1. Balefire. Unlikely, since it would resurrect Rand's body in its current maimed state, which seems to defeat the purpose. Also, Rand is supposed to be dead-yet-living on a boat. Balefire makes that scenario pretty impossible. There are other problems, but this is enough to pretty much nix the idea.
2. Transmigration. We can hope not. I mean, if the Dark One resurrects Rand, presumably he can control Rand. Why not resurrect him and then mindtrap him, or some such?
3. Body-stealing. Not really resurrection, but we're talking what Mordeth did to Fain, and what the body-swap theory proposes Rand will do to Moridin (though presumably Moridin's soul will be evicted from the premises, which is what Mordeth would have done to pretty much anyone besides Fain).
4. What Moghedien did to Birgitte. Nynaeve was there. She saw it. And apparently, Moghedien did it with the Power:
TITLE - The Fires of Heaven
CHAPTER: 34 - A Silver Arrow
The glow around Moghedien increased until it seemed as if the blinding sun surrounded her.
The night folded in over Birgitte like an ocean wave, enveloping her in blackness. When it passed, the bow dropped atop empty clothes as they collapsed. The clothes faded like fog burning off, and only the bow and arrows remained, shining in the moonlight.
Moghedien sank to her knees, panting, clutching the protruding arrow shaft with both hands as the glow around her faded and died. Then she vanished, and the silver arrow fell where she had been, stained dark with blood.
After what seemed an eternity, Nynaeve managed to push up to hands and knees. Weeping, she crawled to Birgitte's bow. This time it was not pain that made tears come. Kneeling, naked and not caring, she clutched the bow. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "Oh, Birgitte, forgive me. Birgitte!"
There was no answer except the mournful cry of a night-bird.
Some have argued that Moghedien did this with a combination of the Power and
Tel'aran'rhiod, and while it's possible, there's really no reason to assume that it was done with anything beyond the Power, and even if it was, there's no reason to assume that Nynaeve could not duplicate it. As was emphasized in TOM, manipulating
Tel'aran'rhiod is more about strength of will and power of imagination than anything else. There are no weaves to learn. You just have to
believe you can do something to do it. Nynaeve may not be a trained Dreamer, but she has more experience than most when it comes to manipulating
Tel'aran'rhiod; Egwene remarked on her skill in the battles against Mesaana and the Black Ajah.
If Rand is ripped out of
Tel'aran'rhiod, then his three women will have to bond him again to save him from death just as Birgitte was saved by Elayne. This idea has an amazing amount of resonance with the prophecies -
Nicola's Foretelling, the
dream shared by Bair and Melaine, the
funeral pyre, the
funeral bier, etc. Min's
viewing of Nynaeve suggests that her grief will be important. If Rand's body is going to be burned, or put on a funeral bier at all, then it makes no sense for him to be dead-yet-living on a boat....unless it's a totally different body. The body-swap theory addresses this, but the Nynaeve theory provides the most eloquent explanation for the importance of the three women. The body on the pyre/funeral bier is the maimed body, the dead body. The
Birgitte quote explains 'dead yet lives', and the body on the boat is the one that was ripped out of
Tel'aran'rhiod. The three women are there to save him with the bond.
In this scenario, most likely the land being divided by the return indicates that Rand has not yet won the Last Battle (because the two must be 'as one' in order for that to occur), which would explain the
man on the narrow bed, and also why it is important for Rand to be resurrected. Rand's premature death would also explain the Broken Wolf in the
Dark Prophecy, and the bond might help to explain the anomaly with
Aviendha's babies. If Rand's death is to lead the Shadow to believe that they have won for a time, then it explains why Rand heard
I have won again, Lews Therin... at the end of every single life he lived in the Portal Stone incident. Easy enough to assume that he had avoided this by making the right choices, but perhaps this is simply his most unavoidable destiny.
Cons:
1. Birgitte almost died! It was awful! Well, she was saved by the bond. Obviously Rand will be too.
2. Birgitte was ripped out of her role as a Hero; doing the same to the Dragon would be disastrous. Not so. Min saw (at the first bonding) that Birgitte is still tied to Gaidal. We know this because 1) Gaidal was
always born first before, 2) Min saw that Birgitte was tied in many lives to the same man who was sometimes younger (as he will be this time) and sometimes older.
3. Rand won't break the precepts. Probably true. Nynaeve can find him with Need. Incidentally, Nynaeve was the first one the Wise Ones taught to use Need, in TSR.
4. There's no way Nynaeve will remember that weave. Well, there are at least three separate quotes showing that Nynaeve only has to see a weave once to remember it. This is quite aside from all of the foreshadowing that she will 'Heal' death. Speaking of...