Remember when Moiraine told Egwene, Matt, Rand and Perrin their cover story for the Whitecloaks was that they were traveling under the care of a lady from a fallen house? She can’t lie.

I am good with the no body swaps since we get to keep Natasha O'Keeffe (and Fares Fares), they are such amazing additions to the cast.

I'll confess to tearing up a bit when Hopper told Perrin his name. (And they did a surprisingly good job of conveying the whole "wolf names are actually complex images that can't be put into words easily" idea on screen.) A possibly significant change that may come up later: From memory, in the books, LTT and the Hundred Companions basically lucked out and found all the Forsaken having a meeting at Shayol Ghul when they attacked, so they were able to trap them all together in the Bore with the Dark One. There was only one prison, and no need for a long process of tracking down and eliminating any surviving Forsaken separately. (And everyone involved had their attention occupied by other matters fairly quickly.) Here, though, if Ishy is having to travel all over the world freeing each of the Forsaken from their respective seals, then that seems to imply that each of them was individually defeated and imprisoned. (And given the size of the seals so far, building each one probably took a fair amount of effort.) I think we know from s1e8 that the strike on Shayol Ghul led by LTT probably happened in more or less the same way as the books, but the defeat of the Forsaken may have been a major undertaking separate from that.

Siuan Sanche will remove Moiraine's shield. This has been foreshadowed already when we saw Siuan as a girl untying fishing knots. That's my guess anyway

19:21 Moiraine learns it first/separately. I still hope we get to see her clap Be'lal (or any Forsaken, really)

I agree about the wolves being too small - Hopper looks like a dog, not like a wolf. I prefer that they used real animals but as you said, they could have used forced perspective to make them look bigger. Also agree about Lan’s character and how they’re treating him - he seems to have lost all agency and I hope that changes soon.

No one has said it, so i will. She was showing Rand the waves of the true power before she was stabbed by Moiraine. Makes sense. At first I thought she was using regular. Weaves that were masked, but after seeing her first explanation makes more sense.

In the first series Perrin and one of the travellers had a conversation about how the travellers ate so many turnips and Perrin asks how they can stand that. I think I remember seeing a little flash of yellow in his eyes during the conversation.

I love your videos. You are the only one I've seen that shows the differences in the books and the show in a positive way. Most are saying it's worse than the first season and it's just pure garbage. I love the show and always look forward to seeing your breakdowns.

I love the idea that Mat's luck is actually in play, and made him lose. That wasn't even on my radar until you proposed the idea. I'm tempted to apply his luck solely to his particular ta'veren/wheelbound identity, (regardless of the Age, Mat is the Gambler and the Son of Battles,) and wonder if the show applies this "bad luck is good in the long run" idea to his childhood circumstances. In this way you could argue the show is making Perrin's struggle with aggression and violence, and Mat's bad luck being good in the long run, part of these characters' ta'veren birthrights as surely as Rand's channeling and...Dragon-ness. Maybe I'm slippery sloping it too far, but your idea made me thinky.

Just a bit of clarification I noticed you've referred to it as a "sundial" in a few videos when Domon told Moiraine it was the "moondial" outside of Cairhien that was broken and had the "poem" scrawled on it in blood? (S2E1 27:34) Which lines up a bit more with Lanfear as well. I agree it makes way more sense for a TV show to just have the Dark One resurrect the same characters back into their bodies. It would be way too confusing for a TV audience to keep having characters changing to different actors. Did you see Tweeter of Chaos' tweet confirming the saa? It also definitely ups the stakes for learning Balefire. Part of why I still can't understand why everyone still is hung up on Logain somehow teaching Rand. At best he can give him some rudimentary basics but he's going to need "another teacher" who has Age of Legends knowledge for certain weaves in order to advance plot lines. I can't wait for Episode 5 even though we all know some of the insane trauma that is about to happen. This season has definitely upped the game in overall quality. I just hope they really nail the last few episodes to catapult this to a level that will hopefully ensure we get the full story delivered. Still waiting on a Season 4 confirmation. 😉

I think Moraine will still die, Rafe made a comment about utilizing her on screen for as long as they had her. I think that implies that she will leave the show at some point at least on screen

1. I don't think they're *replacing* the "death" and bond passing plotline with what's happening in this episode, I think they're laying out the lore and foreshadowing for it. I just can't see them not giving Moiraine her big showdown at the docks, and I also can't see them having done all this foreshadowing of Nynaeve/Alanna tension without having the bond passing actually take place. And just to be clear, I'm pretty confident the bond hasn't been passed yet, nor even released; I think Moiraine just told Alanna something that implied that Lan needed to have a babysitter (without revealing she lost her power) so she can stop worrying about his safety while she continues fixing her mistakes. 2. Mat just had a big chunk of his TDR arc, there's no way they're redoing it. I don't think any of the little teasers we've seen, nor Min's vision, necessarily indicates that he'll need to be separated from the dagger again. The trailer shot looked like a dream (the setting seemed very unreal, ornate without matching any real world sets so far), and the prominent fireplace suggests it could def be in TAR where the DF social was. And I don't think we know enough about Min's visions in show canon to know that they always literally show what happens, rather than sometimes being symbolic/metaphorical and in need of interpretation - and even if it will literally happen the way she sees it, there's no guarantee that's in the real world either. Therefore, I think they must just have something else planned as the trigger for Mat's luck-bending. Maybe even just blowing the Horn! 3. I really don't think that scene proved that you can't kill Forsaken short of balefire. Moiraine didn't say *no one* can kill a Forsaken, she said *she* didn't and couldn't; maybe she could have if she'd had access to the power and been able to completely destroy the body. Like, if Rand were to use that "incineration from the inside out" weave (that he used on the Fade) on a Forsaken, I think even the Dark One might be unable to reuse that same body and would have to force-reincarnate them in a new body. (I'm also not convinced that Lanfear died and got reinstalled in her body during that scene; I could see that being, e.g., a tied off TP weave that is set to automatically heal mortal wounds, that kicks in right before she is fully brain-dead. After all, Nynaeve healed Lan with pints of blood having already gushed from his sliced neck.) So, basically, what I'm saying is: this gives them leeway to have "deaths" where they keep the actor after the "reincarnation" as well as new-body reincarnations. That way, they can keep some actors if there's no good plot reason to have them come back in an unrecognizable form, but they can still do what happens in the books (which is good, because being unable to recognize the reincarnation is often a major plot device). I also just have to say, as much as I love Fares and want to keep him, we need Rand to finally get a win and fully kill a Forsaken soon, and I also just don't want Rand to body swap into Fares at the end of the series. (Nor do I want him to keep his body, because his body will be pretty messed up, and I think that that whole final set of scenes with the funeral is too important to RJ's vision to ditch.)

I was hoping for a Mat vs Gawyn and Galad fight scene.

Matt has to be with Rand in season 3 if they're going to do the Aiel. He has to be there.

I thought the body swapping was a little weird in the books, so I'm fine with them getting rid of it. This way works better for the show. I'm doing a season 1 re-watch right now and it's impressive how many callbacks there are and how much foreshadowing there is in season 1. I think the first 4 episodes of season 2 actually improve season 1 quite a bit.

The only body swap I want is Moradin so the ending works. Tom Sturridge is my choice for Moradin.

If Logaine really yearned for death he does not need a knife. Just look at all that fabric he's wearing!!! Wonder what he could do with that?

Im pretty sure that Mat's luck work both ways in a few places in the books. He had streaks of both good and bad, till he wanted to have it his way.

Any speculation on what Lanfear was weaving while she was on top of Rand? I think she was trying to bond him.

I'mm so ready for the next episode! Thanks for these awesome Easter eggs!!

Kind of like the Highlander style instead of full body swap resurrection model. Really does add to the creepiness and shows the reach of the DO. Balefire no doubt on the horizon. How they're going to play it with Ishamael / Moridin will be interesting. Dripfeeding the Chosen each to their own seal is a sensible plot option. Just waiting for hot Graendal to appear now. Nice spot with the True Power and the Sa.

I appreciate your breakdowns and Easter egg videos so much! Thank you!

I really really like your reviews and Easter eggs. One thing though that has bothered since your eps 1 review, you said then and in here that the cuendiar stone was from a sun dial that cracked in Cairihen. Sorry for my spelling, I'm an audio listener mostly. I'm certain Master Doman said on eps 1 that the stone was from an old "moon dial". Also, here you said that this is the stone Moiraine has. She didn't buy Doman's stone. The cracked stone she has is the one she got in S1 eps 8 at the eye of the world. Just a minor correction, but important as well, since Lanfear was released when that "moon dial" cracked. Again, thanks for all you do. Very much appreciated and lots of great points.

I wonder if they’ll show/explain how Morraine knew Lanfear was with Rand as nobody in this Age knows what any of the Forsaken look like?

Nice easter eggs. I am a huge fan of the books and have read them many times but still learn something new from your videos. Thanks. Looking forward to the next video. Small point of clarification. I think you misspoke about the Tree of life. To my recollection, the Aiel only gave them a branch or a cutting from the Tree from Rhudian which grew into a lesser but still magnificent tree sacred to the Aiel. Not the Tree of Life itself. Everything else you said rings true.

Thank you, thank you! You are amazing!

as a non-book reader, I greatly appreciate the info and knowledge...

She masked the bond before they left for the Eye.

So we know from the LTT prologue that the True Power also has healing weaves but they work pretty differently from OP. Its possible that TP enables self-healing. I suspect that Lanfear was dying and used TP to heal herself.

Hard to believe the season is already halfway through !

Mat will be in the Tower in S3? Man, I really do wonder how the show is going to make everything work, everybody ends up in a different place you expect them to be. So if the season begins with the Stone, no Mat in Tear (Red Twisted Door could easily have an equivalent in the tower) or no Mat in Rhuidean (same story, but how does he end up in the fight with the Shaido?). I feel that Barney Harris leaving the show really messed up their plans with Mat big time and the ripple effect is huge.

I like the non body swapping! You do a great job of breaking it down and making the connection to the actual story and how the changes they made still work and make sense.

Nice Easter Egg video. I missed the painting of the tree; very cool.

A small potential easter egg, or at least another nod to Lanfear, was when Moiraine was in the Foregate. She walked up to the guard and asked about the inn burning down. The name of the in was the Crescent Inn.

This may seem like a weird complaint but I really wish they had given Logain some type of hobby or something. Being stilled mirrors the breaking of the bond and Liadrins comments on holding onto some specific thing after you suffer a loss. They should be trying to keep him busy in some way the same way the other two similar story lines are stressing. He has suffered the same type of loss and should be treated the same if they do mean to keep him alive.

I still think we'll get the Moiraine death storyline. I don't think they would keep on namedropping Cadsuane if she was never to appear in the show, and so I don't think they will keep Moiraine for the whole 8 seasons through. Besides, this might be how they managed to get her into the show in the first place: I don't believe a big name actress would sign up on 8 years for a show that might bomb, but she might sign up for 3 seasons and a few episodes. Also, I love Cadsuane, she's the badassest of badasses and I want her to slap people right and left :P!

Nice video to wake up to. Cheers pal.

love Hopper but Loial still best character :)

So, did Rand kill Ishy at the eye of the world anyway, but he just healed with the power of the Dark one?

In the opening scene, when Ishy stops and looks up, the 'rocks' include at least one building (bottom right). See the flat surface and the X in the face and the regular windows? Also, the dial we're all referring to as a seal, that Ishy channels into? Looks like the back side of one of the windows visible in the A-o-L flashback from season 1. Not the exact window (I'd honestly hope not, and it has different number of spokes) but it's definitely the same aesthetic. I know - I can’t square this with the 'moon dial at Cairhien' narrative.

Do you think the blue tassels 26:45 the guard had at the Charhien propper entrance was a nod to Blue Ajah eyes and ears?

Jon. If Chosen cannot be killed by conventional means, do you think the show will introduce a caveat where the Dark One cannot stuff the soul back into the body of a dead Forsaken if the Forsaken is beheaded? I hope so. Otherwise we cannot get the Lan iconic moment during the Last Battle. Also, I think a caveat should be made for death by the Flame of Tar Valon. As Egwene explained in the books it was the opposite of balefire and effects those who pledge themselves to the Shadow much more than it would someone or something else

I hope we get to see Shayol Ghul soon. I wonder if the specific seals are scattered in the different countries, or maybe in some pattern relative to the thin spot of the pattern.

Mat doesn't get any luck until after he goes through the portal and gets his ashandarei and fox head medallion. Also the Aiel chased the king all over the country looting everywhere all the way to the white tower. Taking the fifth. They became quite wealthy themselves from the war.

On second watch, when Moraine is speaking with her sister at 39:48 is a painting she stares at (in your video you freeze frame on that moment). I was looking at the painting and feel it shows a certain aspect i read in the books but canno recall...is that painting a scene from the books or am i misremembering?

Easter egg I caught. Scene with Hopper and Perrin. Elyas says “we see her when you dream” (or something like that) referring to Perrin’s wife. This I feel, is an Easter egg to Tel’aran’rhiod material coming.

Jon. You missed an Easter egg. We see Moiraine's sister put on a wig. When we first saw promotional pictures of Rosamund in costume as Moiraine before Season 1 aired, some content creators (you may have been 1 of them, I cannot remember) pointed out that be zeroing in on one party of Rosamund's hair, you could tell there was a wig. Wow. You said that we know the show filmed the coup scenes for Season 3. When was this reported. I did not see anything about this. You are more aware of Season 3 news than I am. Where and when was this reported in the fandom. I am not doubting you. It is just news to me. Same with the show filming May being healed in the Tower. If they are filing Mat in the Tower, then how will Mat get to the Aiel Waste. Unless Mat does not go to the Aiel Waste. Instead he rescues Leane (I think Siuan will die during the coup) and they will go to Salidar. On his way there Mat will save some troops and that will be the start of the Band of the Red Hand. The Healing will somehow allow him to access past lives (no Ealfin or Aelfin) so he will have military memories. He will find the Ashendari while he leaves the Tower. Or perhaps he will find the Ashendari in Falme and it will become his weapon of choice. Jon. I disagree with you again. Hopper is not the best character so far. That honor goes to Bela. #rememberBela

Love your videos. Just want to ask what you think about Moraine's nephew. The one who is going to get married to the queen

I noticed something in Min's dream vision. The two "girls" Min sees seem to be younger versions of Leane and Siuan. The first young women resmbles Leane and the second resembles the young actress we saw on the first season that played Siuan as a young girl, just older. The vision splits into a suffering image of what seems to be the older version the characters. I'ts barely recognizable, but I believe Min is actually seeing the stilling they go through. By the time we reach season 3 (when I beieve the white tower rebelion will take place), the girls will probably look like young women. If it's true, maybe the show will give us the age cutting that happens to the aes sadai when stilled and the oathes are broken. It also means that Moiraine isn't stilled.

I think Morraine in the show is picking up some of Siaun’s story, but I could be wrong.

The dial in Cairhien is a MOON-dial. Fits with the nature of Lanfear.

Pretty sure they said Moiraine was the older sister, not the younger. I think you misspoke at 6:17.

Jon, Jon, Jon... Gawyn take the #1 spot in our hearts? Never! 🐺 But you keep dreaming if it makes you happy! 😏

"cram it back into another body' made me lol

Moraine does not die in the books! she travels through gate!

The portrait: I thought it was their *mother* with Moiraine as a child. It's not uncommon for a daughter to look much like their mother when they have grown up.

When I saw Ismaheal looking up at the beginning. I saw an outline of a Dragon. Pause it when he looks up. Then he looks at the camera like "Do you see the dragon"??

@WoTUp why do you think Moiraine survives until Tarmon Gai'don?

Moon dial, not sun dial, but yes!!!

Ok, so I have read the books numerous times, I thought only the channeler of bale fire knows the previous time line. In the books certain characters were killed, balefire used changed timeline and they lived. They did not remember being killed?? did they??

Hey did anyone else notice that it seemed like Lan had 6 toes in the scene by the fire talking to the other warder?

Sooo... has this "Cabin in the Woods" been there since before the Breaking? 👀

No M death means no Cadsuane. No wonder they made the Elaida cast.

Moiraine is the older sister.

Do we definitely know that Lanfear is in future episodes? IMDB only says three episodes.

You say "we do know that" certain scenes were filmed for early Season 3, but this hasn't been released or even leaked by anyone that I am aware of ... is that one of the leaks you've been sitting on?

10/10 would pet lol

Could someone please explain to me how Ishmael released Lanfear from her prison, but Selene already existed in this Age? I'm confused! Thanks :)

Please... have you heard anything about the earthquake in Morocco? the film location WAS affected--is everyone ok???

I never liked the body swaps in the books. Found it confusing and made the characters feel … off.

Hopper is indeed the best character.

Moraine coulda lopped off lanfears head and taken it with her. She knew a mere flesh wound wasn't enough or she wouldn't have run.

When easter eggs are things that actually follow the books.... so sad...

So how is Selene Lanfear if Lanfear has only been released and selene has been around for episodes before the release. So either Selene was some one else and Lanfear took over Selenes body?

They can kill Moraine without her leaving the show. “Kill”

Well show timeline makes no sense at all ... if Moirrane is 10 years older and her sister who is in her 60s!!! plus Moirane said 20 years ago she was accepted ... then That makes Moirane in her late 70s -80 ... did she become an Aes Sedai at age 50 and have been a novice for 50 years then ???? I understand the show wants to show how Aes Sedai ages slowly but in Moirane's case this timeline makes no sense at all to me ... please someone correct me if I got something wrong here... in book, Moirane is around mid 40s, her sister if she had one would be 30 not an old woman

If Moiraine doesn't die how can Lan and Nynaeve end up together?

So are you saying Padan Fain does not have the Shadur Logath dagger? That he used a totally different dagger to stab Loial in Fal Dara? And that Mat still has it?

I am okay with them tossing the body swap for the show, would have been confusing for many. In the books even the forsaken were confused by it. However the instantaneous resurrection is cheap. It removes the cost of death. The forsaken feared death. It wasn't trivial, and they often paid a significant cost for the failure and rebirth. When death has no cost it would mean Forsaken would be sloppy less menacing. The idea that Moraine, a Noble women could track and sneak up on lanfear is plain silly. It makes Lanfear seem very weak. Episode 4 was the worst yet. Except for hopper, that was cool to see.

lanfear master plan is to get pregnant 😜

They show nothing like book 2

This series is so different from the books, no point speculating on future developments. But I predict that Nynaeve self identifies as the Dragon Reborn.

The weirdest thing about this show is that they take a book series where you have truly noble and empowered women, who are feminine but strong, on both the good side and the dark side, and you translate them all to dark side masculine bad. You have an ideology that is pro-transgender and LGBTQ+ BUT you cut out Balthemel and Aginor which give you an avenue into "Soul in the wrong body" and you cut it? Is Judkins Transphobic? You would think that Aran'Gar and Osan"Gar would be excellent characters to develop to communicate certain values. You would think that the woman in the show would be almost idyllic in their organizing control over chaos... But instead its hard to tell why Alanna, Liandrin, Moraine, Suian, are any different from darkfriends. It is hard to tell, other than naming someone else the enemy, why they are the good ones we should cheer? Whatever you think of Toxic Masculinity, to write the character of Moraine this way and surround her plot powers, seems to me to be a far worse oppression of women then raw disdain and cruelty. At least with intentional defamation, people will see them "Doing her dirty." But by pretending this is proper behavior for a protagonist and celebrating it as what women "Should" be like, is so warped and scary. When a character steals agency from another... They are slave master. When they use power, even cleverness and political cunning, to force people to do whatever they want (Bayle Domon) and worse yet to leave them unaware of the scheme, it is compulsion light and still slavery. What Jordan wrote was free characters who were allowed to have strengths and weaknesses. What these showrunners are writing is enslaved characters. Jordan wrote one vision of what a world might look like if the balance of political powers (think Elayne's arc) leaned towards women instead of men, and that men had to strive for noble and trustworthy acquisition of power, constantly being checked by the Aes Sedai who wielded power beyond theirs. I just don't understand how a supposed "Feminist" in Rafe Judkins, wouldn't use this platform as Jordan set it up. To give women a voice of commentary, control, and guidance of the trope of the masculine hero's journey while juxtaposing it with the feminine hero's journey. In the end, isn't it the opposing realities being consummated in harmony that proves most powerful? Matt Walsh put out a documentary "What is a woman?" It ruffled feathers. It is to our time what the "What is the meaning of life?" question was for other times. In Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the computer answers that the meaning of life is 42. 42 is ASCII for * and * means anything. Interpreted to mean, Life is what you make of it. "What is a woman?" 42. It is what the show makes of women that I find problems with. Who wants to be Liandrin? Moraine? Alanna? Suian? Nynaeve? Maybe you want their power, but do you really? Watch mean girls, did they have power? Sure. Do you want to be them? That's sorta the point of that movie. I'd be for a show that cuts through all the assigned "Social Roles" and upsets the patterns of human behavior that religions and cultures have passed on in tradition if they were offering a clearer view of human dignity. If they could show a greater good. But I'm just seeing vice and therefore the characters all seem to vicious.

I really don’t like the min casting

Paid off Amazon shlils who need to be reported to the Federal Trade Commission for not disclosing gift bags, contracts premiere invites.

This screen adaptation is blasphemy, it shoud never have happend in this way, it just hurts how much they destroyed the books :(

I’m wondering if the show will introduce Liviane? She was my fave of the books and often overlooked on the most powerful lists. She can move mountains, she can fell Forrest’s with one sweep of her hand. Her dream battle in the books with the dark one was unbelievable and certainly showed her power. She was the only one that he feared. Also when she transferred her powers to Moraine to stop Belal, Rahvine, Lanfear and Ishmael, it was amazing. So fingers crossed the show introduces her🥰🥰🥰