WOT on Prime- Episode 1-3- Spoil Away!

[Thalia]

That said, I love the texture given to the TR folk. It cannot have been a perfect little town with only the Coplins and Congars having problems. All of this just gives these characters more depth in the soil they grew up in.

More than that, I think it’s a necessary change to give weight and authenticity to Dana’s speech, and ultimately Ishamael’s philosophies on the Wheel v Tam’s much more hopeful depiction. For Dana (or anyone) to have believably (and even sympathetically) turned to the Dark for those reasons, we have to see, believe, and feel the suffering -- and most importantly that it happens to good people, and for no reason. In the books Emond’s Field is very Shire-esque, in fact it's pretty much idyllic. The people are resilient, hard-working, good people, and they lead charmed lives. We do see them destroyed and rebuild, of course, but the root of their suffering is still the DO. By the time the books gets to things like the Forsaken’s motivations we have a much more nuanced view, but the show doesn’t have the sprawl for that. It suggests they are going for a good set-up for the show Forsaken to be compelling antagonists (like you said, it moves away from the mustache-twirling villain).

I think the reasoning for showing an accidental killing by Perrin is definitely a sound one. I think the emotional trauma of it being his wife (as opposed to say, master Luhan) is incredibly large. Brandon Sanderson himself argued with Rafe that the resulting trauma and ptsd would be something too big to add to the story to overcome.

I agree whole-heartedly with Sanderson’s reservations. But I will patiently wait and see how they handle it. I think he has also said on reddit that although it wouldn’t have been his choice for Perrin, they did a good job. Guess we’ll see.

Even if she was a dark friend (I don't like this) or was simply in a deep post partum depression and wanted to be free of Perrin (better) her trying to kill him and him killing her inadvertently wouldn't make him feel all that much better. It puts a massive cloud over him.

I hate the theory that Laila’s a DF with a passion (and actually I don’t think it’s true, don’t worry I’m gonna bore you with why in a moment ). I also don’t like the suggestion that whatever is going on with her pregnancy/fertility/miscarriage is her motivation for either becoming a DF or trying to kill Perrin (personally I think the latter is actually way worse, but this is already going to be a lengthy post so I’ll leave it at that). I don’t believe for a second that she tried to kill Perrin either.

I don’t reckon Laila has had a miscarriage but that it’s more likely they are having trouble conceiving (and she is struggling with this more than Perrin, and probably blames herself). Perrin makes a point of seeking out Rand to reassure him about Egwene but doesn’t even notice his own wife’s absence until Nynaeve pulls him up on it. If she’s recently lost a child that makes him a pretty shit husband (especially around Bel Tine and its ritualised reflections on loss and rebirth), but also doesn’t track because we’re shown he cares about the people he loves. It would also suggest Perrin isn’t affected himself by the loss of a pregnancy, which just. No.

When he goes to Laila he doesn’t mourn with her like you’d expect if there had been a loss, in fact he almost berates her when he asks why she’s in the forge. It takes him a second to actually understand (as if the issue is something that plagues her far more than him). When he does get it, he reassures her with “I love you.” And he touches her belly to acknowledge that he understands without having to use words. I don’t think she answers “I know” because she doesn’t love him (or is conflicted because she’s a DF) but because Perrin has married someone exactly like him: someone who feels deeply, internalises a lot, and doesn’t express much with words. She leans into him, and grasps hold of his little finger (something she does again in the morning when they’re in bed). He is literally a pillar of love and support for her. Her body language speaks far louder than her words. She doesn’t tell him she loves him, she shows it.

Perrin and Laila are the only ones we don’t see light a lantern. They only watch.

I also think we are given plenty of reason to think Laila is a good person -- in fact the archetypal good, stoic, hardworking Two Rivers woman. Whatever your interpretation of her and Perrin’s marriage tensions, when it comes to the celebratory part of Winternight marking life and renewal and hope, we see her and Perrin genuinely happy and dancing with the others. That’s Two Rivers blood right there, getting back up after life’s challenges, and hoping for better. In the forge we see her protect other villagers and usher them to safety. She also uses the hammer -- a tool not a weapon. And we know from Mat that a tool can be used to protect the ones you love, and she was cognisant of that.

Personally, I don’t think she is poised to attack Perrin when he strikes her, I think she is poised to smash the dead trolloc at his feet because of how frantically she’s been trying to protect him and how close Perrin came to dying. He spins from the opposite direction to the one her hammer looks pointed in, which is exactly where the trolloc is laying. Prior to Perrin’s wolf frenzy (I love that you hear the wolf growl) Laila is the one holding her own in the fight. When she’s ushering the villagers out Perrin tells her to run before promptly getting smashed down to the ground by the trolloc. He’s toast.

Laila comes charging back to protect him. She literally screams and beats the trolloc off him. With the hammer. 

She’s desperately trying to protect him.

There is zero point in her trying to kill him after that. The trolloc was literally about to do it.

I think the symbolism of her using the hammer and him the axe is super important to that scene, particularly with what Mat says of her later. But the most compelling thing for me is that as she’s dying, knowing that her husband has just accidentally gutted her, she holds onto his little finger for the third and final time. 

She’s literally telling Perrin that she loves him.

Making her a DF has no purpose except as a shoddy attempt to exonerate Perrin’s actions later. And it’s messy, like you said it just leaves him with trust issues instead -- he married, trusted, and loved a DF. I can’t see any practical function either. Padan Fain marks the village for the trollocs. If Laila knew the Winternight attack was coming, why was she dancing and smiling on the green? It’s the only time we see her look genuinely happy. She could have slipped away, or skipped out on the celebration like she did Egwene’s ceremony. As Perrin’s wife she would have had plenty of opportunity to kill him if that was her priority. She also had the opportunity to escape the forge with those she ushered out and let the trollocs deal with Perrin. It’s why they’re there after all.

The other thing I’ve seen offered as evidence that she’s a DF is the dream sequence. That the wolf eating her corpse is the wolves “warning” Perrin about her. But honestly lol. Ba’alzamon is there (and the wolf DOESN’T react to him), so it's much more likely to be his entire creation and attempt to manipulate Perrin into blaming his wolf-connection for her death, and/or associate the carrion act with the DO (either way pushing a wedge between Perrin and the wolves). The wolves hate the Dark and all its associations, and they don’t exactly grasp human emotions. If that was really Hopper he isn’t going to waste time soothing Perrin’s human guilt by warning him about a dead wife who is ultimately no longer a threat, he’s going to be warning Perrin about the DO in his dream -- and even more likely protecting Perrin by chasing him straight out of that dream.