Didn't some of the Maidens offer emotional support, albeit in the Aiel manner, as the son of a Maiden finally returned to them? I seem to vaguely recall several examples. I don't think any/most of the examples provided Rand any comfort, but I sincerely believe they were meant to.

From where are you basing this wild claim, that I believe is patently false. I'll give you that the SuperBoys/Girls are naive and immature, but they are far from uneducated. Evidence? They can READ! Mostly everyone can read. Remember how quickly books sell out for peddler's? And how they're highly valued in the Waste? How did all these poor farmers and peasants learn to read? Everyone is informally schooled during childhood. Taught to both read, and write [how one learns to read me thinks], and basic maths. A lot of these 'louts' are shrewd business people, able to haggle and make very good deals for their goods & services. That's rather difficult to accomplish without some education. Not to mention we have examples of Olver being taught. Mat is a good example of someone who didn't apply themselves in their studies. Apologies. I'm not trying to single you out but your comment 'killed the goat' for me about the misconception of education in the WoT. Please forgive my overwhelming passions.

Hmm. Taking RJ's description, the Wheel acts like a fuzzy logic machine when weaving the Pattern. In this respect, it can't 'know' too much about the future or it would stop being 'fuzzy'. So the Wheel can't set everything in stone. Ergo, there are choices to be made. Ergo, Free Will. On the flip-side...say the,Wheel can know enough to fix everyone's path. Since the loop is infinite, all possible possibilities will still play out. Isn't that a kind of free will too? Perhaps the only true choice we can make is how we 'Feel' about things?

As far as the unexplained crop growth around Ramd...strange that no one considered that he was just Singing [as in the Song of Growing].). He freely admits to as much when he goes to visit Mat and Tuon in Ebou Dar. As far as the other events prior to TG, Ta'veren twisting is most likely.

'Twere explained that extreme over-stressing of the Bowl affected the area around Ebou Dar AND along (six?) 'spokes' that radiated outward from the hilltop and was what made both halves of the OP strange. Shadar Logoth isn't [wasn't] near Ebou Dar or close enough to one of the radiated spokes to have OP use there affected. The Windfinders for sure knew what they were doing, as much as they could though. It's explained, either in story or via Team Jordan, that the Sea Folk had the BotW at the time of the Breaking. They used it to calm the seas so they could survive on the water/islands. They were in possession of the BotW and used such up until 1000 years before current story time, when the Bowl was lost. That's what I recall anyhow.

Thanks for sharing this with us. I enjoyed it, and was sad when it ended as I wanted the story to continue. I was confused in the beginning, as I wasn't certain if you were referring to after the Breaking or after TG. Only detractors worth mentioning are the lack of collective wisdom among your WOs. They should have known you can't continue to commit violent acts and adhere to the Way of the Leaf, not without consequences. And that your 3rd Age Aiel were founded by agents of the Shadow. That do no sit well with this WoT fan. I also thought your Aiel gave up, or fell, much too quickly. Where were all the WOs?

Actually, I don't know about Egalitarianian, but I think it was much a much more Enlightened period than most are giving them credit for. Most especially among the 2nd Age Aiel. What's got me thinking this way are a few things. The Way of the Leaf philosophy, Brandon' disclosure of Nakomi's backstory, the servitude nature of the Aiel and their "true purpose', and the significance of earning a 'third name' through acts of service in the 2nd Age. All these things seem to me to point towards a much different society than most are envisioning. A society where the Channelers, occupy positions of Power, are the ruling class, and live seemingly forever. But they are the 'excluded ones'. For some unknown reason, the ability to Channel precludes one from following the Way of the Leaf. I think this is significant when combined with the emphasis of earning a third name through service. It leads me to believe the 2nd Age Aiel were the actual 'Elite or Upper Class' of the period, just in a way that's so different from most of Today's societies that it's hard to imagine or describe. I'll do my best tho... A subset of people who practice no violence, are in no way materialistic, and only want to be helpful to those around them. I have always seen so many elements of Daoism, at least as I understand the philosophy, in the 2nd Age Aiel. Their joy and excitement in being able to join in Singing speaks to a deep connection to Nature, and I would think a deep understanding of Self. A highly Enlightened group of individuals who live only to serve the Wheel. To me, Channelers of the 2nd Age were trying to emulate the Aiel as best they could. But having access to the OP somehow caused the Channelers to always adopt a self-serving lifestyle to some extent. Maybe access to the OP corrupted them in the way that power always does? Even with access to the OP, they are still only human. Thoughts?

You're reading waaay too much into what I typed as it pertains to the real world, Pity. I thought you were putting forth a 'misguided' critique of the assumptions that underpin the 'Scientific Method'. It's ok. I've got one in a pocket somewhere. There's 7 or 12 assumptions, iirc. Good luck finding them though. We discussed them in school only once, and briefly at that. Last time I searched the 'net for them, I couldn't dig them up.If I'm confusing anyone, an example of one assumption is: complex things can be broken up into smaller components that can be understood. [Baseball, molecules, atoms, quantum stuffs]. Discover something that challenges those assumptions and you're far from celebrated. You're publicly discredited and ostracized. Which is informative but somewhat off-topic. More to the OP's point...RJ was known as a planner. So @SinisterDeath could very well be correct in their assumptions and RJ has those 2 Epic OP use endpoints mapped-out at least as early as tEotW. Here's my speculative contribution. What's reality made from? The difference between the two halves of the OP is what drives the WoT, not the actual OP. And the Wheel creates creation [reality], but out of what? What's the underlying fabric of the Pattern? Why was the OP strange in the vicinity of Ebou Dar? From the Bowl of the Winds being severely over-stressed, sure, but why would that make the OP strange? Perhaps the OP is part of the fabric of reality? Or just maybe the One Power IS the fabric of reality?

Some of the best lies are constructed around truths. However, I see your point. If the LC is also Ta'veren, then the Pattern might prevent them from joining the Shadow. As for Hawkwing's statement on opposing LTT on the field of combat, I always read that as if Hawking were speaking as the Heroes' commander, not so much as a personal comment on Hawkwing' past lives. Again, context of the conversation was my reasoning. I could always be mistaken. My perspective seems more dramatic, and should probably be more suspect because of it. And yes, I believed Ishmael. To me, he was the type of villian who made more use of truths than lies. I admit I could be way off-base in my assessment. Did he ever actually, flat-out, lie to Rand? I honestly don't remember.

Memories. 😊

This so sounds like a 'SyFy' channel movie.

Thanks Heavy. I'll just toss this out there.. Denser concentrations of Stedding in Seanchan explains how the Gardeners skipped the Longing pretty effectively. Zero Steddings in Seanchan with a sizable Ogier population leads to many more questions. I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree at this point @wotfan4472

The Wheel turns forever, but the Pattern doesn't have an infinite number of variations. At least one outcome has been removed from the infinite set of possibilities [the outcome(s) where the DO wins. I would think editing the set of possible possibilities for the Pattern would have consequences...or meaning. Wildly extrapolating, I feel that one consequence is that there is no rest for the Light's Champion. Whenever this particular Soul is spun out, they and the DO will be throwing down in some fashion. And sometimes the LC makes poor decisions which sometimes lead to the LC serving the Shadow. I believe this is how AH recalls fighting against LTT. Context of their conversation is why.

The Stedding were not unique to Randland, only the Longing. The wiki states that Stedding in Seanchan were more numerous, making them easier to find both during and after the Breaking. This is why Seanchan Ogier do not suffer from the Longing.

I never thought too deeply on the whole 'Turning' process. One channeller, directing their flows through a Fade and into the victim, x13. 13 evil wills vs one not. After so many hours, victim's will breaks down and is forcibly made a Shadow disciple. Now I'm wondering if this imagining is a little too simplistic. Channelling Spirit through the Fade could attune the threads to something the DO might easily interact with. Then the victim goes on a head-trip. Something like a cross between the AS vacation rings and what Rand goes through battling the DO, where the victim chooses 'un-wisely', and somehow either loses their ability to choose between Light and Shadow? Or maybe loses their ability to distinguish between the two? Had RJ finished the series, I feel we would have been clued in to Logain's struggles in this regard.