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When Birgitte was physically pulled out of the World of Dreams, one of her biggest concerns was that she was going to break her regular cycle of finding and falling in love with Gaidal Cain. The reason is, Cain had "recently gone missing" from the World of Dreams, which Birgitte interprets as meaning that Cain was recently spun out into a new body. Thus, while Birgitte was a grown woman, Cain would be an infant, and they would never hook up.

An early theory was that Olver was Cain, but his age is all wrong, and that theory was finally debunked by Jordan himself.

On the other hand, Cain's name comes up multiple times in Birgitte's plot, so it would be odd for him to never appear in the story. Are there any other candidates for who Cain might be?

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  • Wish I could give this more than one upvote. Four years after the end of the series and we still don't have a definite answer.
    – Omegacron
    Commented Aug 2, 2017 at 21:14

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Unconfirmed, but interviews point us at Gradys son Gadren.

CARRIE (CARE) Brandon, I would love to know if we finally found out who Gaidal Cain was reborn as (or had a brief mention of him) in Towers of Midnight? I really thought it was obvious, but after talking to >some friends I guess it wasn't. I realize you might not be able to say who it is, but if you could just let me know if we did hear mention of him in Towers of Midnight, that would be awesome.

BRANDON SANDERSON I know what you're talking about. I won't confirm 100% or not, but the phrasing was intentional.

FOOTNOTE This is apparently in reference to Grady's son, who was (by Rand's estimate) four years old in Lord of Chaos and therefore too old to be Gaidal Cain (unless Grady has another son and didn't >bother to mention the other to Rand, which seems unlikely). (edited)

Is Gaidal Cain, Grady's kid, Gadren?

BRANDON SANDERSON (23 JANUARY 2013) That's a good theory. Some fans think he would be too old, however. What do you think?

MAGEEN I have a question about who Gaidal and Birgitte might be reborn as. I was wondering if Gaidal could be the son of an Asha'man and if Birgitte might be reborn as an Aiel?

BRANDON SANDERSON Gaidal definitely could be, and there's a pretty big hint in Towers of Midnight that many folks online have found. As for Birgitte, it's possible.interviews staken from Theoryland

Towers of Midnight quote in question.

I’m sure he’s a handsome child, Grady.” Grady laughed. It felt odd, but good, to hear that from the man. “Handsome? Gadren? No, my Lord, he might be big for his age, but he’s about as pretty as a stump.

The biggest issue with Gadren is that Rand claims hes 4 years old, however, Sanderson seems to add a line here to handwave that away.

he might be big for his age

This appears to be an easy way to ignore Rands previous comment and have the timelines fit better.

The issue with the timeline is that Gaidal should be about ~ 1 in Lord of Chaos yet Rand thinks Gradys child is 4, However, the child is never named and we dont know how many children Grady has, but about 2 years later when Grady is talking to Perrin I get the impression his child is still fairly young and probably aged around 3-4 which would better fit into the timeline we want.

This can be explained a few ways

  1. Sanderson was not aware of the previous quote by Rand that Gradys son was 4 when writing this part of the novel. Which is completely understandable when finishing someone elses series that has 10 published books already.

  2. Grady has a second son that fits the timeline and was just not present when Rand visited the farm.

  3. Rand really needs to learn how to age children.

  4. Gadren is not Gaidel Cain.

Upon further digging, Sanderson also claims that Grady has multiple children, which fits option 2 above, and would solve our timeline issues.

TEREZ Okay, so, Grady has multiple children.... (pauses for confirmation)

BRANDON SANDERSON (gets this gleefully smug look on his face that knocks about a quarter century off his age)

TEREZ What is that look for? I mean, come on. You've been, like, dancing around the bush...(crosstalk)

BRANDON SANDERSON I've dodged this one so well, Terez! (crosstalk)

TEREZ ...on this one for like two years, I'm not gonna let you dodge any more! Just tell me if he has multiple children.

BRANDON SANDERSON (stubbornly reluctant) Grady. Has. Multiple. Children.

TEREZ Thank you. (Someone is laughing, I don't know who.)

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  • I just finished A Memory of Light and Birgitte says "I'll be only a few years younger than he" right before she is re-born, so I think Gadren being 3-4 years old is not incorrect.
    – Dave Johnson
    Commented Jan 23, 2017 at 20:53
  • @DaveJohnson i originally misread what you wrote, its just the time line for when the child "should" have been born doesnt quite fit.
    – Himarm
    Commented Jan 23, 2017 at 20:54
  • ah, I see. I also misread, ha.
    – Dave Johnson
    Commented Jan 23, 2017 at 20:57

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