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Wheel of Time - TV Show


Wander89

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So I thought of another way this show was successful. I genuinely had no interest in ever reading the series again. But here I am listening to Eye of the World again. And I can’t be the only person either experiencing it again unexpectedly or picking it up for the first time. 
(Now do I have hesitations about reading it again, yes. I’m hoping the things I liked better about the show don’t make me dislike the books more. And maybe knowing how things generally go and play out will help me be more patient with certain characters and storylines. I suppose only time will tell. Perhaps this turning of the wheel for me will leave a better impression.)

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@Frustration and @Wit Beyond Measure

About your confusion of the prison and The Eye of the World.

Book 1 Spoilers (and minor spoiler for later? I forget when you learn about the prison).

Spoiler

According to the wiki (and slightly different than what I was remembering), the Eye of the World was created to try and mend the broken seal on the Dark One's prison (assumedly the one that is found within the Eye). Additionally, other objects were hidden there: the Horn of Valere and the Dragon Banner.

I've always though The Bore (aka the hole in the Dark One's prison) was at Shayol Ghul, since that's where the Dark One has the most influence. The wiki neither confirms nor denies this.

The prison itself is some extra dimensional space outside of the pattern, and doesn't have a corresponding location (again, it is my understanding that Shayol Ghul is more like a doorway than anything else).

In the show, they seem to have made a few changes.

  1. The Eye of the World is a known location. It kind of felt like anyone could go there, if you went through the Blight. versus being a more mythical place in the books.
  2. The Horn and the Banner are not at the Eye of the World (the Horn definitely wasn't, but I'm questioning my memory on if a Banner was found)
  3. The Seal *was* at the Eye of the World, but it was the whole floor. What I assumed was just the Aes Sedai symbol (which it is), people online are saying it was actually the Seal. Which seems to follow with what Moraine says in the show, while sitting on the cracked floor.

=======

Ok, I just found this post, so I'm going to talk about the show in general now. I'm put off by it, but still not as badly as I was with Seeker of Truth. I understand that some changes need to be made in order to adapt it to TV, but I get really hung up on mechanical changes that I think affect plotline and story points later on. So this is going to be spoilers for all of the books, just to be safe.

Spoiler
  1. Super minor thing: If all the Aes Sedai already predominately wear their colors, then the plotline of tensions in the tower are going to be harder to pull off imo.
  2. I really did not like the introduction of Moraine, and the overall feel of the Two Rivers. I don't like that the town is immediately put off by a traveler and I really don't like that Moraine basically explicitly says she's Aes Sedai from the get go. (Also, man, that inn is way bigger than I thought it was from the books).
  3. I originally did not like that Perrin had a wife, but I'm more ok with it after reading some rationalizations online.
  4. Again, the overall feel of the show seems darker than what I remember the books to be. Like I know super dark things happen in the books, but I somehow still have a bright shiny feeling overall.
  5. I don't like that you can burn out when linked. That's one of the primary reasons for linking in the books, to combine the strength of multiple casters but to also create a buffer to *safely* handle the additional power.
  6. I don't like that the Seals apparently seem to be locations instead of smallish discs. This removes the chance of future Seal shenanigans (i.e. them changing hands throughout the books, and the stuff in the Last Battle).
  7. I don't like that the Horn was just under the throne this whole time. Yeah, only a few people knew about it it seems, but it definitely seems like a security through obscurity kind of protection for a super important item of power. Like any leader of Fal Dara could just dig it up and sound it.

Ok, that was a list of some things I didn't like. But, I'm still willing to watch a season 2. I'm just not hyped for it and will probably won't jump on it right away.

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I have been avoiding this thread until I got to finish the show. Overall I thought it was good. Not great but let's face it there is a lot about the book that is not great as well. I get the need to escalate some of the plot lines and character development but overall it just felt really rushed especially the beginning and end to the first season.I think some of this may have been due to the production issues as well (a little bummed we are getting a new Mat I liked the actor in this season).  Man I am amazed at how much I have forgotten from the books after reading other peoples comments. In a way that is probably good lol. One thing I do remember is the shear amount of characters and I understand this would have been impossible to do on screen so I am not going to be too harsh on the show for making some of the changes they did even though I feel like some will have some pretty big implications to fairly major plot lines down the road. I felt like the casting was pretty good I think I have the same standouts as most others do Moraine, Lan and Nynaeve. 

The show has made me want to re-read the books again. I have only read them once but it was after they were all released and although I did not like every book I did like the series overall and this show has rekindled that a bit. I will watch season 2 when it comes out. 

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  • 8 months later...

So, I thought this was a pretty good show with some hiccups right until the end of episode 6. 

Everything up until that point, I liked or loved.  Having Moiraine and Siuan be a thing instead of "oh that was just a teen fling and they will get beards now" is a huge improvement.  I don't mind the age-up, I tolerated the whole "who is the Dragon?" mystery because frankly it is an element in the book even though it's also blatantly obvious by the time they get to Caemlyn, I understood that Corporate Daddy I-Make-My-Employees-Pee-In-Bottles had inane demands that forced certain elements of pacing and rerouted large elements of the plot, but...

1, this needed MINIMUM 2 more episodes. 

2, the last two episodes were a disaster and it's only MOSTLY because the COVID shutdown and Mat's actor having a breakdown messed things up. 

The effects are what they are--they work well early on, but the final battle sucks because the effects compositing is garbage and they clearly just rushed everything to get it out to meet Corporate Daddy Unions-Are-Communism's demands. 

The acting is generally solid to good.  Obviously Rosamund Pike is the standout, but Nynaeve's actress is a champ, Lan's actor never gets worse than "effective", and Siuan and Logain's actors do great with their parts.  Incarnation Of All Red-Black Ajah Antagonists (I think she's Liandrin but she acts like all the jerkface Darkfriend Reds in the books all at once with extra TERF energy) has a one-note job to do and she does great at it.  Before he had a breakdown, Mat's actor was amazing, I wish him the best and hope he gets some good jobs soon.  Nobody else is any worse than "workmanlike". 

The core issue is that they really needed a couple more episodes.  Moving elements around, I can understand, I don't actually mind the altered climax conceptually (it makes a good bookend with AMOL's climax), but this needed a couple more episodes. 

I definitely think that episodes 4-5 should've been 4-5-6, with more of the book elements in there.  I think that getting the action to Tar Valon is a necessary change to quickly introduce key themes of the series, as opposed to the Caemlyn meetup that's more of just "introduce character who will be important in a few books, now get the gang back together".  I don't know how exactly to fix 7 and 8, but I think most of my issues with those was because of the time crunch and Corporate Daddy Phallic-Substitute-Spaceship's demands.  (can you tell I like Bezos only slightly more than I like pubic lice, Congress, Nickelback, and NAMBLA?)  Certainly the blocking of the scene where Eg and Nyn go to join the circle of whatever channelers can be spared was so egregiously bad that it could only have been a result of extremely hasty production.  So having the time to do all that stuff well would've removed the bulk of the issues. 

the climax...is conceptually decent.  I think it's rushed and pat and Ishamael needed a bit more buildup across the season, and Rand's actor was really struggling there (the garbage effects and weak lines didn't help), but the concept is better than "yeah so you found a magic oasis that has all this cool loot in it" which works fine as the ending of a standalone adventure novel but is really weak when integrated into the rest of WOT as a coherent narrative arc. 

The brief glimpse of the Seanchan is, like, fine.  I'm not super fond of the aesthetic changes, but whatever. 

At the end of the day, this show cannot function on 8 episodes a season.  Corporate Daddy Why-Don't-The-Peons-Love-Me-I-Am-Just-Naturally-Superior-To-These-Poor-Poors is an idiot whose corporate mandates are a serious damper on all the shows on his site, but especially this one. 

 

Still leagues better than The Boys or Rings of For The Love Of Christ Drop The Harfoots Plot

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/24/2022 at 6:24 PM, GroundPetrel said:

, this needed MINIMUM 2 more episodes. 

2, the last two episodes were a disaster and it's only MOSTLY because the COVID shutdown and Mat's actor having a breakdown messed things up. 

This has largely been my take as well. I overall enjoyed the show and was fine with, and actually liked, most of the changes (though I am reserving judgement about Perrin's arc until I see where they take it). But the season was a little rushed - two more episodes would have helped a lot of the pacing issues, and as you mentioned the last 2 episodes were weaker ones (due to some production issues it seems). I really look forward to what they are able to do in season 2 when some of those problems shouldn't be impacting as much, though I don't think they lengthened the season unfortunately. 

Edited by Dreamwa1ker
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/3/2022 at 9:39 AM, Dreamwa1ker said:

This has largely been my take as well. I overall enjoyed the show and was fine with, and actually liked, most of the changes (though I am reserving judgement about Perrin's arc until I see where they take it). But the season was a little rushed - two more episodes would have helped a lot of the pacing issues, and as you mentioned the last 2 episodes were weaker ones (due to some production issues it seems). I really look forward to what they are able to do in season 2 when some of those problems shouldn't be impacting as much, though I don't think they lengthened the season unfortunately. 

Exactly.  The COVID hiccup, the forced rushed production of 7 and 8, the cramped pacing, all hit it hard.  Everything else (casting especially--Mat, Lan, and Moiraine are standouts but Nyn is pretty damned standout too, and they all rock) is at worst "fine". 

Side note--I know that people got angry about Moiraine getting a bit public with her and Siuan's BDSM thing, but honestly?  The live-action audience NEEDS that bit.  It wouldn't work in a BOOK, but it is needed for TV imo. 

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