New clip about the Aes Sedai

[DragonFairy]

11 minutes ago, Agitel said:

 

It's canon that Rand used the True Power as a glove to prevent the Dark One from backlashing on the saidar and saidin he was channeling to heal the Bore. The DO had to be "pushed" back from the Bore so he could heal it, meaning the One Power he was using would have been in contact with the DO and vulnerable if he hadn't used the True Power as a glove.

 

If Rand hadn't been linked with Moridin, and if Callandor wasn't "flawed", Rand's plan wouldn't have worked.

 

Oh, wow. I never realized he was using the True Power as a glove. Thanks for the insight! But until Rand figured that out, no one knew for sure that Lews Therin's plan wouldn't have worked if the female AS had helped, right? Because they always did their best work when men and women worked together, it was logical to assume that it might have worked.

[MasterAblar]

12 minutes ago, Kudzu said:

What if they added some prophecies about Egwene and Nynaeve (maybe even Elayne and Aviendha) using female pronouns. But have it unclear they aren't actually about the Dragon.

 

I mean 

  Reveal hidden contents

Egwene sacrifices herself to repair the pattern and arguably saves the world in doing so.

 

Even if they include the existing prophesies with the male pronoun, wouldn't the addition of something like that be enough to sow some doubts with Moiraine, without it actually being possible the DR could be female?

 

As a solution this isn't the worst to be honest. Make it unclear which prophecies refer to the dragon reborn and which don't, so it just ends up as a misunderstanding. Its still pretty damn obvious in the books the dragon reborn is male for all kinds of reasons but at least it would help a little.

[Rose]

14 minutes ago, Kudzu said:

What if they added some prophecies about Egwene and Nynaeve (maybe even Elayne and Aviendha) using female pronouns. But have it unclear they aren't actually about the Dragon.

 

I mean 

  Reveal hidden contents

Egwene sacrifices herself to repair the pattern and arguably saves the world in doing so.

 

Even if they include the existing prophesies with the male pronoun, wouldn't the addition of something like that be enough to sow some doubts with Moiraine, without it actually being possible the DR could be female?

 

This is a cool idea. I like it. Sow confusion. Let the Lord of Chaos rule.

 

[DragonFairy]

10 minutes ago, Kudzu said:

What if they added some prophecies about Egwene and Nynaeve (maybe even Elayne and Aviendha) using female pronouns. But have it unclear they aren't actually about the Dragon.

 

I mean 

  Hide contents

Egwene sacrifices herself to repair the pattern and arguably saves the world in doing so.

 

Even if they include the existing prophesies with the male pronoun, wouldn't the addition of something like that be enough to sow some doubts with Moiraine, without it actually being possible the DR could be female?

 

But then we drift even further from the original story. That's the problem with changes. They have a ripple effect, so you have to be very careful about what you change.

 

For instance, in LoTR movies: Aragorn's character was changed from a leader ready to assume his throne to a reluctant leader afraid of his human weakness. But he does his duty always and still helps to save Gondor and becomes king. But, change Sam's unwavering loyalty to Frodo, and Frodo never makes it to Mount Doom, and Sauron wins.

[Rose]

8 minutes ago, DragonFairy said:

 

Oh, wow. I never realized he was using the True Power as a glove. Thanks for the insight! But until Rand figured that out, no one knew for sure that Lews Therin's plan wouldn't have worked if the female AS had helped, right? Because they always did their best work when men and women worked together, it was logical to assume that it might have worked.

 

Yes some people might assume that, but they would have been wrong. The initial point @Agitel was making is that the female Aes Sedai were not to blame for the taint. The DO's counterstroke would have happened even if they'd helped. 

[DragonFairy]

23 minutes ago, Agitel said:

Also, maybe we shouldn't be looking at is as Moiraine being made woke. Maybe instead we should look at it as proof that the women of show-WOT will be as full of it as their book counterparts. That's exactly how many of the Aes Sedai and even just women look at men, and why the "wonder girls" are seen as insufferable. 

 

More to be said there, but I got to sign off.

 

I don't see it as Moiraine herself being made woke. And showing how full of themselves the Aes Sedai are? Yeah! All for that! But it means they have to learn that the Dragon never could have been a female for it to really serve that purpose. And like I said in a previous comment, that's the only way I can think of that would make me accept that change at the beginning.

[DragonFairy]

3 minutes ago, Rose said:

 

Yes some people might assume that, but they would have been wrong. The initial point @Agitel was making is that the female Aes Sedai were not to blame for the taint. The DO's counterstroke would have happened even if they'd helped. 

 

Yes, I understand. But in the books, the female AS had no way of knowing that for sure that I can recall, and therefore could't rightfully put all the blame on the male AS since they refused to even try to help. They didn't know the DO was going to backlash and taint saidin, did they?

[Rose]

7 minutes ago, DragonFairy said:

 

Yes, I understand. But in the books, the female AS had no way of knowing that for sure that I can recall, and therefore could't rightfully put all the blame on the male AS since they refused to even try to help. They didn't know the DO was going to backlash and taint saidin, did they?

 

They didn't, but when have we ever known the AS in the books to give men the benefit of the doubt ? Blaming the male AS is completely in character.

[Kudzu]

1 hour ago, DragonFairy said:

 

But then we drift even further from the original story. That's the problem with changes. They have a ripple effect, so you have to be very careful about what you change.

 

For instance, in LoTR movies: Aragorn's character was changed from a leader ready to assume his throne to a reluctant leader afraid of his human weakness. But he does his duty always and still helps to save Gondor and becomes king. But, change Sam's unwavering loyalty to Frodo, and Frodo never makes it to Mount Doom, and Sauron wins.

 

I was actually trying to bring it back closer to the original story to what some others are suggesting might happen. I was positing an example of how a small change, a couple of extra lines of prophesy, that reference events as they occur in the books could add some doubt as the gender of the DR.

 

I agree, any changes need be very carefully thought through. They'll very quickly tie themselves into knots if they don't consider the ramifications of changes beyond the scope of the first couple of books. But Rafe has mentioned in interviews the ripple effect changes can have on this story, so we can have some confidence they will be logical for the show, even if they upset us book nerds.

 

I'm still not entirely convinced it isn't just marketing, though I'll concede this latest drop suggests it is more likely at least some in the show will believe a female Dragon is possible.

[Jackdaw_Fool]

Ripple effects: So if the Aes Sedai do truly believe the dragon could be male or female, then presumably most everyone in the world thinks the same. So with this change, there should be plenty of false female dragons, right? Not even just women who can channel but just women seeking greater political power. Especially if there is this concept of people actually hoping  for a female dragon, like is being suggested here. Imagine the effects on the world's history. Further, imagine the effects on Aes Sedai history and politics (scheming Aes Sedai believing they might be the dragon)...

 

I'd prefer not to imagine any of that because I really liked the story as written. Guess I'll be hoping Rafe's "Spiral Snakey Thing of Time" inspired by (that's looking to be a better term than adapted from) Jordan's The Wheel of Time still turns out to be an enjoyable watch...

[Kudzu]

25 minutes ago, Kudzu said:

I'm still not entirely convinced it isn't just marketing, though I'll concede this latest drop suggests it is more likely at least some in the show will believe a female Dragon is possible.

I just noticed the story on the front page says this is actually the first minute of the show, (don't think I saw anyone in the thread mention that?) Which means it definitely isn't just marketing trickery. This has to be the big change Brandon was talking about. I don't like it (yet). But I'm not going to get too worked up until I see how they handle it.

[Ryan al'Thor]

37 minutes ago, Kudzu said:

I just noticed the story on the front page says this is actually the first minute of the show, (don't think I saw anyone in the thread mention that?) Which means it definitely isn't just marketing trickery. This has to be the big change Brandon was talking about. I don't like it (yet). But I'm not going to get too worked up until I see how they handle it.

That would be an unfortunate first minute

[Guest Wolfbrother31]

*Shakes head*

*Shakes head*

...

 

You know. In the last, what ... year  of anticipation & ups & downs & theories & posting and reading other people's thoughts ...

 

The first trailer was a highpoint for me. 

 

This is about the lowest I've been. 

 

I feel like @Elder_Haman usually talks me off the ledge ... Help me out man. I'm feeling pretty gloomy.

 

Why? Just why? 

I reeeally don't understand the motivation behind making a legit possibility of a female dragon. 

What's the payoff/the gain?

 

Because, as has been pointed out at length, this has HUGE ramifications for the prophecies, for the Aes Sedai, for Egwene and Nynaeve's character development and motivations, ECT... 

 

I'm feeling like my only chance of liking this show is to have someone strike me on the head specifically where my WoT knowledge/memories are located.

 

Because, if I know nothing about WoT, then ... and only then ... Could I go - "Ok, yeah of course, the Dragon could be male or female. Why wouldn't they be able to?" 

 

Even my eternally optimistic friends here on DM ... Honestly, I mean, honestly ... Doesn't this put a bit of pit in your stomach and make you go, "Blood and bloody ashes ... What if @Thrasymachus was right all along?" ?

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Wolfbrother31

[TheMountain]

I'm very down today as well.

[Guire]

Alright so by time Mo and Lan pick up EF5 I see both Mo/Lan as mostly completed characters.  They are fully realized adults.  

 

Their arcs involve adapting to transfer of control to EF5 and being support instead of drivers of saving the world.  They have been on this journey several decades.  Mo has spent much of this time learning about the Dragon and prophecy to be able to find him.  She continues learning throughout series, but her knowledge has massively increased since she bonded Lan at end of New Spring.  

 

What if early episodes show us Moraine early in quest and we get to see her evolve her ideas and knowledge. So then the world like early Mo may have this incomplete conflicting idea of Dragon.  Audience gets to grow it's understanding of Dragon.  Mo may still be using Aes Sedai speak to manipulate EF5.  We as book junkies don't have to drink a bottle of booze to watch and enjoy show.

[Indil]

Making first time viewers think the Dragon may be female. Fine.

Making Aes Sedai think the Dragon may be female. Also fine.

Making the Dragon actually can be female? Absolutely NOT fine with me. I hope for the first two, but we probably cannot tell which is the case until near the end of season 1.

 

I really do not understand why they should change this lore. If they are going for "the chosen one can be a female" thing, it still makes no sense. Rand will be the Dragon Reborn by the end of the day, then why the effort? They can very well just mention the female counterpart of the Dragon for the sake of woke and feminism, instead of making the Dragon possibly a female. Which leads to all sorts of inconsistency in world building they'll have to fix, and irritating book nerds like me.

[Morani]

First of, I don't think the changes is necessary either. It does not put me off the series, but I am a bit miffed about it. 

 

HOWEVER - as to how big ramifications it will have: Does the prophecies ever mention specifically that the Dragon will go mad? Not to my knowledge. Isn't it mostly talk about (him) breaking the world to save it? How painful the salvation of the world will be.  I do not see how that would be gender specific, it would mostly mean that for the Light to win, there will be a big price to pay. 

 

Also, we as readers know a lot of things as a fact (the gender specific souls, for example). But how on earth would people in randland know this for a fact? It would be all religion and mysticism to them. A lot of knowledge is lost during 3000 years, especially if you add a breaking to that. I bet a lot of people do not actually believe in the Dragon. After all: Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.

 

Edit: I would also like to point out that the breaking of nations, making the Aeil see their way and follow him, and all the other important things that happens in the books does, as far as I know, really have nothing to do with Rand being mad. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Morani

[Arthellion]

Honestly it boils down to them making the key tension of season one “Who is the dragon?” More prominent.

 

They’ve made Rand and Egwene much closer from the start so I imagine this will be a much more dramatic split when it’s revealed Rand is the dragon and not Egwene. Expect the first season to be full of frustration as they constantly hint at Egwene being the dragon only to turn at the end to reveal its Rand.

[Borderlander]

8 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

What if @Thrasymachus was right all along?" ?

 

He often was, especially last year when we were all guessing about the release dates. Dude never wavered.

[Borderlander]

17 hours ago, Maximillion said:

I just read online that Rafe has said in an interview that the story is about a different turning of the wheel to the books. Can't find the interview clip right now, but will hunt it down.

 

This has become a common mantra (although I don't think it's officially endorsed by Amazon), but I find it to be a cheap excuse, only made possible because Wheel of Time IS literally the Wheel of Time. There is no other (or very few) other shows/books you could adapt and say "It's just another turning of the wheel," or "it's just another spinning of the web," or what have you. And yet other shows/books are adapted all the time, and when/if the adaptations differ significantly from the source material, those showrunners can only shrug and say, "hey, it's an adaptation, what do you expect?" Only with the Wheel of Time can the showrunners shift the blame or try to sidestep the issue by saying, "hey, think of it like a new turning of the wheel."

 

Because, really, if it was a New Turning of the Wheel, would Rand's name still be Rand al'Thor, and would his friends' names be Mat, Perrin, Egwene, and Nyneave? Would Emond's Field still be named (the) Two Rivers? Would the trollocs show up on Winternight? Would there be a gleeman specifically named Thom and a trader specifically named Padan Fain?

 

I don't believe RJ ever definitively answered the question of exactly how alike are the Ages when they come again. Is every single molecule in the world the same, every name, every spoken word, every blade of grass in every field, every cloud in the sky, every thought in every person's head? My impression was alwasy to the contrary; not everything is the exact, carbon-copy same. Names might changes. Minor 'plot' points might change. The same ta'veren souls might be spun back out, yes, but how they navigate from Point A to Point B might change. 

 

But this TV show is about Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Thom, Tam, Fain, Lan, Moiraine, (the) Two Rivers, etc, etc, etc. This is not another turning of the wheel—this is the story from the books, adapted for television, with significant creative liberties taken. The showrunners should abandon any halfhearted pretense with these cheap excuses and own up to what they are producing, for better or worse.

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Borderlander
fixed typos

[Guest Wolfbrother31]

5 minutes ago, Borderlander said:

But this TV show is about Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Thom, Tam, Fain, Lan, Moiraine, (the) Two Rivers, etc, etc, etc. This is not another turning of the wheel—this is the story from the books, adapted for television, with significant creative liberties taken. The showrunners should abandon any halfhearted pretense with these cheap excuses and own up to what they are producing, for better or worse.

 

Very well said. Couldn't agree more. 

Stop with cheap excuses. 

 

Right now ... I can only speculate about the "why's" of so massive a change (that the Dragon could be female) ... So I'll just hold off judgement for awhile. 

 

[It's so close. My excitement and fears will be so heightened this next two weeks! ] 

 

But here's why I'm down right now (I've had more time to process)...

 

Every great story is driven by compelling questions that we all feel are relevant in our own lives. [Think about the "Dark Knight" Bale & Ledger embodying and wrestling over "Are people basically good or basically evil?"]

 

Best case scenario for this change is what has been mentioned: 

They really want to lean into the question: Who is the Dragon? 

I think that's a stupid thing to lean into. Others disagree. But I would argue this isn't a compelling question.

 

I'd rather they lean into: why is the possibility of being the Dragon (a Savior figure) such a fear to the three boys. And how would small town (backwoods, ignorant, set in their ways) people react to being told, "Come on this journey to save the world!" (That's what the books lean into & what we can relate to ... We all want to be activists right - well, no, actually small town people like me are pretty resistant to big city folks with grand ideas of changing the world and being SJW's...we don't trust "the arrogance" of such people). Other people, like Eggy, are eager to get out and go on an adventure - be important - but they're immature and selfish. 

 

With this change, will those themes be explored at all?? Maybe. The line by Matt, "Have you completely lost your mind?" Suggests they might get some of that right. 

 

But, that's the best case scenario...that they're heavily leaning into the WRONG QUESTION. 

 

Hence. Down. 

 

The worst case scenario is ... The people with the $$ and real power to decide things (the ppl a lvl above Rafe even) don't care what they change/the ramifications to WoT as long as it's "relevant" to their worldview.

 

[Probably going to have tears on my part if that's the case].

 

If that's what this indicates. They're going to butcher the WoT. 

 

Why do I say that? 

 

Because that particular "relevant" worldview doesn't understand country folks at all. Label, dismiss, dispise. They're just uneducated. Overly religious. Out of touch. Racist. Bigots. Ect... 

 

The beauty of WoT is how much we can relate to flawed people and cultures and the complexity and the world-building...

 

RJ was compelled by the question: how would actual small-town people react to being called on an epic journey? 

 

My faith in decision makers for WoT is at an all-time low... And I hope this explained why.

 

 

[Agitel]

I think the main motivation for allowing the Dragon Reborn to possibly be reborn as a woman (even if that doesn't happen) is that soul-gender essentialism and the idea that the savior metaphysically has to be a man are not kosher in today's world, and I think the second one is the bigger reason. It didn't sit well with some readers, either, and Jordan got pummeled with questions  on it a few times, and some posters on Dragonmount were disgruntled by it even a decade ago.

 

We know the lore is not as simple as all that, but that's what they're dealing with. They don't want the show panned right out of the gate.

 

And to be clear, this is just my speculation, which I think is balanced, but who knows. I haven't exactly discussed it with Rafe or or Amazon executives.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Agitel

[SinisterDeath]

13 hours ago, Elder_Haman said:

It is given a backwoods sheepherder who is destined to go insane. That's pretty terrifying, actually.

Not just a backwoods sheepherder, one that's so stubborn, they say "You woolhead! You're as stubborn as Rand al'Thor!"

  

12 hours ago, Agitel said:

Also, maybe we shouldn't be looking at is as Moiraine being made woke. Maybe instead we should look at it as proof that the women of show-WOT will be as full of it as their book counterparts. That's exactly how many of the Aes Sedai and even just women look at men, and why the "wonder girls" are seen as insufferable. 

This.

Aes Sedai aren't omniscient, though they certainly act it. 

As I've said before, in the books there is no organized religion as far as we know. What the people largely know about the cosmos is based on.. what? Is there some text in WoT that explains with certainty the metaphysics of souls in the wheel of time? 

We don't know. Though there aught to be something given character knowledge.

 

We have a world, with a set of rules. A set of rules the dominating political faction (Aes Sedai) seems to believe they know all of them.

We can have characters believing souls aren't tied to gender and have the world as described as Jordan made it, where they are very much tied to gender. 

Just because a character believes something, doesn't make it true to the rules of the universe.

Much like when Aes Sedai told Nyneave you can't heal someone who is stilled. Those were the immutable laws of the universe... and they were wrong.
 

  

12 hours ago, Kudzu said:

What if they added some prophecies about Egwene and Nynaeve (maybe even Elayne and Aviendha) using female pronouns. But have it unclear they aren't actually about the Dragon.

 

I mean 

  Hide contents

Egwene sacrifices herself to repair the pattern and arguably saves the world in doing so.

 

Even if they include the existing prophesies with the male pronoun, wouldn't the addition of something like that be enough to sow some doubts with Moiraine, without it actually being possible the DR could be female?

Definitely an interesting thought.
After all, there's prophecies that literally talk about Mat & Perrin.. why would they not have prophecies concerning Egwene/Nyneave/Min/Aveindha?

 

  

10 hours ago, Jackdaw_Fool said:

Ripple effects: So if the Aes Sedai do truly believe the dragon could be male or female, then presumably most everyone in the world thinks the same. So with this change, there should be plenty of false female dragons, right? Not even just women who can channel but just women seeking greater political power. Especially if there is this concept of people actually hoping  for a female dragon, like is being suggested here. Imagine the effects on the world's history. Further, imagine the effects on Aes Sedai history and politics (scheming Aes Sedai believing they might be the dragon)...

This would just doubly make sure Aes Sedai are vigilant about testing girls in villages to make sure some rogue wilder doesn't try something...

 

  

9 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

Doesn't this put a bit of pit in your stomach and make you go, "Blood and bloody ashes ... What if @Thrasymachus was right all along?" ?

Nope.

 

Now if the Season Finale has Siuan declare Egwene the Dragon, while Perrin, Rand and Mat become her warders... then he'd probably be right.

 

  

35 minutes ago, Borderlander said:

Because, really, if it was a New Turning of the Wheel, would Rand's name still be Rand al'Thor, and would his friends' names be Mat, Perrin, Egwene, and Nyneave? Would Emond's Field still be named (the) Two Rivers? Would the trollocs show up on Winternight? Would there be a gleeman specifically named Thom and a trader specifically named Padan Fain?

Via RJ's description of age laces, other turnings Rand's soul is always Rand's soul, but that doesn't mean he always has the same name, the same upbringing, the same parents, the same birth spot, the same personality/values, or even the same birth-story... and yet, certain ages are going to look very similar. The Same age in another turning may have all the same characters, except Narg is now Steve. Perrin has a dorky axe instead of his iconic half-moon axe. Mat has a crappy childhood, and Tam actually talks to his son.

 

  

35 minutes ago, Borderlander said:

But this TV show is about Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Thom, Tam, Fain, Lan, Moiraine, (the) Two Rivers, etc, etc, etc. This is not another turning of the wheel—this is the story from the books, adapted for television, with significant creative liberties taken. The showrunners should abandon any halfhearted pretense with these cheap excuses and own up to what they are producing, for better or worse

Everyone knew from the beginning this is "an adaptation", that they were going to (and had to) cut content, and compress the story for television. This often includes "liberties" of expanding side characters to help fill in the gaps between the main characters storylines that sit around doing nothing for 4 books except mope about trying to find their lost wife. ? 

[Brytac]

Starting to (sadly) get very bad vibes from this.

 

I really hope I am wrong and its amazing.

 

 

[JaimAybara]

 

For those saying this is building up the potential arrogance of the Aes Sedai and that eventually they will be proven wrong or perspective shifting…I personally think this is wishful thinking. Again, it just feels like someone said, “how come it’s only men who can be the Dragon?” And then they made a half baked justification so everyone can be. Then they had to shoehorn in “maybe he is a woman now”, Which again is so unnecessary considering the awesomeness of all the characters in the series that are women and they accomplishments they have. Wasn’t Rand who countered balefire…it’s all the more impressive particularly since they are not Ta’veren. It just felt like a not so subtle political agenda insertion due to gender conversations these days and the gendered magic system was ordered to be struck down or altered. (And RJ can’t be here to say no. Which frequently happens with older properties.) 
 

This paired with the lame additions to Mat and Perrin’s backstory has me a bit prickly. Ohhh, we need everyone to potentially be the Dragon Reborn, annnnnd if it is a woman it will be EVEN better than if it’s one of the guys, oh also…make Perrin way shadier by letting his wife die and Mat shadier by giving him trashy garbage parents, but give no clues or any hint at all whatsoever that we will do anything of the sort like that to any of the female leads core character development. So…it’s socially acceptable to dump all over male leads and change their story from the way it was originally written? (The closest I can think of to dropping the ball either a female lead was GoT Daenerys, but that was more of they didn’t know where it went because the books weren’t written). Then the fans that get upset by this are at times criticized for feelin this way, but if we did so with the female leads even one bit what conversations would we be hearing or seeing??? People would be understandably pissed off and I would be with them. So, this is a legitimate question. Would we randomly inject that Egwene has terrible parents which make her a more of a questionable person? Or imply that either one of them were super shady characters out of the gate? Just to randomly inject more drama or alter their stories so significantly it changes who they are? No. And the arguments explaining why it’s okay to do so with the male leads are tepid at best, but it’s also a testament to how it’s becoming “okay” to do this to male characters in general. It’s done all the time. Complaints of male main hero’s are everywhere. As if there isn’t a plethora of female leads these days. However, to me this would be akin to injecting an entire subplot into Hunger Games which makes us think Gale was going to volunteer as tribute, or if we are using savior themes, implying Chani or Jessica was the Chosen one…there is no point in doing that because it messes with and sacrifices lore simply for brownie points with a viewer. Another minor example of messing with a character I’m not thrilled about is Lan emoting as much as he did. All these are seriously weak additions that are lent specifically and only to the men, either due to post modern social norms and stereotypes or new “desired” traits. Subsequently everything that “elevates” someone goes towards the women. And it’s not one or the other that bother me it’s the coupling of these things that’s so frustrating and makes it more glaring. 

 

I think dudes have some right to be angry. It’s becoming more and more socially acceptable to screw with their moral character on screen, but not to do so with the women counterparts? (I’m looking at you Disney) This feels clunky, prejudicial, and patronizing. I could be wrong…I admit this, but it doesn’t feel nuanced at all and it doesn’t feel 100% just Aes Sedai condescension. I will also clarify this is based on what I’ve seen so far and this could change when I see the show, but as of now I’m not super thrilled. Lastly, I think they are leaning into the whole, “it’s a new spinning of the wheel”, way too much to cover for their iffy alterations. It’s manipulating book readers to placate them against these changes. To me it’s a lovely crutch of an excuse for lackluster changes. Making Perrin kill a fake wife isn’t condensing plot. It’s complicating it further. In truth, it could come back to bite them plot wise later.