The Dark One's Defeat

[Wantanswers]

Rand turned about in one spot, staring. Staring at his own image thrown back at him a thousandfold. Ten thousandfold. Above was blackness, and blackness below, but all around him stood mirrors, mirrors set at every angle, mirrors as far as he could see, all showing him, crouched and turning, staring wide-eyed and frightened.

A red blur drifted across the mirrors. He spun, trying to catch it, but in every mirror it drifted behind his own image and vanished. Then it was back again, but not as a blur. Ba'alzamon strode across the mirrors, ten thousand Ba'alzamons, searching, crossing and re-crossing the silvery mirrors.

He found himself staring at the reflection of his own face, pale and shivering in the knife-edge cold. Ba'alzamon's image grew behind his, staring at him; not seeing, but staring still. In every mirror, the flames of Ba'alzamon's face raged behind him, enveloping, consuming, merging. He wanted to scream, but his throat was frozen. There was only one face in those endless mirrors. His own face. Ba'alzamon's face. One face.

(The Eye of the World, Flight Down the Arinelle)

Terez used this dream to convince us that Rand and Ba'alzamon will merge, becoming two souls in one body. They will merge, yes, but they won't merge in that way. There is much more to be seen in this dream, and if she didn't I advise her to visit the top of Dragonmount.

 

When I read this dream I see much more:

I see 10,000 mirrors, each representing a mirror world.

On each of those mirror worlds I see Rand. And I see all those Rands merge.

I see 10,000 Ba'alzamons; merging.

I see a ter'angreal that doesn't need channeling, hiding Rand.

And finally I see that SuperRand and that SuperBa'alzamon merge. Although opposite, they will become one in battle.

Just as Egwene and Mesaana were one in battle, just as Galad and Valda were one in battle.

And just as Rand and Ba'alzamon were one in battle in Falme.

Dark clouds pushed away by the sunlight's warmth. Rand, a brilliant white sword held in his hand, wielded against one of black, held by a faceless darkness. (ToM, Chapter 25)

I do believe they will fight again; a trial by combat. And again I don't think that that Rand can win and that he will Sheat the Sword to end the battle and he will be hurt by the counterstrike of Ba'alzamon. And the three will become one: The Creator, the Dark One and Rand.

 

At that moment the day will dawn and Rand will start to die. Dying of bloodshed from the wound, caused by Ba'alzamon.

 

"I saw you and another man. I couldn't make out either face, but I knew one was you. You touched, and seemed to merge into one another, and....one of you dies, and one doesn't." (aCoS, Chapter 33)

I don't know what this vision means. I found contradictional information and the text is ambigious. What does "Seemed to merge" mean. Do they merge or don't they. Will one of them die at the the end of the battle or later? How do I have to interpret "die"?

Nevertheless we can be quite sure that Rand didn't expire at the end of the battle.

To live you must die

"How can I win the Last Battle and survive?"

"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."

I concentrated on:

Q: How can I survive the Last Battle?

A: If you would live, you must die.

Because the Aelfinn always give true answers we can interpret it:

If you would survive, you must die!

The word survive implies that Rand won't be killed. It also implies that he won't expire. The question is now: "How can he die and survive?"

 

As long as someone is dying, one isn’t dead. One can start to die weeks before expiring. (if you want more information, google for dying process and near-death experience). While one is dying one can sometimes be healed! While one is dying one can sometimes be reanimated. It is even possible to revive spontaneously.

 

Logain, laughing, stepped across something on the ground and mounted a black stone; when she looked down, she thought it was Rand's body he had stepped over, laid out on a funeral bier with his hands crossed at his breast, but when she touched his face, it broke apart like a paper puppet.(aCoS, Chapter 10)

About Logain's role in this I'm not sure, but the part of Rand is quite clear now. Egwene saw how the SuperRand broke in pieces, each part returning to his own body on his own world. The Creator and the Dark One may have been a part of SuperRand, but if they were they are broken now as well.

 

Twice dawns the day when his blood is shed.

Once for mourning, once for birth.

Red on black, the Dragon's blood stains the rock of Shayol Ghul.

In the Pit of Doom shall his blood free men from the Shadow.

(TGH, Chapter 26)

 

The first part of the first line can be explained in two ways:

Twice dawns the day

Emphaisizing the word day give the meaning that most (if not all) people believe : One day with two dawns.

Twice dawns the day

You can also emphaisize the word twice and than it has a different meaning: Two sequential days and two dawns.

The second interpretation is the right one.

 

Now tne Dark One has been freed from his prison, as is predicted in the dark prophecies. But he is broken, broken in 10,000 pieces, and each part has only 1/10,000th of the strengh of the complete Dark One. These parts aren't strong enough to destroy the Wheel, but it has to bee prevented that these parts can ever merge. For that the Pattern has to be healed and I think Logain will do that.

 

Alivia will probably help Rand dying by preventing that he will be healed.

 

A figure stood at the very top of the jagged, broken tip of the mountain. Perrin kept pressing onward. Someone needed to watch. Someone needed to be there when it happened.

Finally, heaved atop one last stone and found himself within a dozen feet of the top. He could make out the figure now. The man stood at the very heart of the vortex of staring eastward, motionless. He was faint and translucent, a reflection of the real world. Like a shadow. Perrin had never seen anything like it.

It was Rand, of course. Perrin had known that it would be. Perrin held to the stone with one rugged hand and pulled his cloak with the other – he’d created the cloak several cliff faces ago. He blinked through reddened eyes, gazing upward. He had to focus most of his concentration on pushing back some of the winds to keep himself from being out into the tempest.

Lighting flashed suddenly, thunder sounding for the first time since he’d begun climbing. The lighting began to arc in a dome around the top of the mountain. It threw light across Rand’s face. That hard, impassive face, like stone itself. Where had its curves gone? When had Rand gained so many lines and angles? And those eyes, they seemed made of marble!

Rand wore a coat of black and red. Fine and ornamented, with a sword on his waist. The winds didn’t affect Rand’s clothes. Those fell unnaturally still, as if he were just a statue. Carved from stone. The only thing that moved was his dark red hair, blowing in the wind, thrown and spun. Perrin clung to the rocks for his life, cold winds biting into his cheeks, his fingers and feet so numb he could barely feel them. His beard bristled with dusty ice and snow. Something black began to spin around Rand. It wasn’t part of the storm; it seemed like night itself leaking from him. Tendrils of it grew from Rand’s own skin, like tiny hands curling back and wrapping around him. It seemed evil itself given life.

“Rand!” Perrin bellowed. “Fight it! Rand!”

His voice was lost in the wind, and he doubted that Rand could have heard him anyway. The darkness continued to seep out, like a liquid tar coming through Rand’s pore, creating a miasma of pitch around the Dragon Reborn. Within moments, Perrin could hardly see Rand through the blackness. It enclosed him, cutting him off, banishing him. The Dragon Reborn was gone. Only evil remained.

“Rand, please….” Perrin whispered.

And then ─ from the midst of the blackness, from the center of the uproar and tempest ─ a tiny sliver of light split through the evil. Like a candle’s glow on a very dark night. The light shone upward, toward the distant sky, like a beacon. So frail.

The tempest buffeted it. The winds stormed, howled and screamed. The lightning beat against the top of the rocky peak, blasting free chunks of rock, scoring the ground. The blackness undulated and pulsed.

But still the light shone.

A web of cracks appeared down the side of the shell of evil blackness, light shining from within. Another fracture joined it, and another. Something strong was inside, something glowing, something brilliant.

The shell exploded outward, vaporizing and releasing a column of light so bright, so incredible that it seemed to sear the eyes from Perrin’s head. But he looked on anyway, not raising arm to shade or block the resplendent image before him. Rand stood within that light, mouth open as if bellowing toward the skies above. The sun-yellowed column shot into the air, and the storm seemed to shudder, the entire sky itself undulating.

The tempest vanished.

That column of fiery light became a column of sunlight streaming down, illuminating the peak of Dragonmount. Perrin pulled his fingers free from the rock, gazing on with wonder at Rand, standing within the light. It seemed so long, so very long, since Perrin had seen a ray of pure sunlight.

(Towers of Midnight, Men Dream Here)

This quotation is partly a reflection of Rand's epiphany, partly a vision: a Wolfdream Rand didn't wear a coat of black and red on Dragonmount. It's probably a metaphor for his blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul

Now let's analyse this vision of Perrin in the wolf dream.

 

Something black began to spin around Rand. It wasn’t part of the storm; it seemed like night itself leaking from him. Tendrils of it grew from Rand’s own skin, like tiny hands curling back and wrapping around him. It seemed evil itself given life.

This is the dusk. The light weakening, de dark becoming stronger. The Dark One is breaking free,

 

Within moments, Perrin could hardly see Rand through the blackness. It enclosed him, cutting him off, banishing him. The Dragon Reborn was gone. Only evil remained.

The night. The Dark One is free.

 

And then ─ from the midst of the blackness, from the center of the uproar and tempest ─ a tiny sliver of light split through the evil. Like a candle’s glow on a very dark night. The light shone upward, toward the distant sky, like a beacon. So frail.

The second dawning. Rand's revival

 

The tempest buffeted it. The winds stormed, howled and screamed. The lightning beat against the top of the rocky peak, blasting free chunks of rock, scoring the ground. The blackness undulated and pulsed.

But still the light shone.

The first half of the dawn. The Dark One desperately fighting his decay. Perhaps I've an odd sence of humor, I had to laugh. I imagined that the Dark One had just discovererd that he was to weak to merge with his other parts, that he couldn't return to his prison because the Pattern was healed. I imagined he tried to drill another Bore, causing another breaking. Failing because he wasn't strong enough. I saw him looking for Rand to kill. Failing again because Rand is hidden by the dull knife ter'angreal. Perhaps it's just wishfull thinking, but I was amused.

 

A web of cracks appeared down the side of the shell of evil blackness, light shining from within. Another fracture joined it, and another. Something strong was inside, something glowing, something brilliant.

The shell exploded outward, vaporizing and releasing a column of light so bright, so incredible that it seemed to sear the eyes from Perrin’s head. But he looked on anyway, not raising arm to shade or block the resplendent image before him. Rand stood within that light, mouth open as if bellowing toward the skies above. The sun-yellowed column shot into the air, and the storm seemed to shudder, the entire sky itself undulating.

The tempest vanished.

The second half of the dawn. The Creator becomes stronger as the Dark One and defeats him. The 'column of light so bright' is the Creator.

 

That column of fiery light became a column of sunlight streaming down, illuminating the peak of Dragonmount. Perrin pulled his fingers free from the rock, gazing on with wonder at Rand, standing within the light. It seemed so long, so very long, since Perrin had seen a ray of pure sunlight.

Sunrise. The end of the Last Battle. Rand has survived.

[UncleButcher1980]

That's very chaotic and erratic, I don't really follow your thought process but nice imagery.

[Terez]

Rand turned about in one spot, staring. Staring at his own image thrown back at him a thousandfold. Ten thousandfold. Above was blackness, and blackness below, but all around him stood mirrors, mirrors set at every angle, mirrors as far as he could see, all showing him, crouched and turning, staring wide-eyed and frightened.

A red blur drifted across the mirrors. He spun, trying to catch it, but in every mirror it drifted behind his own image and vanished. Then it was back again, but not as a blur. Ba'alzamon strode across the mirrors, ten thousand Ba'alzamons, searching, crossing and re-crossing the silvery mirrors.

He found himself staring at the reflection of his own face, pale and shivering in the knife-edge cold. Ba'alzamon's image grew behind his, staring at him; not seeing, but staring still. In every mirror, the flames of Ba'alzamon's face raged behind him, enveloping, consuming, merging. He wanted to scream, but his throat was frozen. There was only one face in those endless mirrors. His own face. Ba'alzamon's face. One face.

(The Eye of the World, Flight Down the Arinelle)

Terez used this dream to convince us that Rand and Ba'alzamon will merge, becoming two souls in one body. They will merge, yes, but they won't merge in that way. There is much more to be seen in this dream, and if she didn't I advise her to visit the top of Dragonmount.

 

Again, context. Min's viewing says that the merge, such as it is, will result in the death of one or the other. Neither has died yet. Rand has to die; four separate prophecies say so. He has to die in order to survive the Last Battle, which means he'll die before the Last Battle. It's pretty simple, if you don't try to make it fit false scenarios.

[Suttree]

That's very chaotic and erratic, I don't really follow your thought process but nice imagery.

 

Ditto. Honestly not sure what they are trying to convey here...

[Terez]

That's very chaotic and erratic, I don't really follow your thought process but nice imagery.

 

Ditto. Honestly not sure what they are trying to convey here...

 

He's trying to convey that I am wrong, obviously. He's just not doing a very good job.

[Wantanswers]

Rand turned about in one spot, staring. Staring at his own image thrown back at him a thousandfold. Ten thousandfold. Above was blackness, and blackness below, but all around him stood mirrors, mirrors set at every angle, mirrors as far as he could see, all showing him, crouched and turning, staring wide-eyed and frightened.

A red blur drifted across the mirrors. He spun, trying to catch it, but in every mirror it drifted behind his own image and vanished. Then it was back again, but not as a blur. Ba'alzamon strode across the mirrors, ten thousand Ba'alzamons, searching, crossing and re-crossing the silvery mirrors.

He found himself staring at the reflection of his own face, pale and shivering in the knife-edge cold. Ba'alzamon's image grew behind his, staring at him; not seeing, but staring still. In every mirror, the flames of Ba'alzamon's face raged behind him, enveloping, consuming, merging. He wanted to scream, but his throat was frozen. There was only one face in those endless mirrors. His own face. Ba'alzamon's face. One face.

(The Eye of the World, Flight Down the Arinelle)

Terez used this dream to convince us that Rand and Ba'alzamon will merge, becoming two souls in one body. They will merge, yes, but they won't merge in that way. There is much more to be seen in this dream, and if she didn't I advise her to visit the top of Dragonmount.

 

Again, context. Min's viewing says that the merge, such as it is, will result in the death of one or the other. Neither has died yet. Rand has to die; four separate prophecies say so. He has to die in order to survive the Last Battle, which means he'll die before the Last Battle. It's pretty simple, if you don't try to make it fit false scenarios.

 

Yes, context. Reread Min's vision and then you might notice that they seemed to merge. That means that they won't merge, but that something will happen that looks like a merge.

Rand will die, but Moridin won't survive the Last Battle.

Survive implies that Rand won't expire , nor will he be killed before the end of the Last Battle. Even if he is killed and resurrected, or whatever odd way you can find to bring him back to life, he don't survive the Last Battle. I have already explained how Rand can die and survive.

Whose scenario is false? We'll know on 8 januari 2013. Probably I'll know it before you, because that day will start some hours earlier here.

[Elan Tedronai]

rand wont die.

 

moridin will defintely die. Alivia has a role here. The much vaunted fight between rand and shaitan will be behind closed doors. Or should i say behind a trapped bore. What this means is once the seals are smashed and the bore reopened, the only means of victory would be pushing the dark one's presence away from the bore. he is the one keeping this bore open.

 

Pattern will close off the bore in the end. logain will assume control of the ashaman once rand retires. The end

[Wantanswers]

That's very chaotic and erratic, I don't really follow your thought process but nice imagery.

 

Ditto. Honestly not sure what they are trying to convey here...

I'm working on an article about the Last Battle. There is so much involved that it is going to be very long. Because English isn't my native language I often consult Wikipedia, Wiki Dictionary, Wikisaurus and other articles on Internet for hidden meanings of a word, even if I now the translation already. That costs me a lot of time. In some days I leave home and spend the summer on my boat having incidentally acces to internet and I decided to write a short version of my ideas, hoping that people would ask direct questions, commenting my post so I could explain myself better. Obviously I have done a poor job. I'll try to explain the idea in a few lines.

 

Rand will merge with all the Rands on the mirrorworlds, Ba'alzamon (Moridin) will also merge all the Ba'alzamons and then they will fight like they did in Falme. In Falme Rand sheated the sword and was infected with evil (a part of the Dark One) by Ba'alzamon's counterstrike.

This time , when Ba'alzamon strikes back Rand will absorb the complete Dark One. The Creator was probably already a part of Rand, so the three became one.

Now the day dawns and all merges end, each Dragon returning to his own world, his own body. Each Dragon containing 1/10,000 of the Dark One and the Creator.

Between the two dawns there are the day, dusk and the night. The Dark One is strong during the night , the Creator the opposite. Now the Creator is containing the Dark One, but we can be sure that the Dark One will break free during the dusk. Those parts of Dark One aren't strong enough to destroy the Wheel, but when they can return to his prison and merge they can. The Pattern has to be healed on each mirrorworld to prevent that.

In the Wolfdream we saw the Dark One breaking free during the dusk, we saw that the Dark One was free during the night, we saw Rand's revival when the day dawned, we saw that the Dark One was still the strongest during the first half of the dawn, we saw that the Creator became the strongest during the second half of the dawn and and that he defeated the Dark One.

And finaly we saw the sun shining, Rand standing again.

 

The Dragon has died and has revived. The Dark One is defeated.

 

 

 

The Last Battle has ended.

 

I hope I've done a better job this time.

[A. Pseudonym]

Rand will die. This is guaranteed. His resurrection is too, probably in the same manner as Birgitte, through tel'aran'rhiod.

 

I like the idea of Rand merging with his other selves from the mirror worlds. Not sure if it'll happen though.

 

Twice dawns the day may in fact be an oblique confirmation of the resurrection possibility in that Rand's titles include Lord of the Morning/Prince of the Dawn; "twice dawns the day" could mean that Rand lives twice in one day.

 

To me, not enough is made of Moridin being Lord of the Evening, in opposition to Rand.... and how this might relate to the above.

[MrWOTjunkie]

Rand fought Ishy at Falme not Ba'alzamon. IMHO Rand is totally going to sacrifice himself to defeat the DO. As to surviving I think he will be ripped from TAR.

 

My big tip is either Ishy or Lanfear will betray the DO leaving him open to defeat by Rand.............

[Terez]

Rand turned about in one spot, staring. Staring at his own image thrown back at him a thousandfold. Ten thousandfold. Above was blackness, and blackness below, but all around him stood mirrors, mirrors set at every angle, mirrors as far as he could see, all showing him, crouched and turning, staring wide-eyed and frightened.

A red blur drifted across the mirrors. He spun, trying to catch it, but in every mirror it drifted behind his own image and vanished. Then it was back again, but not as a blur. Ba'alzamon strode across the mirrors, ten thousand Ba'alzamons, searching, crossing and re-crossing the silvery mirrors.

He found himself staring at the reflection of his own face, pale and shivering in the knife-edge cold. Ba'alzamon's image grew behind his, staring at him; not seeing, but staring still. In every mirror, the flames of Ba'alzamon's face raged behind him, enveloping, consuming, merging. He wanted to scream, but his throat was frozen. There was only one face in those endless mirrors. His own face. Ba'alzamon's face. One face.

(The Eye of the World, Flight Down the Arinelle)

Terez used this dream to convince us that Rand and Ba'alzamon will merge, becoming two souls in one body. They will merge, yes, but they won't merge in that way. There is much more to be seen in this dream, and if she didn't I advise her to visit the top of Dragonmount.

 

Again, context. Min's viewing says that the merge, such as it is, will result in the death of one or the other. Neither has died yet. Rand has to die; four separate prophecies say so. He has to die in order to survive the Last Battle, which means he'll die before the Last Battle. It's pretty simple, if you don't try to make it fit false scenarios.

 

Yes, context. Reread Min's vision and then you might notice that they seemed to merge. That means that they won't merge, but that something will happen that looks like a merge.

Yes, I have been reminding people of that myself for years. They already seem to merge, and I imagine they'll get closer before it's all over with.

 

Rand will die, but Moridin won't survive the Last Battle.

Survive implies that Rand won't expire , nor will he be killed before the end of the Last Battle. Even if he is killed and resurrected, or whatever odd way you can find to bring him back to life, he don't survive the Last Battle. I have already explained how Rand can die and survive.

Survive just means he'll be alive when it's over with. He will die and be resurrected before the Last Battle is won.

 

Whose scenario is false? We'll know on 8 januari 2013. Probably I'll know it before you

Will you then? We will see. I got it 10 days early last time. ;)