Clearly it is not simply a matter of the Dragon killing the shadow to end this amazing story. Jordan had more in mind with this epic. The Dragon is a champion - but a man. It is not a believable ending that somehow Rand can somehow kill the Shadow in the Last Battle. My Theory It is not Rand's Power either physical or metaphysical that is special but his role he plays in the pattern to bring together what has been torn apart. It comes down to what the basics: “The One Power comes from the True Source, the driving force of creation, the force the Creator made to turn the Wheel of Time. Saidin, the male half of the True Source, and saidar, the female half, work against each other, and at the same time together to provide that force." —Moiraine Damodred It is my belief that the Shadow undertook the whole War of Power - not because it cared about petty power among men and women. It is an elemental force of destruction the antithesis of the Creator. It has no reason to grant power to mortals. But the only way it could keep from being truly bound back to the wheel was to break the power of the creator that drives the wheel - to tear apart the yin and the yang - by splitting men and woman apart and only having the seal formed by the male half of the One Power = it was bound to fail. An elemental force of destruction is not impatient. The Chaos that the Chosen are set on is not to truly destroy the light, but too keep men and woman from working together to defeat the shadow until it is free enough of the pattern to destroy the wheel of time. It all comes down to a fact that is repeated over and over in all the books during the age of legends "the greatest works were wrought by male and female channelers working together". So what is the true battle? It is with Rand wanting to protect woman - and shelter them. It is a battle of trust. The only way Rand can truly win? He must be willing bound as a warder and he must willing bind his wives and form a true circle of interconnected Saidin and Saidar and with the true strength of the Creator (which is the strength of life and balance, not death and destruction) and rebind the shadow to the wheel to play its natural role in the Wheel of Time. The End and Yes it is Epic