Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

And the decision to exchange the bodies at the end?

That was his (Robert Jordan). And it began with the crossing of the balefire streams, way back when, and continued on through the series up to here. He actually wrote those scenes at the end himself.

While Brandon was signing my book(s) I asked him about Alivia and if she had a role in the body swap. I assumed it was Nakomi but the others I was reading the book with all decided it HAD to be Alivia and that's how she fulfilled Min's viewing.

Brandon confirmed that Alivia had NOTHING to do with the body swap but wouldn't go into it further.

TsorovanSaidin

Nothing is popping up man, but what did you ask? We had someone actually ask who killed Asmodean, literally THE ENTIRE CROWD booed this guy. Alivia helped him die by disappearing. It was quite anticlimactic.

craiye

Huh, not sure why the spoiler isn't working right. Anyways, I was having a debate with the 5 other people I'd been reading with and felt like I was taking crazy pills—all the others thought Alivia is the one who found Rand outside Shayol Ghul after the battle and did the swap. I asked Brandon to confirm that it wasn't Alivia and was in fact Nakomi and he said he wouldn't answer anything about Nakomi, but vehemently denied Alivia had anything to do with the swap.

TsorovanSaidin

The body swap was a result of the crossed balefire stream.

craiye

Sure, it's clear that was what triggered the whole event but the end of A Memory of Light heavily implies that the woman outside Shayol Ghul finalized the deal. I'd assume that was Nakomi.

Anyways, BS has made it clear he can't/won't answer any questions about Nakomi so I was just hoping for a solid confirmation that Alivia wasn't involved in anything at Shayol Ghul, and he confirmed that. That was good enough for me.

TsorovanSaidin

Ohhhh you're talking the old woman in the tent with Alivia? I'm almost positive it was Caddy and Alivia was referring to her as an old woman. You're talking about "The wise ones and the old woman with them" line correct? It's not Verin, we know that much. Nakomi, I'm convinced is no one, and everyone is just assuming there's something special about her. Though I found that old woman line suspicious.

craiye

Nah, I'm talking about the first page of the epilogue—892. The figure outside Shayol Ghul that says "Yes, that's good. That is what you need to do" as he brings Moridin's body out. For some reason a fair amount of people I've talked too (including the group I read with) thought that was Alivia, since it's suggested this person starts the body swap at that point (or finishes it I suppose). BS confirmed it was NOT Alivia though. I assume it's Nakomi. Who Nakomi actually is is an entirely different story.

At what point did Rand begin planning his fake death? At least in Towers of Midnight or in A Memory of Light timeline?

He never planned to. It was a matter of opportunity.

I wondered particularly about, in the epilogue, Alivia leaving the supplies for the body-swapped Rand. I honestly had to go look up Alivia as a refresher upon seeing her name; was she included from Robert Jordan's draft, and if so, do you think he envisioned more involvement from her throughout A Memory of Light?

That scene was indeed one of the ones that Robert Jordan wrote before he passed away, and was include as is. He MIGHT have included her a tad more in other scenes, but the notes were blank on her save for this last scene, so I don't know. I know for certain that her helping Rand to die meant only leaving the items for him. It was a very small thing that fandom (perhaps by RJ's design) blew up into something much larger. The characters did too, to an extent.