@Ralph I don't understand why you're trying to create a distinction between these things when the show itself did not, and would be genuinely interested in a more in-depth explanation.

13 minutes ago, Sabio said:

But unless they actually change who the dragon is then it's just fluff tossed in.  In the book there really wasn't alot of suspense as to who the dragon really was.

It isn't, though.

Within the WoT world as presented on the show, any person - up to and including the Dragon Reborn - could be reincarnated as a man or woman in their next life regardless of what gender they were in their previous life (or lives).

Even if the Dragon ultimately wasn't reborn as a woman in this Turning of the Wheel as seen from an in-universe perspective, we are most likely going to see past versions of the Dragon who were in fact women.

Moiraine initiates her conversation with Egwene precisely because she (Moiraine) knows that she (Egwene) can Channel, and because she (Moiraine) has identified Egwene as a potential Dragon Reborn. She also explicitly identifies 'listening to the wind' as being Channeling to Egwene.

The plothole that emerges from that conversation is a result of Moiraine later stating - both in conversations with Lan and with other Aes Sedai - that she didn't know that Nynaeve could Channel, which is a lie based on the nature and purpose of her forest conversation with Egwene.

The Dragon Reborn possibly being female is more than just simple misdirection and obfuscation of the plot for the sake of suspense. Its a representation of a direct change on the part of the show's production team to the metaphysics of the WoT world as presented in the books.

Even without a change to the identity of the Dragon Reborn, degendering souls is going to have ripple effects within the story as presented onscreen.

^ I don't understand what distinction you're trying to make here.

As presented in the show, Moiraine clearly identifies to Egwene that 'listening to the wind' is Channelling. It might be untrained and subconscious Channelling, but it's still Channelling.

^ I think you might have a misconception about what a Plothole is.

Here's an example of an actual plothole from within the show:

Moiraine clearly identifying 'listening to the wind' - which she knows that both Nynaeve and Egwene can do - as being Channelling, yet outright stating that Nynaeve hadn't Channeled prior to her 'healing explosion'

These two things are not only incompatible with one another, they're incompatible with the Aes Sedai not being able to outright lie.

^ In both of those cases, the producers/writers/actors involved were quick to correct people's interpretations of what was being presented, so, yes, you can misinterpret art.

Also, having characters within the show misinterpret things is not the same thing as misrepresenting things to the audience.

For example, Warders good-naturedly ribbing their friend Lan about Moiraine and the nature of their relationship and Nynaeve drawing the wrong conclusions shows us things about Nynaeve, not the actual nature of Lan and Moiraine's bond, especially when other scenes between Lan and Moiraine clearly demonstrate an intimate platonic link between them.

^The X-Ray extras are pretty explicit in stating that Moiraine and Siuan's ter'angreal physically transported them somewhere other than the White Tower.

31 minutes ago, RhienneAgain said:

So far, of the close platonic relationships from the books we have already seen Lan's and Moiraine's relationship be used to hint at sexual relations between Aes Sedai and Warders

This comment represents a misinterpretation of what we have both been shown and repeatedly told by the producers and actors.

Hi, all.

I should've done this first, but didn't, so here we go.

I'm probably going to be one of the few posters here who joined specifically because of an interest in the TV series and who isn't a fan of the novels, but hopefully people won't hold that against me.

17 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

What's so bad in the show romances? We have Rand&Egwene, Nynaeve&Lan and Moiraine&Siuan, right?

You forgot Perrin/Laila and Alanna/Maksim/Ihvan.

Even if the show keeps the identity of the Dragon Reborn homogenous with the novels, Rafe makes it clear that we will see onscreen evidence of the metaphysical change that was made with regards to the gendering of souls by talking about past Dragons having been female.

Anyway, this has gotten 'into the weeds' a bit, so to pull it back, the broader point is that saying that the Dragon Reborn could potentially be female isn't merely a misdirection, even if the show doesn't actually change the Dragon Reborn's identity, because it is a tangible manifestation of broader show lore about the nature of souls.

What happened in the novels with regards to the reincarnation of the Dragon is irrelevant with regards to the TV series because, as I noted, the show has eliminated the idea of souls being gender-locked.

In both an AMA that he did on Reddit and in an interview with io9, Rafe specifically talks about the show's approach to reincarnation, not just of regular souls, but of the Dragon's soul:

Quote

I think—well, I can’t tell you all of them, but in the books, there’s an idea that if you’re born as a man in one life, you’d be born as a man in the next life in the show. We’re not doing that. We’re approaching it as you are a soul and you move through different bodies through whatever life that you’re in. So that’s one. It’s a very fundamental change actually to make to the book series, and it has a lot of ripple effects, and we’ll continue to do things like that I think are more reflective of what hopefully Robert Jordan would be writing if he was writing today.

Quote

I think the idea that the Dragon Reborn doesn’t necessarily need to only be a male character, that’s really important. We see that play out in a number of different ways through the season. Also, as we learn, some of the Dragons of the past were women. How was that different? How did that affect the world? So that one change that we’ve made, it really does flutter through the whole series. I think it’s good to make changes like that and to put them in the show, even if it does have those effects.

Three that haven't been mentioned yet: 

Amazon Prime's Inside the Wheel of Time w/The Dusty Wheel Aftershow

Maidens of the Spear's reader and non-reader reviews

The Amrylin's Study's reaction videos/analyses

11 hours ago, Kazhvar said:

The actors keep referring to the DR as he or she but the DR cannot possibly be a she sine Saidar was never tainted by the Dark one. Why is this in the show? Its extremely confusing when you're trying to explain the entire background and lore of the world to someone and you're having to argue with the show...

The show has altered the metaphysics of the WoT world by degendering souls, which means that someone who was a man in a previous life - i.e. the Dragon - can be reincarnated as a woman, and vice-versa.

The show has also lessened people's certainty about the truthfulness of prophecy and belief in legends.