I don't mind my heroes (however you mean the word) changing, but the depths of Rand's self-torment and -pity are really exasperating. This is made even more frustrating since he has terribly unhealthy coping mechanisms. Please, no more! The thing that bothers me most is that he came from a loving, if half-empty, home!

Can you imagine the problems if the Dragon during our Age - because our Age already happened in these books - was Randall Torson, a Mid-Western American in his 20's today? He would've fought Semirhage on a small island off the coast of Mexico, then holed up with everyone in Baja. After the disaster with Semi's escape and Min's near-murder, Rand would travel to Egypt and wander by a U2 concert in Seanchan territory. As he's currently written, our boy would be doing meth or heroin in the bathroom. He would already have started cutting himself 8 books beforehand. It's just that in Egypt, he would start babbling aloud about life being worth nothing and wanting to destroy it all.

And honestly, I wouldn't mind that being what goes through a channeler's mind after touching Shaitan's power. It makes sense because that's infused with his persona. Nor if it were his madness, or LTT's crazy personality imprinting onto his own. But the way that Rand has descended into personal darkness - if it's not mostly due to insanity, mind you - has bothered me.

Specifically, I have to say that I hate the way RJ chose to cripple Rand (or the fact that he got crippled at all). If it had to happen - even if it had to be "by accident on purpose," which is what we got - it shouldn't've been because Min blackmailed him, couldn't take care of herself at all, and he couldn't figure something better out.

Actually, Rand should've been forced to learn a lesson by something like: Min having totally covered her own ass. Rand should've spun around in the air from the fireball blast, only then realizing that his "little love doll/bride" was 15 feet away, still rolling over the ground because she wasn't sure it was safe yet.

This would've taught Rand to not constantly find ways to prioritize himself by choosing to hurt himself for other people. He would've learned this by seeing that she took care of herself just fine. Maybe then he would realize that he clings too strictly to the absolute letter (rather than the spirit) of his beliefs, beliefs he's willing to carry past the point of realism or practicality, or attainability.

This in turn would have made him realize that his worst enemy is how he responds to his failure to live up to those (perhaps intentionally?) impossible standards. When he screws up, he *has* to punish himself. Things get darker because he doesn't dust himself off and get back up with a good spirit - he makes it harder for himself to carry on, really.

Honestly, I hope we learn in the next book that Graendal has been responsible for all of Rand's self-destructive behavior since TDR/TSR. It would utterly validate Graendal as one of the deadliest, evilest creatures to ever exist. *That* would rock.

What is most troubling - for either Rand's personality or the WoT's continuity - is that Rand wasn't raised by a man that would have taught him that sort of lesson. I mean, sure, *Nynaeve* would teach people that they're flawed and must suffer for it; but Tam wouldn't. Tam seems like a "pick yourself up, dust yourself, start it all over again" kind of man. He would've spanked Rand for his dumbest pranks, but he wouldn't teach him that he should hate himself more and more when everything doesn't go his way and he can't get what he wants.

Really, why *does* Rand so readily start to torture himself like this? He was hurting himself with his "list of fallen women" a long time ago, wasn't he? Make no mistake, that was not a chivalric (or chauvanistic) effort made by a foolish troubled youth who never went to college or heard of psychological truths in his own Age. It was how Rand chose to hurt himself for failing principles that he never decided to challenge or re-consider.

Rand has been astounding self-destructive, and I'm not sure if it was learning that Tam wasn't his father or that he was the Dragon. Still, he would've been self-cutting before he was even put into the box by those AS! I can get why *that* experience might make someone have a period of self-damage, especially a motherless child whose entire lineage and life have just been stripped away.

Please be responsible for this all, big G. Your rep would be unquestionable.