ok heres my 2 cents.. the DO's prison has to be remade like new or the wheel will be broken, there are 7 spokes of the WoT, 7 ages, at certain times things have to be a certain way. It has to be remade completely and stay remade long enough for people to forget the DO exists by the time the AoL (or its equivelent) comes around again. Then the hole can be made and then sealed and then the seals can weaken etc etc in a never ending circle. Thats how the DO intends to break the WoT by escaping and not being sealed when it becomes time when he should be sealed. Thats all explained by that crazy old dude at the school in cairhein lol.
I also think rand has to sacrifice himself in order to accomplish it but he will be tied to the wheel and will continue to live on in the world of dreams to be reborn again, as opposed to the DO winning and the wheel being broken so all the heroes are dead forver, never to be reborn. The HoV could have something to do with it, like rand dying b4 the job is done and matt blowing the horn and he comes back and finishes it. Or it could be the whole body swap thing, it would be funny if he managed to swap bodies with moridin at the last second so his body died but his mind lived on
Im kinda with Perrin dying as well, and of course becoming 1 of the new heroes tied to the horn. faile could possibly do something really great to avenge his death the way saldean women are known to pick up their fallen husbands swords in battle (hopefully she dies after it as well though, she irritates me). and possibly aviendah dying although i like her she just seems to be the one most likely to jump in guns blazing (metaphorically speaking of course) when she feels rand die/dying, she is still a maiden at heart after all.
Nynaeve and Lan will both survive. I think theres something to the 3rd ring or the ter'angreal used when raised to accepted. In Egwenes she was Amyrlin and now she is although under slightly different circumstances. and in Nynaeve's her n Lan had rebuilt Malkier. The things they see in the rings definately dont all come from imagination coz thats where Egwene learnt about the 13 channelers n 13 Myrddraal thing so I think they could be some kinda variations of the future or something close to it.
And i hope something really horrible happens to Elaida, oohhh i hope Egwene gets her on a leash lol Reading anything to do with her infuriates me just by her ignorance
ok that was alot more than 2 cents but anyway