The Gathering Storm had a lot happen in it. Sanderson's writing had its ups and downs. One of the downs, people have pointed out--it's tough to become someone else's character, and he's not quite as subtle as RJ. One of the pros is that things actually move. One of the biggest themes in this book, as I'm sure anyone who's read it has figured out, was Rand's collapsing humanity and, with it, the hope of the world's salvation. I thought Sanderson did an excellent job with this. The weight of the world falls on Rand's shoulders, and he had hardened himself emotionally to everything important, blocking out (or in) his humanity, and it was destroying him and turning his soul black. I was hoping it would take him further into despair, because along with that went hope for the Light, but I have faith that RJ has a few more surprises for us. I don't really know what I had in mind for the series--I think it would have been a bit better if Rand had killed Min and his father, instead of being at the brink. But I think RJ has too much of an aversion to taking out the Good Guys, and Rand is somewhat saved.

A few things I'd like to point out:

1. The prophecy about Rand going blind -- I think it happened in this book. Rand doesn't literally go blind--he goes blind to his humanity, to the reasonswhyhe needs to fight the Dark One. Because people deserve second chances, because they can love. Because they can choose. Because they are not slaves. The last chapter,Veins of Gold, saw Rand's removing of the blindfold. He even went temporarily blind from his crushing of the Chodan Kal.
2. Min's vieiwng of Rand standing on his own grave--this may have also happened on Dragonmount. Dragonmount is the grave of Lews Therin. A critical moment when Rand regains his humanity, and loses a part of his insanity.
3. The Chodan Kal has been destroyed because it was too powerful. This is the reason it wasn't mentioned in the prophecies--because it's now destroyed. I know this was an obvious point, but I still think it's somewhat important, because it at least lets us know that Rand will not be overpowering the Dark One with the One Power at any point. As Verin stated, that battle will not be fought as Rand expects it too.
4. Rand, earlier in the book, wonders constantly how Lews Therin sealed the Dark One. They came to the agreement that usingcuendillarseals are imperfect. I get the feeling that Rand's ultimate sacrifice will be using his own soul as the seal--effectively removing himself from the pattern, and thus any connection the Dark One's prison has to our world.
I'm sure there are plenty of other issues to discuss here, and I'll surely add as I think of them. I finished the book not an hour ago, and I'm still reeling!