin becoming the Lord of the Two Rivers, or Mat reviving an ancient army last seen in the Trolloc Wars. Why shouldn't she get part of the ta'veren action?

Unfortunately, despite the many partisans to this theory, Jordan pretty firmly quashed this idea in a blog entry dated January 21, 2006:

For ben, of course women can be ta'veren. None of the major female characters in the books is ta'veren, though. The Wheel doesn't cast ta'veren around indiscriminately. There has to be a specific reason or need. (I tossed in the "major" just to leave you something to argue about.)

Since Egwene is unequivocally a major female character, she is ruled out as ta'veren. The likeliest explanation for why she is able to acheive her improbable success is that Rand (who is the strongest ta'veren ever recorded), or the Pattern, which amounts to the same thing, needs her to be Amyrlin for the Last Battle, or even afterwards to rebuild whatever's left of the world.  There are other unlikely coincidences like Bayle Domon, Aludra, Valan Luca and Egeanin being in a position to help Our Heroes in several books, without ever knowing that they were connected to Rand or each other. These are extreme coincidences, but easily explained by the ta'veren nature of Mat, Perrin and especially Rand. After all, if Rand can cause a dozen weddings to occur in a single village just by passing through, why shouldn't he be able to raise an Amyrlin Seat by sneezing?