I always get the feeling that the DO never intended to be free. That he exists to destroy the world so it can be remade, and his role is to cause humans to fall to their baser instincts sovthat destruction occurs. . And that the promises made to Darkfriends are all lies to entice them to destroying everything so it can all start over. It's an endless cycle of creation and destruction.

Thry did. They started as little better than cave men after the breaking.....then a lot of research was destroyed during the Trolloc Wars and the War of the hundred Years. I would say going from cave men level to Renaissance in only 3200 years in those conditions is quite good. Imagine how advanced they'd be if they hadn't been set back by two devastating global wars.

Sanderson felt that he should have died but RJ wanted him to life and left clear notes. Sanderson followed any instruction on character arcs when available. It's sorta like Aragon in LOTR. He served his purpose and a glorious death would br fitting but the author had b in world plans for after. RJ had been planning sequel books including for Lan and Nynaeve so the notes he left were aiming towards that and Sanderson followed the notes.

The Dark One was bound by the creator. The Forsaken were bound by the Dragon. At the time the 7 seals were set by the Dragon and the Hundred Companions, the 13 Forsaken were at the pit of doom meeting with the Dark one. The seals caused the forsaken to be locked between the physical world and the Dark one's prison.

My main gripe is about Mat's characterization and Fain's ending. Both were failures. Sanderson has admitted he didn't write Matt very well but was too busy with other aspects of the story to realize it at the time. And Fain's end was a complete joke with how he was built up to epic stature throughout the series. I actually had a theory years ago that Fain was being built up to serve as the living vessel of the DO. That the DO needed a body to fully enter the world, that that everything Fain went through was preparing him to die so that the DO could take his body.

It would have simplified things if Rand had confronted Masema and named him a false prophet. Maybe Rand executes him for the murders he committed in the Dragon's name but pardons his followers and adds them to his personal army along with the Aiel and Tearans.

Fades were not created at all. They were accidents. They are Trolloc offspring who are throwbacks to the humans used to originally create trolleys. Animal throwbacks exist as well but either are stillborn, die shortly after birth or are killed and eaten if they don't die on their own. Fades look human but in reality are so corrupted by the true power that they are more than mere shadows pawn. They are linked directly to the DO which is why he uses one of them as his voice to communicate with his followers without needing them to come to the Pit of Doon. Their link to the DO is where they get all of their power.