Why The Wheel of Time season 2 will be better

[Elliot Edits]

When I released my non-book reader review of the trailer, I got a few comments from people who were so disappointed with the first season, they’ve completely written off season 2. Which I think, is a shame.

 

So I made a quick video to explain why I think season 2 will be better, and hopefully convince a few season 1 haters to give the show another chance.

 

I'd love to hear some of your reasons why season 2 will be an improvement in the comments!

[Agitel]

I haven't watched the video yet, though I plan to.

 

I definitely think this season can be much better, though whether a person likes it or not will depend on what bothered them about the previous season.

 

My thoughts on why it will be better than season one are:

• No COVID lockdown issues affecting directing, writing, and visual effects quality.
• No cast issues (hopefully)
• A lot of the initial investment is finished and more time and money can be spent on actual episodes.
• Opportunity to review what worked and didn't work in season one and adjust.
• More time for script writing without (hopefully) last minute rewrites due to circumstances.

Overall I think it'll be a much better executed package. I don't think there is reason for those who disagree with certain changes from the books to expect an about face on that.

 

Edit: I'll add YouTube comments later.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Agitel

[Agitel]

Sorry for the double post. I've now watched the video.

 

Again, I'll comment in YouTube as well, but each point you make is substantive and I agree very much. I especially like what you said about tGH being a better book than EotW. I haven't reflected on this in awhile, but during the run up and early episodes of S1, I did speak to EotW being a more awkward and difficult book to adapt to television. And that had completely slipped my mind until now, but it is absolutely valid. It's certainly an opportunity for a more directed and purposeful TV plot.

 

I haven't watched your channel before, but I'll add that I appreciate this video being focused, substantive, and to the point. It was not long winded like some things I've seen.

[Elliot Edits]

6 minutes ago, Agitel said:

Sorry for the double post. I've now watched the video.

 

Again, I'll comment in YouTube as well, but each point you make is substantive and I agree very much. I especially like what you said about tGH being a better book than EotW. I haven't reflected on this in awhile, but during the run up and early episodes of S1, I did speak to EotW being a more awkward and difficult book to adapt to television. And that had completely slipped my mind until now, but it is absolutely valid. It's certainly an opportunity for a more directed and purposeful TV plot.

 

I haven't watched your channel before, but I'll add that I appreciate this video being focused, substantive, and to the point. It was not long winded like some things I've seen.

I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I totally agree with your points too about production not being interrupted by unforeseen circumstance, and EotW being difficult to adapt. Overall, season 2 has a lot more going for it. Bring on September!

[Samt]

"Could WoT season 2 be better?" and "Will WoT season 2 be better?" are two different questions.  Absolutely it could be better.  But we have to consider that the people who greenlit the release of season 1 are still running the show.  They thought it was good until the public told them otherwise.  Why would we trust their judgment?  

[king of nowhere]

8 hours ago, Agitel said:

I definitely think this season can be much better, though whether a person likes it or not will depend on what bothered them about the previous season.t.

totally.
yes, there are a lot of things that could be improved and looks like they were improved. but if someone dislike the changes from the book, one will still dislike the tv show. in fact, S2 is bound to have even more changes, since they have to write a role for moiraine basically from scratch and they have to accomodate for the changes they already made. I'm cool with that, I knew this adaptation would come with major plot rewriting. but for those that didn't, S2 it's going to be worse.
i remember there was a guy in this forum who was furious for the sword of Tam lacking a couple fine details from its canon description; I bet he'd not like S2 no matter how much they improve.

[Lightfriendsocialmistress]

I’m hoping for the it gets better viewpoint if for no other reason than the books themselves sure did. It depends on the individual audience member and their perspective and capacity for open mindedness though, as always. IMO. 

[Lightfriendsocialmistress]

Wondering what will become of loial and crew based on the finale of season one. Did the trailer for season two ever show them?

Edited August 8, 2023 by Lightfriendsocialmistress

[DaddyFinn]

2 hours ago, Lightfriendsocialmistress said:

Wondering what will become of loial and crew based on the finale of season one. Did the trailer for season two ever show them?

Loial is seen with Perrin and shienarans in teasers&bts

[DojoToad]

4 hours ago, Lightfriendsocialmistress said:

Wondering what will become of loial and crew based on the finale of season one. Did the trailer for season two ever show them?

Loial did not appear to grow any taller between seasons.  🤣

[nsmallw]

The trailer laid out pretty well the apparent top plot arcs for most of the main characters. 

However, i am really curious as to what Mat and Elayne's arcs in season two will be like.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this ?

[Samt]

1 hour ago, nsmallw said:

The trailer laid out pretty well the apparent top plot arcs for most of the main characters. 

However, i am really curious as to what Mat and Elayne's arcs in season two will be like.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this ?

Well, in fairness, neither of them does much during The Great Hunt.  I think a good adaptation of WoT has to been comfortable with not all of the characters having something to do all of the time (literally every character is effectively absent for entire books in the series).  The need to give everyone something to do has already led to some questionable decisions.  It's realistic that sometimes people are healing, travelling, or doing other things that just don't make it into the larger story.

[DojoToad]

1 hour ago, Samt said:

Well, in fairness, neither of them does much during The Great Hunt.  I think a good adaptation of WoT has to been comfortable with not all of the characters having something to do all of the time (literally every character is effectively absent for entire books in the series).  The need to give everyone something to do has already led to some questionable decisions.  It's realistic that sometimes people are healing, travelling, or doing other things that just don't make it into the larger story.

They are also compressing the timeline from 14 books into 8 or fewer seasons.  There is something they can have all the major characters doing - assuming major characters in the books stay major in the show.

[Samt]

24 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

They are also compressing the timeline from 14 books into 8 or fewer seasons.  There is something they can have all the major characters doing - assuming major characters in the books stay major in the show.

That's fine.  But the question should be, "What needs to happen to tell the story?"  Not, "What can we have this character do so that the actor gets some screentime etc.?"  And the reality is that it seems the second question drove decisions in season 1 and will likely drive decisions in season 2.  That is a problem.  

 

Maybe they want to accelerate Elayne's political arc and show more of that early on.  Or maybe Mat needs to heal earlier to he can meet some foxes and snakes.  I can see how that might help compress the story.  But adding things so that the characters have something to do doesn't compress the story. 

[DojoToad]

5 minutes ago, Samt said:

That's fine.  But the question should be, "What needs to happen to tell the story?"  Not, "What can we have this character do so that the actor gets some screentime etc.?"  And the reality is that it seems the second question drove decisions in season 1 and will likely drive decisions in season 2.  That is a problem.  

 

Maybe they want to accelerate Elayne's political arc and show more of that early on.  Or maybe Mat needs to heal earlier to he can meet some foxes and snakes.  I can see how that might help compress the story.  But adding things so that the characters have something to do doesn't compress the story. 

Right, they did a lot of not compressing in S1...

[SinisterDeath]

53 minutes ago, Samt said:

Maybe they want to accelerate Elayne's political arc and show more of that early on.

S1 was clearly setting up the coup, which we'll possibly see as early as the end of S2 / or the Beginning of S3.

 

Book wise, That all went down during Book 4 when Rand was in the Aiel Wastes.
 

I can't recall if she escaped the tower in book 4 or 5, but she was definitely deposed in the 4th book.

Part way into the 5th book, she's been aimlessness travelling the countryside with Min, Leane and Logain, before finally stumbling upon Salidar.
Meanwhile the wonder girls were actively traveling with Luca basically to the same destination.

 

A LOT of the traveling crap with Siuan and the Wonder Girls can be completely cut to save time. What's important is the politics of the Tower Schism, Salidar, and what the wonder girls actually find in their travels. (The Kin)

What it boils down to; they need to set up the politics of the tower coup, how the wonder girls are going to be involved in showing that Aes Sedai aren't all knowing. This gives Elayne, Nynaeve, Siuan, Min, Leane and several other key characters something to do until Egwene comes back from the Wastes with Rand/Mat.

Perrin's obviously off doing Perrin stuff, and somehow they have to incorporate the other political situations throughout the world, with the machinations of the Forsaken without overwhelming the audience by hopping around from one story to the next, confusing the viewer by not knowing what's going on at any given moment, while balancing a cohesive plot/story that's condensed within a 60ish minute window....
You never want the audience to ask "Who the hell is this guy and why do I care about them?"

[Pandemonium]

i agree with this video.  Most of my friends that tried to watch season 1 didn't even finish the season.  I'm hoping season 2 is really good so I can try to convince them to give it another try.  

[zacz1987]

On 8/9/2023 at 4:11 AM, SinisterDeath said:

A LOT of the traveling crap with Siuan and the Wonder Girls can be completely cut to save time. What's important is the politics of the Tower Schism, Salidar, and what the wonder girls actually find in their travels. (The Kin)

While I agree a lot of the travelling will need to be cut, it does have the unfortunate side effect of making the world seem much smaller than it is. You then run into the issues that the final seasons of GOT had where characters somehow impossibly travel from one side of the world to the other in a matter of hours.

[SinisterDeath]

5 minutes ago, zacz1987 said:

You then run into the issues that the final seasons of GOT had where characters somehow impossibly travel from one side of the world to the other in a matter of hours.

That is true.. But unlike GOT that's actually possible in the later seasons of WOT. 😉 

[Rsmithboeing]

On 8/7/2023 at 12:10 PM, Samt said:

"Could WoT season 2 be better?" and "Will WoT season 2 be better?" are two different questions.  Absolutely it could be better.  But we have to consider that the people who greenlit the release of season 1 are still running the show.  They thought it was good until the public told them otherwise.  Why would we trust their judgment?  

Completely agree these same people went too far off from what was in the books that my expectations are low. Will I watch it? Probably but, I have very low beliefs it'll be any better. 

I hope they can at least stay true to the books in this season but, how can they recover and, stay true to the writer after season 1? They had Perrin kill a wife he didn't have in season 1 added lovers to others who weren't lovers "ever" in some cases. And, far more changes that weren't needed to shorten it for the series.

 

Low expectations indeed. 

But, hopefully they listened

Signed,

Sick to my stomach after season 1

[DojoToad]

12 hours ago, Pandemonium said:

i agree with this video.  Most of my friends that tried to watch season 1 didn't even finish the season.  I'm hoping season 2 is really good so I can try to convince them to give it another try.  

With you on this. Hoping S2 is good enough to pull me back in. 🤞

[Elder_Haman]

On 8/7/2023 at 12:10 PM, Samt said:

They thought it was good until the public told them otherwise.

I’m not sure you’re on solid ground here. “The public” is not the same as “hardcore fans of the book”. It’s also not the same as US viewers. 
 

By all accounts, S1 was extremely popular around the world. It’s also unlikely they would have green lit S3 already if the metrics proved that “the public” didn’t like it. 

[DojoToad]

4 hours ago, Elder_Haman said:

I’m not sure you’re on solid ground here. “The public” is not the same as “hardcore fans of the book”. It’s also not the same as US viewers. 
 

By all accounts, S1 was extremely popular around the world. It’s also unlikely they would have green lit S3 already if the metrics proved that “the public” didn’t like it. 

Very true. I didn't like it.  But I think overall it was a success.

[zacz1987]

On 8/12/2023 at 8:12 AM, SinisterDeath said:

That is true.. But unlike GOT that's actually possible in the later seasons of WOT. 😉 

Yes for certain characters but not for all. 

[Guire]

18 hours ago, Elder_Haman said:

I’m not sure you’re on solid ground here. “The public” is not the same as “hardcore fans of the book”. It’s also not the same as US viewers. 
 

By all accounts, S1 was extremely popular around the world. It’s also unlikely they would have green lit S3 already if the metrics proved that “the public” didn’t like it. 

I just dont know how to guage its popularity.  I think it was perfectly fine fantasy show. I just dont see much widespread public excitement and have zero trust in Amazon to give much accurate public info. I am probably not on correct sites to guage its popularity anyway.  Are there heavily trafficed fan sites centered on Asia or Europe? The Youtube , reddit, twitter sites specifically about show I have seen have passionate fans but the numbers seem pretty small.  My son and his friends youtube channel of them playing VR games gets more traffic then almost all the WoT channels.