I agree that Lanfear, along with Moridin and Graendal, is most likely to turn back to the Light, but to be honest I don't think her involvement in drilling the Bore will actually be as useful as many speculate. I know it seems fitting, but when her team was opening up the Bore they had no idea what they were dealing with. It was truly a metaphysical Pandora's box and knowing how to open that box doesn't necessarily mean she's best equipped to know how to actually seal it. When it comes to sealing the Bore, more than likely philosophy and metaphysics have to be involved. After all, Rand was unable to seal the Bore before but it resulted in the Taint on saidin, and the seal wasn't quite perfect in that it was weakened over time. I think the actual sealing of the Bore will end up having more to do with the "three becoming one", but that's a topic for another blog.

As for Ishamael, I actually think his sadistic qualities are more closely attributed to his madness which comes from using the True Power so much. If you actually think about it, his points of view as Moridin almost exhibit a reluctant leadership aspect as Nae'blis. He also needs to be harsh and not allow any of the Forsaken under him to see any remote possiblity of weakness, which explains things like him stroking the cour'souvra. In that way he reminds me of the gang leader from that movie "3:10 to Yuma". William Evans (the protagonist's son) believes Ben Wade (the gang leader) to have good inside him, and Ben Wade replies "Kid, I wouldn't last five minutes leading an outfit like that if I wasn't as rotten as hell." And yet, Ben Wade does end up showing his good side in the end.

I like that idea Ry'lin.

I had also considered Tylee TreeJoe, but she just doesn't quite seem significant enough to be the one Egwene keeps dreaming of. Leilwin could fit because she is a pretty good swordsman, but here's more reasons why I think Tuon fits:

1. The changing faces could refer both to the fact that Tuon was veiled at first

2. It could also signify many different faces of the Seanchan Empire, or possibly the Seanchan channelers since they're all female, either way Tuon would be a good representative of them

3. It would be poetic in a sense because the two women (Egwene and Tuon) are the most powerful political leaders in Randland now, so them joining would be huge

Tylee will more than likely be involved, but more in a background kind of way I foresee.

@ Paul: Yeah, it was a side point, and it doesn't necessarily have to pass, but I can still see there being time for it. She gets freed during the attack, and during either her PoV or the PoV of the one who frees her we see it hinted at that she's crossing over to the shadow. A few chapters later, or however many we see her pop up to confront Egwene. The Three Oaths are superceded by her oaths to the Dark One, which would happen offscreen most likely.

@ Goldstar: I didn't bring it up as much in this entry, but it's almost a given that Mat is going to be bonded. It has been foreshadowed throughout the series, especially at the end of Towers of Midnight when he was thinking about how Tuon can learn to channel. It would also make sense for them since they're already married. You're right in that being bonded would be somewhat out of Mat's character, but then again so was getting married in the first place lol. As for Tuon, the idea of channeling at all would be a huge hurdle to overcome, but once she's crossed that line I don't think she'd have a problem with bonding her hubby Prince of Ravens.

The nice thing about the Broken Wolf being Slayer is that it doesn't have to be his death which brings fear and sorrow to the hearts of men, the actual line in the prophecy is 'his destruction', which could easily mean he kills someone important, like Rand or Perrin or someone else important. The only problem I have with this is that if he kills Rand in T'A'R, Rand is dead forever and then the Shadow definitely will win. Either way if the Broken Wolf isn't Rand, my best bet is it's Slayer. There's a great thread about the 'Broken Wolf' and who it may be in our discussion forums.

Taelin, it might be a good idea to check out the theory blog from two weeks ago, it covers the dark prophecy in detail. Also, Robert Jordan confirmed in a Q&A session that the light and dark prophecies aren't competing, they'll both come true.

I also like the idea of Perrin being a blacksmith having something to do with why Nakomi singles him out.

It does kind of make sense though for Aiel culture to have so much respect for blacksmith's, being a warrior culture and everything.

The only thing which I'm still wondering about is if a Nym will be needed or not. In the original Seed Singing, Aiel, Ogier, and Nym were all needed for it to work, but it might have been just for the specific task of singing to grow crops. To me the Talent of Singing can be used to aid channeling in general, so it might not be necessary to have a Nym at all. Should one be needed, perhaps there's one more which has been hidden for so long, but this seems unlikely. Nym are constructs of the One Power though, so perhaps one can be made in time for the Last Battle.

There's actually a good link showing various QnA with both Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson here at this link, pulled from Theoryland's interview database, addressing this issue. I too thought at first that the "light" prophecies and dark prophecies were mutually exclusive, and one prevented the other from happening, much like in David Leigh Eddings The Belgariad, but this turns out not to be the case. The Dark Prophecy will come true, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee the shadow's victory.

The problem with Hopper, as with many other potential candidates for Broken Wolf, is you can't justify there being a way for Hopper's death or destruction to "bring fear and sorrow to the hearts of men." This line stresses the fact that the broken wolf must be someone who would be an extremely polarizing character who everyone knows about. Terez's article that I linked to in the blog, talks about this.

What's up buddy! I know my blogs are filled with spoilers, hurry up and finish the series so you can critique my articles!

Grrr I was looking for this quote online for 15 minutes before I gave up, I think it was Teddy Roosevelt who said something along the lines of "Stand for what you believe in with every fiber of your being and defend your views with all your strength, and be willing to change your mind just as quickly the next day". When I present a theory on this blog, I will always view it as a potential truth or outcome in the series, I'll never put up a theory that at least part of me doesn't believe in. That being said, I might and probably will at times post a theory the next week which is completely contradictory of the one I presented a week before. I'ts not my desire to have as many people agree with me as I can, the main thing I want is to stimulate thought and debate over the intricacies of the incredible series that is the Wheel of Time, so often the theory that I choose to go with won't always be the strongest one or most popular one, but one of the more provocative ones.

I see what some of you are saying about Robert Jordan's writing style not going along with the body swap thing, I think a fair amount of people, even those who think the Body Swap will happen, don't like the theory because of this idea. However as Luckers points out in his post about the theory, there is a precedent for soul/body manipulation throughout the series, and the swap or merge is even hinted at in the very first book. It just doesn't feel like we're done with Dark Rand yet, the Forsaken and all of the forces of Shadow have always had this strange confidence that the Dark One would gain control of Rand, and it would be high art if we found out that this could still happen even after the huge moment in Veins of Gold, at the end of The Gathering Storm.

Agrajag, great points about the whole sunlight following Rand thing, and about The Dark One being more than a metaphor. I can see how an eclipse could happen, but maybe it's not the only way Shai'tan can counter Rand's sunlight. Jnlehew, that's exactly what caused the link between Rand and Moridin, or at least thats what The Rand/Moridin Link theory lines out. Whether or not Rand dies is a topic of much consternation, I encourage anyone who has any thoughts on this subject to visit the forums to talk about it, specifically this thread.

I'll have to check, but I thought if anything Nyneave's spot was was more secure cause Rand said she would be one of the women to help him wield Callandor. If Moiraine were to be one of the women in this scenario, she'd either have to take Alivia's spot (not likely considering Alivia's strength and Min's viewing) or possibly be around the area when everything's goin down and contribute in someway either to protect Zen Rand or kill Dark Rand 2.0

The second dreamspike is being made useful at the Black Tower, that's why in the last book some of the Ashaman mention not being able to make gateways out. I also liked the idea I heard from someone else that the blank in the blight is a seal on the Dark Ones prison, and that the one Mazrim Taim gave Rand is a fake.

Great designs to pick from! I hope they make all those designs eventually, especially if they modify them slightly maybe.

Everyone vote for having a Forsaken featured on a shirt!

I really liked this interview, I had no idea about the specifics of Dragon*Con and JordanCon. Even though Dragon*Con sounds like more fanfare and celebration and fireworks, correct me if Im wrong but it seems like JordanCon would be less expensive. And believe me, if I can do cheap AND intimate, I'm all about it!

Incidentally, I liked this interview so much I went and bought a DM premium account to contribute my share lol. At first I was like "Awh man the coupon code thechosen expired, now I'd have to pay full price! Then I remembered it was for a good cause :P

That's definitely a very good point. It is possible then that there is a different flaw than the one I put forth, but there is also a possiblity that the anti-Callandor wasn't originally designed for use by the shadow. They had just found out about the True Power (which was actually the Dark One), but might have not been able to discover the unpleasantness that comes with the True Power. So, they create a sa'angreal which is able to use the new power source, but realize after the fact that they unwittingly crafted a powerful weapon for the forces of shadow to use.

@ Erryn Ball: Fo Realz! Why couldn't Brandon Sanderson finish that one as well?! And I'm sorry, but the prequel series that came out by John Gregory Betancourt just doesn't hold up compared to the original novels. I'm getting a Corwin tattoo soon though!

Hey everyone, thanks for the great comments once again! I know a lot of people have thought the blank in the blight could be a city, and in my opinion there is almost definitely a city of some kind in the blight, and for all I know the blank in the blight could have nothing to do with this theory, but it seemed to fit so I ran with it.

A couple of other quick things: I know the body swap theory isn't the most popular one; that is although many seem to go along with it somewhat there is a general reluctance to see events unfold this way. That doesn't mean it will happen exactly as we theorize however, and once again the implications could be much more far reaching than we could realize. And although body swaps have become somewhat more common in pop culture, I have rarely seen them used in the fantasy genre.

As for the anti-callandor not being the second "more powerful" sa'angreal, even though Lanfear says that it's more powerful than Callandor, she might be lying. However, I believe it actually might be stronger in a way, that is because it helps you draw on the True Power instead of the One Power. Even though they both let you draw the same amount of power through them, because the dark Callandor channels the True Power, it is more powerful in a way because it's more destructive. There are other references by the way though, that talk about the other so sa'angreal as possibly being less powerful than Callandor, so I really don't know how powerful it will be exactly.

The Foretelling only means she will survive long enough to see Rand on a boat, but I agree with you that Foretellings are pretty much rock solid.

Min's vision on the other hand, about Aviendha' babies was supposed to be "odd" so it's possible that there were two possible outcomes in regards to that particular vision.

I Appreciate all the comments everyone, it was definitely my hope that after reading this people would then consider the issue for themselves and possibly introduce even more perspectives into the dialogue. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to theory either, just because certain viewpoints become more generally accepted doesn't make them right. So please, comment to your hearts content!

I did want to address a couple of things:

Thank you Xiafox for the tip, I will definitely start including a disclaimer at the beginning of my posts from now on.

The Tuatha'an, Tinkers, and the Traveling People are all the same group of people, and I believe they are the remnant of a remnant. As you can tell by that last Robert Jordan quote I posted, it is fairly evident that the Aiel we all know and love are themselves a remnant of the Aiel from the Age of Legends who practiced the Way of the Leaf. They are a remnant because certain traditions and practices have carried over: Their garments remain very similar, the practice of gai'shain is most likely reminiscent of their days as servants, and their refusal to carry swords is all that is left of their pacifistic ways. So a remnant of a remnant would be a people who could trace their lineage back to the Aiel, and although there might be a bevy of cultural differences, the Tuatha'an (Tinkers) still have a very close knit community which resembles the sept and clan society of the Aiel, among other shared traits (both groups like to dance!).

As for Aviendha's visions in Rhuidean, the implied assumption here is that they weren't necessarily perfect visions of the future, but just show what might come to pass if noone tried to change the path laid before them. Aviendha seems very determined to change her and her people's path.

Min's visions are another story. I know we're told many times that what she sees will come to pass no matter what, unless the Dark One wins. However, her assumptions about what the viewings meant have been wrong several times, and I'm just not sure that they're as rock solid anymore now that the Dark One's influence has grown so much. I know I'm probably in the minority on this, but that's fine with me.

Thanks again for all the compliments, hope to improve a little bit each week!