Is it Possible for Rand to sway Cyndane/Lanfear Back to the Light?

This is going to sound far-fetched, but please bear with me, I think I’m on to a real opportunity for Rand to get the upper hand in his struggles with the Dark One. Assuming that, a.) Lanfear is not dead, and b.) she has been brought back as this "Cyndane" character, I see a real weakness in the Shadow’s power structure that Rand could exploit. Lanfear was never as committed to the Dark One as the other Forsaken were; yes, they all had their own agendas, but she seemed to be the only one who went along with the Dark One out of purely utilitarian motives. She never seemed to have regarded the Shadow as anything other than a means to her own ends; with the other Forsaken it was much more a cause they were devoted to. Given her unusual allegiance, and her passion for Lews Therin Telamon, I think Rand could have a good shot at convincing her to let him sever her link to the Dark One like he did to Asmodean and then bind her to him like the Asha’man are doing to some Aes Sedai. She must already feel threatened by the Dark One - his new name for her means "last chance," after all, so he can’t be pleased with her performance. If Rand could offer her suitable incentives, like the use of that ter’angreal he’s got that links to the giant sa’angreal statue that she was all excited about one time, and maybe a little personal affection, then I think a defection would be a serious possibility. Of course, he could always just ambush her and force the arrangement on her like he did to Asmodean, but that would probably upset her. Either way, this would be a near-perfect tactical move from Rand’s perspective - he subverts a major enemy figure and turns her into a passionately devoted and extremely powerful ally who has no other choice but to fight for him or let herself face untold horrors at the hands of the enemy - those are the best kinds of allies, aren’t they? When you factor in the fact that she’d be bonded to him, and that he could trust her to wield the ter’angreal since she’s screwed without his favor, I think her value and loyalty would be obvious. If need be, Rand could also insist that his pet Aes Sedai use the Oath Rod on her; that would take care of all loyalty problems forever. Now, I know this is all a little far-fetched, and there are some unresolved issues, like what Rand is going to tell Elayne, Min, and Aviendha if he decides to offer more intimate incentives to Lanfear, but all in all I think this is a good stratagem that’s got an excellent shot of paying off big time for the good guys.

wotmania says: I would never say something is impossible, but this is unlikely at best. Lanfear is obsessed with the Dragon. I do not think I would trust her with the huge sa’angreal. Who knows what she might decide to do with it? In favor of your theory, though, you make a good point that Lanfear does typically seem to be operating on her own agenda. At one point, though, I think she told one of the Forsaken that she serves the Great Lord of the Dark and no others...