One of the big mysteries guess by fan, confirmed by Sanderson (spoilers all)

Elania al'Manir

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One of the things we've been told would never be explicitly revealed was how Rand and Moridin swap bodies at the end of the series. Thanks to an on-point guess by a Redditor, followed by confirmation from Brandon Sanderson, we now know the mechanic of it.

u/Dirkinator
So, Rand did die but he was reborn into Moridin's body? Again, I was confused by the ending because he had the saa and so how did Cadsuane recognize him/how would any of them recognize him? Where is he going?

I made a post a while ago about this. Casting balefire requires the soul of a channeler to wield it, like a man holding a sword. (With possibly the exception of terangreal that create balefire) When their beams crossed, it became one balefire with two wielders. This paradox essentially linked them.

Balefire removes objects from the pattern, but... it cannot remove other balefire. Balefire isnt an object. Balefire is cast and directed by one person, usually, so it's linked to their intentions, their soul perhaps. The balefire that crossed paths became one beam, as it cannot remove itself from the pattern. One beam, linking two souls as it's wielder. That is why they were linked. As for the body swap...

It's pretty clearly shown that what happens to moridin, Rand feels, and vice versa. I think this is because balefire, by its nature, must have a soul directing it, and it cant differentiate between one person or the other, so they become merged. Both were in control of the beam, so for a split moment, they were one.

This lead to the very strange phenomena of Rand experiencing Moridins physical experiences. So think about that: what Rands individual body experiences, Moridins soul, awareness, whatever you want to call it, Moridins soul experiences. Including death. Moridin died, as Rands body died, and Rand lived, as Moridins body lived.

Basically, the body swap had already started to happen the moment the beams crossed, and when rand "died" it was completed

TLDR: they had already swapped bodies. The moment the balefire beams crossed. Rand bodily death killed Moridins soul, and Moridins body surviving allowed Rand soul to live. "To live you must die"

Long shot, but u/mistborn, any chance I'm close? Apparently you're allowed to confirm a correct theory?
u/mistborn
Disclaimer: RJ wrote this sequence, not me, and he didn't always leave great explanations of why he wrote what he wrote. (He was focused on getting me the information to write scenes he hadn't had time to write.) However, to the best of my recollection, what you outlined here is basically what RJ intended--though with a little tweak to the second part. I believe in the notes (or it could have just been Harriet relating it to me) he said, "The soul that wanted to live found the body that wanted to live, and the soul that wanted to die didn't go to the effort." (Or something to that effect.)
 

Ilverin Matriam

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OK that fan theory confused me even more, but Brandon's explanation : "The soul that wanted to live found the body that wanted to live, and the soul that wanted to die didn't go to the effort." makes a lot of sense! :D
 

Thaddius al'Guy

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I don't know why, but finally getting some information about this gave me a slight sway of emotion. I've thought about it before. I'm glad to see this theory and confirmation from Brandon after all these years.
 

Azlan Marenellin

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Yeah, I kinda figured it was like that. Not in so many words. I thought it was more of a situation where Rand won, Moridin lost, but in the process the damaged body was destroyed, and the undamaged one survived... As a result an un-killed soul and a soul bound to darkness were both pulled from their bodies. Because one was bound to the Dark One, and the Dark One was sealed again, I figured the empty body, and the body-less soul simply merged, because they could.

It was either that, or the Creator rewarded Rand for solving the riddle and guaranteeing another revolution of the Wheel.
 

Juliya Karisu

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This is great! I remember reading the pages on this site so far back to see what people's thoughts were when the book first came out.

OK that fan theory confused me even more, but Brandon's explanation : "The soul that wanted to live found the body that wanted to live, and the soul that wanted to die didn't go to the effort." makes a lot of sense! :D
I like this so much. Moridin didn't want to live and he despaired. Rand had something to live for and he hoped.
 
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I love this so much. I honestly wondered about what effect the connecting balefire had on the two men but I never made the connection that this was the reason for the body swap. I'm beyond happy for the explanation. Thank you.
 

Sorcha Al'Verdan

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So post Final Battle, Rand is a horcrux. Got it. :P
 
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