Doman Bayle ?

[Elder_Haman]

On 9/27/2020 at 10:22 AM, Fano'Lan Redux said:

Inclusion of 148 points of view has not been suggested by anyone that I've seen.  Not sure how many we'll get nor how difficult it would be do for any particular character.

 

It's also important to remember, there really is no such thing as a POV character in tv. You can't be inside a television character's head without resort to some device to make that apparent.

 

In tv, you have scenes and the characters that are in them.

 

Egeanin is a compelling character. And while Amazon could lift her out of the story and allow others to take her place moving the plot forward, why should they? She's just the type of character that we often see in shows like this - they appear regularly enough for the audience to know and care about them; they have enough of their own backstory such that (1) you don't typically have to do much to explain their absence, and (2) you can come up with plausible reasons to put them into scenes; and they serve a larger function in the overall theme of the story.

 

 

[Thrasymachus]

There are TV equivalents to PoV characters, though.  That equivalent is the distinction between "main characters" and "supporting characters." The main distinction between a main character and a supporting character is that supporting character rarely, if ever, get independent screen time.  When they do get the camera to themselves, it's usually brief, a few lines of dialog at most, and is usually either an immediate prelude to or aftereffect of a scene involving a main character.  

 

If Egeanin is kept intact to do roughly the job she does in the books, giving us a window into the cultural significance of learning that sul'dam can learn to channel for the Seanchan and being a window into the Seanchan culture more generally, then she absolutely needs her independent scenes.  The ones where she is the main character of those scenes.  But this is a show already replete with main characters.  The Emond's Field 5, Elayne, Aviendha, Moiraine, Lan, Faile, Morgase, Galad, Gawyn, Min, Suian, Androl and Pevara, and yes Egeanin, all have some measure of claim to be included among the list of main characters.  Obviously, some are much more "main character-y" than others.  But every one of them has a large measure of character development and a complex story arc where they are the main character of that arc.

 

And there's simply not enough room for that many "main" characters undergoing that much development all having their own independent stories going on before they become relevant to other main character's stories. 

 

Let's just look at what else is going on at that same time that Egeanin is being casually threatened by that Seeker in Tanchico, her first independent scene and really where her story for the audience begins.  Elayne and Nynaeve are sailing with the Sea Folk where Elayne is learning Weather-weaving and both are learning to Dreamwalk, trying to avoid Black Sisters in Tel'aran'Rhiod, being advised by Birgitte and stalked by Moghedien.  Moiraine, Mat, Rand and Egwene are all off to the Waste, where they all have their own independent things going on, though Moiraine is mostly reduced to a supporting character, the other three are not.  Moreover, Aviendha becomes a much more prominent character, though it will take some time for her to become a main character in her own right.  Perrin and Faile are in the Two Rivers fighting to save them from Whitecloaks and Trollocs.  Suian is getting deposed and fleeing with Min, Leane and Logain to Salidar.  That's already a lot of scene-switching going on, between the Waste, Emond's Field, a Sea Folk raker, and Tar Valon and outlying villages, not to mention the changes in focus between the characters in them. 

 

There's simply not room to add yet another main character in there, with her own set that she shares with one other character, two if they go ahead and show us Bethamin, all to merely convey what a big deal it is for the Seanchan that sul'dam can learn to channel.  And to learn that well before it becomes at all relevant to dealing with the Seanchan themselves.  It's too many main characters, with too many jumps between stories, for an info-dump that's too early to be meaningfully retained by the time it becomes relevant.  And it's a scene that would have to be substantially re-written anyway, as all the communication to the audience as to what the big deal is and what kind of people the Seanchan are takes place in Egeanin's head.

[Elder_Haman]

She needs to be the "main character" in 2 or 3 scenes which can all be filmed as cold opens, tags, or scene intros - the little scenes that set up the action we are about to see.

 

For example - we open in a Seanchan naval office. The Seeker is interrogating Egeanin. The dialogue allows a vehicle for some exposition on what Eggy is doing in Tanchico. Viewers are reminded of the dangers the Seanchan present to our heroes who can channel. Following this, Eggy leaves the office and walks out onto the docks...

 

...where the camera cuts to Nynaeve vomiting over the side of a ship as the girls arrive in Tanchico. Maybe Elayne takes notice and tries to hide Nynaeve. 

 

Either way, we've spent maybe 2 minutes with Egeanin. Everything that needs to be accomplished in terms of her subplot is accomplished. We've also raised the stakes. The girls are in Tanchico looking for the Black, which is where they expect danger. But now the audience knows that there is a second source of danger and, for now, our heroes don't know about it.

 

Telling Egeanin's story does not require a substantial amount of screen time. It just doesn't. 

[mistborn82]

I also see the journey to Tanchico being cut, the same way Mat's windfinder story will be cut in Book 9. Both arcs lead nowhere. In fact, the windfinders may be cut entirely as alot of their subplots seem to go nowhere and you simply can't include everything in 8 seasons max.

[Elder_Haman]

5 minutes ago, mistborn82 said:

I also see the journey to Tanchico being cut, the same way Mat's windfinder story will be cut in Book 9. Both arcs lead nowhere. In fact, the windfinders may be cut entirely as alot of their subplots seem to go nowhere and you simply can't include everything in 8 seasons max.

 

I think so too. 

The Seafolk are toast.