I've had problems with Rand losing his hand, in the sense that stuff that happens to Rand is supposed to reflect on the land - his madness vs. miasma, his rage vs. the summer, his indifference vs. winter's heart, his non-healing wound vs. Shayol Ghul, etc (his day with Elayne vs. Dragonmount erupting.. oops). So if he's lost a hand, what is that supposed to mean? That Shara/Land of Madmen/A Seanchan peninsula has been submerged? Hit by an asteroid? Or have they lost a part of the pattern?

 

Perhaps the civil war in Seanchan? This could also tie in with the potential healing of his hand/healing of a war-torn nation.

The epigraph that begins Crossroads Of Twilight mentions hands:

 

And it shall come to pass, in the days when the Dark Hunt rides, when the right hand falters and the left hand strays, that mankind shall come to the Crossroads of Twilight, and all that is, all that was, and all that will be shall balance on the point of a sword, while the winds of the Shadow grow.

I think that refers to Mat and Perrin being the left and right hands.

 

You could say that Perrin has strayed with all his dilly dallying about saving Faile and decimating the Shaido, and that Mat faltered in Ebou Dar when he was nearly crushed to death by a wall falling on him and him being stuck with Tylin and then kidnapping Tuon.

 

Through this though they have both made valuable alliances with the Seanchan, which could tip the balance in ToM.

Moiraine left Lan scarred - I think removing an old scar is far more than a simple healing.

 

Anyway, your point is solid. I retract the dark.