How did the show hold up for you?

[Vambram]

Amazon's Wheel of Time is not fanfic. If you're implying that it is, that is your right to do so. However, I strongly disagree with said implication. 

If you are not implying this, then I apologize. 

[Deadsy]

5 hours ago, fra85uk said:

Discussing with my RL friends, we were trying to find an another abomin...ehm pardon "adaptation" in which the main character is so incredibly put aside.

We did not find any but maybe we are missing something.

 

 

It should be intuitively obvious what they're doing.

[Kudzu]

7 minutes ago, Deadsy said:

 

 

It should be intuitively obvious what they're doing.

 

Indeed, to the most casual observer.

[Ryrin]

38 minutes ago, Deadsy said:

 

If you weren't already aware, RJ was the first one who sold the TV rights to the Wheel of Time.

I’m aware.
 

I run the Green Ajah on the social side here. ? Come visit us if you like. 
 

[PerrinsShadow]

  1st I knew this book series could never be perfectly transitioned to film. But I thought with all the technical advances it would try to stay true to the books. This is a terrible disappointment.

   At some point I hope he tries to redeem the integrity of Robert Jordan's vision. 

   That said, I love the sets, special effects, and the cast (except for Thom Merlin) . Which I must say surprised me. Because the books described the characters so well. 

   I plan to watch the series but to ignore it was based on one of the greatest fantasy series ever written. 

   I hope all enjoy it, but if you have not read the books please do so. Otherwise this show will taint the experience.

[Kickaha_PJF]

Hello to all WoT fans,

I'm a fan of the books from Germany.

I'm very frustrated about the TV series and searched to find a forum to share these frustrations as Amazon seems to dislike any worse feedback. I hope my english will be not too worse.

I don't understand why this can happen. A good story is modified to something worse without any needs. For a fan of the books there are so many changes which chnges the red thread of the books dramatically. The casting of some persons is worse, Egwene, Perrin but I could live with this.

But the dramatical changes in the story line makes me feel like this is not Wheel of Time. It is a new story with some features of it.

The low point is now episode 5. It was that worse for me that I fast forward the stream at some points. In this episode I feel nothing is OK.

I write this not to blame the series, I write this with the hope, that somebody of the responsible person read it and think of it. I think some changes in season 2 in story telling and in casting can prevent the TV series from loosing all original WoT fans.

Kickaha

[PerrinsShadow]

Kickaha, I feel your pain. And your English was much better than my Deutsch! I am rereading my copies trying to distance the show from my reading experiences.

[fra85uk]

3 hours ago, Deadsy said:

 

 

It should be intuitively obvious what they're doing.

Well ofc all the "who is the Dragon" but still i never saw an adaptation in which the main characters of the source material are put aside while side characters and completely invented characters take the lead.

Talking with s couple of non-readers friends, they asked me why ep5 did not show the consequences of Nynaeve being the dragon reborn, cause that is what they felt ep.4 finale was saying for them with all the raging sun stuff.

Then, they asked me to spoiler who then the DR...and their reaction was hilarious when I told them?

[Scarloc99]

17 hours ago, fra85uk said:

Discussing with my RL friends, we were trying to find an another abomin...ehm pardon "adaptation" in which the main character is so incredibly put aside.

We did not find any but maybe we are missing something.

Rand has not been put aside, instead every character is having moments to shine and develop. This is an ensemble project with multiple leads. It is akin to the LOTR, the Story is about Frodo but many would say Aragorn is the lead character, and others still Gandalf. EOTW is a very Rand centric book, but we know that later on all the characters become important with Rand disappearing into the background of many storylines. The non book audience needs to know and connect to all these characters from episode 1, you cant treat some of them as an aside. Also, in book 1 Rand doesn't do alot, he is in places, the world is seen through his eyes, but until the end much of his story is running, hiding, and escaping. 

[Scarloc99]

7 hours ago, fra85uk said:

Well ofc all the "who is the Dragon" but still i never saw an adaptation in which the main characters of the source material are put aside while side characters and completely invented characters take the lead.

Talking with s couple of non-readers friends, they asked me why ep5 did not show the consequences of Nynaeve being the dragon reborn, cause that is what they felt ep.4 finale was saying for them with all the raging sun stuff.

Then, they asked me to spoiler who then the DR...and their reaction was hilarious when I told them?

I refuse to tell people who the DR is I am just telling them to enjoy the show, my wife has figured it out, and figured out Rand did something special to break the door down to escape. 

 

As for putting the main characters aside, lets look at the story threads I imagine you are talking about. 

Logain - a key character in the future, both in helping Rand learn how to use the one power and in setting up the black tower. Also a key character in Nyn's story arc seeing as she heals him. in showing him being Gentled the Audience now understand the hesitancy of the boys to go to the Aes Sedai in case one of them has the power. You also meet a key character in Rands story Alanna, a character who will be there in the very last fight with Moridin and that leads me to the next story i imagine you are not understanding. 

 

Steppin. I am amazed at how many people seem to forget Moridins and the Dark Lords hail mary tactic right at the end, force Rand to have to be bonded in order to survive, then kidnap the Aes Sedai who makes the bond and kill her in front of Rand at the bore so he goes full on lewis therin and destroys the wheel. Steppins story is key to explaining that really important moment to an audience. This is a great place to put it in the story because it comes across as world setting and defining and not a key important point. Nyn has witnessed and been part of Steppins story meaning she will have close knowledge and understanding of it at that last battle when she realises she needs to save Alanna and get her to drop the bond. This story thread is such a key part of the final battle, it defines if the dark one wins or loses and for the rest of the series now Steppin can be called back to in little moments, just to remind the audience of what happened to him. you don't have to interrupt moments with exposition, or create the same thing later on. You can set the seed in an audiences mind from episode 4/5 and in 60 episodes time it will come full circle back to that moment. 

[Deviations]

26 minutes ago, Sir_Charrid said:

Rand has not been put aside, instead every character is having moments to shine and develop. This is an ensemble project with multiple leads.

No fever dream

No learning the sword

No questions about his possession of a heron mark sword

No standing atop a ships mast and the hi-wire journey down

No flute

No Else 

No Elayne

No Elaida fortelling Rand's impact

No almost fight with a White Cloak

 

Instead we get him mooning over Egwene and Lan ripping his shirt open.

[Deviations]

23 minutes ago, Sir_Charrid said:

Steppin. I am amazed at how many people seem to forget Moridins and the Dark Lords hail mary tactic right at the end, force Rand to have to be bonded in order to survive, then kidnap the Aes Sedai who makes the bond and kill her in front of Rand at the bore so he goes full on lewis therin and destroys the wheel. Steppins story is key to explaining that really important moment to an audience. This is a great place to put it in the story because it comes across as world setting and defining and not a key important point. Nyn has witnessed and been part of Steppins story meaning she will have close knowledge and understanding of it at that last battle when she realises she needs to save Alanna and get her to drop the bond. This story thread is such a key part of the final battle, it defines if the dark one wins or loses and for the rest of the series now Steppin can be called back to in little moments, just to remind the audience of what happened to him.

Again.  Jordan set this up in his own way throughout the story.  It didn't need to be done with a rushed, fabricated scene at this point.  Yes I know there are 8 episodes and potentially 8 seasons.  There is plenty of fluff that could have been condensed without resorting to this level of change.

[Elder_Haman]

19 minutes ago, Deviations said:

No fever dream (yet - heavily implied will be done in a flashback)

No learning the sword (yet - will undoubtedly happen by early S2)

No questions about his possession of a heron mark sword (yet)

No standing atop a ships mast and the hi-wire journey down (why does this matter?)
No flute (yet - also, why does this matter?)

No Else (why does this matter?)

No Elayne (yet - we know she's coming in S2)

No Elaida fortelling Rand's impact (would ruin the 'who is the Dragon' theme)

No almost fight with a White Cloak (why does this matter?)

See my notes.

Edited December 7, 2021 by Elder_Haman

[Deviations]

17 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

See my notes.

 

18 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

No fever dream (yet - heavily implied will be done in a flashback) - Why would that be better than original?

No learning the sword (yet - will undoubtedly happen by early S2) Only a prediction

No questions about his possession of a heron mark sword (yet) Only a prediction

No standing atop a ships mast and the hi-wire journey down (why does this matter?) Foreshadows him channeling.  Charm.
No flute (yet - also, why does this matter?) Character development.  Charm.  Set up for an interesting scene with Selene in TDR. Provides some fairly reasonable financial path for their travels vs no available cash in Baerlon and enough cash to cover 3x pricing in Tar Valon.

No Else (why does this matter?) Misses an opportunity for Perrin to Needle Egwene.  Charm.

No Elayne (yet - we know she's coming in S2)

No Elaida fortelling Rand's impact (would ruin the 'who is the Dragon' theme)  Did it ruin Jordan's telling?

No almost fight with a White Cloak (why does this matter?)  Better set up of White Cloak mentality.

 

[CaddySedai]

Stuff about Harriet's views are now their own topic.

 

 

[Elder_Haman]

9 minutes ago, Deviations said:

 

 

So, "charm" isn't really an effective answer as Rand has had ample opportunity to demonstrate his charm (as well as his stubbornness, temper, and tendency to go to high places when he needs to think). 

 

Flute ... I mean, there are some character moments with Rand and his flute that I'll miss. But the flute is not at the core of his character. There are no character moments that are dependent on Rand's flute. So while sentimental, it's not absolutely necessary.

 

Perrin needling Egwene? Entirely unnecessary.

 

Elaida's foretelling told us that Rand was the Dragon. But since virtually the entire book up until that point was from Rand's POV, that wasn't exactly a surprise. Rand didn't even truly understand it at the time, so it didn't impact him in any fundamental way. So while the foretelling served Jordan's interest in Rand's narrative, it is unnecessary for his character development.

 

The Whitecloak mentality is pretty solidly established at this point IMO. Valda is a crazy sadist among a group of dudes who seem pretty comfortable just bullying people. 

 

[Spiritweaver1]

I just gave the series a like.  I haven't voted before but my trend is down.   The effort going into rewriting the entire plot is subtracting from capturing the fine details/dialog that could make the series great.  Whole key characters that have recurring roles throughout the books (Bayle Domon anybody) have had their threads seemingly snipped from the pattern.  Yet we spend a whole bunch of time on a character (Step-in) who doesn't even exist in the original EOTW. I have hope that it will turn around.  The new story is interesting in its way but I can't seem to deal with all the changes because I keep thinking this is RJ's story instead of Amazon's .  Rafe has said that there was a lot of unasked for input from Amazon brass and perhaps what we are seeing is story by committee.  

 

This is no doubt my personal problem and I can either self medicate, cry on my favorite shoulder, or adapt.  We shall see what the Wheel weaves going forward.

[DojoToad]

24 minutes ago, Spiritweaver1 said:

I just gave the series a like.  I haven't voted before but my trend is down.   The effort going into rewriting the entire plot is subtracting from capturing the fine details/dialog that could make the series great.  Whole key characters that have recurring roles throughout the books (Bayle Domon anybody) have had their threads seemingly snipped from the pattern.  Yet we spend a whole bunch of time on a character (Step-in) who doesn't even exist in the original EOTW. I have hope that it will turn around.  The new story is interesting in its way but I can't seem to deal with all the changes because I keep thinking this is RJ's story instead of Amazon's .  Rafe has said that there was a lot of unasked for input from Amazon brass and perhaps what we are seeing is story by committee.  

 

This is no doubt my personal problem and I can either self medicate, cry on my favorite shoulder, or adapt.  We shall see what the Wheel weaves going forward.

It appears that you don't like, but you gave it a like?

[Scarloc99]

2 hours ago, Deviations said:

 

 

Rand has channelled, it’s how he broke the door down and this is not the Rand show. EOTW is very Rand centric but the whole series of books is an ensemble, so really season one needs to be as well or else it becomes the Rand show. 

[Deviations]

2 hours ago, Elder_Haman said:

So, "charm" isn't really an effective answer as Rand has had ample opportunity to demonstrate his charm (as well as his stubbornness, temper, and tendency to go to high places when he needs to think). 

See but for me charm is a huge issue.  This series was charming.  The main characters were each charming in their own way.  Great strengths, somewhat endearing foibles.  I don't see that in this version.  Maybe that's why scenes were sacrificed.  Maybe charm wasn't important to the show runner.

[Yojimbo]

15 hours ago, Kudzu said:

 

Indeed, to the most casual observer.

My wife figured it out after the first 2 episodes.

[fra85uk]

3 minutes ago, Deviations said:

See but for me charm is a huge issue.  This series was charming.  The main characters were each charming in their own way.  Great strengths, somewhat endearing foibles.  I don't see that in this version.  Maybe that's why scenes were sacrificed.  Maybe charm wasn't important to the show runner.

Totally agree with you

 

By the way, no offense meant but it is incredible reading that basically all Rand's moments in eotw were unnecessary

 

I am starting really to hope that they change the DR (even if it would be possibly too much even for these butchers...they will just downplay him).

But i would really like to read the acrobacies on the web to defend a different DR than Rand ?

[Yojimbo]

7 minutes ago, Deviations said:

See but for me charm is a huge issue.  This series was charming.  The main characters were each charming in their own way.  Great strengths, somewhat endearing foibles.  I don't see that in this version.  Maybe that's why scenes were sacrificed.  Maybe charm wasn't important to the show runner.

Well said.   I think a lot of those moments would help differentiate it tonally from GoT.   

[Elder_Haman]

13 minutes ago, Deviations said:

See but for me charm is a huge issue.  This series was charming.  The main characters were each charming in their own way.  Great strengths, somewhat endearing foibles.  I don't see that in this version.  Maybe that's why scenes were sacrificed.  Maybe charm wasn't important to the show runner.

"Charm" is an inherently subjective thing.

[Elder_Haman]

6 minutes ago, Yojimbo said:

Well said.   I think a lot of those moments would help differentiate it tonally from GoT.   

You don't find this show far different in tone to GoT?  Tonally, what do you find similar between the two?