Brandon has already said that the denoument was written by Jordan before his death, so we can rest assured that Rand's solution to his philosophic dilemna will be resolved according to the Master's vision, not that of the apprentice. Saying that, you are right to be concerned that Brandon may be inadequate at laying the final underpinnings to the solution written by Jordan, but we can only hope that this is not the case.

People, including you Cannoli, and others have pointed out that characters such as Elayne, Aviendha, (indeed all of the Aiel) have roles disproportionate to their impact on the story. We can either assume that either Jordan was merely fleshing out his world, or that these characters are critical to the point Jordan is trying to make.

I do not pretend to know what the point is exactly, or how the story will end, but I do know what the conflict is. The difference between representation and being, between fantasy and reality. The oft-maligned Egwene references this in the last book when she asks herself whether she is the Amyrlin or a girl pretending, and though you have well documented her character flaws, I believe that within her limited ability she TRIED to do the right thing. The question is was she representing what SHE BELIEVES the Amyrlin should be according to preconceptions, or was she being the Amyrlin in truth, looking out for the good of the world in its battle against the Shadow. I believe, unfortunately for her, that the former is the case, and that she erred unwittingly-she simply is not wise enough yet to surrender completely to true duty.

The point is, neither is Rand, nor many of the others. This is the advantage of the Shadow. We can speculate on Elayne's relation to the Sunhair or on Aviendha's relation (after her coming visit to Rhuidean) to the ancient Aiel, BUT WE KNOW Rand's dilemna. When all goes to hell, when Fortuona sees her world crumble, when Egwene is put into peril by the Forsaken, when Lan is holding the gap like the Spartan's at Thermopylae, and so on, will Rand make Egwene's mistake? Will he merely represent?

Or will he BE.