On 12/28/2021 at 4:27 PM, hurin said:

Thanks for the review.   Being a massive WoT fan since the EoTW came out in 1990, it's hard for me to say anything positive about this series.  It's not that it's complete garbage, but it's the fact that they took such a phenomenal fantasy series and then strayed so far from the source material that it barely resembles - it actually doesn't - the same world.  You simply cannot deny that they purposefully - and for no good reason - made changes that they simply did not need to do.  They had a magical blueprint in Game of Thrones for how to adapt a book series to a TV series successfully and ignored it.  It's a simple blueprint, really:

 

1.  Cast the TV show characters to look very close to their book descriptions.  You can make some minor exceptions, but otherwise, stick to the book.  By doing this, you keep your fan base in the story.  The WoT series tried so hard for woke diversity that the casting makes no sense in the world that Robert Jordan built.  You watch the series and are constantly taken out of the story because the characters look nothing like they are described in the book.

I could live with "nothing like what they look like in the book" IF the decisions made sense. For instance: Emonds Field has been out in the middle of nowhere for MANY generations, since the breaking, and hasn't even seen a tax collector from andor in the last couple hundred years (to the point many don't REALLY even think of themselves as Andoran) - at that point there'd be a pretty homogenous population. They'd all look pretty similar racially speaking, with the reasonable exception of Rand (who should at LEAST look enough like the rest of them that "which is the one born outside the two rivers" isn't an immediately obvious answer). I don't care if the entire Emond's Field cast was black, which would go against the books BUT it's not a detail critical to characters - they need to look similar.

Later, characters are identified largely by physical features (honestly - much as we do now) and that identifies whether they're taraboner, shinerian, tairen, etc. If areas are homogenous, that doesn't *work*.

Siuan is kinda the worst case of this - again, I don't care that she's black, but the extensive tattoos make her visually more in line with the sea folk than a tairen, especially since her dad has very similar ones which give the appearance of clan tattoos in that case.

 

On 12/28/2021 at 4:27 PM, hurin said:

3. Per #2, maintain the same relationships that were in the books.  They worked.  Moiraine and Siuane are now lesbians? 

Ok, gonna disagree with you here. Mo and Siuan are canonically lesbians. They even kissed in their single "on-camera" moment in the main book series (not counting the prequel), and they slept together multiple times in New Spring. They're two parts of the canonical "love pentagram" and their relationship was confirmed by both RDJ and BS. 

On 12/28/2021 at 4:27 PM, hurin said:

 

What about her and Thom's eventual relationship?  I guess it could still happen.. but it lessens the likelihood and significance of it. It also takes away from Moiraine's singular focus on finding the Dragon Reborn and stopping the Dark One.  It's just goofy and obviously done for Woke Points.  It deviates from the established story for no good reason, as does most of the changes.  

OH CRAP SHE'S BI.

My sister is bi and has had multiple relationships with women, is now married to a man, and I don't think it's "lost any significance".

The fact that she's so focused on the goal is why they don't get to hook up often - they even comment on it.

On 12/28/2021 at 4:27 PM, hurin said:

4.  The ending.  So.. so.. so.. bad.  That is all I will say here.  Anyone who is a fan of the books will just hate it.  Because it should be hated.  It was that bad.

Yes.

On 12/26/2021 at 9:49 AM, UnCrowned King said:

BTW I'm just curious, with Moraine and Suanne being lovers and all, why wouldn't Suanne have taught Moraine how to open a Gateway? (that was how she traveled to her room, right?) (Lan didn't look supprised?) What need for the Ways?  What need even for horses at this point in the story? ? Terrible.  Guess that was also due to the Pandemic?

Okay, so... that's one of my most major rants for the SEASON.

Traveling is a Big. Freaking. Deal. It's been lost to time, and it's later rediscovery in the books is a Major Game Changer (a pretty substantive part of the stalemate between the Rebels and the Loyalists is the fact that the Rebels have Traveling and the Loyalists don't).

But Siuan and Moiraine can just use it to get to sexy time?

The other alternative is that the mirror takes you to T'A'R but that poses an entirely different set of plot issues - namely, again, this is an amazingly powerful artifact you two have kept hidden for the purposes of sexy time, and the fact there weren't the constant shifting of objects and such would imply either Siuan or Mo has an unbelievably high level of control there, which trivializes both the Aiel's mastery of that place and/or Egwene's growth there as the first dreamer since Corian (sp?)

Either way... WTF?

But there's more:

Using the oath rod to swear an oath the amyrlin is *UNHEARD OF* which is why it's so major when the DA Hunters do something similar later. There's too much reference for that artifact to use it like that.

Burning out during a link is impossible. That's also a plot point later - on both the Sul'Dam/Damane side and the Aes Sedai. It comes up during the discussion about the bowl of winds, too. It's similar to the notion that pulling power through an angreal or sa'angreal has a similar effect, and notably callandor DOESN'T have that restriction which is part of what makes it so damn unsafe to use.

Unrelated to The Power, but also annoying:

The horn was just sitting in a chest in Fal Dara where everyone knew about it? The Hunt for the Horn is a Big Freaking Deal and you know that if it was just sitting around in a chest it'd have been "discovered" a long time ago. We NEED the annual Hunt to happen, that's where we get the characters of Faile and Luc (and birgitte), and at various points in the story different characters pretend to be hunters for the horn. In all the attacks on Fal Dara, not one warrior has ever thought "damn the legend, I'm going to be The One and blow it NOW?!?" Seriously? That strains credulity.

Jenkins is breaking a LOT of rules here, and they're ones that will bite him in the ass in story later... I feel like he didn't read the later books so he doesn't know the consequences of what he's doing. And it was all unnecessary:

Make Moiraine simply swear the same oath never to return on her hope of salvation and rebirth. She's theoretically incapable of breaking that oath unless you know about how the black ajah's oaths work (which at THIS point does not appear anyone on the good side does).

Siuan and Mo use some conventional means of sneaking around to do sexy time. God knows with their history as pranksters in the White Tower (they were fred and george weasley before fred and george ever existed)

Just have the girls in the link in LOTS of pain (it IS exhausting, everyone after The Bowl was exhausted and beat to hell, and it took days to recover from the Cleansing). It makes Egwene's Heal less dramatic, but that's a good thing too.

The horn scene would have worked better than it did even in the books... Rand walks off, Lan walks up, Mo and Lan find the chest with the seal (WTF was the seal doing being so large anyway? HOLY HELL.. we've got to have them WITH us later so we can break them...), the horn and the dragon banner and they're the only ones who know. You do a zoom in on "the grave is no bar to my call" and that's the last cut we see of those two for the season.

ALL of that would have been *easier* (and cheaper in terms of CGI) than how they did it and BETTER for the story.

4 hours ago, SBroc said:

SPOILER!!!

Is it possible with the changes they have made that Liandrin will expand and become a combo of her and Elaida's character in the books?  Then Elaida will just not be a part of the series?  Will she be  the one that takes over the A Seat and leads the tower?  She has been mentioned several times in the episodes as making a grab for power.

Personally this would be fine for me and add another aspect with where her true loyalty lies.  Elaida in the books seemed to be a weaker less intelligent character to me with only her fortelling being interesting and we have lost that with not going to Caemlyn

I would be REALLY surprised if they do that.

Liandrin and her rogues are basically the primary foils for the girls - whereas once the tower split happens Elaida can't really GO anywhere.

There's definitely some merging that can (has, and probably will) happen between characters, but Elaidrin is imho not reasonable.

On 12/12/2021 at 10:43 AM, Dicedagger said:

Moiraine and Siuan now a couple?  Thom and Gareth will surely be disappointed with this.  I realize that the Dark One and those who follow him have a lot of power in our current turn of the wheel, but really?

Umm.. they kissed in the books and there were more references to them being "pillow friends" than any three or four accepted/novice pairings put together.

This might come as a shocker, but them shagging doesn't mean they can't also get jiggy with other people later. Ask Rand about that sometime.

Also, since no one else seems to have said it yet:

WTF HAPPENED TO BELA!?!?!

9 hours ago, Dafyd said:

The big casualty so far this season is Thom, and this episode potentially did still more damage. We only got him an episode and a half, and Rand and Mat developed no loyalty to him. He never so much as met Moiraine, and the lack of Andor this season weakens even more of his backstory. 

Agree. Rand and Mat taking Thom's stuff and surviving across the countryside (which also ripples later) is a big deal.

Thom's cloak is an even bigger casualty. WTF MATES?!?!

They should have introduced him in Emond's field and I'm pretty upset about that.

9 hours ago, Dafyd said:

 

Siuan and Moiraine felt like drama for the sake of drama. Do the two ever meet again in person after Fal Dara in the books? My memory is fuzzy.

I *THINK* they meet at either the end of tGH or early in tDR when they do the ritual to separate mat from the dagger (I THINK mo was there.. I feel like she brought an angreal to the party? I remember for sure Siuan led the circle but not 100% on mo's presence) and then I'd *assume* they bump into each other at the Field of Merrilor but it wasn't 'on camera'.

9 hours ago, Dafyd said:

 

If so, in this case as in so many others, the show runners have to decide whether to double down on changes, which will annoy people who dislike them, or not fully pursue them, which will annoy the people who do like them. Ripples either way.

Trying to be oblique to not spoil, but... although there's some workarounds, Thom and Moiraine not building up their relationship here (although it could easily happen in Tear later?) affects The Letter and Ghenjei (not to mention the aftermath of that). There's a few workarounds in place (and I thought The Aftermath was both unnecessary and out-of-character for both?) so they might choose to abandon that part. I always felt like the aftermath was just a pretext for Ghenjei to happen, and not necessary for that.

I'm kinda in the same boat as you - while I'm applauding some of the changes because it gives me something *new* to see (Moiraine being involved with Logain's capture, for instance), a lot of the changes (perrin's wife, Thom being introduced so late AND so briefly, Rand not climbing the wall, etc) have me scratching my head a bit.

15 hours ago, Mcmaddy said:

Let me guess, no comments saying anything negative about all the erotic bologna get a pass…it sucks that they took something so innocent and beautiful as the friendship between moraine and suan, and moraine and lan, Rand and egwaine and made it sexual. The books let the sexual tensions exist without pointing to it and ruining the mystery. So typical and expected I’m just surprised Jordan’s wife let it fly. Hate to see something awesome go to hell.  

Umm... Did you *read* the books?

Moiraine and Siuan being "pillow friends" was mentioned multiple times over the course of the books, with RJ himself saying that pillow friends is exactly what they did here. When they encountered each other in their first "on camera" meeting (I'm trying to recall the exact spot but it was either very end of tEotW or beginning of tDH, and I'm pretty sure it was Fal Dara) Moiraine kissed her. Moiraine and Siuan are canonically lovers, sorry if that bugs you.

I didn't read anything sexual into Moiraine and Lan's 'bathtime' - again, there's a lot of book precedent. Public/communal bathing is a thing across the borderlands (where Lan is from) and in several other countries... when Rand balks at it in the books even Agelmar is like "lol, no big deal kid...". There's quite a few male/female bathtimes across the books and I don't recall ANY of them actually being sexual (there may have been one with Rand later in the series?) Intimate? Yes. Moiraine and Lan have an incredibly deep relationship, there's affection and more than a little sexual tension (New Spring pretty much reads like flirting to me) but nothing outright sexual. The show is doing a lot more to show the Warder Bond and how these women who have to maintain this great facade to the point of not being able to be themselves get to let their guard down a bit around their warders (similar kinds of conversations between Karene and her warder). These are two people that are 100% comfortable with each other to the point that a non-sexy bathtime is further quashing the notion there's any romantic relationship between the two, and later when we see them supporting each other in their crisis/grief/stress moments (moiraine being at the warder funeral, Lan offering to visit the hall where even warders seldom tread) indicates even more depth to their friendship. These two would go to hell and back for each other. It provides even more depth to the future relationship with Nynaeve (that's about the only thing that ever puts strain on the Mo/Lan relationship, moreso because it creates a conflict of priority with him as opposed to any jealousy, and Nyn is ALWAYS jealous of the warder bond and the fact that Moiraine is closer to Lan in many ways than she can ever be.. it's an interesting spin on the love triangle since the "established couple" isn't a couple)

The entire first book was Rand and Egwene coming to grips with the fact that they probably weren't going to end up together after all, and it got referenced multiple times as well over the course of the series. I dunno how much I agree with Perrin being married and Rand having premaritals with Egwene (his views on premarital sex were a plot point later in the books) but considering they've aged-up all the two rivers folk for the series (very similar to what they did with GoT) I don't see it as out of line. It also makes Perrin less unusual for having a wife (THAT'S a call I didn't agree with, the fridging was an unnecessary addition) since now you have Rand in a sexual relationship, Perrin married and there's at least dialogue supporting the notion that Mat's been around a bit.

I don't think this is "something awesome going to hell". I think that Jordan originally wrote the chapters in question back in an age where gay/lesbian relationships were super taboo (and premarital sex was something you ought to be ashamed of) so 'just hinting at it' was largely how you avoided conservative handwringing and boycotts.

In general, I loved the episode.

Liandrin is a fantastic foil for Moiraine, but I'm curious to see if she ends up overshadowing Elaida as a result? I always felt that Liandrin was more Nynaeve and Elayne's foil more than Moiraine (and truthfully Elaida is more against Siuan). So not really sure how I feel about Liandrin's bigger presence here but the actress who plays her is fantastic.

Costuming remains fantastic (and I'm retracting some of my earlier reservations that, particularly amongst the reds, I wasn't seeing much variation and that felt off).

The fact that the hall doesn't wear stoles and neither does Siuan rubs me wrong. It's a minor detail but it feels important because it helps set the amyrlin as being of all ajahs.. particularly with how into formality Leane is.

With all the focus the books have on Aes Sedai not interfering with each others' business, it feels REALLY weird that it was such a plot point that Moiraine was in trouble for not sharing what she's up to. Particularly when she says she "can't" reveal - that has some pretty heavy implications that there's either a very strong oath or Oath Rod involvement. Either way, that should have appeased Siuan and the Hall (I realized Siuan was already in on the secret, but even publicly it should have blown over).

I don't really like the Oath Rod being used for that. It's supposed to be used for Aes Sedai Oaths only, and it was shocking when Pevara's group used it in the books (trying to phrase obliquely for anti-spoiler purposes). 

Similarly disappointed that The Ways channel open - How would myrdrall lead trollocs through if they can't open the doors? That's also going to make them harder to seal later.

Haven't really decided how I feel about Siuan and Moiraine having their frisky frolic MOSTLY because I didn't like literally how it happened. The ter'angreal used is either replicating traveling or doing something involving world of dreams (theoretically they could have been in T'A'R and we wouldn't know the difference) but EITHER WAY has some implications toward trivializing future reveals. T'A'R is a Big Freaking Deal, so is Traveling, so the ter'angreal existing either way is a bad move. I feel like something sufficiently clandestine but more mundane (meet up in a secret corner or something) would have been better. Their hookup itself is... well, the books all but came out and said it. So yeah. I got more impression in the books that they "were" lovers and now just close friends but this isn't bad. It does pose some challenges for their future storylines BUT there's some easy workarounds there.

I think it's slightly odd that the Hall found it OK that the punishment for Moiraine spending too much time out of the Tower doing her own thing is to... expel her from the Tower where she can permanently do her own thing. If anything I'd have liked to see a bit of Sitter opposition (would have been interesting to see a Red Sitter argue it?)... It's making things really look like Siuan is "sole leader/queen" instead of "first among equals". I think the show has done a good job of showing that the Aes Sedai aren't exactly perfectly united. Liandrin and Moiraine clearly have history (I don't remember that existing in the books *BUT* I'm liking it) but also when the chips were down during Logain's fight Moiraine jumped into the link with no hesitation even though Liandrin led it. That... feels right.

Disappointed (although I 100% get it because of the CGI budgets it would require) that the Tar Valon buildings weren't as fantastical. When I heard the show was being made I was REALLY looking forward to seeing how the city would play out. Also the fact that the Tower is clearly bricks and stuff, in the books it's always addressed as being one giant piece so it's weird to see mortar lines.

I wish there was 10 episodes. I'm sad we didn't get to see Baerlon, Domon and the boat run (which would have been able to foreshadow Genjei) or Caemlyn and Rand climbing the wall (which kinda sets up him climbing The Stone later) but we'll live I guess. Honestly 12 eps would have been just about perfect, OR spending less time with logain and in the tower (none of which was in the books) so that the time could have gone elsewhere.

Although I'm calling a lot of things out, I'm enjoying the show so far. I feel like they're doing a nice job of capturing the overall story, the characters feel "right". I wanted the diminutive Moiraine and Pike is anything but... but she's got the other aspects of the character down. I pictured Lan as the Hulking Brute that's on the tEotW cover so the thinner asian guy is a bit odd... but given that the borderlanders have clearly been based on asian looks and styles I think it makes a lot of sense and he's REALLY awesome at capturing Lan's presence. The Emond's Field actors are doing great. I found it funny that you called out Liandrin as "not how I pictured her" because she's the ONE character that's almost EXACTLY how I pictured her (I pictured more brown in her hair and braids that hang down instead of being pulled back, but her face is almost exactly what was in my head).

I'm torn on "doing things different". On the one hand I like it because it gives me a chance to experience a different story and be surprised sometimes... but some of the changes feel like they'll wreck things later (like the travel ter'angreal) and I'm less enthusiastic there. 

Two hours left doesn't feel like enough to do everything left for tEotW but we'll see how they do.

On 12/5/2021 at 8:17 PM, Morpheus said:

 

 

There are several cultures with dark-skinned inhabitants in the books. While book-Fain was certainly not dark-skinned, book-Valda definitely was. Many characters from Altara (including Tylin and Beslan), Arad Doman (Leane), Arafel (Alanna), Shienar (Ingtar), Ghaldan (Logain), and Tear (Juilin, Darlin) are described as being dark-skinned to various extremes.

I must be misremembering (it HAS been a while). Leane's skin (as with most domani) was often described as "coppery" which I guess I interpreted more as an "olive" skin tone (I always pictured her and pretty much anyone from the randland west coast looking more middle eastern in my head)... I just remember Bayle's skin tone being addressed often, same with some of the seanchan (tuon especially), I don't recall Siuan's skin tone (or any other teiran) ever mentioned once, nor Valda despite him being in a lot of scenes (point of order - "I don't remember" isn't meant to be argumentative - I believe you I just don't remember that). Leane is one of my main examples tho - if you hear "copper skinned" you automatically assume domani, and if it's a black person with tattoos it's almost always sea folk.

I do remember Juilin being referenced as darker skinned now that you mention it.

On a related note - Siuan and her father being black AND having a bunch of distinctive tattoos bothers me a bit because it's treading REALLY close to sea folk visualization, particularly since her first scenes are on a boat. Also disappointed at her not wearing the stole (nor the sitters wearing them). The actress playing her was ridiculously good tho. I thought she wasn't scheduled to appear this season so that was a pleasant surprise.

On 12/5/2021 at 8:17 PM, Morpheus said:

The ability of Randlanders to identify where people come from is less based on the color of their skin and more based on how they dress and various facial characteristics (hair, cheekbones, nose). The reds (and most of the characters on the show) have dramatically different costumes based on where they are from. These might not be the specific styles described in the books, but they are very distinctive nonetheless. The culture-driven costumes are something this show has absolutely nailed.

I didn't feel like the Red costumes had much deviation (there was some, but it was slight), although now that they're in the tower and I'm seeing more variation in the Green costumes and ESPECIALLY the blue costumes (I thought the blue sitter was White for a second) I'm feeling it more.

On 12/5/2021 at 8:17 PM, Morpheus said:

I'm not sure there was much diversity in the Two Rivers (apart from Rand - for obvious reasons - and Mat, for some reason not quite fitting the general bill), but that part was fairly rushed, so I can't be certain. I also get the feeling that show-Two Rivers is not nearly as isolated as book-Two Rivers.

Two Rivers seemed to blend a bit of white (mat's family, rand's dad), middle eastern, west asian and a smattering of black. It just felt like more blend than there maybe should have been. If they're running that the two rivers is less isolated I guess I have less problem with it, I'm just used to the book narration of "no one but peddlers has been through here in hundreds of years". Honestly it would have been super cool if the whole village was one racial demographic and rand was the only white guy - DEFINITELY would have called him out as an outsider ALTHOUGH would have made a lot of the mystery disappear ("one of you was born outside of this town... wonder who it was..." lol). 

On 12/5/2021 at 8:17 PM, Morpheus said:

I am fairly certain she created a visible explosion of light along with the healing weaves, and he did not actually see her weaves. In fact, if you look closely, you can see some of the weaves within and distinct from the general explosion of light, which was just a side-effect of her use of saidar.

Rand also saw moiraine pull the dagger's energy into herself ALTHOUGH as a caveat to my caveat:
Although the dagger has been visualized very similar to saidin, they're NOT the same so it's possible they could see one and not the other... and since Rand could theoretically see Saidin ANYWAY that's a plausible exception.

On a related note I wish they did something to differentiate the weaves a bit. Aes Sedai can see "air" differently than "earth" so it'd be cool if we could too, but I can live with that.

On 12/5/2021 at 8:17 PM, Morpheus said:

This was absolutely the worst thing in the show so far.

 

On the other hand, the Nynaeve/Lan/Moiraine triangle is shaping up well, and the warders have been a key highlight of the show so far.

Agree. LOVING the extra attention to the warders.

On 12/5/2021 at 8:17 PM, Morpheus said:

 

Small disagreements here. I thought Loial was absolutely perfect. Rand will probably "bump into" Elayne, Gawyn, Elaida, and Morgase some other way; that is the only crucial part of him scaling the wall. Min will probably show up in Tar Valon or somewhere; she is slated to appear this season, and it doesn't matter where she shows up so long as she does.

I think Min being in Baerlon is a trivial detail (agree, as long as she shows up "somewhere" and Fal Dara is a decent spot to put her so it wouldn't surprise me if she shows up there... Moiraine already has a connection to her, but she's well regarded in Fal Dara so that'd be just as good as Baerlon).

Agree they can do Rand meeting them differently but it also sets up some other details - Rand meeting Morgase and Elaida makes less sense outside Caemlyn, and his familiarity with the Palace and how to get into it comes up semi often (notably, battle with Rahvin in tFoH) later. It's also just one of my favorite scenes so I might be placing more importance than necessary.

(minor spoilers for ep 6)

Also a little annoyed with how the waygates were represented... I think having to find the leaf and place it is important (as opposed to it being channeled open) - myrdraal can't channel so how did they use the ways to attack two rivers, and how are they going to seal them later (most of the time they just took the leaves away)? It also would have made the cliffhanger impossible so maybe they have a plan and this is just to give them some ways to heighten the drama?

Enjoyed the interplay between Moiraine and Siuan, although didn't like the "gateway" (ter-angreal?) method they used (would have preferred something more mundane but clandestine) - I think it trivializes traveling's discovery later?

Also didn't like how the Oath Rod played into things. Given that an Aes Sedai can't lie AND in the books that includes their inability to swear oaths they won't hold to (which created some interesting loopholes for Siuan and Leane after... The Incident...) it feels unnecessary. I feel like a bit of exposition to one of the girls (very similar to how they addressed explaining how Moiraine couldn't lie to the whitecloaks but she could mislead and not correct) would have filled in that plot point. Also find it amusing that the Hall was fine that the decision to punish Moiraine for being too much a rogue outside Tar Valon was... send her out of Tar Valon. But she shouldn't be being punished at all.. if she "can not" reveal her reasons (and it was explicitly stated "can not" as opposed to "will not"), presumably there's an oath involved and she's not being "noncompliant", she's literally prevented from complying.

(SOME minor ep5 spoilers here, read at own risk)

As far as 'deviations' go, there's some I've liked and some I don't -

For starters, while I applaud the diversity in the cast I think it's ultimately a long-term disservice for a short term gain. Over the course of the series you get to know different characters and cultures and while some have some distinct real-world analogues (shienar = japan, andor = england) as almost a matter of canon, there's some others (such as the sea folk) that don't directly.. BUT: if you see a black person in WoT they're almost always either Sea Folk or Seanchan (not all seanchan, but tuon for starters). Valda and Fain being black is odd to me (although the actor is bloody fantastic) because it disrupts the ability all randlanders seem to possess to identify country of origin based on physical characteristic (Bayle is the only 'main continent' character I can think of offhand who was described as black and even there I might be misremembering, whereas all the sea folk seemed to be). Similarly, all the reds almost having "uniforms" makes their cultural deviations less noticeable, whereas in the book although they're all wearing red, the cuts/etc of the clothes tell you a lot about the country the woman comes from. As the world in the series expands, that useful metric is going to go away. It also felt weird that there was so much diversity in a remote village, where typically over the course of the thousand years since Manetheren the interbreeding would have theoretically homogenized the village.

Worth noting that the only two significant characters who are very dark skinned (Valda and Fain) are both super f#$%ing evil... if we're going to put diversity in, we need to be careful about what diversity we put in and what messaging we're conveying...

Costuming is in a similar line - There's been a pretty diverse range of costumes for the andorans (including extras), which makes them less distinctly "andoran" (In the books they felt like they should be largely elizabethan in dress) which will cause a clash when you start seeing clothing from other cultures in the mix. Visually you couldn't tell any difference in Gheldan (for the logain sequences) versus other places... If I didn't know 'we're not in andor" I wouldn't have realized they were different places.

Similar thoughts on the tinkers - they stand out by their "garish" use of color in the books, and the tinkers in the show are a lot less eye-poppingly colored. 

Also disappointed that the Children are missing the sunburst on the tabards, which means the questioners don't have the crook - It took me until someone said his name to realize Valda was even a questioner (much less valda), I thought he was Bornhold at first.

A little disappointed that saidar is visible to everyone (literally 'blinding' a man) - It's a pretty major plot point later that men can only sense a woman nearby is channeling and a woman can't sense a man, which makes certain ter'angreals people have more impactful and is a necessary plot point in Far Madding.

VERY disappointed we had to add a wife to Perrin JUST to 'fridge' her. Seriously? That added nothing to the story and just filled another trope.

Other than that I'm mostly enjoying things. I'm a little concerned of the same kind of "rushing" that happened with GoT (particularly later seasons) because there's a LOT of tEotW left and only 3 episodes in the season to go. Skipping out on Caemlyn and Baerlon is OK (I was pleasantly surprised to see Loial in the most current episode, although he feels too old/wise to me.. he's essentially a teenager, not someone who should be doling out life lessons) although I feel like rand climbing the wall in caemlyn is integral to the story (which was to see Logain, although maybe they could do it with Taim instead?) and I don't see how they can fit it into season 2 (assuming that's the great hunt) without forcing it... it'd need to happen before Egwene and Nyn get to the Tower to become novices. Same with Min, although I suppose she could be at Fal Dara instead of Baerlon without it being a major problem. 

Slightly disappointed Kerene's warder didn't just lose his everloving mind and turn into a whirling death machine. When she died I was like "oh damn, he's gonna GO FOR IT" and it didn't happen.
 

Loved Moiraine/Lan being involved in Logain's story, a little meh on the AoE heal, but I did like how that arc showed tower divisions, rivalries between the ajahs, etc. They're building up the Nyn/Lan relationship in a smarter way than I feel like the books did ("hi I found you in the woods! We traveled together for a few days and now we're IN WUV!!!") and that's being built up very well.

As far as story deviations overall - love 'em or hate 'em, my internal headcanon is that this is the "next" third age from the ones we saw before. Everyone's been reborn, they've all got a part to play, but while the Pattern 'forces' a few things (ta'veren) details are going to be a bit different each time. Which honestly excuses much of what I've listed above but I think I'd personally have err'd on the side of "adding clarity to the viewers because they can't read characters' thoughts to get that info" whereas the show has added unnecessary ambiguity.

But while this sounded pretty negative - I'm really *enjoying* the series so far. Is it perfect? No. And I don't think any serious fans of the books would LET an adaptation be perfect in their eyes. But it's a good time and I'm hooked.

And the intro? Phenomenal. As someone who works with VFX teams, kudos. It's gorgeous. There's the inevitable comparison with GoT's intro (which, imho WAS better albeit made less sense, WHY CLOCKWORK?)... the "threads", visual representations (they really bring out some of the ajahs), etc are both well executed AND reinforce Theme. My only serious beef is - oddly - they're not long enough - blink and you miss the grey, white, brown and yellow, and they aren't "distinct" (even now as it's happening I can't tell which is which until the end when they become spokes on the wheel). I think another 10ish seconds would have let the other ajahs "breathe" a bit and it'd be even better. Although if your criticism about the opening credits is "I wish they were longer" that tells you the artists did a great job. I'd also be VERY happy if in later seasons (when other ajahs start being more visible in the story) the credits tweak to make those ajahs more prominent in the credits. Bonus if they do it like GoT - countries were only shown on the map if they were in the episode, you could do the same with ajah representation in the show.