The Wheel of Time (Amazon)

[Hekate]

I must save I like the show very much 7 episodes in. Some of the little changes are very welcome and were much needed, some of them are pretty inconsequential. I am only really bothered by one but that was more about delivery.


Perrin being married was due to age-up. All the characters are older in the show which is a necessity. Perrin had comments in the book that he would get married to Laila so I think that is okay. That scene was pretty powerful as well. It also plays nicely into Perrin being big and powerful but not using it.

The women can be dragon reborn and are taveren. The book always felt more about rhe male trio and while women were plent powerful, they felt sidelined a lot to me. The series brings more balance to it.

This is not a complaint as Mat was pretty useless in the first and second book and i think the actor did a good job but I would have liked him to be more quirky.

Rand is blank. I expected more character from him.

Egwene feels pretty Egweney. Actress does well.

Zoe Robins is as perfect as it gets. A gem really and portrays one of my fave characters. Woo!

Lan is too broody.

I like that Moiraine and Siuan's relationship is a sexual one. They were portrayed sisterly in the books but that was pretty and because of the times. This feels more accurate. I just didn't like the power dynamics of Moiraine's "On your knees" but it was a cool moment nonetheless.

Everyone's fave character Loial is cute. Nicely done.

 

[fishonjazz]

I must save I like the show very much 7 episodes in. Some of the little changes are very welcome and were much needed, some of them are pretty inconsequential. I am only really bothered by one but that was more about delivery.


Perrin being married was due to age-up. All the characters are older in the show which is a necessity. Perrin had comments in the book that he would get married to Laila so I think that is okay. That scene was pretty powerful as well. It also plays nicely into Perrin being big and powerful but not using it.

The women can be dragon reborn and are taveren. The book always felt more about rhe male trio and while women were plent powerful, they felt sidelined a lot to me. The series brings more balance to it.

This is not a complaint as Mat was pretty useless in the first and second book and i think the actor did a good job but I would have liked him to be more quirky.

Rand is blank. I expected more character from him.

Egwene feels pretty Egweney. Actress does well.

Zoe Robins is as perfect as it gets. A gem really and portrays one of my fave characters. Woo!

Lan is too broody.

I like that Moiraine and Siuan's relationship is a sexual one. They were portrayed sisterly in the books but that was pretty and because of the times. This feels more accurate. I just didn't like the power dynamics of Moiraine's "On your knees" but it was a cool moment nonetheless.

Everyone's fave character Loial is cute. Nicely done.

Good summation. I think you nailed it for the most part.

 

[MT Steve]

Really liked episode 7. Excited for the finale.

 

[leftyjace]

That cold open on episode 7 was… pretty bad ***.
Far Dareis Mei… yep, one Aeil woman taking on 6 dudes, and it takes a labor pain that she can’t overcome to actually end up getting wounded.
Bad. ***.

 

[LogGrad98]

The first season is only 8 episodes long? It feels like I still don't really know the main story-line. It feels truncated, like they are still trying to get us to know the characters.

 

[Gameface]

So which character is getting a new actor next season?

 

[LogGrad98]

So which character is getting a new actor next season?

Hopefully Moiraineie or however you spell it. Cannot stand Rosamund Pike. She almost makes Kristin Stewart seem like she has a personality.

 

[Gameface]

Hopefully Moiraineie or however you spell it. Cannot stand Rosamund Pike. She almost makes Kristin Stewart seem like she has a personality.

I looked it up. It's the actor who plays Mat, so I'll hardly notice.

 

[LogGrad98]

I looked it up. It's the actor who plays Mat, so I'll hardly notice.

Who? Oh right, that's the point. Heh.

 

[leftyjace]

The first season is only 8 episodes long? It feels like I still don't really know the main story-line. It feels truncated, like they are still trying to get us to know the characters.

Ya… they’re trying to distill a book series with literally hundreds of significant, pivotal roles down to a handful. And each of those roles has a lot going on… I’ll be honest with you, I’m really enjoying the “getting to know” process with the characters. The back stories they’ve built for a lot of these characters are pretty cool, even if/when they differ greatly from the books.

 

[leftyjace]

I looked it up. It's the actor who plays Mat, so I'll hardly notice.

Believe it or not, the kid (Barney Harris) who’s played Mat up until now has killed it, really expressing the essence of Mat in the books.
And Mat’s arc is fairly significant… by the end of the series he will end up being amazingly important.

This is just 100% personal conjecture, but I read somewhere the reason they replaced him was because he didn’t come back after the COVID pause in production. Maybe he refused to get vaccinated and ended up losing the role because of it? I don’t know. I just really like the job he’s done up to this point and am curious to see how the replacement kid does.

 

[leftyjace]

I like that Moiraine and Siuan's relationship is a sexual one. They were portrayed sisterly in the books but that was pretty and because of the times. This feels more accurate. I just didn't like the power dynamics of Moiraine's "On your knees" but it was a cool moment nonetheless.

That level of a relationship at this point was actually strongly implied in the prequel novel “New Spring”… wasn’t ever seen as a major scene, but if you missed it you were blind.
Rafe really didn’t take much liberty there by making it last longer and be present now at this point of the series, and it adds intensity. It also adds an interesting wrinkle for some romantic stuff that may happen later on in the series.

 

[LogGrad98]

I looked it up. It's the actor who plays Mat, so I'll hardly notice.

Cannot wait for the pitch meeting for this series. Should be pretty good.

To be fair it is monumentally difficult to adapt a sprawling written work with years of story and entire populated worlds, etc. It will always ring better with those familiar with the works themselves than the uninitiated like me. This means for a casual viewer it can vary between boring to off-putting, although some will embrace it and run with it, like GOT. Of course GOT was huge budget and the initial seasons were very well-adapted, one of the best I have ever seen, whether you knew the books or not. Always will be a travesty they so hastily butchered the ending, but the first 5 seasons or so are fantastic TV.

 

[leftyjace]

Cannot wait for the pitch meeting for this series. Should be pretty good.

To be fair it is monumentally difficult to adapt a sprawling written work with years of story and entire populated worlds, etc. It will always ring better with those familiar with the works themselves than the uninitiated like me. This means for a casual viewer it can vary between boring to off-putting, although some will embrace it and run with it, like GOT. Of course GOT was huge budget and the initial seasons were very well-adapted, one of the best I have ever seen, whether you knew the books or not. Always will be a travesty they so hastily butchered the ending, but the first 5 seasons or so are fantastic TV.

Interestingly enough, the budget for WOT Season 1 per episode is higher than GOT was.

I feel you on the uninitiated stuff. It will vary. My wife and bonus sun are completely captivated and neither have read the books.

 

[MT Steve]

To be fair, the first book was confusing as hell on the first read. I didn't mind it too much though - at the time I knew how popular the series was, and assumed everything would eventually make sense (it did).

 

[LogGrad98]

To be fair, the first book was confusing as hell on the first read. I didn't mind it too much though - at the time I knew how popular the series was, and assumed everything would eventually make sense (it did).

That would be rough for me. If a book hasn't caught me by 50 pages I usually move on. Sometimes 25. Sometimes less. I can think of one time I actually read through a first book to try to get into the series and it was a Piers Anthony book. I liked him generally but his stuff often read as if it was coming from a novel mill or something.

 

[MT Steve]

That would be rough for me. If a book hasn't caught me by 50 pages I usually move on. Sometimes 25. Sometimes less. I can think of one time I actually read through a first book to try to get into the series and it was a Piers Anthony book. I liked him generally but his stuff often read as if it was coming from a novel mill or something.

That's fair. It's not for everyone.

 

[Hekate]

That level of a relationship at this point was actually strongly implied in the prequel novel “New Spring”… wasn’t ever seen as a major scene, but if you missed it you were blind.
Rafe really didn’t take much liberty there by making it last longer and be present now at this point of the series, and it adds intensity. It also adds an interesting wrinkle for some romantic stuff that may happen later on in the series.

Yes, it was but quickly brushed away like it wasn't serious. It felt to me that Jordan couldn't go all the way with it and presented it as playtime for the characters. The serious love thing was always reserved for their male interests like it was more important.

It wasn't liberty but it is nice to see it presented with more seriousness.

 

[Gameface]

Yes, it was but quickly brushed away like it wasn't serious. It felt to me that Jordan couldn't go all the way with it and presented it as playtime for the characters. The serious love thing was always reserved were for their male interests like it was more important.

It wasn't liberty but it is nice to see it presented with more seriousness.

I was reading someone's review of the series, can't remember where and they said something like "It's an okay show but it's like their trying to use it to shove their politics down our throats too much." and I was really confused because I was like the politics of what Humans vs Trollocs? It took a min for me to understand that they think the existence of and mention of same sex relationships is an attempt to shove political views down their throat.

 

[MT Steve]

I was reading someone's review of the series, can't remember where and they said something like "It's an okay show but it's like their trying to use it to shove their politics down our throats too much." and I was really confused because I was like the politics of what Humans vs Trollocs? It took a min for me to understand that they think the existence of and mention of same sex relationships is an attempt to shove political views down their throat.

I noticed a lot of people review bombed the show because of, as they put it, the "woke agenda". In addition to what you pointed out, they also complain about things such as the diversity of the main cast, and women being in power.

It's quite sad.