23 hours ago, Elder_Haman said:

I don’t hate the Eye. But we have to remember that Jordan wasn’t certain that he would get to publish his entire masterpiece. He admittedly wrote the end to feel like an end. And the result is something that worked in the books but may not work as well on screen. 

I don’t think they will get rid of the Eye entirely. But I do think the way they get there will change. I think the Green Man and the Foresaken will be eliminated entirely. 
 

If it were me, the tension of the season will be in the realization that the Aes Sedai are dangerous to our heroes. I would stoke the tension between needing to heal Mat and being afraid that Rand will be gentled (like we see happen to Logain). 
 

I would have Moiraine realize that the Tower isn’t safe and maybe settle on the Eye as the only other chance for Mat or something. 
 

When Rand uses the power of the Eye (just to beat some shadow spawn), he ends up at the Gap. It can be a major revelation for the audience (“oh snap! He’s the Dragon!), ratchet up the tension (oh snap! Siuan is headed to Fal Dara too - Rand is gonna be gentled!), and flip expectations when Siuan turns out to be on team Rand. 
 

I think if the show is going to work, they should always choose to focus on character ahead of plot. There’s more growth if the Eye is something that happens on the way to Fal Dara as opposed to being the destination. 
 

But that’s just my $0.02

 

 

That was some damn good $0.02! Sounds very plausible

3 hours ago, Thrasymachus said:

I think you have to keep the Trakands because they help humanize the nobility fairly effectively, very early on, and they provide a window into the tumult the ruling classes are thrown into, with the arrival of the Dragon.  They're the first nobility Rand or the audience really meets (not knowing, of course, that Moiraine is a Damodred or what that means).  And they're just generally nice people.  Elayne tends to Rand's bumps and scrapes, while Gawyn engages him in pleasant conversation and isn't haughty or arrogant as we might expect from a pampered Prince.  Even Galad, though intent on doing his duty and reporting Rand's presence to the Guard, isn't mean or cruel about it, he's just concerned about this strange man who showed up in his family's private garden, and wants to make sure everything's on the up-and-up. 

 

It sets us up to trust Agelmar in Fal Dara, and sympathize with Colavere, listen to Lord Bashere and understand Lord Darlin, because we can understand them to be regular people doing the best they can and what they think is right, underneath all the pomp and circumstance.  It also sets us up to be a bit wary of them, and others, especially Aes Sedai, in terms of their knowledgeability and motives, because they are, after all, just people.

 

By following Morgase's story, we not only get a window into the humanity of nobility, but we also get a window into the fall of perhaps the single most powerful monarch in Randland, to the position of serving-girl.  How she adjusts to her new reality, and how big a deal it is that such political turmoil follows the rebirth and return of the Dragon.  This isn't just Rand's story, or just the story of the Emond's Field gang and their hangers-on.  It's the story of the world and the people in it, how they contribute, and are changed by the return of the Dragon and the Last Battle, as well.

Damn, that was a good post! You summed up their importance perfectly! (and Mat kicking their asses is my second most anticipated scene after Dumai Wells:) )

Didn't Rafe also say he wouldn't cut or merge any of the main characters?