WoT on Prime episode 5 SPOILERS

[Thalia]

I think they’ve shown quite a deft and nuanced handling of character so far, definitely in the more recent episodes, so I feel like they are trying to make character and emotion a priority in the telling. They have to when they are choosing to keep only the broad strokes of the story. Whether you like the changes to Mat and Perrin’s backstories or not aside, both do make their stories more emotive for tv. I can’t see that they’d treat Rand any differently, so I’m hopeful that they will want an emotional core to the big reveal. And like Nox pointed out, ultimately if someone really wants to know who the dragon is they can google it in less than thirty seconds. But they can’t google how it’s going to make them feel to see it play out like an inevitable tragedy.

How they’ll do it, and how successful it will be, I guess we’ll see. I’m excited but nervous too.

Rand’s story is a poignant and very sad one. I hope to see them do it justice.

They do both seem to feel strongly about each other still. We know Egwene is definitely still thinking about Rand, and about finding him, but that’s a good thing as far as the show is concerned. We already know what Egwene wants (far more clearly than we know what Rand wants right now) and it’s that she wants more. She loves Rand, but it doesn’t mean she’ll settle for being the “little wife,” or indeed has any intention of compromising on her dreams. But if she was giving off vibes of actually having moved on already it makes Rand’s efforts look trite and kinda dumb, like a love-sick puppy. He’s walked hundreds of miles to find her; it’s been his entire purpose. It would also make her look incredibly callous. In the show their relationship is already intimate so it’s not just two people who always thought they would marry but were never really together. I think that’s why they skipped her flirting with Aram or Perrin’s annoyance about it when she “belongs” with Rand.

If you don’t know the story, you would probably be rooting for the scenario in which their adventures will bring them closer together. Pretty much the last time we saw them together, in Shadar Logoth, they held each other's hands and looked out over the dead city together. We know there’s unresolved issues but it doesn’t seem impossible they could resolve it right now. The obstacle, that Wisdoms don’t marry, is actually gone. They could have a future as Aes Sedai and Warder; we’ve literally just had two episodes that make it clear they could be that and still have both a physical and emotional relationship. 

I think after the initial flush of reunion though, they are going to realise once again that they just don’t want the same things. You can love someone dearly, but love just isn’t enough on its own. 

Rand and Egwene never had this opportunity in the books, and they were never as serious either. I wonder at what point they’ll make it clear they can’t continue; whether it will be a clean break, or if they will just grow apart like the books. My guess is the former. For all we know, maybe Rand will be the one to make the decision once he knows what and who he is.

By the way, I was super impressed with how they showed off Egwene’s ingenuity and strength in the scene with Perrin and Valda. First of all that when she realises begging will get her nowhere (and is possibly what Valda wants from her) she switches to defiance, secondly that she then tries to trap Valda by his own faith and logic, and thirdly the way she actually uses the knowledge Valda has just given her about Aes Sedai hand motions being a crutch to engineer their escape. She uses a hand motion for the fireball to make sure he’s aware it’s coming and is distracted, but when she burns Perrin’s restraints she just concentrates.

I know you’ve really enjoyed her portrayal so far, but this was the first time I’ve really liked her.