Does Rand Know What Hes Doing?

[Vassili]

We rarely find out what Rand is up to untill shortly before he does it (though we sometimes recieve multiple clues). Beginning with his sudden decision to go to Rhuidean, and most recently with The Cleansing, Rand has shown he has a plan, hes just not letting on. My thought is, does he have a secret plan to reimprison the DO, or is he just winging it?

 

Also, on a side note sort of, what were the three questions he asked in the ter'angreal in Tear? Didn't one of them pertain to victory at TG?

[DonDew]

  At the beginning Rand was kind of just going where he was driven,first by Moraine(and the Pattern,I suppose),then by Ishy(in his dreams).

  Once he took Callandor,he has been going by what he read in the Prophicies(He was reading many different forms and translations after taking the Stone),and by what he learned from the Finns.

  The cleansing of Saidin was something I think he came up with after severing Asmo's connection to the Dark One during the fight in Rhuidean,and fine tuned with the help of Harald Fel(before he died).

  As to sealing up the DO,it has been pointed out to us many times that Min has been reading a whole lot of Master Fel's books,and I have a suspicion that she is going to be the key to figuring out the only way the Bore can be sealed without Rand having to die. 

 

[RobertAlexWillis]

I firmly believe that Rand has a plan.  Just like the examples that you cited (and I could add others) he has been acting, rather than reacting, for some time now.  Actually, the last book in which he was really in a reactive mode was The Great Hunt.  Since the Pattern forced him to acknowledge who he is, he has had a goal and has been going after it.  First, he wanted to make sure that he was the Dragon, so he went after Callandor.  Then he went after the Aiel and set a trap for a teacher.  Then he set about with a series of goals that included eliminating the Forsaken and unifying the nations behind him.

 

His plans have certainly not always turned out the way he wanted them to.  And I don't personally think that they were ALL good plans (*cough* Far Madding *cough*), but most of them have been.  He is highly intelligent, and he has a gift for strategy. 

 

I believe he does have an ultimate plan, by this point.  I imagine we'll see it in AMoL.

 

As for what he asked the Aelfinn, we know two of his questions, and their answers.

 

1. He asked them something about how to cleanse saidin.  They answered with a riddle, which he shared with Herid Fel, and ultimately led to the Cleansing at Shadar Logoth.

 

2. He asked, "How can I win the Last Battle and survive?"  They answered, "The north and the east must be as one. The west and the south must be as one. The two must be as one. If you would live, you must die."  We have seen this in his actions; uniting Cairhien, Tear, and Illian, allying with Andor (and Ghealdan, through Perrin, though he doesn't know it yet), and taking Bandar Eban (and by extension, Arad Doman, although he'd be well advised to make friends with Rodel Ituralde).  The last parts will be dealing with the Borderlanders, and making a treaty with the Seanchan, who have unified the "west and the south" already.  Curiously, Murandy has remained somewhat unaffected ...

 

3. We do not know what the third question (or answer) was.  I imagine it will be revealed in AMoL, along with Rand's ultimate plan.

[oosquaiaddict]

Do the Seanchan have the west? Arad Doman is still out of their control. And last we saw Rodel Itulrade put a serious hurting on them in Tarabon. These 2 need to be gathered in, which should Im guessing does happen in Memory of Light. I wish this book was out.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Tarabon is west as much as it is south, and the Seanchan control Falme and the Almoth plain, which are west as well.  I don't think the "north and east" and the "west and south" triangles have to be of equal size to fulfill the Aelfinn's answer.

[oosquaiaddict]

I dont think they need to be of equal size either, "but The west and the south must be as one" and that means under the Seanchan. I dont think thats the case as yet, especially Arad Doman, cause as you mention if anyone has sway there its Rand, not the Seanchan. This prophecy is going to be tricky cause even Illian is under Rand and Illian must be considered South, even if Tear is not.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Illian is the eastern end of "south" and Arad Doman is the northern end of "west".  With things as they stand now, when Rand brings in the Borderlanders and makes his treaty with the Seanchan, his work for the second answer is pretty much done.  If you draw a line on the map from Falme to Ebou Dar, you've lopped off the southwest corner, and its basically all under Seanchan control.  Everything north and east of the line is Rand's, once he gets the Borderlands (and of course, Murandy is still out there).  The Seanchan section is much smaller physically, but with all their settlers and the Ever Bloody Victorious Flaming Army, their importance is not proportionally small.

[Child of Lir]

Murandy is too weak to go it alone, and what reason would they have for that anyway? So, their choice is either to ally with Rand or to submit to the Seanchan. The second option is not necessarily a bad one for Murandy; consider Beslan's position under the Seanchan - he now has more effective power as a Seanchan vassal than Tylin did before as a monarch in her own right, her sway extending as it did only 60 miles or so outside of Ebou Dar. Becoming a Seanchan vassal state might actually improve things for Roedran, so he is poised to make a choice.

[Angel of Death]

 

 

As for what he asked the Aelfinn, we know two of his questions, and their answers.

 

1. He asked them something about how to cleanse saidin.  They answered with a riddle, which he shared with Herid Fel, and ultimately led to the Cleansing at Shadar Logoth.

 

2. He asked, "How can I win the Last Battle and survive?"  They answered, "The north and the east must be as one. The west and the south must be as one. The two must be as one. If you would live, you must die."  We have seen this in his actions; uniting Cairhien, Tear, and Illian, allying with Andor (and Ghealdan, through Perrin, though he doesn't know it yet), and taking Bandar Eban (and by extension, Arad Doman, although he'd be well advised to make friends with Rodel Ituralde).  The last parts will be dealing with the Borderlanders, and making a treaty with the Seanchan, who have unified the "west and the south" already.  Curiously, Murandy has remained somewhat unaffected ...

 

3. We do not know what the third question (or answer) was.  I imagine it will be revealed in AMoL, along with Rand's ultimate plan.

 

Could someone please give me a reference as to where in the books we find this out. Or a quote.

[Vambram]

Its in KoD, the chapter just before the trolloc attack upon Rand and his group there. This scene happened shortly before Loial's father and mother arrived, and just after Logain and his asha'man joined up with Rand, Min, and the aes sedai there with Rand. After asking Rand about his plans, he finally revealed two of the answers which he got from the Aelfinns. After telling them what the Aelfinns said, and what his plans are, Rand turned to Cadsuane and asked for her advice about this.

[Caramoore]

what was the riddle they told him about cleaning Saidin? I forget...

[Cybertrolloc]

what was the riddle they told him about cleaning Saidin? I forget...

We never find out. Possibly Fel's belief and order give strength, clear the debris before you rebuild line has to do with the unknown question (doesn't seem to have much to do with the events that led to the cleansing of Saidin, and the answer for RAW's question 2 sounds complete).