That he wanted anything specific from Artur to Tuon seems a stretch to me... I thought he simply wanted street cred with his wife...  Artur, whom she reveres, is on speaking terms with Mat...  pretty cool for just a Toy, huh, Tuon?  Maybe you best rethink where Mat stands...

That kind of thing.

@gwenifer

I know... but everyone...inside the series and outside the series... loves Min, which will give the ending the appropriate pathos and gravity. And even though I hate it, I will still want it to be that way, because the victory needs to come with a price. That's what I always loved about LOTR... everything was permanently changed for all those involved... and it was bittersweet. By the way... my next favorite female character is Verin. xo) and equally Moiraine.

Oh... I also meant to add that I think when Tuon comes to strike against Egwene, some battle will have started, and they will end up working together... so I agree that Egwene will be too busy to be the help for Lan... plus I don't think she really cares anyway.... she's an Aes Sedai Amyrlin to the core... White Tower above all. I enjoyed her rise so much... but I'm back to my old feelings about her, which aren't the best. Hopefully she'll learn something from Nynaeve...or else Tuon!! LOL.

I like the arguments you make for Lan surviving. Nynaeve is my favorite female character, and I would hate for her to go through the suffering Lan's death would bring... especially when he is now her warder as well as husband. Like a current pregnancy, the Aes Sedai/Warder grief would be problematic, since it appears she will have a prominent role in helping Rand with his plan for dealing with the DO and will need all of her faculties and powers.

I also don't believe that the body from Min's vision is Lan. Min says that Nynaeve hovers over "someone's" body in a "posture" of grief. That's a lot of leeway, LOL. I've always thought it was Rand, and that Nynaeve will be a second part of Alivia's "helping" Rand to die... whether it's snatching his soul or healing after "whatever" Alivia does. I also always thought it was possible that Nynaeve was one of the three women around Rand's funeral bier anyway. I know most people think it's his three wives... but I'm not so sure that they will all be there. Even though the pattern changes, I've always viewed this as the three Queens on the boat with King Arthur's body, and thus I've always seen Nynaeve as "the Lady of the Lake" and Moiraine as "Morgan le Fey" as two of those women, and maybe even Egwene as "Guinevere" as the third. I know, sometimes Morgan is considered evil... but often she's just concerned with preserving "old" Britain or "the Land"..which seemed like Moiraine being willing to do "whatever it takes" to prepare Rand for his role in the earlier books.

If I'm completely wrong and Lan does die, then I would assume it gives her extra impetus to "avenge what cannot be defended"... meaning Lan for her. Oh well... at least we're on the countdown to find out!!

On a side note... I think if any major women die, it will be Min. Her whole motivation in the book is tied to Rand himself. The others have kingdoms other responsibilities for after the LB... Min has only Rand. If he ends up in TAR as some have suggested... then she might be there. And even though Elayne looks like Elenya... Min may be the Elenya like casualty of this cycle and die.

I really like Faile, Mat, Avienda and Elayne... and I'm glad to see someone tackle the not so young and beautiful like Cadsuane!! LOL Also, her's is one of the few portraits I've seen where Elayne has that "imperious tilt of the chin"...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Storeroom at Tear and Caemlyn from the Tar Valon Gate!! I don't think I can say enough how much I love these two.