Rigney was subtle. The powerful influences coming out of nowhere are not overpowering set against the backdrop of the story at large. It's forgivable to miss some of that foreshadowing.
I love the fact that Lan is gathering the Shienaran Diaspora, the question is how this will work out when he's forced to face his brother at the head of a battalion of Trollocs and Fades.
Fortunately the story of Perin and Zarine is far from over. There is still a little matter of a broken crown, as well as the final unification of Manetheren.
In the Afterward, where Semirhage was arrested, it's pretty obvious that they are in or near Seandar rather than Ebu Dar so what ever her previous role, Semirhage assassinated the Empress and put herself in control of the Empire. When Tuon meets Rand she'll be as much a beggar looking for a hand out as Elayne was when Rand occupied Caemlyn. OF course she won't BE Tuon. As a married woman and the new Empress, she will take a throne name and I have a sneaky suspicion that it will be "old tongue" for precious. Knowing Tuon half of her reason for taking the name precious will be so she can once again start calling Mat "toy".
Given all the Scythian influence on the "old tongue". (Yeah I know some of it was just take an english phrase and mangle the pronouciation, but since old english is a scythian dialect. . .) I suspect it will be something like Shah-min. But, given the similarity to Asha'man (a shaman) and shaman, as well as the term Seanchan (which borrows the gaelic "sha" from Sean and marries it with chan drawled like a Carolina farm boy) I'd rather see it be Seamin or Seameen despite the juvenile humor that will generate.