So I just got through reading Knife of Dreams, Jordan's eleventh book in the series.

The ending is chafing me...






WARNING SPOILER BELOW
When the Reds go into the palace of the Black Tower to seek audience with Mazrim Taim, firstly he beats the fuck out of the guy who speaks out of line with the Power, not caring whether he lives or dies by nightfall.  If nothing else persuaded you in the past, this is definitely evidence that Taim is one evil bastard, who kills on whims and not simply due to evidence of madness.  But after he related "the old saying", which by the way was addressed initially to Demandred by none other than the Dark One himself in Lord of Chaos, this removes all doubt that Mazrim Taim is AT LEAST a Darkfriend, if not a Forsaken.  No one but the Forsaken would have known the phrase "let the lord of chaos rule", right?  Robert Jordan has said time and time again that Mazrim Taim is NOT Demandred.  So who IS he??

We keep getting more hints as to the identity of Mesaana, but I haven't been able to match her dress description with anyone else in the White Tower.  Any ideas?

Thom's letter from Moiraine was somewhat of a surprise, but then if Lanfear survived the Eelfinn, I guess it's not a stretch that Moiraine did, too.  Could they have granted Lanfear and Moiraine 3 wishes, fighting as they were?  They didn't have weapons, musical instruments, or fire, so they seemed to be in accordance with their agreements.  If Moiraine is alive, where is she?  Could she be that grandmother, Sharina Melloy?  Remember that Nynaeve heard Lan say that Sharina was part of their household during her test for Accepted.

Also, why is saidar failing?  Could saidar have been tainted in the cleansing of saidin?

Any insight would be appreciated.  I've tried looking at some other WoT sites, but I haven't found much there.

i quit the series after book 5, that guys writing quality has gone way down, and he's just dragging the series out to make a huge profit now.

the first couple of books were fairly clear and concise, but now im not sure even he can follow his meandering plot lines.

Not sure who Taim is, but it's annoying that Jordan is so insistent that he's not Demandred.

I believe that Lanfear died in the transition to 'finnland.  Moiraine was almost certainly stilled at the same time, and is captive there.  The DO reincarnated Lanfear as Cyndane.

And I don't think that saidar is failing.  I think the amount of power channeled during the cleansing of saidin caused ripples and stretched areas of the Pattern.