OK, hello everyone, I am new to this board and this is the theory I have recently come up with.

We already know that time runs differently in TAR, the Alternate Worlds and the Ways. In the Ways, we have seen several hundred miles travelled in a day AND in tGH, when Liandrin spirits the Nynaeve and co. away, we see Egwene come rushing in the Waygate and therefore almost fall off her horse. In the Alternate World(s), we also see similar effects - hundreds of miles travelled in hours. This suggests that Time moves slower than in the Real World, ie tWoT rotates slower.

TAR is another matter - time flies by quicker, and so to avoid getting up next afternoon, we see Nynaeve + Co. regulate the amount of time they spend there by having one of the trio observe a hour in the Real World and wake them up. Therefore, tWoT moves quicker.

Now - if there truly was 1 2-D wheel, a circle, Time should be ticking at the same rate in ALL possible worlds, TAR and the Ways. Therefore we are left with 2 possibilities - either the Wheel of Time is in fact a sphere, rotating on an axis with the different worlds lying across it like lines of latitude, OR it is Fraser's Spiral shape (btw, Fraser's Spiral is not a spiral, it is a group of similar concentric circles).

Now to decide between these two possibilities, I would like to make an assumption. I am an adherent of Elder Haman's theory in "The Creator, DO and Time" - ie, DO is inside Time circle with Creator outside and with the Pattern forming a kind of donut shape around the DO.

Now, however, since there are virtually infinite Mirror Worlds, and if Time was to run uniquely for each one, as I imagine it to be, that would mean the DO would have one hell of a lot of WoTs to break to get free. Also, Verin says that if the WoT were to be broken in one world, then it would be broken in all worlds. This kind of confirms that there is, in fact, only one Time barrier the DO has to break through.

And what fits this exactly? The Wheel of Time as a hollow sphere! Think about it.

1) There is 1 and only 1 barrier. A hole appears, and the whole structure deflates with a pop like a gigantic ballon.

2) As the sphere would rotate on its axis, weaving the Ages of Laces to protect it from the DOs 'needles', different lines of latitude would symbolize the running of time, although, as a sphere, the actual speeds would vary, although the important thing is - they will all stay at a straight line of longitude running from pole to pole. So, for example, places where time flows slowly, eg Mirror World in tGH, the Ways, ar near the 'poles' of the Sphere of Time, while TAR runs along near the Equator!

3) The last neat thing is that the Portal Stones and the Waygates and whatever is between the Real World and TAR, are all lines of longitude, connected with 2 worlds at each each, and as they're lines of longitude, travel between the worlds is immediate.

I hope that you all will enjoy this theory (although I am not sure whether nearly all the joy would stem from ripping it up into shreds).