The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time are finally here!
Welcome to our weekly reviews for the The Wheel of Time series. Though the first three episodes dropped together, we’re going to talk about them separately! This review is for episode one: “Leavetaking.” The next review for episode two, “Shadow’s Waiting,” will go up in six hours, and the review for episode three, “A Place of Safety,” will show up tomorrow at 10am ET. (Each subsequent review will be available on the Saturday after the episode airs.)
(This review contains spoilers for “Leavetaking,” the first episode of The Wheel of Time TV series. It may also contain some references to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time novels—I will do my best not to talk about important plot or character points from the books that will result in spoilers for the future of the show, but as opinions on what constitutes a spoiler may vary from person to person, consider this a general warning. Please note that the comment section may also contain spoilers for those unfamiliar with the book series.)
Recap
The episode opens as Moiraine Damodred (Rosamond Pike) readies herself for traveling. We’re told that long ago men gifted with great Power tried to cage Darkness. In the fallout of this attempt the world was Broken, and the women of the Aes Sedai were left to pick up the pieces. Now, the man responsible for the Breaking, the Dragon, has been born again. No one knows where, but they are coming of age now, and must be found. She walks out as Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney) falls into step beside her.
Egwene al’Vere (Madeleine Madden) sits on a cliff by a river with Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoë Robins) and a group of women. As Egwene’s hair is braided, Nynaeve explains that the braid connects Egwene with those who have come before her. She tells Egwene to be strong before shoving her off the cliff. Egwene struggles at first, then calms and floats on her back down the river until she reaches shore, where she lies gasping for breath.
Buy the Book
The Eye of the World: Book One of The Wheel of Time
Rand (Josha Stradowski) and his father Tam al’Thor (Michael McElhatton) make their way down the mountain path, reminiscing about Rand’s childhood love of Egwene. Rand joins his friends Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) and Mat Cauthon (Barney Harris) for a drink at the inn while Mat loses all of his money at dice. Egwene arrives, to much cheering from the assembled villagers. Later, the door suddenly bursts open and Lan comes in from the rain, introducing Moiraine. She flashes her ring, showing that she is Aes Sedai. Nynaeve sends Perrin home to his wife, Laila, who is working alone in their forge.
After the party, Rand brings up how he’s been a “lovesick puppy” for Egwene since they were kids, and they kiss. They go to bed together, but afterwards Egwene admits to Rand that Nynaeve has offered her an apprenticeship. Rand is upset because Egwene will have to choose between marriage and a family, or becoming the village Wisdom, and leaves. Mat takes his mother, who is drunk, back to their ramshackle house and comforts his two little sisters. The next morning, he tries to sell a stolen bracelet to a merchant named Padan Fain (Johann Myers). Egwene admits to Rand that she’s chosen to become a Wisdom.
Back at their mountain farm, Tam and Rand light a lantern, meant to guide deceased loved ones back to the world. Tam talks about how the Wheel spins everyone’s lives, and how no one can know how long it takes to be reborn or why they can’t remember their previous lives. All they can do is their best, and know that no matter what happens, the Wheel will spin on and they will have another chance to do better. In the village, others set lanterns afloat on the river.
A celebration begins in the village, but Lan warns Moiraine that there is a Fade and dozens of Trollocs nearby, and they need to leave immediately. Moiraine admits that she doesn’t know which of the four possibilities is the Dragon. The Trollocs attack, slaughtering villagers right and left. Nynaeve drags Egwene out of harm’s way, and the two try to help the injured. Mat realizes that his sisters are missing and finds them, hurrying them off to hide in the woods; Perrin and Laila take refuge in the forge. Up on the mountain, Tam and Rand are also attacked. Tam drags a sword out from under his bed and uses it to fight off the Trolloc until he is overpowered by its brute strength and injured. Rand stabs it from behind with a fireplace poker.
Lan and Moiraine step into the center of the turmoil as Moiraine uses her Power, attacking the Trollocs with fireballs, tendrils of air, and flung rocks and boulders. Trollocs burst into the forge, and Perrin and Laila defend themselves, but then Perrin, swinging an axe into a dead Trolloc, is startled by Laila behind him and slices into her abdomen. He holds her as she dies.
Nynaeve is suddenly grabbed and hauled out of sight by a running Trolloc. Moiraine takes a thrown dagger to the shoulder, but continues to draw more and more power until she is throwing the whole inn at the Trollocs, killing all of them. She collapses, Lan protecting her from debris.
The next day Rand arrives with Tam slung over a horse. Mat reunites his sisters with their parents and then runs to Perrin when he sees him carrying Laila’s body. Egwene brings over Moiraine, who heals Tam’s injuries with the Power. Rand accuses her of being connected to the arrival of the Trollocs, but Moiraine explains that they came for the same reason she did: She tells them of an Aes Sedai who saw glimpses of the future and foretold the rebirth of the Dragon, and it’s one of them—Mat, Perrin, Rand, or Egwene.
Up in the mountains they can see more coming, and Moiraine tells them that they must leave. The army of Darkness is coming for them, and if they want to protect their home they can’t remain in it. The four mount horses and ride out.
Analysis
Can I just start by praising how beautiful the opening of this episode is? I will never tire of watching epic characters dress and pack for their quest, and we get so much submersion into the world from just a few moments and a quick voice-over. Voice-overs, in my opinion, can often be clunky and distracting, but this one is simple and effective, providing the perfect counterpart to watching Moiraine ready herself for her quest. Rosamund Pike brings a steady and majestic quality to Moiraine’s voice, slightly husky tones that carry power and gravitas in every syllable, and it’s as stunning an introduction to the character as the grand chamber in which she stands, or the determined look on her face as she slides her serpent ring onto her finger and her hood up over her head. This scene gives us a place to stand, the basis of the plot upon which our story will turn, and a grounding sense of the world we’ve just stepped into.
Viewers who are unfamiliar with the books will probably note that the opening and closing voice-overs of the episode are very reminiscent of Galadriel’s voice-over in The Fellowship of the Ring. This is intentional; Robert Jordan paid a great deal of homage to The Lord of the Rings, and viewers will catch many other moments in the early episodes of this series, both in dialogue and in various plot moments. It may also be worth noting that the end voice-over in this episode is lifted nearly verbatim from the beginning of the first chapter of The Eye of the World, which was published in 1990, long before Cate Blanchet’s Galadriel declared “history became legend… legend became myth.” So in a way the homage runs in both directions, if unintentionally.
The Wheel of Time series has a lot of characters to introduce us to, and in short order. The opening scene of “Leavetaking” shows us who Moiraine is even before we get to see her fight monsters—an adventurer, a hero, a half-Gandalf/half-Galadriel figure. And then in the next scene, where we see Red Aes Sedai chase down a man who can touch the Source, we start to get a sense of what she is up against. The context of what is being done to the man, and whether the women in red are allies or antagonists to Moiraine will come later, but our sense of the stakes, and of the fact that Moiraine is in some way separated in her quest from other women like her, is established right away—again, before we meet any monsters.
I think the episode also does a very good job of introducing us to Egwene, Perrin, Mat, and Rand. One of these four young people will turn out to be the Dragon Reborn, and all four will be deeply significant to the events to come, so it’s important for the viewer to have at least some spark of connection with them right away. Egwene’s life is perhaps the easiest for us to hook into. We meet her in a very important moment as she experiences a ceremonial rite of passage into adulthood and a traumatic dive into a rushing river. We also learn that she is at a personal crossroads, trying to decide if she will become an apprentice to Nynaeve and eventually the village Wisdom, a choice which means she won’t ever be married or have children. She and Rand are clearly in love, so this choice is painful and personal.
This rule that a Wisdom cannot marry is not in the books, but this little tweak does match Egwene’s journey and choices she makes later in the series. I think the change is an excellent one. The Egwene of the books has a great capacity for love, and is also quite determined, studious, and ambitious. Watching Egwene choose the path to becoming Wisdom, rather than the path to becoming Rand’s wife, tells us a lot about her personal ambitions and what she wants her life to look like. But we don’t lose the loving Egwene—Madden’s portrayal imbues the character with a quiet and attentive kind of tenderness that endeared me immediately to a character who, in the books, takes a bit of time to warm up to.
The character of Mat Cauthon, on the other hand, isn’t as immediately likable as he was in the books. This Mat is a sly, disreputable sort of character, with a standard “I’m dishonest because I have a terrible home life” set up, whereas the Mat of the books is more of a boyish scamp—a Pippin type, if you will. (We’re introduced to him via pranks he likes to play, often with Rand and Perrin as accomplices.) And I think that the way he’s portrayed here makes him a little too much of an empty trope. However, there are moments when he is with Rand and Perrin that are quite endearing, and I thought the scene where his two friends insist on giving Mat a few coins to buy lanterns for his sisters was especially well played. Also, the moment in which Mat told Perrin that Calle Coplin would “piss in your mouth and tell you it was raining” was absolutely perfect. So while Mat on his own didn’t grab me as a character, I did very much like how the close friendship between the three was immediately evident.
Rand is a bit harder to introduce, but the focus on his soft heart is a really good place to begin. There is something wonderfully “first love” about the berry moment with Egwene—when he produced the strawberry to show her that he’s still a “lovesick puppy” for her, only to get teased for carrying it in his pocket all day. It was very sweet, but also really funny. There is also a slight otherness about Rand in this episode—despite his friendships and his love for Egwene, despite his dreams about the house and family he will have one day, we almost feel that he is a little apart from everyone else. Part of it is in the way he and Tam live fairly far from the village, and choose to celebrate Bel Tine alone rather than with their neighbors. But it’s also in the way Josha Stradowski holds himself, and in the comparatively lighter colors that he wears. He’s the only red-haired person in the village. He stands out, just a little.
Perrin’s introduction is, in my opinion, the worst of the four. His backstory is the one that has been most changed from the books; Perrin doesn’t have a wife at the beginning of the story, and the screenwriters have taken a side character and made her into a different (and very cool) person—a blacksmith and Perrin’s wife—just so that they can fridge her as part of Perrin’s hero origin story. In the books, Laila Dearn is someone else’s wife, and Perrin does recall having once dreamed of marrying her. The narrative even suggests that she is the poorer for her current marriage, but that’s apparently not the case here: At least she didn’t get accidentally murdered by the guy.
Perrin’s struggle with his own capacity for violence and whether or not he can (or wants) to choose another path is a big theme for him in the first few books of the series, and one can see here that the writers are trying to set him up for that same journey. But I think this was a cheap way of doing so, and involves killing a female character off just to set up a male character’s pain. Don’t invent me a cool lady blacksmith and then just off her like that, The Wheel of Time!
I absolutely love the look of the show, and I have to say that they’ve really surpassed my own imagination when it comes to the look of the Two Rivers. These people really do live in the mountains, don’t they? Big, gorgeous mountains. I think the way the landscape shots are framed does an excellent job of showing how isolated these villages really are. When Moiraine tells the quartet that they have lived too long in the mountains believing that what happens in the rest of the world doesn’t affect them, you really do feel that it’s true. And when you have that sense of isolation to play off, it makes the arrival of Moiraine and Lan, not to mention the arrival of Trollocs, that much more shocking and poignant.
I have my complaints about how they changed Perrin, but there are tweaks the show makes that actually improve on the source material. Perhaps my favorite scene in the episode is the confrontation between Moiraine and Nynaeve in the sacred pool. It is a scene that functionally serves to deliver more plot and background—we learn about the former Wisdom traveling to join the Aes Sedai, for example, and hear the words “The White Tower” for the first time. But we also see a dynamic develop between the two women. We see how Moiraine works, hiding the truth of her search and the reasons of her questions, and we see how Nynaeve experiences the interrogation as an accusation about her age and the value of who she is. Her history with the Aes Sedai rejecting her old mentor gives Nynaeve a real personal reason to feel hostile towards Moiraine—a hostility that also exists in the books, but is made much clearer and easy for the audience to quickly key into. I think the tweaking will serve the story well. Also, their chemistry as antagonists was beautiful. I have to applaud both Pike and Zoë Robins on their work in this scene.
The show also brings a really clever bit of world building into the festival of Bel Tine. In the books it is only a festival to celebrate the arrival of spring (inspired by the Celtic festival Bealtaine), but the scriptwriters have added the concept of lighting lanterns to help guide the souls of those they lost back to the world to be reincarnated. This not only gives us the opportunity to learn more about what the Wheel is and how reincarnation works in this world, but also grounds the customs of the Two Rivers within their own mythology in a very moving way.
The action sequences are pretty good. A little too dark—to see, that is—but it’s not as egregious in The Wheel of Time as it has been in some other series. I really enjoyed watching Tam fight the Trolloc. I also really liked seeing the way the Emond’s Fielders rallied against the invaders, even though none of them had seen a literal monster before. Nynaeve’s focus on protecting Egwene and on trying to provide medical aid to injured villagers even in the middle of a slaughter shows us a great deal about who she is as a person, and also reinforces how important the bond is between the two women. Seeing Mat protect his sisters was also very moving. The Old Blood runs deep in the Two Rivers, as Moiraine observes to Lan, and we see it in the battle, even from side characters and unnamed townspeople in the background.
And then there’s Moiraine and Lan coming to fight. It’s what I’ve been waiting for since the series was announced, and I must say I am not disappointed. The scene does a really good job of showing how they work together, with Lan at Moiraine’s back protecting her as she brings the Power to bear against the Trollocs, both working as one without the need for words. In the books, women who can touch the Source are able to see when other women are doing it, perceive the “weaves” of the Power, but no one else can see anything beside the effects. And even within the narration there is very little description of what the weaves look like, so the show basically had free rein to design however they wanted. It’s a tricky thing. Viewers need some kind of visual cue, but too much quickly becomes silly. And opting for only hand gestures runs the risk of continually reminding one of Star Wars. I think that the choices made work well; Pike has clearly put a lot of thought and practice into how Moiraine moves as she weaves, and the way she seems to draw from fire, from air, from sky and stone, fits with the way the Power works in the books, made a little bit more literal for on-screen purposes.
Also, I can’t believe Moiraine’s finishing move is rocks. I don’t mean “it rocks” there, although it does, indeed. I mean it is literally throwing rocks! I can’t tell you how happy that made me.
In the books it’s stated that women who use the One Power tend to be stronger with water and air, while men tend to be stronger with earth and fire, which is a silly sexist trope that I’ve complained about before. Hopefully the show is going to get rid of a lot of the binary structure that permeates the world building, but even in the book, Moiraine is shown to have rather a strong affinity to working with earth, and I love that we see it here. There’s also something about smashing baddies with big chunks of brick and stone that rather defies stereotypical norms of femininity—Moiraine’s movements are graceful but the end result is just a bunch of gross thuds and crunches. I’m so enamored of it, and I can’t wait to see more channeling from her.
And finally, speaking of The Lord of the Rings homages, Tam’s speech to Rand about the Wheel was beautiful and moving. There is a quiet wisdom in Tam every time McElhatton has a line, and I especially liked that he not only said that ‘one can only do the best with the life they’re given,’ but that the turning of the Wheel and the resulting reincarnation means that one day, you’ll get the chance to do a little better. There’s some lovely foreshadowing in that as well.
And now our heroes are off, with an army of Darkness at their backs and only the slim hope of reaching safety. One of them is the Dragon Reborn, and the other three are all ta’veren, important players in the coming fate of the world. If they can survive that long.
Interesting Notes and Easter Eggs:
- “Leavetaking” is the title of Chapter 10 of The Eye of the World
- During the ceremony, Nynaeve tells Egwene that her braid connects her to all who came before her, and that when she is surrounded by darkness and has no hope, to feel the braid, and remember that all of the women of her village stand with her. For fans of the books, one of the greatest jokes is how often Nynaeve tugs or yanks on her braid when she’s upset. In one swift motion, the show has changed a bit of narration that Jordan overused to the point of amusing readers into a poignant and heartfelt gesture—I know I’ll be watching to see when Nynaeve touches her braid, seeking the strength of the women who came before her.
- Also, I like how different all the braids were—different women wear different styles of braid, showing that the tradition can be highly personalized. In an extra fun bit of tie-in, Egwene’s is a fishtail braid. Trust the river, indeed.
- Nynaeve wears a yellow skirt under her green tunic and brown outfit, which is a nice bit of foreshadowing for those in the know.
- For those not in the know, did you see the way the camera flashed in on the heron on Tam’s sword? Keep that in mind, it’s important!
- Um, the bath scene? Love seeing the chemistry there, the easy comfort and trust that Lan and Moiraine have with each other. Also, Daniel Henney is a fine, fine man.
- Favorite Quote: “Your life isn’t going to be what you thought.”
Tune back soon for episode two: “Shadow’s Waiting”!
Sylas K Barrett is a writer, actor, and long-time fan of epic journeys, heroes, and magic. You can find other reviews and op-eds here on Tor.com, including his ongoing Reading the Wheel of Time series, in which he reads the novels for the first time and engages in both critical analogy and a fair bit of fanboy glee.
I’m still on the fence about whether to watch this or not…. aside from my reluctance to get Amazon prime, there is the fear that this show is just going to be too much like Game of Thrones, which I found unwatchable. What I love about WoT is that it has a sense of innocence, some lightness and humour despite being also a very deep and serious story. From the reviews so far, I’m getting the sense that the tone is indeed darker and more ‘adult’ than the books. This does not bode well, imho.
What on earth is going on with Rand and Egwene actually being in a full-on adult relationship? Is there any point to this? This seems an entirely unnecessary change, to me. Also sad to hear about Perrin’s new backstory.
So, readers and watchers: please give advice. Is the TV series too adult & dark? Will it ruin my head canon? I am not talking about small changes to how people look etc., don’t care about that. The cast looks amazing. Nor do I mean cutting things out of the story – they were always going to, how else can you bring a 14-book series with a million tangents and characters to the screen. What I mean is – does it feel right? More Tolkienesque than Got? Are there moments of laughter, of wonder, of simply revelling in this beautiful world that Jordan created?
Long time fan of the books. Have read them multiple times. I loved this. Didn’t always agree with some of the plot changes and a few had me actively scratching my head but as a realisation of a long beloved series finally on screen, yes, thank you!
I must admit that I didn´t like the changes at first, but as I watched episodes 2 and 3, it all started to grow on me. Little nitpick though: when Moiraine talks about “rumors of four ta´veren in Two Rivers” – how, exactly, did anybody find out they are ta´veren? Nothing particularly ta´veren-ish happened to any of them before Moiraine got there. And how, exactly, did those rumors get to Moiraine? Does blue ajah have eyes and ears in Two Rivers?
And I didn´t like the fact that they invented Perrin a wife only so they could fridge her in ep 1. I get it, it speeds up his character development, but I don´t like it.
Other than that, I love pretty much everything about this episode. I got goosebumps more than once. Moiraine quoting that paragraph about wheel of time made me tear up.
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I was still on the fence after episode 1. Mostly due to the fridging. Losing Laila in the trolloc attack is one thing, but killing her with his own axe is too much.
I do appreciate that they made the character relationships more adult given that they aged the characters up, adjusting their life experience accordingly.
@1 Yv – you should watch it, I don’t think its as dark as GoT and there really are some incredible shots of the world they’ve created. It also sounds like you’re going into this with an open mindset of understanding that changes have to be made to adapt a massive book series to a tv show.
The Rand/Egwene ‘adult’ relationship didn’t bother me at all. It’s not gratiutous and doesn’t really change how their storey progresses. The changes to Mat and Perrin’s backstories didn’t bother me either – I can see why they have made those changes and, in all honesty, I prefer both the boys now than in the books at this point!
The Moiraine/Lan fight scene was pretty darn amazing – gave me goosebumps watching her fight using the power! Even though it was not quite how I had imagined it in my head.
I didn’t like the changes to the Cauthon family at all. In the books, Mat’s parents were respected members of the community and Mat looked up to his da. In the books, Mat was a prankster who loved practical jokes and was infamous for filching pies cooling in windows. Making his parents drunks who don’t properly care for their children and Abel a philanderer and turning Mat into a petty thief who pickpockets fellow Two Rivers residents to support his gambling habit upset me a lot. Not cool.
And giving Perrin a wife then fridging her is just lazy writing.
I dislike the changes to Perrin and Mat’s backstories, they seemed a like drama for the sake of drama or writers not trusting viewers with understanding character arcs that aren’t spelled out.
I loved the rest of the episode though. Gave me chills several times!
For what it is worth, Brandon Sanderson fought hard with the showrunner Rafe about the fridging. Brandon felt that maybe wounding, if not reluctantly killing, Master Luhan (Perrin’s blacksmithing master in the books) would serve the same purpose. So it wasn’t like the people involved were unaware of that trope, but decided to go with it anyways.
My wife and I decided to make this one of the shows we watch together. I’m an established fan: I’ve read the entire series and even done some work on Wikipedia, some of which was copy-pasted onto other sites. (I guess I did a good job explaining Mat.) My wife, on the other hand, knows basically nothing except that the series exists. So we have a collection of different impressions.
My wife’s impression was that the trolloc attack on Bel Tine took too long and ran straight into the Eight Deadly Words: “I don’t care what happens to these people.” The amount of character development, she felt, was insufficient. All in all, I have to say I agree. The only character with any meaningful personality right now is Mat — though, in fairness, I loved that he was willing to plunge straight into the fray for Bodewhin and Eldrin, and I had to physically restraining myself from quoting Siuan’s little analysis from the third book. Reserving his character development until then was one of the books’ weak spots, and I’m glad the show found a way around it.
I had problems with Laina getting fridged. Brandon Sanderson shared his own thoughts on the WoT Reddit, and his concern nails it spot-on: “I’m mostly worried they’re going to just relegate that to backstory and not actually take the time for Perrin to process it.” He suggested having Perrin accidentally kill Master Luhhan would have been just as effective and more in keeping with the scope of (what we expect from) a TV show, and I can’t disagree.
My biggest problem was the Power. It takes too long to use. I’m glad they are trying to set up the idea of channelers wielding powerful, capricious forces — and since the main-character channelers are going to be head-and-shoulders stronger than Moiraine ever was, we can reasonably expect them to work a lot faster than she did in this scene — but the show’s depiction utterly failed to sell me on channeling as a martial art, one to be used in a fight where things are happening really, really fast and seconds are jewels beyond price. If Ba’alzamon could reasonably kill any Aes Sedai simply by training one Myrddraal to use a longbow, channeling isn’t very useful.
But the real question was, “Do you mind if I keep watching the other episodes without you?” And my wife said, “Yes, actually. I want to see them. Don’t watch them without me” So it can’t have been that bad.
I think it’s a really tone-deaf adaptation to be sure. The visuals are stunning and the actors are doing great with what seems to be a… really mismanaged script. I really dislike everything they’re doing with Perrin and his fridge-wife, along with cutting out a vital mentor figure in the process. Mat’s backstory is equally heinous. They’re trying to gritty up the wrong parts of the story, bits that just… do not need it. I’ll likely keep watching, because the actors *are* doing a great job, but it’s certainly not a faithful adaptation by any stretch of the imagination. It suffers from a similar problem as I remember encountering in the first Harry Potter movie – if you hadn’t read the books, half the goings-on don’t make sense, and if you *had* read the books, all the changes (big and pointlessly small) are irritatingly irrational.
Mods, Nynaeve is said to tug on her “brain” instead of “braid” in the Interesting Notes section.
I think I’m still pretty excited to see this, but…they literally invented a wife for Perrin just to kill her in the first episode??? Good grief.
Aside from that being THE most textbook fridging I can think of…it sounds like something more likely to short-circuit his future character development than jump-start it.
I’m not married, but I would think if I accidentally killed my own wife, that’d weight the scales much too heavily in favor of not picking up a weapon again.
@13 – Fixed, thanks!
I’m a long time fan of the books and I liked it. The novels get pretty dark as they goes on, so I can understand making the early chapters of The Eye of the World darker as they fit tonally with the later series.
Mat’s backstory worked for me, though it was a surprise. I note a point above about him stealing to fund his gambling habit but that wasn’t how I interpreted it. He was gambling to buy lanterns for the girls and, when he lost, pilfered instead (from the person he lost to). To me this fits quite well with Mat, who is always willing to break the rules for what he sees as a good cause.
The fridging of Perrin’s wife was both really annoying and somewhat understandable. [Books spoilers ahead…] Perrin’s whole plot across multiple books is about his hatred of violence in general and the axe in particular. In the novels, this plays out as his continual guilt over the Whitecloak who is the first person he kills. Even in the books, this is sometimes a stretch but on TV, where the Whitecloaks are clear villains, it would be very hard to support. I can understand the showrunners wanting a first kill that is much more emotionally wrenching for Perrin. From here the hatred of the axe and the worries about losing himself to wildness and aggression make sense. It also plays into his later obsession around keeping Faile safe. So, it is definitely fridging, but I can (just about) forgive it.
IIRC Egwene and Rand do have a conversation in which she says something like “Wisdoms seldom marry.” So I didn’t feel that whole thing departed from the books all that much.
Typo: “ceremonial right of passage” should be “ceremonial rite of passage”
I’m planning to keep watching. It’s going to be interesting to see what compression does to the story, and what major changes are done, but I liked a lot of what I saw.
My main problem with Mat and Perrin’s new backstories is that it switches their motivations: Mat is now the one who wants to go back to the Two Rivers and Perrin has nothing to return for. It seems to me that will cause problems with their plotlines later on. (And I agree with mp1952 @8 that the character assassination of Abell Cauthon is terrible.)
While bathing together doesn’t automatically mean they’re sleeping together, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of viewers jump to that conclusion about Moiraine and Lan. I hope that’s not where the story is going; it’s unnecessary and gratuitous. The Warder bond as described in the books is plenty of obstacle for Nynaeve/Lan.
I have lots of other nitpicks, but those aside, I think they’ve done a stunning job so far. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the series develops.
@20 I would have thought the platonic bathing scene showed pretty clearly they aren’t together. I suspect it’s also there to foreshadow the assorted bathing custom issues that happen later o
@20, @22. My problem with the bathing scene, admittedly a minor quibble, is stoic Lan, from a land so cold that trees burst from their sap freezing, complaining the bath water could be warmer!
Overall I liked it. I am absolutely floored by the perfection of Rosamund Pike as Moiraine. She nails it and will carry the series through its mishaps. Thw other actors were all good, and I am pleased with the newcomers for the most part. I didn’t love Perrin but I’m not a huge fan in the books either. And like others I am pissed about Perrins wife being fridged. I’m honestly so dissapijnted that Rafe made that decision. He really seemed to go out of his way to update the story to counter some of the originals treatment of women and POC (they were really products of their time). Then he goes and uses such a misogynistic trope right out of the gate. It’s lazy writing and Sandersons suggestions were so much better.
“Yes, there’s an occasional sweater that looks like I could find it at Old Navy or ASOS, but I didn’t find it distracting.”
This, from the previous article, was on my mind while watching all three episodes, and made me laugh out loud every time I spotted one. I agree in that they are not particularly distracting or even look out of place, but they’re definitely there.
Personally, I think the change to Mat’s background is a mistake. I understand the need to give people more to grab onto about Mat, since he’s a bit of a blank slate (outside of curse-related shenanigans) for the first two books. In my head, I think of this as the Huck Finn background, you know, poor kid with friends who are better off, abusive home life, lack of social standing/graces due to upbringing, etc. However, I think they writers would have done better to do a “Tom Sawyer” background rather than a “Huck Finn,” because I think Tom Sawyer is a much better match with Mat’s personality.
This may just be me, but I always saw Two Rivers Mat as a bit of a spoiled kid from a well off family. He played tricks and used his wits to get out of work, but never with malice. However, a key failing was that he didn’t think of the consequences of his actions, *especially* those that fell on people other than him.
Related, I got a gambling addiction vibe from Mat based on the way he responded to losing all of his money and Rand and Perrin’s comments. Having a gambler suddenly start winning all the time has a much different feel, to me, than a gambling *addict* suddenly winning all the time. Having Mat established as a thief also makes taking the dagger have darker feel, especially since he started by going off on his own rather than having his friends go off “exploring” with him (talking your friends into going exploring with you, even though the authority figures have told you it’s a bad idea is also a 100% Tom Sawyer move).
Not sure how if Mat wasn’t winning all the time at gambling there would be rumors of him being Taveren let alone anything about the rest to suggest rumors about 4 of them
I agree with Brandon Sanderson that making Perrin kill Master Luhhan would’ve been better. Make Perrin forge his axe as masterpiece to end his apprenticeship. Then in the attack he uses the axe and kills the man who’s like a father to him. In the nIghtmares then it all starts with Luhhan speaking his wisdom to Perrin and dying and making him feel guilty.
As it is right now Layla Aybara isn’t a character, she’s a plot device. I don’t think she has lines, much less a personality. So it’s textbook fridging.
After watching this episode, I think I’m going to wait for the whole season to release before making an attempt at the other episodes. I find the changes deeply bothersome, because in a lot of ways it feels like the changes made are more random than anything. With Mat, for example, it makes sense to work to establish his character early on, and during the raid on EF, it’s a good time to do that. But… the background of his parents being shit and him looking after his sisters in place of his parents, while a bit interesting, feels like it’s going to conflict with his characterization later on. Of the three boys who leave in Eye of the World, Mat is the only one who doesn’t care about ever going home. Rand wants to, but feels the weight of his destiny just places EF in danger, and Perrin actually does go home. Not only does this conflict with Mat from the book’s characterization, it creates this weird conflict where it looks like Mat is abandoning his sisters to his abusive parents.
Confusingly, the way Mat’s relationship (with his sisters) would probably work better for Perrin, who is supposed to have a large family that he deeply cares about, but because of how Eye of the World was written we never actually see any of them until they’re dead.
The same is true with Perrin’s wife. I can get wanting to build on the idea of Perrin having trouble with violence, since this is only really describing in the narration of him being super careful because of how big and strong he is, but at the same time the book actually deliver this in the form of Perrin killing several Whitecloaks. I can get that people might struggle with this. The Whitecloaks are assholes and therefore killing them in a fit of rage probably seems like a just thing to do, rather than the sort of thing that would become a mental burden for Perrin. Yet, there’s something powerful about Perrin feeling such guilt about killing in ‘self defense’, even when who he’s killing is absolutely the enemy. Perrin accidentally killing his mentor would at least avoid the trope, but I think there’s something about Perrin being upset at killing at all that’s deeply embedded in his characterization and character arc. Yes, you can make it so he killed someone close to him, but it seems to me this diminishes this trait because his anguish is based on the relationship he has with the victim.
It’s the same principle you see where heroes will slaughter hundreds of goons and then develop a moral high ground when it comes to whether or not to strike down the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord means something to the hero (and the audience) whereas the rank and file goon is a faceless no one unworthy of consideration. Being torn up about killing the goon is more interesting than getting worked up about killing the Dark Lord
I said at the start I find the changes bothersome, and what I mean is that so many of these changes seem to be firmly in a realm of ‘yes yes yes no’. Showing Perrin’s relationship with violence or Mat’s early heroism are good changes (I wouldn’t even call them changes, just expansions on what the source material already had), but at the same time they’re wedded to changes that are between baffling and at times seemingly deliberately at odds with the character arcs that should be before the characters.
Mild Spoilers …
After that apalling fridging, I am still somewhat in dread of coming across the thing that utterly ruined this series for me in the end (I refused to read any further untill a different author who I knew and trusted took it over) i.e. the gender politics and issues that marred the novels for me. All females think the same way, all men think all females are some wierd different species … and as for the way powerful women sexually harass men while other women see this as perfectly ok if not hilarious. Yikes! (There are plenty of problems in the way he portrayed men, but a s a women its that last one that seriously wound me up the most)
Seeing Rosamund Pike and Brandon Sanderson’s names listed among the consultants and producers made me a lot less apprehensive, but some concern still lingers.
Is Leigh Butler (@leighdb) from WoT re-read fame still active on Tor? would LOVE to hear her two cents
After spending tons of time reading your posts and also discussing in various circles I’m in, I am happy to finally be able to post. I’ve posted this before reading other comments – I wrote it up ahead of time :)
My main tl;dr is that i’m still very excited to see where the show goes on its own merits, but as a fan there are parts that leave me a little unsatisfied. Of course, we’re only 3 episodes in, so that shall change. And I fully own that some of this is nerdy pedantry. I will say that it doesn’t feel quite as ‘in world’ as Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones did. I am kind of mad that they got rid of some of the WoT specific curses in favor of more generic real world fantasy-esque curses (shite, arse, etc). That gets rid of some fo the flavor of being in a new world, imo.
(Note this does go into spoilers for the books and a few future episodes).
I don’t begrudge them massively condensing and combining certain things, that’s fine. I actually liked the new Thom quite a bit, but I agree that this version of Mat is a bit too…dour and downtrodden. They definitely captured his obnoxious (but still will ultimately do the right thing while protesting he’s not a bloody hero) personality, but he’s lost a lot of the levity and trickster-nature that defined his character. This Mat reminds me a bit of a sulky Ron Weasley, where he should be more Fred/George ;) I know some of that is the dagger later on, but even from the start he’s got some baggage.
The Perrin thing was just…wth? As soon as the character showed up I was just like, yup, somebody get the fridge ready. I also felt like they were trying to introduce some type of tension/drama between them (why was she at the forge alone? Why didn’t she go to the ceremony? Why was she so awkward with Perrin’s advances) and I honestly don’t know what was supposed to come of that.
Nyneave is my FAVORITE, love her in the books, love her here. It’s a little weird that they gave parts of Rand’s backstory to her (losing her da teaching her how to track), and I rolled my eyes at the ‘is she dead’ fake out BUT they captured her stubborn fierceness and energy and I love it.
Moiraine is perfect, including the scene with the ferryman…it was kind of chilling, but that’s an Aes Sedai for you. Moiraine does what needs to be done. I’m kinda torn on Lan – I actually really do like how they portray their bond/relationship, and I have no fault with the actor, but he still doesn’t seem quite as intimidating as I expect Lan to be. He does radiate a quiet, immovable strength though.
As for the elephant in the room, I do not enjoy it at all, and it does give me a little bit of pause (not enough to stop watching, of course). I am certainly glad they will do away with some of the dumb ‘men are this, women are that’ stuff that took up far too much of the books (although I think it’s fair to point out that this attitude wasn’t necessarily presented as a good thing). I like that she mentioned FOUR Ta’veren, meaning one of the girls could be one. I certainly hope some of the relationship dynamics with characters like Berelain, Faile, Tylin, etc are either omitted or smoothed out. I can definitely get behind some of the more essentialist tropes getting smoothed out (women have to surrender, men have to conquer the Power) or eliminating the lore about men being de facto stronger, or maybe some of the linking dynamics. But on the other hand, sometimes those types of limitations can be interesting narrative tools to see how the characters deal with those things. But I’m not personally bothered by the idea that the power has a binary aspect, and that those two aspects have observable differences that maybe don’t seem fair or identical. Similar, I guess, to how I accept that in general men are stronger than women, even though there are plenty of examples along the curve both ways.
I also think it would be interesting to explore what it means within that framework for characters themselves to not be fully binary, or if there were men/women born who touched the opposite side of the source. Maybe even non binary individuals who can touch both, which would be pretty fascinating. But I don’t really love the idea of a totally gender neutral Power if that is indeed where they are going (Liandrin’s comments also seem to imply that the taint comes from men themselves, not the Power…but how does that even work given the metaphysics. Liandrin isn’t a reliable narrator though, for various reasons). The entire foundation of the cosomology, and the worldbuilding/cultures that rise from it, are tightly bound to the idea of a yin/yang/binary that is complementary and balanced, and where the sum is greater than its parts. It’s not that the concept of a gender neutral power is bad, but it would definitely undo a lot of the existing (and pretty meticulous) lore, worldbuilding and several key plot points (including things Sylas hasn’t gotten to yet) that depend on this interplay.
And if they are still going to go with the two halves, I’m interested in how the concept of a female Dragon would play into this. Pretty much every culture in the Wheel of Time is influenced by the fact that Lews Therin destroyed the world, will be reincarnated as a man, and will save/destroy the world due to the taint. Even little details like the use of the Dragon’s Fang as an evil symbol stem from that. Change that and you have to change pretty much everything about how these cultures evolved, how the prophecies were interpreted, etc. If the dragon can be reincarnated as a woman, does that mean they are not subject to the Taint? Does she destroy the world anyway? OR is she somehow tainted for some other reason? Is she still Lews Therin reincarnated? What parts of the soul are now essential to identity? Perhaps the part of you that is reincarnated and determines your identity has to do with the side of saidar/saidin you touch – but that’s not necessarily your biological gender. If Lews Therin is reincarnated as a woman, they would still touch saidin (whether or not they would also still consider/be identified as a woman in this society could also be discussed – is your channeling affinity the same as gender?) and be subject to the taint. Otherwise, it just seems like a lot of the prophecies and the outright fear of the coming of the Dragon don’t have as much punch. It’s not that those couldn’t be answers or possible stories, but it’s definitely very different from the story being told in the books. For better or worse – I’m still pretty interested in how it all plays out, but I am still watching with some wariness.
And it’s also possible that they are going to introduce this bombshell, but then not actually explore the implications of it (esp. since Rand is most likely still the Dragon Reborn), or that making this change really tells a more interesting story. Are men and women working together still going to be critical to a victory? How is the Taint going to be cleansed? Is there even a Taint on the Power at all in the same way we understand it? And I’m still kinda salty that despite making this change, they can’t help but fridge a character right from the get go so it just feels inauthentic.
I liked them overall, love the music, think the actors are really pretty good and seem to know their characters well. The scenery is beautiful and seems different from other fantasy tv/movies, I like that. I don’t like a lot of the changes, but I’m willing to wait and see. I think the success of the series will really depend on how they set up and execute the high-payoff/climactic scenes and how they manage the character development of the fab 5.
I did really hate what they did to Abell Cauthon, seemed so unnecessary and wrong. I liked what little we knew about him from the books, and he also seemed to be really good friends with Tam, which means to me he must be a pretty good guy all around. I’m a little more indifferent to Perrin’s wife and stuff, also seems unnecessary, but I did like how they highlighted how he got out of control while killing that trolloc.
And I didn’t mind the change in Nynaeve’s backstory too much, but that seems a big change to Aes Sedai practices, that they would turn away someone who could channel because she was from a poorer, backwoods culture.
I get the sweater comments, but I didn’t see any sweaters that I could not easily make myself, and I’m not the most experienced knitter. And they could have all been made with hand spinning and natural dyeing techniques.
I have to say, as much as I wanted t see this, I was disappointed. Others have commented about the changes to characters but my real issue was something else. I just did not think the script was that good. I started reading the books when the first came out in 1990. Here it was very difficult to care about these characters as introduced on the screen. I do not know if it was the acting from the leads other than Ms. Pike but if it doesn’t pick up the series will have no staying power. I have some friends who have no exposure to the books and the main impressions was…meh. My favorite bit was actually watching how imperious the Red Ajah was. Good costumes, good look. I hope it gets better.
So, having watched all three episodes and now the first episode again, I am liking Perrin’s back story a bit more. Especially since I am wondering … was Laila Dearn all she seemed? She had that axe lifted pretty high right behind Perrin’s head …
I hate the changes to Mat, but I will wait to see if he grows on me.
Rand is a bit stiff, not as joyous and innocent as I imagine him to have been at the beginning. But the women are perfect! I love Nynaeve and Egwene.
I understand the changes were needed, but honestly I am not really a fan of the changes to Mat’s story line. There is no way that the people of Emond’s Field, absolutely no way that the Women’s Circle, would let a philanderer get away with what Abell Cauthon is up to. There is a simplicity and pureness to Emond’s Field in the books and that … just … bothers me. Plus, of all the “four” ta’veren (and yes, how in Randland would anyone know they are ta’veren at this point), Mat is the one who in the books least wants to go home “and milk his da’s cows”.
Having said that, I can live with all the changes. This show will not be the same as the books.
I like to think about it as a different 3rd Age in a different turning of the Wheel – all the people reborn as themselves with a bit of a different story. One 3rd Age from the books and a different 3rd Age for the TV show. Once I got that in my head, all was good in Randland.
I have been all but bouncing in anticipation, waiting for this show. I knew there would be changes to the story, it’s inevitable in adaptations, it seems, so I’ve tried to keep an open mind about it. One of my friends said he looks at it as being like one of the reflections of the world accessed by the Portal Stones and that’s how he was able to justify and accept the changes.
Overall, I am loving the look and feel of the show, and I do feel like these ARE those beloved characters I’ve been reading about all these years. I’m not happy about some of the changes but I’m not going to refuse to watch the show over it.
That being said, I am downright OFFENDED at what they did to the Cauthon family. They turned a respected friend of Tam’s into a man no one in the Two Rivers I read about would ever respect or associate with, and his wife into a slovenly drunk who hates her life and everyone in it. Where the heck was the Women’s Circle when all this was going on? And they turned Mat from a loveable rogue with a silver tongue, a winning smile and a heart of gold into a tweaker and a petty thief.
And Perrin… Poor Perrin. There’s enough tragedy in his storyline as it is, there was no need for that.
Also, I understand why they wanted to age up the characters, but the relationship between Egwene and Rand didn’t need to be physical at that level. The Two Rivers was always a quaint, even backwards place where the rules of courting were strictly observed, certain things just weren’t done until the couple were properly wed, and the Wisdom and Women’s Circle would have your hide if you flouted that rule. It just seems like they’ve changed the whole character of the village unnecessarily.
And Egwene’s womanhood ceremony… That seems more like something I’d expect in the White Tower, in one of the tests for Accepted or the Shawl maybe. The whole thing about surrendering it instead of fighting it, the banks containing and guiding the course of the river — that’s all straight out of a novice exercise. But not something to be required just to be recognized as an adult woman. What if she couldn’t swim? What if she hit her head? Do they just figure the girls who drown weren’t grown up enough after all?? It just didn’t make sense to me.
Ok, now that I’ve vented… Let’s see what the Wheel weaves for us this week. :)
The little things bother me… Like lighting a lantern with matches.
As mentioned above, comments should be civil and constructive in tone–not angry, dismissive, or simply a list of things you dislike about the books or the show. The conversation should be in keeping with the standards outlined here: https://www.tor.com/moderation-policy/
I’ve read the books many times and the first thing i don’t understand is why they didn’t open with the original prologue with Lewis Therin and the eventual formation of dragon mount which i think is not only super important but would’ve provided 2 things first being a great action scene to hook those not familiar to the books and then secondly after said first timers to Wot are hooked you could’ve spent a little more time on character development (Also for first timers).
A couple of other things that seen small but i think are rather strange, in the show it’s stated that the last dragon is responsible for the “curse” on the make half of the power, why they didn’t stick to the original reason “dark ones counter stroke” when being sealed in his prison i have no idea.
Also the dragon is always male that’s why people are scared of the very name dragon because the dragon went mad, broke the world and all male channelers are also destined to go mad so are hunted.
so why state in the show the dragon might be male or female? This also doesn’t make sense.
I originally loved mat and his cheekiness in the books so disappointed with how him and his family was handled
I did enjoy the first 3 epps but don’t understand the reasoning behind some of the changes and i must say the shadow of shadar logalth (effects) was poorly done (And so is my spelling of it lol)
The only comment I’ll make on Laila (since I pretty much agree with everything said, that she was a cool character who didn’t get any of the proper development she deserved and the fridging was awful but does help explain Perrin’s issues with the axe and losing control of his inner beast) is this: she fought with a hammer. And the commentary she made to Mat when she made him the knife he gives to Perrin dovetails very well with the creation/building/protecting philosophy Perrin always associated with the hammer. So they not only used her death to justify Perrin’s angsty character arc, they introduced the axe/hammer dichotomy right from the start. On the nose, perhaps, but rather well done, I thought.
Other than my agreement on the awfulness of what was done to the Cauthon family, though, I don’t really have any other complaints. Most of the changes either don’t bother me, are intriguing and interesting, or turned out okay once they grew on me.
(I’m mostly speaking of Thom here; I really loved his speech at the gravemaking, it showed the wisdom and insight he always had as a character, and helped soften the somewhat harsh lesson he had for Mat earlier. I can believe now that the two of them will become good companions. The song was not at all what I expected from him–I know he wouldn’t do High Chant in a place like that, but it was far darker and more somber than you’d think a gleeman would sing. That said, I seem to recall there were some sad songs and tales mentioned from him in the books, and of course anything from the Karaethon Cycle would not exactly be light fare. And this also keeps him from standing out too much in contrast to the rest of the episodes’ tone.)
But yeah, overall, really loving this a lot and eager to see where they go from here–and hoping the flaws and missteps can either be explained and integrated better later or just quietly smoothed over and forgotten as the story develops toward what comes later in the books. Also, I love the comparison of this to both a different iteration of the Third Age and a Portal Stone alternate world reflection to explain the differences!
@33: Leigh actually has a piece about it in Time Magazine.
I have been defending Mat all over the internet, so here I go again: here, Mat is a thief. It’s not how he was portrayed in the books, except for occasional honeycakes and whatever other food he and his mates can get their hands on. I hate it, BUT – – I think he does too. I realized he stole that bracelet to sell or trade to Fain so his sisters could have lanterns for the ceremony – and maybe to get them food, from the look of things. I could come to approve of this take on him. His empathy and care for the others is probably my favorite thing about the show right now: in a later scene in this episode, he immediately knows something’s wrong between Rand and Egwene, and asks about it. He is beautiful with his sisters. Jumping ahead, in Shadar Logoth, he gets a smile out of Perrin. And he starts singing on the road after he takes a look back and sees how miserable everyone is. I am rapidly becoming a Barney Harris/Mat fangirl. DAMMIT.
I hated Nynaeve’s “braid” speech – if that’s why she’s always tugging the damn thing, I may have to track down Rafe Judkins and commit violence.
It would have been hard to miss the heron on Tam’s sword – it was one of several LOOK HERE WE’LL PAUSE FOR A SECOND EVEN IF THERE’S A TROLLOC ABOUT TO KILL SOMEONE DON’T MISS THIS DID YOU SEE IT??? moments of the episode – the bracelet, the unexplained wound on Egwene’s arm, probably one or two others I’m blocking out right now. Not exactly subtle.
I want very much to love this show – and it is growing on me. How Loial looks and sounds and is introduced might just make it or break it for me.
Whoa! I know next to nothing about the books, but isn’t that a major major spoiler? It sure feels like one.
@50: Moraine makes it clear in the episode that one of the four is the Dragon Reborn, so that’s what we’re told at the outset of the series
I never really got into the books because at the time I was all about Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni series. But I do recall that Jordan’s prose was really evocative and gave a definite sense of place, featuring a world that was truly lived in. I didn’t get that same feel from the show.
It’s interesting to see reactions from people who’ve read the books run the gamut from enjoying it to having reservations to disliking it. I wonder if the novels didn’t exist, would people like it as much?
For me, someone who only read the first book, the exposition was clunky and boring. Narration is a fast way to impart information, but in this case it was entirely unnecessary. In the Scriptnotes podcast from screenwriters John August (Go, Big Fish) and Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, Identity Thief), they once talked about the difference between confusion and mystery. No one likes confusion, but we enjoy mystery. Erring too far on the side of eliminating confusion obliterates mystery, which saps the engaging aspect of the story. The opening voice over here did exactly that.
Why do I need to watch the show if she’s just going to tell me what’s happening? The answer is: I don’t. It would’ve been far more engaging to see her experiencing pain, like a migraine, and say something vaguely ominous like, “He rises again. I can feel it.” To which Mondarogan replies, “We aren’t ready to stand against him.” “We must seek help.” Then have them ride out. That sort of thing gets me to lean in and become an active participant in the tale. Since the answer to those questions are at the end of the episode, the mystery of that first scene is resolved satisfactorily, and I’m on the hook to see what’s next.
As it is, I have little interest in continuing. Having characters like Perrin do things like stab his wife in the baby (she was pregnant, right?) are cheap character motivations.
I’m also puzzled by the choice to start every section with several close-ups rather than a wide angle establishing shot. That serves to make the thing feel small and claustrophobic. Since they actually filmed the expansive (and expensive) aerial shots with characters doing stuff, it’s a bizarre choice, because that editing undercuts the grandeur.
I’m glad some folks are enjoying it, but I’m not finding it all that engaging
I hate that they felt the need to give Mat and Perrin some sort of backstory to begin their “heroic journey.” I can’t decide if changing Mat’s character in the way that they did is worse than giving Perrin a wife that immediately gets knocked off for the purposes of his character arc. And it’s ironic given that in the book we very quickly learn that it is Rand who has the unusual, and until then, secret backstory.
Nonetheless, despite these rather annoying missteps, I think they’ve otherwise done an excellent job of bringing the story to life. What else is changed or compressed has been done so in a way that’s meant to be respectful of the elements of the story those plot points were in service of, and three episodes in I’m largely enjoying it.
Guess we’ll never get to see Mat “easing the badger”
The visuals were so stunning throughout–and clearly the set and costume designers were inspired by Darrell Sweet’s book covers. This series is a tribute to his vision as well.
Well, if this series continues beyond 2nd season, showrunners may have a chance to fix some problems. For example, reforming Abell Cauthon when the village comes under Whitecloak occupation and his daughters are taken hostage. Changing actor for Mat and then reforming him for more daredevil lovable scamp after his horrifying experience with the dagger, plus changing actors may help too. But there is, unfortunately, nothing to redeem fridging women trope with Laila. Of course it would help with Perrin character arc development him being overprotective of Faile and hatred of his ax, but still Brandon’s proposal was better and would have avoided totally expected fan criticism while furthering Perrin’s character.
*Rant alert* Not thrilled with this adaptation. It is too chilly/distant. The theme music is chilly, for gosh sakes! The scenery may be stunning, but it is sterile. This Two Rivers lacks any sense of community—even the bar (there’s no way you could tell it’s an inn and the heart of the town) is dark and unwelcoming. In a dark, unwelcoming Hobbitown. And how can such terrain have even subsistence farming, much less produce that famous Two Rivers Tabac?
Rand, Mat, and Perrin scarcely seem to know one another. Instead of the boys who are part of one another’s earliest memories, getting one another into and out of trouble, these are three young men who just happen to be [the word is mumbled] from the same town. And Rand is dull. The romance is forced, and that is almost all we see of him. His relationship with his “father” is more important overall, and that—like the friendships— becomes a chilled reflection.
The magic is pretty. We understand that it takes a lot out of Moiraine, but it seems too easy as she is working it. A little closer to her, as in the tub scene, if she is the center of the new narrative. We should feel difficulty.
Things do seem to improve once we split into smaller groups, and I am hoping for more connections and warmth, but making the Tinkers drab and giving Tom an ordinary guitar and mediocre voice are dumbfounding choices.
This has made me want to go back to—clunky and cardboard as it was—Xena. Myth, mystery, and humor can exist together, even with cheesy dialogue.
I wonder about the Laila DF theory, really need to rewatch that first episode to see if it carries any water.
@48 – THANK YOU!!!
Here’s the link if there’s anyone else looking for it: https://time.com/6122162/wheel-of-time-amazon-book/
Really happy with the way the series is going although there are some obvious compressions of events in the books when brought to the screen. I started reading his series when the first book came out and would anxiously wait a year for each subsequent volume. So I’m happy to see the way it’s going.
HOWEVER, it really upsets me (get really PO’d) that someone decided to change the Aes Sedae “Wheel of Time” logo that is not only found on the covers of the books but on every single chapter page of all 14 volumes. The snake is supposed to be biting his tail. The symbolism is that there is no beginning, there is not end. The wheel turns as the wheel wills. And the snake in the form of a circle biting its tail is a representation of the wheel. This symbolism is literally hammered into your brain as you read all 14 volumes. I have all 14 hardbound copies. All of them are first editions and most of them are autographed copies.
And yet someone has decided that the symbol for The Wheel of Time should be a snake head exposed with its body fading out in coils below it. Looks like something done by a graphic artist who has definitely NOT read the 14 books. The Snake biting its tail is supposed to be the main symbol of the Wheel of Time, not of a coiled Spring!! It has no relevance as a snake with it’s coils disappearing into the depths below it. If there’s anything you can do to get them to change it back to what Robert Jordan designed it to be, I’d really be pleased with that. As it is, it just Pisses Me Off to see it every time it’s used. And I complain about it to everyone in the room when it appears and anyone I converse with about the series.
Robert Jordan’s 14-volume series, “The Wheel of Time” was his masterpiece and his life’s work although he had to have Brandon Sanderson finish it because Jordan knew he was dying and wouldn’t be able to. It’s really a slap in the face to see that coiled snake on the big screen instead of the circle of the snake biting its tail.
Thanks,
Dan
(an avid Robert Jordan fan)
It’s hard to be objective about this.
Because you can’t expect fans to be objective. We tend to be overly passionate about things close to our hearts, and a series of books is no less deserving of love than anything else. So most reactions I’ve seen are understandable.
I’m not that invested in this fandom, but I’ll admit I want this show to succeed. I’ve read all the books, and there are many scenes that I’m looking forward to seeing, so I hope this goes on for however many seasons the producers need it to go.
Being a fan does make certain analyses more complicated, though. My perspective is limited because I’m already familiar with these characters. I already care about them, so the show doesn’t need to work very hard with me. I’ll watch basically anything they put out there, just to spend more time with these fictional people. Some choices might be hard to swallow (Perrin kills his own wife? Why did anybody think that was a good idea?) but I’ll go along with it until the end.
That’s why I read a bunch of reviews from other sites too. My main concern is that people who aren’t already fans of the books won’t have the patience to stick with the show long enough to give it an audience. And to give Amazon a reason to keep paying for more seasons of such an expensive production (after all, not every show can be as massively successful as that other one). Sadly, most of the reviews from people who hadn’t read the books were pretty negative. And worse, some of them had reasonable arguments for why it wasn’t good. The only saving grace is that the user reviews were way more positive, so there’s some hope.
PS: Loved reading all the reactions! This is definitely the right site to follow the show.
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“What I love about WoT is that it has a sense of innocence, some lightness and humour despite being also a very deep and serious story. “
If that is what you want out of the TV show, avoid it.
I think they took the promotions/comparisons claiming this would be “Amazon’s Game of Thrones” too much to heart and darkened everything too much.
Additionally, some of the early character development switched from joyous and innocent to cliche-laden.
All that said, it is reasonable interesting TV-fare, but it is not (very much) “The Wheel of Time”.
Just a few thoughts:
1. The Laila DF theory just doesn’t work. For one, why would she try to kill Perrin if the Dark Lord wants him? For another, as his wife, she could have convinced Perrin to leave Edmond’s Field with her at any point and delivered him into waiting hands.
2. Regarding the sex scene. I am not necessarily opposed it, but in light of the next scene, it didn’t reflect well on Egwene, who at that point knew that she was going to apprentice to Nynaeve, and it felt like she was therefore leading Rand on with a hope of a relationship that could never be.
3) I was less than impressed with the depiction of channeling. First, it is too reminiscent of Wanda’s power in the MCU. Second , IIRC (it’s been a while since I’ve reread the books), the Aes Sedai don’t encourage women to use motions when channeling, since they can come to rely on the motions, and not be as effective when they are unable to move. Third It seems like they are dropping the elemental powers in favor of a general power.