Future
It is supposedly fated for Rand al'Thor to die at Tarmon Gai'don, as one prophecy is "His blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul." Nicola, a novice with the gift of foretelling, foretold, "The lion sword, the dedicated spear, she who sees beyond. Three on the boat, and he who is dead yet lives. The great battle done, but the world not done with battle. The land divided by the return, and the guardians balance the servants. The future teeters on the edge of a blade." The lion sword is Elayne, the dedicated spear Aviendha and she who sees beyond Min. He who is dead yet lives is Rand (this is confirmed by a dream Bair and Melaine had of Rand in a boat with three women they could not see and a scale tilting).Great Battle may refer to the Last Battle (Tarmon Gai'don), or a large battle leading up to the final confrontation with the Dark One. The return could be the Corenne. The guardians refer to the Asha'man (meaning Guardians in the Old Tongue); the servants, to Aes Sedai (Servants of All in the Old Tongue). However, if he dies at Tarmon' Gaidon, he will have a son, daughter and four other children by Elayne and Aviendha. It is unknown if he and Min shall have children together. Although, if Tarmon Gai'don is lost, Min's visions will mean nothing since time itself will die, and all be under the control of the Dark One.
It has also been hinted that Rand will become blind; Perrin saw him through a 'window' in Tel'aran'rhiod with a bandage across his eyes, while looking at him, Tuon thought "He didn't seem blinded yet, so that had yet to happen", and Min saw a white-hot iron as part of a viewing of him, which suggests that he will be tortured and lose his eyes. This may not be so, however, for the quote from The Prophecies of the Dragon after the epilogue in The Gathering Storm quotes that "the blind man shall stand upon his own grave. There, he shall see again." This quote seems to refer to Rand's apparent blindness in his attempts to become "steel" or "cuendillar," and his new enlightened view of life after contemplation on Dragonmount (Lews Therin's grave), and also is the quote that Tuon was referring to.
Read more about this topic: Rand Al'Thor
Famous quotes containing the word future:
“The future is just as much a condition of the present as is the past. “What shall be and must be is the ground of that which is.””
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“How difficult the task to quench the fire and the pride of private ambition, and to sacrifice ourselves and all our hopes and expectations to the public weal! How few have souls capable of so noble an undertaking! How often are the laurels worn by those who have had no share in earning them! But there is a future recompense of reward, to which the upright man looks, and which he will most assuredly obtain, provided he perseveres unto the end.”
—Abigail Adams (1744–1818)
“The normal present connects the past and the future through limitation. Contiguity results, crystallization by means of solidification. There also exists, however, a spiritual present that identifies past and future through dissolution, and this mixture is the element, the atmosphere of the poet.”
—Novalis [Friedrich Von Hardenberg] (1772–1801)