What ever happened to the Bowl of the Winds?

[nophone]

Am I the only one to speculate on it's great significance and then sudden and seemingly complete departure from the plot line?

 

I get that they felt they had to correct the weather... and they did. then it swung hard; from one extreme and then seemingly to another right? why aren't they busting this thing back out to keep a nice equilibrium? It just seemed like there would be more to it than that after a what... 2 or 3 book buildup to locating and then using this fancy and cherished piece of Aes Sedai equipment.

 

Secondly, Nynaeve is always feeling events and the weather the same way these days... then we have the gathering storm, and the scary clouds and what not... does any of this tie in together?

[Durinax]

THe windfinders took it out to tear I believe where there was a conference to decide the next leader of the seafolk

 

it was right when elayne made a second deal with the seafolk for a few windfinders to continue assisting them

[Naffy]

In the case of the bowl of the winds, I think that the events that took place during the search for it were vastly more important than the actual object itself. It brought Mat to Ebou Dar where he met Tuon. It introduced the Gholam. It let our characters meet back up with Egeanin and Bayle. It allowed Nynaeve to almost drown and break her block. I think you can see my point.

[Baletickle_to_da_face!]

I don't think they could have stopped the harsh Winter from happening because it was caused by the fixing of the weather and the balance swinging wildly back into place. It would make sense to me if it is easier to use the BotW to fix an unnatural occurance like the ongoing Summer then to try to regulate the natural order of the weather.

 

And since the end of Winter the oddities in the weather don't really seem to be reliant on weather. The storm clouds seen in The Gathering Storm don't strike me as "weather" clouds that could be manipulated with the BotW. And the Dark One's touch is probably very strong now that the last seal, or one of the last seals, broke in CoT or KoD(can't remember which one....)

[haloun]

my question regarding the bowl is what is its significance in bringing rand to trust the aes sedai, isnt that the need they were looking for in T'A'R in the first place? how does that come into play now? maybe Egwene brings it up when telling him how inaffective he has been compared to the aes sedai? dont know.