Prologue Through to the End of the Epilogue--Full Book Discussion.

[Sarlic]

The fate of Tarna and others isn't expressly mentioned -- or did I miss it?

 

The Two Rivers group mostly worked with Androl to lead the resistance.

 

The Epilogue, after the sealing, is really quite short and deals almost exclusively with those in and around Shayol Ghul, so the wide affect of the DO's sealing isn't really felt.

 

Alviarin and a few other turned individuals got a pleasant surprise -- tricked into a stedding, where they couldn't channel, and then held there by the Ogiers for "a few centuries." I like it!

[Zefram]

Wait, was Alviarin turned? I thought she DF from beginning who rose through ranks

[Sarlic]

No she wasn't turned -- poor wording on my part. She -- as well as at least one other who made a choice to be a DF -- were captured in a stedding by Ogier.

[Zefram]

Also question on Shaido, was there anything mentioned about Shaido

 

1) Captured Shaido Wise Ones. Did Aiel and Aviendha came to agreement with Seanchan regarding them? in ToM their continued captivity was the major trigger for Aiel ongoing war with Seanchan that led directly to Aviendha's daughter trying to involve the other nations in their war. Was that little thing swept under rug in aMoL?

 

2) Did remains of Shaido who fled back to Waste survive the last battle? I remember the prophecy stated that Rand specifically would save "yet the remnant of a remnant he shall save, and they shall live". So if Shaido, who didn't follow Rand and he didn't bother saving survive while those who followed him were decimated in Final Battle then the prophecy was misinterpreted, right?

[fionwe1987]

I've seen a lot of talk about most of the characters, but virtually nothing about Nynaeve. So she's basically a non-entity in the book? Egwene, Elayne, and Avi get to take out bad guys and be heroes but Nyn is just a waste of space for the entire novel except for a tagalong with Rand at SG?

 

She's not a nonentity by any stretch. But time flows differently for her, Moiraine and Rand. They have less time to do things than the others. That said, she doesn't have many PoVs early in the book either, because she's by then unlikely to have majorly differing perspectives from some of the other characters. Less reason to show her. And her actions here are bound to Rand's. She has very little to do on her own. One more reason why we don't see so much of her.

 

 

Except I really don't see how what she did as useless. Not to mention her use is in the full scope of her actions, not what she does in the last book. As Egwene said back in TOM, this is the woman who has defeated and captured a forsaken, the woman who helped cleanse the taint from Saidin. This is a woman who healed a madness that was thought uncurable, that restored the ability to channel when it was supposed to be impossible. She married the king of Malkier and she's going to go forward and restore an entire kingdom. That's not even counting that she's most likely going to end up another Cadsuane in terms of legend status. To demean her because in this one book her only major action is helping Ran stop the end of the universe is hardly fair.

 

I am just disappointed. Nyn is, by far, my favorite female character and she has been relegated to third or fourth tier status among the characters. Rand, from what I've read on here, apparently does absolutely nothing until the end of the book, so why is Nyn sitting around with her thumb up her butt?

Well, I'd wait before making extreme judgements like that, but if you want spoilers...

 

 

Rand isn't not doing anything. Its just that, linked with Moiraine and Nynaeve, he battles Moridin, and fairly early, gets sucked into the bore, and out of the Pattern. His battle with the Dark One is at another level, in tandem with the physical Last Battle which is chiefly Mat and Egwene's fight. He and the Dark One spin threads of the Pattern into dream realities, trying to wear each other down. All this while, no time passes for Rand, and just about a day passes for Nyn and Moiraine. Nynaeve cannot do much at this time except resist the DO's horror, and heroically use mundane means to keep Alanna alive. If that seems too little to you, then I can help you.

 

 

Hell, for that matter, why isn't Rand doing some fighting as well?

He is. Just a different kind of fighting.

 

Fionwe, on another board, stated that the only ones channeling consistently are Egwene and Aviendha, which means Rand and Nyn (and even Moiraine) are doing basically nothing while Egwene personally fights the Last Battle on her own.

Yeah, that's what I said. Way to misinterpret things.

 

That makes no sense. Nyn is a strong channeler and, given a chance, she can kick some serious ass, but she isn't used at all in this book.

Yes. Because her fight is with a more serious enemy. Her fight is to ignore everything going on outside, ignore what she feels through the bond, and ignore the fact that she's defenseless. I'm sure it would have been lovely to see her personally kill all the Foresaken at the same time too, but I think the authors were going for realism.

So yeah, she has done some great things in past books but she serves no purpose in Tarmon Gai'don. While others are getting to become legends, she's not even window dressing because she's flat out invisible.

 

It also irks me that, apparently, Logain is shown to be nothing but a worthless sack of crap as well, and weak and wimpy on top of it. He gets captured by Taim, and has to be rescued, then gets the crap kicked out of him by Demandred. I suppose his glory is leading the BT while everyone laughs at him behind his back for being a huge wussy boy, lol. And there goes my second favorite male character down the tubes! Oh well, at least Rand survives. Too bad he's still bonded to all three of those damned women, though. He should have severed the bonds and run off with Min.

Again, I'd read the book before passing judgment. Logain went through some dark things. Its remarkable what he does, in the end. Deserving of all the glory he'll get for it too.

 

 

 

I've seen a lot of talk about most of the characters, but virtually nothing about Nynaeve. So she's basically a non-entity in the book? Egwene, Elayne, and Avi get to take out bad guys and be heroes but Nyn is just a waste of space for the entire novel except for a tagalong with Rand at SG?

 

I wouldn't say that, but unfortunately there are very few Nynaeve POVs in the book. What we do see of her is usually through someone else's eyes. She and Moiraine have to stay at Rand's side nearly the whole time, so they don't get to fight any Forsaken on their own.

 

While they're at Shayol Ghul, Nynaeve finds a dying Alanna there and manages to keep her alive long enough to release Rand from the bond. She doesn't have access to the Power at that point (Rand's in control of the link), so she has to sew Alanna's wounds up in almost pitch darkness and use herbs to bring her back to consciousness. Moridin had been counting on Rand to go into a Warder death rage from Alanna's death, which would probably have ruined everything. And she and Moiraine do play a very important role at SG, but I think that part's better unspoiled. All main characters are in their own way absolutely crucial to the Light's victory.

 

Towards the end, Loial notices that both Nynaeve and Lan are wearing crowns, though we don't find out much about what's going on with Malkier. All things considered, I think Nynaeve got one of the happiest endings. Egwene died, Elayne lost Birgitte and Gawyn, and Aviendha was left crippled by her injuries.

 

Oh, I'm thrilled she and Lan survive. I was pretty convinced that Lan would die and she would be miserable while Egwene lived happily ever after (with Gawyn, her little slave) rubbing her nose in the dirt to ram home the point that she is Nyn's superior. So I'm thrilled with that part.

Classic.

 

It seems fitting that Nyn has to rely on her skills with herbs and such at the end, too. And YES!! Rand gets to control the link. That is pure awesomeness, so much better than him just being used up by some woman controlling the link. How'd they get to that point? Especially when even Rand seemed convinced that he would have to submit to a circle and be used while a woman channeled.

This is the climax. Do you really want to know how they pull it off?

[Sarlic]

The collaring is swept under the rug, sort of. No one's really happy about it, but Rand's agreement with the Seanchan is such that they cannot take any Aes Sedai, etc, as damane moving forward. The channelers they already took they could keep.

 

The Shaido were mentioned only once, expressly excluding them from Rand's treaty at Merrilor.

 

The remnant of the remnant -- the remaining Aiel -- will server as peace keepers, enforcing the treaty at Merrilor. The "remnant of a remnant" stuff is left open to interpretation and never directly addressed.

[Sarlic]

Well said, Fionwe -- illtempest, don't base your entire perception of the book based on 17 pages of comments in a spoiler thread. There is *serious* f'ing stuff going on on just about every page of A Memory of Light. I'm fatigued just thinking about it! I felt like I went through a battle, there was so much action, so many twists and turns.

 

There is no way that a few posts on a message board can capture the scope of the story that is told here. Nynaeve doesn't have a lot of screen time, but what screen time she has, certainly matters.

[EvelynneWeakley]

What was the weave that the Wise Ones said shouldnt' be used any more in the Memories of Light?  My theory is it's Travelling and that's why Egwene has to do the Flame of Tar Valon?

[Sarlic]

Balefire. The Flame of Tar Valon is meant to be the antithesis to balefire

[EvelynneWeakley]

Thanks Sarlic

[sleepinghour]

Well said, Fionwe -- illtempest, don't base your entire perception of the book based on 17 pages of comments in a spoiler thread.

 

You can easily get a skewed perception of the book by reading spoiler topics; there's a lot of great stuff that hasn't been discussed here yet for various reasons. And major character deaths always cause a lot of debate (*cough*Asmodean*cough*). I personally thought Egwene's death was infinitely more interesting from a thematic perspective than how it related to the plot; the anti-balefire weave was pretty deus ex machina. One of my oldest theories since the first time I read TEotW was that Egwene is, if not Eldrene reborn, at least a parallel to her. Egwene recognized Mat's warcry and was likened to a rose by Aram in TEotW. Like Egwene, Eldrene was opposed by a Red Amyrlin and ultimately destroyed the invading enemy army along with herself after her husband-Warder's death.

 

“I don’t suppose it means anything.”

“I . . . I think it does,” Egwene said slowly. “When you shouted, I thought—just for a minute—I thought I understood you. But it’s all gone, now.” She sighed and shook her head. “Perhaps you’re right. Strange what you can imagine at a time like that, isn’t it?”

“Carai an Caldazar,” Moiraine said. They all twisted to stare at her. “Carai an Ellisande. Al Ellisande. For the honor of the Red Eagle. For the honor of the Rose of the Sun. The Rose of the Sun. The ancient warcry of Manetheren, and the warcry of its last king. Eldrene was called the Rose of the Sun.” Moiraine’s smile took in Egwene and Mat both, though her gaze may have rested a moment longer on him than on her. “The blood of Arad’s line is still strong in the Two Rivers. The old blood still sings.”

[...]

Aram settled to an easy crouch with his arms crossed on his knees, across the fire from Egwene. “I am Aram,” he told her in a low, confident voice. He no longer seemed aware that anyone was there except her. “I have waited for the first rose of spring, and now I find it at my grandfather’s fire.”

 

RJ also reversed the Guinevere myth: as punishment for her infidelity, Guinevere was sentenced to burn at the stake, from which she was rescued by Lancelot. That was the end of their relationship; they were never able to marry or see each other again. She spent the rest of her life in an abbey where she eventually became the abbess. In WoT, "Guinevere" was never unfaithful to "Arthur," she became an abbess/Amyrlin early on, married her Lancelot (Gawyn), and ultimately chose death by fire herself. RJ changed the order of events and always made them end the opposite way.

[Axon]

 

Except I really don't see how what she did as useless. Not to mention her use is in the full scope of her actions, not what she does in the last book. As Egwene said back in TOM, this is the woman who has defeated and captured a forsaken, the woman who helped cleanse the taint from Saidin. This is a woman who healed a madness that was thought uncurable, that restored the ability to channel when it was supposed to be impossible. She married the king of Malkier and she's going to go forward and restore an entire kingdom. That's not even counting that she's most likely going to end up another Cadsuane in terms of legend status. To demean her because in this one book her only major action is helping Ran stop the end of the universe is hardly fair.

 

I am just disappointed. Nyn is, by far, my favorite female character and she has been relegated to third or fourth tier status among the characters. Rand, from what I've read on here, apparently does absolutely nothing until the end of the book, so why is Nyn sitting around with her thumb up her butt? Hell, for that matter, why isn't Rand doing some fighting as well? Fionwe, on another board, stated that the only ones channeling consistently are Egwene and Aviendha, which means Rand and Nyn (and even Moiraine) are doing basically nothing while Egwene personally fights the Last Battle on her own. That makes no sense. Nyn is a strong channeler and, given a chance, she can kick some serious ass, but she isn't used at all in this book. So yeah, she has done some great things in past books but she serves no purpose in Tarmon Gai'don. While others are getting to become legends, she's not even window dressing because she's flat out invisible.

 

It also irks me that, apparently, Logain is shown to be nothing but a worthless sack of crap as well, and weak and wimpy on top of it. He gets captured by Taim, and has to be rescued, then gets the crap kicked out of him by Demandred. I suppose his glory is leading the BT while everyone laughs at him behind his back for being a huge wussy boy, lol. And there goes my second favorite male character down the tubes! Oh well, at least Rand survives. Too bad he's still bonded to all three of those damned women, though. He should have severed the bonds and run off with Min.

Nyn is the only one strong enough that he trusts.   And that trust is ultimately justified.  

 

Logain will not disappoint.  

[fionwe1987]

 

Well said, Fionwe -- illtempest, don't base your entire perception of the book based on 17 pages of comments in a spoiler thread.

 

You can easily get a skewed perception of the book by reading spoiler topics; there's a lot of great stuff that hasn't been discussed here yet for various reasons. And major character deaths always cause a lot of debate (*cough*Asmodean*cough*). I personally thought Egwene's death was infinitely more interesting from a thematic perspective than how it related to the plot; the anti-balefire weave was pretty deus ex machina. One of my oldest theories since the first time I read TEotW was that Egwene is, if not Eldrene reborn, at least a parallel to her. Egwene recognized Mat's warcry and was likened to a rose by Aram in TEotW. Like Egwene, Eldrene was opposed by a Red Amyrlin and ultimately destroyed the invading enemy army along with herself after her husband-Warder's death.

 

>“I don’t suppose it means anything.”

“I . . . I think it does,” Egwene said slowly. “When you shouted, I thought—just for a minute—I thought I understood you. But it’s all gone, now.” She sighed and shook her head. “Perhaps you’re right. Strange what you can imagine at a time like that, isn’t it?”

“Carai an Caldazar,” Moiraine said. They all twisted to stare at her. “Carai an Ellisande. Al Ellisande. For the honor of the Red Eagle. For the honor of the Rose of the Sun. The Rose of the Sun. The ancient warcry of Manetheren, and the warcry of its last king. Eldrene was called the Rose of the Sun.” Moiraine’s smile took in Egwene and Mat both, though her gaze may have rested a moment longer on him than on her. “The blood of Arad’s line is still strong in the Two Rivers. The old blood still sings.”

[...]

Aram settled to an easy crouch with his arms crossed on his knees, across the fire from Egwene. “I am Aram,” he told her in a low, confident voice. He no longer seemed aware that anyone was there except her. “I have waited for the first rose of spring, and now I find it at my grandfather’s fire.”

 

RJ also reversed the Guinevere myth: as punishment for her infidelity, Guinevere was sentenced to burn at the stake, from which she was rescued by Lancelot. That was the end of their relationship; they were never able to marry or see each other again. She spent the rest of her life in an abbey where she eventually became the abbess. In WoT, "Guinevere" was never unfaithful to "Arthur," she became an abbess/Amyrlin early on, married her Lancelot (Gawyn), and ultimately chose death by fire herself. RJ changed the order of events and always made them end the opposite way.

 

These are not the only parallels, either. Eldrene is supposed to have used Balefire on Dreadlords, and took away her city with her in her final minutes. Egwene instead used anti-balefire, and killed a huge army of Dreadlords and channelers allied to the Shadow, but doing so, she stabilized the Pattern, and her own allies were left unharmed.

 

But the greater thematic parallel is Lews Therin, and Rand, of course. Egwene has her own mini-epiphany, coming to peace with Gawyn's death, and realizing that destroying your enemies in a way that destroys the world (balefire here, CK for Rand) is not correct. Then she uses an enormous amount of Power, and there's a huge flash of Light that goes far into the sky (like the column of fire than reared up Dragonmount, and the column of sunlight that bathes Rand). When Egwene is done, there's no body (a la LTT), but there's a huge column of crystal which soon gives way to an earthquake that brings down the entire hill range (the opposite of Lews Therin, who raised a mountain). Like Lews Therin, she too is greif stricken over the death of her lover. Unlike Rand, whose story begins as Lews Therin, leader of channelers, who dies and is born again as a shepherd, Egwene's story begins as a village woman who rises to become a leader of channelers, who then dies. Like Lews Therin (and Rand), she too patches a hole in the Pattern. 

 

Her death was a parallel to both Eldrene and Lews Therin, and you're right that at that level it was very satisfying. The most thematically satisfying moment in the book, I'd say, save Rand riding away into the wind. That doesn't stop me from wishing that some of the kinks in writing and plot had been ironed out too.

[sleepinghour]

Her death was a parallel to both Eldrene and Lews Therin, and you're right that at that level it was very satisfying. The most thematically satisfying moment in the book, I'd say, save Rand riding away into the wind. That doesn't stop me from wishing that some of the kinks in writing and plot had been ironed out too.

 

Yeah, I thought about the LTT/Rand parallels too, but feared my post was already a bit too TL;DR. It's a little maddening how much of the Last Battle we could have figured out years ago if we had only connected the right dots.

[Heikoy]

This has been Nynaeve's role from the beginning. As Wisdom, it was her duty to serve the people, and she did so in her own way which made her service seem more like dominance, but that was never the case. She was never a leader, but more an advisor (Elayne notes this at some point in ToM I believe). Her true calling, her true desire, has always been to aide people however she can, and she was most able to do that by helping Rand. Unlike Egwene, she lacks the ambition for power, and though a powerful channeler, only seeks to help others with her ability (whether that be healing or battling). In many ways, Nynaeve represents the ideal Aes Sedai, though ideals are just that - ideas. Her version of the Aes Sedai simply wouldn't have survived for the thousands of years that the White Tower has. Randland is a political world, and Nynaeve is ultimately unconcerned with politics. Her skills have been invaluable to Rand, but really it was her support and Rand's trust in her support that allowed him to accomplish his greatest feats (sealing the bore and cleansing saidin). In that she's elevated from supporting cast to main cast. Rand's 'dragonhood' is defined by her support.

 

And the fact that she's done some amazing stuff on her own is a testament to her competence and importance to the series.

[fionwe1987]

 

Her death was a parallel to both Eldrene and Lews Therin, and you're right that at that level it was very satisfying. The most thematically satisfying moment in the book, I'd say, save Rand riding away into the wind. That doesn't stop me from wishing that some of the kinks in writing and plot had been ironed out too.

 

Yeah, I thought about the LTT/Rand parallels too, but feared my post was already a bit too TL;DR. It's a little maddening how much of the Last Battle we could have figured out years ago if we had only connected the right dots.

 

Most it was figured out. Its just that with so many prophesies, Dreams and viewings open to interpretation, it was easy to come to very different conclusions. I've seen only a few things in the LB that were totally out of the blue. And that's good, because the end was still satisfying, even though lots of it I'd read in some theory or the other.

[Terez]

 

Thanks for the quick response. Disappointing that so much time was spent trying to figure out his alter-ego and it was from some previously unknown prophecy. Had RJ and BS simply RAFOd the answer I would be fine with the Shara thing. But the fact that they said we could have figured it out from the previous books seems a little too much. One other item, someone else on this thread wondered how Bryne was compelled through his dreams even though he was bonded as a warder. Weren't we told early on in the series (by Moraine i think) that the warder bond provides certain advantages including protection/warding of dreams? Am i remembering this incorrectly or is this addressed in AMOL as some new/unknown technique from the AOL?

Did they say that?  I recall Brandon stating that Demandred's alter ego had not made an appearance as of KoD, but that's it.

 

Brandon made lots of comments about Demandred's alter ego. Any time someone asked if we could figure out "who" Demandred was, Brandon said yes. Misleading at best, disingenuous at worst.

[dfchang]

I guess you can make a circumspect argument that the only land with enough military power and channelers that would be worthy of a Forsaken's involvement would be Shara?

 

We learn from the Glossary I believe some crude aspects of Sharan society especially regarding channelers.  It certainly sounded like a pretty f'ed up society, almost as dark as the Seanchan in its own way.

 

The thing that had always bothered me a little about Demandred in Murandy is that the country seemed like such a shit place and it was baffling how it could  offer ANYTHING worthwhile for the Last Battle?   It seemed a little laughable that Demandred would proclaim "My rule is secure" about Murandy.

 

I had considered it but discounted it because I just felt there had not been sufficient set up to deliver something like this without it looking like a lightning strike out of the clear blue sky . . . which quite honestly it did feel like.  

[MrBlack]

 

 

Thanks for the quick response. Disappointing that so much time was spent trying to figure out his alter-ego and it was from some previously unknown prophecy. Had RJ and BS simply RAFOd the answer I would be fine with the Shara thing. But the fact that they said we could have figured it out from the previous books seems a little too much. One other item, someone else on this thread wondered how Bryne was compelled through his dreams even though he was bonded as a warder. Weren't we told early on in the series (by Moraine i think) that the warder bond provides certain advantages including protection/warding of dreams? Am i remembering this incorrectly or is this addressed in AMOL as some new/unknown technique from the AOL?

Did they say that?  I recall Brandon stating that Demandred's alter ego had not made an appearance as of KoD, but that's it.

 

Brandon made lots of comments about Demandred's alter ego. Any time someone asked if we could figure out "who" Demandred was, Brandon said yes. Misleading at best, disingenuous at worst.

I've been perusing the interview database, and the only time I can see Brandon stating anything even remotely definitive on Demandred's identity is in response to one of your questions, where he repeated RJ's statement that Demandred's alter-ego had not been seen "onscreen" through KoD.  Brandon stated that guessing who the alter-ego is would be largely pointless, although one could guess what Demandred had been up to.  While he did say, "You may have seen them now, but if so, they haven't been on-screen for long," that seems only misleading at the very worst, since I imagine he was trying to give away as little as possible. 

[Guest lensutton]

I guess I am the only person who cares, but I have always wondered about the Tuatha'an (Tinkers). Can anyone tell me what happened to them? Most importantly did they ever find the song?

[KakitaOCU]

General consensus is there is no "The Song"  it's a broken myth left over from the singing done in the age of legends to make plants grow better.

 

As for Demandred, I felt Shara was obvious for a while now.  I thought maybe he had Murandy too, maybe as a way to marshal troops quietly, but I knew he was in Shara the moment he said nothing more than "My Rule is secure."  The Prologue for AMoL clinched it.  When he's so confident in what he has that he doesn't care about the Black Tower, it had to be Shara.

[Terez]

I've been perusing the interview database, and the only time I can see Brandon stating anything even remotely definitive on Demandred's identity is in response to one of your questions, where he repeated RJ's statement that Demandred's alter-ego had not been seen "onscreen" through KoD.

 

Look harder. Try the Demandred tag if you haven't already. He also extended that to TOM, and implied in another book that his books were a package deal on that particular front.

[KakitaOCU]

Alright, just going through the Theoryland database I'm not finding anything where Brandon claimed we could figure out his alter ego.

 

There's the time MrBlack pointed out.

 

Then there's a time where he was asked "Can we figure out who Demandred is disguised as based on evidence?"  to which he said "There are clues"  Personally, the clues have always pointed me to Shara.  Which tells me his alter ego is a nobleman there.  Nothing dishonest or disingenous there.

 

Another topic has Brandon flat out say that Demandre'd alter ego was not in ToM. 

 

In another he states that he won't answer if Demandred's alter ego was introduced in TGS or TOM because that narrows it down too much.

 

Sorry, looks like the straightest answer he gave was that there are clues to who he's disguised as, which is a very properly RJ/Aes Sedai answer and at no point promises that figuring out who he is will provide a specific name.

[Terez]

Alright, just going through the Theoryland database I'm not finding anything where Brandon claimed we could figure out his alter ego.

 

There's the time MrBlack pointed out.

 

Then there's a time where he was asked "Can we figure out who Demandred is disguised as based on evidence?"  to which he said "There are clues"  Personally, the clues have always pointed me to Shara.  Which tells me his alter ego is a nobleman there.  Nothing dishonest or disingenous there.

 

That is the key word, and he was asked that several times in different ways. And he did say that about the alter ego, and even said that some fans online had guessed it, which wasn't true. We didn't know anything about noblemen in Shara; from what we were told, there weren't any, aside from the Sh'boan and Sh'botay. So it's the "who" bit along with similar words "Demandred's identity" or "alter ego" which makes it disingenuous.

[fionwe1987]

Found it. I've been looking for this thing which I remembered from my WH re-read that I knew was a hint about Demandred. Its probably come up before, but its a pretty nifty clue.

 

First is this from WH prologue:

 

“Forthcoming?” Min said, sounding suspicious. Of all his motives, he hoped, or anything but the truth. The dizziness and nausea faded slowly. “You have been as open as a mussel, Rand, but I am not blind. First we Traveled to Rhuidean, where you asked so many questions about this Shara place that anyone would think you meant to go there.”

 

So Rand, seeking to misdirect his enemies, made people in Rhuidean believe he was headed to Shara.

 

Then, in Chapter 13, we have this interesting tidbit:

 

"Where is he?" Demandred growled, clenching his fists behind his back. Standing with his feet apart, he was aware that he dominated the room. He always did. Even so, he wished Semirhage or Mesaana were present. Their alliance was delicate—a simple agreement that they would not turn on one another until the others had been eliminated—yet it had held all this time. Working together, they had unbalanced opponent after opponent, toppling many to their deaths or worse. But it was difficult for Semirhage to attend these meetings, and Mesaana had been shy, of late. If she was thinking of ending the alliance. . . . "Al'Thor has been seen in five cities, including that cursed place in the Waste, and a dozen towns since those blind fools—those idiots!— failed in Cairhien. And that only includes the reports we have! The Great Lord only knows what else is crawling toward us by horse, or sheep, or whatever else these savages can find to carry a message."

 

Demandred is clearly frustrated. Rand has been seen in multiple places, leaving multiple clues to his destination. But Demandred singles out the one place where Rand mentioned Shara! Why? And he's frustrated about the slow information transfer in this age. Why? He's worried everything might have been misdirection, and Shara his true destination. But how to confirm that with so few messages?

 

Then we have this, later in the chapter. 

 

"So it seems he must be killed after all," Demandred said. Hiding his satisfaction was not easy. Rand al'Thor or Lews Therin Telamon, he would rest easier when the fellow was dead. "Before he can destroy the world, and us. Which makes finding him all the more urgent."

"Killed?" Moridin moved his hands as though weighing something. "If it comes to that, yes," he said finally. "But finding him is no problem. When he touches the Choedan Kal, you will know where he is. And you will go there and take him. Or kill him, if necessary. The Nae'blis has spoken."

 

Note here that hatred for Rand isn't big in Demandred's mind. He would rest easier when the fellow was dead. Rest easier, ie. relax, because there's less chance of being unmasked if Rand is too dead to interfere with his plans. Also, he thinks finding Rand is urgent, which makes not much sense, as Moridin points out. In retrospect, this confirms that Demandred's true purpose is to kill Rand or find him before he stumbles into Shara and destroys his plans.

 

In retrospect, this works, I think. The clues are nowhere near obvious. And it was very easy to go down the wrong track.