After the bit of a mess that was episode 108, it was reassuring to be back in the Westlands and see that the producers and the showrunner have made significant improvements on almost every aspect and every complaint about the show. The show's pacing, VFX, costumes, and dialogue are better than in season 1, and the acting continues to be fantastic. Also, a big complaint I had last season was the perceived size of The White Tower. This season, it feels larger in scale, more lived in, more majestic -- and every place we saw was like that.
The first episode did an excellent job immersing us into the world and updating us on where friends are without unnecessary explanation or wasted time and was so engaging that I only realized Rand's (my favorite character) absence later. I suspect that is because while Rand is arguably the main character, book readers (and Padan Fain) know the story in truth requires an ensemble cast because they all play a role.
Now that there is no mystery of who the dragon reborn is, each of the characters start shining for who they are, and this episode gave me hope that is/will be the case going forward; particularly for Perrin whose character development suffered from last season's mystery.