The idea that the blood on the rocks is actually the blood of the Aiel, or Luc, or Galad, or Perival Mantear, is a common suggestion of noobs. Well, not Perival usually, I admit. But I have always argued against it mostly because I think it would be cheap and lame for Rand to get off so easy. He's the one that is supposed to make the sacrifice to save the world.

But now that I am thinking he will die elsewhere - according to RJ, Shayol Ghul is absolutely the worst possible place that Rand could die, as the Dark One has easier access to souls at Shayol Ghul - then the idea of the blood on the rocks being a red herring is implicit already.

I'm not entirely sure it won't be Rand's blood after all, but I'm not so inclined to believe that it must be Rand's blood any more. I do like the idea of the Aiel and the Tinkers and the Ogier seed-singing the Patter shut, though I'm not sold on it yet. But it's one possibility for what could happen, and in that case, Rand is only really necessary to teach them the songs, right? Maybe to shield them from the Dark One's touch. In that way, it would be a return to the First Covenant. It even makes me wonder if Someshta is a Hero of the Horn. RJ says Nym are not reborn as Nym, so it's possible. Nynaeve could rip him out too.

Okay, that is a little off-topic. But you get the picture.

I believe that solid-appearing arguments can be made for Rand dying either before the Last Battle or at the Last Battle, but I think they only appear equally solid because of the fact that the latter is just SO OBVIOUS. Of course he's going to die at the Last Battle. I think that a closer examination of the evidence shows he has to die before. Nicola's Foretelling along with the Wise Ones' dream - the future teetering on the edge of a blade, and the scale tilting first one way and then the other - IMO that is too dire to refer to the continuing conflict with the Seanchan, and Nicola's 'dead yet lives' is confirmation that Rand's death has already occurred.

That also goes along with the idea that RJ liked to do what people do not expect, and that Rand would die at the Last Battle is perhaps the most supported expectation in the series...but all of the actual support for it is ambiguous. Has anyone ever read a series where the Chosen One dies before fulfilling all of the prophecies? I admit I am not all that well-read, but I have a feeling that this is what RJ was going for.