Dark Rand - FINALLY he actually snapped! He was just being sullen and emo before, and it was more annoying than "edgy" or whatever RJ was going for. I was very excited to see him actually break and became Dark Rand (love that moniker, by the way). However, I also really liked his redemption scene. I almost agree...I wish it was left for a later book, so we could have enjoyed Dark Rand a while longer. Or rather, I wish Rand became Dark Rand in an earlier book, so that we could have enjoyed it longer, and his redemption would have been all the more awesome. Oh well - I still enjoyed both moments immensely.

Verin is dead. If she wasn't, I'd stop reading the books in disgust. Her reveal scene was just too awesome for RJ/BS to spoil it by having a gotcha! moment later on. She's dead, and I hope she stays that way, to preserve her awesomeness.

Graendal is ever deader. Anyone who says otherwise is just grasping at straws, like everyone did with Dumbledore after HP 6. WoT fans are just so used to over-analysing every little detail, and are also so desensitized to death in WoT because of RJ's recycling of previous dead Forsaken, that they get this idea in their head about something and decide it's the next "Who killed Asmo?" debate. She's dead, there's no question about it, and all arguments I've seen so far that try to say otherwise are very tenuous and even desperate.

Finally, Egwene. I wanted to like her throughout the series, but I could never bring myself to really do so. This book, I finally liked her. However, even as I did so, I recognized I just liked the fact that her plotline was engaging and full of action again, which forced her to spend less time thinking about useless crap and more time politicking and fighting and just being an actual fantasy heroine. However, there were still moments where you saw flashes of Old Egwene, and I fear, despite the torrid pace the last couple books are sure to have, she may revert back to that self when dealing with Rand in the future. We'll see.

Overall, Egwene has not redeemed herself much. But I don't ask for that - I only ask to enjoy her plotlines for the final couple books. And so far, so good.