I totally agree with this sentiment. "Greatness" is not just about power or ability or who makes the Dragon's work the easiest. Rand, as he recently has figured out for himself, is not the only thread that matters, far from it. Rand is there for the world much more than the world is there for him. He will have to make decisions to save the world and he will rely on his loves just as much they and others will rely on him. And as you say Rugby, Ilyena as the Dragon's consort did not exactly end so perfectly for their relationship or for the world. It is not that in the Third Age that we need three women to "equal" Ilyena, it is that the Pattern need Rand to have three loving relationships for the Pattern to survive this conflict with the Shadow and have any chance of rebuilding in the aftermath. There is no objective measure of greatness because the conditions of contest and action are always changing. In this cyclical universe, perhaps it would be possible to compare a Third Ager with a Third Ager from a previous or future weaving, but otherwise it is just apples and oranges. At least that is what I believe about universals and anachronistic categories.