It's a dark and stormy night. The setting is the Winespring Inn in Emond's Field. The inn is crowded, music is playing and cheer is in the air. Egwene al'Vere is serving food. Her hair is braided. Rand al'Thor is standing by himself, near a wall, and looking over at Egwene. They exchange glances but then Egwene carries on. Perrin Aybara comes over to stand next to Rand and asks Rand "how did the ceremony go today?" to which Rand responds that he doesn't know because they haven't talked yet.

The door to the inn opens and a cloaked and hooded man comes in from the rain, his spurs clinking and his sword slung over his shoulder. The crowd goes quiet. Nynaeve stands up, puts her hand on her dagger, and challenges the man with "Name yourself, stranger." The man removes his hood. He's wearing a hadori and announces that he's Lan. Then he says "This is Moiraine" as she steps into the room, removing her hood. Marin al'Vere asks if she could help Moiraine.

Moiraine heads for the fireplace, with Lan following, ignoring Nynaeve as she passes her. Moiraine then states that they'll need stables for their horses and a room for the night. Marin then notices the ring on Moiraine's finger, with a blue stone on it, and answers with "Of course, Moiraine Sedai." Moiraine turns around when she reaches the fireplace and scans the room. Everyone is talking with each other in hushed tones. We see Mat standing, talking to some woman. Nynaeve still has her hand on her dagger.

Everyone is staring. Finally, Marin asks "If you would come this way?" and leads Moiraine and Lan out of the room.

End scene.


Breakdown

This scene is not in the books. It looks like it is a remaking of Moiraine and Lan's entrance into the villages in TEotW,Ch2. We don't know how they really entered as the chapter is told from Rand's point of view and he and Tam have just arrived at the village and Ewin came up and told them that the strangers had already arrived.

The scene itself, though, it pretty good at portraying what would have happened. The big question that is on everyone's mind is "What in the world is an Aes Sedai doing in our inn?", and rightly so. The Aes Sedai have a reputation, and not necessarily a good one. Everyone's going to be suspicious. It's great that Moiraine passes Nynaeve without even looking at her or slowing down, setting up the beginning of their relationship. In the books, Moiraine is not immediately identified as Aes Sedai, but that may just be a shortcut to get the TV series going faster.

I'm not sure what the ceremony is that Rand and Perrin are talking about. Bel Tine comes after Winternight, which is when Something Big Happens in Emond's Field. In the books, Rand and Egwene are close to being betrothed (TEotW,Ch1), so maybe something to do with that.