10 minutes ago, Sir_Charrid said:

I mean the seanchan are in the middle of a civil war after Semirhage massacres the royal family so they have lost control at home. 

That is certainly of note but setting aside pragmatism the philosophy of supporting the structure of a society over its individuals is an ethical model of value. I genuinely liked that each culture was well grounded in established philosophy's in our world and although the Seachan were very crass in many respects and their story line did not play out well I felt that their existence covered a model of thought no other culture in the books did. They were very unique from their hardline transactional nature to their structured cast system and the overall eastern leaning honor system.

Something I personally love in life is being exposed to new lines of thought and ways of living which I have only been able to expose myself to through traveling. Its just nice to see so many models of life represented in books as opposed to championing a single ideology and way of living to me. 

16 hours ago, Sir_Charrid said:

Robert Jordan would maybe have continued this thread, if not as story but in Q and A's and in essays and descriptions online. I doubt anyone will pick up this mantle and that is ok, it is fine to leave story threads open to our own interpretation and ideas in our heads. 

I just think about it in terms of their ideology. When the world was sliding towards its end the lands controlled by the Seanchan had maintained public order in spite of the evils done to individuals. It could be argued that less overall suffering occurred.

Maybe that interpretation is just in my head but as far as sociological structures I like that it was implemented in the books.

I might be misunderstanding Moridin. I thought he was killed in the end of the great hunt and brought back to life but then the hand stabbing reflected some tie between them which did not fit.

15 hours ago, Sabio said:

The end made sense, because the series is about free will,  A person can choose to be good or bad, if you have no choice in the matter if you are forced to be good then you are basiclly a slave. 

This is exactly my point. If the Dark One was evil itself this would make sense. To eliminate evil would be to eliminate the spectrum of good/evil and remove free will. But the Dark One was not evil itself and simply 'something evil.' Other kinds of evil exist so Rand coulda killed the Dark One without removing the existence of evil because of Fains story line. It does not make sense.

Then there is Rand lighting his pipe at the end. He can't channel but he simply wills a fire into existence. To me I see this as suggesting he is actually the creator. Maybe you can say he messed with the threads of reality and no longer weaves the source but instead can weave the pattern itself but that little paragraph has huge implications to the nature of what Rand is and how reality itself works within that world.

I also think a bit about what it means for the creation of evil in Shadar Logoth a good bit. Underlying evil must exist for some kinda game of houses to evolve into true evil and consume an entire city.

Maybe its as simple as to say the threads are called by the horn and not the actual names?

The inconsistency's about names don't seem to add up to any coherent pattern.

Physical appearance might be consistent though. Bridget's love was said to have the appearance of a brute every time he was spun into the pattern which is something.

I very much disliked how their story line did not resolve well but I did like how their society justified utilitarianism in the world. Evils were committed to individuals but they were justified by the structure of society overall limiting suffering. 

It stretches my mind a little bit but I feel like I remember words about the the dragon in previous ages. Lews Therin broke the world but I also wonder if the dragon pre-dates him. 

To the question Matts story is pertinent. After killing an evil greater than the dark one Artur Hawkwing had a conversation with Matt but I want to say he referred to him as the gambler or some such. Kinda makes me think that the referenced names are the lore people use to speak about the heroes of the horn while the thread itself is whats called. Rand and Lewis Therin could be seen as the current cycle of the threads of the dragon maybe?

Very interesting question imo..

Its been a few years but I did read the series twice and have a little going on in my mind. This is undoubtedly my favorite story but some things just do not add up.

A big part of it is Moridin. He is suppose to be Rand from another time line that became forsaken yet early in the series Rand lives all of his lives and directly claims he never gave into the dark one in any life. Sure that is minor but the physical tie between the two also does not make sense. If Rand could cut his hand hurting Moridin why didn't killing him in the great hunt also harm Rand?

Then there is the Shi Tan. A creature from outside of the pattern that is suppose to be evil incarnate. But Padan Fain combines 2 other kinds of evil suggesting Shi Tan is not evil itself but simply 'something evil.' Yet the ending has Rand recognizing that eliminating Shi Tan from existence would also remove evil from existence making everything morally hollow (in line with the philosophy that you can not have an up without down in terms of good and evil.) This bothered me simply because of how well thought out the entire world was and how poorly that ending fit. If the entire plot line of padan faign is removed its an excellent ending to the story but with it the end makes no sense especially if we consider the potential implications of Rand in the end.

So when Rand finally comes to understand himself at the near cost of reality itself his mere existence weighs on the pattern in opposition to Shi Tan. Trees grow apples and babys are born reflecting a 'balance' leaning back towards life. But what should we take from the end of the story where he is in Moridins body but cant channel.. ...yet he can light his pipe.. This hints that he may actually be the creator as a balance to the dark one which 100% balances the story with the exception of..................................

Life is short. I love this story and I hope you will help me understand the things I dont in this world.