Elaborate bait.

[GrandpaG]

If I wanted to sneak backstage at a rock concert I would need to divert the back door guard's attention somehow. The best way would be for a few hundred people causing a commotion at the front door.

 

I think that this is what Rand (who is being influenced more and more by Lews Therin) had in mind when he went to visit the White Tower. He practically dared the Amyrlin Seat to meet with him at the front door at a specific time. The snowball effect is drawing huge armies from every direction like mosquitoes to a bug zapper. The Shadow is bound to notice.

 

My guess is that this was a planned decoy. Lews Therin did not plug the bore with hundreds of thousands of ground pounders. He snuck in the back door with a handful of special forces. My guess is that Rand/Lews has Logain and a few trusted Ashamen headed for Shayol Ghul. Egwene will lead all of the assembled mass to aid Lan to make up for the Aes Sedai not showing up to help when Malkeir (spelling?) was over ran when Lan was a baby.

 

I could be wrong.

[Feral]

I have to say that was my first thought when I heard that Egwene was going to gather everyone to oppose Rand. I was actually surprised when he turned up at the gathering - I expected him to off breaking the seals.

[GrandpaG]

Fire up the crowd waiting in line out front then sneak around back.

 

Lews Therin was smart.

[Haldir1980]

I never thoguht about it this way! I was thinking he is sincere! But now this could be it! But we know he is comming to meeting...Egwene sees sunshine and she knows Rand has arrived! So he will be there!! I am worried about Caemlyn ant WT. Will they seperaye forces or what??

[Guest Emu on the Loose]

That would be quite a twist. I can see something like this happening, a sort of two-pronged assault, with Rand & Co. playing the role of Frodo to destroy the ring, and Egwene playing the role of Aragorn to draw the Shadow's defenses.

[Byzantine279]

The flaw with this theory is that rand needs two women to help him with callandor, and he has none with him he trusts.

[Mats Spare Hat]

That or all the descriptive moments RJ spent on the Ladies in the series will boil down to a coordinated boob flashing.

 

Rand backdoor for the win!

 

 

...yikes, double entendre!

[GregDietzFla]

I agree, but i think it was also more than that. He doesn't just want to seal up the dark one (thats all he is personally going to do) but he also cares about the people of the world. Lights best chance for surviving the war that will come (Once rand seals up the DO, the trollocs and Forsaken aren't just going to stop), so their best chance for survival is to have them all together, hand over command to Mat, and keep their seperate armies from being destroyed one by one by trollocs. Mostly though, he wants them all gathered to give command to Mat (best shot at defeating Demandred?) cause he won't personally lead him.

[blazetheearth]

If you recall, this was Rand's plan all through the 'Darth-Rand-phase' (before he had full access to LTT's memories). Lan was supposed to make a disturbance at the 'front door' (Tarwin's Gap) while Rand led a strike at the back door (SG). It still could go down that way, since there are enough people at FoM to form a circle that can create a Gateway that would allow all of the FoM Armies to Travel right to Tarwin's Gap, save Lan, then take a select group of 'Companions' to strike SG while the battle at TG still rages.

[fikkie77]

If I wanted to sneak backstage at a rock concert I would need to divert the back door guard's attention somehow. The best way would be for a few hundred people causing a commotion at the front door.

 

I think that this is what Rand (who is being influenced more and more by Lews Therin) had in mind when he went to visit the White Tower. He practically dared the Amyrlin Seat to meet with him at the front door at a specific time. The snowball effect is drawing huge armies from every direction like mosquitoes to a bug zapper. The Shadow is bound to notice.

 

My guess is that this was a planned decoy. Lews Therin did not plug the bore with hundreds of thousands of ground pounders. He snuck in the back door with a handful of special forces. My guess is that Rand/Lews has Logain and a few trusted Ashamen headed for Shayol Ghul. Egwene will lead all of the assembled mass to aid Lan to make up for the Aes Sedai not showing up to help when Malkeir (spelling?) was over ran when Lan was a baby.

 

I could be wrong.

Even if you discount all the DF high in some nations hierarchy, the Shadow must know. Messy wasn't destroyed when Rand visited the White Tower.

[Terez]

I have been thinking that it is a big fat lure for the Seanchan. I imagine that Egwene is going to show up expecting to talk about the seals and Rand is going to be all 'I expect the Seanchan to attack within the hour'. And then the Black Tower / Shadowspawn invasion of Caemlyn will screw up his plans.

[idiostock]

I have been thinking that it is a big fat lure for the Seanchan. I imagine that Egwene is going to show up expecting to talk about the seals and Rand is going to be all 'I expect the Seanchan to attack within the hour'. And then the Black Tower / Shadowspawn invasion of Caemlyn will screw up his plans.

Did Rand get a letter from Verin?

[ironchefofmunchies]

I have been thinking that it is a big fat lure for the Seanchan. I imagine that Egwene is going to show up expecting to talk about the seals and Rand is going to be all 'I expect the Seanchan to attack within the hour'. And then the Black Tower / Shadowspawn invasion of Caemlyn will screw up his plans.

Did Rand get a letter from Verin?

 

 

 

 

Yes, when Rand visited the White Tower the Aes Sedai who interrupted Rand talking to Suian handed him a Verin letter.

[Muad Cheade]

I have been thinking that it is a big fat lure for the Seanchan. I imagine that Egwene is going to show up expecting to talk about the seals and Rand is going to be all 'I expect the Seanchan to attack within the hour'. And then the Black Tower / Shadowspawn invasion of Caemlyn will screw up his plans.

Rand would have no way of knowing that.

[cgk84]

Lews Therin did not plug the bore with hundreds of thousands of ground pounders. He snuck in the back door with a handful of special forces.

 

 

Lews Therin took around 20,000 ground pounders with him the first time to keep all the channellers alive while they were channelling. None of them got out alive but the bore was sealed and some of the channellers got out alive so preumably the troops did their job.

[idiostock]

I have been thinking that it is a big fat lure for the Seanchan. I imagine that Egwene is going to show up expecting to talk about the seals and Rand is going to be all 'I expect the Seanchan to attack within the hour'. And then the Black Tower / Shadowspawn invasion of Caemlyn will screw up his plans.

Did Rand get a letter from Verin?

 

 

 

 

Yes, when Rand visited the White Tower the Aes Sedai who interrupted Rand talking to Suian handed him a Verin letter.

 

It baffles me that she wouldn't let him know about the attack on Caemlyn.

[Terez]

I have been thinking that it is a big fat lure for the Seanchan. I imagine that Egwene is going to show up expecting to talk about the seals and Rand is going to be all 'I expect the Seanchan to attack within the hour'. And then the Black Tower / Shadowspawn invasion of Caemlyn will screw up his plans.

Rand would have no way of knowing that.

There is a difference between knowing and expecting.

[GrandpaG]

Some interesting comments. Thank you all.

 

As for the Caemlyn situation, my mind keeps going back to Egwene's (?) trial to become accepted and finding Rand in a pile of rubble. Could that be a foretelling of things to come in Caemlyn? He might have to divert a few of the amassed troops to rescue Elayne. With his new, more confident demeanor he will probably easily handle everything that is happening as a true leader should. The Black Tower is close to Caemlyn and should send strong aide quickly. Seems like that could be a whole separate thread.

 

Again, thanks for the feedback.

 

Love,

Gramps

[blazetheearth]

 

It baffles me that she wouldn't let him know about the attack on Caemlyn.

 

She knew that he had already pulled all of his forces from Camelyn, and she thought that she had the issue there wrapped up by Mat. Or (as I personally think) she didn't really want to completely stop the attack on Camelyn, just make sure forces were in place to keep the attack from being a complete success. Rand already had quite enough to be going on with. He is only one person and can't be everywhere, so she gave him the info that she thought would be off the most use to him.