I've seen a lot of theories about how Rand will destroy the Wheel of Time and/or the One Power, and that Tarmon Gai'don will in fact be the LAST Battle against the Dark One forever and ever. I think most of these come about from people who don't like the idea for the same story happening over and over, but I think they are taking the wheel analogy too literally.
The theory expressed by zx75 (The Result of Tarmon Gai'don) in that the One Power, The Dark One and the Creator are all the focus of the Wheel, but do not drive it, makes sense. However, the idea that they hold the wheel up, allowing it to turn but not go anywhere, doesn't seem right. I feel time in the WoT world is a combination of circular and linear. Just like a wheel on a road, the same point keeps coming around to make contact with the road, but each time the road beneath it is different. I think a better analogy could be the seasons. Each year has the same for seasons, and those are basically the same; hot in the Summer, cold in the Winter, wet in the Spring. Yet the seasons are never exactly the same from year to year. Some Summers are hotter than others, some Winters colder, some Springs wetter.
I like the idea of time being a cycle, but I think that is just the very base of the events that happen. Sure the Dark One will touch the world from time to time, and people will fight against him. Perhaps general events will happen in the same order (The Bore, The Sealing, The Breaking) but who says the all have to have the same outcome, and the same people will live their lives over and over without end. There is a Tarmon Gai'don, in every turning of the Wheel, but it may not always be against the Dark One. If the Dark One, The Light forbid, wins Tarmon Gai'don in one turning, the next Tarmon Gai'don could be against the Creator trying to break free from a prison created by the Dark One. In my opinion, Tarmon Gai'don, as it is know in this turning, is merely the fulcrum on which the events of each turning are balanced. The balance can shift either way, and will continue as such until the next time the Wheel brings events around that lead up to another Tarmon Gai'don.
Therefore, each turn of the Wheel returns the Ages and their general Patterns to the fore, yet the Patterns are never repeated exactly.
Raserei says: This is a very good analogy. One of the best I've seen.
But, what if the wheel itself is traveling in a cirle on that road? Some instances, after turning anf turning and turning, have to repeat themselves at one time or another.
All in all, excellent work!
Comments
The book "The World Of Robert Jordans The Wheel Of Time" tells us exactly what the wheel is and how it works. Its perhaps easier to see it as a loom, spinning the lace the pattern is made of. It does say that the pattern changes to a varying degree with each spinning of the wheel.
I kinda like your idea of an alternating rule between the DO and the Creator. Indeed, Ishamael tells several times to Rand that he had fought under the DO's banner as often as under the Creator's, which would imply that the Tarmon Gai'don was lead against the Creator at these times (unless I'm badly mistaken).It might mean that the DO was considered as the Creator in other turnings of the Wheel. Which, in fact, he was, as it is said that "the Dark One will reshape the entire Wheel to his own image". So, is the DO really really evil ? Hmm ? He sure is the antithesis of the Creator, but there is a lot of pain and suffering in the world that we know. Who could say it'd be worse in a world governed by the DO ? All depends of the viewer (forgive me if it isn't a correct construction, but I'm french, and you know what I mean, don't you ?) : during the rule of the DO, people must have struggled as hard to keep the Creator escaping from his prison as they do now fihting the DO. Please forgive me for those blasphematory words...
As for your analogy between the turning of the Wheel and the seasons, I agree entirely with you as well. Always the same order, always the same general events, but not twice in the same way.
This is certainly the way I've thought of the Wheel of Time. In fact, I've always thought other people who thought differently were nuts. However, the above comment about sealing the Creator I think is a bit off. The Creator created the Wheel of Time, and the DO is attempting to break the Wheel, and probably has been for some time. We know the catechism, the Creator bound the DO at the creation of the world. Which means in each turning of the Wheel, in the Second Age, over and over and over, the DO's prison was bored into or broken or...whatever.
True, heroes fought against each other, but Rand says he never served
Shai'tan and I believe that. When we read quotes from the Chronicles of the Dragon from the
Fourth Age, that means the Dragon will come again and will be prophesied. Always as an agent of the Light.
What I think is even more interesting is when did the Creator give up on his creation? And in the coming Ages, does he intervene? Or has he given up on creation in every Age? The Wheel will hit similar bumps, but never exactly the same. But if the Wheel is broken...will time move at all?
Asha'man Josh
Let the arm of the Lord of the Dawn shelter us from the Dark,
and the great sword of justice defend us.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
- from Charal Drianaan te Calamon, The Cycle of the Dragon
First off Belmazon knows much more than rand about the past he was there and rand has no real memories from that time. No Belmazon might be lying to him that we don't know. However he did say that rand had fought on the side of the shadow and there does seem to be an effort especially in the begining to turn rand to the shadow perhaps in some turnings he was turned. The idea that the wheel will in someway be broken again come from comments of Belmazon where he tells rand that this turning is different that here the issue will be decided for once and all, again he might not know what he is talking about or he might be lying he was the philosopher and he was quite powerful so I'm inclined to believe him guess we just have to RAFO.
Well, this was written years ago but I still feel the need to send some Kudos your way. The idea that our present mordern-day world is both the past and the future of Randland never quite hit it off with me. Didn't fit in with the ideas of ecological or sociological evolution. Your theory works, though. Any historian could tell you that history is bound to repeat itself. Doesn't mean that we'll get to see another Napoleon at another place called Waterloo, or that we send another Neil Armstrong up to the moon to plant another American flag in a crater (that would be an interesting scenario--Uhhhh....Houston, we have a problem. (What's wrong, Neil?) You're not gonna believe this, but there's already an American flag up here...)
It makes far more sense to say that humans are idiots and that human nature being what it is, we will never learn from our mistakes. Just keep repeating them until we've drilled fifty thousand Bores and Broken the world a couple thousand more than that. Ce la vie.
Good theory though.
~Random Dream~
Question everything. 
Following this line of thought brought me to an interesting idea. There must have been times in the past when the female half of the power was the one to be tainted. This leads to another thought too. Has the dragon been male Every time? There is some limited evidence for this. In that one of the male forsaken was brought back as a woman. What can be Done on purpose can also happen naturally. It may be rare but given infinite turnings of the wheel to work with....who knows.
This might be why a story was written about this age, this is a rare age where the dragon is male
Ok, so yes I whole heartedly agree with you. However, I believe that all MAJOR events have the same outcome, or the wheel would diverge to much. For instance, we have a car wheel. You make small twitches and corrections, however if you swerve to say avoid a turtle you are liable to go into the dirt, which is a different type of road, or in the case of the WoT, an antirely different way of making the pattern.
A Big Book