You're probably wrong about the last part. Graendal said Cyndane and Moghedien were sometimes in the south, trying to get Perrin and Mat killed., between mission to rally the DF.

I think the orders for the gholam came from Moridin, but I'm pretty sure he got one of his pets to pass them to it. Moridin doesn't seem to leave his fortified palace anymore.

Why not kill Elayne? Well... the fact the gholam's orders were rescinded is perfectly logical, in the greater picture.

Hanlon was convinced Shiaine's plans involved placing Elayne on the throne. The siege of Caemlyn wasn't supposed to end so quickly. If it had not, a good chunk of the armies of Andor would have been around the city, while Elayne's forces were scattered on the walls (24 miles of them...).

The Shadow's plan involved a major, massive strike at Caemlyn. Had it happened during the siege, Elayne's forces would have fallen in the surprise attack. The Shadowspawn would hold the city, the besiegers would have gone down trying to retake the city (and would have been very easy targets for Dreadlords.

Killing Elayne could most definitely be used to cause Rand anguish, but it's now very obvious the Shadow really didn't want Rand's attention on Caemlyn....

The fact the orders to kill Elayne were rescinded speak in favour of Moridin being involved with the new orders for the gholam, but it also works for Demandred. If Demandred is the military mastermind involved, it makes sense that Moridin preferred to remain the one to deal with Elayne, as Demandred could have been tempted to use her to draw Rand. Demandred wants to be the one to kill Rand, but Moridin forbids it.

However it makes perfect sense for Demandred to also wish to avoid targeting Elayne, because if Demandred is involved with the final events at the BT before TG - and the strike on Caemlyn, this is really not a good time to attract Rand's attention to this area. Mat's presence however was an hinderance, though somehow I doubt Demandred, who is way too arrogany, realizes how much of a threat Mat Cauthon can be.

According to the Dark Prophecy, the fate of the Band and the dragons is very, very uncertain. A lot was made in TOM and before about the dragons really being meant to fight the Seanchan. It seems possible they were a "red herring", and the Band will fall in the attack of Caemlyn, in a mirror of their fall at Manetheren. Mat would be "free", and have no choice, to rather take command of the Light's channellers. It won't be Rand, Rand said clearly he doesn't intend to lead the world to battle, that he has too much yet to do.




I would think so. It has survived without blood before, but that's because it was in stasis. He's killed regularly since.

It was a strange way it met its demise. That it can survive passing gateways doesn't seem to fit with RJ's explanation about Constructs. Brandon at a Q&A apparently said the gholam didn't die because it wasn't shadowspawn (which is plain wrong), but RJ has called it a construct before, and the killing gateways have nothing to do with Shadowspawn, even the OP constructs, like Nym and chora trees, cannot survive gateways... We also know from RJ it is mortal, it's not a machine or something.

The way the gholam died had been predicted, except the theorists had always assumed it would be killed going through the gateway,