@stormleader but would rand let moghedien be a part of that circle? i would say not... he'd be as likely to trust her as a silverpike... but lanfear, he has a history with...

as for moraines wishes, i think she wished for the sa'angreal, to be let out of finn-land(pity she didnt say when, or in what condition), but for the last... who knows

@dudley i agree with most, however, we dont know that lews had it in the hall of servants... remember in EotW, rand made a sword of light too. just because it was A sword of light, doesnt mean it was calendor

gotta say... ive always suspected that it would be moraine, and lanfear... their characters are practically mirror images... and i couldnt think of any two people that rand, and lews, trust more(yes i know rand sedai is both now)...

tho... alivia's part in helping rand die still alludes me :(

and while moraine has gone down in power, she does have the angreal to make her considerably more powerful... and with rand's fight with asmodeon, we know that someone(or a circle?) can easily connect to two(or more) angreal.

so ya... i expect moraine and lanfear to be the two...

this is true... graendal, not lanfear :) confirmed twice in ToM, and once in the glossary... once by moridin, once by shadar haran

@aetherstorm ive often considered that... wether the cleansing would have also cleansed the ways... we havent seen anyone enter the ways for a LONG time... i think its quite likely that they are...

you'll remember with rands fight with asmodean in rhuidean, theyre both connected to the chodenkal, and, ran also connects to his fat little man angreal...

it is possible to connect to two at once, they are just so uncommon its unlikely that anyone has two.

mmm i disagree leyrann... the dreamwalkers told nyaneve that they didnt know how to pull someone into TAR in TSR chapter 52... and all known terangreals that the aiel have, are in rhuidean... i think she can dreamwalk...

tho... it was only mentioned that once...

wow scratch that idea... aparently aviendha can dreamwalk... TSR chapter 50 she says "i cannot enter TAR without a wise one guiding me"...

@stormleader when nyaneve found the taint in rand with the white underneath it... i see that not as an increase, but as a balance... the black taint balancing the white purity... i dont see this as a reason for avi's children... but i may be mistaken there..

and remember... if you cut your arm off, your children arent born with one missing... is not physical state that is passed to the children, but the dna blueprints... i dont see how rands power level could effect his children... letalone their perma-channeling...

still :) i wouldnt say theyre overly important to the story... unless post-TG books are written... but they are a mystery... and hey, apparently we like making/defeating/prooving theories about the books :)

@morning mist... as far as im aware, rand doesnt have a blood relation to the borderlands... the only relation i know of is that he was borderland trained(by lan)...

and i still dont see how avi's children's oddities could related to his blood, else, elaynes children would have the same oddities... avi is aiel, elayne is andorian, and rand is half way inbetween... if avi's children are special, it cant be because of a genetic cause...

there must be another cause... the only viable cause in my mind, is the TAR one... as neither the children's oddity nor the baby making in TAR have been seen before...

and, from avi's future adventure... it doesnt seem like her children's offspring have the oddity either... it cannot be a genetic trait...

perhaps its a reference there, but i doubt RJ considered such a reason for them outside of the story itself...

the only problem i have with the TAR theory... is that avi cant dreamwalk(that we know of)... meaning she would either need to go in the flesh, or use a ter'angreal... and seeing as those who use the ter'angreals are "less real" in the dream, i dont know how that would effect such an event...

ive always been in the TAR camp...

i dont see how any physical traits could cause this, or, if it was because of rand being the dragon, why arent elaynes the same?

the question ive had, is if it happens before or after rands death?

good catch darth :D her midwife gave orders for her not to get out of bed... aparently brigeta took it literally

@catdancer, we dont know of verin going to the finn, tho that doesnt mean she didnt...

and its possible, but i kind of doubt it... mat already told some aes sedai that "the white tower has something of mine, and im going to come get it", plus his return to the white tower is kind of a full circle thing from when he ran away from it in DR :)

and yea, that scene of mat sparring with galad and gawyn always makes me laugh :) definatly one of my favorites

mmm i disagree that it had anything to do with weiramon... when rand searched all their eyes, he said "so it is you"... like he didnt already know... like he expected it, but didnt know for sure... i doubt verin said anything to rand about him...

rand only knew because weiramon couldnt look him in the eyes...

i would say mattin(but then why is he so important at this stage?)

or, about how she (probably) compelled alana (to bond him)

or, about how she thinks the last battle will be fought...

but thats just speculation...

i agree testy... but, was that it? and why would verin see mattin as so important as to tell the dragon about him? wouldnt that be something for someone with less demands on them unless there was a bigger picture was involved?

@fossman, its not usually an issue with hand made(custom) vs machine made... its more to do with the metal itself... stainless steel is shiney, and hard, but in swords, you actually need more flexability then hardness, causing stainless swords to crack VERY easily... also if the steel is of very low grade, or damaged, they can crack...

tho there is only one custom swordsmith that i trust, but theyre prices are VERY high, but the blades are specially treated and are >10x stronger then "normal" battle ready swords :)

@lord of the morning, irony about humanity, is that its those small gimmicks(that we all have by the way) that keep us sane enough to get work done :) and id rather have the book pushed back another year, then be rushed to be finished...

i agree with much of what is said here :) i dont think that mashadar was used to cleanse saidin, but, as a place to dump the taint onto :) if he did it anywhere else(assuming he could), the taint would have been scrubbed off of saidin, and stayed on saidar... which would be less then appealing :)

and i dont know about him using the same philosophy to win TG... but then, you all know my theory about that :)

when mat's link with the dagger was severed, they used a circle, and suian used an angreal :) that leads me to believe that moraine should be able to use her angreal, and rand, calandor, without a problem :)

tho i would agree, that you can probably only use one angreal at a time :) but when in a circle, each member can have one :)

and you're right... moraine was always a reluctant warrior(so was lanfear, go figure)... but, she was also a pillar to hold rand up :) as was lanfear in her own way(finding a teacher, proding the way he needed to go, etc)

and i dont know if lanfears mindtrap will be severed by rand or moridin, or someone else entirely... will have to wait and see :)

#despothera, moraine is one of the weakest, but she did bring an angreal out of finnland, that makes her (one of) the most powerful out there... her power without the bracelet is far lower then before, but with, she's far higher... im assuming, she's as powerful with it, as lanfear was before her "death" :) and thereby, the duality of the characters continues(theyve virtually switched power levels)...

and with moraines freeing, my theory, is that lanfear will get freed from her mindtrap too :) else, the whole duality since book 2 even, is broken, and thereby, why have it? i dont see that happening :)

@crusader12 ironically with this book, nothing is truly separated :) and i agree :) i dont see the cleaning as using mashadar, but i can see that rand chose to do it at aridhol to push the taint from saidin, onto mashadar, thus destroying it from what we know, aside from the sliver that fain now has...

tho im less convinced that the DO is more powerful then mashadar... mashadar was trapped and not allowed to grow... now it isnt... the DO is just considerably larger :) and the size, gives it more influence :)

back on topic: we will have to wait for AMOL, but i still think that lanfear and moraine will be the two using calandor with rand :) they've played nearly identical roles, but on the different side of the brocada divide :) both were constantly around rand, moraine was obvious, lanfear hidden... moraine pushing for rand to go good, lanfear, shadow... moraine got trapped in finnland, lanfear trapped by the mindtrap... i could go on :)

It might be a question for brandon... but as for the taint(s) in rands side, they say they are separate, but they do pulse together... they seem alike, but still different.

and no, i dont think shadar logoth was on a faultline of power, else, the crater that was shadar logoth would have exastribated that problem... i dont think mordeths power stems from the true/one source, but from the evil of the heart... like the whitecloaks, their vehemence to fight the shadow turned them into the problem that they now are.

and if mashadar's taint acted like a leech to sap the taint out of saidin, why isnt rands wounds diminishing? the ashaman sealed them off together, if they were fighting against eachother, id expect one to have won by now...

the analogy of the leech works in that one scenario, but i dont think it fits with the other parts of the series... else, he could have built the filter with saidin, and pumped saidin through it, he wouldnt have needed saidir/nyaneve... he needed a clean rag, to clean the oil off of saidin, and i wouldnt call mashadar clean atall!

i get both sides, but i still think its more of a happy hapenstance, rand knew that the cleansing would destroy alot, and he had to eventually beat mashadar, and he had the chodenkal to do it, so why not just cleanse near mashadar and hopefully mashadar will get destroyed along the way... two birds, one stone.

thats an assumption metalhead :) as i see it, rand didnt use mashadar to cleanse saidin, nor do i see how that could work... i forget which of the aes sedai said it when rand told them where he would cleanse it, and they said that it "seemed an appropriate place"... i think its more likely that the cleansing would neutralize mashadar, not use it for the cleansing.

you dont use an oily rag to clean up an oil stain...

lancer, i doubt it :) i always see that as symbols of the forsaken :) each tower gets higher, before falling... and the one that has fallen, i think, is graendal... she'll probably be a hugely important character in the next book :) then, it could also be moridin(death is some fall)

if i remember properly, egwenes dream had 13 towers, and malkiers towers numbered 7