Kinda weird but I think my favorite scene might be when Rand wanders into Ishy/Moridins dream. How Ishy is all "why did you come here?" then Rand is all "why did you bring me here?". Just all the dialogue in that whole scene was very cool to me.
It's a good scene. I'm pretty sure Moridin is lying his teeth out during the whole thing, though.
It seems pretty transparent to me that he deliberately brought Rand there to tell him that the Forsaken can be reborn, but balefire will take them out permanently. All part of the DO's master plan, along with giving him access to the True Power.
That very well could be true. The vibe I got though was Moridin was lounging and was quite annoyed at Rands "intrusion". Now you really can't tell due to the fact that we can not hear or see the conversation take place but thats just the way it played out in my head.
Maybe. Or maybe Rand intruded and Ishy decided that that was as good a time as any to plant some much needed seeds.
Think about some of the side effects of this:
(1) Rand balefired Graendel, along with the rest of her fortress. Somehow I suspect this is a huge win for the DO.
(2) Rand balefired Semirhage and Elza, using the TP as the source.
In general, Rand is more likely to use balefire now due to this little "casual" scene with Ishy.
We know the DO needs something... special to win completely. The DO's goals have remained murky throughout the entire saga. (This was especially brought up by Verin, and I think that this is an important reminder that we don't know everything.) Moridin has been playing Rand from the very beginning, and his goals have never once been obvious. I can't help but think, given the above points, that this little scene was crucial, not casual.
Remember the early scenes where Moridin was trying to get Rand to turn? Do you seriously think the DO would consider that a realistic goal, given the necessarily resilient nature of the Dragon Reborn's soul? Would the pattern ever turn out a Dragon Reborn who would turn simply because it was offered out of the blue? No, those early scenes were designed to plant ideas in Rand's head, to drive a wedge between him and Aes Sedai, to make him less trusting and more ashamed of who he was. And I think Moridin used them masterfully. Now that the book is approaching end-game, it is time to move the pieces into the most advantageous place, and a depending on what it takes to actually win, different moves may be needed. A casual encounter? With so much at stake? With such a devastating result? I think not.