Rand, Egwene, Nynaeve, Callandor, Dark Prophecies and Toman Head

[Gristle]

The shadow has been playing to turn Rand the entire time.  Killing these two wouldn't have served that purpose nearly as well as capturing and controlling them.  It would have caused him great pain, but the leverage provided by their capture would be far more valuable, especially if they were turned against him.

 

 

[Ozzie_aiel]

The shadow has been playing to turn Rand the entire time. Killing these two wouldn't have served that purpose nearly as well as capturing and controlling them. It would have caused him great pain, but the leverage provided by their capture would be far more valuable, especially if they were turned against him.

Once again, if the Shadow wanted that it should've 13x13 them. Turn them to the shadow then use them to turn Rand. If, in the first 3 books Egwene ans Nynaeve told him his interest would beat be servwd by pledging to the DO, he would probably do it. And if he didn't, they could easily kill him without him fighting back. Or secretly sabotage his plans to unite the word against the Shadow. Or kill Moiraine and replace her with a disguised chosen. Or 100 different things to bring ruin to Rand

[Suttree]

 

The shadow has been playing to turn Rand the entire time. Killing these two wouldn't have served that purpose nearly as well as capturing and controlling them. It would have caused him great pain, but the leverage provided by their capture would be far more valuable, especially if they were turned against him.

Once again, if the Shadow wanted that it should've 13x13 them. Turn them to the shadow then use them to turn Rand. If, in the first 3 books Egwene ans Nynaeve told him his interest would beat be servwd by pledging to the DO, he would probably do it. And if he didn't, they could easily kill him without him fighting back. Or secretly sabotage his plans to unite the word against the Shadow. Or kill Moiraine and replace her with a disguised chosen. Or 100 different things to bring ruin to Rand

 

Point being this game has been played numerous times before. It takes a very specific set of circumstances for the DO to win an "ultimate victory". He has turned Rand's soul in the past and the result was a draw. Think about the game of Sha'rah and how close the DO was to getting Rand to do his bidding without knowing during the VoG scene. We know the fisher most likely came from the memory of Rand's soul as the creators champion...

 

 

Perhaps the Fisher did come from some dim remnant of a memory of Rand al’Thor, the shadow of a shadow. It did not matter. He realised he was laughing, and made no effort to stop. On the board, the Fisher stood waiting, but in the greater game, al’Thor moved already to his wishes. And soon, now... It was very hard to lose a game when you played both sides of the board

 

-The Path of Daggers, Deceptive Appearances

Ishy is trying to play both sides of the board in this current strategy and want to place Rand where he wants him without Rand being aware. That is what's happening and with the link still active between the two I suspect Rand is quite as "zen" as everyone seems to think.