tens of millions of views...

that's far more than i was expecting. i was expecting the book fans to watch it - not even all of them, as many of them were put off by the changes - and then i was hoping it would gradually pick up.

instead, it looks like it picked up already, and non-fans are carrying it.

Mixed feelings about this, happy it is doing well but on the back of Rafes Reddit the other day the fast pace and lack of time to let things breathe, along with the 8 episode limit, are all imposed by Amazon who insisted that modern viewing habits are short series that flow quickly from set piece to set piece. Gone are slow build series. Based on this if BSG or Babylon 5 where made today they would be over in 20 episodes. This series is going to be a whistle stop tour of the highlights of the books that will make good TV and as a result I think storylines such as the splitting of the white tower will be blink and miss it events, if they happen at all. 

Total Dissatisfaction - 
 

The only positive I can think of for the loosely adapted TV series “The Wheel of Time” is that it might get more people to read the books. The TV series is a poor B rated fantasy at best. Adding useless fillers and skimping on meaningful character development. I posted over a year ago about the importance of white space. That it can calm the mind from the action and builds off other events. Making those events more impactful. This gives time to understand the people. The story. Builds empathy. Instead we have a fast paced sprint, with totally unnecessary fluff. If things need to be cut down, fine. Cut. Don’t add.
 

“Hey! Lets have Perrin kill his pregnant wife! It will make him look more tortured!” Boooooo! 
 

“Let’s have Rand and Egwane have sex! Because we don’t know how to show two people in love any other way! And we are ignorant of how this totally screws (pun intended) the story up later.” How lame. 

“Lets change the color of a lot of the characters, then make Padan Fain a racist stereotype!” It was not clear Fain was evil in the first book. It’s called foreshadowing! 

This TV adaptation could have been great. It didn’t need 10 million an episode. Disappointing and another opportunity lost to corporate Nincompoopery. Joining the likes of the Dark Tower movie and The Hobbit series. What a shame! 

11 hours ago, bmarluke said:

Total Dissatisfaction - 
 

The only positive I can think of for the loosely adapted TV series “The Wheel of Time” is that it might get more people to read the books. The TV series is a poor B rated fantasy at best. Adding useless fillers and skimping on meaningful character development. I posted over a year ago about the importance of white space. That it can calm the mind from the action and builds off other events. Making those events more impactful. This gives time to understand the people. The story. Builds empathy. Instead we have a fast paced sprint, with totally unnecessary fluff. If things need to be cut down, fine. Cut. Don’t add.
 

“Hey! Lets have Perrin kill his pregnant wife! It will make him look more tortured!” Boooooo! 
 

“Let’s have Rand and Egwane have sex! Because we don’t know how to show two people in love any other way! And we are ignorant of how this totally screws (pun intended) the story up later.” How lame. 

 

“Lets change the color of a lot of the characters, then make Padan Fain a racist stereotype!” It was not clear Fain was evil in the first book. It’s called foreshadowing! 

 

This TV adaptation could have been great. It didn’t need 10 million an episode. Disappointing and another opportunity lost to corporate Nincompoopery. Joining the likes of the Dark Tower movie and The Hobbit series. What a shame! 

As someone who has read the full series 3 times through and from the Fires of Heaven re read the whole series before the next book was released, the changes you berate I fully understand. To turn the books page for page into a TV series would require probably an average of 30+ hours per book. There is no way that series is getting made. So you need to make cuts, and figure out ways to show aspects of personality in a scene which in the books takes chapters and chapters. I do not like the fact Perrin killed his wife, I do like the fact he killed someone. In a single act in a single moment it defines his character in a way that the books, necessarily, take ages to get to. It does it in a way that show's and doesn't tell and it makes the audience invested in him. Now I wish he had killed anyone else other then his wife, and Rafe has discussed this and explained that, in the very short time he was given by Amazon to tell the story, this made the most sense because it pushed the character to where he needed him to be. 

Rand and Egwene, again I really don't mind the change, it allows in a scene to show the 2 are starting a relationship (I always found it impossible to believe they where not doing anything when I first read EOTW as a 16yo seeing as I had a girlfriend that I was doing stuff with and they where 19-20 yo). As for how this screws up the story later, it really doesn't, in fact it makes it easier to tell. Again in one scene Rafe has set the stall that there is a real relationship between these 2 people without losing time in dialogue, so later on when they go there own ways and the relationship shifts it becomes an easier story to tell with the limited time the series has. 

The nationality of the characters, I think is about perfect. That is not a discussion I will get into, other then to say I imagine I picture them differently to you. As for Fain, again Rafe has a scene to introduce him and needs to show he is important to the story. Personally I would have loved to have already seen him marching with the Trollocs and entering Shadar Logath even if that is out of order of when you find that out in the books. 

Rafe has said that originally he had a vision of a longer episode count ot each series and a 2 hour first episode to be able to introduce the characters better but Amazon where very strict on insisting that modern TV is 8 one hour episodes that rush through the story. I think we as book fans need to re-asses what in the story is actually important to tell. I have a feeling (and hope I am wrong) that the Aeis Sedai civil war may well be seriously truncated down to just a short fight in the tower itself with no army formed and no second tower raised for instance because realistically the events of that could easily be 8 episodes all on their own but, taking the Peter Jackson approach, that story doesn't tell the story of how Rand gets to the last battle.  

I have mixed feelings as well but i remind myself that the movies are NEVER as good as the books.  Never.  I've never seen one since i started the comparison back in high school.  I'm satisfied with the quality of production while disappointed in some of the story line so far, such as the Perrin situation.  I think those of us who have read and enjoyed the series so thoroughly will expect the series to be just a visual representation of the book but the fact is that they never are.  They can't be.  Imagine if they tried to make 1 episode out of say 2 chapters.  Lots of material but that would be like 20 episodes for one book.  If they continued that trend over 14 books thats 280 episodes and a ton of money to commit to up front.   Thats a lot of seasons for a tv series.  So they have to find a balance and that's a daunting task.  I'm glad it's not me trying it.  We fans of the book need to keep in mind that they can't stretch it that far and understand that they're doing their best to tell the story and do it justice while keeping within the confines of the silver screen.  ?‍♂️.   

I think it can be better, I'm sorry but the series takes a nosedive IMO after about book 7 - I'm good with most of the changes and there was no way to make purists happy - it's 14 books, stuff is going to get changed.

It is also a hit, it's not going anywhere unless they blow it, I for one think Rafe and company will improve ?

My wife and I are very happy with the adaption. Of course they're going to make major changes to the series, and realistically the most we can hope for is about 5-7 seasons. Even in the books, probably half of the books had nothing going on, and I remember the utter disappointment of only seeing Nynaeve for about 2 chapters in one of the middle books.

In today's streaming environment such as Tik Tok and YouTube, no one wants to even watch an hour show anymore. I remember that when I worked for DirecTV, they were counting a valid streamer if they watched a couple minutes of a show.

I am very sad.  I was so looking forward to the books coming to life.  But it seems Shai tan has won because what I have seen so far just like the Ways has succomb to the taint of saidin. I know there would have been no way to keep everything from the whole series...there was plenty of filler from the books that could have been chopped.  The eye of the world is not where the dark one was imprisoned... ask Merrin. 

Everyone who is enjoying the series I am truly happy for you.  I wish I could be one of you.  Maybe by reading your words I will see what is bring you enjoyment and be able to share in that.

For now I am only sad