So your last paragraph description of nuclear family is basically what 80 percent of world population would have looked like in our own world in 1300s. Most of the characters we see in books come from people in the elite, warrior, or religious(magic) classes. Through out recorded human history with some variation gender roles have been consistently similar because of biology and survival needs. Variations of gender roles has usually occurred because of unique differences in the environment or some major change like disease that drove an adjustment. I would argue that the freedom to explore gender identity hasn't lead to more happiness or stability among most people. And for most of us it's not really something we seek out for entertainment. Especially among the demo of people who watch shows on streaming services. Rafe went with probably least likely to succeed option on a service that sucks at fantasy. Amazing it lasted 3 seasons. And the tragedy was what it might have been.

There is not enough of a television audience to support a big budget feminist queer fantasy epic. On top of all the other more objective issues the show was still catering to a small proportion of people that routinely watch TV on streaming. So Go woke go broke is actually not a bad summary for show being canceled.

I just re read EotW also. Lots of lore and concepts dropped in casual conversation that would not have been out of place in show. The dream sequences also were just nightmares that didn't tell audience much either. Everyone knows why first season was set up the way it was. The knock on effects stayed with the show throughout. I never wished for show to be canceled. It was a very niche show though with too large a budget for it's targeted audience. It could have been epic but tried to be something it wasn't.

I just re read first half of EotW. It would have made great sort of light horror suspense action.

If books are not currently popular (which I agree probably aren’t to modern fantasy audience) then Amazon was stupid to adapt them. A better question is who subscribes to Amazon Prime and actually watches the shows? I think that audience would have liked a different adaptation. This adaptat

With a bit of editing the prologue would have been an excellent start. It would not have worked if show just jumped into the show as presented. This adaptation got 3 seasons. Not sure how to evaluate if that is a success or not. IMHO several better adaptations were in this story.

With hind sight I would say it's only really great on re-reads. Also spacing books out with re-reads of certain books before advancing. I don't recommend the series because of that. Also modern fantasy readers are too detached from certain cultural ideas to not be offended by things in books. I assume there are more interesting newer series that don't cause so much angst and take less than a year to read.

I think I was the exact perfect demo for these books. I read first 3 back to back about a year after release. I was 20 and fairly well read in fantasy at time. First 3 books are really a product of the time. I don't remember prologue being confusing or boring because other stories used similar displaced scenes. Honestly it could be slightly reworked and make as much sense as show scene stilling the runner or women's circle stress test of Egwene. Reality is Rafe and Amazon wanted a feminist story and a mystery box so we got what we got. Not because season one was a better TV adaptation.