Shall we talk about that Lanfear thing? :) -heavy spoilers!!

[Scarloc99]

3 hours ago, JyP said:

yes my bad, I talked about Hopper, where I had Noam/Boundless in mind. I corrected my post.

 

 

I guess one hint would be how most Forsaken can enter Tel'aran'rhiod at will - but that Aiel Dreamers say doing so is evil/taboo (I don't recall if they say exactly the reason why ?). 

 

 

It is suggested by several people (and Hopper) that entering Tel'aran'rhiod physically results in you losing part of yourself not just the Wise Women, Brigette I am pretty sure mentions it as well for instance. But they never explain just what "bad thing" will happen. 

[JyP]

what if... Cyndane/Lanfear that Perrin encountered in Shayol Ghul was not there in the flesh, but simply dreaming (she was "lounging" after all) ?

 

She would have awoken herself whenever Perrin tried to choke her, but her image/corpse could still be in the dream ?

[SinisterDeath]

3 minutes ago, JyP said:

what if... Cyndane/Lanfear that Perrin encountered in Shayol Ghul was not there in the flesh, but simply dreaming (she was "lounging" after all) ?

 

She would have awoken herself whenever Perrin tried to choke her, but her image/corpse could still be in the dream ?

No, it would fade as soon as you leave the dream.

She would have to have had Perrin create an image of her for him to kill for it to remain even when she's not in there.

[Blackbyrd]

 

 

On 1/13/2023 at 12:14 PM, Samt said:

Hubris aside, one of the elements of the forsaken that is explored quite a bit is the fact that at the end of the day they are all just humans living in mortal bodies (with all of the phyiscal, emotional, and mental limitations that this implies).  This comes up when Cadsuane is interrogating Semirhage and is fairly apparent in the Lan/Demandred confrontation.  It is also instrumental to the way that Nynaeve bests Moghedien the first time. Moreover, the point is made that the forsaken have spent so much time doing everything with the one power that they have become complacent with their ability to do things the old-fashioned way.  The mortal vulnerability of Aes Sedai to surprise is a main part of the justification for having warders.  (It's even part of Nynaeve's character that she specifically resists relying too heavily on the one power and is still interested in the use of herbs for healing, for example.  This is critical to her ability to save Alanna at Shayol Gul at least for some time in order to protect Rand even though she can't control her channelling since she is in a circle that Rand is controlling.  )

For that reason, I didn't think it all weird that Perrin bests Lanfear by snapping her neck.  He surprises her and kills her before she can react.  I think that assuming Lanfear would somehow be beyond mortal weakness is adding something that is clearly contradicted many times in the series.  Is she easy meat?  No.  But is she vulnerable to being surprised and overwhelmed the same way everyone else is?  Absolutely. 

This isn't really, of course, an argument for Lanfear not being alive.  My main point is that taking the events in AMoL at face value is quite reasonable and there really is very little evidence to the contrary.  

 

Yeah- maybe the wires are crossed, but I agree that Perrin snapping Lanfear's neck seems a fitting ending for both her and Perrin. 

Is there something off in all this though? probably but there are so many off things- I mean, Padan Fain and Androl are almost entire glitches in the Sanderson matrix

Edited January 24, 2023 by Blackbyrd

[Blackbyrd]

On 1/17/2023 at 1:36 PM, Samt said:

It seems that BS himself acknowledges to some extent the fact that he does not retain absolute control.  If he didn't, he wouldn't feel the need to specify that this isn't a retcon and bring witnesses to the fact that this was always the intention (and that Harriet and the team had agreed to this).  In the end, I'm coming to the conclusion that the reveal should be interpreted more as a statement of the intention that was not really delivered.  Writing a story like WoT is a complicated process that will always have lots of "might have beens."  For instance, Lanfear surviving might have been an interesting story.

 

This is probably the most important part- Sanderson gave us some author intent and I personally think there's enough there -Aviendha's Rhuidean vision- to make me see it. Is there enough there to earn all of it? I think there's enough, not too much, but I'll give Sanderson credit that even when I read it initially her death hit a discordant note to my reading

Edited January 24, 2023 by Blackbyrd

[Stedding Tofu]

21 minutes ago, Blackbyrd said:

This is probably the most important part- Sanderson gave us some author intent and I personally think there's enough there -Aviendha's Rhuidean vision- to make me see it.

 

I must be missing something: how does Aviendha's vision connect to Lanfear?

[Blackbyrd]

1 hour ago, Stedding Tofu said:

 

I must be missing something: how does Aviendha's vision connect to Lanfear?

 

Previously I mentioned that Aviendha's vision comes off as out of step, almost forced, given the stability that should come from the Dragon's Peace and with Mat and Perrin both surviving as just leaders- and this was something I have in notes from my first read through which after subsequent leads I neither endorsed nor dismissed. However, were there a nefarious power attempting to thwart them... It really is the strongest clue Sanderson gives that there is a strong and direct distortive power upon the future

 

This also makes me rethink Mesaana's vegetablization and Graendel's collapse in a different way- both of which seemed just a touch off.

 

Edit: I would actually be interested for someone like Matt who is an ultra Lanfear fan to provide more clarity that she earned this life and something of a surprise ending through the writing of this whole series. Really, she and Ishmael are the most developed of the Forsaken though I might think Mogs gets the most page time

 

Double edit: On first reading I did wonder about the Lanfear dying moment but it actually is pretty spot on in the entirety

Edited January 24, 2023 by Blackbyrd

[Sabio]

Isn't Avi's vision also because the Aiel were going to be left out of the Dragon's Peace?  The Aiel admitted they were going to go to war with the Seachean pretty much as soon as the Last Battle was over to free the Wise Ones.

[Samt]

6 hours ago, Blackbyrd said:

 

Previously I mentioned that Aviendha's vision comes off as out of step, almost forced, given the stability that should come from the Dragon's Peace and with Mat and Perrin both surviving as just leaders- and this was something I have in notes from my first read through which after subsequent leads I neither endorsed nor dismissed. However, were there a nefarious power attempting to thwart them... It really is the strongest clue Sanderson gives that there is a strong and direct distortive power upon the future

 

This also makes me rethink Mesaana's vegetablization and Graendel's collapse in a different way- both of which seemed just a touch off.

 

Edit: I would actually be interested for someone like Matt who is an ultra Lanfear fan to provide more clarity that she earned this life and something of a surprise ending through the writing of this whole series. Really, she and Ishmael are the most developed of the Forsaken though I might think Mogs gets the most page time

 

Double edit: On first reading I did wonder about the Lanfear dying moment but it actually is pretty spot on in the entirety

There are lots of bad people in the world after the last battle.  That is a big part of the alternate realities that Rand and the DO show each other during their showdown.  People still get to choose to do bad things and be greedy and whatever else.  Surviving forsaken would definitely be a source of strife in the post Tarmon Gaidon world, but I don't think it's weird that there would be problems without them.  

After all, there was nothing mystical about the 13 particular forsaken that were trapped in the original binding.  There were other forsaken before them and M'Hael, for example, gets added afterwards.  There were certainly going to be other evil people after them.  If anything, it makes the world feel small to assume that all bad things could be traced back to those particular 13 or 14 people.  

[Stedding Tofu]

22 hours ago, Blackbyrd said:

Previously I mentioned that Aviendha's vision comes off as out of step, almost forced, given the stability that should come from the Dragon's Peace and with Mat and Perrin both surviving as just leaders

 

Ah, I see.  I thought you were identifying a hidden Lanfear at work in one of the visions.

 

I think RJ was simply showing us that  victory over The Shadow does not lead to a paradise or utopia as human nature has not changed (my comparison is to post-WWII Europe with the Seanchan and Randland as the USSR / Western Allies eyeing each other with suspicion and hostility due to incompatible systems of thought and government).

 

But as @Sabio says the future Aviendha saw was a result of the Aiel starting a losing struggle with the Seanchan out of warlike pride and the visions confirm that Tuon and her descendants kept to the truce until the Aiel broke it.  This is very human and although new crises will emerge the Aiel being bound to The Dragon's Peace seems to neutralise this one. 

 

No need for Lanfear (or The Dark One) for humans to fight each other in other words ☹️

[Scarloc99]

2 hours ago, Stedding Tofu said:

 

Ah, I see.  I thought you were identifying a hidden Lanfear at work in one of the visions.

 

I think RJ was simply showing us that  victory over The Shadow does not lead to a paradise or utopia as human nature has not changed (my comparison is to post-WWII Europe with the Seanchan and Randland as the USSR / Western Allies eyeing each other with suspicion and hostility due to incompatible systems of thought and government).

 

But as @Sabio says the future Aviendha saw was a result of the Aiel starting a losing struggle with the Seanchan out of warlike pride and the visions confirm that Tuon and her descendants kept to the truce until the Aiel broke it.  This is very human and although new crises will emerge the Aiel being bound to The Dragon's Peace seems to neutralise this one. 

 

No need for Lanfear (or The Dark One) for humans to fight each other in other words ☹️

One slight thing I am still not 100% how much of the "vision of the future" was RJ planned work, it is in one of the BS books and I don't know if it has been confirmed if he lifted it from RJ's notes or came up with the idea himself in order to ensure the dragons peace would be enacted with the Aiel. 

But I agree, humanity will cause enough of it's own issues in the future without having to have a big bad forsaken pulling strings. The Black Ajah for one thing, yes they are free of the dark lords influence but it isn't like they where all sunshine and rainbows before that lol. I can still see any who survived trying to cause all sorts of issues in Randland. Or Darkfriends who are also lords, kings, generals etc. They will all still have the good old drivers of ambition, wanting power, wealth or just a sense of self importance to drive them to do unspeakable things. 

Then there are the non Darkfriend threats to peace. The Whitecloaks are not going to suddenly become nice and peaceful overnight, there are centuries of indoctrination to undo, there will be factions within who like the power of being able to draw a dragons fang and burn a witch. 

There will be factions and issues continuing in Tar Valon, but also the Black Tower trying to find it's own place, I can see the potential of a cold war of sorts between both towers as the Ashaman find there position of influence in the world and various leaders and rulers decide to have a black tower advisor rather then a white tower one. But I can also see an issue in that the Ashamen have not been vetted like the Aes Sedai where, with the war over who knows what the motivations of individuals will be, of those not turned to the dark lord who survived the last battle there could be all manner of individuals who want power, or who don't have the strength of will to stand above everything. 

The list can go on and on, at best Rand has maybe ensured peace for a couple of generations, but eventually someone will do something stupid and trigger conflict or issues for the people of the world without the Dark Lord being involved, I mean that has to happen anyway to trigger the next 4 ages and finally allow the dragon and the darklord to finally fade entirely from memory so conditions can be put in place for humanity to do it all over again.  

[Blackbyrd]

21 hours ago, Stedding Tofu said:

 

Ah, I see.  I thought you were identifying a hidden Lanfear at work in one of the visions.

 

I think RJ was simply showing us that  victory over The Shadow does not lead to a paradise or utopia as human nature has not changed (my comparison is to post-WWII Europe with the Seanchan and Randland as the USSR / Western Allies eyeing each other with suspicion and hostility due to incompatible systems of thought and government).

 

But as @Sabio says the future Aviendha saw was a result of the Aiel starting a losing struggle with the Seanchan out of warlike pride and the visions confirm that Tuon and her descendants kept to the truce until the Aiel broke it.  This is very human and although new crises will emerge the Aiel being bound to The Dragon's Peace seems to neutralise this one. 

 

No need for Lanfear (or The Dark One) for humans to fight each other in other words ☹️

 

Right. Right. good post.

 

2 things

 

1- The first paragraph is very easy, and if anything it is defied by the lighting of pipe at the end of it.

 

2- This thread is about Lanfear surviving and living free and I would think it gonna have reprecussions.

 

18 hours ago, Sir_Charrid said:

One slight thing I am still not 100% how much of the "vision of the future" was RJ planned work, it is in one of the BS books and I don't know if it has been confirmed if he lifted it from RJ's notes or came up with the idea himself in order to ensure the dragons peace would be enacted with the Aiel. 
 

 

Now this is a point I would very much like to dig further into.

 

Edit: In regards to Charrid I think it's right that the upcoming times for Randland would be strife with moments and intrigue, but what's the difference between Lanfear holding power and the future where she is ground down?

 

I would guess RJ planned Mat to kill her

Edited January 26, 2023 by Blackbyrd

[Stedding Tofu]

3 hours ago, Blackbyrd said:

1- The first paragraph is very easy, and if anything it is defied by the lighting of pipe at the end of it.

 

I'm not sure I follow.  How does Rand lighting his pipe with willpower connect to human nature being quarrelsome?

 

22 hours ago, Sir_Charrid said:

One slight thing I am still not 100% how much of the "vision of the future" was RJ planned work, it is in one of the BS books and I don't know if it has been confirmed if he lifted it from RJ's notes or came up with the idea himself in order to ensure the dragons peace would be enacted with the Aiel. 

Then there are the non Darkfriend threats to peace. The Whitecloaks are not going to suddenly become nice and peaceful overnight, there are centuries of indoctrination to undo, there will be factions within who like the power of being able to draw a dragons fang and burn a witch. 

There will be factions and issues continuing in Tar Valon, but also the Black Tower trying to find it's own place, I can see the potential of a cold war of sorts between both towers as the Ashaman find there position of influence in the world and various leaders and rulers decide to have a black tower advisor rather then a white tower one.

 

I thought Aviendha's descendant visions were as moving and as sweeping in scope as Rand's ancestor visions and the voice and content felt like RJ to me.  If BS wrote or developed this from RJ's notes it's an area where he hits the right notes for me.

 

As for the rest, indeed.  The potential for strife and rivalry in a large complex world is vast and renders it almost inevitable. 

 

The Whitecloaks were rather unsatisfactorily turned into part of the coalition for me - it seems more likely, Galad, step-son of a witch, half-brother to another witch and friend and protector of other witches would have been executed or thrown out once his political value vanished.  Nonetheless we're presented with them as a contained force by the end of the series, rather like the hordes of Masema's followers and legions of Shaido (hundreds of thousands of them) are written off or quietly dropped.  Without a political base the Whitecloaks only number a few thousand so are pretty easy meat for either the Seanchan or Randland coalition (or Aiel) if they break the peace.

 

The Black Tower very definitely needs regulation.  I like how this was left open but the dangers are obvious and the solution likely to take time and negotiation.  One interesting point is how the Aiel will evolve presuming they don't return to The Waste and allow men who can channel to be part of their society.  They could hunt rogue channelers as much as the Red Ajah did.

[Blackbyrd]

27 minutes ago, Stedding Tofu said:

 

I thought Aviendha's descendant visions were as moving and as sweeping in scope as Rand's ancestor visions and the voice and content felt like RJ to me.  If BS wrote or developed this from RJ's notes it's an area where he hits the right notes for me.

 

Alot of this conversation revolves around the fact that Sanderson revealed he, along with the team developed the Nakomi character- and the subsequent Rhuidean visions. So...

 

edit: also revealed- Nakomi isn't a note, moreso an interpretation by Sanderson; I won't reiterate all that's been said

Edited January 26, 2023 by Blackbyrd

[Samt]

If you think about it, there are lots of things that get built up and either don't get resolved or get a resolution that seems like a bit of a throwaway.  Both this thread and the Tuon thread are addressing this a bit right now.  Of course, the Seanchan is probably the biggest loose end and rightfully so since it was going to presumably be a big part of the spinoff sequels.  

 

But there are lots of other examples. 

 

The seafolk get built up and they have plans and supposedly they are important. Min foresees the new leader.  And they trade for pieces of land all over. But they don't do much after the bowl of the winds other than transport a bunch of moldy grain. 

 

The whole agreement between the different channeler societies (White tower, kin, seafolk, wise ones) ends up feeling pretty half baked. 

 

Elayne has this whole scheme for becoming Queen of Cairhien that doesn't really go anywhere.  

 

New Terangreal and power forged weapons don't really have much of a payoff. Elayne and Aviendha are shown to have a powerful partnership where Avi can tell what things do and Elayne can make more of them, but that's kind of a dud.  

 

I think this is fine as it makes the world feel big and still evolving.  But it also means that it's not super suspicious when Lanfear doesn't get an incredibly involved send off.  

[Stedding Tofu]

4 hours ago, Blackbyrd said:

 

Alot of this conversation revolves around the fact that Sanderson revealed he, along with the team developed the Nakomi character- and the subsequent Rhuidean visions. So...

 

edit: also revealed- Nakomi isn't a note, moreso an interpretation by Sanderson; I won't reiterate all that's been said

 

The convo is mostly about Lanfear's survival.  I guess I think differently enough that I don't follow your reasoning unless you spell it out for me.  So I think you're saying BS wrote Aviendha's Rhuidean visions so you feel there is a clue in them about Lanfear's survival, the clue really being that things turn to sh*t and therefore a puppet master must be directing or nudging events?

 

I don't get the Rand pipe comment or how it relates so I won't speculate.

[Samt]

23 hours ago, Stedding Tofu said:

 

The convo is mostly about Lanfear's survival.  I guess I think differently enough that I don't follow your reasoning unless you spell it out for me.  So I think you're saying BS wrote Aviendha's Rhuidean visions so you feel there is a clue in them about Lanfear's survival, the clue really being that things turn to sh*t and therefore a puppet master must be directing or nudging events?

 

I don't get the Rand pipe comment or how it relates so I won't speculate.

In regards to the pipe, I'm also not sure how it's relevant.  I hesitate to use this analogy since it will certainly have a bunch of baggage, but my reading is that the pipe is showing that post Tarmon Gaidon Rand is sort of Tom Bombadil (Not in aesthetics or mannerisms or general attitude to the people around him, but just in role).  He's super powerful, but also no longer the one who is supposed to be in the center of the action making sure things happen the right way.  He is practically omnipotent, but he is using that power to light his pipe because he can't find a match.

 

Rand always wanted to settle down on a farm somewhere and raise a family.  He has the thought that Alivia has given him enough gold to buy a farm.  I have assumed that was a plan, not an idle comparison.  He'll go buy a farm.  Eventually Min will join him. Although she still has the ability to see viewings, they will live in some boring place where hardly anybody ever has something floating over his or her head (and certainly Rand never does).  Maybe Aviendha and Elayne will visit often, although they both have duties elsewhere.  And they'll raise a family and grow old.  Rand has unspeakable power, but is content to smoke his pipe and raise his sheep.  I'm not sure if his loss of ability to channel means that he will only have a normal lifespan or if he still lives 800 years.  

[Sabio]

I don't think everything needs a lot of foreshadowing, to me this falls in with who killed Asmo.  It was too vague if BS was expecting more people to guess it since how it ended seemed pretty final with Lanfear dead.  Maybe having something like the body vanishes or something to make people say she's dead but why would the body vanish?  Lanfear interactions with Perrin was odd and made me wonder, but never would I have guessed she was alive.  But it depends on if he wanted people to guess it or wanted people to simply talk about why is Lanfear doing this.  Or if this was just a way for BS to one have a big shocking thing to reveal.  

[Stedding Tofu]

18 hours ago, Samt said:

In regards to the pipe, I'm also not sure how it's relevant.  I hesitate to use this analogy since it will certainly have a bunch of baggage, but my reading is that the pipe is showing that post Tarmon Gaidon Rand is sort of Tom Bombadil (Not in aesthetics or mannerisms or general attitude to the people around him, but just in role).  He's super powerful, but also no longer the one who is supposed to be in the center of the action making sure things happen the right way.  He is practically omnipotent, but he is using that power to light his pipe because he can't find a match.

 

Rand always wanted to settle down on a farm somewhere and raise a family.  He has the thought that Alivia has given him enough gold to buy a farm.  I have assumed that was a plan, not an idle comparison.  He'll go buy a farm.  Eventually Min will join him. Although she still has the ability to see viewings, they will live in some boring place where hardly anybody ever has something floating over his or her head (and certainly Rand never does).  Maybe Aviendha and Elayne will visit often, although they both have duties elsewhere.  And they'll raise a family and grow old.  Rand has unspeakable power, but is content to smoke his pipe and raise his sheep.  I'm not sure if his loss of ability to channel means that he will only have a normal lifespan or if he still lives 800 years.  

 

Well I think that's what the pipe shows in the context of Rand musing over what to do with his regained freedom.  The course of his life is now as free from The Pattern as anyone else so, who knows, maybe he'll meet someone else 🙂

 

But I thought that @Blackbyrd was arguing that the pipe shows Rand's effective power in the context of maintaining The Dragon's Peace so that we have entered a new utopia with the divisions in the world fading away because Rand is omnipotent.  Subtext being The Rhuidean visions show that an agent of destruction must be at work to upend this system, ie. Lanfear.  I'm not sure how that works with Rand's apparent omnipotence but it's difficult to speculate on what someone else meant.

 

[Scarloc99]

1 hour ago, Stedding Tofu said:

 

Well I think that's what the pipe shows in the context of Rand musing over what to do with his regained freedom.  The course of his life is now as free from The Pattern as anyone else so, who knows, maybe he'll meet someone else 🙂

 

But I thought that @Blackbyrd was arguing that the pipe shows Rand's effective power in the context of maintaining The Dragon's Peace so that we have entered a new utopia with the divisions in the world fading away because Rand is omnipotent.  Subtext being The Rhuidean visions show that an agent of destruction must be at work to upend this system, ie. Lanfear.  I'm not sure how that works with Rand's apparent omnipotence but it's difficult to speculate on what someone else meant.

 

Is he free from the pattern? Or does he simply continue to shape the pattern around him, only now he consciously controls that rather then simply random events happening. I don’t see this being the end of Rands adventures, despite everything I don’t think he will ever be happy settled on a sheep farm. He is far more likely to become the new Jain Farstrider. 

[Stedding Tofu]

9 hours ago, Sir_Charrid said:

Is he free from the pattern? Or does he simply continue to shape the pattern around him, only now he consciously controls that rather then simply random events happening. I don’t see this being the end of Rands adventures, despite everything I don’t think he will ever be happy settled on a sheep farm. He is far more likely to become the new Jain Farstrider. 

 

Interesting comparison.  Jain appears to be the swashbuckling hero of a hundred tales but when we meet him later we learn that was the folly? / adventure of youth and that he bitterly regrets leaving his wife who died in his absence on said adventures.  Plus he was worn down by them and also something of a dupe of Ishamael who allowed him to seek refuge in an ogier stedding to plant the first rumour about The Eye of The World (still not sure how that happened).

 

I think Rand has had enough adventure for one lifetime and has his fair share of regrets already (his own and Lews Therin's).  Maybe a gentleman farmer patronising local arts, crafts and schools would be more up his alley now.

[Scarloc99]

4 hours ago, Stedding Tofu said:

 

Interesting comparison.  Jain appears to be the swashbuckling hero of a hundred tales but when we meet him later we learn that was the folly? / adventure of youth and that he bitterly regrets leaving his wife who died in his absence on said adventures.  Plus he was worn down by them and also something of a dupe of Ishamael who allowed him to seek refuge in an ogier stedding to plant the first rumour about The Eye of The World (still not sure how that happened).

 

I think Rand has had enough adventure for one lifetime and has his fair share of regrets already (his own and Lews Therin's).  Maybe a gentleman farmer patronising local arts, crafts and schools would be more up his alley now.

Rand never knew who Jain really was, and he loved the book. I think he might sit on a farm for a short while, but he is what 20 years old, the rest of his life ahead of him, there won’t be any settling down any time soon, or he will sit on a farm for a year or so and then go wandering. 

[Stedding Tofu]

9 hours ago, Sir_Charrid said:

Rand never knew who Jain really was, and he loved the book. I think he might sit on a farm for a short while, but he is what 20 years old, the rest of his life ahead of him, there won’t be any settling down any time soon, or he will sit on a farm for a year or so and then go wandering. 

 

Well he is about 20 so there is plenty of time to work out what he wants and live whatever life he chooses.  All of the Two Rivers youths have outgrown their village but I don't think Rand is going to seek out adventure.  I can see him travelling to see the world (as he thinks to himself) but not to seek out "storybook adventures".  He may not know the truth of Jain's regrets but he has regrets of his own and his perspective on The Voyages of Sinbad type of experience is probably very different now to when he was a wide-eyed child wondering what lay beyond Emond's Field.

[Scarloc99]

23 hours ago, Stedding Tofu said:

 

Well he is about 20 so there is plenty of time to work out what he wants and live whatever life he chooses.  All of the Two Rivers youths have outgrown their village but I don't think Rand is going to seek out adventure.  I can see him travelling to see the world (as he thinks to himself) but not to seek out "storybook adventures".  He may not know the truth of Jain's regrets but he has regrets of his own and his perspective on The Voyages of Sinbad type of experience is probably very different now to when he was a wide-eyed child wondering what lay beyond Emond's Field.

Oh I don’t think he will actively seek out adventure, but, in a world such as Randland I think on traveling around adventure will find him. 

[JyP]

3 hours ago, Sir_Charrid said:

Oh I don’t think he will actively seek out adventure, but, in a world such as Randland I think on traveling around adventure will find him. 

Could it be the reverse ?

 

Ta'veren are known as an instability factor for me. What if Rand is now a next level ta'veren, like Nakomi, and their role is to provide stability to the world, now that a Lord of Chaos is not required anymore ?

 

So even if there are drama, wars and so on, wherever Rand travels it could be very calm now.