An Enemy Spy Reads The Wheel of Time III: Something's Fishy in the White Tower

[Flying Turtle]

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Except every time he decides to do the wrong thing his conscience gets the better of him and drags him back in kicking and screaming to do the right thing. That's why his character is so hilarious and likable to me. Everyone thinks he's a useless scoundrel, even Mat, but when the chips are down he's the first one to put himself into danger to save someone else.

Not even Rand and Perrin are as selfless as Mat, despite the fact that all three would consider Mat the most selfish person they know.

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Warning Spoilers Ahead
The thing about Mat is that he is one of the only characters who doesn't buy into honor validating violence. Mat generally tries to avoid fights and conflict, and instead prefers to gamble, drink, and have sex. Other characters are much more likely to see violence and conflict as unavoidable or even desirable. Lan trying to get himself killed in battle, Elayne starting a civil war in Andor to establish herself as a strong leader, channelers who use their power to bully people, Nyneava... being Nyneava. The list goes on. This lack of 'honor' makes Mat ironically one of the most reasonable and considerate characters in the book. There is a particularly great scene at the end of this book where Mat frees Egwene, Elayne, and Nyneava from their cell in the Stone of Tear only for the three of them to turn around and attack him when he points out that they should be trying to escape, not hunting down their captors for revenge. Mat is not into revenge or reputation or 'honor'. He just wants people to get along and leave him alone.

On the subject of Sanderson's prose I'll actually come to his defense and say while he can't set a scene to save his life, his action scene have a rhythm that no other fantasy author that I have read can match. The 4 on 2 dual in Words of Radiance still gets my heart pounding whenever I read it.