Y'know, it seems to me that the Last Battle will NOT be between Rand and the DO. In LOC, chpt 23, p349, Sammael's thoughts indicate that he believes he will be the one, "...still standing on the Day of Return, to be named Nae'blis and defeat the Dragon Reborn." It sounds as though whoever is to be named Nae'blis will be an avatar for the DO, just as Rand will stand in for the Creator. The Dark One seems to have virtually omnipotent power (at least within the confines of Shayol Ghul), and if LTT and the 100 had marginal success, well they also had the element of surprise. This time 'round, they've got a few years to prepare, and I think that if it was the dark one himself, Rand would be toast. I mean we've got the Hand of the Dark, the Watcher, and Nae'blis(DO) vs. Mat (Band of the Red HAND),Perrin Goldeneyes(Watcher???), and the Creator(DR). RJ is famous for his parallels/sense of symmetry, right?