Hey everyone

This topic was probably covered back when TGS was released, but I for the life of me cannot remember the conclusions that were made so I have decided to start the discussion again: What's up with the Balefire?

Prior to TGS (specifically the Natrin's Barrow scene), we've seen bars of balefire destroy portions of inanimate objects. Holes in columns, ships, etc.

What Rand does in TGS is curious... from my understanding, he shoots a extra-large "bar" of balefire, and once it hits Natrin's Barrow, it spreads(?). Given our previous experiences, shouldn't the balefire have just left a large "hole"?

Or is this perhaps another way of weaving balefire that allows it to spread, and consume? (which possibly explains -fire part and why it wasn't called Balebeam or Baleray or something)

I remember reading that entire cities were destroyed by it... it's odd to visualise a single bar destroying a city. Perhaps this was the improvisation that allowed them to annihilate cities with balefire.

Has Brandon Sanderson ever spoken about the balefire in TGS?