*shrugs*.

I've got to disagree.

It sounds to me like a red herring made something clumsy because AMOL was divided in three books in a non-linear fashion.

It's the one thing in the book I think Brandon really mishandled. By focussing so much on Rand, and bringing him to from act 1 to almost the end of act 2, information that would otherwise have been quite scattered in a long book packed with details and subplots got somewhat placed like beads on a string and thus became a little too obvious.

It starts at the beginning. Rand makes comment about Justice and the oddness that he got that sword now. It's not been made for him, but it feels like it's been. That's a trademark thinly veiled case of "the pattern provided what Rand needs, and Rand felt that". Ta'veren at work. It was obviously found under the the only pond in the abandonned stedding west of Caemlyn, right beneath the hand of Hakwing's statue in which Perrin/Egwene sheltered in EOTW (and mentionned Justice then, ironically).

Then, Brandon insisted a little too much on the fact Rand has told no one the sword is Justice and specified "not even Min". Weirdly, he had no good reason to hide this information, again it's as if he was pulled by the Wheel to hide this.

We also learn Callandor is somewhere else, being studied. Ta'veren again? Probably... Rand may have just lost the sword he could mistake for the one mentionned in the prophecy... which could be a fatal mistake for the world.

As we also get from LTT/Rand the (confirmation of the) explanation that LTT's biggest mistake, the fatal flaw in his plan (and Latra's as well) was to channel against Shai'tan at the Pit of Doom, that the effects of OP/TP interactions are unpredictable, and this is what opened an opportunity for the Tainting of saidin. We know even more than this from RJ himself, for instance that if the women participated too, both halves would have been tainted. In short, channelling the OP against Shai'tan is a no-go. As for the TP, it is Shai'tan, and is channelled with his permission only. For certain, Shai'tan is never gonna let Rand use the TP against him at SG...

Late in the book, Rand commented that he felt LTT knew things about Justice he wasn't telling him. So there are secrets about that sword, and it seems it may be OP related. It sounds like it might be a ter'angreal, or have other special characteristics of some kind.

Not long after, when Rand is all too conveniently not around and somewhat estranged from Min, Min and Cadsuane introduced the "sword of light & three shall be one" prophecy. That's plain as the nose in the middle of a face at first that this refers to Callandor, Rand and two women linked. Our brains were already trying to puzzle out which two Rand will choose. But it's too obvious. If Callandor was the solution, as Cadsuane thinks (we understand why she really researched Callandor for, now), it was way too early to reveal this. It's also extremely odd to choose to discuss this in a scene where Rand isn't there, because if the women are right, then we got a big bit of info and Min/Cadsuane will have to repeat all this to Rand later, and that's the scene you'd want to have "on-screen", not Min-Cadsuane getting almost there.

Nah... this stinks of a red herring, one RJ planned rather well over many books, but that the book split disserved. The real purpose of the scene was to introduce the prophecy, not getting anywhere close to puzzling it out. As he often did, RJ rather planned to leave us some time to puzzle it out ourselves before hee will have the characters do it.

There are three "big secrets" Rand has kept to himself, and the two women trying to puzzle out the prophecy don't know (while Rand doesn't know of this prophecy...):

- His new sword is of a lot more significance than they know, and there are even secrets about it LTT knows about. There's even a hint that while Rand didn't recognize the sword from LTT's memories he could have - otherwise there was no point in implying LTT could recognize this sword, but it's not how Rand recognized it but from his own memories of Falme. There's also the mystery of the scabbard. How come Hawkwing got a scabbard with LTT's dragon on it? I think there are things about the history of that sword we don't yet know about. Whose was it before Hawkwing got it, for instance? Was it LTT's own?

- Rand is hiding from everyone that he's mysteriously linked to Perrin's and Mat's minds.

- You can't channel at the Pit of Doom. Rand knows this, and knows this solution isn't viable. Min and Cadsuane don't know this.

The Min/Cadsuane scene merely sets up the scene with Rand and Min, where Rand is gonna reveal to her he has a very good idea which sword is meant, and which three shall become one. I think once Min understands this prophecy as Rand explains his own theory, she will suddenly have an "eureka" moment. I get the feeling understanding this prophecy will shed light on a lot of stuff from Herid Fel she has not managed to bring together as a whole for now.

Cadsuane will aso lose her last leverage on Rand. She thinks he needs Callandor back from her, that she might reveal this to him as a last resort. She will be disappointed (though there might actually be a reconciliation of some sort between Rand and her, some "I will keep you around because I need everyone who will fight at my side in TG, not because I need Callandor from you".)

This explanation makes more sense to me giving the timing of the revelation of the prophecy. If the sword is Callandor, it's terribly revealing at this juncture. If it's Justice, it's a massive puzzle. Why would Rand need Justice at the Pit? That makes a fitting mystery for the later part of the second act of AMOL (a few chapters away from there). If we look at the timing, this revelation must come around a crucial moment for Mat and Perrin too, not only Rand and Egwene, and it makes additional sense to begin to hint at the final purpose of the "colour swirls", a few chapters away from the reunion of the three ta'veren. A few chapters after the Min-Cadsuane scene, the colour swirls will probably increase in importance and perhaps urgency (if Mat for instance is in mortal danger at the ToG, Perrin and Rand might sense it... the Wheel may also work hard after Rand's epiphany to finally bring the three ta'veren together in a sudden rush (Perrin notably will go from that camp in Ghealdan where he's been for a long time to the reunion in the space of a few chapters... it sounds like an urgent signal to regroup is forecoming...), to make them sense the urgency of reuniting as TG begins for real. Right before each of their storyarcs (Rand, Perrin, Mat) reach their pre-TG climax (for Rand it was DM, for Perrin and Mat we will see at the beginning of the last act of TOM) also seem a very fitting place to introduce the confirmation of the fact Perrin and Mat are even more important then we believed, and "the three shall be one" at SG at the end.