Can't understand the end....

[Elaol]

So, I am big fan of WoT (I haven't read it on English, so sorry if I misspell something), and I've read last book last night. But I remained confused with the ending. So I would like if someone would explain it to me:

 

1. So, Rand came out from the Bore carrying Moridin with him. They were both dying and couldn't be healed. How the hell did they change bodies so Moridin died and Rand stayed alive? They didn't use the Mirror of the Mist. How then?

 

2. Rand can't channel anymore, neither saidin nor true power. Wouldn't he die then? Every channeler died if he/she was cut off True Source.

 

3. If he was unable to channel, how did he lit that pipe? He just imagined it is being lit on and it did. It sounds like something you would do in Dream World.

 

4. When did Mat was cut off of the Horn? Heroes told him that it wasn't from his encounter with Eelfin, they told him it was something Rand did. What was it?

 

5. And most importantly, what was that last page of the book? They describe Dark One touching the world once again in Fourth Age. But Rand used all three powers to seal Dark One once and for all and he said no one could free him again.

 

Please answer me so I can finally understand what has happened.

 

 

[Barid Bel Medar]

1. This was intentionally left ambiguous and there isn't a real answer. However, it has something to do with the bond that Rand and Moridin developed at Shadar Logoth. At the end, when one was hurt, so was the other. How did it occur exactly? It's anyone's guess. 

 

2. People do not automatically die if they are cut off from the power. They usually do, but some manage to survive if they have a strong enough will. There is also a theory that burning out as opposed to being severed from the source makes it easier to cope. We see at least one other person who has survived quite a long time after being burnt out - Setalle. 

 

3. That is another mystery that was intentionally left ambigious. You won't find an answer, but there are many guesses. The most prominent seems to be that after his battle with the DO, where he was outside the Pattern or what not, he gained an understanding of the Pattern and can manipulate it without needing to use the power. 

 

4. Mat's connection to the Horn was severed when he 'died' in Caemlyn when they attacked Rhavin. Being balefired and returned to life cut his connection. That's why they mentioned it was Rand's doing. 

 

5. That quote is something like a history. It was written in the Fourth Age, but it is referencing what happened in the past. 

[Elaol]

1. This was intentionally left ambiguous and there isn't a real answer. However, it has something to do with the bond that Rand and Moridin developed at Shadar Logoth. At the end, when one was hurt, so was the other. How did it occur exactly? It's anyone's guess. 

 

2. People do not automatically die if they are cut off from the power. They usually do, but some manage to survive if they have a strong enough will. There is also a theory that burning out as opposed to being severed from the source makes it easier to cope. We see at least one other person who has survived quite a long time after being burnt out - Setalle. 

 

3. That is another mystery that was intentionally left ambigious. You won't find an answer, but there are many guesses. The most prominent seems to be that after his battle with the DO, where he was outside the Pattern or what not, he gained an understanding of the Pattern and can manipulate it without needing to use the power. 

 

4. Mat's connection to the Horn was severed when he 'died' in Caemlyn when they attacked Rhavin. Being balefired and returned to life cut his connection. That's why they mentioned it was Rand's doing. 

 

5. That quote is something like a history. It was written in the Fourth Age, but it is referencing what happened in the past. 

 

Here is the quote from an ending of the book:

 

  And it came to pass in those days, as it had come before and would come again, that the Dark lay heavy on the land and weighed down the hearts of men, and the green things failed, and hope died. And men cried out to the Creator, saying, O Light of the Heavens, Light of the World, let the Promised One be born of the mountain, according to the prophecies, as he was in ages past and will be in ages to come. Let the Prince of the Morning sing to the land that green things will grow and the valleys give forth lambs. Let the arm of the Lord of the Dawn shelter us from the Dark, and the great sword of justice defend us. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

 

—from Charal Drianaan te Calamon, The Cycle of the Dragon.

 

Author unknown, the Fourth Age

 

After reading this I came to the conclusion that the Dark one got free again. And it says Fourth age, so if it was from the past it would write Third age, right?

[Sabio]

The dark one is sealed away but in some future age a hole will be drilled into the bore again.  He was writing about the 3rd age but being the wheel of time certain things will occur again.  He is writing about the previous age.  But he was saying what we already know "as it had come before and would come again" that one day the DO would touch the world again.  People must forget the Do exists, a hole will be drilled partially freeing him, and there will be an imperfect attempt to seal him away. 

[hankscorpio]

Remember, one of the major premises of The Wheel of Time series is that time is cyclical, and what happened in the past will happen in some form in the future. We don't really know how similar each age is during each turning of the Wheel, but in the distant future, when the second age rolls around again, the DO will be partially freed again, as mentioned above, and then eventually he will be sealed away again similar to what happened in the books.

[Pinzarn]

 

4. Mat's connection to the Horn was severed when he 'died' in Caemlyn when they attacked Rhavin. Being balefired and returned to life cut his connection. That's why they mentioned it was Rand's doing. 

 

Just for clarification (I know what Barid meant, but it could be read incorrectly)...

 

In the bolded part (I bolded it), Barid is talking about two different characters.  Mat was not balefired.

 

Mat died from Rhavin's lightning trap when everyone arrived in Caemlyn.

Rand balefired Rhavin with enough power to rewind/erase Rhavin's previous actions.

This rewind/erase of Rhavin's actions means Mat's thread in the Pattern was restored to the "living".

[dawnflower8]

To answer your fifth question, the Dark One has to come back at some point, even if he was sealed. This is because time basically repeats itself, because it's the Wheel of Time. So that's why n the beginning of every book there is a quote which basicaly says "this happened in the past and will happen again."

 

Also, nobody knows the answer to your third question, which was intentionally left a mystery.

[mb]

some of these topics were discussed in somewhat recent threads.  pipe lighting, Horn connection/disconnection, body swap.

 

body swap.

Like another poster told, it began at Shadar Logoth.  Rand and Moridin both wove balefire and those 2 balefires hit each other.

 

Rand's loss of channeling.

Like same poster told, death is not automatic.  What generally happens is that the former channeler looses their will to live.  Besides Setalle Ann, there were others in the Robert Jordan books that survived; Suian, Leane, Logain.  Though those 3 were Healed; by Nynaeve.  And Rand severed 3 Aes Sedia at Dumai's Wells; do not remember their names.  Flinn Healed those 3.

 

pipe lighting.

My guess has been that Rand's taveren-ness lit the pipe.

 

Fourth Age quotes.

It seems to me that all of those comment on Third Age events.

About repetition, the events for sure repeat when the same Age comes again; seldom in other Ages.

[Sabio]

They key to wanting to live after being stilled or burnt out is seeking another reason to live.  Suian and Leane purpose was revenge on the Red Ajah,  But as mb said death isn't instant the person simply can't live with the loss of not being able to channel and gives up wanting to live.