I noticed the word reluctant in ToM:

He was reluctant to...

He reluctantly did...

He showed reluctance to...

Sometimes I thought everything was done reluctantly.

I, personally, don't think he's dead. All they would have to do is wound him enough to get by him, as their most sought after goal was Mat/Thom/Moraine.

 

I think we'll see him again.

 

I just hope that if he does come back, it's as Hero of the Horn. If he comes back alive and well I'll just throw the book out of the window.

 

It's effin' Last Battle. The Ultimate Battle against Good and Evil. I expect good guys to die, too. -_-

A man lies dying on a narrow bed. It's important that he not die, but funeral pyre is prepared.

(ACoS, chapter 10)

I fear you have to throw your book out of the window, for I think this dream of Egwene is about Noal/Jain

Because of Min's vision we know that Rand will be kidnapped another time by Aes Sedai and that they will hurt him. This will probably happen by the (black) sisters, accompanying the Borderlanders. We also know that Perrin has to save him.

Semirhage couldn't control Rand with the Domination Band and I doubt 13 sisters, even when linked, can shield him from the TP.

 

So, I think Rand will realise he can't use the TP again and he will resist the temptation, even when he is tortured.

 

And there was something else, something new, an aura of yellow and brown and purple that made her stomach clench. "Aes Sedai are going to hurt you. Women who can channel anyway. It was all confused. I'm not sure about the Aes Sedai part. But it might happen more than once. I think that's why it seemed all scrambled."

 

If this is the passage causing making people think the AS with the Borderlanders are going to capture Rand, I'm not so sure you all have the right of it. Semi's aborted capture of Rand and making him nearly kill Min could easily fulfill this viewing.

 

Unless the Borderlanders actually DO harbor BA or Demandred or both I really don't see what the point has been for spending so much time on them. There must be something though if Davram is to be da' King or BOTH he and Tenobia get offed and Faile is to be Queen. This really is a Gordian Knot of a sub-plot and I'm really not sure if I care about it or not.

If you had read some lines further, you should have noticed that Perrin has to be involved that second time. So, the vision of Min had nothing to do with Semirhage.

Moridins order to Graendal, that she is to make Rand know pain of heart, frustration and anguish makes the Semi-situation scream of a set-up. We know that the Shadow have wanted to turn Rand since the beginning of TEOTW, and putting him in a situation where he pretty much must use TP seems like the best effort made to accomplish that. And it would not be the first time we have seen a forsaken sacrificed, look at how Moridin helped Rand to kill Sammael.

Rand is still able to use the TP, but I wonder if he can still use it. The TP is very addictive and if he will use it again he will sooner or later (most probable sooner) become a TP-junk. In that case he would be dependent of the DO and become a darkfriend.

Because of Min's vision we know that Rand will be kidnapped another time by Aes Sedai and that they will hurt him. This will probably happen by the (black) sisters, accompanying the Borderlanders. We also know that Perrin has to save him.

Semirhage couldn't control Rand with the Domination Band and I doubt 13 sisters, even when linked, can shield him from the TP.

So, I think Rand will realise he can't use the TP again and he will resist the temptation, even when he is tortured.