My verdict . . . death. there have been countless hints that rand will die. you may say that he's a once and future king kinda guy and will come back from the grave but the truth of the matter is have you seen the once and future king come back from the grave yet. I sure as hell havn't. rand's dead people will mourn people will get on with their lives and forget what he did for them he will be reborn as someone else infinitly like everyone else who knows he may even be reborn as hte original dragon when that age comes again. but hey he's gotta die some time the last battle is as good as any sad endings make a more lasting impression that happy ones so I'll have to go with Rand dying for good.