Genghis is usually referred to as having the largest continuous land empire - empires of the colonial era included widely separated territories. However as much of Genghis' territory was largely uninhabited steppe and desert the simple size of it is largely irrelevant.

Although some cultures appear to incorporate some of the more unpleasant aspects of religion - particularly the Seanchan and the whitecloaks.

The mention of fire welling up inside his amorphous form suggests that Rand channels to drive him off. Rand then has a reaction to the channeling while on Bayle Domon's boat (reckless action of balancing on the masthead) in line with the process for unguided channeling described by Moiraine to Egwene earlier (the information seemed extraneous at the time...). This was his second channeling (first was strengthening Bela and the reaction was his reckless action of goading the whitecloaks in Baerlon).

You should try reading the "Recluse" saga by LE Modeset. He uses white for chaos aligned (superficially evil) and black for order aligned (usually benign). This makes a certain amount of sense as it uses white for energy and decay and black for stolidity and stagnation.

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.

That part could be unreliable narrator - Aes Sedai were not bound to the three oaths until the war of the hundred years, and it stretches credulity to think that no Aes Sedai made power wrought weapons for use during the Trolloc wars given how close things came to a total victory for the shadow. On the point of Lan "sharpening" the sword he was a master at levels of intimidation, sharpening it is a useful way of calling attention to the weapon without anything which could be considered an open threat. He liked to talk quietly but carry a big stick.

It is more that the effect of the taint on him, combined with his long period severed from the power, meant that he became obsessed with increasing his personal power to prevent being impotent again. He was able to break that effect at the last battle by recognizing that he could not best Demandred and as mentioned above by choosing to aid the refugees rather than take the chance to obtain the sa'angreal that Taim had been using.

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.

For me the most glaring omission from the column visions was in the vision where the Aiel are being sent on their mission. In the books the Aes Sedai sending them explicitly refuse the request for some of the Aiel to remain and refer to the actions of the Aiel in trying to delay or divert one of the hundred companions from destroying a city - referring to thousands of Aiel linking arms and singing to him while he destroyed them. Why bother to set this up in series one with the tinkers linking arms to block the whitecloaks and not have the payoff in the visions? Establishing that even in the age of legends Aiel pacifism was not a passive thing but involved active resistance to evil was important.

although it could be a good move for someone deliberately baiting a trap...

To me this makes a lot more sense than the book obsession with keeping novices / accepted away from men. These are grown women (admission at 14-16 and a 10 year + training period other than for those of exceptional ability) and the majority of them will never have the strength to test out as Aes Sedai - most will be expected to leave the tower and not openly practice channeling, so a fully cloistered training regime makes little sense. The most gifted would be expected to concentrate on channeling, the others less so.

The books do have people take oaths "on the hope of my salvation and rebirth" - so they have at least the concept that rebirth depends on actions in your current life (although this is only the view the people have, it does not mean that you can actually forfeit your rebirth - certainly Ishy/Moridin appeared to be of the view that he would be endlessly reborn no matter what until the DO got free and ended time).

I think those were all series set in the contemporary world (usually medical or police dramas) - relatively low production costs other than wages once you have built the regularly used sets. Wardrobe and props are all off the peg. For fantasy and historic drama every costume, prop and location is a bespoke item (+ CGI costs). Even GOT at its height had only 10 episode seasons (although some episodes were longer than 1 h).