Warning to the reader: This theory goes on for a while.

-Introduction-

The purpose of this theory is to reexamine what information readers have been given about the Portal Stones and what the mysterious pillars will be used for in the future of the series. What we know of them leads to the idea that Randland has been (and possibly will be again) changed drastically through some form of alien intervention. I'm sure a lot of people who would prefer WoT to remain pure fantasy and not become speculative fiction will immediately claim that such a thing is far too outrageous to be considered. However, we've heard people preaching everything from Taimdred to Aramdred. Aliens don't seem that outrageous by comparison, now do they?

-Suggestions of Offworld Help-

The first reason to believe aliens (either from other worlds or other patterns) have changed the Randland world is that all the Portal Stones are the same. Had they been invented on the world in the First or early Second Age, shouldn't there be more primitive versions around? Look at the many versions of operating systems our computers run on. Even now it is easy to get your hands on an earlier version of Windows or Linux. So why are their no other versions of Portal Stones? Given the spans of time they exist and the strength of the stones, its very doubtful the older versions simply were destroyed. Logically, the Portal Stones needed to have been built on another world and then whatever version was the most current was brought to Randland when the offworlders first made contact.

Another problem comes from the fact that a Portal Stone has to be at each place you are traveling to. We see absolutely no way for 2nd Agers to travel between worlds in order to place the Portal Stone on the new world. At the end of Shadow Rising we hear in Mogs and Nynaeve's conversation that the 2nd Agers could get to other planets “beyond the stars” but I don't believe anyone could support the idea that the Age of Legends had inter-planetary vehicles. The War for Power would have been over in far shorter time if Lews Therin could have ordered Shayol Ghul bombarded from space, and the Breaking of the World would not have been nearly as bad if everyone could have picked up and left for a non-broken planet. This clearly shows the Portal Stones had to have been from before the 2nd Age, and likely before the 1st Age since scraps of the previous age remained in the Age of Legends and something of that magnitude is not easily forgotten.

The previous point is also highlighted by the statement somewhere in the books that only the strongest channelers of Age of Legends could use the Portal Stones. There is no sense in building a tool that no one can use, so most likely the original power source for the Stones was not the One Power. Since that is the strongest power known to the 2nd and 3rd Agers, it must be one from before the 2nd Age's memory. This branch of the theory will be further explored later in the text.

Yet another reason to believe the Portal Stones were not originally the creation of a previous age of Randland is the language used in the writing. Logically, the Stones are written in a language familiar to the Builders' race (much in the way all the web pages people go to are written in English and Spanish, not Sanskrit and Medieval Latin). The language of the Stones is not from the 1st Age since the 2nd Agers were able to read the remnants of the 1st Age but not the Stones themselves. The Stones are not likely to be much older than the 1st Age though, since there are only so many apocalypses something can survive through. The other possibility is that the language of the Stones is one from another world or pattern.

-What This Explains-

So what does this all mean? Well, we know at some point Randland was our own world. I won't get into that theory here, but there is more than ample evidence found on any number of other theories on this subject. Neither are there currently Portal Stones around here. Rather than believing at some point we create the Stones, it is far more likely the real Builders make contact with our own world. This accounts for:

1. The sudden appearance of the “Channeler Gene”. Interbreeding with a race of other humans who possess the ability to channel is a more realistic option than that it is a result of a nuclear holocaust that ends our own age (which is one of the more popular theories at the moment).

2. The appearance of Ogiers, which were not power-wrought species like the Chora Trees and the Nyms. Perhaps they came by Stone to the Randland world, perhaps they were even the ones who were the original Builders. One might even go so far as to propose that Ogiers are so closely tied to the Stedding because they were originally built to simulate the environment of the race's homeworld, but going into that here would take the theory off its course.

3. The historical inconsistencies with our own world. Although its possible the reason is just from too many retellings and embellishing over time, it could also be the result of having our own culture seen through the eyes of a completely alien race.

4. A possible cause for the changes in Ages. If we places our Age as the 7th, the arrival of the offworlders would mark the first. Perhaps the 2nd Age and all its forgetfulness of the past was the result of the ultimate collapse of the Builders' society. It could also be said our Age and the Builders' arrival were part of the 1st Age, which met with the same fate as the previous scenario.

-Further Stone Usage-

How exactly do the Builders' get to the world in which they want to build the Portal Stone? It was mentioned previously that you've got to have a way to install the Stone before you can travel to it. This is where the Silver Archers of Tar Valon and the Waste are needed. Since both the Arches and the Redstone Doorways of Tear and the Waste seem able to establish connections to other worlds without directly channeling at them, there must be another power source fueling them. The one meant for the Portal Stones perhaps?

And why were the Arches needed? Using the Waste one, a person can see what other realities might have been like. The ones most similar to their own (likely the most easiest to get to) are the ones that remain in people's memories. It is possible that this Archway was meant to be entered first to find other worlds that the Builders meant to travel to. The second Archway (using some function the Aes Sedia do not yet know of) would then be able to let the user interact with the worlds they found (since we know some forms of Traveling require a person to know where they're going before actually being able to go there).

And the Redstone Doorways? It would be foolish to have the Portal Stones aimed at worlds the user might be quickly killed on. Perhaps the Doors were meant to link worlds that were kept off the Stones so that only people with the proper training and understanding could go to them.

-Future Uses-

Any number of possibilities exist for future use of the Stones (expect for Portaldred). The most probably ones are:

1. Other, more advanced worlds might be waiting to be interacted with. We learn from The Great Hunt that in one of her alternate lives Verin learns the Builders used a system called the “Numbers of Chaos”. Could it have been some 2nd Age information left behind on a scrap of paper? Maybe. However, it is also possible that in that particular reality the Aes Sedai were able to make contact with a more advanced world.

2. The Big White Book was kind enough to tell us that the beasts used by the Seanchan came from other worlds on the Portal Stone network. Where there are some, there are likely to be others that could turn the tide of the Last Battle in either direction.

3. More caches of weapons and libraries? There has been a sudden influx of ter'angreals and scraps from the Age of Legends (at the beginning of Winter's Heart, the Acadamy's Headmistress says that half the scholars claim to have found one. They have to be coming from somewhere. Rand notes how odd he found it that cats outside of the Two Rivers had five toes when the ones in the Two Rivers had six. Could they have been brought to Randland from the same world as the Seanchan's six-toed creatures. The increased probability of Two River folk having the “channeling gene” (if it did originate from breeding with offworld beings as previously discussed) and the rumor of ghosts in the Mountains of Mist could be the result of a bit of interplanetary smuggling going on.

4. It is feasible that small increments of time traveling would be possible, as we saw in the Great Hunt when Rand and company are able to jump ahead several days of Padan Fain and his rebel trollocs. Could this also be the reason why Cadsuane has lived so long while still retaining the three oaths? Perhaps others have been doing this as well? Only “reading to find out” would prove such speculations one way or another.

-Conclusion-

As laid down in oh so many words, the Portal Stones could indeed have come from an offworld source. This might have even played a greater role in the development of our world to Randland's world that first appears to the reader, and the possibilities for further usage of them in an attempt to effect the outcome of the Last Battle is possible and in all likelihood probable since RJ isn't one to get rid of possible plot threads easily.

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Okay, that's the end of it all. If you've managed to read down this far, feel free to respond. I'd certainly like to hear any thought out responses for or against the idea of alien interference, the relations between the Stones and the Arches/Doorways, or any other part of the overall theory.