In the books spanking by the Aiel was for lying (at the request of the person receiving the punishment, to help her meet her Toh for having lied). Aviendha in the show would have been asking her fellow maidens to help her meet Toh for having been captured (which would be considered more shameful that being killed - at least by maidens - Gaul in a similar position in the books does not appear to feel similar shame, but there are stated to be differences in how different societies view things). Similar to how Sulin and the new leading maiden resolved their differences in the run up to Dumai's Wells with a fist fight.

How do you define success? If you mean achieving the dark one's goal of making Rand despair to the point he might choose to do what the dark one wanted (which appears to be ending time during his contest in the bore) then Semirahage due to collaring Rand and nearly forcing him to kill Min (which ironically taught him the command of the dark one's "true power" needed to correctly seal the prison). If you mean achieving their own goals (which vary considerably) then Moghedian (who at least survived and may still get free of the collar). Demandred's main goal was to best Rand (as Lews Therin reborn) in a direct contest, and Rand did not directly face him.

The content of the letter itself explains the apparent lack of urgency - Moiraine explicitly instructs Thom that Mat has to ask about the letter before being shown it. Thom flaunts the letter in front of Mat for a long time before he asks. When re-reading the books you should get a sense of Thom's frustration at the delay which he has to hide from Mat since the best way to get him to ask is to make him think you do no want him to ask.

She would have been in the tower for up to 6 months in The Great Hunt (leaving Fal Dara in late spring for a very rapid trip to the tower and not being tricked into the ways until early autumn). I know it does not feel like it compared to the hunters POV but that is due to the time lapse during their portal stone trip. Then again in the tower for a shorter period (up to a month) in The Dragon Reborn and also thinking of herself as Aes Sedai (or AS affiliated) from being guided by Moiraine in Eye of the World up to being apprentice to the wise ones and then again from traveling to Salidar - overall it feels like long enough to belong, especially as the tower would be attempting to indoctrinate any novice to reduce any attempts to leave.

If you want to explore the concepts of cyclical non-identical repetition you could read the Fencer and Scavenger trilogies by K J Parker (although there are some fairly sickening events in each of those).

It is never directly stated that the ages follow identical paths of growth and destruction. Indeed Thom's reference to "Merk and Mosk fighting with spears of fire" and other oblique references to events up to the 70's in the opening chapters suggests that the 20th century in the world of the wheel was an "age of legends" based on technology rather than the one power, and the cataclysm which ended it would have been a nuclear war rather than the release of the dark one. The cycle of ages could occur following a pattern of similar themes rather than near identical events, with the one power merely being the most recent foundation for an age of legends and succeeded by the most fundamental cataclysm.

The taint and the reaction to it was tending to cull the inborn ability to channel from men - but men who could be taught were not effected by this, they simply never learn and have much the same chance to father children as any man with no channeling ability at all, so the availability of men who could learn appears reasonable. Also the inborn talent in men typically manifests after they are capable of breeding. Combining the relatively young age of marriage depicted in the wetlands many men with the power inborn would still have some children. The commentary on the Ayyad in Sharra indicated that the male Ayyad were deliberately used for breeding before being killed to prevent them from going mad. The speculation on culling in fact related to the point that few Aes Sedai ever marry or have children (in contrast to Aiel wise ones, who are able to inform Elayne about the issues with channeling while pregnant). Novices would rarely (if ever) have been admitted if they had existing children and even the failed novices and accepted who are expelled will have spent long years in an effectively cloistered order so few of these are likely to marry or have children (for example the Kin where it appears to be part of the rule to remain single to conceal the slow aging). The steadily reducing numbers of women who can be taught and have the minimum strength to be allowed to test as Aes Sedai is speculated as being due to this effect. The relatively high presence of prospects for training in an isolated population (such as the two rivers when Alanah and Verrin search there) from which few girls will have deliberately traveled to the tower to ask to be tested could be a result of this effect. Alternatively it was just "the wheel weaves as the wheel wills" as part of the destined character of the age and might spontaneously change for the new age.

Given that Tigraine disappeared rather than being definitively dead Taringail would have needed some kind of legal divorce or declaration of being a widower in order to be free to marry Morgase (since it is clear that the wetlands have no concept of plural marriage) - surely it is simplest to assume that as a result of this they both reverted to house Damodred and Taringail subsequently married into house Trakand.

As a practical matter making the tower too white would obscure the surface details, a significant factor in a visual medium. Also in a city primarily heated and lit by wood or coal fires the smoke would rapidly deposit a dark residue even on a building of pure white marble. Given the criticisms of the other sets and costumes as being too clean for the setting it is a bit much to say the tower was too dark.

Probably a bad idea to try. An AI could go mad if exposed to all of the wildly conflicting opinions expressed on various forum sites. Could be the trigger to bring down an age of legends. 🤖🤖🤖

The point was that the dark one had not been fully contained and that the world had just endured 3000+ years when the natural order and balance had been broken due to the taint on the male part of the true source. While there were areas and periods of relative peace there was deliberately no widespread "joy and happiness" in the books - the slight shire-ness of the two rivers from Rand's POV in the first book was a facade (and even there the threat of the dark one is acknowledged in the mentions of not wanting to name him). Later flashbacks to the age of legends in the "road to the spear" and in Rand's later inner monologues give enough of an impression of the state of things prior to the making of the bore but the novels are about the world of the third age, not that of the age of legends (which would be very dull).

The oath is not against killing. The wording is that they will not use the one power as a weapon except ... Using it as a means of execution is lawful and well within the range of Aes Sedai hypocrisy/word butchering not to count as using it as a weapon, as is stilling/gentling even though it causes permanent harm and is likely to have an end result of death.

At that stage in book 1 there had already been plenty of explanations as to why that was not ridiculous. Moiraines explanations to Nynaeve about how channeling manifests itself without training are sufficient to make clear what has happened.

Regarding the random nature of finding the bracelet from a random guy met in a bar. Specifically this was a random guy Mat met in a bar - in the books in Ebou Dar they find the bowl of winds purely due to Mat's random selection of an inn to stay at. Random is how his nature as a ta'veren manifests. If he had been pushed off the dock when arriving in the city it would be fine for him to come up clutching the bracelet.

Except this is the one thing they do not bargain over. The one seeking passage offers a gift and they either offer the "gift of passage" or do not, there is no haggling. Technically this is a way to force the traveler to bid high as there is no opportunity to raise your bid but to refer to the gift of passage as a deal would offend them.