I guess I'm already somewhat on record about what I thought of the cold open. Its just silly to have a full-term pregnant woman be that powerful in combat against several trained enemies. My wife is an outstanding athlete. At full term pregnancy she couldn't outrun a toddler, and she carried her pregnancies much like they portrayed Shaiel in the sense that she was not bloated aside from where she was carrying the baby. They really go over the top on the girl power stuff sometimes. Even ITB it felt like a real stretch that the Aiel would actually let a 9-months pregnant woman anywhere near combat. If I recall correctly, ITB there is just some hand waving that Janduin couldn't deny her anything, as though the actual warrior society of the Maidens of the Spear wouldn't have something to say about it, or even the Wise Ones. But I digress, the wheel wanted her to give birth on Dragon Mount so it was going to happen, unlikely or not. On a positive note, I maintain that the acting is the strongest aspect of the show so far, and the actress portraying Shaiel was no exception IMO.

I found it annoying that there were apparently incessant lightning storms in the ways. There were flashes and thunder the whole time. I think it would have been quite possible to successfully portray the eerie silence and darkness of the ways on screen. Then the contrast with the sound of Machin Shin approaching could have been quite cool. I'm fine with what they did with the Machin Shin voices, aside from the stupid Perrin loves Egwene thing. I didn't love the appearance of Machin Shin. I think that could have been done much better. Why call it the black wind if it is shiny?

There was a leaked image that gives a clue as to how Padan Fain is able to use the Ways, or maybe it was bonus content, I don't remember now. I won't describe it here because it would be an actual spoiler rather than just a theory and I don't know how to do the hide spoiler thing on here. Sorry I am an HTML novice. Look it up if you would like.

I realize Brandon Sanderson is not a popular guy here for obvious reasons, but he has put out some interesting comments about his review of the scripts and his interaction with Rafe. Apparently he is not a fan of much of what Rafe has done. One of the things he butted heads with Rafe about is that Rafe makes everyone an asshole, beyond what the books do. He didn't go into specifics other than that even the Tinkers are needlessly hostile-seeming when they first encounter Perrin and Egwene. Plainly, Agelmar is another example. Why change his character they way the did? It is highly annoying.

I thought they did Min okay. She is a bit old. I liked the way they visually portrayed some of her viewings.

I thought the way they revealed Rand's past channeling was a bit ham-fisted. The way Rand broke down the door with Dana the darkfriend was initially well done. The way Rand channeled in the Ways was also initially well done. When Rand goes to talk to Moiraine to say he thinks he is the Dragon, she could tell him that she knew it wasn't Egwene that had channeled in the Ways. Then it could have been a cool thing for fans to go back and slow-mo the scene in the Ways to see that indeed it was Rand that had channeled, rather than showing the scene again with plain indication that Rand was channeling. Well, whatever.

I loved the scene with Tam and Shaiel. That might have been the highlight of the episode for me. As someone that has been present as my wife has given birth multiple times, I yelled at the TV "Let her hold her baby before she dies!". The first time a mom gets to hold the baby she has just delivered is truly special. Mom should get to hold her baby at least once. Also, Tam looks so old in that scene.

One of the dumbest moments in episode 7 is when Nynaeve is watching Lan through the window, and then he suddenly teleports behind her. What the hell? The editing is just retarded sometimes. There had to be some non-reading viewers whose first thought was honestly that Lan is able to teleport. That is how badly that scene was edited. This show really does feel like amateur hour sometimes with the writing and the editing.

Another quibble: Rand had no need to apologize to Egwene. He was absolutely right to defend his friend from Egwene's dismissive snobbery. Even if Perrin is in love with Egwene he wouldn't have demanded Rand apologize because Egwene is being a bitch to their friend. The love triangle is beyond stupid. It was very believable that Egwene would expect an apology. It is much less believable that Rand would actually apologize when she demanded it. Rand is stubborn and has a good sense of right and wrong. Apologizing when you are not wrong generally does not promote a healthy relationship.

Here is my prediction for episode 8: Rand and Moiraine encounter Ishy at the Eye. Ishy is about to overwhelm them when the cavalry shows up and Nynaeve and Egwene save the day. I don't expect them to give Rand any kind of moment of solo awesomeness without diminishing it and adding in girl power to save the day. I think that Siuan was deceived about the Eye.

I think the meaning of Min's viewing about the Amyrlin being Moiraine's downfall is that Liandrin will depose Siuan and become the Amyrlin and that Liandrin as Amyrlin will bring down Moiraine. It seems they are rolling Liandrin and Elaida into one character.