tv show spoilers S1E5: Blood Calls Blood

[RextheDog]

really rated this episode....parts of me were wanting it to get a move on, but in hindsight, im glad it did what it did.

 

the biggest compliment i can pay this show is that even though its not book lore, it feels like something Jordan would/could have written....

 

absolute masterclass was Nyn telling Rand the breakbone story instead of Moraine telling Nyn....it was the same result with more meaning to the conversation...

 

 

 

as i said elsewhere on a different forum, it feels like they are getting to the same destination but just taking a different road.

 

i rate it.

[Morani]

6 hours ago, AusLeviathan said:

This episode compared to episode 3 also showed off their intentions very well in terms of how they're portraying men and women.

 

Rand is lazily threatened by a short women who's only half paying attention to him and responds by screaming and banging on a door for someone to help and then later runs away in complete terror.

 

Egwene is threatened by a man who makes it clear that he wants to kill her and has her tied up so she can't do anything and she responds by calmly telling him to do it whilst displaying an impressive lack of fear.

 

Did they get these two characters mixed up?

 

Does not really matter if you're short if you have a sword and the other person does not. But sure, Rands reaction was a bit panicky. It was his first meeting with a DF though, and trying to get a away was the smartest thing he could do.

 

Eggys I found in character. I mean, she probably is the strongest of mind of all of the main characters. Look for example how slavery/captivity/torture impacts her contra Rand (a'dam vs the box). That is her main trait in the books, that and her ambition. She survives slavery, the wise ones training, the AS puppetry and many other things, and still stands strong. Maybe too strong - it takes her a good long while to get on Rands side in the end. 

[RextheDog]

 the more i watch of the show the more at ease i am with it deviating from the books, if they followed the books to the letter, i dont know how interesting it would honestly be....i mean, id know every little thing that was about to happen next....

[RextheDog]

10 hours ago, thievingsackofpotatoes said:

 

 

-Loved a whistling Fain watching Mat during the Logan procession.

 

 

 

 

 

wait.....what?

 

completely missed it.....cant wait for the re watch

[AusLeviathan]

49 minutes ago, dwn said:

I expect the suggestion that Siuan is Moiraine's enemy is misdirection, which goes with what they were cultivating in the books to keep the search a secret.

The White Tower politics has kind of been messed up.

 

To start with Alanna is basically pushing for Moiraine to challenge Siuan. Except last episode established that Alanna had been a good friend of Moiraine and knew her when she was a novice to the point of remembering small details about her, she should remember them being lovers before they pretended to go their separate ways.

 

Then you have Liandrin publicly gathering supporters and being rather blatant about gaining power. In the books Siuan had a good reason to be surprised by the largely friendless Elaida leading a coup, what's her excuse going to be when Liandrin does exactly what she's showing that she's intending to do.

 

22 minutes ago, Morani said:

It was his first meeting with a DF though, and trying to get a away was the smartest thing he could do.

Book Rand responded to this equivalent situation by punching the Darkfriend. It's kind of weird to portray the stubborn sheepherder as a panicking coward who won't fight just because he has a slight disadvantage.

 

They can portray him as scared if they feel the need to but to go so far as to make him useless in a situation he should be able to get out of makes no sense.

 

22 minutes ago, Morani said:

She survives slavery, the wise ones training, the AS puppetry and many other things, and still stands strong. Maybe too strong - it takes her a good long while to get on Rands side in the end. 

The point is she grows into those things as part of her arc.

 

She's a village girl who'd never left the Two Rivers and had lived in safety and yet she's already starring down death and daring someone to follow through. What's the point of her arc in going through slavery and learning from the Aiel if she's already that strong.

 

They may as well just start the Aes Sedai split now and throw her into that storyline.

Edited December 3, 2021 by AusLeviathan

[DaddyFinn]

8 minutes ago, RextheDog said:

 

 

wait.....what?

 

completely missed it.....cant wait for the re watch

We see Fain at least twice. Timestamps: @9:36 and @20:26

[DojoToad]

7 hours ago, Harad the White said:

Don't really care what RJ said, either of them. Any fascist group has "their truth, their way is the only way." The Nazi were a nationalist group who believed in racial purity. The Spanish Inquisition were a religious group that wore robes of "holiness" and who used torture as their main tool to terrorize and murder their opponents. What's on the screen is what matters.

Doesn't need to be facist - all groups have their own 'truth'.  That is why they are in the same group.  Whether it is knitting is the greatest stress reliever or soccer is the best sport, we tend to hang with those that believe as we do.  Not without exception, of course...

[Morani]

9 minutes ago, AusLeviathan said:

Book Rand responded to this equivalent situation by punching the Darkfriend. It's kind of weird to portray the stubborn sheepherder as a panicking coward who want fight just because he has a slight disadvantage.

 

They can portray him as scared if they feel the need to but to go so far as to make him useless in a situation he should be able to get out of makes no sense.

 

The point is she grows into those things as part of her arc.

 

She's a village girl who'd never left the Two Rivers and had lived in safety and yet she's already starring down death and daring someone to follow through. What's the point of her arc in going through slavery and learning from the Aiel if she's already that strong.

 

They may as well just start the Aes Sedai split now and throw her into that storyline.

 

I agree, showing Rand fight back a bit before fleeing would have been apt. 

 

Sure, she grows, but her slavery is very early in the story, and she is defiant and unbroken by it, in contrast to Rand and the box. In any case, your suggestion that panic from Eggy and strength from Rand would have been more suitable to their characters is just plain wrong. 

[DojoToad]

7 hours ago, Sabio said:

Episode 4 was mostly about Logain and episode 5 mostly about Stepin.  For a series that is only 8 episodes long they are wasting alot of screen time.  My fear is now things will go back to warp speed to fit everything in.

Exactly.  They waste time in the silliest places.  Maybe there is a big payoff later - which I imagine the book fans will hate even more.  The question is will the payoff work for non-book fans to keep the show successful?

[DaddyFinn]

Remember: they adapt the series as a whole. Logain's and Stepin's arc explains a lot of things for future episodes and seasons.

[DojoToad]

7 hours ago, Canukistani said:

I think it was unintentional.   

Yes, another example of bad editing.  It's almost as if Rafe has never done a TV show before.

[DermidAjala]

5 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

Remember: they adapt the series as a whole. Logain's and Stepin's arc explains a lot of things for future episodes and seasons.

 

I don't understand how people don't see this.

 

Episode 4 was about men who can channel and what's scary about the dragon using Logain as a framing device.

 

Episode 5 is about the Aes Sedai warder relationship and the connection they feel using Stepin as a frame.

 

They weren't about the characters used, they were about things that are meaningful in a big way throughout the series.

 

As for non-book fans, I've watched 2 reactions so far and both of them cried at the funeral scene which I really didn't expect, but I think it clearly works if you're not watching expecting something else.

Edited December 3, 2021 by DermidAjala

[AusLeviathan]

9 minutes ago, Morani said:

Sure, she grows, but her slavery is very early in the story, and she is defiant and unbroken by it, in contrast to Rand and the box. In any case, your suggestion that panic from Eggy and strength from Rand would have been more suitable to their characters is just plain wrong. 

Go and read the chapters dealing with Egwene being held with Perrin by Whitecloaks.

 

Numerous mentions of her screaming, or her being afraid and showing it, of her sobbing. She wasn't yet the strong character she would be.

 

Also did you just try and downplay the box? Egwene was treated like an animal but she had a friend to talk to, she was at least given some level of kindness even if only to make sure she played along. Rand was thrown in a box where he couldn't move all day and only taken out for beatings, there was nothing positive for him to look to in his situation.

[DojoToad]

7 hours ago, Harad the White said:

You may not be paying attention to current events, but I've said episode 5 was weak, and I have gotten a lot of flak for criticizing other scenes in previous episodes. So "absolute zealot"? No.

Funny.  When you accused me of being an N&N I provided a list of things about the show I liked.  Your response - not enough.

[fra85uk]

Stepin arc is to set up the weight of Lan/Moraine split in the future.

Well done by showrunners, again credit where is due.

 

If only we could have always this level for the rest of the show

[DaddyFinn]

19 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

Yes, another example of bad editing.  It's almost as if Rafe has never done a TV show before.

I didn't get any correlation between the two. The conversation about Maksim and Ihvon and Stepin not being sure what to think of it was unnecessary and odd though.

[Starganderfish]

Didn't enjoy this one at all.

Half way through season 1 and Rand is in Tar Valon. No Queens Blessing? No Basil Gil?
Loial is barely half a foot taller than Rand. His intro is only a minute or two while instead we get even more idle gossip on the sex lives of Aes Sedai and warders. Loial did seem well acted but the shortness and the rubbery makeup detracted a LOT - given how the Harry Potter movies protrayed Hagrid so well, twenty years ago, and the effort the show put into the trollocs, this feels like a poor choice.

Lan just doesn't feel like Lan. The funeral at the end actually made me laugh. A cringeworthy mashup of Kirk's "KKAAAHHHHNNNN!" and Vader's "NNNNOOOOOO!!!!" - just felt lame, out of character and corny.

So much time wasted on side characters.

Perrin's character continues to veer further and further away from the source. The wolves look more and more like friendly pets with every appearance. Really missing Elyas' character. Perrin and Egwene running off and leaving the Tinkers to get brutalised feels really shady.

I like that the Whitecloaks continue to be chillingly twistred, but Valda's comment about having no problems breaking oaths felt really out of place. The whole reason the WC's are so scary is because they genuinely think they are the good guy's. Oathbreaking kind of ruins that.

I continue to enjoy Matt's portrayal (so annoying the actor is leaving). Rand seems to be up and down and I don't think he'l be able to pull off the full-blown Dragon Reborn we get in the later books... but the writers dont seem to have the skill to pull that off either so it likely won't matter. 

Tar Valon the city looks small and pokey, Tar Valon the tower seems really under-developed, like it was filmed in a small soundstage with only two rooms and a corridor. I did not get the sense of size and scale for whats supposed to be the largest city in the world.

The entire show just feels ... small to me. For an epic fantatsy its lacking a feeling of grandeur and scale. Towns and cities feel tiny, the One Power seems a lty weaker, characters feel wooden, plots feel rushed and cut short. I'll keep watching but after the slight uptick in episode 2, its been a steady downhill slide.

[mogi68]

I hated all the stepin shit & I'm glad he won't be soaking up screentime anymore.

What kind of healer gives a visibly drunk and depressed man painkillers? WTF. Book Nynaeve would have better sense than that

[comicbooksarethebestthing]

The Rand actor is still really wooden. The Mat actor make Rand acting looks really bad, even the Loial actor is much better and has a lot of makeup on.  Everyone else is acting is great. Love how they are setting up the white tower more than the books did. Nynaeve and Lan is just as good as the books so far. 

[Gothic Flame]

2 hours ago, Meskell said:

Lan screaming, tearing his shirt open to show his nipples and just generally being a 24/7 emotional wreck is a pretty big problem and ruins the point of Nynaeve being the one to finally pull down the walls he has built following the trauma of losing an entire nation. 
 

The other problem with Lan, as mentioned by someone else, is that he is possibly the single most incompetent character in the whole show up to now. I have zero faith in show Lan being able to hold off Trolloc hoards or train Rand to be a blademaster. 
 

Rafe & co. seem to have deliberately dismissed Lan's history. He's been fighting the Shadow for decades. Lord of the Seven Towers, uncrowned king of Malkier, trained at the sword ever since he could hold one. So skilled he even killed two fades at once. Malkieri, alike Shienarans, keep emotions in check when in public. (Husband and wife won't even hold hands)

 

Reading what you typed out, it seems they don't care to have the characterizations that made the characters...at all.

[DojoToad]

8 hours ago, Canukistani said:

some people on reddit think that the 13 Chosen has been trimmed down to 8.   With the plot points of the removed ones merged into the others that stayed.   
I'd be sad if they were but realistically, some of them were only in like 1 scene...

still i always like that the number of the 13 Chosen also matched nicely with how large a Saidar circle can be without a Saidin channeler.

If they cut down to 8, why not 7 - it is one of those 'magical' numbers like 13.

[mogi68]

16 minutes ago, Gothic Flame said:

Rafe & co. seem to have deliberately dismissed Lan's history. He's been fighting the Shadow for decades. Lord of the Seven Towers, uncrowned king of Malkier, trained at the sword ever since he could hold one. So skilled he even killed two fades at once. Malkieri, alike Shienarans, keep emotions in check when in public. (Husband and wife won't even hold hands)

 

Reading what you typed out, it seems they don't care to have the characterizations that made the characters...at all.

 

 

They are missing a lot of little things. They've turned Rand into a simpering fool. Book Rand picking up the Travels of Jain Farstrider, he would have thought of his father, not Egwene .

 

Quote

Only a few had wooden covers. His eyes gobbled up the titles, picking out old favorites. The Travels of Jain Farstrider. The Essays of Willim of Maneches. His breath caught at the sight of a leather bound copy of Voyager Among the Sea Folk. Tam had always wanted to read that.

 

Picturing Tam, turning the book over in his hands with a smile, getting the feel of it before settling down before the fireplace with his pipe to read, his own hand tightened on his sword hilt with a sense of loss and emptiness that dampened all his pleasure in the books.

 

 

Then when Nynaeve is there at the inn, they both leave Mat festering there on the bed, seemingly unconcerned about the guy turning into a wraith in the other room. There's no sense of urgency about getting him help. She doesn't even ask Rand questions about Mat's condition, instead they sit on the bench and have a little egwene wank session. Like come on, are you guys for real?

Edited December 3, 2021 by mogi68

[DojoToad]

7 hours ago, AusLeviathan said:

Rafe has already dismissed this idea, he was actually surprised people thought it could be the case.

Considering how the show was adapted and edited - I don't think Rafe should be surprised by any confusion - especially from book fans.

[DaddyFinn]

Did everyone miss the different colored weaves when Egwene channeled fire?

 

 

 

 

42 minutes ago, Gothic Flame said:

Rafe & co. seem to have deliberately dismissed Lan's history. He's been fighting the Shadow for decades. Lord of the Seven Towers, uncrowned king of Malkier, trained at the sword ever since he could hold one. So skilled he even killed two fades at once. Malkieri, alike Shienarans, keep emotions in check when in public. (Husband and wife won't even hold hands)

 

Reading what you typed out, it seems they don't care to have the characterizations that made the characters...at all.

Lan was the lead mourner. He expressed everyone's grief.

[flinn]

1 minute ago, DaddyFinn said:

Did everyone miss the different colored weaves when Egwene channeled fire?

 

 

 

 

Lan was the lead mourner. He expressed everyone's grief.

 Which shows how terribly bad they are portraying Lan. That is like having Ishmael running a daycare.

 

 They keep making comments about Moiranne not being around the tower at all and always on the move.. exactly when did Lan and Stepin become BFFs?

Edited December 3, 2021 by flinn