What would you have started the show with?

[Kaleb]

On 6/16/2025 at 2:28 PM, Cipher said:

Actually when I read EOTW I didn’t read critically and didn’t realize Rand was the DR—in my novice high fantasy reading.  I knew he was the protagonist, but figured he and the Dragon were different people.  I need to read it again and see how blind I was. I would like to listen to Rosamund Pike’s reading.

I've only listened to her read the prologue, but she does a great job of it. I'm not really one for audiobooks at all, but clearly she put in a ton of work for her performance. Which was likely a part of her being an Executive Producer for the show, who definitely worked closely with the show's writing team at many points.

[Maximillion]

I would have started the show with Tam and Rand making their way to town.

Just leave out the prologue and it's all there in the books in terms of unfolding the story.

 

[Mailman]

9 hours ago, Maximillion said:

I would have started the show with Tam and Rand making their way to town.

Just leave out the prologue and it's all there in the books in terms of unfolding the story.

 

The issue with that for me is that if you look at how the book unfolded there is little explanation on the taint and the state of Saidan without the prologue. Brief mentions from Fain and a little around Camelyn with Logain do not adequately cover it IMO.

[Jake Sykwalker]

On 6/13/2025 at 12:36 AM, Sabio said:

That is the big problem, 10 minutes of a 1-hour show setting up just what's going on?

Well, they wasted at least 10 minutes of fluff other things.  The women's circle throwing Egwene off a cliff, Matt's family interactions, Perrin's wife, The whole scene in the inn.  

 

The prologue was epic and mysterious.  All of what I described above were filler that didn't advance the plot, or really much of anything.  

[WoTwasThat]

RJ chose the Prologue to be the prologue for a reason. It is an awesome intro to the series and immediately sets up the concepts of reincarnation and the taint/madness associated with the male Saidin (not to mention traveling and a few other goodies) which are both essential to the series. It would have worked equally well in the TV series. The show's decision to depart from this, coupled with "we don't know if it is a boy or a girl," coupled with the "who is the dragon" non-mystery pretty much doomed the show from the start.

 

EOTW was far and away the easiest book to adapt to screen - all they had to do was stick to the story - and they botched it horribly.

[Samarah]

The WoT is really a hero's journey with multiple heroes and the TV version should have started with that: the heroes from Emond's Field. Maybe we didn't need Egwene as a 9 year old being the "best water carrier ever!" as a start, but one could think the gist of the story was about Moiraine and the Aes Sedai viewing the TV series. The opening scene being the Reds defying Tower Law and gentling Owen. Then, it throws to Egwene getting her braid and being guided by Nynaeve. We dont even see the ta'veren, Rand, Mat and Perrin until the Winespring celebration of Egwene's induction to the Women's Circle (Im guessing). We don't see Thom AT ALL! 

 

I agree with most people here. It's difficult to animate a novel series. You can't include every character or storyline. But, if I were to try to condense WoT into theatrical content, I'd identify the 10 most important characters to the story, the eight most important plot lines (an episode per season) and try to remain as loyal to the canon material as I could.

 

Eye of the World 10 MVP's 

 

Rand al'Thor

Perrin Ayberra

Matrim Cauthon

Egwene al'Vere

Nynaeve al'Mera

Moiraine Damodred

Lan Mandragoran

Thom Merillin

Padan Fain

Min Farshaw

 

The Eight Plot lines:

 

Episode 1: A brief intro to the top 5,  per canon Escaping Emond's Field 

Episode 2: Travels from the Two Rivers to Shadar Lagoth and getting separated 

Episode 3: The 3 groups' travels, per canon

Episode 4: More traveling 

Episode 5: Reunion in Caemlyn (not Tar Valon!)

Episode 6: The Ways to Fal Dara and Padan Fain

Episode 7: Fal Dara, days through the Blight

Episode 8: Showdown at the Eye of the World

 

I would make it a 10 Episode series to stay closer to canon. But, 8 seems to be the magic number in Amazon series.

 

The Amazon series seems to revolve around Moiraine and the Aes Sedai instead of our 5 heroes. Which is an utter shame. Did the creators even read the books? And I'm gonna go ahead and make some people mad (though I hope not) the Dragon Reborn could only be a man. That's obvious to anyone who reads the books. The only character that twists a soul's gender is the Dark One. I think that's on purpose. 

 

[WoTwasThat]

On 8/10/2025 at 12:32 AM, Samarah said:

The WoT is really a hero's journey with multiple heroes and the TV version should have started with that: the heroes from Emond's Field. Maybe we didn't need Egwene as a 9 year old being the "best water carrier ever!" as a start, but one could think the gist of the story was about Moiraine and the Aes Sedai viewing the TV series. The opening scene being the Reds defying Tower Law and gentling Owen. Then, it throws to Egwene getting her braid and being guided by Nynaeve. We dont even see the ta'veren, Rand, Mat and Perrin until the Winespring celebration of Egwene's induction to the Women's Circle (Im guessing). We don't see Thom AT ALL! 

 

I agree with most people here. It's difficult to animate a novel series. You can't include every character or storyline. But, if I were to try to condense WoT into theatrical content, I'd identify the 10 most important characters to the story, the eight most important plot lines (an episode per season) and try to remain as loyal to the canon material as I could.

 

Eye of the World 10 MVP's 

 

Rand al'Thor

Perrin Ayberra

Matrim Cauthon

Egwene al'Vere

Nynaeve al'Mera

Moiraine Damodred

Lan Mandragoran

Thom Merillin

Padan Fain

Min Farshaw

 

The Eight Plot lines:

 

Episode 1: A brief intro to the top 5,  per canon Escaping Emond's Field 

Episode 2: Travels from the Two Rivers to Shadar Lagoth and getting separated 

Episode 3: The 3 groups' travels, per canon

Episode 4: More traveling 

Episode 5: Reunion in Caemlyn (not Tar Valon!)

Episode 6: The Ways to Fal Dara and Padan Fain

Episode 7: Fal Dara, days through the Blight

Episode 8: Showdown at the Eye of the World

 

I would make it a 10 Episode series to stay closer to canon. But, 8 seems to be the magic number in Amazon series.

 

The Amazon series seems to revolve around Moiraine and the Aes Sedai instead of our 5 heroes. Which is an utter shame. Did the creators even read the books? And I'm gonna go ahead and make some people mad (though I hope not) the Dragon Reborn could only be a man. That's obvious to anyone who reads the books. The only character that twists a soul's gender is the Dark One. I think that's on purpose. 

 

Agree 100% that WOT is, at its essence, a hero’s journey story. Your structure of adapting book 1 also makes sense. Frankly, book 1 was the easiest book to adapt faithfully.

 

Rafe definitely read the books. But there are different things for different people in reading WOT. It’s clear from his own interviews that what really appealed to Rafe was reading these books with his mom while growing up as a closested gay youth in Mormon Utah. He has said this! I remember reading this interview before season 1 aired and thinking “uh oh, this could be a real problem.”

 

As such, Rand’s hero’s journey was less important to Rafe than focusing on the strong female characters - mainly the Aes Sedai - and sprinkling in some LGBTQ stuff that may or may not have ever been in the books. That’s what we got - too much on the Aes Sedai and the Super Girlz too early, and major plot changes - and it kinda stunk. 
 

By the way, here is the interview…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyCx3AQ9TsA

Edited August 31 by WoTwasThat

[Andra]

Not about everything I would have changed with the start, but just one thing that Rafe changed that could have been good, but was cut in favor of one of the worst things he added to Episode 1.  This is a scene that we know was actually filmed, and was intended to be included, because a short clip of it was part of the first trailers, and we see the aftermath when Moiraine seeks out Nynaeve in the grotto.

 

Originally, part of Egwene's rite of passage included her "baptism" in the grotto and coming up out of the water through streaks of the seven Aes Sedai colors.  Visually very striking.  I would have liked to see that actually fleshed out.

But the only thing that remains from that scene is about two seconds in one of the early trailers, and a scene that actually made it on screen of Nynaeve cleaning the paint off of the rim of the pool when Moiraine finds her.

It was replaced with the ridiculous sequence of Egwene being yeeted into the river , where she received an injury we only hear about once.

 

It's actually available as a deleted scene on YouTube, where the CGI of the colors flowing toward her is kind of wonky.  But it's still better that what was chosen instead.  And makes infinitely more sense.

[Bodewhin]

On 8/31/2025 at 7:55 PM, Andra said:

Not about everything I would have changed with the start, but just one thing that Rafe changed that could have been good, but was cut in favor of one of the worst things he added to Episode 1.  This is a scene that we know was actually filmed, and was intended to be included, because a short clip of it was part of the first trailers, and we see the aftermath when Moiraine seeks out Nynaeve in the grotto.

 

Originally, part of Egwene's rite of passage included her "baptism" in the grotto and coming up out of the water through streaks of the seven Aes Sedai colors.  Visually very striking.  I would have liked to see that actually fleshed out.

But the only thing that remains from that scene is about two seconds in one of the early trailers, and a scene that actually made it on screen of Nynaeve cleaning the paint off of the rim of the pool when Moiraine finds her.

It was replaced with the ridiculous sequence of Egwene being yeeted into the river , where she received an injury we only hear about once.

 

It's actually available as a deleted scene on YouTube, where the CGI of the colors flowing toward her is kind of wonky.  But it's still better that what was chosen instead.  And makes infinitely more sense.

 

 

IMO turning Egwene 's rite of passage into any type of ritual be it tossing her off a cliff or a grotto baptism just doesn't fit the culture of the Two Rivers from the books. In the book, the sign of a girl reaching adulthood was braiding her hair which is such a simple but lovely tradition (harkening back to early medieval and Celtic cultures). Why would her rite of passage be so mystic or symbolic? IMO it just doesn't fit Emond's Field. 

 

I'm trying to think of something positive Rafe did...I didn't mind expanding the celebration of Bel Tine with the little remembrance candle lighting thing. It didn't exactly fit the festive Bel Tine vibe but you know I didn't hate that compared to most of the off things about the Two Rivers. 

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

I presumed the "surrender to the river, don't fight it, and then you can control" was a foreshadowing of the One Power - or was meant to function like Tam's Flame and the Void - that the girls from the Two Rivers would have already mastered the techniques needed to channel the One Power. The voice over as she floats down is far too specific to be coincidence, imho.

[Kaleb]

1 hour ago, HeavyHalfMoonBlade said:

I presumed the "surrender to the river, don't fight it, and then you can control" was a foreshadowing of the One Power - or was meant to function like Tam's Flame and the Void - that the girls from the Two Rivers would have already mastered the techniques needed to channel the One Power. The voice over as she floats down is far too specific to be coincidence, imho.

Yes, it was to explicitly parallel the flame and the void that Tam and other blademasters practice. Which demonstrates that the mental exercises needed to access the One Power for each gender are embedded in the deeper knowledge of mature leaders across the Randland cultures. I think it was a great piece of worldbuilding that the show succeeded at, one of the many "not in the books" things they did that consolidated a lot of book lore and made a lot of sense.

[Loose Theremin]

I would have started the show with Lan and Moiraine riding into Emond's Field and seeing a huge United Nations orgy in progress on the village green. Moiraine rolls her eyes and she and Lan turn their horses around and ride back out of Emond's Field.

 

Then the air shimmers and Rafe Ballz'em'all appears and says " I win again Lews Therin ! "

[HeronMarkedBlade]

The idea that the prologue wouldn’t work on screen is ridiculous. A simple “Three thousand years ago…” on screen as the prologue begins would ensure everyone understood what was happening. Further understanding would have come through future storytelling, the same way it did for us who first started reading the series over thirty years ago. 
 

“It wouldn’t work on screen” is a pure cop out.