It can't be channeling. For pure force he has Nynaeve, or Alivia - even at full strength Moiraine wouldn't have been any more than average, before, but the 'finn have reduced even that. She's not Morgase, channelingwise, but she's on that side of the ballpark now, so whatever her use, it can't be that.

And yet I would be unsatisfied if Moiraine turned up in the nick of time and provided Rand with some vital clue that proved to be The Answer - the same as I was disappointed with Verin and her book, actually; it was a fast-track, not a necessity. At the moment the only use I can see for her is as some kind of moral support, and even that seems defunct since Rand's mountaintop revelation.

Rand doesn't need Moiraine, that's the thing. I can't see a single way in which he still needs her. So unless it's going to be something so stupid as her saving him from an unexpected bolt of balefire, I can't imagine what use she will be.

Huh. Pointless response is pointless >_<