Rand's height, red hair and build set him apart from everyone else, before he knows his mother was Aiel it's often remarked upon how much he looks 'foreign'. From memory (it's been a very long time since I've read eye of the world), after he falls down into the place gardens in Caemyln and Elanye bandages his
head the palace guard are wary of him when he is brought before Morgase purely because of this.
Then again, when the showrunners are screwing around with the geographical ethnicity of the series why would key plot points like this matter eh
)
