  I disagree that the "future" Aviendha "saw" is a "good thing."  First, there are several things about that future that would seem to contradict what we know of the WOT and/or common sense. The children's appearance, the fact they could Channel from birth, the Aeil being excluded from the Dragon's Peace, etc.  I was not attempting to state that the future she saw was a good thing, but the message that that future delivered was. I agree there were plenty of inconsistencies in the vision she saw, but the vision itself will give Avi reason to enforce certain ideals in which to keep a future where Aiel have no honor from happening.  Otherwise, the encounter with Nakomi is just a random, space wasting, interlude on the way to Rhuidean.  I think that there is plenty of basis in the WoT for this to be a random, space wasting interlude.  Up to Avienha's visit in ToM, there was a fairly firm consensus on what the Columns did and were capable of. I wouldn't characterize the columns as an "unknown power" with "unknown capabilities" because we "knew" what the ter'angreal did and had a good theory on how it did it.  In my opinion, we are so inundated thru out the series on how little the people of current Randland have such a small understanding of the One Power and object of the One Power as oppose to those from the Age of Legend. 