Agreed, it was a lovely twist and the showrunners certainly made sure it was a play on bookreaders. I know my partner loved the moment. I must admit the fight in the books never sat well with me. Rand with a couple months sword training, admittedly with the best swordsman in the world, was able to beat a Swordmaster. Even with the Flame and void and Lews Therim's memories/skills bleeding over it just seems like quite a leap to beat a Heron-marked blade in 1v1. The description of the fight though.... whoa, that is on another level. Absolutely loved the imagery RJ was able to invoke with his choice of words during sword battles.

I don't believe it was an access key in the 13th depository. I do believe that in the list of stolen ter'angreal that was given to The Towerpuff girls there was a Lady in the nude statue among the list. So possible just another of the sleepweavers. I could be wrong and they might change it to something else I still don't think it would be an access key. I believe this mostly due to what they have shown us of Moiraine and the Chodan'ball. If this is the route they have gone with I think it is a downgrade compared to the book but I'll just have to wait and watch.

Or a hidden weave known only by the Aes Sedai who knew of the 13th Depository existence.

As someone mentioned earlier this fight was incredibly quick. Probably less than a minute in length, two tops. Between the slow motion, the cuts to other scenes and multiple camera angles for the "cool factor" it is easy to see why so many of the sitters were caught off guard. Barely able to protect themselves let alone process the fact that this is actually happening, that their sisters of decades(potentially centuries) are devil worshipers. 2-3 sitters are killed almost instantly. I imagine the Whites and greys would be worried about taking cover and avoid the falling debris. Both Yellow Ajah members (black and light) immediately start healing when the opportunity comes. Alanna and Leane both stop fighting when Suian is knocked down. That number advantage drops quite quickly I think.

The way Verin led Yassica into figuring out the Black Ajah was responsible for compulsion being using on Sheriam was masterful. Walked right around that Oath.

Either Verin has amazing reflexes or she knew the attack was coming. It looked like she was able to blunt most of the attack(compulsion?) and then looked to her sister on how to react. It is so fun to theorize again!

I really enjoy it as well. The action looked quite good. Some solid show don't tell moments. There was some dialogue that felt very stilted and I wonder if it was just a poor edit or cut down scene. But otherwise I was quite happy with it. Also did you guys catch the Twisted Redstone door frame at 8:38. Decorated with what appears to be snakes and foxes.

Why does a potential time jump make you cringe? The early books had several lengthy time jumps between them. 1-2 months between tEotW and tGH. Something like the entirety of Winter between tGH and tDR. Certainly as the books progress the time jumps become less of a thing but they are present early.

I would also suggest pausing at 8:38 timestamp.

I can see why........ on the other hand Jeanine......

Rand did admit he loved Selene in like episode 3. While the shock of learning her true identity could change it I doubt all his feelings are gonna. Especially if Lanfear is going to appear more sympathetic this season as she tries to manipulate him more to her side. Actually it will be interesting to see how they play with that as Lanfear attempts to avoid the notice of the other Forsaken. Moghedien's threat seemed quite real.

Agreed, I think Egwene will spot Rand with Lanfear in Tel'aran'rhiod. Maybe that is who Lanfear appears to be looking at while kissing Rand in that one shot.

There is just so much in this trailer it is difficult to organize my thoughts. The Exciting! Perrin is my favourite character in the series and his story in tSR is amazing. The trailer is giving me massive hype for the Two Rivers plot this season. I love the look of Perrins armour and axe. Lolial's makeup seems to be..... better this season. The two shots of him in the trailer just looked better than previous seasons. Everything we have seen of Rhuidhean is fantastic. The shots of the columns and the rings are gorgeous. Certainly they surpass my imagination of what they looked like. I think it was a really good decision to have Josha play his past lives when Rand takes his trip through the Columns. In the couple of shots we have the crew have done a solid job of making him look different enough that it shouldn't be to confusing for non-readers. Although I am sure some people are going to be extremely confused when we have Da'shain Rand meet Mierin and think, huh I thought he was Lews Therin in the AoL. It sounds like going to the Waste is going to be Rand's idea. I am glad they kept it this way. Laia Costca is frigging creepy as Moghedien. enough said. The Black Ajah battle at the tower is looking promising. I was a little worried when we initially heard about it but the couple of shots we have look solid. Looks like we are getting more Tel'aran'rhiod and the beginning of Egwene's dreamwalking abilities. The Disappointing =( Seems my prediction was wrong and we will not be getting Gaul in Perrin's story this season, if ever. But at least we have Bain and Chiad going to the Two Rivers, I do appreciate their dynamic in the books. Not enough Mat in the trailer but I suppose that is why we got the feature last week starring him. But at least we know he is getting the Foxhead Medallion this season! I am concerned about the pacing for this season. The trailer showcases so many things and I just don't know how they are going to fit it into the 8 50 minute episodes and not feel rushed. And this is coming from someone who doesn't mind a brisk pace(Arcane season 2). A minor thing but I am disappointed that Bair will be taking over Amys role in the book. Ultimately a minor character and a minor change but I just liked Amys in the books. Sarah Nakamura explained why this happened. That it was a late dollars & cents thing versus a creative thing and had they had circumstances been different they would have likely swapped the other way. But oh wells I am sure I have more thoughts but this is all I could get out this morning.

Kinda how I view the episode. I really love everything the Rand, Moiraine and "The Dark One", I think that was really well executed. But the rest of the episode is so messed up due to other factors we really do not know what it should have looked like. Losing Barney Harris alone forced big changes to his and Perrins(I think) finale arcs. Losing the Trolloc stunt actors, the location for the blight, needing to suddenly budget for a CGI Battle that wasn't planned for at all. It is honestly wild that it turned out as functional as it did.

I think the memories from Falme could fade, leaving holes in his memory. Might be wishful thinking but I can be hopeful. I also don't think they will leave Mat with the Shadar Logoth dagger as his ashendarei. I am not sure if Moiraine will get the doorway answers along with her Rhuidean visions. But there has to be some event that provokes? forces? incites Rand's trip to the waste. Could move that scene from Tear to Tar Valon without to much effort.

Difficult to fully say. In the books Rand breaks the first seal when using the Eye of the world. After it is broken it is just as hard as regular cuendillar as Lan breaks his best knife by trying to scratch it. It isn't until much later that the seals become brittle to the touch. Around the time that Nynaeve and Egwene reach Salidar. In the show Rand breaks the seal using an Angreal/Sa'angreal. Afterwards Moiraine identifies it as cuendillar. In season 2 we see Ishamael breaking Lanfears seal using a specific weave and then at the end of the season we see him dusting off his hands after breaking the remaining ones. Moiraine says at the end of season one that cuendillar is suppose to be indestructible. Bayle Domon attempts to sell Moiraine a piece of cuendillar from Lanfears seal and believes it to be worth a lot so we can assume that cuendillar is still a valuable substance. I am not sure if it is mentioned in the books but my head canon is that once Rand broke the first seal it allowed the dark one to start corrupting the remaining seals. I choose to believe this same thing is happening in the show. Rand needed an Angreal/Sa'angreal to break the first. Ishy needed to weave to break the 2nd and by the end of the season he was able to break the rest by hand.

Egwene's healing of Nynaeve has been talked about to death. The show made major mistakes visualizing that scene to the audience in part due to covid. As for Egwene's triumph she and Nynaeve were batteries for a poorly trained Accepted(Noivce?). Whether or not you liked it Rand turning down Ishamael's offer and his rescue of Moiraine was a triumph. While the victory did not end as expected it was a short term win. Egwene vs Ishy in Falme. She did not go toe to toe with him. She held a failing defensive posture for a surprising amount of time but that is training for you. She did not once find time to strike out and she was about to lose until Perrin joined her. Agreed on Rand stabbing Ishamael as anticlimatic. While it was satisfying to see Rand get branded on the palm the moment did not seem to have the impact I was expecting. I personally loved seeing Egwene handle Renna on her own as it was immensely satisfying. I wouldn't have minded seeing Nynaeve and Elayne saving her. But this is mitigated by having Nynaeve's arc being that she needs training, that she can't rely on her own ability or just ignore it. Also Rand broke a cuendillar seal on his own without training, you want to talk about power? He also got to merc Lord Turak and his retinue. I know book fans were hoping for the duel but all of my friends absolutely loved that moment.

I am kinda surprised that we are getting Lord Gabriel. Is he going to be the forsaken we expected or maybe combined with a different one. I think this casting means we could be seeing Matt going on his book 3 arc. It is presumed that most of the cast will be starting in Tar Valon and that Mat will be joining the Wonder Girls in Tanchico. Maybe he is sent to Camelyn first to deliver a letter and overhears a most concerning conversation. Maybe picks up Thom on his way. Also hoping for his double Finn encounter. Doorways in the Tower and Tanchico works just fine for me.

I would not be surprised.

Looks like the article was wrong and they have issued a correction. Luke Featherson will play Gawyn and Callum Kerr will play Galad. Galad will remain the older brother.

The scene is also a visual aide to the audience to show people unfamiliar with the books the versatility of the One Power. And while it would be more efficient to just have Moiraine kill all the trollocs with fire it is boring visually. But as we see in the battle with Logain's followers, and in the new teaser, Alanna seems to resort to an earth weave for attacking. So we get a scene introducing new audience members to the versatility of the OP and then we see that Aes Sedai tend to go with what they know in battle. I suppose this could also be an allegory that unlike most Aes Sedai Moiraine is more open minded in how she approaches problems.

I believe WoT series said that Alexandre Willaume was returning for season 3. Hopefully in a larger role as I really enjoyed his performance in season 1. I don't know if Gawyn's actor has been leaked or not so I don't know if they haven't combined him with Galad. I know that the actor for Galad's CV reports his character as Galad Trakand,. Whether that is to streamline his character or because maybe they did combine characters I don't know. But I believe there was a leaked audition scrip with Gawyns name so who knows!

This is the Mat story we all need.

There are some scenes in this teaser to be really hyped about. I am looking forward to seeing the forging of Perrin's axe and while I hope we get a scene similar to his forging scene in tDR I don't think it is him forging the axe in the teaser. The scene of him raising the axe with a battle cry gave me goose bumps. The entire Two Rivers plot in tSR is one of, if not my favourite plot line in the entire series. I am curious how they are going to introduce Faile, will she meet Perrin before going to the TR. Will she already be there because she thought the Horn of Valere was going to be in the Mountains of Mist? Happy to see Ruidean looking ethereal, not quite what I expected and all but a solid interpretation. As with everyone I am looking forward to Rand's trip through the glass columns.

The length of the spears could be a marketing goof as we have already seen the size of Aiel spears in season 2. I propose the theory that these are ceremonial spears that potential clan chiefs leave outside of Ruidean which they collect them when they leave. These would be the spears that were not collected.