Everyone makes it to the White Tower—but Mat, haunted by his close encounter with the One Power, decides to stay behind rather than accompany the group to confront the Dark One at the Eye of the World. Everyone (minus Mat) goes to Fal Dara, a kingdom that borders the Eye of the World. At last, Rand realizes he’s the Dragon Reborn, so he and Moiraine set off to finish the journey.
As the Dark One’s army closes in on Fal Dara, Nyneave and Egwene use their powers to repel it; Nyneave doesn’t survive, but Egwene’s able to bring her back. Perrin, meanwhile, helps unearth the Horn of Valere—an important tool for the Dragon Reborn to use in the Last Battle—but sees it stolen by a Darkfriend, a Dark One follower he recognizes as a peddler who used to visit Two Rivers.
Rand’s confrontation with the Dark One’s a little anticlimactic; he’s shown an idyllic future with Egwene that he can force into existence if he wants, but he resists the temptation—realizing that just because he wants that future, she doesn’t—and uses a powerful artifact (given to him by Moiraine) that amplifies his One Power strength enough to zap the Dark One into submission. He realizes that now that he’s “touched the Source” he might feel the tug of madness, so he tells Moiraine to tell everyone he died and heads off on his own.
Moiraine, meanwhile, has lost her magic thanks to the Dark One. When Lan finds her at the Eye of the World, she tells him the bad news, and adds to it by saying Rand’s tussle with the Dark One wasn’t the fated Last Battle they thought it would be. There’s more to come.
The last scene is a little girl on a beach, watching a fleet of ships approach. Each ship has women on its deck who are working together to channel what looks like a giant tidal wave; the scene cuts before it crashes down on shore.
