Egwene al'Vere
Although not technically the central protagonist of the series—more on him in a moment—Egwene enjoys the lion’s share of the narrative point of view in this entry in the series. She is the central figure in one of the two primary plotlines which the narrative pursues. In this case, the narrative focus is a continuation from the previous novel in which she is held captive by White Tower. This installment follows her adventures working with various rebel figures to subvert the dangerous influence of Elaida a'Roiha.
Rand al'Thor
By all standard measurements, Rand is the central focus, protagonist, and hero of the entire series. The other major plotline in the novel follows up on his activities in Arad Doman where everything has fallen into chaos. Much action is attached to Rand as usual, but the most interesting elements related to the hero in this book actually occur inside his head as he struggles to come to terms with the vestigial influence over his present incarnation that is still being wielded by his previous incarnation as Lews Therin. The twin narrative threads of Egwene and Rand dominate the story to the degree that those major characters not directly involved threaten to become almost tangential to the overall thrust of the plot.
Mat
Technically Matrim Cauthon, but much more familiarity known as Mat is a perfect example of how this entry in the series really belongs almost exclusively to Egwene and Rand. Even in his status as the third most feature featured character point of view, he barely rates as the primary focus of less than half that looking at events through the perspective of the other two. He has basically been given the job of leading the Band of the Red Hand. On the other hand, he becomes at time the foremost perpetrator of comic relief although that relief is not exactly in abundant supply. It’s a pretty dark story throughout. As if often the case with Mat, much focus of his narrative is concerned with the sounds of tumbling dice that only he can hear.
Nynaeve al'Meara
Like Mat, Nynaeve is a major character within the construct of the series in its entirety, but her point of view of even more limited than Mat, not even making it to the barely five chapters that which reveal things through Mat’s perspective. She is primarily limited in significant action to the job of locating Rand’s father, Tam al'Thor, in order to help the conflicted hero deal with the extreme emotional distress which has befallen him in this volume.
Cadsuane Melaidhrin
Nynaeve is actually operating under orders from Cadsuane—one of Rand closest and most important advisors—in her ques to bring his father to him and when Rand discovers this, his explosion of anger directed toward her nearly winds up making his father collateral damage. This anger is almost certainly stimulated by the fact that by that point Cadsuane has already ticked Rand off to the point that he relieves her of her advisory position and banishes her from his side. In fact, by the time father and son meet up, Rand has already promised Cadsuane that if he ever sees her again, she’s dead meat. Spoiler alert: her meat is still quite fresh enough to show up in the succeeding book.
