The Shadow Rising question

*** SPOILER WARNING ***
*** SPOILER WARNING ***
*** SPOILER WARNING ***

Each time Rand steps deeper into the columns, he sees an important event through the eyes of one of his ancestors.

The first scene starts with the most recent event, and the last scene is the most distant.

The point of the scene is to explain the history of the Aiel, and point out how they have changed over the 3,000 since the Age of Legends.

At the time that the Dark One was freed by Beidomon and Lanfear, the Aiel were pascifists, following the Way of the Leaf.

In the chaos of the War of the Shadow, and later, the madness of the male Aes Sedai due to the new taint on Saidin, the Aiel were charged by the Aes Sedai to protect a load of angreal and ter'angreal.

While travelling the world looking for safety, the Aiel were repeatedly assaulted by other survivors. Some of the first Aiel to abandon the Way of the Leaf while protecting their families were shunned by other Aiel. Those shunned continued to follow the Way of the Leaf and eventually became the Tinkers. Later, a similar split between the remaining Aiel created the "modern" Aiel and the Jenn, the "True Aiel".

Despite attacks causing a degredation of the Aiel's culture and beliefs, there were some people who were kind to the Aiel travellers. One man offered to freely share the water from his well with the Aiel. This man, and this well, would later be critical to the founding of the nation of Cairhien, and future Aiel would reward this act of kindness with a cutting of Avendesora, which would later be cut down by Laman, triggering the Aiel War.

The final scene shows the near completion of Rhuidean, notes the near extinction of the Jenn Aiel, and establishes that the city will be important in keeping the Aiel alive as a society.

Just the past, not the future.

I'd recommend going back and re-reading that sequence without letting your mind wander--it's generally considered one of the best-written and most exciting passages in the series. Obviously you are not required to agree or anything, but it's worth giving a fair shot :) Not only is it simply action-packed and heartbreaking to see the inevitability with which the Aiel developed, it also provides some great world-building, showing just how much modern people have gotten wrong about the Age of Legends and War of the Shadow. The details of the Aiel's origins also become incredibly important plot points that affect the rest of the book and series.

Isn't he just seeing the past and the possible future of the Aiel and the world?

This is one of the reasons I stopped at book 4. All the various plot points drove me nuts, not to mention the confusing narrative. Mind you, I'm not the smartest of men ...

This is similar to what the ladies go through in the White Tower when they are being raised. If you have read the Harry Potter books then you could compare this to falling into a memory at Professor Dumbledore's Pensive (the bird-bath like stand that contains memories). Rand is physically walking in the city, wending his way between glass towers or rods, but at the same time he is moving into the memories of his ancestors.

This shifting from the "real" world into an alternate world is common throughout the books and it would be worth your time to conquer the skill of moving with them between the worlds :)

You've convinced me to give the chapter another shot. My mind wandered a lot while reading this section (like the OP).

I didn't see the parallels with the Aes Sedai / White Tower, but I'll definitely give it another read this weekend.

I'm halfway through book 5 now though.

He is seeing the past of the aiel through other peoples eyes at the time