Warning! There are spoilers ahead, and if you haven't read to the latest book, and want it to be a surprise, just keep on moving!

Theories in red have been "disproved". Those in blue are no longer "theories" but fact. Explanations are given in italics if either of the above applies.

Moiraine was stilled

• Her and Lan's bond was broken.
• Lanfear was/is stronger and could have stilled her

Moiraine wasn't stilled

• The connection between the worlds could have snapped, thus severing Lan's bond, or Moiraine could have broken it herself.
• Moiraine had the upper-hand when going through the doorway; i.e. she could have stilled Lanfear not the other way around.
• She would be useless to the plot if she was unable to channel.

Moiraine and Lanfear are Cyndane

• She is short like Moiraine
• The Dark One could have reincarnated Lanfear using Moiraine's body.

We know that Lanfear was reincarnated with Cyndane's body.

She isn't Cyndane

• They look nothing alike except for their height. Moiraine has dark hair and eyes, while Cyndane has silvery hair and blue eyes.

Again, we know that Lanfear is Cyndane.

Moiraine is dead

• The bond between her and Lan is gone.
• The ter'angreal which she went through has been destroyed.
• If Lanfear died and is now Cyndane, chances are Moiraine is dead.

Moiraine's letter to Thom confirms that Moiraine did indeed survive the doorway.

Moiraine will return

• Egwene had a dream indicating Moiraine;
"...Thom Merrilin put his hand into a fire to draw out the small blue stone that now dangled on Moiraine's forehead." What Can Be Learned in Dreams,The Fires of Heaven

• In book seven Min thinks about Moiraine;
"...Moiraine was the only viewing of hers that had ever failed" Into the Woods, A Crown of Swords

"The Letter" and the upcoming rescue by Thom, Mat, and mystery man confirms her return.

Moiraine and Siuan were lovers

• In the novella New Spring the term "pillow friends" is used to describe the two young Aes Sedai. Moiraine's reaction to the phase is that it is a very personal thing between those involved. There is also quite a bit of evidence in the novel version of New Spring


Robert Jordan finally confirmed, without any room for doubt, that "pillow friends" means a sexual relationship. Link

TamyrlinSeat's Theory

"Moiraine is alive and unstilled, but Lanfear burned out and died because Moiraine pulled the angreal out of her hands before they fell, removing the buffer between the large amount of saidar she was holding."

Yet again, Lanfear is not dead.

Corinne's Theory

Stuff from the story:
• We don't see Moiraine die. We only see her and Lanfear fall into the ter'angreal and then have the ter'angreal blow up.
• Moiraine never says she would die. She merely says that she was "gone."
• One of the wise ones says "You are a fool." to Rand after he bemoans the fact that he thinks Moiraine is dead.
• Egwene dreams of Thom pulling a blue stone (like the one on Moiraine's forehead) out of a fire.
• Moiraine says that she knows the identity of her future husband, although she qualifies it with the fact that she might just share an ignorance. If she's dead, then she can't have a husband.
• She only says that she might just share an ignorance because she regrets sharing the knowledge.
• We probably haven't seen the last of the A/Eelfinn. The Tower of Ghenjei has been mentioned and not used, and given RJ's propensity to use just about everything mentioned, this implies that we'll meet them again.
• Moiraine says to Thom that she is sure she will see him again.
• Min says that Moiraine was the only viewing of hers that ever failed. She thinks she should be alive.
• Min says that Rand would fail without a woman who was dead and gone, and Moiraine is the only woman dead and gone who might help Rand.
• Thom says that he left her to die, so that probably means that he would want to help save her if possible.

Rationalizations
• What about Lan's bond being broken?

° Moiraine was stilled.

˙ The reaction of the ter'angreal after Moiraine and Lanfear resembled the reaction observed when two ter' angreals linked in some way interacted, ie Egwene in the testing ter'angreal.
˙ This sort of reaction has been mentioned to cause stilling.
˙ This will make Thom's upcoming marriage to Moiraine if it happens, a lot easiar as Thom's comments are usually along the lines of, "She's a fine women if only she wasn't Aes Sedai."
° Moiraine deliberately broke the bond

˙ We know the Aes Sedai can break the bond because Moiraine muses about when Lan will ask for the bond to be severed. Also the story of the Accepted who bonded someone implied that she could and did break the bond.
˙ We know that bond setting can be done without the consent of the bonded so I propose that bond breaking can also be done without the consent of the bonded.
˙ She might have feared that if she did not Lan would have followed through the doorway (she not perhaps knowing the doorway would be destroyed) with bad results but as soon as she did he would be forced to go to Myrelle.

•Why wouldn't Lanfear kill Moiraine in the A/Eelfinn land?

° The A/Eelfinn seem to have ways of restraining the One Power as evidenced by Mat's Amulet.
° If Moiraine was stilled by the above, that would imply that Lanfear was, too.

Story related reasons:
• Lanfear is too major a character to be dead already.

° Lanfear is too interlinked with Rand to be already dead. She has not been exploited enough as a character.
° As seen in the end of TFOH, Rand has a serious problem fighting a woman. Unless the dark one turns out to be, or take the form of, a woman, then Lanfear remains the symbol of this "deficiency." If Rand is to resolve this, it seems likely that a fight with Lanfear would be a way to resolve this.
° She also represents a temptation to "challenge the dark one and the creator" and a strong link to his past.

• Moiraine shouldn't be dead either.

° Moiraine and Thom have had a relationship foreshadowed.
° Moiraine makes a good candidate for the Cairhien throne.

Not all of this theory has been proven or disproven as of yet. However, we do now know that Lanfear and Moiraine survived the fall through the doorway, although Lanfear did run into a "problem" once there. ;)