I can't imagine a more satisfying ending to this series. Did I love every single that happened or the conclusion of every single character's story? No. However, I really couldn't imagine this series ending any other way in a manner that would feel authentic to the story that had been crafted. Also, this book made me feel so many emotions at once and I love it when books do that.

I was fascinated and intrigued by how much of the conflict in this book was human conflict up to, and for some characters during, the Last Battle. It raised the stakes in a way I hadn't expected. It also really showed how much change characters have gone through over the course of the series, especially the five from Emond's Field.

The way all of the plot elements, some of which had been introduced books ago and been building for years, came together for the Last Battle and the aftermath was fantastic. Some characters had every up-front and big roles in what happened, while others served much more subtle roles and it all fit so well into how things played out. It was obvious how important every single character, and every character's arc, was to the conclusion of this story and the role they played.

I loved the way that Rand and the Dark One's battle, the one that the whole series has been building towards and the one that "really matters" fits into the overall story and how that confrontation actually plays out. Given how Rand's story has played out and how much he's struggled, it was the perfect final fight for him. I was skeptical about Rand at first, but this book made his journey feel so satisfying.

The story did some very interesting things with one trope that I normally could take or leave, but it was handled so well in this story. There's another trope that it used often, in this book, that I was a little frustrated by.

This book has some of the most emotionally impactful scenes I've ever read. Under the spoiler tag are all of the scenes that made me feel a lot of feelings..

Spoiler

Scenes that made me cry and/or feel a lot of feelings:
-Lan charging into the Gap with what's left of his army and the gateways open behind him, with 100,000+ men charge out.
-Egwene burning herself out as part of her last stand.
-The snippets of the deaths of so many other characters as the battle progresses.
-The return of the Heroes of the Horn.
-Aviendha having to kill Rhuarc
-Lan's charge into enemy forces and subsequent killing of Demandred.
-The "It's not about me. It was never about me" scene
-Nynaeve's scene with Perrin in the epilogue when she's talking about why she left Emond's Field in Book 1.
-Tam's scene at Rand's funeral