Wheel of Time Season 3 - Full Season Discussion

[Elder_Haman]

Just now, Mailman said:

As are you.

Meaning what, exactly?

[Mailman]

1 minute ago, Elder_Haman said:

Meaning what, exactly?

Exactly the same as you meant.

[Sabio]

On 4/30/2025 at 3:22 PM, Elder_Haman said:

I can’t think of an episode this season that I would consider “a dud”. I can’t point to a truly weak episode this season the way I can with the first two. 

For me E5 and E7 were pretty bad, even the last episode had good moments but issues such as the  Moiraine and Lanfear fight really hurt the episode.  It was a very uneven season IMo where you would have good episodes like 4 and 6 then follow each up with probably the worst ones of the season.

[Elder_Haman]

4 hours ago, Sabio said:

For me E5 and E7 were pretty bad, even the last episode had good moments but issues such as the  Moiraine and Lanfear fight really hurt the episode.  It was a very uneven season IMo where you would have good episodes like 4 and 6 then follow each up with probably the worst ones of the season.

To each his own, I guess. I thought 7 was fantastic.  I would say 2 and 5 were the 'worst' episodes. I didn't dislike the Moiraine/Lanfear fight at all. I thought it maybe went on a beat or two too long, but I didn't find anything terribly wrong with it.

[BookMattBetterThanShow]

I think this season has brought me back from the brink and I am really looking forward to season 4. I thought the weakest episode for season 3 for me were E5 and E7. I was really looking forward to battle in E7 and was disappointed, not saying it was bad, I was just hoping for so much more. 

[Kaleb]

No duds at all, but E5 was a "back to normal" episode after E4 adapted my favorite chapters in all of fantasy. I mean, reading those chapters and then going back to Perrin arriving in the Two Rivers via the Ways was a bit of a comedown too.

 

I'm a huge fan of the show and have never really experienced any whole episodes as unworthy. Some scenes for sure felt rushed or poorly written/executed (Nynaeve's burnout for example), but each episode in all three seasons has been so full of things that just make my love for this world bloom all over again.

[Flinn_Myth]

New poster, long time book fan here. I'll just say that I don't like the re-appropriation of any original work, that changes the fundamental theme of the original. I guess you can call me a purist of sorts, but so much from my youth has been brought back and twisted over the years, and to have so much that I treasured in TV/ movies/ books changed to satisfy new cultural expectations and norms, outside of the original generation it came from, seems very disingenuous and lacking in respect for the original author'(s) work, aside from the lack of originality and innovation.

 

WoT (books) had fantasy aspects that brought more to the table than dark-sided humanity as a main story threat, even if some of it originated from humanity itself (i.e., boring into the Dark One's seal, Trollocs/Fades/Grey Men created by Forsaken, Mashadar). Even the more supernatural "light-sided/ Creator" aspects have their meaning lessened (i.e., the Pattern and Ta'veren reference to the 3 boys, the interaction between Rand and the Creator at the Eye of the World, the sky battle scene at Falme). Each of those things from the book took on a life of their own, and brought their own independent sinister or holy feel.

Everything in the show so far, and even more so in Season 3, places most of the onus on human-related tropes of good and evil. Minus the death of Melindhra (which actually could still be rather assigned to the breaking of her dark oaths by refusing a direct order from a Forsaken, rather than attributed to the Dark One), all the main focus is on human threats, without the supernatural darkness existing in the background. Even the Bubble of Evil concept from the book was something explained away as Lanfear's doing.

 

Aside from that, the peoples and cultures in the show have even less distinction now than in the books, aside from a change in wardrobe. Every place visited so far is multi-ethnic, with no real distinguishing cultures or even languages/ accents. I don't think RJ did a great job of creating unique place identities to begin with, but the aspects he did present have been lessened in the show (i.e., Egwene lying to the Wise Ones and Toh only being referenced for Rand to feel bad after killing the child, and more time spent on a bawdy song than explaining how Tanchico is different than any other place [like, what is the Panarch]).

Even those touching the True Power (including Rand, unless he was somehow taught by Sammael in half-a-show's timeline before he was killed after being captured) don't need to be bothered with learning how to use it, or learning from others. They just "feel" it, or picture the end result they want, and it all works out; more magic willpower than technical use of weaves. Healing arrow wounds can be done by a couple girls after only a "you are the bud" speech, and a prophesized Dragon Reborn can be "proven" by just channeling a fire dragon in the sky. Tar Valon culture and women Aes Sedai mean far less in the show, and are shown as emotional and impulsive, rather than composed and calculating (a unique, organized body, on a national scale, to be reckoned with, and respected/ feared), as in the books.

 

Overall, I think the show is getting better, if it were something on it's own, or based on a "re-telling" of the books. As a visual representation of the books though, it is only getting worse.

And in either case there are an increasing number of plot holes and contradictions, as well as obvious direction to just move the story forward (i.e., Sammael the greatest war-tactician who can only think of a direct attack with a Power-Hammer), rather than explaining reasons why or presenting it without contradicting events in previous shows. As a result, the Ogier have effectively been written out, the Seanchan threat dealt with, no more wolf interaction for Perrin, no Birgitte, Padan Fain and Luc/Slayer are a non-threat, no Salidar and the two Towers (along with more prophecy by Nicola), and the Last Battle will likely be a showdown between the remaining Forsaken (namely Lanfear) against Rand and Egwene.

 

As a bit of an aside, is Lanfear supposed to be using the True Power at the end (black threads surrounding her during the battle with Moraine)?

Edited May 12 by Flinn_Myth
Added Padan Fain, Salidar, and Sammael

[Tephulis]

1 hour ago, Flinn_Myth said:

New poster, long time book fan here. I'll just say that I don't like the re-appropriation of any original work, that changes the fundamental theme of the original. I guess you can call me a purist of sorts, but so much from my youth has been brought back and twisted over the years, and to have so much that I treasured in TV/ movies/ books changed to satisfy new cultural expectations and norms, outside of the original generation it came from, seems very disingenuous and lacking in respect for the original author'(s) work, aside from the lack of originality and innovation.

I can totally agree.  I started reading the books when the Dragon Reborn was released with so many re-reads since then, as well as listening to the audiobooks 5 times through.  If I never read the books, I would probably think the series was awesome, but I have had soooo many disappointments through the watching.  Rand was supposed to earn his heron mark with a sword fight, not a 2 second destruction with the power.  When is Perrin going to show his mastery of the Dream World?  Are they going to put Rand in the box?  Are they ever going to say Saidar and Saidin?  When are they going to start pronouncing people/places/things correctly?  To me, the audiobooks were produced when RJ was alive so that is the canon on the correct pronunciations.  I could go on and on, but as a WoT fan I guess I should just be happy a show is being produced, no matter how much it is being changed (botched!)...

[Turin Turambar]

7 hours ago, Flinn_Myth said:

New poster, long time book fan here. I'll just say that I don't like the re-appropriation of any original work, that changes the fundamental theme of the original. I guess you can call me a purist of sorts, but so much from my youth has been brought back and twisted over the years, and to have so much that I treasured in TV/ movies/ books changed to satisfy new cultural expectations and norms, outside of the original generation it came from, seems very disingenuous and lacking in respect for the original author'(s) work, aside from the lack of originality and innovation.

 

WoT (books) had fantasy aspects that brought more to the table than dark-sided humanity as a main story threat, even if some of it originated from humanity itself (i.e., boring into the Dark One's seal, Trollocs/Fades/Grey Men created by Forsaken, Mashadar). Even the more supernatural "light-sided/ Creator" aspects have their meaning lessened (i.e., the Pattern and Ta'veren reference to the 3 boys, the interaction between Rand and the Creator at the Eye of the World, the sky battle scene at Falme). Each of those things from the book took on a life of their own, and brought their own independent sinister or holy feel.

Everything in the show so far, and even more so in Season 3, places most of the onus on human-related tropes of good and evil. Minus the death of Melindhra (which actually could still be rather assigned to the breaking of her dark oaths by refusing a direct order from a Forsaken, rather than attributed to the Dark One), all the main focus is on human threats, without the supernatural darkness existing in the background. Even the Bubble of Evil concept from the book was something explained away as Lanfear's doing.

 

Aside from that, the peoples and cultures in the show have even less distinction now than in the books, aside from a change in wardrobe. Every place visited so far is multi-ethnic, with no real distinguishing cultures or even languages/ accents. I don't think RJ did a great job of creating unique place identities to begin with, but the aspects he did present have been lessened in the show (i.e., Egwene lying to the Wise Ones and Toh only being referenced for Rand to feel bad after killing the child, and more time spent on a bawdy song than explaining how Tanchico is different than any other place [like, what is the Panarch]).

Even those touching the True Power (including Rand, unless he was somehow taught by Sammael in half-a-show's timeline before he was killed after being captured) don't need to be bothered with learning how to use it, or learning from others. They just "feel" it, or picture the end result they want, and it all works out; more magic willpower than technical use of weaves. Healing arrow wounds can be done by a couple girls after only a "you are the bud" speech, and a prophesized Dragon Reborn can be "proven" by just channeling a fire dragon in the sky. Tar Valon culture and women Aes Sedai mean far less in the show, and are shown as emotional and impulsive, rather than composed and calculating (a unique, organized body, on a national scale, to be reckoned with, and respected/ feared), as in the books.

 

Overall, I think the show is getting better, if it were something on it's own, or based on a "re-telling" of the books. As a visual representation of the books though, it is only getting worse.

And in either case there are an increasing number of plot holes and contradictions, as well as obvious direction to just move the story forward (i.e., Sammael the greatest war-tactician who can only think of a direct attack with a Power-Hammer), rather than explaining reasons why or presenting it without contradicting events in previous shows. As a result, the Ogier have effectively been written out, the Seanchan threat dealt with, no more wolf interaction for Perrin, no Birgitte, Padan Fain and Luc/Slayer are a non-threat, no Salidar and the two Towers (along with more prophecy by Nicola), and the Last Battle will likely be a showdown between the remaining Forsaken (namely Lanfear) against Rand and Egwene.

 

As a bit of an aside, is Lanfear supposed to be using the True Power at the end (black threads surrounding her during the battle with Moraine)?

Last first, that is Lanfear using the True Power. It is basically the essence of the Dark one. I think it is depicted pretty well. You can see her movements are unnatural and she appears more angry/agitated than when she uses Saidar. Almost as if she isn't really totally in control, but becoming a conduit for that energy to be released into the world.

 

I am enjoying the show on its own merits, with some quibbling ( most of which was driven by the real world difficulties of COVID,writer's strike, actor leaving, budget and time allocated). To get everything we wanted from any adaptation that didn't have Star Wars money to throw into it was unrealistic. This series is HUGE, even if you take some things many find dull or unnecessary. Some storylines have to be cut. I think the Ogier being one that makes sense from a time/budget viewpoint if you weigh that against their impact on the story. I love Loial and would love to have him sidekick his way through the rest of the series, but to do his story justice means a large amount of resources in order to get how many actors into Ogir make up? What's the ultimate payoff to it? It's not fun to crunch the numbers and make those kind of calls. Many thought Loial wouldn't even be in the show at all. I'm just glad we got to see him even if he wasn't here as long as we wished (and didn't look exactly as we hoped). I love he got a heroic ending, in those last moments they showed the strength of the Ogier in their righteous anger. I thought it was very well done.

 

[Mailman]

19 minutes ago, Turin Turambar said:

Last first, that is Lanfear using the True Power. It is basically the essence of the Dark one. I think it is depicted pretty well. You can see her movements are unnatural and she appears more angry/agitated than when she uses Saidar. Almost as if she isn't really totally in control, but becoming a conduit for that energy to be released into the world.

 

I am enjoying the show on its own merits, with some quibbling ( most of which was driven by the real world difficulties of COVID,writer's strike, actor leaving, budget and time allocated). To get everything we wanted from any adaptation that didn't have Star Wars money to throw into it was unrealistic. This series is HUGE, even if you take some things many find dull or unnecessary. Some storylines have to be cut. I think the Ogier being one that makes sense from a time/budget viewpoint if you weigh that against their impact on the story. I love Loial and would love to have him sidekick his way through the rest of the series, but to do his story justice means a large amount of resources in order to get how many actors into Ogir make up? What's the ultimate payoff to it? It's not fun to crunch the numbers and make those kind of calls. Many thought Loial wouldn't even be in the show at all. I'm just glad we got to see him even if he wasn't here as long as we wished (and didn't look exactly as we hoped). I love he got a heroic ending, in those last moments they showed the strength of the Ogier in their righteous anger. I thought it was very well done.

 

I'm still not sure about the true power stuff, it could be or maybe it could not be. If so does it mean that the true power is visible to a woman wielding Saidar?

 

I think it the manner in which the existing story lines are being managed and the extensive additional story lines have taken time and resources away from other areas that is the biggest issue for most people. I don't think I have actually seen anyone advocating for a direct 1 for 1 reproduction of the books from either side of the fence.

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

We do however see a near unending procession of people with completely unrealistic expectations who are bitter that these expectations have been so cruelly dashed. 

 

I totally understand the disappointment; however I will never understand the expectations that people have for a planned series of eight seasons of eight episodes. I will never understand the unwillingness to understand the difficulties involved. And nor will I ever understand the willingness to personally attack those involved with the show. 

[Mailman]

6 minutes ago, HeavyHalfMoonBlade said:

We do however see a near unending procession of people with completely unrealistic expectations who are bitter that these expectations have been so cruelly dashed. 

 

I totally understand the disappointment; however I will never understand the expectations that people have for a planned series of eight seasons of eight episodes. I will never understand the unwillingness to understand the difficulties involved. And nor will I ever understand the willingness to personally attack those involved with the show. 

If we are using this board as an example then I would hardly describe it as an unending procession. Maybe it is different on other apps but I am not active on any of them so I don't know. This board has a definite lean that is not what you describe.

 

Probably the only other places I see reactions are IMDB reviews and Youtube and both of those also seem to skew heavily towards show positivity.

[Tephulis]

12 hours ago, HeavyHalfMoonBlade said:

the expectations that people have for a planned series of eight seasons of eight episodes

My expectations are I know not everything can be involved, but that means there is no room to add things that did not exist in the first place.  GoT - 1 Book = 1 Season.  If they had concentrated on that the content would have been good enough they would have received more seasons beyond the 8.  There could be some serious contraction of many parts of the series, I get that.  Too many changes that were not needed.

 

Look at other adaptations that failed solely because of straying too far from canon:  Dresden, Sword of Truth, etc.  You do it right, you will get extensions...

[Kaleb]

25 minutes ago, Tephulis said:

My expectations are I know not everything can be involved, but that means there is no room to add things that did not exist in the first place.  GoT - 1 Book = 1 Season.  If they had concentrated on that the content would have been good enough they would have received more seasons beyond the 8.  There could be some serious contraction of many parts of the series, I get that.  Too many changes that were not needed.

 

Look at other adaptations that failed solely because of straying too far from canon:  Dresden, Sword of Truth, etc.  You do it right, you will get extensions...

WOT can't be done on a season-by-season extension basis. Simply based on the plot, it's a crazy complex story and they need to write it from the ending based on how much time they have to work with. Rafe and team have noted they went in with an 8 season plan and a 6 season plan, and I believe there's also a 5 season plan that's been discussed. It's very likely that the current renewal discussion is mostly centered around confirming which of those plans they'll proceed with. That and keeping iWot satiated. 

 

Aside from plot, there's no way you're gonna retain all of these actors for minimum 15 years. At best, we're getting the core EF5+ for that length of time, and a lot of the next-tier characters - like Suian and Loial - are going to get some of their key moments and then get killed. Jordan could keep book characters alive to Tarmon Gai'don, but no TV show is going to be able to pull that off with real human actors who have other commitments and ambitions, who may well have life issues that prevent them from continuing to the end - we already had that happen with Mat in S1!

Edited May 12 by Kaleb

[Tephulis]

My whole point was since you don't have time for everything, don't add stuff that wasn't in the books in the first place...

 

Many adaptations were not done correctly and for people who only watched the shows did not get hyped up to read the books.  Dresden is the best example of this and this book series is one of the best out there.

 

Sword of Truth did one small thing, making Darken Rahl his brother instead of father.  This meant the story would not be able to continue after a certain point.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love that finally after so many years this book series is finally being done, but I have concerns on how they can get to the finish line if they make too many changes.  I would rather them stop then ruin the beautiful story..

Edited May 12 by Tephulis

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

10 minutes ago, Tephulis said:

My expectations are I know not everything can be involved, but that means there is no room to add things that did not exist in the first place.  GoT - 1 Book = 1 Season.  If they had concentrated on that the content would have been good enough they would have received more seasons beyond the 8.  There could be some serious contraction of many parts of the series, I get that.  Too many changes that were not needed.

 

Look at other adaptations that failed solely because of straying too far from canon:  Dresden, Sword of Truth, etc.  You do it right, you will get extensions...

But that isn't how it works - you cannot only cut things from a story and expect it to be coherent. That doesn't mean that they have necessarily made great decisions, of course not. And no one is under any obligation to enjoy the show or agree with any changes made. Things like Steppin being added to illustrate the Warder bond when there was already so much time spent on Lan and Moiraine seems a strange decision to me. The whole concept of the show with a greater role for Moiraine for example meant that changes at least in perspective were coming. 

 

I don't think it works that if you are selling a certain pitch in terms of seasons that you can just go back on that and actually plan 50% more seasons. I would imagine, not being an expert myself admittedly, that one of the things that helps getting future seasons greenlit is appearing to be complying with what has been already agreed.

 

The show definitely has issues, I cannot see how even the most ardent fan of it would not admit this. But no matter how much of a "purist" anyone is, you still have to accept that these matters are subjective opinion. There was never any chance of a completely faithful adaptation, there is nowhere near enough time allotted or budget. My hopes were that the show would be able to convey the same themes (and of course in art, we can all take and prioritise different themes, such as for me the supernatural was never a main theme - everything is about human behaviour, so me and Flinn_Myth take very different things out of the book there) and broad thrust of the story, while also being entertaining TV sprinkled with the iconic scenes from the book. And for me they have partially managed this, and have managed to create an enjoyable experience. 

[SinisterDeath]

2 minutes ago, Tephulis said:

Look at other adaptations that failed solely because of straying too far from canon:  Dresden, Sword of Truth, etc.  You do it right, you will get extensions...

Dexter (8 seasons and counting?!) & True Blood (7 Seasons), strayed tremendously from the source right from the beginning and they arguably didn't fail. 

Were the later seasons of those two shows garbage compared to the early seasons? Yeah, but that's an entirely different debate, and is often par the course for a long-term TV series and a rapidly aging cast.

Dresden Files, yeah it was a bad adaptation, but it was also 2005's Syfy you're talking about here. Their biggest shows back then was Stargate: SG1 and Battlestar Galactica. They didn't exactly want to spend a lot of money on quality programming back then. Syfy was the network that would put on low budget B Films (or E or F, or G films?!) with actors and actresses that I'm pretty sure were from the corn industry due to their... really bad acting abilities. SYFY would legitimately put on the R rated, Made for TV version of Pirates II (ifykyk), if they thought they could have got away with it. lmao

 

Legend of the Seeker? Well, yeah the show was bad, but so was the Source Material. The show fell into the classic "CW-like" Tropes that make for cringe television. But the biggest issue with that show was that the Source Material came from a horrendous Author that hated his fans, his work nearly plagiarized the wheel of time, and it doesn't quiet help that Mr. Goodkind was a detestable Human that thought it was apt to mock Robert Jordan and his Fans by saying his heart was in perfect health, after RJ had just publicly disclosed his own health issues regarding Amyloidosis.

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

There is also things like Cressida Cowell's How to Train your Dragon, where they took a successful book, the character names and rough setting and made a completely different story. The original dragons sat on your shoulder, and Toothless was, well, toothless.

 

The show is definitely trying to tell the same story.

[Tephulis]

Yeah, forgot about Dexter & True Blood.  TBF about SoT, I found out way after I read most of the books about Goodkind.  I did notice the rip-offs, but later in the story it got a lot better, especially when Richard was playing in the Game of Life to get to the Emperor.  Most of the story wasn't ripped off, just everything having to do with the lady magic users.  No other books had Confessors or Mord Sith, and they helped to story stand out from others.

 

If you didn't go past book 8, you missed out on a better story

Edited May 12 by Tephulis

[SinisterDeath]

10 minutes ago, HeavyHalfMoonBlade said:

But that isn't how it works - you cannot only cut things from a story and expect it to be coherent. That doesn't mean that they have necessarily made great decisions, of course not. And no one is under any obligation to enjoy the show or agree with any changes made. Things like Steppin being added to illustrate the Warder bond when there was already so much time spent on Lan and Moiraine seems a strange decision to me. The whole concept of the show with a greater role for Moiraine for example meant that changes at least in perspective were coming. 

The Steppin arc in season 1 makes sense as you said.

Season 2, I think they spent way to much bloody time on Moiraine and her "bloody is she shielded or is she stilled and then making Lan solve it" plot, that it took away from all the other characters story arcs, plot points and potential character growth.

20 minutes ago, Kaleb said:

Aside from plot, there's no way you're gonna retain all of these actors for minimum 15 years. At best, we're getting the core EF5+ for that length of time, and a lot of the next-tier characters - like Suian and Loial - are going to get some of their key moments and then get killed. Jordan could keep book characters alive to Tarmon Gai'don, but no TV show is going to be able to pull that off with real human actors who have other commitments and ambitions, who may well have life issues that prevent them from continuing to the end - we already had that happen with Mat in S1!

They recast Marin al'Vere from Season 1.

They recast Ihvon. They straight up killed Ila's Husband/Aram's grandfather because they didn't want to bother recasting him for the same reason they recast Ihvon and Marin al'Vere.

They even recast Cenn Buie!

 

So the point is... They can recast people if they're too busy. They did it with bloody Matrim Cauthon... They can do it with Siuan or Loial if they have to. Killing characters off because it's easier, is just an excuse, imo. 

[Tephulis]

@HeavyHalfMoonBlade So, how much work would it have been to have Rand fight Turak for a short bit to earn blade-master status instead of just using the power to kill him?  This is the type of change I'm talking about that wouldn't have affected the shows length

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

3 minutes ago, Tephulis said:

@HeavyHalfMoonBlade So, how much work would it have been to have Rand fight Turak for a short bit to earn blade-master status instead of just using the power to kill him?  This is the type of change I'm talking about that wouldn't have affected the shows length

Well, this is a bit of the problem that the show faces. 

 

One camp of people demand internal consistency within the show. Due to the show being rewritten after Barney quit (or whatever), the Emond Field boys were never with Lan, no scenes of any training. In the show, Rand had at that point not done much more than hold the sword. For him to defeat a Blademaster would be ridiculous, immersion destroying and completely confusing for people that had not read the book, goes such an argument. 

 

Another camp of people want to see one of their favourite scenes like it was in the book. 

 

The way it panned out there was no way to satisfy both camps. To me, having Rand menacingly use the One Power, with a nod to the way he made the assassins bow to him in tDR, in a scene that both showcased the Seanchan mentality and splendour and took up very little time, was a good solution. Not least because in the book it was already stretching credulity that Rand could win the fight - the only saving grace being that it was more presented as Rand's battle with himself and Saidin - something they simply could not film anyway. That is my subjective opinion on it. If I am reading between the lines correctly, your subjective opinion is that it wasn't a good solution.

[Flinn_Myth]

I don't get the argument that a "low-budget" reinterpretation should be appreciated, because at least it's something more than nothing.

I grew up with the books and am well aware how much filler there was, and how much real substance was presented. I am thankful there aren't multiple references in each show to the wind being a beginning, Rand being wool-headed, or the random superiority complexes from main character thought bubbles (though I do miss Mat's oddly lacking "Blood and Bloody Ashes," which I believe only Min has said, once recently, oddly enough).

 

My criticism is that several of the changes made seem to me to be either cheap replacements (i.e., Rand's Indiana Jones fight with Turok, and the "prophesized" One-power flame dragon), cheap entertainment (i.e., Morgase red-coronation, Siuan decapitated in the tower [in the Amyrlin's chamber no less], Elayne and Aviendha romance), super inconsistent (i.e., Rand going from barely controlling his channeling to beating Sammael (!), Sammael [greatest war tactician ever] coming at Rand with only 3 Shaido and a magic hammer, Lanfear using True Power to no benefit/ added power. and Alanna being healed from near-death by 2 wilder teens...twice), or super rushed (i.e., Loail's last stand, Egwene's lying glossed over [but Alsera holding Rand to Toh] and her TAR mastery over Lanfear within the span of one show).

 

I fully admit that season 3 is much better, and that overall the show by itself is not too bad (if I imagined not having read the books previously). However, because they present it as the Wheel of Time series, I would have appreciated a more coherent and compact re-telling, over only partial pieces of the original story.

 

I fully understand removing/ summarizing parts (i.e., Rand and Selene in the ways, the hunt for the horn, travelling time in general), but changing specific key moments from the book to be more human-centered is not cool to me. They removed a lot of the fantasy, or included lesser versions of it (i.e., Perrin's abilities, control of the One Power, female- male power dynamics, Whitecloak workings, Padan Fain's power, Aes Sedai composure/ political standing).

I think they did a good job with Rhuidean, the Eelfin, Thom and Bayle, the Seanchan (minus the heron-mark "battle"), and the Two Rivers battle; so, I know they are capable of presenting things coherently and relatively true to the original. They just aren't doing it consistently, are removing the underlying fantasy (specifically by removing interactions with the Creator and the Dark One [not even the vertigo from someone naming Shaitan, iirc], and assigning responsibility of those roles to human characters), and making directive choices to just move the story along without consequence, in my opinion.

Where is the forethought in proceed ing with a mediocre show? It's only going to get a mediocre response, especially if changes made reflect scenes or changes similar to those in other modern shows.

 

Edited May 12 by Flinn_Myth

[Mailman]

4 hours ago, SinisterDeath said:

 

Legend of the Seeker? Well, yeah the show was bad, but so was the Source Material. The show fell into the classic "CW-like" Tropes that make for cringe television. But the biggest issue with that show was that the Source Material came from a horrendous Author that hated his fans, his work nearly plagiarized the wheel of time, and it doesn't quiet help that Mr. Goodkind was a detestable Human that thought it was apt to mock Robert Jordan and his Fans by saying his heart was in perfect health, after RJ had just publicly disclosed his own health issues regarding Amyloidosis.

I have a funny relationship with the series I started reading it when I was 15 or 16 I think and enjoyed the series for some time. As I became aware later of Goodkinds detestable views and him being an Ayn Rand devotee led me to reassess parts of the series in a much less favourable light and Goodkind in particular much more so.

 

Attempting to make the first book at a CW safe for kids level was an insane call.

 

I watched some of the show but it was truly horrendous, I think the only thing I liked about it was the actress who played Kahlan.

Edited May 13 by Mailman

[SinisterDeath]

58 minutes ago, Mailman said:

Attempting to make the first book at a CW safe for kids level was an insane call.

I haven't personally read the books, but from the way I understand it, they may as well be 50 shades of wheel of time. 

 

1 hour ago, Mailman said:

I watched some of the show but it was truly horrendous, I think the only thing I liked about it was the actress who played Kahlan

My number one complaint I remember to this day was yelling at the screen every week.

 

WTF do you keep giving up the high ground and jumping at them like you're Xena warrior princess!