Wheel of Time (Amazon)

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118278999#Comment_118278999

Short answer, Robert Jordan did a Q&A in which he said there were female ta'veren, yes, but that none of the main female characters in the book happen to be ta'veren.

Sanderson did a Q&A later where he was asked a similar question, was Egwene ta'veren, and he also said no, and also noted that there is a character in the books with the skill of seeing a glow around ta'veren, and they hadn't ever indicated they saw it around Egwene.

Spoiler Warning

Jordan actually said that the Wheel didn't spin ta'veren out randomly, they had to be created for a reason. It always struck me as odd that Rand, Perrin and Mat would "need" to be ta'veren, but Egwene and Nynaeve wouldn't, because in terms of their role in defeating the Dark One I think it's hard to argue that they are not at least as important as Perrin, for example. I think making Egwene and Nynaeve in the TV show actually is not a bad idea, it doesn't affect any internal plot logic in the way that what they've done with male channellers and who could be the Dragon Reborn does.

BillyHasMates

Anyone else think the soundtrack they have used so far has been terrible? Too much of a religious or angelic vibe to it. It is doing nothing for scenes that should have tension, sense of danger, drama in them in my opinion.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118281750#Comment_118281750

What?

The show is saying any of the 5 could be the DR... Which is what I said.

I don't see how saying the book treated this question differently is an issue in the context of what was being discussed. I made no mention of how the book did it, or who it related to. Don't see where your snark is coming from.

Ave Sodalis

Has anyone else noticed Fain lurking in the background/crowds in a few shots?

Sudden Valley

An yeah not a fan of the tv show muddying the waters of who the Dragon reborn is. I would agree the show doesn't look as good as GOT or even the Lord of the rings movies. Its funny complaining about writing on a adaption as sometimes they take it from the book directly, my memory of the earlier books is pretty much non existent now.

FutureGuy

never read books. This is an absolutely epic show.

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289430#Comment_118289430

Is it that good or are you being sarcastic?

Fred Astaire

It's so unbelieveably bad that I'm almost in shock as to how bad it is.

The whole season has been written with this stupid 'who is the dragon' mystery in mind - leading to huge departures from the books.

The Logain changes really annoyed me - RJ kept his actions before capture purposefully off the page.

So many episodes are constructed to keep you wondering who it is - when in the book you pretty much know straight away.

So many changes are utterly bizarre. They complain about not having time to adapt everything but then shoehorn in this original laughable shite with the warders. Some likable book 1 characters are given little screentime. Entire cities and plotlines have been dumped because of this dragon mystery rubbish - because it'd be too obvious who the dragon was. The main POV from book one must be like 7th or so in terms of screentime this season.

The geography is utterly fcuked. It's on the same level as Gendry running from the Wall at this point and we're still on the first season. Just zipping around the atlas like everything is 2 miles away from each other.

They didn't need to lose so much from Book 1, the first book is one of the best, there are entire books that could have been condensed into like 2 episodes later on. It's so stupid.

The direction and editing is still film school level.

FutureGuy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289645#Comment_118289645

NO sarcasm. really enjoying it. Ep 5 tonight

Corruptedmorals

Episode 6 tonight! Brandon Sanderson listed this one as his favourite. I think it will be much more similar to episode 4 in terms of pacing and action than episode 5. I'm so excited to see where this goes, I love the way they are building up the world.

Ave Sodalis

"Siuan Sanche waits for only one woman. And it's NOT you."

Oh the sass!

OwaynOTT

It’s just not very good. I love the books and while I’d like something closer to them, I’m a realist and was expecting changes. 

Changes that made the story play better on screen but it hasn’t been that way so far. 

Sone of the changes make little sense. 

For example, why change the ways like that. It was made by the power but you dint need to use the power to use it. Really sad that the imagery of the Avensdora wasn’t used. How do the shadowspawn use them now? How does Fain talk to Machin Shin? 

5 headed dragon, come on. 

Im watching this with a non-book reader and the only reason she’s continuing to watch is because she knows I love the series. A friends wife is doing the same with him but she thinks it terrible and she likes the Witcher and Game of thrones tv shows. 

The sets look cheap at times, the acting is woeful, it’s very melodramatic, it’s too serious with no real levity. 

nothing looks lived in, they look like sets. 

the costumes design is good at times but everything looks too clean. 

and before someone gets snarky and says ‘I dint need to watch’ or ‘thanks for watching this far and good luck’, don’t. I’ll be watching to the end in hope that Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time makes an appearance. 

Im a stubborn, woolheaded shepherded like that. 

Black Sheep

The Witcher does look fab.

Both have reportedly cost 10 million USD per episode, which does make you wonder about some of the WOT’s SFX.

VinLieger

Did Moraine use Traveling when she went to Siuans room?

Gary kk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118300286#Comment_118300286

Yes she did probably going to play as a secret technique of her own but really doesn't help the story arch from the books

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118300493#Comment_118300493

Yeah its a bit of a skip, also completely removes a big part of what makes Aviendha and Elayne special in that they are constantly working on new weaves.

Spoiler Warning

So far im enjoying the divergence from the main story skipping Mats infection and going straight to his solo adventure will hopefully work well. It does mean maybe skipping Falme and him blowing the Horn which is kind of key. Maybe it means we will see Tear in season 2 and hopefully the Eelfin/Aelfinn will make it into the show.

BillyHasMates

I am not going to comment on any changes from the books. Doing my best to watch it as just a show and judge it just on those merits. There is something really bugging me though about the show and it is hard for me to articulate what it is. The best I can do is say that first of all I am absolutely hating the soundtrack / background music. Far too much of this angelic / spiritual sounding nonsense. It is overused in almost every scene and none of the music is discernable or worth remembering. This for me is adding to the other major problem I am having in that it feels to me like the pacing is off in too many scenes, they are far too slow. The speech sounds too slow and deliberate, even character movements. Everyone seems too statuesque. There is no flow to the scenes, to the speech or to even movements. It feels like watching scenes of a play on TV.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299230#Comment_118299230

I'm the same. I suspect, whomever is setting the visual style just has misjudged it.

Not that you can't go with a different more colorful aesthetic. Obviously many here are loving the show as is.

Mitch Connor

the travelling done - is it not set place to set place? Or at leat that is how it seemed to me - her channeling involved the ornament rather than just being an independent feat.

The oath she swore was also not to the seat - which I am surprised was not called out by anyoneone in the hall. She swore a different oath to the one that was presented and asked of her, very specifically different.

endacl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118292152#Comment_118292152

Don’t read the books. You’ll realise what it could have been… 😩

Stone Deaf 4evr

I'm casually keeping up with this thread, as I've only a passing interest in the series, but loved the books.

from clicking through various spoiler tags throughout - is this moving at a very fast pace, seems to me like stuff that didnt happen for four or 5 books in is coming up already?

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118302034#Comment_118302034

In some cases yes, and some of the changes they have made will have big impacts down the road, possibly - if those elements of the story stay as they were.

In general though i think we are still on book one pace - with actually some pieces missing rather than getting brought forward. I've no idea what they are planning to do with Matt though, can't work that one out at all.

Eoineo

I interpreted it that the travelling done by Moraine in today's episode was into Tel'aran'rhiod using a Ter'Angreal (which the picture was). For several reasons. First of all she was in her nightdress, secondly Siuan Sanche was in her childhood home which no longer exists; it was burned down in the prologue to this episode. Thirdly Moraine changed her clothing partway through the scene.

Back to my overall impression. Having read and enjoyed the books I'm now at a point where I am nearly hate-watching the series on Prime. I was really hoping that it would be decent but I felt today's episode was the poorest so far. From the clunky camerawork in the Amyrlin Chamber, to the lack of detail despit it apparently being immersive. No shawls! And yet there is a reference to 'taking the shawl'. I just can't like it. I wish I did.

Mind you if anything it's motivating me to start reading the books again from the beginning.

Fred Astaire

This Aes Sedai stuff and the incessant focus on Moiraine is absolutely baffling and hilarious. I genuinely don't understand it at all.

Such a terrible mess of a show. So many terrible, terrible moments. Literally nothing like the books - so many important things left out for an Aes Sedai soap opera - with such little importance in the overall context of the first bunch of books.

It's like they got Rosamund Pike and decided they had to use her as much as possible - even when it was to the complete detriment of the story to do so.

And now some brilliant Mat moments are going to be lost out on because they've just left him there.

Main character in book one is like an extra in this show. It's utterly ridiculous.

It's absolutely nothing like the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. A cheap, tacky shameless attempt to replicate the Game of Thrones success. Game of Thrones only got bad when it stopped following the books. This idiot might do well to learn from that.

joe123

Is there any forum where its just for us TV show watchers to discuss it or can it be split like game of thrones was? Book readers in one thread and tv show watchers in another.

Its really tiresome reading book readers complain about every little thing. As someone who never read the books (but plan to) I have to say this show has been brilliant.

Really has a lord of the rings vibe to it in terms of scale. Game of thrones while brilliant up to about season 4 just got worse and worse. Not to mention the world felt tiny.

Also hard read this thread without fear of spoilers. At the end of the day this is the tv forum.

Fred Astaire

Every 'little' thing?

Absolutely monumental, catastrophic changes more like. Changes which are so huge that the show bares little resemblance at this point (just 6 episodes in) to the book(s) which it is supposedly based on.

At the end of the day this would not have been adapted for television without the people who bothered to read the books.

I think you'll find a fairly empty thread if you get the book readers out. No doubt that the book readers are the majority of the fanbase - not for long though.

fitz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118303513#Comment_118303513

As a book reader who started re-reading in the lead up, I find it tiresome too!

The changes are all understandable if you think about what is required to adapt the first book and not have it be laden down with a load of lore being explained, which would just be terrible television.

I think book readers are forgetting how 2 dimensional the main characters are in the first book. I don't mind the whole thing hinging around Moraine for now, the viewer has to have someone thats leading them through the narrative, and that's her role atm. Things will change as the story unfolds.

I think it'd be a good idea to split this thread into separate *Book Spoilers* / *No Book Spoilers*... I actually think it'd make talking about the book changes easier for the readers, not having to allude to things.

Mr.Nice Guy

I enjoyed that episode. It moved things along and was engaging. I liked the twist. Probably the best or second best one of the show so far imo. Keen to see what happens next.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118302047#Comment_118302047

I've no idea what they are planning to do with Matt though, can't work that one out at all.

He's going to find his way back home after the rest of them go through the door into the dark, just like Bill the Pony

Daroxtar

I've had a bit of an epiphany. I ( fairly committed book reader) rewatched the whole thing today with my teenage daughter. Once I ignored what I thought I knew, I enjoyed it a whole lot more.

I agree with the previous poster. It's probably time that reviews on this forum were taken from a strictly TV perspective. This is not the fantasy book boardsie forum, it's the TV forum.

The show is flawed but it's trying to tell an epic story. The books were absolutely hugely flawed but still managed to tell an incredible story. I'm going to watch the show from here on and accept it for what it is. I'll use what I know to pick up on different things but try to approach it innocently.

Re. the previous post about Moraine meeting Siuan in Tel'Arionrhod - great call. That painting/ Ter Angreal was highlighted in a previous episode. There seems to be a lot of foreshadowing in this show