Here are some reasons why it would be interesting if the Shadow won the Last Battle...

1. It would be a big surprise to most of the readers out there. Most people consider it a foregone conclusion that Rand will win the Last Battle.

2. It would make Wheel of Time special in the fantasy genre. It's almost unheard of for the good guys to lose in the end, and it may introduce a whole new era of suspense when reading an epic series.

3. It would prove that that Shadow is not as stupid or incompetent as people think. Delving through their plots in retrospect will reveal moments of greatness once they are seen from another perspective.

4. It will end an endlessly repetitive cycle of time that even has the Dragon considering the merits of the system.

5. It will set up Ishamael as a truly great philosopher who understood and comprehended more than anyone who ever lived, despite Rand's mockery of him in TGS.

6. It will make people think of Wheel of Time like a chess board, with the black side finally winning. This creates suspense when one considers the return and wrath of the Creator who wants his Wheel back.

7. It will make the entire existence of the Light futile, from the War of Power, to Lews Therin's valiant assault, to every act of goodness and bravery by the main protagonists, all reduced to nothing and undermined by thirteen evil villains. Not fair actually, but kind of shocking if you think about it.

8. It will make everything that is irritating irrelevant. Readers will no longer have to worry about Gawyn, or who's bonding who, or who is Black Ajah, or where Galina is. It will all be swept away like a hurricane.

Other thoughts?