Thanks for your reply ironmanjt
Much appreciated.

I called back and got the exact same agent. LOL

It's all worked out in the end.
I actually got a refund! (I don't know what kind of emoji to put here)

She tried to be helpful but was kind of talking nonsense (IMO) as she said she really did not know what was going on and was just reiterating notes from the fare department without context. She thought supervisor could explain better. Supervisor concluded it was an 'error fare'. "These tickets are pricing for way more than what you paid." Supervisor called fare department and said she was so happy she did because it has all worked for me and that I even get a refund. Earlier she said the RTW fares were kind of 'above her head'.

Based on what the original agent was quoting, I think maybe it was recorded overall as a 'voluntary change' (because of the date changes for subsequent flights) which resulted in reticketing and repricing. Hence the email. But then ticketing saw the RJ changes and went through and issued the ticket before I woke up. I dunno. I could see everything in order prior to phoning. Maybe I should not have.

In her closing, the supervisor said in her opinion this ticket should never have been issued because both over the water segments were not AA. (I've read this before).

Added later:
I imagine this is how people feel dealing with the QF agents after booking on the Oneworld site.
(I know I may have messed things up myself)