How did the show hold up for non-fans watching with you?

[ArrylT]

On 11/23/2021 at 8:06 PM, ArrylT said:

So far of the 8 nom book readers that I know are watching/ going to 4 are hooked already ?, 1 hasn't started to watch yet and I haven't asked the others for their thoughts yet ?

 

Now up to 10 people that I know who are or will watch.  6 are definitely hooked on the show, 2 seem to be waiting for it to finish S1 so they can binge it all and the other 2 I haven't had the chance to hear from. 

 

Of them all only 3 were previously aware of the books (except maybe vaguely) prior to the show getting marketed 

 

3 are co-workers, 4 are friends who like fantasy/d&d and the rest are family.

Edited November 27, 2021 by ArrylT

[phoenixtrinity]

My husband has only experienced the books through me and basically doesn't know any major plot spoilers except for the obvious one in EotW. 

 

He is loving the show. He is surprisingly curious about everything. Sometimes he will catch me smiling at something said and start asking me questions I won't answer. He seems invested in the lore, too, especially Shadar Logoth and Mat's dagger. He asks me about the dagger every few minutes and he LOST it at the scene with Mat and the farmers...

 

 ?

 

[Harad the White]

A convo with an intelligent female newbie:

 

What did you think overall:

It was great. Like along the lines of LoTR, good vs. evil. Four friends on a quest. They got separated along the way. Hope there is a season 2.

 

What cornfused you:

Didn't understand the dreams. Things were cornfused, but some sorted out in episode 4. Didn't trust Liandrin from beginning. But she joined sisters in gentling Logain. What's what with the Gleeman? How can Logain have so much power? Nynaeve was awesome when she healed. The Children were so odd they didn't make a clear impression. 

 

Who is the Dragon Reborn:

Rand? Egwene? [Interesting how with all the misdirection...]

 

Watched it 1-4 in two days.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Harad the White

[Guire]

Reaction from wife.  Middle age non SF/Fantasy reader.  She first watched GoT at beginning of 2021 and has binged watched it twice.  She loves Witcher and kept up in series plot twists and time shifts better than I did.  Additional info we both spent a long time in  military and medical field.  Our reactions to things I think are highly colored by our life experiences.  She has never read books but knows some info from just talking to me about books for last 30 years.  

 

Over all she has enjoyed show slightly more than me.  She puts it below GoT and Witcher but has liked all episodes and would binge them all at once if available.  Her favorite characters so far are Lan and Rand. She has had trouble at times understanding how One Power works and what she is seeing on screen.  She is suspicious of Thom and his motives.  She was wondering why Warders were sitting around drinking while they had a high value prisoner under guard instead of being out patrolling ( our military background popping up).  She didn't understand Aes Sedai's general interest in NyN on last episode but could sense something was up.  Mat vomiting mashadar made us both go " GI bleed" "digested blood vomit" ( medical background response.  She had an "oh now I get it moment when Nyn went Super Saiyan in cave.  Oddly she has not really bonded with any of female characters yet.  She really loved Aria in GoT and Yennifer in Witcher so not sure if that is coming or not.  Siuan may be her girl.

[notpropaganda73]

On 11/27/2021 at 7:42 PM, phoenixtrinity said:

My husband has only experienced the books through me and basically doesn't know any major plot spoilers except for the obvious one in EotW. 

 

He is loving the show. He is surprisingly curious about everything. Sometimes he will catch me smiling at something said and start asking me questions I won't answer. He seems invested in the lore, too, especially Shadar Logoth and Mat's dagger. He asks me about the dagger every few minutes and he LOST it at the scene with Mat and the farmers...

 

 ?

 

My partner is getting really annoyed at me for smiling at things or going "oooh" when I recognise something from the books that has been done really well etc. After ep4 she tried to catch me out with quickfire questions about who the Dragon Reborn is and I just kept saying "we'll have to watch and find out" until eventually I thought she was going to be so angry she could channel like Nynaeve haha

 

She's really loving it, the world building in episode 4 was hard for her to follow in parts but we paused a couple of times so I could just explain in world stuff that's already in the show. She freaked out at the Fade scene!

[DojoToad]

My wife like the Thom fighting the Fade scene way more than me.

 

Fade from the books would have handed all 3 of them their guts in that scene where Thom is trying to get the boys out the door while fending off the sword - they're all bumping into each other, the door, the wall.

 

Fade would have had them down in 5 seconds - unless Rafe is dialing back their awesomeness.  Thom has great abilities - but this is a Fade!

[DaddyFinn]

1 hour ago, DojoToad said:

My wife like the Thom fighting the Fade scene way more than me.

 

Fade from the books would have handed all 3 of them their guts in that scene where Thom is trying to get the boys out the door while fending off the sword - they're all bumping into each other, the door, the wall.

 

Fade would have had them down in 5 seconds - unless Rafe is dialing back their awesomeness.  Thom has great abilities - but this is a Fade!

And somehow the boys and Thom(fade didn't care about him) got away in the books. Yes, they were in open space then and inside a building now but still..

[mogi68]

My mom liked Episode 4 and said that it piqued her interest in the series. 

 

During Rand's outburst in episode 2, she said "That one is going to be trouble, isn't he?". It was hard to keep a straight face ?

[phoenixtrinity]

49 minutes ago, mogi68 said:

During Rand's outburst in episode 2, she said "That one is going to be trouble, isn't he?". It was hard to keep a straight face 

This made me smile ? It is so cool to hear about non-book fans enjoying the show and little quips like this really highlight that.

[king of nowhere]

3 hours ago, DojoToad said:

Fade would have had them down in 5 seconds - unless Rafe is dialing back their awesomeness.  Thom has great abilities - but this is a Fade!

thom is established as a pretty badass guy, and myrdraals are on an even level with a baldemaster. in the books, i was surprised thom didn't win; i gave him a fair chance.

in the show, the fade is clearly superior. thom is hard pressed, he's doing his best but the myrdraal is blocking all his strikes with relative ease. including grabbing a thrown knife in midair, an impressive feat that showcases their speed.

I liked that fight, a lot.

[DojoToad]

1 minute ago, king of nowhere said:

thom is established as a pretty badass guy, and myrdraals are on an even level with a baldemaster. in the books, i was surprised thom didn't win; i gave him a fair chance.

in the show, the fade is clearly superior. thom is hard pressed, he's doing his best but the myrdraal is blocking all his strikes with relative ease. including grabbing a thrown knife in midair, an impressive feat that showcases their speed.

I liked that fight, a lot.

I saw no clear superiority.  If there had been, all 3 would have been on the floor in their own blood while acting like the three stooges trying to get out the door.  Even if Thom had been an even match one-on-one, all that bungling, running into each other, and his distraction trying to get them out the door would have been the end for all three of them.  What was the Fade doing every time Thom turned around telling Rand to get Mat out of there?

[DojoToad]

2 hours ago, DaddyFinn said:

And somehow the boys and Thom(fade didn't care about him) got away in the books. Yes, they were in open space then and inside a building now but still..

Given the right circumstances, with dozens if not hundreds of people panicking, I could be enough of a distraction to momentarily 'take out' a well trained assailant so that people I cared about could get a jump on their escape.  I'd get a dagger in the leg, or my hip dislocated for my trouble but the panic in the books was much more realistic depiction of this event than the show.

[king of nowhere]

19 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

I saw no clear superiority.  If there had been, all 3 would have been on the floor in their own blood while acting like the three stooges trying to get out the door.  Even if Thom had been an even match one-on-one, all that bungling, running into each other, and his distraction trying to get them out the door would have been the end for all three of them.  What was the Fade doing every time Thom turned around telling Rand to get Mat out of there?

I just watched the scene several times to try and see what you were seeing, but I don't.

first, when they scramble for the door, the myrdraal is still far; this lasts a few seconds, just enough time for it to climb down the stairs. then the fade approaches, and thom immediately turns to face it. a brief fight, then thom kicks the myrdraal away.

this gains the humans a few more seconds for the door. rand and mat can get out, while thom has to turn back to face the enemy again. the fade pushed thom against the door, closing it and blocking thom.

 

I've never seen a moment when the fade was there, getting a clean shot at anyone. nor have i seen any of all that bungling you describe; it lasts a few seconds, just enough for the fade to get downstairs, and thom is not tangled in it. in fact, rand and mat never even came close to the myrdraal

[Skipp]

8 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

I just watched the scene several times to try and see what you were seeing, but I don't.

first, when they scramble for the door, the myrdraal is still far; this lasts a few seconds, just enough time for it to climb down the stairs. then the fade approaches, and thom immediately turns to face it. a brief fight, then thom kicks the myrdraal away.

this gains the humans a few more seconds for the door. rand and mat can get out, while thom has to turn back to face the enemy again. the fade pushed thom against the door, closing it and blocking thom.

 

I've never seen a moment when the fade was there, getting a clean shot at anyone. nor have i seen any of all that bungling you describe; it lasts a few seconds, just enough for the fade to get downstairs, and thom is not tangled in it. in fact, rand and mat never even came close to the myrdraal

 

I don't think he came down the stairs, I think the fade did his shadowwalk to the ground floor.

[Guire]

14 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

thom is established as a pretty badass guy, and myrdraals are on an even level with a baldemaster. in the books, i was surprised thom didn't win; i gave him a fair chance.

 

Not sure if you are referring to us suave older gentlemen with less need to buy hair products or the beef cattle common to Texas.  Either way I am digging that Fades are at Baldemaster level.

 

Our swords are marked with the heroic baldy to make our enemies quake in fear.

 

[Deviations]

My wife hasn't read the books and is gamely watching with me.  She currently has is WELL below Game of Thrones.  There is a fair amount unexplained at this point and she doesn't really have a favorite character yet.

 

As I posted in another thread, I've been banned from saying anything like "what the hell?" or "THAT wasn't in the book!"  So I really can't say much while we're watching......

[Vambram]

As I noted on another thread, I have converted my non-book reader brother to watching The Wheel of Time series. He is enjoying the series. Yesterday, I learned that a young soldier on my team watched Episodes 1 -4 over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. Although he is hooked for the rest of this season, he told me that he likes "The Witcher" series on NetFlix better. His current theory as to who is the Dragon Reborn is Nynaeve. He thinks that the the "ginger guy" won't be the Dragon Reborn but will be bonded to Egwene. 

He is interested in reading the books, however, I told him to not start reading EoTW until after the end of season 1 on Amazon. I don't want him to get any spoilers from the books before he finishes watching season 1. 

[Guire]

52 minutes ago, Deviations said:

My wife hasn't read the books and is gamely watching with me.  She currently has is WELL below Game of Thrones.  There is a fair amount unexplained at this point and she doesn't really have a favorite character yet.

 

As I posted in another thread, I've been banned from saying anything like "what the hell?" or "THAT wasn't in the book!"  So I really can't say much while we're watching......

I was pretty tired the night first three dropped.  I had a few gulps of whiskey.  Snuggled up to wife to watch.  And then screamed at TV for 2 1/2 hours.  Worst "NO" was when wolf licked Perrins injury and I thought crap they are going to make this a werewolf thing with trollocs. I have rewatched now multiple times and just going with flow that they have a plan. Also watching episodes first time alone so I can rant if I want.

[Dozer]

Have re watched with a friend who has not read the books though he is an avid fantasy reader in general from Forgotten Realms to Dune.  His appreciation for the genre has allowed him to enjoy the show as I am beginning to and his assessment an 8 so far.  He and my wife are falling for the DR so-called mystery and are having the debate between Egwene or Perrin. 

[JaimAybara]

Watched the show again with a non-book reader. He kept making predictions and then looking over for hints, so as far as playing their cards right I think they did. It’s becoming a big water cooler guessing game and discussion. 

[JackieQ]

4 hours ago, GanoesParan said:

As I noted on another thread, I have converted my non-book reader brother to watching The Wheel of Time series. He is enjoying the series. Yesterday, I learned that a young soldier on my team watched Episodes 1 -4 over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. Although he is hooked for the rest of this season, he told me that he likes "The Witcher" series on NetFlix better. His current theory as to who is the Dragon Reborn is Nynaeve. He thinks that the the "ginger guy" won't be the Dragon Reborn but will be bonded to Egwene. 

He is interested in reading the books, however, I told him to not start reading EoTW until after the end of season 1 on Amazon. I don't want him to get any spoilers from the books before he finishes watching season 1. 

This is awesome. I love hearing non-book reader perspectives on the show. My friend said, and I quote: 

"I've seen a lot of anime. Rand is the only redhead of the main cast, so he's probably the Dragon Reborn."

People come up with theories from everywhere I guess!

[Wassup]

On 11/29/2021 at 12:43 PM, DojoToad said:

I saw no clear superiority.  If there had been, all 3 would have been on the floor in their own blood while acting like the three stooges trying to get out the door.  Even if Thom had been an even match one-on-one, all that bungling, running into each other, and his distraction trying to get them out the door would have been the end for all three of them.  What was the Fade doing every time Thom turned around telling Rand to get Mat out of there?

I kind of agree with you a little bit.  I mean, in TGH ...

Spoiler

Rand saw a Fade take care of, what 6 trained borderland soldiers in a hallway in Fal Dara by itself.  Its speed in a close quarters melee would be difficult to face.

However, I did like the scene overall and the impression it will give non-readers.  I think Thom was misjudged as a worthy adversary by the Fade in both the books and the show.  That is how he was able to buy time for the boys to escape.

 

I think it would have been better if they had the fade appear right after the Thom killed the darkfriend and they decided to leave for the reasons you pointed out.  But, we would not have gotten the story of Owen (very important imho) and we would not have gotten the scene with Matt and the dagger (non=readers need some signs of the dagger's affect on Matt).  I am not sure they needed to introduce the Grinwells and then wipe them out.  

[Rand the Plumber]

My husband, my dearest life-partner, the only light in my declining years, the joy of my encroaching decrepitude, my one and only against whom none can compare, who is watching me type this ^{(send help, I'm trapped)} only admits to having read two fantasy novels in his life.  He further states that he only read Lord of the Rings because he's a linguist and Tolkien's philological predilections have always fascinated him.  He broadly dislikes fantasy films or TV shows, and he didn't make it to the end of season 1 of GoT because he thought it was too depressing and bloodthirsty.

 

He has now watched four episodes of WoT, and has already planned his Friday evening around watching episode 5.  My personal goal is to get him to admit that he actually likes a fantasy story, but he is still being bloody-minded about that.  Nevertheless, we are united in our fervent desire to see more Lan and more Perrin.

 

I think that counts as a win.  So far, at least.

[TheChief]

My husband was forced to watch (by me). Fantasy is NOT his cup of tea.

 

He patiently sat next to me eps 1-3. Only reaction is laughing at Mat's jokes. Likes Mat and can't stand Rand. Guesses at DR; ep 2 - "Perrin?", ep 3 - "Mat or Egwene?"

 

After ep 3 - "That guy Rand is such a dud, and hasn't done anything interesting".

 

At the end of ep 4 - "Ok, now it's getting good".  And of course he's certain Nyneve is the DR. ?

[Rand the Plumber]

2 minutes ago, TheChief said:

My husband was forced to watch (by me). Fantasy is NOT his cup of tea.

 

He patiently sat next to me eps 1-3. Only reaction is laughing at Mat's jokes. Likes Mat and can't stand Rand. Guesses at DR; ep 2 - "Perrin?", ep 3 - "Mat or Egwene?"

 

After ep 3 - "That guy Rand is such a dud, and hasn't done anything interesting".

 

At the end of ep 4 - "Ok, now it's getting good".  And of course he's certain Nyneve is the DR. ?

 

Mine thinks Mat is annoying and really dislikes him, and that Perrin is eye-candy but dull.  He decided that Rand is the DR after the door-breaking incident, and thinks that it is silly that he hasn't featured all that much since.  Nynaeve is, according to him, going to go on to have a pivotal role in the story, and will be the DR if Rand turns out not to be.  Egwene is a pointless waste-of-space.  Tom has "hidden depths".