- As with the Egwene storyline, I underestimated the douchebaggery to which a frequent subject of my criticism could sink. The Aiel have to win the award for most ass-holish people in the entire series. They will start a world war that ended with the Seanchan conquering the entire wetlands, because they won't know what to do with themselves.

- Now we have some hints about the "something odd" Min foresaw for Aviendha's children. They ARE quadruplets, so all those other theories involving adoption and surrogate motherhood, and Loial's paternity (no joke. berniekosarisgod, from wotmania actually proposed that to me in person) are shot down. The two candidates for the "odd" aspect are their superchanneler status, though IMO, that does not seem exactly right for the context. The other possibility supports the long-standing notion that Rand will impregnate her in a different body. This is suggested by one of the boys (and btw, an even gender division in multiple births of real characters' children always strikes me as a lame cop-out) having dark hair "from their wetlander side." The sole wetlander ancestry of Rand's and Aviendha's children is through their paternal grandmother, who was described as golden-haired. Given that Rand and Aviendha are both described as red-haired, any dark-haired recessives are as likely to come from her as him )and other Aiel are known to have dark hair, however rare) which means there must be some OTHER reason to blame the dark hair on Rand's side. Such as his having Moridin's (or Logain's or whoever's) dark-haired body when putting it to Aviendha...

- Another oddity I though was in the relationship of Oncala to Talana. The former cites the alliance between their families (despite the apparent personal animosity between the two women) as the result of their grandmothers being first-sisters. Yet, both are the blood of the Dragon, so should not the fact of their MOTHERS being ACTUAL sisters mean something to them? Even under Aiel rules, I find it hard to believe that being father-sisters is outweighed by an adoptive relationship between their mothers. Even if taken as seriously as a blood relationship, is mother-sister really closer than father-sister? Elayne said as much back in tSR, but it was in the context of trying to describe how confused she was by the myriad terminology, so I didn't take seriously the absurd notion that a cousin is closer blood kin than a half-sibling.
What is more troubling in some sense for the actual characters is the absolute lack of personal connection their children have to them in these visions of the future. While it is easy to think of circumstances where a person might be closer to a cousin than father's child by a different mother, few to none of those situations feature the father's involvement in the children's lives. This suggests Rand would have played a minimal role at best in his children's upbringing, as Aviendha's children only seem to consider each other as family. Despite Elayne's adoption by Aviendha and insemination by a significant figure to the Aiel, and friendship with Wise Ones, her children are not a factor in the family discussion among Rand's Aiel kids. Even if Rand was not in the picture, I find it hard to believe that the relationship Elayne and Aviendha have spent so much time, effort and tears to forge will dissolve so easily that their children are virtual strangers to one another, but that same friendship is significant enough to hold their hostile broods together for two generations. So this points to Elayne and/or Aviendha leaving the picture as well. So much for the speculation about them all staying together for centuries.

- Rand's behavior in this book does nothing to change that impression in regard to his children either. Perhaps he is simply not in it as much, but even Dark Rand seemed more human and accessible than the transfigured demi-god drifting through ToM. What's more, you would think that his regaining his humanity, especially given the role love was supposed to have played in his rehabilitation, he would have sought to reconnect with Elayne at least, even if he is waiting on Aviendha's return from Rhuidean. Instead, in both of Sanderson's books, you get the impression of Elayne and Aviendha increasingly becoming afterthoughts in the relationships. He introduces Min to his father, he hangs out with her all the time and he remains practically the last person in the world to be ignorant of the impending birth of his children. Despite Elayne's repeated refusal to confirm their paternity, astonishing numbers of people know of it (probably more PoV characters know Rand is the father as of ToM, than knew she was pregnant as of KoD). If not for the warder bonds, Elayne's and Aviendha's feelings on the matter, a case could be made, IMO, from Rand's attitude and behavior over the last book or so, that those relationships are not long to last. SO WHAT THE HELL WAS THE POINT?!?! As far as I am concerned, unless he's dead and had a serious relationship with their mother, a man is not a child's father unless he raises it. Rand's paternity of children is rather pointless to the story, and irrelevant to the character if they are just going to be some kids who resulted from his primary love interest's incredibly casual attitude regarding him hooking up with old flirtations before dying or ascending or whatever his fate will be. So far, the most significance Rand's relationship with Elayne or Aviendha has had to the story and character development was as a source of angst in the middle books, and the political ramifications and personal inconvenience the pregnancy has caused Elayne. Possibly the Warder bond, though he is just about the only Warder in the series not to have any mention made of the effect on him. If he needed to have a bond to survive a few crises, there was Alanna. The expository role it has played regarding his feelings and mental state has been minimal at best, and declined with Sanderson's involvement. So, again, why the bother with these apparently second-class relationships with no long-term future?