Current Events > Ok, Wheel of Time is a lot better than I thought it was gonna be. *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

I mean it's definitely not gonna be the Game of Thrones killer they wanted but there's some really great (if slightly unconventional) casting going on here. The trollocs are genuinely fucking terrifying, I can't remember them being that horrible in the books. The Ogier guy was terrific. Moraine is an absolutely perfect casting choice.

Looking forward to seeing what the Forsaken are like. I'm on episode 5 if that matters.

The wait for season 2 is going to be brutal.

Also, general warning to everyone... some human skidmark has been spamming reddit and Twitter (at least) with spoilers. Not just for this next episode, but for the entire novel series. Random posts in random subs. Twitter dms. Just complete asshattery. Be careful.

Medussa posted...

The wait for season 2 is going to be brutal.

Also, general warning to everyone... some human skidmark has been spamming reddit and Twitter (at least) with spoilers. Not just for this next episode, but for the entire novel series. Random posts in random subs. Twitter dms. Just complete asshattery. Be careful.

What a weird niche kind of trolling

It's been such a long time since I read the books that watching this series has been a pleasant reminder of how things turn on. For example, it only clicked somewhere in episode 4 that Nynaeve and Lan get it on

Im so sad its only 8 episodes. There is so much potential for it to be a great show (Ive read the books). This first season is really just world building and the juicy stuff is yet to come. But I dont want to wait so long. Sigh

I've not read the books so I've no idea how it compares, but I'm enjoying it so far.

series seems quite poorly paced to me

hope the next one improves

pinky0926 posted...

The Ogier guy was terrific.

i love Loial, he's just terribly under utilized at the moment

The season is feeling a tiny bit rushed to me at this point. Could've used two more episodes to flesh out the Two Rivers folk a bit.

But yeah overall I'm very happy with the show so far, really really hoping it sticks around.

MC_BatCommander posted...

The season is feeling a tiny bit rushed to me at this point. Could've used two more episodes to flesh out the Two Rivers folk a bit.

But yeah overall I'm very happy with the show so far, really really hoping it sticks around.

Unfortunately they wanted it to be 10 episodes but were denied and forced to have 8 max. It really needed to be 10

alphagamble posted...

series seems quite poorly paced to me

hope the next one improves

Although I don't necessarily disagree I gotta laugh a little at this, because the books had some of the most inconsistent pacing in fiction to date

Like one entire book was dedicated to people reacting to a single event and meanwhile an epic week long battle takes up 2 paragraphs in another book, it was all over the shop

I'm guessing the pacing issues might be budget related, though. Cheaper to flesh out 3 people chatting at a pub, not easy to flesh out people running from the abyss or trollocs

Medussa posted...

The wait for season 2 is going to be brutal.

Also, general warning to everyone... some human skidmark has been spamming reddit and Twitter (at least) with spoilers. Not just for this next episode, but for the entire novel series. Random posts in random subs. Twitter dms. Just complete asshattery. Be careful.

Well, good thing for me then I've already read the entire series like, six times :D

I've only ever finished up through book 6 and am reading book 7 now but I know the basic plot points for the whole series.

I get some of the changes so far and I don't have anything bad to say about them yet. I think we need to give them a few seasons to start bemoaning changes. A lot of hands were up in the air about (EPISODE 1 and 7 SPOILERS) the fever dream of Tam telling Rand he isn't his real father being removed but turns out it wasn't actually removed.

I think it will look better next season with better sets and effects. I hope the new Mat is good. Although I feel so far that there isn't a real bad guy. Sure there's Fain and Valda and Trollocs and Fade every now and then but we haven't really seen or heard much about The Dark One. Also I feel there's some important lore that hasn't been talked about like the actual Prophecy of the Dragon (although Rand held the book when he met Loial) or ta'veren but maybe it will be talked about in episode 8.

But other than that I love the series.

So they made Moiraine a lesbian but kept Thom.

Dumb.

Ilishe posted...

So they made Moiraine a lesbian but kept Thom.

Dumb.

I believe Moiraine has always been bisexual. It's highly implied she was "pillow-friends" with Siuan when they were novices/Accepted.

Siuan and Moiraine hooked up in the books or it talked about how they used to hook up when they were novices /accepted in the Tower.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

Siuan and Moiraine hooked up in the books or it talked about how they used to hook up when they were novices /accepted in the Tower.

Not really

Ilishe posted...

Not really

It was definitely heavily implied, and iirc RJ actually confirmed it though he couched it in language about 'teenage girls with their hormones raging in the absence of men' that suggested it was more about convenience.

Ilishe posted...

Not really

Uh, they certainly did. It's very obvious in New Spring.

http://13depository.blogspot.com/2002/03/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know.html

Cadsuane moved behind Merean, asking the same question, adding, A fondness for pranks, Larelle said. A troublesome child? Merean shook her head with a smile.
Not troublesome, really. High-spirited. None of the tricks Moiraine played were mean, but they were plentiful. Novice and Accepted, she was sent to my study more often than any three other girls. Except for her pillow-friend Siuan. Of course, pillow-friends frequently get into tangles together, but with those two, one was never sent to me without the other. The last time the very night after passing for the shawl.

- New Spring The Novel, An Arrival

pinky0926 posted...

Although I don't necessarily disagree I gotta laugh a little at this, because the books had some of the most inconsistent pacing in fiction to date

Like one entire book was dedicated to people reacting to a single event and meanwhile an epic week long battle takes up 2 paragraphs in another book, it was all over the shop

I'm guessing the pacing issues might be budget related, though. Cheaper to flesh out 3 people chatting at a pub, not easy to flesh out people running from the abyss or trollocs

Yeah and the first book is really a whole ton of filler. If they made the first season true to the books, most viewers would drop off. I honestly nearly quit reading it with how slow paced it was with very little actually happening. Im glad I continued because it got so much better after.

Cleo_II posted...

Yeah and the first book is really a whole ton of filler. If they made the first season true to the books, most viewers would drop off. I honestly nearly quit reading it with how slow paced it was with very little actually happening. Im glad I continued because it got so much better after.

They would have spent an entire season on just Rand and Mat travelling lol

what happened with Matt's actor btw? I'm sad about that, he's genuinely great in the show.

Ilishe posted...

So they made Moiraine a lesbian but kept Thom.

Dumb.

Hot take. I'm gonna say straight up, if there's one thing that must be axed from the original books if anything, it's robert jordan's weird attitude towards male/female relationships. I really dgaf if they uproot all of his shit on that level, the guy was misogynist as hell and not even in an interesting way.

Cleo_II posted...

Yeah and the first book is really a whole ton of filler. If they made the first season true to the books, most viewers would drop off. I honestly nearly quit reading it with how slow paced it was with very little actually happening. Im glad I continued because it got so much better after.

Agreed. first book was painfully cookie cutter. Things really peaked around books 5-7 for me.

Book 10 is hands down the worst bit of fiction I've ever read in my life though, so there's that.

pinky0926 posted...

what happened with Matt's actor btw? I'm sad about that, he's genuinely great in the show.

Hot take. I'm gonna say straight up, if there's one thing that must be axed from the original books if anything, it's robert jordan's weird attitude towards male/female relationships. I really dgaf if they uproot all of his shit on that level, the guy was misogynist as hell and not even in an interesting way.

You mean you didn't like Rand's Harem with them squabbling over him?!

Funkydog posted...

You mean you didn't like Rand's Harem with them squabbling over him?!

That was cringe but not even as cringe as how every woman (literally like 1000 separate characters) are individually described as beautiful, handsome, bossy, fussy, unfathomable and something something tugging braids, something something cross staring.

I can't believe you forget skirt smoothing. The most important female trait.

pinky0926 posted...

what happened with Matt's actor btw? I'm sad about that, he's genuinely great in the show.

No one really has any clue. They had filmed 6 of the 8 episodes and shut down a little bit for Covid. When they came back to finish the last two episodes he just didn't come back. He hasn't said anything about it. Apparently he also deleted his social media accounts. It's a mystery.

pinky0926 posted...

what happened with Matt's actor btw? I'm sad about that, he's genuinely great in the show.

No one knows, he ghosted after Covid lockdown delayed production apparently, that's why he's completely absent from the last 2 episodes.

Has no social media presence and seems to have completely vanished.

I've been absolutely living for this series the past few weeks. My gf and I tried it out on a whim when four episodes were out. The first half of episode one was pretty slow, but once the trollocs attacked and the costumes/cgi showed how badass the series could be... we were in.

Then the world building really kicked in, and we saw such tantalizing ideas as the city lost to darkness, the white cloaks and Child Valda, etc.

Each of the main cast so far has something very interesting going on with their character, which gives me lots to get invested in.

She and I have since re-watched episodes 1-5 with some of our friends and got them hooked, too. Now we all have a watch party planned for this Friday.

I disagree with anybody saying the pacing of the show is poor. Honestly, every single episode has had at least one insane moment that totally fucking rules. And the dialogue is good, the themes are engaging, and the visuals are fantastic.

I recommend it to everybody, now.

Funkydog posted...

I can't believe you forget skirt smoothing. The most important female trait.

I can't talk about skirt smoothing without first explaining the cultural heritage of this particular style of skirt in several pages of detail

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

No one really has any clue. They had filmed 6 of the 8 episodes and shut down a little bit for Covid. When they came back to finish the last two episodes he just didn't come back. He hasn't said anything about it. Apparently he also deleted his social media accounts. It's a mystery.

MC_BatCommander posted...

No one knows, he ghosted after Covid lockdown delayed production apparently, that's why he's completely absent from the last 2 episodes.

Has no social media presence and seems to have completely vanished.

Bizarre. Sounds like a possible mental health crisis tbh.

pinky0926 posted...

Bizarre. Sounds like a possible mental health crisis tbh.

That or something serious health wise, potentially life ending. But really who knows and wild speculation is just that. Unless he says something, not sure we'll find out as who knows if he's told the show/others and asked them to keep mum until he's ready.

Huh. I knew Mat was being recast, but I didn't know the story behind it.

That's odd behaviour, hope the dude is okay.

Watched the first 3 episodes, the show is incredibly mediocre, the whole thing is a poor man's LotR ripoff.

ColdOne666 posted...

Watched the first 3 episodes, the show is incredibly mediocre, the whole thing is a poor man's LotR ripoff.

K

Which book is a whole book full of characters reactions to news

Bleuets posted...

Which book is a whole book full of characters reactions to news

10, crossroads of twilight. The amazon/goodreads reviews are hilarious.

Ill have to check it out. Im listening to book five audio books now.

ColdOne666 posted...

Watched the first 3 episodes, the show is incredibly mediocre, the whole thing is a poor man's LotR ripoff.

to be fair, the first book is purposefully written with LoTR in mind as a kind of familiar territory before it veers off