3 minutes ago, SingleMort said:

With all due respect not seeing any evidence of that at all. Out of curiousity to see if 8 episodes I looked up a selection of other headline shows in 2021 this is the result

• Hawkeye 6 episodes
• Arcane 9 episodes
• The Book of Boba Fett 7 episodes
• Foundation 10 episodes
• WandaVision 9 Episodes

The only ones I could find that fit the 8 episode model you are talking about were the Witcher and Shadow and Bone and the big difference between those shows and WoT is that they drop the entire season all at once. There is no reason to make WoT bingeable in one sitting because it's episodes are released on a weekly basis. Netflix uses this model because Netflix drop whole seasons of TV in one go but most other streaming platforms do not because while you can get high viewing numbers in one week the show viewership drops quickly after that and no hardly talks about it after release. All of the most talked about shows (Arcane, Loki/Wandavision, Mandalorian) all have weekly release schedules because the weekly release keeps people talking about them. So if it truly is Amazon's plan to have people binge this in one go it's not a very good one because their own release strategy messes it up and it would just create less hype for the show instead of more hype.

But look at Amazon and specifically at stuff Amazon Fronts all the money for.

Invincible, Carnival Row, Jack Ryan, Mrs Maisel, The Boys, I could keep going and there are exceptions, but in general Amazon follows this formula.  Even with outside money it stays close.  Legends of Vox Machina is going to have 10 episodes, but that's because they did their own money for it, set it up as a 2 episode mini series and then are following it with an 8 episode season.

Your examples are almost all Disney with 1 Netflix and 1 AppleTV.  What they do doesn't argue a point for what Amazon does or doesn't do.  

Just now, Jaysen Gore said:

Except without pushing the Seanchan out of Falme, our heroes can't really get away. And it's the heroes of the horn that push the Seanchan out of Falme, not the Whitecloaks or Rand.  So you have 3-4 episodes with the Seanchan now, and then you pick them back up in season 5-6. But if they don't leave, they're an active threat instead of being a non-factor for half the series

Rand could push them out of Falme if they go that route, but I don't think they'll leave, I think they'll be pushed back and be a threat throughout the Tanchico and Ebou Dar arcs.

17 minutes ago, fra85uk said:

For you show-Mat is essentially the same as book-Mat? 

 

So i take Bilbo and transform him in a child abuser, as a consequence Frodo is a traumatized youngster on drugs that he buys by stealing from Sam and i can say to be essentially faithful to Tolkien's lotr? Great

Hyperbole much?  

Matt in the book is a generic prankster with no character development for 2.5 books before he becomes a person who wants to be selfish and look out for himself but ultimately is never able to make himself do so.  A man who will not break his word, and a man with a soft spot for children and a kindness that comes out around them even if he's closed off to everyone else.

Mat in season 1 of the show is a man from a rough background who has had to essentially look after and raise his young sisters.  He wants to look out for himself but ultimately keeps going back to help everyone else no matter what the danger is.  He stands by his friends even at his darkest and shows a soft spot for children and a kindness that comes out around them even as he's under the influence of the dagger with everyone else.  To the point that he targets and goes after the fade before Thom can step in.

Your Frodo Example would be if the ring had further corrupted Bilbo making him darker and prone to angry outbursts to the point that Frodo's worried over him and goes to Gandalf having stolen the ring, where in Gandalf sends him on the adventure.   You've changed the character's backstory but kept them the same person.

55 minutes ago, fitzwell said:

Sorry about that.  I'm sure watching the CW is perfectly fine and I'm glad you enjoy it.  

I asked three questions, you responded to one poorly and ignored the other two.  Are you interested in discourse at this point?

Characters done right include....

Moraine, Rand, Nynaeve, Egwene, Loial, Liandrin, Alanna, Siuan, I could keep going.

Characters with changed details but still the same person they were in the books.

Mat, Perrin, Thom, Lan, Min....

Characters actually changed from their in book selves and made worse.

Abell.

2 hours ago, fitzwell said:

The only watchers left by the end of season two will be the shills on youtube trying to make money off of something they claim to love, and folks that will watch batwoman on the CW. 

Could we stop with insulting everyone who disagrees with you and claiming they're lesser or fake or anything of the sort?  I respect that you're not enjoying the show, could you maybe show the same courtesy?

 

2 hours ago, fitzwell said:

Amazon will shut down by season 3 or 4 when they realize their propaganda machine isn't working anymore, and unfortunately we will never see WoT on the screen again. 

Doubtful, the show is doing very well amongst the total audience vs the book purist crowd.  If the show really does lag I predict 5 seasons at least.

Also, what propaganda are you talking about?

 

2 hours ago, fitzwell said:

Sanderson will write more WoT books as Harriet has become too old to protect her husbands work and will give the power over to Brandon who thought ep 6 was the best ep of the season.  

Where do you get this idea?  First off, Sanderson respect Harriet on this.  Second off, Sanderson dislikes the idea of writing in worlds that aren't his precisely because of the backlash and difficulty getting in the right headspace.  His own Cosmere is doing incredibly well, he's not going to ditch it to write Wheel, it wouldn't be profitable even if he was willing to entertain the idea.

As a complete aside, am I misunderstanding that this thread is for predictions for story flow and progress in the series?  Seeing an awful lot of just basic complaints for how people don't like the show, which we have other threads for.

1 hour ago, SingleMort said:

huh well we might never see 

  Hide contents

Logain join the Asha'man in that case then ? 

And guess no one is coming to rescue Moiraine after she takes out Lanfear

 

Opposite.  The first person you mention is important from the moment someone has to leave the white tower, which I expect to happen in Season 2 vs waiting until book 4.

For the second person, I doubt they'll die immediately, or if they do they'll stay gone.  I really do expect that person to stay around and for us not to see a certain Aes Sedai with the same name as one of your mods.

Honestly?

Elayne Nynaeve and Egwene end up in the Tower for training, get some guidance from Alannna.  Liandrin takes on Elaida's role, overthrows Siuan, then sends some BA to do murders and "Flee".  Liandrin then sends the super girls after them straight into a trap where they are captured by the Seanchan.  Min meanwhile helps Logain, Siuan and Leanne escape.   

Moraine and Lan go to find a way to unravel her shield, seeking out Verrin who is a renowned brown scholar in retirement.   Not sure how her full plot goes.  But ends with her removing the shield and setting out for Tear.

Perrin leads the Hunt for the Horn which Fain doesn't take to Falme but to Tear instead.  His group adds a new member, Elyas, who is known to the Borderlanders as a "Sniffer".

Rand does his book 3 plotline, going to Tear to claim Callandor.    

Matt is messed with by the Reds which adds to the holes in his memory and his distrust of Aes Sedai, he meets up with Thom and has mostly his book 3 adventure, except the girls aren't in Tear, they're in Falme.  He rescues them from the Seanchan...

Who are marching on Tear, having spent less time consolidating and more time pushing they have swept through Illian (I don't think Sammael matters in this telling).  Tear, hating channeling, allies with the Seanchan and invite them into the Stone right before Rand, Perrin's Group, Mat and Moraine arrive.

The end of TDR happens except instead of Aiel vs Stone Defenders it's Aiel vs Seanchan.  Mat blows the horn.

At the end the Seanchan are pushed back out of Tear entirely and forced to retreat into Illian.  Rand has the Sword that is not a Sword.

Cliffhanger has Fain arriving at the Two Rivers again and maybe the Seanchan deciding to pull all the way back to Falme on orders of the Nine Moons.

16 minutes ago, Mirefox said:

Did we ever get any confirmation what, exactly, it was that Rand went to?  They kept calling it the Eye of the World but Moiraine also called it the Dark One’s prison.  We didn’t have a pool of Saidin, no Green Man, no horn, no banner, etc.  I kind of assumed Moiraine was just wrong but the show Eye wasn’t really recognizable as the book Eye.  

Misunderstanding over 3000 years.  I very much think the floor platform is meant to be one of the seals.  Rand was in a position where he could have strengthened it or broke it is the narrative.

I think Ishamael spread those rumors throughout his not fully trapped time.  In reality Rand could have left the Seal alone or broken it and so he made the wrong choice.

4 minutes ago, Mirefox said:

Of course, having them as big as they are in the snow ties them to a physical location so there may be a little more globetrotting ahead.

Honestly, I don't think it'll be a huge issue.  As I recall there's only a few real issues to deal with them not being mobile.

The one Elayne and Nynaeve break on accident.  But that could just break to start and avoid the whole issue.

The one Taim gives to Rand.  Not sure how to approach that one, maybe he has a map instead of the actual object.

Or maybe different ones are different sizes?  Like the Eye was the Main seal and the others are almost like anchor points or keystones?

5 minutes ago, JaimAybara said:

I’ve never once said this is a leftist plot. You are putting words in my mouth. I don’t have to be a conservative to want fair representation for men. 

I was exaggerating to a point.  But in general, if you take the stance that the show is ruining the male characters to increase the female characters and make comments about RJ2's agenda.  Yeah, that essentially ties into the idea that it's a "Woke culture" ploy.

In general, the idea that there's any deliberate attempt to undermine men for any agenda is an unrealistic fear with no real support regardless of what you call it.

35 minutes ago, MasterAblar said:

 

So what part specifically in the Strike at Shayol Ghul do you think depicted LTT as unwilling to work with people? I'm genuinly curious because to me it pretty clearly shows him proposing a plan, that plan being made unworkable, and him accepting that and going along with the other plan until that plan was made impossible, forcing his hand into putting his own plan into action. In this contexts which is the context of the scene the show is based on, I'm just not seeing his unwillingness to budge.

He didn't budge, he decided he'd let them try their plan first and it failed and he went.  We're arguing two different points.  I'm saying he's not willing to compromise, to bend his plan for other insights.  That's not the same as refusing to work with others.
 

36 minutes ago, gibbons said:

If it was a public meeting I would agree, but in a private setting while discussing potentially literal world shattering events? He would not have to show his emotions for the entire meeting either, a quick slip of the mask as she leaves, or a nod to the flame and the void would have made all the difference and would not have taken up any more screen time than the scene already did.

Not really how it works.  You spend so much time as a public figure, as a rock, as a certain image and it becomes very intuitive to just always be on.  Letting guards down is a deliberate action, not the relaxation of something you were deliberately holding before.

Different people work different ways, but I've known and been the guy who's so calculated and calm as a persona that it doesn't easily turn off ever.

 

30 minutes ago, JaimAybara said:

This still doesn’t address why his legitimate points weren’t given screen time at all. This isn’t an equal and opposite parts situation.
 

We don't know why those points weren't given screen time.  Maybe all your fears are true and it's an evil leftist anti man plot.  Or may be there's more to be shown later and the deliberate feeling of season one is to show men as arrogant and overbearing to later turn the tables.  Or maybe there's an entirely different reason neither of us has thought of.
 

22 minutes ago, RhienneAgain said:

Except I don't think you do, or at least I didn't.  Even in the EotW I think it is very clear the gender divide is being played upon in a slightly tongue in cheek manner.  I don't think the reader is meant to take away that the men are stupid and arrogant while the women pick up the pieces, only that that's what a lot of women in the world think.  The POVs of Rand and Perrin help you to develop an appreciation for the male characters and how they don't meet the stereotypes that female characters have of them.  Unfortunately (imo) the TV hasn't found a way to handle this as effectively.

That's going to come down to perception.  There's also a simple reality that when you have certain unthinking biases (Using generic you, want to clarify since I've unintentionally left other people thinking I was targeting them specifically.) you tend to read situations harsher than they actually are.

Not sure if you're familiar with L. E. Modesitt Jr.  But both The Towers of Sunset in his Recluce Saga and the first three books of the Spellsong Cycle can read very... off if you don't analyze what's going on.  I read both as a kid and came away going "Why are they being so over-reactive to these men?  It's not that big a deal."  Then as an adult and having more experience and understanding what people had gone through.  I understand exactly what's going on and am on board with how it's written and how the female characters act.

6 minutes ago, MasterAblar said:

 

Sorry but that just simply isn't true. When his plan was prevented from happening, he cooperated with LPD's plan as "the highest military leader of the light". He literally only acted on his plan when he saw absolutely no other alternative. The whole reason the Fateful Concord seemed to doom his plan is because it was believed female channellers and a circle was necessary for the precision required to lay the seals. That hardly sounds like someone unwilling to work with people.

Yep, he was willing to work with people so long as they went along with his plan and did what he thought needed to be done.

Similar, again, to Rand before Moraine at Merrillor.  He was bluffing about not fighting the DO, but he was absolutely unwilling to budge on any of his 3 demands.  Until someone who had a deep emotional hit to him came in and said "Give up on 2 of the 3 and move forward you idiot."

43 minutes ago, JaimAybara said:

The women refused to help him too. His logic or argumentation wasn’t even given proper treatment or representation...

Yep, arrogance on both sides, which doesn't negate his.  She's being arrogant in that scene telling him there's no way to succeed and he's already failed.  She's right in hindsight but she didn't know or give him consideration just like he didn't give her any.

 

39 minutes ago, 7th age said:

 So you think this is all a big ploy to actually show the arrogance of women being shown to be on par with the arrogance of men?

To some degree im sure, as that IS the direction the books go (AS especially get set up very high in the first books only to be taken back down to earth later). But Im not confident at all that this is their main motivation for all this. Should I proven to be wrong in future seasons... mea culpa(and a big yay since that would indicate an overall much better direction of the  overarching themes then what I fear we might get)

But why you feel this is based on?  If you only read EotW with no knowledge going forward you'd get a similar view of Men=Stupid and arrogant and failures while Women have to pick up the pieces.

39 minutes ago, 7th age said:

This is the second time you directly or indirectly accuse me of having preconceived notions/not being able to acknoledge depth/taking things at face value....

I use "you" in a generic sense.  My apologies if it came off as an attack on you. 

My statement should read "If a person is not a book reader they have no reason to assume LTT wasn't just as depicted and so any forward change will be a surprise.  However if a person IS a book reader, then they know all these other details going on and that arrogance and hubris were one of LTT's primary failings to the point that Rand acknowledges them and then almost repeats them anyway."

The only way that's an attack on you is if you, as a book reader, somehow don't understand that about LTT.  Which even then isn't an attack, just an observation that you missed something.

10 minutes ago, Vartija said:

To be honest, I think the entire concept of an untrained Rand and Moiraine knowingly going it alone to face the Dark One this early in the series was a bit implausable as a plot development.

If they were going to fight him, yeah.  But since the entire scenario seems to be "Rand can either strengthen or break the DO's prison."  There wasn't a planned fight, just a facing him and making a right choice.

 

10 minutes ago, gibbons said:

People keep bringing up Lews Therin's arrogance being accurate but as far as I can recall when Rand admits this himself it's in a completely different context. 

...

Anyway rambling aside, I would have been more accepting of this particular depiction of Lews Therin if they made the effort to show him looking desperate, and if the view outside was less... nice. The sunshine makes sense since we see the same effect with Rand later, but the city looks untouched.

No, the context fits.  He was too arrogant to compromise and work with people.  He laid out his plans and refused to budge.  Rand was on the verge of doing it again in the Fields of Merrilor before Moraine arrived and pushed an agreement where in Rand gave up some of what he was demanding (2 of his 3 in fact).

As for LTT looking more desperate.  Would be horribly out of character.  Like him or hate him, how often did you ever see Obama or Bush or Clinton appear desperate no matter what the situation was?  Or any other public leader, just hitting a few of ours since I know details more.  

A Leader does not show weakness or vulnerability, he shows confidence and control at all times.  That's just kind of standard operating procedure.  

 

5 minutes ago, Khan of Shadows said:

 So many examples of this, including the scene where Rand defies the DO. I didn't like that scene or the idea behind it, but if you're gonna go that route, you don't actually need to have Rand explicitly state that, basically, Egwene is her own person. These writers are afraid of subtext. Which is a shame, because subtext more than anything is what gives art its power. 

Disagree.  This isn't a fear of subtext, this is flat out setting up a call back to when Compulsion enters the scene.  Ishamael is showing Rand "How to bend the world to the way you want, so she'll be what you want."  He's going to have Rand compel Egwene, or at least that's the setup.

It's ALSO a serious call forward to the real Last Battle when Rand decides "Fine, we'll just kill you, let's show that world." And it reveals that people are irrevocably altered.

20 minutes ago, 7th age said:

,,, seeing that LTT did NOT do this out of desperation but rather arrogance on the one hand, and that Rands untrained channeling has to be compared to the equally untrained Nyn and Eg. I would not have ANY confidence in this supposed "saviour"

It's almost as if the first season is setting up a world where women constantly feel superior and have a massive political and power advantage.  Where in we can later find out there's more nuance and detail.

Also, I love that you watch the LTT where Latra calls him arrogant and prideful and assume that's all there is to the story.  If you haven't read the books, you don't have a reason to complain as that might be how LTT was, you don't know. 

For those of us who are book readers.  We know there's a war going, we know there's more we're not seeing, and... We know this fight happened and that LTT was challenged for his arrogance and Hubris.  We ALSO know that Rand accepts and ACKNOWLEDGES those weaknesses in aMoL.  ?

It's as if that scene is actually perfectly appropriate on multiple levels.

4 minutes ago, Mirefox said:

 Saidar and Saidin need to be incorporated.

They are, as many have pointed out, they just haven't used those terms.  You're literally arguing over them not using 2 words in the script while deliberately ignoring everything that shows they're present.

5 minutes ago, TheDreadReader said:

 

Yes.   Which brings it back to my original observation about their ability/skills being appropriate considerations for how they are deployed.

 

Are they trained well enough to be effective in that situation?   My assumption is that they are not.

 

And what would Amalisa have actually done without resources she didn't know she'd have.

Rewatch the scenes, it's not an even flow of Saidar flowing through each woman to Amalisa.  There's one or two wispy trails coming up to the two nameless women, a slightly thicker one going to Amalisa.

Then Nynaeve and Egwene have 5 and 3/4 respectively huge flows of Saidar traveling to them.   They provided 90% or more of the power being wielded.  Amalisa would have been largely useless under any eventuality they could have planned for.

1 minute ago, Yojimbo said:

My memory is that the Shienarans were heavy cavalry, with the Saldeans being the light cavalry.  They often fought together.   With no help, perhaps the Sheinarans should have changed tactics, but their doctrine was so ingrained that changing tactics would be difficult.

 

Rather than a support segment, they were probably used at the front lines as shock troops, breaking up the enemy formations so that the light cavalry, infantry and archers could handle the smaller groups and individuals who broke through the first line of battle.

That has a few flaws.  

#1: Saldea is the opposite end of the Borderlands from Shienar.  I'm sure all four would work together as needed but Saldea would not be a reliable source of aid for Shienar in any type of emergency.

#2: I thought about tradition, but Malkier died 40 years prior to the start of the book?  In 40 years they adjusted for the Gap but not for military tactical changes?

That type of rigidity would make sense if the gap was just open and empty.  But then I think non-book readers would be saying "Why, in 40 years, did no one dig a ditch?"

5 minutes ago, ashi said:

I don't know, Nynaeve is sharp enough to pick up a tell of Moiraine's, presumably at once after leaving Emond's Field, that Lan didn't notice after 20 years. We should surely trust her estimation over that of Borderlanders.

The thought that you might be joking aside.  There's a fundamental difference between her ability to pick something up that she is specifically trained to do and her ability to quickly count number of a swarm from a sizeable distance away.

7 minutes ago, RextheDog said:

its also quite possible the whole attack was called off the moment Fain walked away with the Horn...

The attack was ALWAYS a fake out.  If it happened to be successful, yay, keep going.  But ultimately it was meant to distract from Fain, meant to maybe draw Rand or Moraine into a defensive situation where they could be weakened...  

 

6 minutes ago, WoTwasThat said:

 I don't think this is negligence - it appears to be very deliberate - but I don't think it is helping the story.

I think it's actually serving a few points.

#1: as I mentioned earlier it keeps showing Moraine's inability to share, trust or let in anyone other than Siuan.  Rand asks a simple question and she reflexively Aes Sedai answers.

#2: This actually helps train the sharper audience to read Aes Sedai speak.  Observant watchers will see her give that excuse, but then pick up on Ishamael later saying "You can't even see what he's doing."   That combined with people remembering season 4 will be asking "Can she even teach him?  How does she teach if she can't see what he's doing?"

Also, I remember this question repeating itself with book readers until book 5/6 as I recall.  
 

10 minutes ago, Gary Reborn said:

The real truth is just sending Calvary out to defend a gap is pretty horrible strategy and just having archers defend a wall is pretty horrible strategy too so neither made much sense but if you gave me a choice in how to defend a gap and I could only take one of those I take the fortification. Good strategy would be they should have fortifications with Archers and Infantry to hold those fortifications and defend archers and Calvary that could quickly strike and retreat into fortifications if needed.

Honestly, the Shienarans being heavy Cavalry always confused the heck out of me.  All four border lands are based on defensive strategy trying to hold back the blight.  That would suggest some cavalry but mostly archer/artillery and infantry.

Saldea makes sense with their light cavalry because we know from the map that the nastier part of the blight is the one north of Shienar.  Out by Saldea it's likely more raids and mobility is key to respond to groups of trollocs in numerous places.  

But Shienar as Heavy Cavalry only makes sense if they're just a support segment for Malkier.  But since Malkier's fall they managed to make Fal Dara a fortress, set the Gap up.  So they clearly were thinking about defensive tactics.

So rewatched and thought specifically on Agelmar's situation.
 

Enemy army is 60 Fades and 5k-10k Trollocs (So may be far less than the 10k people keep throwing around).  Yeah Nynaeve says 10k-20k  but we're talking about the words of trained scouts used to shadowspawn vs an untrained person guessing after a single look.
 

DFs are in the city and have sabotages the drawbridge meaning there's a large opening into the city instead of a fully defensible fortification.  Now I think scripting is poorly worded her since there'd be failsafes to the drawbridge, but ultimately the issue is the city can't be made fully defensible.
 

At this point Agelmar decides to bring all his forces to the Gap.  Not because "Let's last stand!" But because Fal Dara is not defensible so the best chance is to make sure the place that IS defensible holds.

During the armoring scene they mention Agelmar's father didn't think the gap could hold against a 1000 Trollocs.  Regardless of what you think of the power's involvement or not, That would suggest that Agelmar is facing a force at least 5 times larger than what was seen as near unwinnable.
 

In regards to the Power.  Agelmar admits they didn't ask the Tower for help.  Given what we as book owners know about Malkier, there's reason for Agelmar's mistrust and lack of assist.
 

Agelmar also flat out feels the battle is unwinnable and thinks this is the start of Tarmon Gaiden versus just a massive assault.  He thinks he's trying to delay so the rest of the world can ready, which means defense at all costs vs smart tactics and victory.  Even Ituralde goes this route in the last book.
 

Looking closer at the Gap Fortress again, I'm unsure why anyone argues all the archers need to be on top, where they're exposed.  There's a reason for those arrow slits and they're built to give angle of fire for the archer but next to no opening for the enemy to launch back in.

31 minutes ago, Mirefox said:

Moiraine literally had an opportunity to explain to Rand why she couldn’t teach him.  If there is a better time to explain Saidin I can’t think of one…

Aes Sedai habit and trickery.  She never says the lack of time is why she can't teach him or that if there was time she could teach him.  She let's him conflate two statements together.  That way she doesn't have to admit to weakness or lack of knowledge.

17 minutes ago, TheSmurf said:

Or its just a hypocritical stance to justify one over the other. 

 

Why don't we just... Not call each other names. 

Except I'm not justifying one behavior?  I specifically said I don't name call and don't approve of it either way.

I just take issue when people try to use the "Both sides bad" argument when it's not the same scale.

And as Skipp pointed out, the Whitecloak/BookCloak comes from a specific reddit, it wasn't invented as an insult.

12 minutes ago, Yojimbo said:

Yeah, but they don't explicitly state that this is a specific item tied to a specific place, do they?  (Honestly, I may have just missed it, so if I did, my bad).   Viewers saw her transported from one place to another.   Maybe they get that it was done using the Ter'Agnreal, but since he is supposed to be the most powerful channeler alive why couldn't he just do it without the Ter'Angreal?  It wouldn't be any worse than them showing Nynaeve healing dozens of people strewn about a cave with superhuman abilities, would it?

They don't explicitly say "This is a Ter'angreal that allows traveling and or access to a dreamshard."  They do make a point to draw your eyes to it in one episode before using it in the next and Moraine only travels to Siuan using that specific device built into a stone wall.

44 minutes ago, JaimAybara said:

Yes let’s be frank…People calling those that disagree with the show as the dark one or darkfriends is outrageously offensive. Particularly since the dark one is inspired by Islamic and Judeo-Christian demons / Satan… you are going to say this is nowhere near the same as being called a sellout? Come on…and it simultaneously implies they are right by default without having to actually argue points, because what’s the point in arguing with a “darkfriend”? They’re darkfriends. Both of these otherise. Let’s not pretend one is tongue in cheek though. It’s just as sanctimonious and condescending.  

My distinction is in if there's any type of humorous tie to the facts.

The insults towards the book purists are wrong and shouldn't happen but work on the premise of drawing parallels in behavior.

The insults towards the show fans are wrong and shouldn't happen and work on trying to make them less relevant or less valid than the book purists.

The difference between "Hey, you're factually acting kind of like this bad guy group" and "Hey, you're a lesser fan and your opinion isn't valid or real." is clear.

2 minutes ago, Yojimbo said:

Well, they already showed Moiraine "teleporting" to have a booty call with Suian.  So the audience would have thought of that if they used a similar effect to get Rand to the Gap.  

Establishing a specific magical item tied to a specific place doesn't really explain doing it without any such trappings later.

Now, if we had seen the prologue adapted, seen LTT travel from his home to what becomes Dragonmount, then we have justification for Rand doing it later.

Either way, this also reinforces the aspect that Rand does not "Fight" in the way most think.  He'll forget this over the next 7 seasons and have to relearn it for the end.