Interviews and News Articles

[Mailman]

10 minutes ago, king of nowhere said:

while I agree that it was not a good scene, in their favor it is likely that previous generations of emond fielders have experimented and found exactly the right stretch of river where the current will make you miss the rock and deposit you on an easy beach.

as for putting young people in mortal danger, while it's certainly moronic to us and our values, there's lots of ancient societies with potentially deadly rites of adulthood. so it's not completely out of place

That makes no sense there is no accuracy to the push, body types, clothing, water levels or water speeds. It would be an impossibility that there is a safe section of the river.

 

Nost of those rituals are of a religious nature and the symbolism is more on the god to judge them and save them. It is almost comically opposed to Nynaeve as a healer and with her belief in life that she would risk lives in this manner.

[WhiteVeils]

45 minutes ago, Mailman said:

That makes no sense there is no accuracy to the push, body types, clothing, water levels or water speeds. It would be an impossibility that there is a safe section of the river.

 

Nost of those rituals are of a religious nature and the symbolism is more on the god to judge them and save them. It is almost comically opposed to Nynaeve as a healer and with her belief in life that she would risk lives in this manner.

You do realize that when you go white water rafting and fall into a rapid, you are told that you are supposed to relax and go with the river rather than trying to fight until the water is smooth enough to allow you to swim to the side and climb out?  Fighting the water will drown you.  That's also what you are told if you fall into a pool or other situation, like in rip tides.  You need to swim parallel to the shore out of the rip tide, not fight the current.  

  What To Do If You Fall Out of the Raft | Rafting Tips - Crab Apple (crabapplewhitewater.com)

The position Egwene floated in is even the one described in the article above (which was also the way I was told to deal with falling out of a boat on the rapids when I went white water rafting many years ago.)  These rapids are close to their homes and something they are likely taught about since they are children.  

[Skipp]

2 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

while I agree that it was not a good scene, in their favor it is likely that previous generations of emond fielders have experimented and found exactly the right stretch of river where the current will make you miss the rock and deposit you on an easy beach.

as for putting young people in mortal danger, while it's certainly moronic to us and our values, there's lots of ancient societies with potentially deadly rites of adulthood. so it's not completely out of place

And they clearly know it is dangerous as Layla has scars in a very similar location as to where Egwene gets cut.  I thought that was a nice detail.

[Mailman]

1 hour ago, WhiteVeils said:

You do realize that when you go white water rafting and fall into a rapid, you are told that you are supposed to relax and go with the river rather than trying to fight until the water is smooth enough to allow you to swim to the side and climb out?  Fighting the water will drown you.  That's also what you are told if you fall into a pool or other situation, like in rip tides.  You need to swim parallel to the shore out of the rip tide, not fight the current.  

  What To Do If You Fall Out of the Raft | Rafting Tips - Crab Apple (crabapplewhitewater.com)

The position Egwene floated in is even the one described in the article above (which was also the way I was told to deal with falling out of a boat on the rapids when I went white water rafting many years ago.)  These rapids are close to their homes and something they are likely taught about since they are children.  

You do also realize that people doing white water rafting usually have

 

Buoyancy vests and not ankle length dresses.

Experienced guides in boat.

Safety ropes.

 

People still die even with all these advantages that Egwene and all other girls of the Two Rivers did not have and that also includes them 100% being in the dangerous position of being in the water.

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by Mailman

[WhiteVeils]

They had experienced guides who understood those rapids very well.  Egwene was stripped down to a lightweight garment, not her full clothes.  And there certainly were those there who had navigated those rapids themselves and were capable swimmers available for rescuing anyone who ran into trouble.  She wasn't doing it alone.

 

Nynaeve didn't make up the tradition.  It's not necessarily the safest tradition....that's probably the point.  But it's not a death sentence.

[SinisterDeath]

15 hours ago, Mailman said:

That makes no sense there is no accuracy to the push, body types, clothing, water levels or water speeds. It would be an impossibility that there is a safe section of the river.

I suppose you've Never gone Tubing then?

[DojoToad]

A well written review:

https://www.thereviewgeek.com/thewheeloftime-s1review/

 

Some highlights:

• At its best, The Wheel Of Time faithfully captures the wonder and visual beauty of fantasy worlds to perfection; faraway lands look both enticing and rich with lore. At its worst, this first season makes Game Of Thrones Season 8 look like a masterpiece.
• Normally I wouldn’t go so hard on a show but The Wheel Of Time is a 90 million dollar venture that should have done much better than this. Had this been a low budget affair like The Shannara Chronicles then the issues could have been forgiven but Wheel Of Time is an expensive project that struggles to rise above mediocrity.
• The Wheel will keep on turning and fantasy efforts will come and go. The Wheel Of Time is not one that will be sorely missed but will undoubtedly build up a good buzz for a second season. That buzz though will mostly be from fans eager to see if this series can rectify the damage done from its truly disastrous finale. A final episode that’s somehow worse than Game Of Thrones Season 8? That certainly takes some doing!

[DojoToad]

Previous post article had good things to say about the show but was negative overall.  This one is more balanced between good/bad:

https://www.wired.com/2022/04/geeks-guide-wheel-of-time/

 

Highlights:

• “I thought it was great,” Adams says in Episode 507 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. “I have no particular affinity for the books, so I didn’t care about the adaptation part of it—I didn’t care if they changed things. I was watching it basically as a fresh viewer, and honestly I love it.”
• The friendship between Rand and Mat was really strong in the books. I loved it. Book 1 really went into that, where Rand and Mat were kind of on their own little adventure together, where they had no money and they’re just playing music for their supper, out in the wilderness, exploring the world and trying to get back in touch with their friends. The friendship was strong, and it was there, and you don’t see it in the show at all. And Egwene and Perrin as well. Perrin is a very protective, guardian type of character—the show did not show that. He seems kind of like this whiny, mopey guy in the show. I wouldn’t want to hang out with him.

[DojoToad]

A variety:

 

Not a fan - https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/the-wheel-of-time-review-amazon-series-based-on-robert-jordans-epic-fantasy-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse-10233151.html

 

Liked with reservations - https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/the-wheel-of-time-review-a-ponderous-start-before-smooth-sailings/article38054449.ece

 

Brutal but well written - https://jamesjguild.com/blog/2021/12/25/why-season-one-of-the-wheel-of-time-is-so-disappointing

 

7 of 10 with fair criticisms - https://www.keengamer.com/articles/reviews/movie-series-reviews/the-wheel-of-time-season-1-review-budding-but-blemished/

 

Covers last 4 episodes - https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2021/12/amazons-the-wheel-of-time-stumbles-at-the-end-spoiler-filled-season-end-review.html

 

Liked it because it exists - https://time.com/6131394/wheel-of-time-season-finale-review/

 

 

[Vartija]

On 10/22/2022 at 6:17 PM, DojoToad said:

The friendship between Rand and Mat was really strong in the books. I loved it. Book 1 really went into that, where Rand and Mat were kind of on their own little adventure together, where they had no money and they’re just playing music for their supper, out in the wilderness, exploring the world and trying to get back in touch with their friends. The friendship was strong, and it was there, and you don’t see it in the show at all. And Egwene and Perrin as well. Perrin is a very protective, guardian type of character—the show did not show that. He seems kind of like this whiny, mopey guy in the show. I wouldn’t want to hang out with him.

Agree with these. I really liked the tavern hopping in the books and how they had to learn new skills to survive on their own. The show's take on it in E3 & 4 was kind of dark and grim rather than endearing as in the book. 

[WhiteVeils]

Amazon Already Has The Next Great Fantasy Series, And It Isn't The Rings Of Power (looper.com) 

 

Thought you might like this article.

[Scarloc99]

15 hours ago, WhiteVeils said:

Amazon Already Has The Next Great Fantasy Series, And It Isn't The Rings Of Power (looper.com) 

 

Thought you might like this article.

I do love the argument "WOT is cheaper to make then ROP" I would argue that is obvious on the screen lol. Trollocs vs Orcs in terms of physical makeup effects, the CGI effects between ROP and WOT where also noticeably different. The showrunners where not given a bag of cash and then handed a load of it back lol. If WOT is this sleeper hit then that is an argument for Amazon to give them some more cash :). 

Also 
 

"The Lord of Rings: The Rings of Power" Season 1 made some unexpected changes to J.R.R. Tolkien's lore that didn't sit well with some fans of the author's work" 

This forum shows that WOT has the exact same issue but the article doesn't call any of that out. It is good to see the numbers quoted for Viewers of the WOT, I am interested in knowing what the final number was for the last episode (how many people watched all the way through) compared to ROP. I doubt Amazon will ever announce that. 

As a personal aside Opinion articles like this are for me are one of the many negatives of the internet, a writer who is able to just repeat things that have been said over and over in the hope of clicks for advertising. It is just a step above "this women had a big surprise on her wedding day, click here to find out what happened next". Or a news article that states someone has said something on instagram and the entire story is an image of the post, followed by a paragraph that quotes the post word for word and leaves it at that lol. 
Anyway rant over. 

 

[DojoToad]

16 hours ago, WhiteVeils said:

Amazon Already Has The Next Great Fantasy Series, And It Isn't The Rings Of Power (looper.com) 

 

Thought you might like this article.

An opinion piece.  Imagine some people would like it.

[DaddyFinn]

WoT panel will start in ~90 minutes or so

 

 

[DaddyFinn]

 

 

[Ralph]

51 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

 

 

Thank you for this

 

do we know what was the footage or news they mention at the beginning? 

 

 

[DaddyFinn]

3 minutes ago, Ralph said:

Thank you for this

 

do we know what was the footage or news they mention at the beginning? 

A twitter thread

 

[Ralph]

On 12/4/2022 at 10:00 AM, DaddyFinn said:

A twitter thread

 

Thank you

[Skipp]

Alexandre Willaume says that he, Thom, won't be in season 2.

 

https://www.wotseries.com/2022/12/07/the-wheel-of-time-season-2-update-thom-merrilin/

 

Disappointing to hear as I really enjoyed Alexandre Willaume take on the character.  And while his appearance in book 2 was badass it wasn't really crucial to the story, same with his book 3 role.  Shame though it would have been nice to have his re-union with Rand in Cairhein.

 

But I will look forward to his return in season 3.

[DojoToad]

2 hours ago, Skipp said:

Alexandre Willaume says that he, Thom, won't be in season 2.

 

https://www.wotseries.com/2022/12/07/the-wheel-of-time-season-2-update-thom-merrilin/

 

Disappointing to hear as I really enjoyed Alexandre Willaume take on the character.  And while his appearance in book 2 was badass it wasn't really crucial to the story, same with his book 3 role.  Shame though it would have been nice to have his re-union with Rand in Cairhein.

 

But I will look forward to his return in season 3.

Dang.  New Mat and no Thom.  Bad luck and strange decision.  We'll see how it works out...

[king of nowhere]

my bet is that they cut out the cahirien arc completely, for timing reasons.

not only they don't have thom, who appeared in that arc, but also in that teaser released some months ago there was plenty of seanchan and falme but nothing that looked like cahirien

[WhiteVeils]

8 minutes ago, king of nowhere said:

my bet is that they cut out the cahirien arc completely, for timing reasons.

not only they don't have thom, who appeared in that arc, but also in that teaser released some months ago there was plenty of seanchan and falme but nothing that looked like cahirien

We've seen set pictures of Cairhien and confirmed its in there several times.   The teaser does show images from Cairhien too, and Barthanes Damodred  has been cast.

[DojoToad]

43 minutes ago, WhiteVeils said:

We've seen set pictures of Cairhien and confirmed its in there several times.   The teaser does show images from Cairhien too, and Barthanes Damodred  has been cast.

Okay, so they could have had Thom but chose not to...

[Vartija]

It's disappointing that his arc won't develop in S2, but tbh show Thom wasn't nearly as memorable and impactful to the story as book Thom was. His appearance was so brief and the Thom-Mat-Rand triangle didn't really take off the way it did in the book where Thom became a kind of mentor and protector for the boys. 

 

Sad to say but no Thom in S2 feels like less of a loss than I would have expected before S1.

 

 

[WhiteVeils]

1 hour ago, DojoToad said:

Okay, so they could have had Thom but chose not to...

Plotwise, yes.  Logistically, it depends on actor availability.  I believe that the actor is in 1833 right now?