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.

I seem to recall Hawkwing directly disputing this, in tGH or AMoL, where he specifically states, or otherwise implies that, Heroes don't fight for the shadow. I believe the idea that agents of shadow blowing the horn and calling forth Heroes comes from ''unreliable sources'. Shadow agents can withhold the Horn from the Light's forces, preventing the Light from summoning Heroes.

This is how I comprehend what Fain becomes at the end of the series. For me, Fain becomes an 'Ancient Evil' that gets an upgrade without losing his 'Achilles Heel' weak spot. Very good that Mat was around to save the day, considering the loss of Shadar Logoth after the cleansing.

Perhaps the misunderstanding is mine. Your perspective makes sense. I don't like it but your view appears solid given what we've been told. For me, the DO is akin to a sentient form of Entropy. Trying every time is inevitable. Like death and taxes. To try is it's nature. Other than this, I can't think of a good counter to your perspective. Maybe this... I think the Wheel is a re-active mechanism. Not pro-active. To be pro-active, the Wheel would need to 'know' more, which would negate being 'fuzzy'. And the Wheel being 'fuzzy' is important as 'fuzzy' gets you things like Muppets and Free Will and 2nd chances. 'Fuzzy' is alot less certainty, certainly. Enter the Ta'veren. The Wheel's fix-all solution for every unknown problem and/or difficulty. Can come in multiples. Multiples can interact to increase the Ta'veren effect. The effect being to focus the Pattern around the Ta'veren and cause the improbable to become more certain than commonplace events. I don't think the focus is on balance, per se. I think balance is maintained due to an underlying law or rule similar to our 'Law of Conservation". The Ta'veren effect is mostly passive. However, the person who becomes Ta'veren can learn to control the effect. And herein lies the danger to the Pattern. With free will and control of the Ta'veren ability, the Ta'veren person can 'force' the Pattern' Forced to do what they want and/or need. But also force the Pattern into a critically vulnerable state, should they so choose. This is why I think the Wheel doesn't let any Shadow operatives have the Ta'veren ability. It's potentially too dangerous for the Wheel. Someone on the Shadow side, with intellect and a focused will, could bring it all down before the Wheel had time to react. With a quick trip to Finnland, they could find out why they're Ta'veren and thereby circumvent the mechanism that would potentially remove the Ta'veren ability, assuming the Pattern would be using them to steer events. And assuming one could side-srep a Ta'veren-level event and still retain the Ta'veren ability. Mat's first? conversation with the Finn's implies the former is possible. As for the latter, I'm thinking of the pattern topographically and topographical changes need to be 'smooth' for the Maths to play nice. Sudden or abrupt changes can lead to anomalies or discontinuities in the Maths. Based on this perspective, I submit that the change in a person's life thread, from being Ta'veren to not isn't instantaneous. Which suggests an event occurs to set the change in motion. So it seems reasonable that one could side-step the event and retain the ability. Wow! I dug deep for this. But there may be a much simpler explanation, at least regarding why Mr. Fain isn't. Of the people, mostly or entirely Forsaken, who could track Ta'veren, none ever confused Fain for al'Thor. Or vice-versa. Nor for Cauthon and Aybara. That I can recall at any rate.

I thought BS did a fine job too and I still think this...but that wasn't always the case for me. When I first read tGS, I was of a much different opinion. I can't point to specifics, other than Matrim, but everything felt...off. I wasn't able to get 'sucked in' to the story as I did with previous books in the series. At least no where near as easily. By 'sucked in', I mean that thing that happens between a reader and a story. The point where the world ceases to exist, where the reader ceases to exist except as a consciousness, and there is only "The Story". It took a,while for tGS to give me the kind of reading experience I had gotten used to with RJ's prose. That reading experience, or change in or to, led to a lot of negativity about the last 3 books and BS. For ToM and AMoL, my reading experience improved, the 'disconnects' in my reading experience lessened, as well my negativity towards BS and his version of RJ's prose. I finished AMoL in my reading 'happy place'. In other words I was satisfied with WoT. The ending and conclusion of the series [as much as things can end for the WoT 😂] worked for me. It wasn't perfect, but it was satisfying. It was enough. Afterwards, I took a really long break from WoT. Over a decade. When I finally returned, I didn't notice the change in author when I got to the final 3. And I was looking too, at the cost of my reading experience. I quickly gave up and learned to 'just give in' again. Doing so allowed the end to work for me, but this time even more so. Something else happened too. Somewhat nrelated to the BS final 3. The characters and parts of the series I had 'disliked', shall we say? Those parts of the series transformed into a form of comic relief and the characters were welcomed as if old friends returning from a long absence, flaws and all. I don't hate on BS like many do here. However, I must confess that I've never read anything else written by BS tho. And don't figure I'll ever be inclined to do so. I'm curious as to why but not enough to really find out. That's my BS story. What's yours?

Cool idea but I feel that you seem to be missing the point of or misunderstanding the meaning of... Ta'veren. Who creates Ta'veren? The Pattern. Moreso, the Wheel directs the Pattern to weave a Ta'veren into reality. So Ta'veren are selected by the Fuzzy Logic mechanism that powers/runs all of creation. Why? Simply as a correction mechanism to restore balance to the Pattern. Evil in this context would work against, not for, balance restoration. To me this implies Ta'veren can't be evil. Had Rand been Turned or otherwise chosen the Shadow, I feel he would have lost being Ta'veren. Same for Mat and Perrin.

Based on Rand slowly opening tied-off shields while contorted like a Bavarian pretzel, and how every use of the OP is described as a 'weave'...I envisioned tied-off weaves as hella-complicated knots where the threads in the knot somehow had the ability to slowly untie themselves. The more complex the knot, the longer this would take.

I whole-heartedly agree that this would have been hilarious.

I remember some info tossed out by Team Jordan, stating Seanchan Ogier never suffered from 'The Longing' because their Stedding were more numerous. I don't think this info came directly from the books, probably notes. I also believe none were ever lost to them, possibly none were ever abandoned...that's pure guess-timation tho. I think the Suldam and damane freaked, due to the sudden and unexplained loss of access to the OP, and the loss of the OP link between them. I would wager neither of them had ever encountered a Stedding before. I would also wager entering a Seanchan Stedding isn't part of the Imperial training regime.

They did 'interact', but it was off-screen.

IIRC, when Rand gets the portal stone to work correctly, and the troupe finally 'flickers' to Toman Head, there are a few exclamations. From Perrin "We really don't have much choice, do we?" and Mat "Rand, I swear! I will never try to leave you." Or something along those lines. This implies that, for the super-boys at least, they experienced those other lives in some fashion. Most likely a similar experience to the AS Accepted test. Imo anywho. I don't recall anyone else in the troupe making any exclamations about the prolonged teleport. But, had everyone had a similar experience, that might go a long way towards explaining Masemma (sp?).