So, while our usual suspects go apoplectic over Egwene deciding to oppose Rand's plan for breaking the remaining seals, I was wondering what people though of her Dream:

She saw an enormous sphere made of the finest crystal. It sparkled in the light of twenty three enormous stars, shining down on it where it sat on a dark hilltop. There were cracks in it, and it was being held together by ropes.

There was Rand, walking up the hillside, holding a woodsman's axe. He reached the top and hefted the axe, then swung at the ropes one at a time, chopping them free. The last one parted, and the sphere began to break apart, the beautiful globe falling in pieces. Rand shook his head.

She wakes up feeling extremely scared. Initially, Egwene has no clue what it means. Later, when she's talking with Rand, she says:

Break the seals? She saw the image from her dream, Rand hacking at the ropes that bound the crystalline globe. "Rand, no," she said.

Like her Dream about bonding Gawyn, the interpretation seems to come to her later.

The first issue is the timing: I don't think there has been any other instance of Egwene having a Dream that will be of relevance to her a few minutes later. She has the Dream, wakes up, and is immediately told that Rand is at the gates of Tar Valon.

To me, it seems Rand's ta'veren nature is at the back of this Dream. He states clearly in his final (and only) PoV that he had been counting on Egwene's opposition to breaking the Seals. The Pattern seems to have accommodated him by giving Egwene a crystal clear () reason to oppose this plan.

But what of the rest? Her vision may be interpreted as the cracked crystal sphere being the Dark One's prison and the ropes the Seals that are holding it together. As soon as Rand breaks them, the sphere falls apart, accompanied by great fear in Egwene, indicating negative consequences.

Does this mean breaking the Seals is a bad idea?

Terez, over at Theoryland, had a pretty well researched theory bringing into question whether Herid Fel's books were actually his, or did Moridin substitute some of his own to confuse Rand?

Initially, we know Rand regarded talk of Breaking the Seals as Lews Therin's madness. LTT's voice seemed to suggest it as a way to end everything, not as a solution. Rand then asks Fel if there is any way this idea makes sense. Fel says no, but later sends a note which seems to suggest a reason for breaking the seals.

Rand doesn't seem to think about this one way or another till Min tells him the Seals must be broken. Her own thought's, however, are from Fel's books...

In the AoL, many experts believed that the placing of the seals could strain the bore and cause it to rip apart. That was avoided by the great precision with which LTT and his companions places the seals.

But what happens when the last seals are broken? Has the bore behind it gotten bigger? Will the strain rip it open? We don't know...

What we do know is that the last time LTT had a risky plan for the Bore, Latra Pose opposed it. For the wrong reasons, but that opposition saved the world from complete annihilation (RJ said so. I need to hunt for that quote).

Could we be seeing the same thing again? The Pattern accommodated Rand, and Egwene had a dream that would make her oppose his plan. But is there more at play? Is her opposition, and the fact that she has succeeded in bringing most of the world's monarchs to see her point another clue that breaking the seals is not a good plan?

Further... what are the 23 stars surrounding the prison? That is a very specific and unusual number. I can think of nothing in the series that matches that number. The number cannot be insignificant. Maybe we'll have an idea when Egwene and Rand meet at the beginning of the next book.