tv show spoilers S1E5: Blood Calls Blood

[Beidomon]

11 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

Liked/Disliked: 

#1. Liked that we got mention/foreshadowing of Forsaken (though not as happy about the only named Forsaken being Ishy - we had better get Lanfear as well ... She can't be cut can she?) 

 

They're not cutting her. The forsaken idol thing was weird but very effective. A much more effective way to introduce the concept of Forsaken than another boring Moiraine monologue.

 

11 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

#2. Liked that we got Loial (didn't like that he was 2 feet, at least, too small -- it's not that difficult to use camera angles and stuff to make him HUGE). 

 

They're definitely getting the character right. The look is awfully cheesy. Getting a real 90s makeup and prosthetics vibe. Biggest problem is that because of all the prosthetics, his mouth and his eyes don't move enough when he talks, which makes it look extremely fake. And of course he's too small, but that's really not the problem here.

 

11 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

#3. Liked that we got Logain laughing in the cage scene (reeeally disliked that they're strongly implying he's laughing at Matt & not Rand ... That ruins one of the most iconic book scenes.) 

 

I think the scene was effective. I don't mind the misdirection.

 

11 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

#4. Liked that we got some WT politic-ing. Disliked that they're making it seem as if they're gonna combine (I'm guessing of course but based on this episode I think it's a pretty reasonable conclusion) Liandrin with Elaida. 

 

Oh they're def combining those characters. Which is fine, I guess.

 

11 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

#5. Simply did not like that they spent a bunch of time on Steppin ... every minute counts on bringing our beloved WoT to screen ... don't give me a sob story about tears shed with cuts that needed to be made if you're going to invent a character & ceremonies & give 10 min or more of screen time to something that isn't WoT ... and then just kill him (to show the significance of the Warder/Aes Sedai bond??? You've already spelled that out for us - we get it! 

 

Did not really bother me, provided they really pick it up in these final episodes. Get your butts into the Ways and onto the Eye!!!

 

11 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

#6. Did like the wolves & that they're not doing CGI wolves & Golden eyes. But am hoping for some more communication. 

 

Wolves were all kinds of not good. The practical effects have been rough, that's for sure.

 

11 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

#7. Don't especially like that the WC are Nazis. We could definitely be getting a more ... I dunno ... relatable telling. Perhaps we still will when it's not just Questioners. 

 

I thought the WC / Valda stuff was quite effective. Got no issues here.

[Agitel]

2 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

Clarifying - don't disagree that they did a good job with the prosthetics/make-up, but that they didn't differentiate him enough from humans.  He looks like a large man to me, not a different race/species.

 

Perhaps. They did give him a broad, flat nose. Not sure if that came across. And sausage thick fingers/hands. I didn't see pointy ears, though.

[SinisterDeath]

3 minutes ago, Sabio said:

I do think it still would of been better to have Perin stab the Whitecloak and not Egwene.  The killing whitecloaks was a big thing of his story arc.  Seemed an unnecessary change.

The people watching it with me were yelling at Egwene to stab Valda in the eyes... I removed the expletives from what was actually said. 

 

[DojoToad]

2 minutes ago, Agitel said:

 

Perhaps. They did give him a broad, flat nose. Not sure if that came across. And sausage thick fingers/hands. I didn't see pointy ears, though.

Yes, noticed the nose.  The hands were the only thing that didn't look human to me.

[Beidomon]

Ok, so in addition to my responses just above, other thoughts....

 

1. Those are some shallow graves. Hope Perrin's wolves aren't nearby.

2. That little dinky bridge they cross as they approach TV was pretty LOL. Like, you know they put a lot of effort into that. Probably at least $10k. To cross a 5-foot gully. It's little stuff like that that just looks so cheese.

3. Yay - more gay humor! These are the important updates this show needs.

4. Rand is terrific! Or he will be, once we get the focus where it belongs. They really nailed the casting.

5. CG TV looks terrific.

6. Real TV (street scene) is back to the 90s YA / CW / Xena vibe. It's just so bad.

7. Did you guys notice the easter egg in in Karaethon Cycle?! They updated it to "he or she"!

 

Final point - lot's of folks saying this was the weakest episode. I don't know what you're watching. At least this episode has some pretty great dialogue. Episode 3 was easily the worst so far. Followed by 2.

[Sabio]

It started good, Perin going all golden eyes and about to lose control.  I just felt Egwene stabbing Valda sort of ruined the moment and took away Perin's thunder.  

[Harad the White]

3 hours ago, DojoToad said:

me of being an N&N

I thought you self-identified? If you're not, great!

[whiskey delta]

I really liked some parts of this episode but some were kinda bad imo…

 

I’m hoping that Perrin’s actor settles into this role because he is one of my favorite from the books but so far I think his acting has been weakest of the EF5 bunch. His confession just didn’t feel very genuine to me. Egwene’s reaction was far better imo. 

 

Egwere really shined this episode. She’s been good throughout but this one we learn more which was cool. I enjoyed Rand’s reaction to the story Nynaeve told him.

I like how they emphasized Loial’s slowed speech pattern to make the point of how hasty humans are in comparison. That was a neat detail imo

 

Man, Stepin looking in the mirror and talking about how he knew all along he wasn’t worthy… that was rough. It’s pretty clear imo they are heavily foreshadowing Moiraine’s disappearance with this episode and that’s why I think they paid so much attention showing the affects of a broken Bond

 

I asked in Ep1 thread if Liandrin was Elaida and it seems I wasn’t far off after all  her scene outside the Hall with Nynaeve and later with Moiraine were pretty good. Clearly she’s a deeply bothered person.

 

So far I’m back and forth on Lan’s character. I don’t like how he continues to make mistakes that are costly but again I think maybe they are just setting up for Moiraine’s “death”. The chest thumping scene was ehhhh but once the AS joined in I actually laughed at how awkward it looked. Not a fan of that entire sequence 

overall I enjoyed the episode but there were some parts that missed the mark imo

 

 

 

[bringbackthomsmoustache]

21 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

His insistence on not hurting women is with him from the beginning of the series. He is suffering from the effects of the taint when he decapitates the woman in tDR.

As an indication of his mental state at this time I recall that he launches unsuccessful but potentially lethal attacks at both Egwene and Perrin in dreaming during this phase.

[Frenata]

This was a downer episode, probably one where they saw opportunity to save budget for other episodes. Lots of worldbuilding that will eventually pay off.

 

The Stepin arc was emotional and will play well with non-reader audiences, but yeah. I won't belabor the point many others have made about "wasted time".

 

Two major things I dislike, one in comparison to the books and one-not:

 

1. The implication that Liandrin/Elaida may be combined. IMO the major differences in why these characters are "evil" are super-important to the story.

 

2. Moiraine's "eyes and ears" are kinda of terrible, huh? She swears they'll let her know as soon as any of the others arrives, but it's *Loial* who apparently randomly partially re-unites the party. I found the latter a little clunky but I'm more annoyed by the apparent incompetence of her network.

[Sabio]

1 minute ago, Beidomon said:

Ok, so in addition to my responses just above, other thoughts....

 

1. Those are some shallow graves. Hope Perrin's wolves aren't nearby.

2. That little dinky bridge they cross as they approach TV was pretty LOL. Like, you know they put a lot of effort into that. Probably at least $10k. To cross a 5-foot gully. It's little stuff like that that just looks so cheese.

3. Yay - more gay humor! These are the important updates this show needs.

4. Rand is terrific! Or he will be, once we get the focus where it belongs. They really nailed the casting.

5. CG TV looks terrific.

6. Real TV (street scene) is back to the 90s YA / CW / Xena vibe. It's just so bad.

7. Did you guys notice the easter egg in in Karaethon Cycle?! They updated it to "he or she"!

 

Final point - lot's of folks saying this was the weakest episode. I don't know what you're watching. At least this episode has some pretty great dialogue. Episode 3 was easily the worst so far. Followed by 2.

I felt it was weak, they could of focused a bit less on Steph and maybe had Siuan come back in this episode and start that.  To sort of speed it along a bit since there is still alot of ground to cover for just 3 remaining episodes.

[Harad the White]

3 hours ago, DojoToad said:

Doesn't need to be facist

But it coitainly helps. How about the word "authoritarian." That takes in left and right, and should cover the WC and the Spanish Inquisition, Joseph Stalin, etc.

[Frenata]

For Siuan, I assume they're holding back her entrance until they can do it with grand spectacle. We'll see her first distant and in all her glory in the hall, then later angry/harsh in private with Moiraine.

 

I cheered when Rand randomly picked out the Karaethon Cycle; did non-readers catch the implications?

[Katherine]

So my hubsand is re-reading the series right now and everything is fresh, so he is having a harder time with the show being SO different. 

 

Being more removed from the novels, I think I am enjoying it more. I actually quite liked this episode. I enjoyed seeing the Warder world fleshed out, the traditions on display etc. It made the world feel real to me and gave me glimpses into things I didn't know I wanted. 

 

Also Lioal was precious. 

 

 

Him randomly finding Nyn was       ridicolous. Feels like a last minute re-write. 

 

 

[DojoToad]

7 minutes ago, Harad the White said:

But it coitainly helps. How about the word "authoritarian." That takes in left and right, and should cover the WC and the Spanish Inquisition, Joseph Stalin, etc.

Fanatical works as well

[whiskey delta]

6 minutes ago, Frenata said:

 

I cheered when Rand randomly picked out the Karaethon Cycle; did non-readers catch the implications?

that and the Dragonmount reference were good clues. Not sure about the non-readers but I liked the hints 

 

it’s a good foundation for later when the DR prophecy is explained more

Edited December 3, 2021 by DELTA

[bringbackthomsmoustache]

I have not seen anyone comment on the scene where the Tinkers link arms - making clear again that these are not pacifists who come to that from any weakness or cowardice and with echos of major scenes in the  book flashbacks - and these are the "lost ones".  The way is for everyone.

[DermidAjala]

23 minutes ago, Frenata said:

2. Moiraine's "eyes and ears" are kinda of terrible, huh? She swears they'll let her know as soon as any of the others arrives, but it's *Loial* who apparently randomly partially re-unites the party. I found the latter a little clunky but I'm more annoyed by the apparent incompetence of her network.

 

I would wager reasonable money that Moiraine knows the boys are there. She Aes Sedai speaks her way around proactively doing anything for Nynaeve.

 

"When I have found your friends, I will bring you to them"

 

The use of "I" gives her an option to not to do anything until she personally has seen them, and the lack of a set timeline or words like immediately means that as long as she does intend to bring Nynaeve to them at some point she can effectively delay for as long as she wants.

Edited December 3, 2021 by DermidAjala

[Harad the White]

11 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

Fanatical works as well

Not quite. A group can be fanatical and not try to impose its will murderously on others. An example of this is Comic-Con attendees. ?

[WheelofJuke]

After sleeping on it, I guess I'd rate Ep 5 as a 6.5/10. Still too many technical issues with sound, editing, pacing, and adding stuff that doesn't need to be there while cutting/eliding/saving for later too many key book plot moments. 

 

Definitely better than the initial two Episodes, but nowhere as superb as Ep. 4. 

 

Still think we could've used a prologue to begin Ep 1 that could've laid the backstories for LTT, the Breaking, Male Channeler taint and the madness, the Forsaken, et al. that would've taken maybe 5-10 minutes of screen time, set the tone, and would've saved us all sorts of convoluted script hacking and meaningless (e.g., Stepin in the grand theme of things) screentime sinks.

[WheelofJuke]

I'm not sure why a Warder had a set of Forsaken idols to begin with, anyway. It was just a really sloppy way to introduce something that should've been taken care of in Episode 1. 

[DaddyFinn]

38 minutes ago, Katherine said:

Him randomly finding Nyn was       ridicolous. Feels like a last minute re-write. 

Daniel Greene pointed this out. Loial brings Nynaeve to the boys when it's dark outside so several hours have passed since the library scene. The characters don't just stop living when they are not in a scene so why couldn't Rand describe his friends to Loial off-screen and then Loial just happened to find Nynaeve because as Loial said, "ogiers can enter the White Tower". Don't know about you, but that made sense to me and I hadn't thought about it at all.

[Skipp]

1 minute ago, DaddyFinn said:

Daniel Greene pointed this out. Loial brings Nynaeve to the boys when it's dark outside so several hours have passed since the library scene. The characters don't just stop living when they are not in a scene so why couldn't Rand describe his friends to Loial off-screen and then Loial just happened to find Nynaeve because as Loial said, "ogiers can enter the White Tower". Don't know about you, but that made sense to me and I hadn't thought about it at all.

Like the scene happened after Liandrin told Nynaeve that the library was that was and the garden just past that.  Where are the 2 places Loial would venture in the Whitetower?

[flinn]

 Mat actor is truly outstanding. The way he is playing the dagger tainted Mat compared to the pre tainted Mat is really good.

Edited December 3, 2021 by flinn

[AusLeviathan]

3 minutes ago, flinn said:

Mat actor is truly outstanding. The way he is playing the dagger tainted Mat compared to the tainted Mat is really good.

It really is a massive disappointment that he won't be coming back for season 2. I mean we're not even sure if he's going to be in the last two episodes of season 1 given none of the set photos showed him on set.

Edited December 3, 2021 by AusLeviathan