There is so much Perrin bashing going on that I feel that I should go to bat for the guy. The question is 'What good is Perrin?' First off he can talk to the wolves. Which has been pointed out can be helpful time to time(tearing out of throats and such). Second he has enhanced hearing, sight, and smell. This enables Perrin to detect things other people don't notice(ie. the souless in book 1). Also, due to his association with the wolves he is able to enter tel'aran'riod. Although he has a crude mastery over it and has had no training this could be very helpful. Let's not forget that he has to be near Rand twice or Rand will fail. The first time was obviously Dumais Wells but what about the second time? Most people believe by now that Berelain is the falcon on Perrin's shoulder. Someone mentioned that Matt and Rand each had an army. Well, seems to me that Berelain has an army and his wife is cousin to a queen and daughter to a general!! Personally I do not care for Perrin but let's get real, would Robert Jordan include a character in all 7 of the WOT books just to fill up space or as a side story?