There is a reference to a stranger who came to Emmond's Field 5 years before the events of EotW. Rand's POV states that he was, "hiding from some trouble in Baerlon that no one seemed to understand."

 

Does anyone have any idea who this was or what they were referring to? I have little faith that it was mentioned just for the sake of mentioning it.

Edited October 8, 201213 yr by pacificflows

I don't have the book right now to get the full context, but as I remember it, mentioning the the stranger from Baerlon was merely to put in context how rare it was to see strangers. It seems to me that nearly any other use, i.e. plot device/forshadowing by that small passage should have been used long before book 14. Unless of course this stranger was Moiraine's eyes and ears, in which case we'd be told the connection in the previously-planned-but-now-unlikely prequels.

 

We can assume that the stranger wasn't connected to the shadow in light of the fact that the DO was using Padan Fain as his agent in the 2Rivers.

 

It is fun to catch RJs forshadowings though, so it's very understandable why you're asking....

Edited October 8, 201213 yr by 2RiversFan

I figured maybe there'd be an explanation in the prequel. Thanks for the reply.