Season 2 casting announcements

[DaddyFinn]

Awesome casting! Not anywhere close how I imagined her in my head but who cares? 

[Andra]

5 hours ago, Skipp said:

 

Aiel are certainly described as Tall, pale, Red/fair haired people but ultimately in the grand design of the thing their paleness is not what makes them unique.  Many people of the westlands are pale to very pale but that is not what people mention with Rand.  Aside from the time that Elaida says he is too pale to be from the TR, other than that it is always his hair/height and sometimes eye colour.  Not to mention that Rand is only half Aiel so any inconsistencies with his skin colour can be attributed to this mother. 

 

The show has already mentioned that they are going to focus more on hair, clothing and accents rather other details.  So considering that Ayoola is 5'10-5'11, has red hair and is from Ireland(hoping they use that accent for the Aiel) she does meet the requirement for the Aiel.

 

Now if the show comes around and the Aiel turn out to be super diverse, tall and short Bright Red and Dark black hair being common then I will be certainly disappointed.  But the performances matter more than the looks to me.

It's not just other people in the westlands (and Shienar) thinking Rand is Aiel on sight.  Loial did as well.  Loial gives him a formal Aiel greeting, and is puzzled that he doesn't respond to it.  And Someshta (who knew many Da'shain Aiel personally) actually says this when he first sees him:

Strange clothes you wear, Child of the Dragon. Has the Wheel turned so far? Do the People of the Dragon return to the First Covenant? But you wear a sword. That is neither now nor then.

 

Not to mention the fact that the first time actual Aiel see him, they think he's one of them.  And are appalled at his sword.

 

Also, Elaida didn't just remark that his skin wasn't dark enough to be from the Two Rivers.  She intentionally exposed his skin to show that it was remarkably pale where not touched by the sun.  Because that was what she was expecting to see, given his height and hair color.

 

And we know that Loial at least has the same impression in the show as he did in the book.  Going on at some length about him being "an Aiel who says he's not an Aiel" and using his looks - specifically his hair color (not his dress or speech) as a primary defining characteristic.

 

----

Given the fact that the show doesn't have all sorts of random people mistaking Rand for Aiel the way they do in the books, it wouldn't be surprising if the Aiel in the show didn't have the same consistency of appearance as in the book, either.

 

But that bit from Loial makes it sound like they were intended to.  Which would make the amount of variation between these two actors an internal inconsistency in the show.  Her hair color is ok, and apparently her height is as well.  But little else matches the way Aiel are described in the books, or how Rand looks in the show.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Andra

[Skipp]

34 minutes ago, Andra said:

It's not just other people in the westlands (and Shienar) thinking Rand is Aiel on sight.  Loial did as well.  Loial gives him a formal Aiel greeting, and is puzzled that he doesn't respond to it.  And Someshta (who knew many Da'shain Aiel personally) actually says this when he first sees him:

Strange clothes you wear, Child of the Dragon. Has the Wheel turned so far? Do the People of the Dragon return to the First Covenant? But you wear a sword. That is neither now nor then.

 

Not to mention the fact that the first time actual Aiel see him, they think he's one of them.  And are appalled at his sword.

 

Also, Elaida didn't just remark that his skin wasn't dark enough to be from the Two Rivers.  She intentionally exposed his skin to show that it was remarkably pale where not touched by the sun.  Because that was what she was expecting to see, given his height and hair color.

 

And we know that Loial at least has the same impression in the show as he did in the book.  Going on at some length about him being "an Aiel who says he's not an Aiel" and using his looks - specifically his hair color (not his dress or speech) as a primary defining characteristic.

 

----

Given the fact that the show doesn't have all sorts of random people mistaking Rand for Aiel the way they do in the books, it wouldn't be surprising if the Aiel in the show didn't have the same consistency of appearance as in the book, either.

 

But that bit from Loial makes it sound like they were intended to.  Which would make the amount of variation between these two actors an internal inconsistency in the show.  Her hair color is ok, and apparently her height is as well.  But little else matches the way Aiel are described in the books, or how Rand looks in the show.

 

Thom specifically mentions Red hair being rare outside the waste in the show.  Between that and Rand's height would explain why Loial thought he was an Aiel.  So that wouldn't be an inconsistency in the show.

 

They certainly haven't had people think Rand is Aiel in the show outside of Loial but who else mentions it in the book?  Gawyn, Elaida and Bryne?  Possibly Shienarians but even then I am not sure if that point was brought up until book 2.  We will have to see how the show plays it.

 

If they decide to make the Aiel characteristics being Tall with Red/blonde hair I am not going to regret the lose of eye colour which the show is already ignoring because who cares.  If they decide to cast darker skin actors for Aiel and give them red/blonde hair I am perfectly fine with that.

[DaddyFinn]

5 minutes ago, Skipp said:

If they decide to cast darker skin actors for Aiel and give them red/blonde hair I am perfectly fine with that.

Exactly this. I couldn't care less about aiel skin color. It wouldn't be "internally inconsistent" that Rand looks different than some others if the hair color was the primary defining feature of aiel.

[DojoToad]

5 hours ago, DaddyFinn said:

Exactly this. I couldn't care less about aiel skin color. It wouldn't be "internally inconsistent" that Rand looks different than some others if the hair color was the primary defining feature of aiel.

If…

[DaddyFinn]

34 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

If…

I don't care if the show aiel are more "diverse" than the book aiel. As long as there's some "unifying features" that almost all aiel share. Red(dish) hair should be one of them.

 

The most important thing will be how the aiel culture is portrayed. 

[DojoToad]

1 hour ago, DaddyFinn said:

I don't care if the show aiel are more "diverse" than the book aiel.

Neither does Rafe. 

[Humbugged2]

3 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

Neither does Rafe. 

 

Bit like Daryl McCormack both are Irish and mixed .Girl is from West Cork

[VooDooNut]

I always thought Aiel culture, traditions and honor were more defining features than their physical appearances in the books. If the show explores the former more than relying on the latter, I'll be happy.

[SinisterDeath]

On the bright side of casting people with more melanin then you're average Irish Ginger, they won't have to buy an oil tankers worth of 120 SPF sunscreen to prevent everyone looking like Zoidberg.

[Skipp]

Ayoola posted this tease to her instagram

 

 

[DojoToad]

If they get Aiel fight choreography right, they would have a huge improvement over season 1

[king of nowhere]

While aiel are supposed to be pale of skin, they spend a lot of time in the sun, so I would expect their faces and hands to be tanned. they would be very pale under the cadin'sor.

so you can easily justify a lighter or darker aiel by the amount of sun he's taken.

14 hours ago, DojoToad said:

If they get Aiel fight choreography right, they would have a huge improvement over season 1

season 1 did contain aiel fight coreography, and it was acclaimed as one of the most spectacular moments. they only need to keep doing the same

 

[DojoToad]

8 minutes ago, king of nowhere said:

While aiel are supposed to be pale of skin, they spend a lot of time in the sun, so I would expect their faces and hands to be tanned. they would be very pale under the cadin'sor.

so you can easily justify a lighter or darker aiel by the amount of sun he's taken.

season 1 did contain aiel fight coreography, and it was acclaimed as one of the most spectacular moments. they only need to keep doing the same

 

Right. I heard that the Blood Snow was awesome. Too bad the rest of the fighting early on was so weak. 

[DaddyFinn]

58 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

Right. I heard that the Blood Snow was awesome. Too bad the rest of the fighting early on was so weak. 

See for yourself.

 

https://youtu.be/ZsTghNRd8mE

 

1 hour ago, king of nowhere said:

they would be very pale under the cadin'sor.

Perhaps, though aiel tend to get naked now and then

 

 

 

 

 

[DojoToad]

1 hour ago, DaddyFinn said:

See for yourself.

 

https://youtu.be/ZsTghNRd8mE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the link. The scene was very well done. More like that in season 2, who knows…?

[VooDooNut]

3 hours ago, DojoToad said:

Thanks for the link. The scene was very well done. More like that in season 2, who knows…?

The director for that episode expressed a lot of interest in the technology used to film that scene, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of the same in future seasons.

[DojoToad]

1 hour ago, VooDooNut said:

The director for that episode expressed a lot of interest in the technology used to film that scene, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of the same in future seasons.

Technology certainly helps, but I was referring to actual combat training - the actor playing the Aiel has obviously had martial arts training, and she was awesome.

 

I don't expect the main actors to have years of training, but some would help immensely.  And extras and minor characters could be pulled from folks that have had more extensive training.

 

I don't know if Matt Damon has extensive training, but he had enough to look convincing in the Bourne movies.  Wesley Snipes has had extensive training and it showed in the Blade movies - not the greatest movies but the fight choreography for the most part looked good.

 

Having more well trained actors/extras on set could really up the fight scenes - making the main actors look badass while keeping them safe.

[Andra]

On 4/22/2022 at 11:44 PM, Skipp said:

 

Thom specifically mentions Red hair being rare outside the waste in the show.  Between that and Rand's height would explain why Loial thought he was an Aiel.  So that wouldn't be an inconsistency in the show.

 

They certainly haven't had people think Rand is Aiel in the show outside of Loial but who else mentions it in the book?  Gawyn, Elaida and Bryne?  Possibly Shienarians but even then I am not sure if that point was brought up until book 2.  We will have to see how the show plays it.

 

If they decide to make the Aiel characteristics being Tall with Red/blonde hair I am not going to regret the lose of eye colour which the show is already ignoring because who cares.  If they decide to cast darker skin actors for Aiel and give them red/blonde hair I am perfectly fine with that.

In the book, Thom implies Rand looks like an Aiel when they first meet.  Several people in Caemlyn besides Loial do as well.  Rand notices people in the Palace reacting strangely to him (even beyond the heron-mark sword) and asks why no one believed him when he said where he was from. That's when Gawyn tells him "wrap a shoufa around your head, and you would be the image of an Aielman." 

 

Multiple Shienarans react to his appearance as well.  But the most striking example in EotW was the quote I included from Someshta (aka the Green Man) at the Eye.

 

It is also true that we see much more of it in book 2 than in book 1.  But that's primarily because he spends most of book 1 around people who have never seen an Aiel.  It's the ones who have who think he is/looks like one.  Most of the people he spends time with in tGH are very familiar with Aiel.

 

It's possible that we will see more of this in season 2, since the bits where it would have happened in season 1 have almost all been cut.   Though since he has now headed off on his own in the show, it's hard to see how he'll ever end up in those places again.

 

The internal inconsistency I was talking about in the show was Loial's insistence that Rand was Aiel despite his denial, based only on his appearance.  An appearance that Rand shares with Tigraine as seen in the "Blood Snow" scene, but is nowhere near as similar to Ayoola's as that insistence would imply.

[Andra]

3 hours ago, DojoToad said:

I don't know if Matt Damon has extensive training, but he had enough to look convincing in the Bourne movies.  Wesley Snipes has had extensive training and it showed in the Blade movies - not the greatest movies but the fight choreography for the most part looked good.

Oh, yes.

Damon spent months training for each of the Bourne movies.  Apparently, they even changed what styles were choreographed between films.  So he had to learn new stuff each time.

 

Another example was the original Matrix.  Intensive martial arts training for all the primary characters, not just for the wire work.

[DojoToad]

4 hours ago, Andra said:

Oh, yes.

Damon spent months training for each of the Bourne movies.  Apparently, they even changed what styles were choreographed between films.  So he had to learn new stuff each time.

 

Another example was the original Matrix.  Intensive martial arts training for all the primary characters, not just for the wire work.

And it was well worth the time and money. 
 

WoT on the other hand, $10 million an episode over multiple seasons and it looks like they spent about $8 per actor - and it shows. 

[Raal Gurniss]

5 hours ago, DojoToad said:

And it was well worth the time and money. 
 

WoT on the other hand, $10 million an episode over multiple seasons and it looks like they spent about $8 per actor - and it shows. 

I am sure they spent much more than that! 
 

It looked more like $20 per actor.

[Jaccsen]

5 hours ago, DojoToad said:

And it was well worth the time and money. 
 

WoT on the other hand, $10 million an episode over multiple seasons and it looks like they spent about $8 per actor - and it shows. 

 

I am sure all the money is going to Morraine.

 

To be fair, they episodes leave no room for character development or letting the actors fit into the character. They give major time to minor characters or plots that never appeared in the novels such as the warder funeral. They wasted several episodes that could have focused more on the Two Rivers cast.

 

I stopped watching after episode 6 and I doubt that I will continue to S2 unless people tell me it is amazing and a course correction. The Aviendha casting tells me that there is no course correction.

[Andra]

10 hours ago, DojoToad said:

And it was well worth the time and money. 
 

WoT on the other hand, $10 million an episode over multiple seasons and it looks like they spent about $8 per actor - and it shows. 

With the single exception of Shaiel/Tigraine.

 

The rest suffer more by comparison with her than they would if they were all you saw.

[Rmp]

1 hour ago, Andra said:

With the single exception of Shaiel/Tigraine.

 

 

It still blows my mind that even Thom got a better choreographed fight scene than Lan.