Well, season's in the bag. I liked it much more than season one, and enjoyed the finale MUCH more than the last one (although that was admittedly a low bar). Everything is set up for a much closer adaptation of The Shadow Rising (and maybe parts of The Fires of Heaven) for season 3 - I bet the season will end up with some form of substitution of a certain fight near a certain twisted doorframe, leaving season 4 to finish book 5 and book 6 - ending the season on the one of the biggest WHAM! moments of the series. spoilers:end of spoilers
Kneel. Or be knelt.
The fight in Falme felt suitably BIG, and seeing both Mat and Perrin make the big steps needed to becoming who they have to be for the later narrative was both a relief and a joy to see. While the road to this point wasn't what I would have done, everything is more or less in place to start the journey into the meat of Book 4 for next season, without having to take more than a single episode to start the journey.