The Creator Didn't Create? - A Wheel of Time Fan Theory Analysis Video

[@nidgeot9968]

We are given two foundational and contradictory pieces of information about the universe: 1. The creator sealed the dark one outside the pattern at the moment of creation 2. There are no beginnings or endings in the wheel For statement 2 to be true, 1 would have to be *a* beginning not *the* beginning. That is, the dark one has won and the pattern/wheel been remade infinitely many times. That’s the meaning of infinite, as ishy understood. I like the Escher drawing idea, and I think Jordan, as someone also with a physics degree, probably had this in mind. Rand sealed the dark one outside the pattern in *a* moment of creation. But the real ending of the story occurred at the top of dragon mount when rand fully integrated his shadow, in jungian terms. That was the moment the dark one lost, and the last battle was actually “just” the scouring of the shire in the wheel of time world.

[@harlandeke]

I disagree with the thought that Rand had no choice, I know the pattern inevitably forced him toward the ultimate confrontation with the Dark One, but I believe that the actual confrontation itself was ALL about choice.

[@lordofdarkness4204]

I firmly believe Rand had the choice (unaffected of filtered by the pattern) to kill or imprison the Dark One. Rand knows what could happen in either choice, and it is up to him to decide whether he does the deed or not. The pattern has a world ready for either choice.

[@snwlcke3]

How dare you try and say Bela didn't create

[@zackiook1249]

Nice wot spolers reference

[@kght222]

they were just along for the ride ;P EDIT: i can just see the late 4th age cults to bela in my head. someone needs to get on making those images so they aren't just in my head. EDIT 2: nevermind, the wheel turns but some scraps remain: www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/galleries/ancient_greece_and_rome/room_21_halikarnassos.aspx go bela!

[@jagondal8378]

At least from Rand's perspective, the Ages are not a direct replay. In The Gathering Storm, part of what saves Rand is his epiphany that the reason they repeat and are born again and again is to have another chance at everything. Another chance to live, to love, to do the right thing, to find happiness. I think that certain events are fated to happen, major events in each age, but each time around they are met differently. Different paths to achieve the same goal. On the matter of the Dark One's nature, Rand perceives it as a pitiful thing, capable of causing great evil but not so powerful in its own right. I am pretty sure that it also states the Dark One is the embodiment of the void, its nature being corruption and destruction. Rand eventually weaves the pattern itself, or the possible threads at least. Lighting the pipe was likely derived from that. Perhaps similar to CHIM from Elder Scrolls lore. As the Aiel say, life is a dream all will eventually wake from. There is something I have noticed doesn't seem to come up in theories or studies. "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills." But what is the actual will of the Wheel, eh? Statistically speaking, in an infinite loop, eventually the Dark One will win from pure, ***natural***, probability. But has anyone else realized there is an intelligent construct/being manipulating the very flow of fate? The Wheel weaves the Pattern as it chooses. Perhaps the Dragon is not a champion of the light, but of the Wheel. Perhaps Nakomi is the manifestation of the Wheel. I sincerely doubt she is some other form of the Dragon; there should be no such need for the Pattern to have 2. I would like to see more attention on the Wheel itself.

[@no-relic]

Would you say that the last battle is the moment of creation, then? Did he seal all the remaining not erased Forsaken? The Forsaken join with the dark one or something when they die anyway right

[@jagondal8378]

@@no-relic I would guess the "moment of creation" would be the beginning of the First Age, since the Dark One would need to be sealed for the Third Age to arrive. At the beginning of the 1st First Age, the Creator imprisons the Dark One as part of creating the world, nobody knows about this until the Second Age arrives and the Bore opens the prison, prison is patched and starts the Third Age, Rand remakes the prison, and the Dark One is forgotten sometime after the beginning of the Fourth Age, presumably, until the Second Age returns and the Bore is drilled again. I have actually been wondering what happens to all of the shadowspawn and Dark One-sworn people, myself.

[@Arenuphis]

Also consider that ta'veren are created as centerpoints of the weave, by the weave, and as far as we know, have always fought against the dark one

[@ChristmasLore]

That's very, very interesting! (Nakomi being a Dragon counterpart doesn't make sense. The Dragon is, the balance- at the end. He is indeed the champion of the Pattern, that's stated pretty clearly several times. )

[@RayVision3D]

This theory was good, but it was off. I was taught how to knit and crochet when I was in elementary school. One of the things I learned how to do is reweave wool scarves and caps. If you get a hole in a wool cap, you can sew the edges of the hole together, but that changes the shape of the cap. Or you can braid small lengths of yarn into the existing yarn, and if you do it correctly it will be just as strong as before the hole was made and it will be in the correct shape. It really symbolic that Rand was raised by a sheep herder, because he would have known the principles of weaving and repairing holes in a weave, which is why 1) he was able to figure out how to repair, not just seal the bore 2) he was able to unweave the taint from saidin using the evil of Shadar Logoth . It is also why Nynaeve, also from a sheep herding community and knowledgeable of knitting, figured out how to heal stilling by using the techniques you would use in reweaving a scarf or sock. No, Rand is not the creator of the pattern, only the repairer. In fact, the Dark One and The Creator ARE the pattern, and the bore, in my opinion, is what split them into two entities. By repairing the pattern, Rand joined the Creator and the Dark One together, causing the pattern to be whole until such time that another weak point developes and someone else discovers that weak point and tries to open it to gain power. Maybe that time it is the Creator who is loosed on the world and everyone becomes super complacent and easily manipulated until someone arises to bring a little strife and ends up sealing away the Creator. And it starts over.

[@Arenuphis]

Huh, that's really neat, never thought of that

[@fardareismai4495]

The weaving aspect sounds very plausible!

[@deanmoxley1868]

I always attributed Rands ability to light the pipe at the end on the idea being that in Rand defeating the great lord of the dark in the last battle also shows his mastery of the Ta'veren concept. He is now able to influence the pattern so well he is able to now control the random effects he had on the pattern. Supposedly the sudden spike in health insurance costs due to severe injury from a falling out of bed disappeared.

[@justlilyanne]

"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again." Battlestar Galactica.

[@jarnokursi1934]

Hi. Big fan of these theory analysis :) But I have to say, this one is pretty right out of question. As this quote from A memory of light will show. "Rand knew this struggle between them-the fight for what could be-was vital to the Last Battle. Rand could not weave the future. He was not the Wheel, nor anything like it. For everything that had happened to him, he was still merely a man." Great videos.

[@no-relic]

Why can't the Creator be merely a man? What if the idea that the Creator left was a lie from the dark one

[@Arenuphis]

Also the fact that rand isn't all knowing and could be wrong in saying that

[@michaelhowze8198]

Well Rand is clearly a Christ figure Christ was man and God at the same time. So maybe it's something like that?

[@cletusjones1631]

I love the theory videos. Think we could one on Fain? He always had the most convoluted head cannon for me.

[@vsud3696]

Similar events played out over and over. Rahvin and others are destroyed by Balefire are erased and therefore cant be...um...recycled.

[@iangreenwood5954]

Thank you on promoting and raising money for make a wish! They really helped give my daughter happy and comfortable her last few weeks, was a real blessing.

[@NaeBlis]

Ian, I’m sorry for your loss. I can’t even imagine. Make-A-Wish is an amazing organization and I’m happy they were able to give your daughter comfort and happiness

[@iangreenwood5954]

@@NaeBlis I thought I wrote a reply to your comment, but I’m not seeing it.. I said I am thankful for your selfless compassion. My little girl had an extremely rare(like winning the powerball twice in one day and getting hit by lightning before and after each win kind of rare) and terminal form of dwarfism that affected every aspect of her body and mind. Doctors said she wouldn’t survive the birth, and even if she did, wouldn’t last more than a few hours. She had five birthdays. She was considered profoundly mentally retarded, had cataracts on her eyes at birth, suffered constant seizures daily, needed a G J Tube in her stomach for nutrition, a tracheotomy for breathing her last year, never walked, and never talked, but she had such a strong personality, and had more unconditional love than anyone I’ve ever seen. She taught Momma and I what it means to live fully and to take nothing for granted. The most humbling lesson we took from her, is through all her hardships, she was happy and knew she was loved. It meant way more than all the money in the world to me, that she had the ability to be happy. I am really glad I can tell you about her and who she was and still is in my heart.

[@iangreenwood5954]

@@NaeBlis I wanted to ask you.. I can tell you’ve invested many years to the WoT, and in that time did you ever get involved with the Dragonmount psw RP? Years ago, a dozen plus a couple years ago, I was the Shayol Ghul Guild Leader, and RP Division Leader. My original character was a darkfriend who eventually became Fain/ the Hound for the main plot. I was also Joar Addam Nessosin. Was just curious if you and I might of spoken in the past.

[@iangreenwood5954]

@@NaeBlis kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXzZdZyigaqrm8k this is one of my daughter’s rhizo-siblings. These kids are strength

[@BMR3]

I love these fan theory videos!! You are exposing me to a whole another side of WOT that I had never been aware of before. These are very interesting, please keep them coming Sir!

[@no-relic]

I think this is almost a correct analysis, but it is somewhat off. The dark one and Rand are more connected than any other characters undoubtedly, and Rand rose to the dark one's call like an opposing champion. In many ways the dragon IS the dark one's champion... chosen as his ADVERSARY the dark one created the dragon and the dragon creates a future that would not exist had he not existed. I think really, the dark one exists FOR the dragon.

[@danielmclaughlin5573]

This is utter blasphemy! Everyone KNOWS that Bela is the Creator!

[@no-relic]

Can't she be Creator AND dark one?

[@marcbennett9232]

I am against the idea that the same exact events happen each turning. For one it goes against everything else we are told about the wheel. Also when moridin is playing a version of chess with a "fisher" piece that keeps switching sides, it's fairly obvious thatnits an earlier incarnation of rand with the wound on his side and everything. So the events couldn't play out the same each time.

[@Lordo_Atlantis]

I’m gonna restate my head canon of the two sided coin - Dark One/Creator here. It fits even better when viewing them as aspects of humanity. Especially as they are both so essential to the future of the wheel

[@SH-qs7ee]

My philosophical opinion is pretty much the same, with one caveat; the Dark One can win, and has possibly won before. Should the Dark One break free, he will break the wheel and remake it in his image; this instantly makes him the Creator, with the old Creator now on the other side of the pattern as the anathema, so the new Dark One.

[@no-relic]

Well if that's true, you might say Rand and the dark one were one in amol, as they were both in a space of no space. Occupying the same space taking turns.

[@wheediesmanchild5229]

Now that you mention the portal stones and other reality’s in conjunction with Rand and the Dark One showing possibilities, they could have been traveling to those dimensions or a shadow of them during the last battle.

[@fredcole6844]

I think there's a very important concept that you didn't touch on at ALL. Balefire. Anything hit by balefire isn't just dead; it ceases to exist - forever. It literally snips their strand from the pattern, never to be born again. If the events of the series are predetermined to happen over and over exactly the same, balefire would remove more and more threads from the pattern until eventually necessary actors and events wouldn't have enough threads to do anything.

[@watcherofwatchers]

While I actually agree with you, for the sake of argument, you are assuming our characters have a true and complete understanding of balefire and what it does. That isn't a given, I think.

[@fredcole6844]

@@watcherofwatchers That's a fair criticism actually. We only ever learn about balefire from the perspective of unreliable narrators. We DO know that something happened during the age of legends bad enough to warrant an agreement from both sides of the conflict to stop using balefire.

[@Feasael]

@@fredcole6844 Jordan and Sanderson retconned that it burned you out entirely. It just removes you from the pattern retroactively stopping the dark one from bringing them back.

[@BradJames83]

Kid: "Try not to bend the spoon - that's impossible - instead, try to understand the truth." Neo: "What truth?" Kid: "There is no spoon. Then, you'll realise it's not the spoon that bends, but yourself." This theory sounds pretty similar to when Neo meets The Architect in The Matrix Reloaded.

[@calvinwhaley6606]

Question for future video - Why won't the aiel harm a blacksmith? Most other aielisms can be figured out from reading. This one Idont know.

[@PaoloSarti94]

I also think it is stated in AMOL that Rand perceives the Dark One as a vast force of entropy and that it thinks about it as "the space between stars" or something like that. So, it is something that is not uniquely related to human nature, I think.

[@no-relic]

Not just humans but the nature of existence itself. Not just entropy but chaos, the primordial state.

[@BradJames83]

Did you ever see the Family Guy where Stewie is the creator of the universe? But he was born within the universe, so that the universe could create itself. I think Neil DeGrasse Tyson advised the writers on that episode. I think that the power would have to exist for Rand to use it and the portal stones' explanation may be that an imprint of the possible realities Rand and the Dark One created were left residually behind (like Stone Tape Therapy in hauntings). Perhaps Nakomi is a female expression of Rand at the moment of creation? She assists Aviendha in helping to cement Rand's desire for peace and she is present when Rand is 'dying.' This theory would also help with Rand's 'death,' ascending to a new level after dispensing with his symbolic old body that holds all of the marks. A bit like the Holy Spirit.

[@pueblonative]

Are we not doing phrasing, Nae'blis? Is phrasing no longer the thing.

[@BandKricket]

I wanted to thank you for helping Make a Wish. I'm the parent of a child that has received a wish from the organization and we are even going to a fundraiser for the local branch this weekend to help raise money for other kids to have their wishes granted. When we are able to we plan on donating our time to further help Make a Wish as well as the other related charities that allowed us to have a wonderful experience.

[@barryryan7777]

I think the dark one doesn't want to win because if he dose he destroys himself as well as the pattern. And he orders Verin to do what she dose to help the light win so he can keep on living?

[@martinpoletti7845]

I just finished the books, one thing I didn't buy was Ishamael philosophy that in infinite spins of the wheel the dark one will eventually win, that would mean that if the chances of the dark one winning were not zero he will eventually win, but how many times has the wheel of time already turned? if there are no beginnings then there are infinite turns before the current one and the dark one did not win in infinite turns of the wheel, that means the chances him winning are zero, just because there are infinite scenarios doesn't mean every scenario is possible

[@BigMoney00187]

Love that Jordan polo.

[@calvinwhaley6606]

Also Balefire disproves the theory. Hard to burn out of the pattern and then be a part again if it is the same event.

[@Feasael]

Jordan and Sanderson retconned that and said it just stops you from being reborn by the dark one.

[@rocky00717]

These are my favourite videos of yours!

[@sethrichardson8644]

The only issue I can find with it is the existence of balefire. How does the loss of threads change? Because if they aren't somehow restored, all the parts they are meant to play in the pattern would just be empty. Take Lanfear for an example.

[@PaoloSarti94]

It is said somewhere (maybe in The Companions) that balefire does not really cancel forever one's thread, but only for the current turn (or something like that). It is an instance of something unanimously believed true in world but actually false.

[@sethrichardson8644]

@@PaoloSarti94 I'll have to look more into that, because if that's the case then it would take out that particular issue. And i'm really interested in that. Would you say the same is true for Cyndane, given that she died in the World of Dreams?

[@fredrikdahlberg6947]

Great content, Mr. Nae'blis 🙂👍

[@kght222]

i don't understand this because the creator hasn't interfered since creation. so if the creator didn't create, and doesn't interfere, the creator effectively wouldn't exist. it just doesn't make sense.

[@DrJoecool666]

Such smart and insightful commentary.

[@Siansonea]

Maybe Randidin lighting the pipe was just a manifestation of how his ta'veren nature has changed after the Last Battle. When you think about it, the pipe spontaneously lighting itself is just an impossibly rare event, and ta'veren is all about making impossibly rare events happen. Because the Pattern has stabilized at the end of the Last Battle, Rand's ta'veren nature is no longer needed to pull threads together. So perhaps his ta'veren operates on a much more micro scale in the new situation he finds himself in, wearing Moridin's body.

[@signaltome]

Maybe? But as I understand it being ta'veren is not necessarily for life, and I believe that Rand (Randidin, hehe, see what you did there ;-) ) is free now, having been given a new chance to live a normal life. In that he is not a ta'veren any more. I still believe that Perrin and Matt are ta'veren though. Mat has to sort out the Seanchan Empire's slavery issue and I am sure Perrin will have things to do in both Andor and Saldaea? That is how I see it anyway. You still might be right tho. :-)

[@Siansonea]

@@signaltome I don't think ta'veren ever really goes away. I think ta'veren is a sort of fundamental force, and it influences the Pattern directly. It isn't granted to a person, it is intrinsic to that person. The Pattern exists outside time and space, and time and space are the product of the Pattern, so it could be said that ta'veren is the Pattern working backward from the future. If time and space are a wheel, then this is perfectly reasonable. The Pattern pulls on all threads from the past and from the future, but most strongly on ta'veren threads, which also pull adjacent threads into position for the future events to happen. The fabric analogy kind of breaks down as you start to think about it, but it's still useful to visualize it in this way.

[@signaltome]

@@Siansonea Okay, I can see that being the case. I am open to re-interpret how WoT works. ;-) If that is so, can it be said that every hero of the wheel spun out will always be ta'veren. Or that the specific heroes are heroes because they are ta'veren, that the pattern itself keep them handy as they are useful? That being said, Farstrider was added to the heroes as far as I am aware, giving the pattern a new thread to weave so I guess he is also now bound by ta'veren threads? Is that always additive, can the pattern never lose heroes? (Yes, balefire and so on can I suppose if I remember how that works [or does it not destroy souls]) Can they be removed from hero status by being reborn and turn bad, or will not the pattern allow it. Sigh, speculating is fun but tiring.

[@sadhbhauldwyn3798]

We see time as a wheel in so many more instances than just religion. Look at history

[@signaltome]

I still hold that the Wheel spins out ages that are similar but unique every time. So the Dragon (or possible equivalent, does not HAVE to be Lews Therin's Dragon title, that was only THIS cycle incarnation imo) faces the Dark One let into the world and stops it temporarily and then the "Dragon" Reborn return and seals it back outside the pattern, then ages pass until we get another paradise world and then some idiot (willingly or in ignorance) make a hole in the pattern and release TDO again. My head canon anyway, yours may differ. ;-) Again I wonder, if this is a version of OUR world, between the fourth age and paradise/disaster channeling must be lost/forgotten and then rediscovered, and that that must be the age we are living in at present so to speak. Or we might just be a pale shadow of the true world where magic is not real I suppose. :-P (OR the DO DID break the Wheel and this is the result!) :-D

[@thehoogard]

Agreed. That's how I see it as well. It's also very likely however that the dark one cannot win, otherwise he should have done so already, in this world's past, or in any other parallell world's past.

[@signaltome]

@@thehoogard Yup. ;-) The DO probably can't win since by all accounts IT is not as powerful as advertised, father of lies indeed. BUT, let's say IT COULD break the Wheel and send the world into darkness, i.e. remove existence completely. Wouldn't that world just... you know, not be there in the alternate histories? :-P As for re-creating it in ITs image, well maybe not, but I am sure we have not seen by far all possible worlds. But, as you say IT can't win. Probably... :-P

[@thehoogard]

@@signaltome Well, the reason I think not is because they say several times in the books that if the Dark One breaks free in any universe, he breaks free in all. (they also say if he remains locked up in one he remains locked up in all, so that's a bit of weird shit going on there). It may of course simply also be a lie, or misinformation. But if he have infinite time, and infinte worlds to do it. it should have happened already, so one of our premises is wrong. Either he can't do it, or worlds remain separate.

[@signaltome]

@@thehoogard Yeah, come to think of it (and I might be wrong) isn't it said somewhere that even with all the worlds there is only one DO and one Creator through them all?

[@thehoogard]

@@signaltome Yes, exactly. I think that's the reasoning why he would escape everywhere at the same time if he escaped in any world. That's logical at least. Now, why he would remain locked up if locked up anywhere doesn't make any sense to me though :)

[@BedtimeBookworm]

This one made my head hurt 😅😅 interesting idea though!

[@Iansco1]

Break it down. I am the only one who hears DX music whenever they hear that?

[@Pduczkowski]

The dark ones prison is in the world of dreams!!!!

[@no-relic]

Or the world of dreams is the real world and shaitan is just trying to copy that

[@nestrior7733]

My personal theory is that Elan is not wrong. The Dark One is going to win eventually. And just like Elan wants/thinks, the Dark One does destroy everything. But then the Creator comes back in/is unleashed anew and we get a new creation with a new imprisonment. The image I got when Rand and the DO were battling was that of a spiral galaxy with a super massive Black Hole in the middle. That Hole will eventually consume the Galaxy. Once everything is in a singular point again, it starts to expand again. Something that is thought of for our own Universe by many.

[@lukespivey9932]

Yeah, it seems that Nae'blis takes it for granted that Ishamael is wrong or using flawed logic. I don't see anything to confirm that.

[@nestrior7733]

@@lukespivey9932 It's a story of cycles. So why should Creation and Destruction of the Pattern be exempted from that? Plus the way it is stressed that the Heroes of the Horn would ride for the Shadow and have opposed the Dragon before shows that there are many different ways things can go. Hell, I am not even discounting the possibility that the Dragon has served the Shadow before. As Ishamael has claimed.

[@TheUnorthodoxIam]

Great content friend

[@rursus8354]

_"The creator didn't create"_ and then a long academic theory about _"the creator representing a human quality"_ etc.. That's not funny! WoT is a fantasy story, not a mystical religious tractate. The Creator is per Ockhams Razor the creator of Randiverse, and nowhere is it indicated otherwise.

[@fardareismai4495]

Let people think about it. The series can mean different things to different people

[@HeronMarkHero]

Time is a flat circle.

[@jimmymcjimface2607]

Just like Earth?

[@anthonycrayne2835]

I pretty much agree with you on this. There's some cool ideas in this theory. But I'm not buying into it. Cool video tho man. Never heard this one before.

[@phlatbrim2732]

Infinitely taint code?

[@Iansco1]

SPOILER RED! Rand IS the Creator. Each Chosen One was.

[@PaoloSarti94]

I don't think this theory is correct. It contradicts many points that are stated in the books; for example it is said many times that at each turn of the Wheel the Ages repeat themselves, but are not exactly the same. This theory does not take into account the VOICE Rand hears at the end of EOTW and of AMOL, and it would contradict what many people tell Rand ("You are not the Creator, you're only a man!"). Sure, that something is stated by a character doesn't mean it is necessarily true, but I think it would be a little arbitrary to think this is the case.

[@AverageSol]

It’s important to note that the prophecies state this. ‘Who thinks he turns the Wheel of Time, may learn the truth too late’ It’s important for Rand to know he is but a man. Not being able to believe he can turn the wheel but he himself creates it would be a crazy rule

[@Violetsoul6]

Interesting theory... Don't buy it one bit, but what does it matter what I think, right?

[@smaug1234]

some stuff to chew on, its hard to say what the pipe lighting means other then rand can now bend reality to his will, or could he always and only now knows how, id have loved to see what Jordan had planed for after the series but we will sadly prob never know. One thing that really strikes me is his line to Cad about just thinking her out of the pattern or something like that, is he capable of this now?? or was he at that time, the whole world followed his emotions as the series went along, the chars blamed the dark one but maybe it was just rand's mindset subconsciously setting the weather and whatnot to match his mood. Prob not but fun to speculate on :) As for the creator/dark one i think they are supposed to be beings or forces that are beyond our means of understanding, but i think that the pattern was def not woven by rand in the bore, the whole chicken and the egg thing , but he clearly has his reality vision swap with the dark one and rejects all possibility of a compromise/eliminate the DO to instead seal the bore with the 3 powers combined, i think rand didn't have the power to make any of the visions he or the dark one put forth go into affect without the creators help

[@jaceross7648]

That's not fait

[@SlytigerSurvival]

First!

[@IchibanOjousama]

nah

[@LordMichaelRahl]

Nah.

[@Goforfink]

This theory could have a lot of merit. The very obvious thing that comes to mind is that there are no beginnings or endings to the wheel of time, thus, there did not have to be a moment of creation in the first place. It stands to reason then that the last battle (an ending) could also have been the very first moments of creation (the beginning), but when there are no beginnings or endings - does that moment matter? No. It's a wheel, an unbroken continuum of fixed motion. As to the other worlds - Rand has an uncanny ability to venture in and out of the material world and the world of dreams known only to the forsaken, they in turn had learnt the talent from the dark one. He is described as being of the pattern but also outside it - the pattern WEAVES itself around him. Another point for the theory to me. It makes a lot of sense that if the creator and the dark one are two aspects of a metaphorical coin that are indeed Rand himself that he would innately have this ability. It also makes sense that in his battle with the aspects during the last battle he "creates" the portal worlds, in that when he (the creator, selflessness) and the dark one (the selfishness) are sparring by showing each other untold number of alternate worlds as visions, that these imagined that these worlds are also spun out into the pattern in some way - why not as these "portal worlds. It also explains why these portal worlds seem the same but different - the same places, people, and things are created each time. Another point that I think supports this is Mat and Perrin - both strong ta'veren. They grew up in the same place as Rand, which also happens to be the same place as a mythical magnificent city from a lost age that the "original" dragon also happened to live in. I don't think it is a coincidence. He weaves the pattern around himself, and thus anyone who spends a lot of time around him similarly becomes wound and unwound in what they see as unintended ways, but ways that always allow them to be in the correct place at the correct time.

[@no-relic]

Also, notice how it's called the third age by SOME. Age number is less important than age demarcation, I'd argue And if there is no beginning or ending where do you start counting? Maybe it's more like the 3rd age is the seventh age and the 4th is the first? It could be that there is no Creator and the idea was a lie from the father of Lies, or the dark one is also the Creator and intentionally or unintentionally exiled himself from his creation. Perhaps this is why it's called the true source? Made by the true power?