Rand to clear away the rubble and contest with the Dark One

Egwene to create the material for the new seals (and scold the other two)

Perrin to craft the seals with his groovy new hammer

Matt to kick some trollock ass and keep them off the backs of the other three. Why? Because the readers demand it. The book could not conclude without an epic battle which has been built up over 14 books, but that battle cannot be their hope of success.

Did you really think Nynaeve would fail to appear at Lan's side?

"The stories of Mat, Rand, Egwene, and Perrin are now done."

 

Why is Egwene there? and not Nynaeve?

 

Does it imply that Nynaeve dies or is it just to continue the Egwene wonderwoman bullshit?

Mark,

I think Perrin has a much greater role than just his link with the wolves. I always thought his link to the wolves was a disappointing superpower in comparison to Rand and Mat until his link to the world of dreams was developed. He is a master of Tel'aran'rhiod. He's not just a dreamwalker like Egwene or the Wise Ones, he has a mastery at a whole other level.

The Wise Ones said the world of Tel'aran'rhiod is more real than the waking world, and more dangerous. The light and the Dark One exist in every world, especially at the focus of all worlds, Tel'aran'rhiod. Lews Therin's didn't just make a mistake in assaulting the bore without the female Aes Sedai, he also failed to realize that the bore can only be perfectly sealed at the locus of all worlds, in Tel'aran'rhiod.

My guess is Perrin, armed with his light forged hammer, will be the one to clear away the rubble and seal up the Dark One while Rand battles him down the bore, but I believe he and Rand will do so in Tel'aran'rhiod, not in the world of the waking. Perhaps that's the explanation of how Rand dies twice in one day, once in the world of the waking and once, and forever, in Tel'aran'rhiod taking him out of the pattern as he will no longer be needed to counterweigh the Dark One when he is finally sealed away forever.

My likely final scene guess consists of Perrin, Egwene, and the Wise One's bearing witness to the final victory of the Car'a'carn, giving his life to the light to throw down his eternal enemy (Ultimate Ji). What a dramatic exit.

Inasmuch as Mat is the Prince of Ravens, he will have quite a conflict of interest on his hands. I'm not sure his wife would look fondly upon him messing up her invasion plans.

It seems like the Black Tower has reached the tipping point where Logain's followers are hopelessly outnumbured by Ashamen taken by a circle of 13 myredrals, so if Logain becomes the M'hael, it will have to be with the help of the White Tower. It's going to be quite the fight (Everybody was kung fu fighting...)but I would imagine the naughty Ashamen will be squaring off with Logain's followers backed by a circle of sisters. That unidentifiable corpse seen in the dream is likely to be the former M'hael.

PS: I don't see Rand in this fight. When he confronted the trolloc army on the borderlands and crushed it, he said it almost precipitated an open battle with the Dark One. He expressed the belief he had to avoid this until the final battle, so I don't see him at the fight for the Black Tower.

You didn't think he made that big ole hammer just to thump trollocs did you?

1. The Crystal Throne: Distance is no longer an issue, the actual location of the throne is irrelevant to someone who can Travel. But how does this further the story?

2. The Lion Throne: Yawn, how does this further the story?

Prophecy in TWOT series is about forshadowing significant events, not being caught appropriating the queen's privy by sitting on her throne. Neither of the above is very significant unless Rand is destined to rule the Seanchean, and how many think that's in the cards?

Rand will sit on the Amerlin's throne. Among other things, the books are about how the Dark One divided men and women and how much was lost because of it. In all the time since the age of legends, the warder bond was the only progress made to heal that divide, that is, before the Dragon was reborn. There are hints that Rand will reunite the Aes Sedai, both men and women. The fact that circles are such a great advantage to the forces of the light is one such hint, as is the fact that Calendor can only be wielded by a man linked to two women. The failure of the peers in their first assualt of the bore was in part because they were disunited. Can this series be complete unless Rand both defeats the Dark One and undoes the damage he caused between men and women? Hell the whole book is about the conflicts between the sexes. When the stronger of the two sexes was eliminated, the Aes Sedai devolved into a self important bunch of schemers whose only method of sorting out their social status was who happened to be born stronger in the source. The Wise Ones underscore how far the Aes Sedai have fallen in this regard. Rand's role is to break all oaths and undo the wounds inflicted by the Dark One, and to stuggle against him in the final battle. Matt's is to general the army of the light, and Perrin's is to clear away the rubble and forge the new seals to lock away the Dark One forever.

It has to be the Amerlin's throne.