It's been far too long (for many reasons...) so bear with me since I've forgotten just about everything there is to know about posting on PT (hence this is my fourth attempt at this post, and I'm writing it in Notepad because I'm tired of losing two hours worth of post when I click the wrong thing and can't just backspace).
Regarding the certainty of the DOs defeat since the Wheel guarantees an endless cycle:
In a word, no. Recall the dying Aiels warning to the Tinkers early in the series: "Sightblinder means to slay the Great Serpent". If the DO is free, he will break the Wheel of Time and end the cycle forever. One can be forgiven for missing this, since all of the Forsaken save Ishamael seem to have done the same, but a conversation in TGS eerily like one I've often had with a fellow WoT and philosophy fan removes any doubt. The real question is, as Rand continues to lose more of himself (literally and figuratively), how long before that option becomes appealing to him...?
Regarding Alivia being stronger than even the Lanfear who hadn't fought Moiraine:
Lanfear does say this when they fight, but she doesn't know Alivia is using an angreal. Given their scarcity in the Third Age she probably never considers it; all Forsaken have sought one since they escaped the Bore, and only Sammael seems to have found one (much good it did him). The unanimous consensus (I'm not aware of RJ or Sanderson stating it, though they might have) is that Lanfear remains the upper bound for female strength. Some speculate she may have visited the Finns during the AoL and made that one of her requests.
Meanwhile, the world keeps going. Some of you may already know my beloved wotmania does not, but may not know its torch has been passed to readandfindout.com: http://www.readandfindout.com (et alia; wotmanias FAQ Mistress maintains much of the internets best WoT reference at The Thirteenth Depository: http://13depository.blogspot.com/ and wotmanias primary Other Fiction Admin started The OF Blog: http://ofblog.blogspot.com/ several years before the end of wotmania). RAFO is almost a twin of wotmania in terms of layout and interface (except Default Blue is now Default Green, and yes, I hate true threading, too, but 95% of members don't, so it stays) but its focus is all SF/fantasy rather than WoT. Instead of a WoT site with an OF board, it's a SF/fantasy site with a WoT board. It's not wotmania, but trying to make it so would be unfair to both sites, and it's still a good site in the making (though now it's being run by shifty Brits instead of decent Americans it will bear watching, and the clock's no longer right. 
). Contributions on WoT, other books or whatever are welcome and encouraged; it's only been a year, so it's still a work in progress, but the old community has provided a good start as well as some capable, experienced and dedicated Admins and reviewers. You can also find a link to Towers of Midnights pre-released first, second and eighth chapters (the last was apparently a coded promotion for Sandersons "The Way of Kings" ) here: http://www.readandfindout.com/wheeloftime/messageboard/161775/
In Randfanland (a word I immediately regret coining) over all things are better than they've been for some time. After a four year drought TGS hit stores last fall, and Towers of Midnight is already due out 2 November of this year. The time table for A Memory of Light has been pushed back, but the final volume is still slated for a spring 2012 release. Far more importantly, Sanderson's doing a good job with the series in the opinion of most; KoD was the best book since ACOS, but TGS is the best book since the high point of the series in books 4-6. This is a welcome change from what I can only call the tedious drudgery of reading 8-10; a lot of people are doing pre-ToM re-reads, but most of them are starting with KoD rather than at the beginning. It's not perfect, of course; at one point in TGS Sanderson has an Aiel (Rhuarc or Bael, IIRC) refer to the Three-Fold Land as "the Waste" which Aiel, of course, never do, but all in all the series is noticeably improved. For those who've not read the latest volumes: Do so, if only to cleanse your palette of things like APoD and CoT (I still say the former is the worst in the series, but most choose the latter). For those still plodding through books 8-10: TGS will remind you why you love the series, often. I literally couldn't put it down, which was unfortunate since I read it in between 12 hour shifts (I think I got all of 90 minutes sleep that day).
I think that's all things WoT until Towers of Midnight hits stores 2 November. Yes, I know about Dragonmount and Theoryland but, while I've nothing against them, I visit neither. I really hate not being able to talk WoT with Grondy anymore, but I have to admit I smile a little knowing he got to find out Who Killed Asmodean? straight from the horses mouth before any of us.
) General connections between Seanchan and Black Ajah I attribute to the Tower and the Crystal Throne being the dominant forces on each continent, so it's only natural the Darkfriends of the world would stay in touch, most likely via their Forsaken minders. I mean, our first introduction to the Seanchan was Suroth, IIRC.
