I have little to add, other than on the point of whether or not the 'light force' was always protecting him. I think it was, and that could explain, for example, in the Eye of the World why he saw those black cords coming out of the forsaken. He's come all the way around to his original state, when he was a pure young lad, but having gone through the wringer of experience (and being bonded to 4 people. and being weirdly bonded to Moridin. and confronting/gaining the knowledge of LTT.)

I like that we didn't get a PoV from him, to keep us in a bit of suspense about these things, and I hope when we do get a Rand PoV it won't ignore these new powers and at least a bit of context around them.