then you say something like this:

Please don't ask me to explain this seasons NFL: I can't.

I can agree with most of that, at least as a possibility, except that I don't think Rand, even now, would be a match for the DO directly. It's not like the entirety of the Creator is resident in Rand now, that theory I could NOT entertain. Nothing less than the whole of the Creator can match the DO directly; they are polar opposites, coëval, all that fun Zoroastrian stuff. Of course, I'm also of the opinion that any direct interaction between creation and either the DO OR the Creator would destroy the world, so I don't think the issue will ever arise: That's why we have Shaidar Haran.