full book spoilers Season 1 Discussion (Full Book Spoilers)

[Harad the White]

1 minute ago, MasterAblar said:

do think it's not gonna be very believable that the Dragon Reborn could be a woman if literally every exemple of false dragons remain men.

Male False Dragons arise because the Aes Sedai, institutionally fear and destroy them. For women, they just send them away to become Wisdoms, etc. So, there is a still a gender imbalance. I still don't see how they thread this sewing circle.

[Akragard]

1 minute ago, AusLeviathan said:

Isn't King George usually the only character played by a white actor in Hamilton?

Yep.

 

While I understand the point being made, gender was not irrelevant in WoT. It was supremely relevant. Men lost power because men broke the world. This made women more powerful. So, to say that gender doesn't matter  in WoT ignores a central tenet of the series.

[MasterAblar]

1 minute ago, Beidomon said:

How exactly do you think they “check out” all the women for DR? Is there a special ter’angreal for that? Midichloreans? 

 

Hell if I know, maybe the prophecies are helpful in that regard to narrow it down?

[Harad the White]

4 minutes ago, AusLeviathan said:

Isn't King George usually the only character played by a white actor in Hamilton?

Good job catching me between edits!

[Harad the White]

1 minute ago, Akragard said:

So, to say that gender doesn't matter  in WoT ignores a central tenet of the series.

Disagree. What about the gender of the OG (Original Dragon) caused the downfall? Couldn't a superstrong female channeler have done the same thing. That's like saying Ivan the Terrible demonstrates that all tsars are male, forgetting entirely about Catherine the Great.

[enigmoxical]

21 minutes ago, enigmoxical said:

She did a very nice series of interviews that are included in the show’s special features.

I'm having trouble finding those....

 

[Starganderfish]

3 hours ago, Akragard said:

I'm sorry, at this point, do people still take major news outlets seriously, particularly when it comes to pop culture?

 

I've found that a lot of the time they really miss the mark on what the audience will actually like.

As a viewer? No we don't take news outlets or rotten tomatoes or similar sites seriously.
The high paid studio execs with the power of life and death over the show? They absoultely take that seriously because its one of the major sources of unpaid promotion for the project, positive OR negative.

1 hour ago, Beidomon said:

Yes I’d like to see that, too. I wonder if they’ll even dig that deeply in the show. So far, admittedly through just 3 episodes, they’ve approached everything related to OP and channeling at a very superficial level. 

Yeah, I'm feeling they've heavily depowered the One Power and the Aes Sedai (Moraine struggled in a relatively small battle at the start, the Whitecloaks farming Aes Sedai like rats in a lvl 1 dungeon, Rand's OP moment being... shoulder barging a door?) Given they seem to be dumbing things down a lot and the idea of weaves and Talents and strength in the power etc being complicated and hard to represent in dialogue, I'm half expecting the OP to just be a fairly generic white-misty-magic that basically does whatever the plot requires with minimal explanation.
I do like the idea that the weaves and colours will get more complex once we get to the tower and we see novices and Accepted learning. I'm just skeptical that we have time for much of that. 8 seasons of 8 episodes (being ambitious)? That's only 61 episodes left till the end of the Last Battle.

1 hour ago, Harad the White said:

How about Mars?

I'm afraid Elon Musk has already placed dibs on Mars. Bezos has to aim for Venus.

59 minutes ago, GanoesParan said:

I don't understand all the negative comments about the cgi being wonky or cheap. On my big screen TV, the cgi actually looks pretty good to me. 

The CGI and general special effects are hit and miss.
The One Power is okay, but a little generic, and Moraines "whacky-wavy-inflatable-arm-flailing tubeman" impression is distracting to say the least. The lightning summon was bad ass, but the fire-balls were a bit meh, and tearing down the entire inn to throw a few rocks seemed like an odd choice.
The Trollocs swap between obvious blurry CGI and a mix of "guys-in-decent-costumes" and "guys-in-really-cheap-looking-costumes" (I really like the idea that not all the Trolocs are 10 foot tall horned monstrosities, but the little hairy ones running around on all fours just look like guys wearing cheap halloween gorilla suits)

Mashadar was super disappointing

Ishamaeal's dream flashes have been VERY underwhelming

The wolves look like small domestic huskies, not big intimidating wild beasts.

 

The scenery is lovely but the world seems super empty and lifeless. The early parts of the book, when Matt and Rand are making their own way, are filled with villages and inns, chance meetings on the road. It now feels like a post apocalyptic wasteland - the only populated area whe've seen outside Emmond's Field is a mining village which looks like something out of Mad Max, not a fantasy setting.

 

Costumes are good, they all have their distinct looks and its beleivable, without being dull and grey.
 

It kind of feels like, (with alot of things in these first few episodes) things are rushed, edited and removed and what's left is really patchy - some looks really good (Shadar Logoth as cool and creepy as f*) but it's on the screen for so short a time that its gone and they're back wandering in empty landscapes.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Starganderfish

[Jackdaw_Fool]

6 minutes ago, MasterAblar said:

Hell if I know, maybe the prophecies are helpful in that regard to narrow it down?

How did Moiraine disqualify the male channeler from being the DR - This has been on my pile of things I'm worried they won't explain... Don't get me wrong, they very well may in future episodes, we'll see.

 

Think maybe she disqualified him because he was gentled? As in, if he were actually the Dragon Reborn the pattern would have somehow prevented him from being gentled? I doubt it, because of the plot repercussions (would mean the dragon has plot shielding keeping him safe in some regards.) I only say I doubt it versus there's no way they'd go in that direction because I don't have faith in the show to fully make internal sense and be fully thought out. At least not yet based on what we've seen so far (still have hope!)

 

Maybe Moiraine has the ability to see ta'veren in this telling and knows the dragon reborn must be ta'veren? Just really wondering how she decided the guy wasn't the dragon reborn...

[Harad the White]

5 minutes ago, Starganderfish said:

The wolves look like small domestic huskies, not big intimidating wild beasts.

 

They rehired the Dire wolves from GoT.

[Joe B]

Can we discuss how a blind person goes about becoming an Aes Sedai?

[Beidomon]

20 minutes ago, Harad the White said:

Male False Dragons arise because the Aes Sedai, institutionally fear and destroy them. For women, they just send them away to become Wisdoms, etc. So, there is a still a gender imbalance. I still don't see how they thread this sewing circle.

LOL - yes I’m sure when a female false dragon arises they “just send her away” snort. 

[Harad the White]

7 minutes ago, Starganderfish said:

I'm afraid Elon Musk has already placed dibs on Mars. Bezos has to aim for Venus.

That leaves Uranus for Branson.

[Starganderfish]

2 minutes ago, Jackdaw_Fool said:

How did Moiraine disqualify the male channeler from being the DR - This has been on my pile of things I'm worried they won't explain... Don't get me wrong, they very well may in future episodes, we'll see.

 

Think maybe she disqualified him because he was gentled? As in, if he were actually the Dragon Reborn the pattern would have somehow prevented him from being gentled? I doubt it, because of the plot repercussions (would mean the dragon has plot shielding keeping him safe in some regards.) I only say I doubt it versus there's no way they'd go in that direction because I don't have faith in the show to fully make internal sense and be fully thought out. At least not yet based on what we've seen so far (still have hope!)

 

Maybe Moiraine has the ability to see ta'veren in this telling and knows the dragon reborn must be ta'veren? Just really wondering how she decided the guy wasn't the dragon reborn...

May be an age thing? The guy looked too old to have been born on Dragonmount at the right time (assuming thats still a thing). He's defnotely looking older than Rand.

The Dragon being maybe a girl or maybe a boy also plays havoc with Aran'gar/Osan'gar? 

[Harad the White]

1 minute ago, Beidomon said:

LOL - yes I’m sure when a female false dragon arises they “just send her away” snort. 

Chuckle, and how do they tell a female Wisdom from a female False Dragon since they both channel , guffaw. 

[AusLeviathan]

5 minutes ago, Joe B said:

Can we discuss how a blind person goes about becoming an Aes Sedai?

The writing team thought long and hard about it and decided it made sense somehow.

[Beidomon]

1 minute ago, Harad the White said:

Chuckle, and how do they tell a female Wisdom from a female False Dragon since they both channel , guffaw. 

Well, I assume you’ve gotta take over at least one country before getting to the FD designation. Even in the correct book lore, tons of men who could channel weren’t considered FDs. 

[MasterAblar]

1 minute ago, Starganderfish said:

May be an age thing? The guy looked too old to have been born on Dragonmount at the right time (assuming thats still a thing). He's defnotely looking older than Rand.

The Dragon being maybe a girl or maybe a boy also plays havoc with Aran'gar/Osan'gar? 

Lan specifically says he’s the right age. I imagine Moiraine simply chooses to believe it isn’t him. 
 

Place of birth would have been the easiest way to rule people out but I believe Moiraine said they didn’t know where the DR was born. So doesn’t leave much to go on.

 

Technically women start channeling earlier than men, unless they’re learners something seemingly impossible for the dragon. So at the point where Moiraine is at the I feel like the men would be the most likely option given the women candidates would have already started channeling for the most part.

 

Of course it’s possible they just removed that distinction even though it’s a clear parallel to puberty.

[Jackdaw_Fool]

8 minutes ago, Starganderfish said:

May be an age thing? The guy looked too old to have been born on Dragonmount at the right time (assuming thats still a thing).

Thanks, that's probably it... I sort of assumed he was supposed to be in his 20s, and Moiraine was only busy tracking down people of approximately the right age, but you are probably right that he looked older and I didn't look carefully enough. I haven't re-watched yet...

 

I don't think the dragonmount birthplace is a thing in the show, but I could be wrong.

 

Eta: Wait, of course it's not the age thing after Lan specifically said he was the right age... Thanks MasterAblar! Guess the mystery remains.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Jackdaw_Fool

[Harad the White]

3 minutes ago, AusLeviathan said:

The writing team thought long and hard about it and decided it made sense somehow.

Wasn't it in the book?

[Joe B]

1 minute ago, Beidomon said:

Well, I assume you’ve gotta take over at least one country before getting to the FD designation. Even in the correct book lore, tons of men who could channel weren’t considered FDs. 

You would have to at least CLAIM to be the DR

[MasterAblar]

2 minutes ago, Beidomon said:

Well, I assume you’ve gotta take over at least one country before getting to the FD designation. Even in the correct book lore, tons of men who could channel weren’t considered FDs. 

That and, you know, False dragons announce themselves. Random wilders do not.

Edited November 22, 2021 by MasterAblar

[AusLeviathan]

2 minutes ago, Harad the White said:

Wasn't it in the book?

Gitara wasn't blind.

 

I don't remember any reference to a blind Aes Sedai. I guess it could be possible though I struggle to imagine how they'd learn to use the One Power when actually seeing the weaves to learn them is shown to be pretty important.

[DaddyFinn]

16 minutes ago, Starganderfish said:

The early parts of the book, when Matt and Rand are making their own way, are filled with villages and inns, chance meetings on the road. It now feels like a post apocalyptic wasteland - the only populated area whe've seen outside Emmond's Field is a mining village which looks like something out of Mad Max, not a fantasy setting.

Wait for it.. We have seen them in official clips traveling on road with lots of people.

 

13 minutes ago, Joe B said:

Can we discuss how a blind person goes about becoming an Aes Sedai?

She was 306 years old when she died. Why couldn't she become blind during that?

[Harad the White]

2 minutes ago, Beidomon said:

Well, I assume you’ve gotta take over at least one country before getting to the FD designation. Even in the correct book lore, tons of men who could channel weren’t considered FDs. 

So, only FDs take over countries, as opposed to the DR. And forget about a woman channeler doing either. You can't make this stuff up.

[Gothic Flame]

1 minute ago, AusLeviathan said:

Gitara wasn't blind.

 

I don't remember any reference to a blind Aes Sedai. I guess it could be possible though I struggle to imagine how they'd learn to use the One Power when actually seeing the weaves to learn them is shown to be pretty important.

I don't recall anyone at all being blind. In a world with Yellow Ajah that'd be s challenge.