The Fires of Heaven recap

Rand leads the Aiel out of the Waste into the nation of Cairhien, where he wars against the renegade Shaido clan, and Mat discovers a genius for command, drawing soldiers into a company of his own. When word comes that the Forsaken Rahvin has seized Andor by ensorcelling its queen, Rand strikes at Caemlyn; Rahvin's Power kills several of his friends, and Rand answers by destroying him with balefire, a fire so fierce it burns the enemy out of recent time and undoes those very deaths. Meanwhile Nynaeve and Elayne flee across the sea and travel in disguise with a traveling show toward Salidar, where Aes Sedai who reject Elaida are gathering; along the way Nynaeve pulls a legendary heroine into living flesh and, in the world of dreams, finally traps her old tormentor, the Forsaken Moghedien. And at Cairhien, the Aes Sedai Moiraine, foreseeing her own end, confronts the Forsaken Lanfear and drags her through a doorway that consumes them both, sacrificing herself and leaving Rand without the guide who has shaped his path from the start.

Rand al'Thor, a shepherd of the Two Rivers, was named the Dragon Reborn by the Aes Sedai Moiraine after he first channeled the One Power at the Eye of the World: the champion prophesied to fight the Dark One, and, because he wields the tainted male Power, fated to go mad. He fought the fiery-eyed Ba'alzamon in the sky above Falme, was proclaimed the Dragon before the world, and later drew the crystal sword Callandor from the Stone of Tear, killing that ancient enemy and learning it was the Forsaken Ishamael. In the fourth book Rand went to the Aiel Waste, passed through the city of Rhuidean, uncovered the buried truth of the Aiel's origins, and was accepted as their Car'a'carn, chief of chiefs, gaining a bound Forsaken as a reluctant tutor. Mat, changed by an ancient doorway, came away with a warrior's memories, a spear, and a talisman against the Power; Perrin returned to the Two Rivers, defeated a Trolloc invasion, married Faile, and was hailed as its lord; and Elayne and Nynaeve foiled a Black Ajah plot in Tanchico. In the White Tower, Elaida seized power, stilled and imprisoned the Amyrlin Siuan Sanche, and drove loyal sisters into exile, where they began to gather in the town of Salidar. As this book opens, Rand commands the Aiel and prepares to carry his war down out of the Waste, the surviving Forsaken circling him and the taint on saidin ever at work.

The book closes in loss and grim victory. At Cairhien, Moiraine confronts the Forsaken Lanfear, who has come in a jealous rage over Rand, and hurls them both through a twisted doorway that appears to destroy them both, leaving behind a letter of farewell and quiet final instructions. Rand is left grieving the Aes Sedai who has directed his life since Emond's Field. He strikes at Caemlyn, where the Forsaken Rahvin has been ruling Andor in disguise after enthralling its queen; when Rahvin's Power kills Aviendha, Mat, and others, Rand answers with balefire, blasting the enemy out of recent existence so completely that those deaths are undone. Mat, now a formidable battle commander with a loyal company at his back, is drawn again to Rand's side. Nynaeve and Elayne reach safety near Salidar, where rebel Aes Sedai are massing against Elaida; Nynaeve has bound the legendary heroine Birgitte into living flesh, and in the world of dreams she at last captures the Forsaken Moghedien, taking a dangerous prisoner and a store of forbidden knowledge into her keeping. Rand now commands the Aiel and much of the heartland, but he is more alone than ever, his oldest guide gone, the taint on the male Power gnawing at him, and the surviving Forsaken already plotting their next stroke.