See what I did there ^^



I don't think we know for sure what precise mechanism is causing Rand to get sick, but it seems probable to me that it is his link with Moridin that is causing the problem. And that link will not have gone away just because Rand regained his sanity and "merged" with LTT.

Yes, LTT did bring his own problem with the risk that he would grasp the power from Rand and use it himself, and that problem has been solved. But the physical dizziness and nausea which Rand suffers from will likely still be there, and getting worse until the link issue is solved.

The sickness does not prevent Rand from channeling that is true, but it does prevent him from using the power to react to unexpected situations. He needs to be able to know that he needs it in advantage, so he can take hold of the power and ride out the sickness first in preparation.

Look at what happened when he tried to channel at the end of TGS. The sickness came so strongly that he collapsed to the ground from the dizziness and became sick due to nausea. In those moments when he was on the ground he was pretty helpless. If Gawyn were to suddenly and unexpectedly attack him, he would be pretty screwed since Gawyn would likely kill him before he could recover enough to do anything.



It is possible, but like I said I don't really see it as necessary. Though I admit that Gawyn does not know about Rand's sickness or link with Moridin and as such might want to get his hands on the medallion anyway. We readers would know that he could have done without though.



Maybe. I would hope that the new improved sane Rand which we will hopefully get after the whole LTT-merger will be smart enough to realise that risking his life (and therefore the entire freaking universe) by dueling some random moron like Gawyn while crippled by both the loss of his hand and the saidin-sickness would be a really REALLY bad idea.

Besides, you could argue that even agreeing to such a duel might imply that Gawyn has a legitimate grievance, which is not true and not something Rand would want to imply. If there is time to talk and issue challenges, then I would expect that Rand would just tell Gawyn that it was Rahvin who killed his mother and about the compulsion and everything. And if Gawyn was so utterly stupid not to check the truth of that with Elayne first and still insisted on a duel, then I doubt Rand would agree to the fight.



Whenever he has had guards, they have usually been maidens. I doubt he would replace them with Andorans due to the whole aiel-honor thing at this point.

And what about channelers? Nynaeve for instance has been on Rand's side pretty much constantly in the last books. If she was with Rand while he was totally insane like he was in TGS, then I would expect her to stay now that Rand is better and saner too.



On the other hand, Gawyn would likely make it clear with his words how ignorant he is of everything. I could very well see Rand trying to tie Gawyn up with Air so he could explain to him about Rahvin and about how stupid Gawyn is being by trying to kill the one person that is required to win against the DO. And ofcourse when that did not work, Rand who knows about the medallion and other such ter'angreal would then be ready with indirect weaves.

And if not, Nynaeve or some other AS probably would since they would not want the fight to happen due to the risk to Rand. And upon seeing that the power does not work they could warn Rand who would then be prepared with indirect attacks (which he knows work since he saw Rahvin's attack work on Mat).



I suppose that might conveniently happen. Though if Cadsuane is around she would probably try to zap Gawyn before he perishes. If Rand takes out Gawyn by stabbing him while Gawyn returns the favor, there would be a few moments before the blood loss kills Gawyn afterall. Moments where he could still be zapped.

I wonder if the medallion protects against balefire. Is that a direct weave, or an indirect attack similar to Rahvin's lightning.