I think Maksim dying might be a solid motivator for Alanna's big book plot. Along the same subject I wonder what the plan for Lan is. Will Alanna take that role as well, it seemed to be hinted at in season 1.

I believe you are correct that there were no Wolves to the rescue in tSR. While Lord Luc may not have been responsible in the show we did see the dead wolves at the Whitecloak camp.

I don't see them killing Perrin. I do see them killing Rand Memory of Light Spoilers

I have been wondering what the plan for Maksim actually was. To me at least there was a fair amount of foreshadowing that he would be the one to die in season 3. I thought he was going to turn out to be a dark friend what with the thumb through fore and middle fingers sign along with the weird scene of him staring at his own reflection. We will probably never know for sure though.

Let me preface this by saying I am a White male from Canada so my perspective is not necessarily needed for this conversation. I have seen this argument/accusation of colourism labeled against the show since the first casting reveal but I don't really see it from my POV. This season the complaints largely seem to be about PoC are being more brutally killed than their white counter parts. The White BA sister during the BA attack in episode 1, head beaten with Leane's Staff, Ispan's death by Moggy in episode 6, thumbs pressed through the face in Tar, and now Valda in episode 7, burned to death. Now historically I think the 2 most gruesome deaths in the series belong to Laila in season 1 and Uno in season 2. And for this season which is more brutal, the White being beaten by Leane or the Brown sister who was cut in half a minute earlier? Is Valda's death worse than Natti Cauthons? Valda we mostly see CGI flames, with Natti we see 2 close ups of her charred corpse in 2 different episodes. Are these intentional or subjective? In season 1 the complaints were that the darker skinned characters were cast as villians, Valda and Padan Fain. Didn't matter that 3 of the e5 were coloured because they were too light skinned. Expect when it did matter that they cast the black man as the who killed their wife. But would it have been better to cast them as Mat, the local thief and troublemaker who betrays their friends? But also ignoring Hammed cast as Loial. I don't really know the answer to any of this. Are these choices intentional or the fault of casting a very diverse cast? I know there have been rumblings of an uproar if they do kill off Moraine and Suian this season as that just reinforces the bury your gays trope. This ignoring all the positive rep show to the LGBTQ community in other couples. I just dunno.

It does seem to be that the Cauthon girls and Daise Congar were both wilders where as Egwene needed to be taught to channel. Then again the show has not fully distinguished between the 2 and might never do so.

No Perrin wasn't stabbed with it. We saw Uno and Lord Yakota down but didn't see what actually injured them. Perrin leaves that encounter with no injuries.

Not even certain she attacked her. She lifted her up. lol

To be fair we don't know how the Shadar Logoth dagger actually affects Ogier, especially since it was early on and the dagger got more powerful with time. No Ogier are stabbed with the dagger in the books if I recall. The Ogier themselves are very hardy but more importantly they are Alien to this world and may not be affected the same. While the scene would certainly be confusing and I think it could have been shot better it is not some sort of crime against nature.

Was going to post something similar. Untrained channelers are often shown producing weaves by instinct. Aes Sedai training tends to stamp this out. I really liked the detail of Daise's shield as everytime it got hit it didn't reform. The shield had a bunch of holes in it by the end.

I will preface this by saying Perrin is my favourite character in the book and his storyline in tSR is possibly my favourite arc throughout the series. When I finished episode 7 this morning I was disappointed. To be fair I was tired from waking up early to watch before work and I was distracted by other things. Through out the day I perused reddit a bit and enjoyed the show only "WoTchers" reaction to the episode. Even the book spoiler threads were generally positive. Well I watched it again this evening and enjoyed it immensely more. Not sure if it was state of mind or what. A few things I wish to comment on; Everything Faile is amazing. Absolutely loved how they wrote her and Perrin in this episode. Loial went out like a badass. Not sure if he will stay dead, in theory he could fall to another platform but I think he will stay dead. I heard from others that Rafe mentioned on the aftershow that they can't just keep collecting characters, some will have to die or be removed. And honestly I think that is a good thing. One of my pet peeves with the series is the lack of losses the side of the Light take until the final book. Perrin and the wolves and slayer. I think they are purposefully stretching out his story beats. So much happens to him in this book and moving Slayer and the wolf dreams till later isn't a bad idea. No idea if that is the plan but I think it is. Perrin turning himself over to the Whitecloaks! I kinda like this. The Whitecloaks have been made more nuanced and competent in the show so I don't mind that they joined in on the fighting. Plus this would give Perrin a story when he was largely absent from the next book. I wonder if it will be more of moving the story beats from later to earlier or be something entirely new. Padan Fain......I have been so curious as to what they have been doing with him. Very different from where he would be in the books. Since they didn't kill him I figure they have some plan for him. I wonder if he next heads to the tower to great Elaida and potentially retrieve the dagger. That is presumably where it is. Potentially begin his Mordeth arc, I could see this as being the plan from the start. Instead of having him be crazy the entire series and ultimately do not much, concentrate that for the back half and maybe have him do something. Valda..... ooooooh thats gotta burn. Nothing of value has been lost lol. I wonder what they plan to do with the person who took him out in the books. Aram, What is the plan? Slow his arc and join Perrin or leaving him in the TR? Finally, Weep for Manetheran....... HOLY JEEBUS, full body chills. Perfect call back.

I had the idea that you could keep Rosamund in the show by having her become a figment of Rand's Madness. Can you imagine Rand doing something really bad and we see from his point of view, Moiraine sitting and watching and shaking her head. Or having her taunt him at times of wielding the power. etc.... I also thought they would use Alexander Karim int he same way to represent the literally voice of Lews Therin.

2nd clip Some good ol Daise Congar and Cenn Buie

Also noticed when Mats admirer approaches Mat with the bracelet Mat pulls out 2 coin pouches and gives him the one he pinched from Thom. He does apologize to Thom but it is freaking hilarious these small details.

After watching the episode again I only realized this joke. Lanfear: "I am sending him a little surprise, let him handle it. LITTLE surprise....... She sends Sammael. hahahahaha

It really was quite fun as an episode. Certainly have my issues with it but there was so much good about it and it was a treat to watch. The Hills of Tanchico have been stuck in my head all week.

You didn't picture Min wearing pants and a jacket short enough that it doesn't cover her rear? Did we read the same books?

There was a snake and fox engraved on it.

I dunno about that. I have really been enjoying the Mat/Min relationship which is clearly non-sexual.

There is some fascinating revelations if you happen to read Sarah Nakamura's twitter in the last day. She was talking about a couple of scenes that people had problems with. First being the scene with Ispan and Moggy in the dream. Some people were unhappy with Ispan using the term forsaken instead of chosen. Apparently Sarah had flagged that line and there were discussions about it but then the writers strike happened and the scene was already filmed by the time they got back. Similar is the healing scene with Alanna. they had worked up a couple of version of that scene but hadn't decided fully on any and once again the writers strike prevented them from polishing it up before filming. Really does suck that the show has had to deal with things like that but that is the nature of the beast I suppose. But as some fan mentioned that scene did not bother them because baby channelers are always doing unexpected things in the books. My head canon is that they had started to heal their mothers hangovers because they were sick of her being so "sick" all the time.

Concerning the scene with Rand destroying Sammael without much thought. I was watching the Dusty Wheel's vod of their aftershow and it seems there is whispering during the channeling scene. Specifically it sounds like someone whispering Illyena. So take that as you will.

And to be fair they were just making out. Has no one kissed their crush in a moment of passion? I don't see how this of all things is unrealistic. While we don't get to see it they have been together for 2-3 weeks. Considering her reaction about the reveal of Mat and the Horn it is implied they have talked about it more than the single time shown.

This episode was very fun aside from a couple of moments. The Biggest elephant was certainly the healing done by Mats sisters. There were other ways to handle this that I think could have worked better. Ah well at least for my head canon I will think that the girls developed a talent so they could heal their mother who was so often sick after coming home from the inn. Not sure why I am not liking the dialogue in Egwene's training scenes. I don't really know why but something seems off to me. I have little issue with the skills that Egwene has shown in the dreamworld it is just the training scenes that are bothering me. Back on the topic of healing at least characters spent an episode dealing with their wounds. I actually thought Alanna might bite it as I didn't recall seeing any scenes of her during the battle in the brief trailers we have gotten. I was a little worried with how they would handle the breakup scene between Ran and Egwene but I think they pulled it off solidly. I think it could have been better but they addressed the points I wanted them to. Now I am looking forward to Rand confronting Lanfear about it. I loved the talk that Moiraine and Rand had, saidin and saidar fully mentioned at last! I really enjoyed the Perrin and Faile scenes. Perrin has always been my favourite character in the books and Faile is up the list as well. And while this seemed quick we know they have spent a week or two together at this point. I dunno I just liked the dialogue between them. I am not sure if Faile is being honest about her background, I have little reason to doubt her aside from book knowledge. The episode scene stealer belongs to all of the Tanchico cast. Bloody brilliant between all of them. Loved seeing Thom back and Mat just badgering him to stay just a little longer. Ceara once again shows how talented she is interacting with any member of the cast. I loved Elayne's attempt to blend in with the accent and story. The Hills of Tanchico have been stuck in my head all morning. Min and Nynaeve had a surprising great interaction, quite interesting to see Nynaeve let her braid down so to speak. In the BTS for the episode Zoe mentioned how she had to figure out how to laugh as Nynaeve and Josha joked that it only took 4 years. The Moggy scene with Elayne and Nynaeve was everything I hoped for. So freaking tense, so fun seeing her just casually strut in and take control. So amazing to see Nynaeve almost resist her. And finally the biggest scene of the show; Rand, Sammael and the little girl. While the battle left much to be desired I was blown away at how easily Rand bodied Sammael. The Forsaken mentioned that Sammael was the weakest among them but it was nice to see Rand display his power. Should put to rest some of the complaints about Rands power. Comment about a leaked audition script And Rand with Alsera was heartbreaking. Not quite the same as the books but very powerful. I am looking forward to see how my partner reacts to it.

My head canon for Suian's knowledge of Grey men is that after Verin discovered the one in the tower she informed Suian about them. Verin knowing more than most people about obscure things just works on multiple levels.

Joiya kinda explained the gray ajah in episode 3, when Nynaeve and Elayne are interrogating her.