I can't believe I'm about to reference a fandom meme, but if the writers were truly "tossing in changes just to have change", Rafe would've let the Yellow Ajah Sister whom Valda burned at the stake in Episode 1x02 be named 'Chesmal Emry'. Every single thing that the show does is calculated and serves a purpose, be it to flesh out the world-building and Lore, serve as an Easter Egg, flesh out or develop characterization, or help facilitate storytelling, just to name a few considerations. Nearly every time someone with a negative view of the show makes a comment, they continually demonstrate just how ignorant they are when it comes to storytelling, and also that they've taken the way that Robert Jordan chose to tell his story - which was shaped and dictated by his own personal interests and beliefs, the social Mores of the time, and the Literary medium - as if it's some 'Holy' blueprint that can't be deviated from.

Thoughts and comments on the episode: * In-universe, it's been at least two years since the events of Shadow's Waiting, so Moiraine isn't wrong. * I'm not sure that I believe that the dreams of her friends that Egwene entered are actually things that they would've been dreaming about given the current circumstances that they're in, but that's entirely a 'me' issue. * The further we get into the season, the more convinced I'm becoming of two things: 1) Moiraine is dying permanently 2) Rafe and his team are saving the Tower Coup for a future season * Valda needs to die... slowly and painfully * I'm almost 100% positive that the Grey Man who attacked Elaida was Jaichim

Rafe and his team likely already know with certainty what the actual chances of a renewal are, and I honestly don't think they're as dire as some other people might be imagining that they are.

It isn't, though. Television shows being renewed either before or during the broadcast of their current seasons, while more common now than it has been in the past, is still not Standard Operating Procedure for the TV industry, which normally only makes renewal and cancellation announcements in May at the Upfronts.

It really shows how desperate some of the people who don't like the show are when they are grasping at 'doomsaying'. The show isn't nearly in as much danger as some people think - or are, unfortunately, hoping - that it is.

The show made it pretty obvious* what it was going for re: The Song through both its score (the Aiel harvest song plays underneath the scene where the ancestors of the Tuatha'uan break away from the 'True Aiel") and the fact that the Previously On very specifically included the discussions about The Song from A Place of Safety. * although apparently not obvious enough given the pushback on the subject that I referenced

Based on the way Natasha O'Keefe portrayed the character, I just don't see any of this as being true. And for all of the cognitive dissonance that her mention of Lews during their conversation initially caused for me, the overall context of the scene itself was crystal clear: she was genuinely trying to help the world - and all of its inhabitants - with her research and the project to Bore into the Pattern.

The context of their conversation and their respective postures conveyed a very close relationship, so I don't buy this argument. There was some pushback against this subject last night in the YouTube Chat for the Wheel & Chill Show, which is why it was on my mind.

I haven't seen a lot of discussion about the fact that the Aiel songs of harvest got mythologized into The Song by the Tuatha'uon over the course of generations. It's a great way to illustrate the truth of the passage "The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again".

I'm not saying that Charn and Rand are identical in appearance, merely that there is a definite physical similarity there that Lanfear has to recognize even if she's never brought it up.

Popping back in with a thought that was sparked by The Wheel & Chill Show: although we've only ever seen her talk about Rand in the context of him being a reincarnated Lews, Lanfear (Mieren) has to recognize his physical resemblance to her Aiel servant Charn.

The issue of cognitive dissonance that I'm concerned about could've been solved with Ingtar, but they either couldn't do that bit because of time constraints or Rafe got told that he couldn't do it by higher-ups. Either way, it's created a conundrum with a character like Verin that the show finds itself in and one that I can't see a way out of aside from not actually going in that direction. Though, again, we'll see.

Because her actions thus far are incompatible with what most of the audience understand about the dichotomy between light and dark as presented in the show. In the show, there hasn't as of yet been anyone sworn to the Shadow whose actions - however noble the motivations behind such actions might be - haven't been what most of the general audience are going to view as evil, and if you suddenly change that, it's going to cause issues. BTW, this observation/statement isn't meant to be a criticism, or at least not one that is show-breaking. It's simply an analysis of things as they are.

I still don't think you can give Show!Verin her book arc without creating cognitve dissonance for most of the audience, but we'll see.

Not in light of the presence of Whitecloaks and Hunters of the Horn. Also, The Two Rivers wasn't as isolated and insular - even in Season 1 - as Emond's Field was shown to be.

At the risk of pendatry, Emond's Field doesn't exist in the show (the village bears the name of the region in which it's located, The Two Rivers), but if you need an explanation for why the presence of two Aiel wouldn't cause fear, I've got two: 1) its been 20 years 2) the impact of the Aiel War likely didn't reach as far as The Two Rivers

Characterization and underlying Lore, mostly. The degendering of souls legitimizes the initial plausibility of Logain's conviction that he's hearing the voices - both male and female - of previous Dragons Reborn because there actually could have been female Dragons Reborn (although we later learn that he's just mad and isn't the actual Dragon Reborn, the initial legitimate possibility that he could have been - which doesn't exist in the same form without the degendering of souls -deepens his characterization). The degendering of souls also allows for the addition of a detail like Egwene's love of the Travels of Jain Farstrider being fueled by literally imagining herself as Jain reborn, and for Mat's 'tea-induced hallucinations' of his mother to literally be manifestations of himself in a previous life.

Yes. It impacted things, but it didn't ultimately change things.

@Sabio I said this earlier, but according to Jon from WoT Up, it isn't Amazon that's holding up an S4 renewal, it's Sony Pictures Television.

Lews sealed away the Forsaken before The Dark One corrupted Saidin, and Latra gave the Sakarnen to Rhodric during the Breaking of the World.

The Tuathuan thing wasn't an Easter Egg.

Not really. As I noted, the scene of the Tuathauan linking arms and resisting Valda and his Questioners serves the narrative function of demonstrating their resolve and their commitment to the Way of the Leaf, which is important in and of itself; it does not need to have any significance beyond that simple function. Adding a retroactive 'callback' to it would have just unnecessarily made an already complicated story even more complicated.

Because the point of depicting that action wasn't setup for anything; it was to illustrate the resolve of the Tuathuan and their commitment to peaceful resistance.

And, as,I noted, deepen characterization and Lore.

Yes, and he is most likely Asmodean.