tv show spoilers S1E8: The Eye of the World

[TheMountain]

"The books and the show are not the same thing, translation to a visual medium bla bla bla."

 

I'm so tired of hearing this as if it's some sort of goat-kissing bloody revelation that, if only critics would understand, would allow them to see the light.

 

"YES, THAT'S IT! OMG. I LOVE THE WRITING IN THE SHOW NOW!"

Edited December 24, 2021 by TheMountain

[Chivalry]

1 hour ago, JenniferL said:

So one of the things that didn’t work for me was the reveal of the Horn. I don’t mind that they changed the hiding place. It’s a logical consequence of changing the nature of the Eye. But I don’t like that it’s just sitting there under Agelmar’s throne and everyone seems to know about it. In three thousand years, they never had a “oh no, we’re all going to die” moment? What about when Malkier fell? No one thought they should use it then? It would have been better if it had been hidden in the keep, but no one knew about it and some combination of the EF5 discovered it while wandering around. Or maybe Loial happens to know it’s there and asks someone why they aren’t pulling it out? ??‍♀️

Didn't they suggest that only the DR can use it? And I just assumed that Agelmar had informed his trusted soldiers about the Horn just before he left on his suicide mission. Maybe I'm assuming too much. They should have at least explained what the Horn represented (in a prior episode, for the benefit of non-readers).

[Cheetaiean]

They blew this finale completely. Series seems like it wants to cram as much strong female leads and minorities into characters as possible and that's it, story be damned. 
What comes out is unauthentic and confusing, and viewers will likely sense this even if they've never read the books. 

And before defenders say things like "show was always supposed to be different from the books", look at Game of Thrones, where the first season was literally identical to the plot of the first book. 

[Finfolfin]

3 minutes ago, TheMountain said:

"The books and the show are not the same thing, translation to a visual medium bla bla bla."

 

I'm so tired of hearing this as if it's some sort of goat-kissing bloody revelation that, if only critics would understand, would allow them to see the light.

Agreed , it wasn't 'translation to a visual medium' that made them stop Rand from saving the days at Tarwins gap, or having Elyas in the show to give exposition about being a wolfbrother to Perrin instead of Steppin some useless charcter who commits suicide. Or the butchery of Mat as some sort of dark criminal.

[Yojimbo]

13 minutes ago, TheDreadReader said:

 

There's a trend towards blanket "they changed the story!" statements to which "they hit the same story beats" is a proportionate response.

 

I tend to use the term story in a rather specific way.  Story is the events as they unfold in time.  Plot is the logical relationships between those events.  

 

There are certainly very interesting conversations to be had about the differences between how the books did things and how the show does things but that requires a degree of engagement and understanding of what the show decided to do.

 

An example, might be.   Rand and Min had a private conversation in Baerlon in the books.  The story change in the show is they had that conversation in Fal Dara.  Does that introduce plot complications?  Does the change in time introduce story complications?  I'd say the answer to both is no.   So, the effect of that change is rather small.  

 

 

An absolutely valid approach towards watching the show.   I can't make my brain go there unfortunately.   

[DigificWriter]

8 minutes ago, TheMountain said:

"The books and the show are not the same thing, translation to a visual medium bla bla bla."

 

I'm so tired of hearing this as if it's some sort of goat-kissing bloody revelation that, if only critics would understand, would allow them to see the light.

 

"YES, THAT'S IT! OMG. I LOVE THE WRITING IN THE SHOW NOW!"

 

3 minutes ago, Finfolfin said:

Agreed , it wasn't 'translation to a visual medium' that made them stop Rand from saving the days at Tarwins gap, or having Elyas in the show to give exposition about being a wolfbrother to Perrin instead of Steppin some useless charcter who commits suicide. Or the butchery of Mat as some sort of dark criminal.

 

Hysterical (and hilarious) hyperbole aside, the point I was trying to make is that the books cannot be used as a baseline for the TV series because they are not the TV series.

[Finfolfin]

1 minute ago, DigificWriter said:

 

 

Hysterical (and hilarious) hyperbole aside, the point I was trying to make is that the books cannot be used as a baseline for the TV series because they are not the TV series.

I get it you are huffing the copium, it's cool.

[Finfolfin]

>He stared at them. Heat filled him, the burning heat of the touched sun. He could see the Draghkar clearly, soulless eyes in pale men's faces on winged bodies that had nothing of humanity about them. Terrible heat. Crackling heat.
>From the clear sky lightning came, each bolt crisp and sharp, searing his eyes, each bolt striking a winged black shape. Hunting cries became shrieks of death, and charred forms fell to leave the sky clean again.
>The heat. The terrible heat of the Light.
>He fell to his knees; he thought he could hear his tears sizzling on his cheeks. "No!" He clutched at tufts of wiry grass for some hold on reality; the grass burst in flame. "Please, nooooooo!"
>The wind rose with his voice, howled with his voice, roared with his voice down the pass, whipping the flames to a wall of fire that sped away from him and toward the Trolloc host faster than a horse could run. Fire burned into the Trollocs, and the mountains trembled with their screams, screams almost as loud as the wind and his voice.
>"It has to end!"
>He beat at the ground with his fist, and the earth tolled like a gong. He bruised his hands on stony soil, and the earth trembled. Ripples ran through the ground ahead of him in everrising waves, waves of dirt and rock towering over Trollocs and Fades, breaking over them as the mountains shattered under their hooved feet. A boiling mass of flesh and rubble churned across the Trolloc army.
>The screams died. The earth was still. Dust and smoke swirled back down the pass to surround him.

 

we missed this.

[TheSmurf]

I speak for myself when I say that my disappointment in the show is due to the changes they made, on the whole and to a large degree, were not of a high enough quality to justify them.

 

That many of the changes were poorly executed, turns it into a poor, at best bland hash of a great book series.

 

In my darker, uglier moments, I might toss out 'disrespectful' but I don't know the hearts of the showrunners. 

 

Again, all in my opinion.

Edited December 24, 2021 by TheSmurf
Poorly... Not purely

[fra85uk]

3 minutes ago, Mirefox said:

  They could have made a 10-season series called “The Merry Adventures of Steppin: A Wheel of Time Story” and it would have been fine as long as the world building and lore were consistent.  

I want 10 seasons of a sit com called (Dark)Friends 

[Finfolfin]

3 minutes ago, fra85uk said:

I want 10 seasons of a sit com called (Dark)Friends 

So know one told you mach-in shin was in the waaaaaaaays *clap clap clap clap clap*

[DigificWriter]

7 minutes ago, Mirefox said:

This is disingenuous garbage.  They chose to adapt the Wheel of Time books; they chose to call this Wheel of Time.  Of course the books upon which it is all based is the baseline.

 

The show is "Based on" the WoT novels, but what Rafe and his team choose to do with the source material is what creates and determines the show's baseline, and because that baseline is still being established, it cannot be fairly compared to the novels' baseline.

[Finfolfin]

Still can't believe Perrin hasn't had an Axe all season (except to fridge a literal who)

Still can't believe Matrim hasn't got a quarterstaff and noone has called him Matrim.

[fra85uk]

2 minutes ago, Finfolfin said:

So know one told you mach-in shin was in the waaaaaaaays *clap clap clap clap clap*

"You stabbed me in the back and drew the dragon fang on my door" Rachendil Al' Green

"I thought we were on break!!!" Rossen Gelloros

[Wassup]

So, Padan Fain  has the dagger. He has clearly stabbed someone with it. Did they nerf the dagger?

The only enemies in the scene where Fain takes the horn are Fain and two of the eyeless. Based on the books, there is very little chance of anyone in that room surviving being cut by the dagger or the fade’s swords. 
 

Any thoughts?

[Finfolfin]

1 minute ago, Wassup said:

So, Padan Fain  has the dagger. He has clearly stabbed someone with it. Did they nerf the dagger?

The only enemies in the scene where Fain takes the horn are Fain and two of the eyeless. Based on the books, there is very little chance of anyone in that room surviving being cut by the dagger or the fade’s swords. 
 

Any thoughts?

If it is the Shadar Logoth dagger then Uno, Ingtar and Loial are dead. If they aren't dead then they nerfed it, we are yet to know either way.

[JenniferL]

I just removed a bunch of low effort, name calling and bickering posts. If you don’t have anything left to say about the episode anymore, go kill time somewhere else. I think the NORAD Santa tracker is up and running already. 
 

The Friends/WoT mash up fanfic may continue. 

[Cellardur]

6 minutes ago, Finfolfin said:

They put two episodes of useless OC filler when they could have concentrated on the characters we have like Mat , Perrin, Rand and loial and used it for worldbuiding. They have done wrong by the bookfans

We knew it wouldn't be a faithful adaption but at this point is butchery. The season finale is so bad you are telling us to wait until next season to see how it plays out, it wasn't a satisfying finish to an already mediocre season.

't-trust me guys at the end of the season it will work out'

we are here

'Trust me g-guys next season we will get rands moments and things will work out'

'trust me g-guys egwene saving everyone at dumais well doesnt take away from the story'

'trust me g-guys i know the series is finished after 8 seasons but the amazon extras expain it'

I have commented before, but those two 'filler' episodes were excellent and definitely gave me a greater connection to Lan than anything in the first three books, apart from when he went out of his way to teach Lan some courtly/Warder manners.

 

This is just my view, but when it comes to adaptations I am always happy with things done well that fit the world, the characters and the themes of the book even of they are created.

 

I even enjoyed the one month time skip, because it allows for many of the adventures in the book to have actually taken place. 

[Moridin83]

16 hours ago, Finfolfin said:

Men bad...that's the reason.

 

The entire season in a nutshell!

[Read and found out]

To me, it's just a bad show, or at least, mediocre. Even having read the books and trying to forget the story, this one is very badly written. Acting, editing, CGI, world building, all under 6/10.

 

I'll probably give it a try to season 2, considering that when it's released I'll had forgotten the pain of having watched this.

[JenniferL]

This was posted in the Articles and Interviews thread, but I think it belongs here too. Rafe clarifies the intention behind some of what we saw and that Moiraine really is stilled and not just shielded. 
 

https://www.cbr.com/wheel-of-time-rafe-judkins-interview/

[Finfolfin]

17 minutes ago, Cellardur said:

I have commented before, but those two 'filler' episodes were excellent and definitely gave me a greater connection to Lan than anything in the first three books, apart from when he went out of his way to teach Lan some courtly/Warder manners.

 

This is just my view, but when it comes to adaptations I am always happy with things done well that fit the world, the characters and the themes of the book even of they are created.

 

I even enjoyed the one month time skip, because it allows for many of the adventures in the book to have actually taken place. 

I would agree if the season was longer but Rand, Matrim, Perrin and loial's charcter arcs suffered as a result of this.

[Finfolfin]

Just now, JenniferL said:

This was posted in the Articles and Interviews thread, but I think it belongs here too. Rafe clarifies the intention behind some of what we saw and that Moiraine really is stilled and not just shielded. 
 

https://www.cbr.com/wheel-of-time-rafe-judkins-interview/

mfw

[Mirefox]

28 minutes ago, DigificWriter said:

 

The show is "Based on" the WoT novels, but what Rafe and his team choose to do with the source material is what creates and determines the show's baseline, and because that baseline is still being established, it cannot be fairly compared to the novels' baseline.

So fidelity simply doesn’t matter any time someone acquired an IP and wants to adapt it as long as they claim is is “based on?”  As what point doesn’t it matter?  When we view it?  When the show runners acquire it?  Do the show runners even need to read the source material since being “based on” apparently gives them free reign to show the story they want?  You seem to think that saying it is “based on” is some magic panacea that should make everyone ignore any source material.

[Dreamwalker]

1 hour ago, pretty_blossom said:

the girls burning in the circle was unnecessary,

I actually think this part was necessary and important to have at this point in the story. I would have had Nynaeve club Amalisa over the head when she wouldn't let go to skip the weird healing bit, but overall I thought it was good they depicted burning out.

 

Many have complained even in this thread about female Aes Sedai and channeling being too powerful in the show. Showing people burning out introduces the stakes and consequences of channeling, something the books explain through internal thoughts of fearing it happening, but this was a way to 'show, not tell' the concept.

 

This concept of burning yourself out needed to be introduced at this point because in the storyline Egwene and Nynaeve (and Elayne) are about to start their Tower training, probably in the very next episode. This sets a lot of the stakes in that plotline around the danger while you learn to channel.

Edited December 24, 2021 by Dreamwalker