I've read the books and watched the two seasons on Amazon. It was clear that the show's production was definitely looking for a portfolio of people, and it was quite the departure from the age-old Hollywood practice that all the primary actors are white with British accents. I think, in some respects, if you really apply geographic practices of an agrarian society model, the only mixing you would see of different people would be in big cities, not small country villages where locals barely travel and visitors are far and none. That's where stories like these tend to get all waffled.

Everyone wants to call that woke because it's politically fashionable now; I personally see it as studios trying their rookie hand at being more diverse but forgetting to stay true to the story they are telling. Good fiction takes a lot of work, and heavy dedication to small details. Studios are in too much of a hurry to push a film out and get paid.

For example, it would make sense for the Amyrlin Seat/tower location to be as mixed as Paris or New York, but it didn't make any sense in Perrin's village. Aside from that, the story line did follow somewhat to the books. I remember getting quite confused by the third book as to what the hell was going on. The show did help provide some clarity there.