Now - how long until we hear about a go/no go on S4?

You don't have to like the narrative decision. It's okay. But leave it at that. Death of a character is often used to rally others in both print, TV, and film. The chips are down and the protagonists are about to lose. A character dies (even a main character) and the rest rally to win whatever is happening. Old as time...

And yet you did so...?

That will bring us right back to the books where the damage/infection/entanglement was too complex for even Nynaeve to heal...

Those Hardy boys got knocked-out/concussed more than NFL players...

Amazon does have money...

I'm not familiar with the relationship between Sony and Amazon. Are they subsidizing WoT and not seeing the return they expected? Do they have another show they want to promote in its place? Something else...?

Hmm, I wonder why the change especially with the more positive reviews this season.

If I recall correctly, they greenlit seasons 2 and 3 before the preceding season dropped.

I can accept this explanation - if, as you say, it is made explicit at some point. It would be just like the DO.

The only reasonable explanation so far...

I think some of us are analyzing this so much because the battles were our favorite parts of the books. It is what got me through the slog of Faile's Shaido arc, Elayne's throne chasing, Aes Sedai Tower/Salidar machinations, and Perrin's brooding (all the matters is Faile!). I knew there was another fight coming - Jordan did that so well. As I said previously, I thought this scene was very well done regarding the One Power fight - though I still don't understand the Black Sisters walking away without killing the defeated Sisters. For my money, they have nailed the One Power between the tower battle and Rand taking out Turak and his entourage - S3 might be the turning point for this specific area. Though I still worry about melee fighting. With the exception of 'The Blood Snow' there is still a lot to be desired for the mundane weapons - from their appearance to how (un)skillfully they are wielded. But I did like that little blip of Perrin in the trailer though I never pictured him in plate armor.

The Aes Sedai were trained and weeded out so that those who attained the ring would not pause or falter when surprised/attacked - but would react appropriately on the instant. That said - I agree with you. They train for perfection but are only human. The slow start and shock are both reasonable.

LOL. Since when do they care about that? And plenty of good guys and gals died in the books - though most of them made it to the Last Battle.

I think that the CGI used for the magic battle was very good. What I can't understand is the end of the battle. Whether the Black should have won the battle given the numbers is debatable. But they are the Black. They had defeated the most powerful women in the Tower and they were all laying on the ground defeated and helpless. Finish them off quickly with a quick slice of the power? Nah, let's retreat to the docks so we can fight them again another day. Retreat was prudent after the battle but at least clean up the low hanging fruit that will only take a millisecond to destroy.