Two Herons

[TheRedSon]

So which heron did Rand lose?  The one that sets his path or the one that names him true?  Does it matter?

[Neilius]

NO

[bcxanth]

I really don't think it matters. Those marks were simply signs of who he was. However nobody really ever looked at them, nor cared about them any beyond Rand. Once the Stone fell no other signs were needed to declare him as far as the general public of the Westlands were concerned. So at this point the herons really don't matter at all.

[RobertAlexWillis]

It almost certainly doesn't matter, but, because I'm a dork ...

 

The first to be marked was his right hand.  This was the one which "set his path".  He got it while searching for the Horn of Valere, and the Great Hunt really is what set his path.

 

The second was his left, and it was meant to "name him true".  He got it during his fight with Ba'alzamon over Falme, and it was that fight, seen by thousands, that forced him to proclaim himself publicly as the Dragon Reborn.  Thus, naming him true.

 

The one which was incinerated by Semirhage was his left hand.  He doesn't really require it to "name him true" anymore (what with all the other prophecies he's fulfilled), so it makes no difference at all, really.

[TheRedSon]

I agree that Rand doesn't need the Heron for the world to recognize him as the Dragon.

 

What hit me funny was whether or not the loss of the hand was a subtle foreshadowing of some kind.  RJ likes to do that sort of thing and he's got me looking behind every corner now. 

 

I thought that if that was the heron he lost then at some point Rand (not the world at large) might need to be reminded who he is.