REALLY late to this discussion and not sure if my theory is someone elses or not (read upto page 8 before posting this).
Rand is meant to live and too die, Logain gains glory by walking over Rand's body, three women are crying over Rand's body and the Seanchen women who's name slips my mind is to help Rand die.
My theory is this.
Mazrim Taim confronts Rand and the Seanchen women, he attacks the Seanchen women and Rand cannot grasp Saidin, he dies because he can't have another women dead because of him. Logain proceeds to fight Taim, Aviendha, Elayne and Min are all crying over Rand's dead body during this time.
Logain eventually uses balefire and kills Taim thus resurrecting Rand though minus LTT. That would explain in my mind how all of Min's viewings happen. Just occurred to me reading this thread, and it wouldn't really surprise me to see something along those lines occur. As Rand dies and lives, Logain gains glory, the Seanchen women helps Rand die, and the three women over Rand's body all happen.
This idea is nice in that it does include a lot of what NEEDS to happen from prophecies/visions etc.
BUT I don't like it because I think the whole "living, dying, living" thing would be SOOOOO cheap if Balefire was used again.
We've already seen it done multiple times . . . especially in Fires of Heaven when Rand balefires the Dark Hounds to save Matt and then balefires Rahvin to save his forces.
It's just too easy and too pat I feel.
And Rand's death should come in the final confrontation with the Dark One, not some Dreadlord flunkie like Mazrim Taim. I think he WILL die but it will be a lot more clever twist with him coming back.
The key and I've been harping on this for close to 20 years now is that LEWS THERIN must die and WANTS to die. Right now, there is really no hope here for Rand as the situation exists because even if he wins and kicks hiney he is still stuck with Lews Therin in his head.
For him to have a happy ending, he HAS to get rid of Lews Therin. For the prophecies to be fulfilled and for ultimate victory, Lews Therin needs to go and I think the only way to do it is for Rand . . . perhaps controlled by Lews Therin's soul to "die."
This will seemingly give the Dark One and the forces of evil ultimate victory. THEN, in a great twist no ones sees coming (except us of course) The Dragon RETURNS, this time with Rand's soul and victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat.
Remember that the stakes in this one should be very, very high unless Jordan changed his mind in the writing of the series (which is very possible of course). The Dark One and Ishamael DOES NOT want the cycle to be replayed again and again and again. From Eye of the World, the goal here is to BREAK the Wheel of Time, SLAY the Great Serpent. They want to WIN FOR GOOD.
This is a key, key, key statement because the ONLY way to win for good is to change things up somehow so that things don't repeat. But in doing so, by definition, the Dark One and Ishamael also open up the possibility that they can be destroyed permanently as well.
I would personally be a bit disappointed if A Memory of Light simply presents the Dark One being defeated and then we do it all again in 7 Ages, etc, etc, etc. It reeks too much of Stephen King's The DArk Tower when we learn that Roland just loops back to The Gunslinger again over and over and over again. Even there though, the final end hints that that repetitious cycle will eventually be broken.
I want the same for the ending to The Wheel of Time. That's why I think the last book is going to be so long and so complicated. There needs to be a LOT of metaphysical explanation for this Tarmon Gaidon to be any different from the 8 billion previous Tarmon Gaidons that's been replayed before with the spinning of the Wheel . . .
Dennis
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