For years, we have been trying to figure out how, exactly, a day can dawn twice.

TITLE - The Great Hunt
CHAPTER: 26 - Discord

Twice dawns the day when his blood is shed.
Once for mourning, once for birth.
Red on black, the Dragon's blood stains the rock of Shayol Ghul.
In the Pit of Doom shall his blood free men from the Shadow.

I have been relatively silent on this one for a while now because most of the theories about the twice-dawning day involve some very non-literal interpretations. For example, some think there will be an eclipse, or that the sun will be obscured by ash when Dragonmount erupts, but neither of these explanations involves the sun actually rising again, which is what the word 'dawn' explicitly implies. Others have suggested that the prophecy actually refers to two separate days, but it says 'twice dawns the day, so that's not very likely either.

Many have tried to interpret the prophecy literally using balefire as an explanation, but the problem has always been: What exactly do you balefire to make the earth's rotation revert to pre-dawn? I think I have finally come up with an explanation that will work.

TITLE - A Crown of Swords
Header Prophecy

There can be no health in us, nor any good thing grow, for the land is one with the Dragon Reborn, and he one with the land. Soul of fire, heart of stone, in pride he conquers, forcing the proud to yield. He calls upon the mountains to kneel, and the seas to give way, and the very skies to bow. Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears, and the soul of fire, love.

--From a much-disputed translation of The Prophecies of the Dragon by the poet Kyera Termendal of Shiota, believed to have been published between FY 700 and FY 800

Because of Rand's intimate connection with the land, it may be that balefiring Rand can revert the earth's rotation to before dawn in Randland. We learned in The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight that the food spoilage has been caused by Rand's dark state. The connection is with the land itself. And therefore, this is the only possible literal interpretation of this prophecy.

Brandon confirmed the Fisher King connection on the TGS tour:

The Gathering Storm Book Tour, Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego 15 November 2009 - Katie Frey reporting

Q: Is there a connection between the spoilage of food and Rand's temperament?
Brandon: Look at the Fisher King prophecies, and the prophecies in WoT that mention that the "land and the Dragon are one."

The Gathering Storm Book Tour, Dallas Borders 14 November 2009 - Aubrey Pham reporting

The prophecy of the land being one with the Dragon Reborn, and the Dragon being one with the land will play a big role in these last three books.

That 'big role' almost certainly involves a little bit more than just food spoilage. The eruption of Dragonmount when Rand dies is actually very likely, for the same reason, but the biggest role for the Fisher King connection could very well be the twice-dawning day.

Important to note is that I'm not suggesting Rand has a link with Time itself. Time won't be reversed when he is balefired beyond the usual effects of balefire. Only the Earth's rotation will be reversed. It may be that rivers will also revert, but beyond that, I don't expect too many obvious effects from 'actions' of the Land being reversed (via Rand being balefired). An avalanche might reverse. Flowers might revert to buds. In other words - minor things. Even the movements of the people and animals on the surface of the planet shouldn't be affected, since those positions are always relative to the surface.

Some might wonder why on earth Rand needs to be balefired. For those who are thinking that would be really cataclysmic, keep in mind that balefire is not the eternal death of the soul:

The Path of Daggers book tour 21 November 1998, VA - John Novak reporting

If someone is balefired, the Dark One can't reincarnate them. But they CAN be spun back out into the Pattern as normal. Balefire is NOT the eternal death of the soul.

This has been confirmed several times by RJ and Brandon. Balefire is the only certain way to prevent the Dark One from grabbing Rand's soul when he dies.

As to why Rand would need to be balefired, it will most likely have something to do with his link with Moridin. In TEOTW it was foreshadowed that Rand and Moridin would merge.

TITLE - The Eye of the World
CHAPTER: 24 - Flight Down the Arinelle

Rand turned about in one spot, staring. Staring at his own image thrown back at him a thousandfold. Ten thousandfold. Above was blackness, and blackness below, but all around him stood mirrors, mirrors set at every angle, mirrors as far as he could see, all showing him, crouched and turning, staring wide-eyed and frightened.

A red blur drifted across the mirrors. He spun, trying to catch it, but in every mirror it drifted behind his own image and vanished. Then it was back again, but not as a blur. Ba'alzamon strode across the mirrors, ten thousand Ba'alzamons, searching, crossing and re-crossing the silvery mirrors.

He found himself staring at the reflection of his own face, pale and shivering in the knife-edge cold. Ba'alzamon's image grew behind his, staring at him; not seeing, but staring still. In every mirror, the flames of Ba'alzamon's face raged behind him, enveloping, consuming, merging. He wanted to scream, but his throat was frozen. There was only one face in those endless mirrors. His own face. Ba'alzamon's face. One face.

In ACOS, Min had a viewing about it. (Some persist in believing that this refers to Lews Therin, but for several reasons, it almost certainly does not.)

TITLE - A Crown of Swords
CHAPTER: 33 - A Bath

"The viewings?"

She folded her arms and frowned up at him through her lashes. She chewed her lip and frowned at the door. She shook her head and muttered under her breath. At last she said, "There is only one, really. I was exaggerating. I saw you and another man. I couldn't make out either face, but I knew one was you. You touched, and seemed to merge into one another, and..." Her mouth tightened worriedly, and she went on in a very small voice. "I don't know what it means, Rand, except that one of you dies, and one doesn't. I--Why are you grinning? This isn't a joke, Rand. I do not know which of you dies."

They will merge, or 'seem to merge', and the end result will be the death of one or the other. Min does not know which of them will die, but if they are indeed still linked, then this would be a good reason why Rand might need to die. The Aelfinn told Rand that, if he wants to survive the Last Battle (the wording of his question), he has to die.

This makes it unlikely that anyone on the Dark Side will be the one to kill Rand. And while I still think Gawyn will mortally wound Rand, he obviously can't balefire Rand. (In fact, he might come very close to ruining everything by trying to kill Rand without balefire.) Alivia is probably a red herring, at least to some degree. She's not likely to kill Rand directly, since Min saw that she would 'help' Rand die. Besides, she is too minor a character to kill Rand; it would just be a wasted opportunity for literary awesomeness on RJ's part, and I really doubt he intended to go there. Alivia might be a part of the circle that balefires Rand, but she won't lead it. If anyone is going to lead such a circle, it will be Moiraine:

TITLE - The Eye of the World
CHAPTER: 13 - Choices

"Is that the way you all feel? You are all eager to run off to Illian and forget about Trollocs, and Halfmen, and Draghkar?" She ran her eyes over them--that stony glint playing against the everyday tone of voice made Rand uneasy--but she gave no one a chance to speak. "The Dark One is after you three, one or all, and if I let you go running off wherever you want to so, he will take you. Whatever the Dark One wants, I oppose, so hear this and know it true. Before I let the Dark One have you, I will destroy you myself."

It was her voice, so matter-of-fact, that convinced Rand. The Aes Sedai would do exactly what she said, if she thought it was necessary. He had a hard time sleeping that night, and he was not the only one. Even the gleeman did not begin snoring till long after the last coals died. For once, Moiraine offered no help.

It is not necessary for Moiraine to use Callandor in order to balefire Rand far back enough to revert the Earth's rotation. Depending on how far past dawn it is when she balefires him, she might do it alone with her angreal, or she might do it with an ordinary circle of women, or women and men. I doubt the circle will be very large, though, if there is one; Moiraine will presumably not want too many people to know she killed the Dragon Reborn.

I believe that Moiraine's answers from the Aelfinn might have been along these lines. Very clearly those questions were important to the plot.

TOR Questions of the Week, February 2005-July 2005

Week 19 Question: What were Moiraine's three questions that she asked the Aelfinn and what were their answers? If the whole answer is RAFO could you give us one Q&A?
Robert Jordan Answers: Sorry, guys. This one is a big time RAFO.

We have always believed, with good reason, that her answers had something to do with Rand. Certainly she was not in a good mood when she emerged.

TITLE - The Shadow Rising
CHAPTER: 15 - Into the Doorway

Suddenly Moiraine appeared from the ter'angreal, seeming to step gracefully out of thin air, flowing out. She would be a fine one to dance with if she were not Aes Sedai. Her mouth tightened at the sight of them.

"You! You were both in there. That is why... !" She made a vexed hiss. "One of you would have been bad enough, but two ta'veren at once--you might have torn the connection entirely and been trapped there. Wretched boys playing with things you do not know the danger of. Perrin! Is Perrin in there, too? Did he share your... exploit?"

"The last I saw of Perrin," Mat said, "he was getting ready to go bed." Maybe Perrin would give him the lie by being the next to step out of the thing, but he might as well deflect the Aes Sedai's anger if he could. No need for Perrin to face it, too. Maybe he'll make it clear of her, at least, if he gets away before she knows what he's doing. Bloody woman! I'll wager she was noble born.

That Moraine was angry there was no doubt. The blood had drained out of her cheeks, and her eyes were dark augers boring into Rand. "At least you escaped with your lives. Who told you of this? Which one of them? I will make her wish I had peeled off her hide like a glove."....

...."Sensations," Moiraine replied with a grimace. "Sensations, emotions, experiences. They rummage through them; you can feel them doing it, making your skin crawl. Perhaps they feed on them in some manner. The Aes Sedai who studied this ter'angreal when it was in Mayene wrote of a strong desire to bathe afterward. I certainly intend to."

"But their answers are true?" Rand said as she started to turn away. "You are sure of it? The books implied as much, but can they really give true answers about the future?"

"The answers are true," Moiraine said slowly, "so long as they are in regard to your own future. That much is certain." She watched Rand, and himself, weighing the effect of her words. "As to how, though, there is only speculation. That world is... folded...in strange ways. I cannot be clearer. It may be that that allows them to read the thread of a human life, read the various ways it may yet be woven into the Pattern. Or perhaps it is a talent of the people. The answers are often obscure, however. If you need help working out what yours mean, I offer my services." Her eyes flickered from one of them to the other, and Mat nearly swore. She did not believe him about no answers. Unless it was simply general Aes Sedai suspicion.

Rand gave her a slow smile. "And will you tell me what you asked, and what they answered?"

For answer, she returned a level, searching look, then started for the door. A small ball of light, as bright as a lantern, was suddenly floating ahead of her, illuminating her way.

Mat knew he should leave it alone, now. Just let her go and hope she forgot he had ever been down here. But a knot of anger still burned inside him. All those ridiculous things they had said. Well, maybe they were true, if Moiraine said so, but he wanted to grab those fellows by the collar, or whatever passed for a collar in those wrappings, and make them explain a few things.

"Why can't you go there twice, Moiraine?" he called after her. "Why not?" He very nearly asked why they worried about iron and musical instruments, too, and bit his tongue. He could not know about those if he had not understood what they were saying.

She paused at the door to the hall, and it was impossible to see if she was looking at the ter'angreal or at Rand. "If I knew everything, Matrim, I would not need to ask questions." She peered into the room a moment longer--she was staring at Rand--then glided away without another word.

Also, Min has seen that, without Moiraine, Rand doesn't really stand a chance (for some unrevealed reason):

TITLE - A Crown of Swords
CHAPTER: 35 - Into the Woods

A tiny stab of guilt made her shift her seat on the coverlet. She had not really lied when he asked what viewings she had kept back. Not really. What good to tell him he would almost certainly fail without a woman who was dead and gone? He became bleak too easily as it was. She had to keep his spirits up, make him remember to laugh....

...."I believe you are the Lady Caraline Damodred?" The slender woman inclined her head, acknowledging the name.

Min sighed regretfully, but it was not as if she had really expected Moiraine to turn up alive. Moiraine was the only viewing of hers that had ever failed. But Caraline Damodred herself, one of the leaders of the rebellion against Rand here in Cairhien, and a claimant to the Sun Throne... He really was pulling all the threads of the Pattern around him, to have her appear.

It may be that Moiraine is needed because she has the mentality necessary to kill the world's only hope of salvation if she knows it is necessary, as shown by the quote from TEOTW 13. Very few non-Darkfriends have that mentality. In any case, it seems it is her fate. She realized later in TEOTW that death would not be enough on its own to save the boys from the Dark One:

TITLE - The Eye of the World
CHAPTER: 41 - Old Friends, and New Threats

"What do you think to gain, for yourself or anyone else, by dying?" the Aes Sedai asked. Her voice was level, yet sharp. "If the Lord of the Grave has gained as much freedom to touch the Pattern as I fear, he can reach you dead more easily than alive, now. Dead, you can help no one, not the people who have helped you, not your friends and family back in the Two Rivers. The Shadow is falling over the world, and none of you can stop it dead."

The twice-dawning day, Rand's death and resurrection, and Moiraine's ultimate role in the series were no doubt among the details worked out completely when RJ published TEOTW. Even the Fisher King connection was introduced in that book, when Rand was dreaming:

TITLE - The Eye of the World
CHAPTER: 34 - The Last Village

"The Queen is wed to the land," Thom said as brightly colored balls danced in a circle, "but the Dragon ... the Dragon is one with the land, and the land is one with the Dragon."

Further back Rand saw a Fade coming, black cloak undisturbed by the wind, horse ghosting silently through the trees. Two severed heads hung at the Myrddraal's saddlebow, dripping blood that ran in darker streams down its mount's coal-black shoulder. Lan and Moiraine, faces distorted in grimaces of pain. The Fade pulled on a fistful of tethers as it rode. Each tether ran back to the bound wrists of one of those who ran behind the soundless hooves, their faces blank with despair. Mat and Perrin. And Egwene.

"Not her!" Rand shouted. "The Light blast you, it's me you want, not her!"

The Halfman gestured, and flames consumed Egwene, flesh crisping to ash, bone blacking and crumbling.

"The Dragon is one with the land," Thom said, still juggling unconcernedly, "and the land is one with the Dragon."

Rand screamed ... and opened his eyes.

The cart creaked along the Caemlyn Road, filled with night and the sweetness of long-vanished hay and the faint smell of horse. A shape blacker than the night rested on his chest, and eyes blacker than death looked into his.

"You are mine," the raven said, and the sharp beak stabbed into his eye. He screamed as it plucked his eyeball out of his head.

Balefire was introduced in book three, first with Egwene's Accepted test--the same test where Rand begged her to kill him to save him from being turned to the Shadow:

TITLE - The Dragon Reborn
CHAPTER: 22 - The Price of the Ring

"Tell me why," she demanded. "Why would you ask me to--to murder you? I will Heal you, I will do anything to get you out of there, but I cannot kill you. Why?"

"They can turn me, Egwene." His breathing was so tortured, she wished she could weep. "If they take me--the Myrddraal--the Dreadlords--they can turn me to the Shadow. If madness has me, I cannot fight them. I won't know what they are doing till it is too late. If there is even a spark of life left when they find me, they can still do it. Please, Egwene. For the love of the Light. Kill me."

"I--I can't, Rand. Light help me, I cannot!"....

....If Elaida, or another, truly did wear the stole of the Amyrlin, the Warders might well not admit her to the Traitor's Court. She knew she could force a way in. It would need to be done quickly; there was no point if Rand was gentled while she was still wrapping Warders in Air. Even Warders would break if she loosed the lightnings on them, and balefire, and broke the ground under their feet. Balefire? she wondered. But it would also do no good if she broke Tar Valon's power to save Rand. She had to save both.

Some think RJ didn't come up with balefire until then, but more likely, he wanted it to be an arcane bit of knowledge not introduced right off the bat. We still don't know how Moiraine learned it, but we know that she will do what Egwene would not.

TITLE: Dragon Reborn
CHAPTER: 50 - The Hammer

"Even the Forsaken cannot stand up to balefire," she said. He wondered if that was what she had used on the Darkhounds; it still made him uneasy, what he had seen, and what she had said then. "I have learned things in the last year, Perrin. I am . . . more dangerous than when I came to Emond's Field. If I can come close enough to Be'lal, I can destroy him. But if he sees me first, he can destroy us all, long before I have a chance."

By introducing all of these details early in the series, RJ rather stealthily avoided any accusations of deus ex machina, and by essentially dropping the issue of the twice-dawning day, he left us to wonder about what it meant even though the pertinent clues have been planted since ACOS at the latest (not counting the increasing clarity on those clues). In fact, he might have also planted clues about other cataclysmic events that Moiraine's balefiring might reverse:

TITLE - The Great Hunt
PROLOGUE - In the Shadow

The man who called himself Bors realized as he listened that his mouth was sagging open. The instructions made no sense. If I knew what some of the others were told, perhaps I could piece it together.

Abruptly he felt his head grasped as though by a giant hand crushing his temples, felt himself being lifted, and the world blew apart in a thousand starbursts, each flash of light becoming an image that fled across his mind or spun and dwindled into the distance before he could more than barely grasp it. An impossible sky of striated clouds, red and yellow and black, racing as if driven by the mightiest wind the world had ever seen. A woman--a girl?--dressed in white receded into blackness and vanished as soon as she appeared. A raven stared him in the eye, knowing him, and was gone. An armored man in a brutal helm, shaped and painted and gilded like some monstrous, poisonous insect, raised a sword and plunged to one side, beyond his view. A horn, curled and golden, came hurtling out of the far distance. One piercing note it sounded as it flashed toward him, tugging his soul. At the last instant it flashed into a blinding, golden ring of light that passed through him, chilling him beyond death. A wolf leaped from the shadows of lost sight and ripped out his throat. He could not scream. The torrent went on, drowning him, burying him. He could barely remember who he was, or what he was. The skies rained fire, and the moon and stars fell; rivers ran in blood, and the dead walked; the earth split open and fountained molten rock...

The man who called himself Bors found himself half crouching in the chamber with the others, most watching him, all silent. Wherever he looked, up or down or in any direction, the masked face of Ba'alzamon overwhelmed his eyes. The images that had flooded into his mind were fading; he was sure many were already gone from memory. Hesitantly, he straightened, Ba'alzamon always before him.

"Great Lord, what--?"

"Some commands are too important to be known even by he who carries them out."

Many prophecies in the first several books emphasize the fact that Rand is supposed to break the world again, that the world will scream with the pain of salvation, etc. Aside from breaking the seals (which is probably actually a bad idea), we can probably expect Rand to unleash a great deal of destruction before he is killed. Min believes that Callandor will open him to attack, and it may be that this is how he is turned to the Shadow, but it seems likely that the link with Moridin will also have a great deal to do with it.

In any case, I believe we have our answer to several questions: 1) the twice-dawning day, 2) Moiraine's role, and 3) how/why Rand will die. From the quotes provided, I believe it is essentially all spelled out. If you are interested in checking out all the quotes pertaining to Rand's death/sacrifice, and the theories about his resurrection, check out the Blood on the Rocks FAQ page.