The way I read it is that Jordan intended that "souls" (or whatever you want to call them) are gendered, and are therefore what corresponds to the "true" personality of the individual - channeler or not. And that the gender of the soul need not match the gender of the body. In the world of the Wheel, a mismatch would necessarily be much rarer than it is in our world, as Aran'gar appears to be the only known example. But if a naturally-occurring mismatch were to occur, it would most likely result in the trans individual channeling the Power their soul reached for, not what their body would imply. So a trans man wouldn't just be comfortable channeling Saidin, it would be what they naturally do. And likewise a trans woman would naturally channel Saidar.

Not kink - romance. The dialogue Jordan wrote for people trying to be romantic was one of the most unrealistic things he did in the books. Kink starts out unrealistic, so it doesn't hurt.

And he definitely writes humor better than RJ did. Romance, too.

There's also the possibility that, alone among the researchers at the Collam Daan, Mierin knew exactly what the Bore would do. Remember that she was already jealous of Ilyena, unquenchingly thirsty for power, and willing to use anyone and anything to get what she wanted. It's entirely possible that, when those researchers are described having been deceived about what they were about to do, it was HER who had deceived them. For Beidomon, it was clearly a mistake. For Mierin Eronaile, it might just have been intentional. Not tragic - just jealous and power-hungry.

Interestingly enough, I did something similar when the series was first being released. I tended to read a new Anne Rice novel (or two) while waiting for the next WOT installation.

Well, we know that Aes Sedai in general are accomplished at standing the truth on its head without actually "saying a word that is not true." Verin at least as much as anyone else. We also know that Verin had already taken the Black Oaths by the beginning of the series, yet I am only aware of a single instance where she said something that was definitively false prior to her conversation with Egwene. In The Great Hunt, she told the hunters flat-out when she joined them that Moiraine had sent her. Something we learn for a fact later was completely false. But the circumstances are such that Moiraine doesn't know Verin said that. Given all of that, I don't think it's any kind of deal-breaker to wonder how she convinced them she wanted to join without outright lying. Hell, she could have even told the unvarnished truth and said she wanted to join the Black Ajah - just not why.

Bear in mind that some of this is not based on specific info written in any of the sources, but on the internal consistencies of what we know of Aes Sedai and Warders ... 1: Aes Sedai usually have MUCH longer lifespans than Warders. 2: Verin gave the impression she had been investigating the Black Ajah for decades. 3: Given 1: and 2: above, she was almost certainly already inside before she took Tomas as her Warder. Probably before he was even born. 4: Which means that, as is typical with any Sister investigating potential Warders, she knew enough about him to guess he would be a valuable ally before asking to bond him. That he wanted to get out, but couldn't do it on his own, and would help her with that in mind. Regarding her own circumstances, I would suspect it was her curiosity that brought her to the attention of other Black Sisters, and she was able to convince them that her curiosity was about wanting to join rather than to expose them. That she probably gave them reason to think accepting her was better than killing her, though they couldn't have taken the chance of letting her go without binding her with their oaths.

Correct. In fact, one of those "especially lucky" males they tried to kill was Lan himself.

One thing: In Two Rivers villages, the Wisdom is the political equal to the Mayor. She outranked literally everyone else on the Village Council. The reason she acted the way she did is because she felt - very acutely - every slight that came her way because she was considered "too young for her role." There was a very real basis for this, but she was also unreasonably sensitive to things a more emotionally-mature person would have shrugged off.

Taim, not Tam. Demandred, not Damodred. And many readers (including myself) thought Mazrim Taim would turn out to be the disguise Demandred was using - until Jordan changed his mind near the end of the books. This potential plot point is referred to as "Taimandred."

I always wish someone good luck when starting back on this adventure. Happy reading.

I wish you well on your adventure. I was one of those who started reading at the very beginning, and re-read it every time I bought new books. So I never had the opportunity to experience the entire thing fresh without pause. It's interesting to think about how that would have changed things.

Actually, she mentioned a different specific viewing she had (without giving details) that referred directly to Moiraine and success or failure in the Last Battle. It was different from the sparks that she saw not as a single event, but as a visualization of a continuing struggle. "He would almost certainly fail without a woman who was dead and gone..." is how she puts it one of the times she talks about it. It's different from the times (like with Egwene and Gawyn) where she sees two courses of action leading to two different results. In this one, the viewing itself implies uncertainty.

And Min's only "if" viewing was about this. For every other viewing (that she understood) what she saw happened no matter what anyone did to try and prevent it. Only that one could go either way.

That's one of my favorites.