PS: i.e. I think he'll fake his death in the end and let the world think he sacrificed himself to save the world.

Another great blog as usual Despothera! I think Rand will make it, if only for one reason: During one of Perrin's jaunts into the wolf dream (don't ask me which) he see's one of his visions in the sky of Rand wandering down a road, his eyes bandaged, using a a cane and looking like a pauper.

While it doesn't sound like a glamorous end for our brave champion, it does seems a little fitting, almost Tolkien-esk. Ol' Frodo was never hailed as a hero and revered in his home town for his efforts to save the world either and I figure the greatest gift Rand could receive would be anonymity; the chance to live a quiet, normal life with Min.

Awesome theory! The only flaw I can see is that right after Logain shows up wearing his new pin with the crowns on blue, Cadsuane points out that the sigil was that of his family's house i.e. Logain was a low ranking noble in...Ghealdan, if I remember correctly.

She makes some comment to him about whether or not he should bother wearing it, since his house was stripped of it's titles after he declared himself the dragon.

PS- considering how it was Cadsuane who captured Logain after those first Aes Sedai failed, how strained of a working relationship must they have? lol

Oh yeah! And as for Egwene's anger moment, I could easily see her exploding when, after taking the time and energy to collect all these leaders and armies in a show of force to convince Rand not to break the seals, he goes and does it anyways.

I agree with the theory that blood and fire rending the black tower refers to logain becoming the M'hael. In a True Dream of Egwene's (I think it she made this prediction at least), Logain would step over a unidentifiable corpse-and onto a carved black stone.

The BT has a carved black stone, from which morning announcements are made. Can't remember what it's called off hand but it was something to the effect of the leader's stone.

Now that I think about it, it's kinda a reference to the Scottish "Stone of Destiny," isn't it...

Very true Mark and at the end of the all the books up to Shadow Rising, whenever Rand confronted a forsaken in a pitched battle he could see the connection between Ishamael and the dark one.

I'll never forget reading how shocked Lanfear was when she heard that Rand could cut forsaken off from the shadow and had done it to Asmodeon. That ability, one not even Lews Therin had, might be his Sword of Light. B/C if he can do it to the most powerful of forsaken, why not others?

PS- as for RJ fun with names, Asmodeon is a twist on Asmodeus, a fallen angel who serves as one of Lucifer's chief generals in hell and was considered to be the master of lust or judgement, depending on what you're reading.

LOL Loved the Forsaken recipe! Now if only I had any of the ingredients...

Sorry about getting everyone off topic but the real question again is who will be in the circle with Rand for callandor.

After thinking about it, I say Nyneave is out of the runiing. She's given up those awesome ter'angreal of hers only once and I can't see her doing it again. That on top of the fact that, during her testing for accepted she figured out how to counter and reverse saidin weaves made by Aginor, and her amazing healing abilites, she'd be wasted in a circle she wasn't leading.

She's been a force of nature since the beginning and Rand's personality has made a complete left turn since he made the statement that Nyneave would definitely a member of the circle- for all we know all bets are off.

@mark That's certainly true, I was just making a point. For all we know, what with ta'veren all over the place, anything can happen.

Truthfully, I suspect Moghedien might take down Moridin kamikaze style, but only b/c I remember something about channeling too close to your own mind trap has bad consequences and Moridin doesn't leave his fortress without it. But that's another story and another thread.

Oh yeah and to clarify why I believe the third member of the circle will be a wild card that nobody expects is simply that Jordan had the talent of always setting you up to look one way so he could surprise you from the other.

PS- something just occurred to me, what about that part of the prophecy that says "the three shall become one?" Anybody got any ideas on what it might mean? Always made me think of the three ta'veren combining their powers somehow.

Personally I hope Logain isn't involved in the circle but only b/c I've always envisioned a truly awesome Last Battle duel between Logain and Taim taking place while Rand fights his own battle. It's definitely a cool idea though.

As for which two girls-if it is two female channelers of course- are Moraine and a total wild card, maybe even moghedien!

Moraine is holding some kind of trick up her sleeve via her her last wish from the eilfinn, if it's knowledge of weaves or a secret to fighting the dark one, who knows.

As for the possibility of Moghedien, she's in the exact same position as Lanfear, wherein she has spent so much time being abused by her superiors, that its no longer a matter of if she will betray the shadow as when. And she is enough of a spineless coward that she'd have no problem running to Egwene and begging on her knees for sanctuary.

This is interesting, I never really thought about how powerful Avienda's kids really were, they just were.

But now that I am thinking about it, what if it's because Rand finally accepted his role as the creator's champion? When he knocked up Elayne, he was still only "The Dragon", fighting because he has no choice. Later though, after becoming everything that he's supposed to and powering up, that should explain why these kids are so strong.

And don't forget that after "threads of gold", Rand's power to push away the shadow is activated in Elayne's unborn children: The skies above Camelyn suddenly clear and food stops spoiling too.

What I'm really curious about is what the hidden meaning behind the broken crown really is. Several times over multiple books (in L.O.C. when Perrin first meets his new in-laws for instance) people talk about the broken crown as if it's something else entirely than the face value.

In one of the later books Perrin thinks of the argument he's going to have with Faile for not mentioning the broken crown earlier- and this is long after he found out she was royalty as well. Is this "Broken Crown" a super-weapon? A secret, powerful terangreal that anyone can use maybe? Or, knowing Robert Jordan, perhaps something so straight out of left field that nobody's gonna see coming until it smacks us in the nose in 2012.

All I know is that this has been a subject referred to for so long throughout the series that it has to be something good and I for one can't wait to find out what it is!

Don't forget that Rahvin, aka Gaebril, used compulsion almost compulsively on Morgase and others in the Andoran court. And as for Bashere being a darkfriend, I think it's impossible. He proves himself on multiple occasions as being eccentric and I'm convinced that he didn't recognize Taim b/c the false dragon was replaced by Demandred. There also would be no need for his wife to be attacked by darkfriends who were searching his tent for the seals. If he was on the same side then he would just tell them not to bother.