Samm had to die, Rand needed Illian and Samm wasn't the type to give up somehting he owned.  So one had to go.

I say it was a waste to have Aran'gar die such a pointless death.  With Semi dead she should of been sent to Seanchean to take over the rebel forces there and bring them to the LB.  Always thought it would of given the LB more of a OMG we might lose feel if two Seanchean armies had to fight each other.  Also would of gotten rid of the pointless Tuon leaves to save her, but she will come back later.  Seems like a dumb plan at the LB to send away the biggest army to simply try and save Tuon as you are supposedly barely hanging on.

I think one area Rand could of done differently was after Bashere showed up, Rand could of went to the Borderlands and quickly of gotten them on his side.  The slapping and saying who the lady was didn't need to happen at the first meeting, but still could of happened right before the LB to see if Rand was ready.  But had Rand of gone up right away it would if saved the whle Borderlander army roaming about the land.

One big issue is had he went to Rhuidean before Tear the aiel probably would of killed him.  Not to mention running about blindly in the waste trying to find Rhuidean.  His meeting the Aiel in Tear is what gave Rand the idea he needed to go Rhuidean.  Has he of just went to Rhuidean the Aiel would of seen him as just another wetlander in a place he shouldn't be.  His taking Tear and the sword is what made the Aiel sort of follow him.  Not to mention Mat would of been screwed because he would never of entered the door in Tear to know he needed to go to Rhuidean.  Without Tear, Rand would of had no idea he had to go to the waste.

Also Rand never would of exposed the secret at Alcair Dal, it was Couladin claiming to be the man that forced Rand to publicly say what he saw and break the Aiel.  Had it just of been Rand, there would of been no need for him to publicly say what he saw.

I like the idea, and there probably areas in the book that things could of been done differently.  But Rand going to Tear first was just too key.

I would say Taveren do not get what they want, but get what they need.

Other thing we see with channeling, is people accepting limitations.  Aes Sedai are very set in their ways, novices etc are taught this is the way things are done.  The BWB even states the Yellow Ajah doesn't believe there is any better ways to heal.  So they don't try.  There is no urge to expand on what they know or experiment.  Since experimenting can burn you out, why accept the risk?  You see the newer channelers Nyn, ashaman, etc are the ones learning new things.  Where the newer channelers have the sky is the limit/there has to be a better way sort of attitude. 

Darkhounds at least were wolf soul.  The companion says a 100 wolves could die trying to kill one darkhound, if they failed, the darkhound could eat the souls of those that were not quite dead and create more darkhounds.    My guess is some of the souls were DF's who failed or disappointed Ishy so that's their reward for following the DO.  Maybe that's the true fate of all DF's.  I remember RAND in AMOL worrying that Trollocs and such were souls that had been twisted and were doomed to forever be Trolloc (or something like that)

I like you idea about Sylvie, Mes would of made a lot more sense being in the WT.  But sadly RJ pretty much ignored mes for a lot of the series.

Right I just read this under Lanfear in the companion :  "Posing as Silvie, she attempted to bamboozle Egwene in the World of Dreams."  Mes to me would of made more sense, but it was simply more of Lanfear playing her own games.

Also don't forget Lanfear by this time had already been in the tower in disguise.  But more importantly in the companion it says "She considered Tel'aran'rhoid her personal property.

Since Lanfear at this point was the only female forsaken we see active, there is no reason to suspect anyone else.

The reason so few new things had been discovered in Rand's age was few Aes Sedai were willing to risk themselves trying out new things.  Nyn after healing Logain was told how dangerous experimenting was.   So there wasn't a lot of incentive for an Aes Sedai to risk themselves trying to discover something new.  

Well we know Graendal would pose as an old women, since that was her disguise in her keep.  But 99.99999% sure it was Lanfear.. 

The companion says the Broken Crown is "The crown of the ruler of Saldaea".

The thing to rememebr about the forsaken is they were still people.  Selfish and self serving, but the big thing is you see them buy into their own hype that they are god like beings far superior to everyone else.  They view everyone else as beneath them, so you see them sort of discount everyone else.  Grendeal in book 5 I believe said it herself, if everyone is human then a new word would be needed to describe the forsaken.  They had a lot of knowledge about channeling, but that's about it.  Like everyone else they had their strengths and weaknesses. but most of all you see them buy into the hype that they were somehow superior beings.

Yes, sadly will never be an answer and we just have to accept it.  Just seems like a lot of Trollocs to hide especially when the Aiel should of been on guard for them after encountering the massacre.  Trollocs can move fast, but still seems like a lot for avoiding any notice.

Only time I can think of portal stones being used to bring in shadowspawn is later in the series when they attacked Perin and the whitecloaks.  Would be interesting to know how many Asmo could bring in at a time, we saw Rand at his limit going to Rhudiean,

Samm sent some, and it was explained who sent the others to stop Samm's.  But I forgot which forsaken did it.  I remember Lan saying something about grain barges and a noble with wagons returning from the countryside.  He said something about no one bothering to ask why fully loaded grain barges were coming down the river.

Lanfear if I remember right said Asmo was behind the trollocs to distract Rand.  We know Lanfear knows how to use portal stones and sure Asmo could.  You have to remember he would of had plenty of time, during the travels since he started spending alot of time with the Shaido, so who can say how long he was actually over there.  Plus at night etc.  or who can say if he was there each day, since if no one saw him it would be assumed he was in the wagons.  What gets me is if they were portaled stone over that  there were attacks at three separate locations, and unlikely a portal stone would be near each place.  So that still alot of shadow spawn that is roaming about unnoticed.  That always seemed odd to me.

One thing that always got me is where did the shadowpsawn in book 4 come from.  We know they can't use a gateway and it's unlikely they came that far down from the blight undetected.  So I assume the ways or portal stones.  We know there were at least two portal stones in the waste, but was never explained where the second one was.  Problem with the ways is never heard there use to be a stedding around there.  It just bothered me because both times they attacked Rand it happened fast, which means they weren't just lingering nearby or else scouts would of seen them waiting till nightfall.  We know Asmo had a hand in it, but the how he got them there has always left me wondering.  So how did he get them there and how did he keep that many hidden?  Since they attacked in three spots, so they would of had to of followed Rand without being seen or placed in certain areas.

The Aes Sedai were as I say caught in a time warp.  There never tried to adapt or change, as you saw when novices were brought in, they were quickly made to adapt to the WT.  The Aes Sedai were big into, this is the way it's always been done mentality.  If you tried to experiment with weaves, you were punished.   I see each ajah as a politcal party, each with their own idea of what was best.  Hence all the infighting, also you have to remember some of that infighting was probably BA made through out the years.  They had a power that set them apart from everyone else, so it was sort of natural many would have sort of a superior attitude, especially the Reds.

I agree that I like the wide variety on rulership styles in the series.  The one thing I have noticed is you don't see many if any of mixed gender styles.  There doesn't seem to be a group of men and women together, unless you count Tarabon.  It seems all the council of nine is men, there is a womens council and a group of men in Two Rivers.  Where one group of men and women seems like it would be more efficient. There doesn't seem to be a lot groups where men and women are ruling together.  I only added the whitecloaks since they seem to be a male only group that is the actual power of a nation.  I forgot we could count the sea folk where it seems the women hold power.

But that has to be my biggest gripe is the childish way the sexes (At least the wonder girls) seem to view each other throughout the  series.

There is some level of gender equality for the most part i guess, at least when it comes to them interacting day to day or having roughly the same career opportunities maybe, but you cant say that the world isnt matriarchal on the whole. And the villiage council and the womens circle is the prime example of that. the villiage counsil, made up of men, is described as having little to no actual power, and that the womens circle just lets them believe that they have a say in things. its the womens circle you go to when youre in trouble. 

 

There are more powerful women then there are powerful men, with Aes Sedai being all women, and the amerlyn being essentially the most powerful person on the planet. And even beyond channeling, women are more often than not more highly ranked than men: the wise ones among the aeil dont answer to clan chiefs, and are above blood fueds, and although all women who can channel are forced into the wise ones, thats not a requirement, and many who cant channel have more authority than those that can. also among the aeil men arent even allowed to own property. and the one societal advantage that men would usually have over women, being able to fight or be soldiers, is shared with women among the aeil. not to mention the "men dont have a say in the polygamal marriage" thing. In the Sea Folk,only women can have the most important positions, with the highest male position being not very important from what i could pick up. the master of blades didnt seem to be in charge of much besides trade, and even then he could probably be overridden in trade by the mistress of ships. The Seanchan are ruled by their Empress, who rules absolutely. The countries where youd think men would be the most dominant would be the borderlands, where their lives are based on constant war, and unlike with the aeil, the women dont fight. and even there the men lots of times defer to women, and women are supposed to be fierce and strong and saldea at least is ruled by a queen, although im not sure if thats a set thing like in Andor. 

 

definitely most if not all societies lean toward women being in charge. i was just saying there was a definite reason for that. jack said was it even rational for the men to be put down because of the breaking, and i used the real world as an example that people can be made less in society for much less rational reasons then for all intents and purposes ending the world. or that cultural attitudes dont need a rational basis.

Andor is only nation I can think of where rulership is for only women, and secretly Shara where the women who can channel secretly run things.  Seanchan hasn't had a king in awhile, but nothing set in stone preventing it. 

Children of Light seem men only.  Tarabon has a King and Panarch and sounds as if Illian and Amadica always have kings.  Not sure if a lady can help rule Tear or not.

Umm this isn't about the real world.  Rj pretty much had gender equality for most things In the book.  Though not sure many of his governments would function well. like a women's circle and village council.  Seems to me it would be like a city having two city councils. 

it's about Nyn/Elayne/Egwene seeming having the opinion that men are dumb and if the wonder girls aren't in charge then everything will be wrong or messed up.  They mostly take the bully approach to things. But there is a strong tone in the series, even with the aiel, that women meddle and men mess everything up.

 

Just the whole how Nyn/Elayne/Egwene view/treat men throughout the series but especially first six books.  Mat, Thom, etc.. help them out and always seem to get treated like dirt. 

Likewise with how Mat, Thom etc. see the women as basically children unable to hold their own (even though they can all channel) and don't trust their judgment.

 

Mat seems to not realize channelers can take out fighters who are much stronger than them, but unable to channel. He believes Aviendha and Birgitte can hold their own because they can also fight in the "proper" way, but constantly seems to forget the other women can channel.

 

Exactly, that's one thing I wish RJ would of done differently was the whole man/woman interaction and behavior towards the other.  Also another curious behavior the main characters seem to have.  All the men have to be forced/reluctantly take command where all the women have the attitude they should be in charge.

Mat is the exact opposite of the Aes Sedai/wonder girls behavior.  Where they constantly have to learn the hard way that channeling won't protect them from everything.  Mat hates the power so much he has to grudgingly admit it's useful.  But when the fighting happens, the general in him does immedietly know the advantage of having channelers.  He sees the advantage it has in a war, but like many he sort of has the attitude that facing an opponent with a sword etc.. is sort of honorable, where just blasting someone from a distance is cowardly.  But when it comes to war, he uses anything he can.

Just the whole how Nyn/Elayne/Egwene view/treat men throughout the series but especially first six books.  Mat, Thom, etc.. help them out and always seem to get treated like dirt. 

This sadly will be one of those we will never know for sure since BS says he doesn't know.  My guess is it's a side effect from his battle with the DO where he stepped outside of time.  Since he didn't seem surprised it happened it might just of been something he learned how to do when creating the realties during the fight.

Yes, anyone killed with Balefire will comeback.  The DO can't bring you back because he can't locate the soul, since you actually died before you died.  To bring someone back he has to know when you died.  But with balefire he has no idea if an hour of what you did is gone, five minutes etc.   So as the DO said he would need to step outside of time to get the soul.  Basically what you did in that life is damaged but your soul is still out there to be reborn one day since you aren't removed from the pattern.  My guess this is sort of a failsafe device so no one can try to balefire everyone out of existence. 

I found this example in another topic on balefire:

But they aren't removed from the pattern, their thread merely burns backwards a bit. Think about touching a shoe string with a lighter. Balefire is not the final death...their soul will still be reborn.

No, balefire doesn't stop you from being reborn.  I orginally thought it did, but turns out your soul isn't destroyed.

I think it mostly comes down to the forsaken aren't really great for sharing information with each other, and IShy was pretty insane by then.

My main issue is why would the creator take a hand in preserving the Aiel?  Seems rather unlike the creator to get involved like that for a group and to take such an open act. 

Any forsaken or BA can be ruled out, since again why would they care?  They would of been morel ikely to simply kill or capture Avi.

I still think there is a Jenn angle to this.