The first thing it did is that it directly shaped the way that the early episodes of Season 1 were written with regards to Moiraine's search for the Dragon Reborn and Egwene, Perrin, Mat, and Nynaeve's individual stories played themselves out. . Second, it allowed them to add depth to Egwene's character by including the detail about her love for the Travels of Jain Farstrider being rooted in and influenced by a belief on her part that she was Jain Farstrider reincarnated. Third, it provided them with the ability to have both male and female figures represent Logain's madness and reinforce his belief that he was the Dragon Reborn and that he was hearing the voices of his previous lives. Fourth, it gave them an avenue by which they could adapt to Barney Harris' departure and the ripple effect that it created by making it impossible for Mat's storyline to remain as it was in the books by having him experience hallucinations/visions that could be described as being related to his past lives and include both male and female characters.

This is not how writing works. Rafe has admitted that he and his writers never truly considered changing the identity of the Dragon Reborn. That does not mean that their decision to degender souls and therefore fundamentally alter the underlying lore of the novels as established by Robert Jordan did not provide them with the ability to make the choice of changing the Dragon's identity, nor does it mean that they did not make said change in ignorance of the knowledge that the option of changing the Dragon's identity was in fact on the table should they have wanted to exercise it.

See the link I posted earlier and the contents thereof, which directly and explicitly refute this argument. Rafe and his team are not even remotely as incompetent in terms of the ways they have approached the adaptation of these novels as some people keep trying to insist that they are.

The amount of narrative focus that Rand has received is 'diminished' relative to the novels because, for better or worse, he is not the 'primary POV character' of this Turning. The overall story is his, but it is being told through the point of view and perspective of Moiraine.

We've already seen additional manifestations of souls not being gendered in the TV series (beyond the obfuscation of the Dragon Reborn's identuty), namely Rand's comment to Loial in Blood Calls Blood about Egwene's love of The Travels of Jain Farstrider and the hallucinations/visions that Mat experiences in Season 2 while he's held captive by Ishy.

Here you go: https://gizmodo.com/adapting-the-wheel-of-time-for-tv-is-an-epic-all-its-ow-1848026456

I'm not making the statement I made based on that one single line; I'm making it based directly on comments from Rafe himself - given in an interview conducted just prior to the debut of Season 1 - that directly addressed the subject of reincarnation and the gendered nature of souls and that clarified/established that, for the TV series, he and his writers had intentionally chosen to do away with Robert Jordan's strictures on gender-based reincarnation, thus allowing for male souls to be reincarnated in female bodies and vice versa.

I once again feel obligated to point out that, regardless of how any individual fan or non-fan felt about it, the show's obfuscation of the identity of the Dragon Reborn was not just a 'mystery box' plot line: it was the manifestation of a choice to fundamentally alter the core Reincarnation-related lore of the Wheel of Time world. Said choice meaning that the Dragon Reborn could have legitimately been any character, and this one fundamental truth is not changed by the fact that, in the end, the choice was made to leave the identity of the Dragon Reborn the same as it was in the source material.

All adaptations add new things; that's just a stone cold truth. You can either accept it and be open-minded or obstinate and closed-minded, in which case you'd be far better off just ignoring the adaptation and contenting yourself with only the original source material. My broader point still stands, though: new stuff in an adaptation is not wrong or bad simply because it is new.

Re-reading this thread has reminded me of a generalized response that I told myself I was going to use whenever somebody criticized anything about an adaptation and didn't care to - or wasn't willing to - explain their criticisms in anything but broad declarations of negativity: "Things are not wrong just because they are new!" It's a snippet of lyrics from my favorite musical and is really the only appropriate response for the kind of negative comments that this thread is filled with.

Just wanted to put this out there: the show's Costume Designer, Sharon Gilham, has apparently confirmed that the 'blonde in red' is in fact Elayne despite much fan speculation otherwise.

Inspired by all of the WoTTubers doing Trailer Breakdowns, I wanted to essentially do the same: 1. It took me far longer than it should have to figure out that Rand and Co. are standing on a cliff looking out/down at Rhuidean 2. I really want to know what happens to Moraine that leaves her pale, drained, and caked with sand 3. Siuan is the one who says "The world is changing", but the underlying shot is definitely not of the white Tower in either the Third Age or the Age of Legends 4. The outside shot of Moiraine looking concerned has to be from Episode 1 and the footage that CCXP attendees got to see a preview of 4. Josha doesn't normally bear much physical resemblance to Alexander Kharim, but man did the show expend some effort to make Rand look like Lews for the first closeup shot we get of him in this trailer, so kudos to them for that 5. I don't know where she is or what she's doing, but I want more of red-veiled Liandrin 6. Elayne is definitely putting that crown on for a reason other than 'play' 7. In light of the footage that CCXP attendees got to preview, I'm going to 'buck the trend' and say that I don't think the shot of a Sister in Red sitting on the Amrylin Seat is related to Elaida's deposition of Siuan and instead might have something to do with one of the " thousand, thousand futures" Moiraine talks about glimpsing 8. In the shot where he and Egwene are lying on a rug, Rand looks like he has his mouth open because he's panting, not because he's speaking, and Egwene looks like she's spooked, so I don't think that whatever is happening here has anything to do with them breaking up (again) 9. I really want to know the context for the future in which Amrylin Moiraine is with a wounded Rand in the first place 10. I love that the show is leaning directly into the Moiraine vs Lanfear blood feud that they set up in Season 2 11. Alanna and Liandrin fighting definitely has to be sourced from the preview that CCXP attendees got to see 12. I'm not sure it was the best idea to cover Ciera Coveny in so much makeup that she doesn't even look like herself, but whatever 13. I really want to know the context for the shot of the 'new Forsaken' group of the Two Rivers Five, Elayne, and Lanfear brutalizing Moiraine (because that's the person they're towering over) 14. I wasn't sure if the image of Rand carrying Moiraine was in the show or just something they mocked up for marketing, but now I'm dying to find out the full context behind it

You cannot have a cogent conversation with someone who both refuses to accept the validity of any opinions or viewpoints that aren't in complete lock-step with their own and also either refuses to or cannot satisfactorily justify or substantiate their opinions and viewpoints when pressed to do so. It's the reason why the Prequel and Sequel Trilogies fractured the Star Wars fandom and led to the huge rise of open toxicity within said fandom. Constructive and civil discourse about the WoT TV series can absolutely happen here and elsewhere; it's just sadly rare due to the fact that a good number of those who want to criticize the show online have made it clear from their tenor and tone that they have no interest in considering any points of view that don't validate their own.

It is impossible to carry on a good-faith discussion with someone who makes it clear through their comments that they are not actually interested in having a good-faith discussion, which is why said persons get dismissed as not having any relevant thoughts about the show. One of the signs of an opposing viewpoint that is worth talking about is that the person expressing said viewpoint can offer a strong defense of said viewpoint if/when asked to do so by someone who holds an opposing viewpoint, but the fact is that a good number of the show's haters fail to be able to accomplish this task if/when they are faced with it.

It's not. Negativity unfortunately 'sells' quite well in today's pop culture environment. If you go on YouTube and search for 'Wheel of Time', you will find almost as many videos hating on the show as you will videos that express positive viewpoints about it.