The reveal of Rand alThor as the Dragon Reborn at the end of The Wheel of Time season 1 may not have been a big surprise but it was disappointing particularly for viewers who hadn not read the books that the Prime Video series is based on. The revelation was faithful to the source material in which Rand is the Dragon but the show has also changed so much from Robert Jordans original story and had teased things going in a much more interesting direction with its adaptation.
In the world of The Wheel of Time the Dragon Reborn is a prophesied figure who is the reincarnation of the legendary Dragon Lews Therin. Moraine believes that the Dragon Reborn is fated to both save and destroy the world and be a key figure in the battle between light and dark. While there were always hints that Rand was the Dragon Reborn the series and its promotional material went out of the way to suggest that one of the other four youths Moraine takes from Emond's Field might turn out to be the Dragon.
In the season 1 finale of The Wheel of Time Moiraine realizes that Rand is the true Dragon, leading to his first confrontation with the Dark One. This is true to the books and was perhaps seen as necessary to avoid rewriting the source material even more drastically. However from the perspective of someone only viewing the streaming series Rand is probably the least interesting choice for the Dragon, creating an element of disappointment going into The Wheel of Time season 2.
In Robert Jordans The Eye of the World which is the basis of the first season of Amazon Prime Videos Wheel of Time series Moiraine only considers Rand Perrin and Mat as possible Dragons. The Dragon is presented as being an exclusively male figure in the gendered schema of Jordans magic system and his association with the male inability to control the One Power without going insane is part of what makes him such a threat to light and dark alike. In fact it was Lews attempt to seal away the dark ones that led to the corruption of the male force of saidin and the end of male Aes Sedai.
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