Well, that was me boiling it down to basics. I could tell by the way he felt towards all the peasants loving and thanking him for what he did. I could tell from reading that is what his glory was. I was looking for something awesome. like him somehow beating Demandred or killing Taim or something else wonderful, but as soon as I saw him with the peasants, I knew it. *shrug*

From one of Egwene's dreams in ACoS:

  "Logain, laughing, stepped across something on the ground and mounted a black stone; when she looked down, she thought it was Rand's body he had stepped over, laid out on a funeral bier with his hands crossed at his breast, but when she touched his face, it broke apart like a paper puppet."

That is only the beginning. The world does go on, and this is a turning point in the direction of the Black Tower. Men who could channel have been feared for thousands of years. The BT, originally constructed to mass produce these terrifyingly efficient human weapons, did nothing to alter that perspective. Now the BT is entering a period where Asha'man learn to live up to their title, changing their primary function from weapon to guardian. Leading the BT into this new age, changing the 3000 year entrenched image of male channelers, should qualify as glory greater than any flashy battle victory would bring.

I agree with the general sentiment I'm seeing in the earlier posts in this thread. Reading about the War of Power, or even the Trolloc Wars (shattering the Compact of Ten Nations), the "Last Battle" seemed much more local and relatively tame. People who stayed behind in Tear, Illian, Tarabon, Arad Doman, etc., may not even have realized it was going on.

Suttree, thanks for citing sources...I guess that quashes this theory. And avernite, I like the adaptation you give it. Who knows what challenges the other ages face? Stepping outside of the pattern (which I think is a requirement for acquiring the pattern weaving powers necessary for a new Caretaker to take over) may be necessary in some other age for reasons other than dealing with the DO. For instance, whatever it is that makes the One Power disappear for a time (perhaps at the end of the 5th or 6th age), and whatever it is that makes the One Power return in the 1st age. So here's my new guess: Nakomi = Tamyrlin (the one who brings channeling the One Power back to the world in the 1st age, becoming Caretaker from that point until Rand takes over at the start of the 4th age). And yes, I know this is just crazy speculation off of zero evidence.

So trying to wrap my head around the Nakomi entity.

 

A theory of mine is that Nakomi is in essence the caretaker of the wheel/pattern. She has the knowledge of how the pattern is weaved and can be nudged to make certain events happen. Sorta like it is mentioned that the wheel weaves as the wheel wills. Well what if there was a person at the center of that weaving? How I got to this is that there are 7 ages/spokes in the wheel and we know at some point the DO will be released somehow. Thus the Dragon's soul is spun out and we start down the same path again. So let's say in the last spinning of the wheel we go though all the DO being released and the person who is Dragon at that time seals it back up again, as a reward for "winning" or fixing or bringing the pattern back into balance, that person now becomes the caretaker of the pattern in the waking world. 1 caretaker per spinning of the wheel.

 

So let's say Nakomi was the previous winning Dragon in the prior spinning, she is now caretaker. Now as the spinning continues, the same events happen again, DO is released in some fashion, and now it is up to Rand in this spinning to put it back into balance, he does and the final job the prior caretaker has is to transtion her role to the new Dragon(Rand) so that he may now be the caretaker. Thus why both Nakomi and Rand appear to have the same thread/weaving ability within the pattern.

 

My guess is that once Nakomi did her job of making sure Rand survived/transtioned to new role in the end, she will then disappear and now it will be Rands job to be the caretaker, up through the next spinning of the wheel, when this will all happen again. Rands role will then be to help the next Dragon transtion to their role as caretaker, etc, etc, etc.

 

Ramblings of a long time WOT reader.

This is exactly the conclusion I came to about Nakomi. The One Power is comprised of saidin and saidar, so it seems plausible that there is both a male and a female Champion of the Light. Seven ages ago it was saidar that was tainted (then cleansed), and Nakomi was the one to save the world. These two souls alternate every seven ages between the more active role of World Savior (being born and dying, channeling saidin or saidar, being tested and making sacrifices), and the more passive role of Caretaker (living and wandering through all seven ages, weaving the pattern, and ensuring the DO cannot attain ultimate victory).