3 minutes ago, swollymammoth said:

You can't have it both ways. 

Or maybe the world is more complicated than black and white and tiring assumptions about what's in the mind of the show runners. ?‍♂️

7 minutes ago, MaxZorin said:

The Sanche woman should have been stilled and deposed the moment she suggested using the Oath Rod in that manner.  

 

The Hall reacting as if this is a commonplace workaday occurrence was disappointing 

I took it as a standard extreme punishment in the TV-verse, kind of like how it was used in the AOL, so not unheard of. 

I'm not sure what is so suspicious about Moiraine traveling about the world bringing back powerful channelers to the Tower.

If I had to rank the attention the boys have gotten, I'd say Mat > Rand > Perrin. I do think we've gotten enough to characterize Rand. Loyal, wanted a simple life, stubborn, a bit hot headed at times, caring, dutiful. He's not a blank slate, but I wish he and all the EF5 got a little more focus. I feel like Perrin's suffered the most. They have him kill his wife and then basically shuffle about for six episodes feeling like a fifth wheel. Season isn't done yet, but still. He hasn't really done much to define himself as a character beyond accidental wife killing and being wolf boy. I do like what little we get with him talking about the accident with Egwene, but it just doesn't feel like enough. I hope that changes before the end of the season.

Deleted. Not my business.

Aside from us knowing Jordan's comments on the nature of souls in the book WOT-verse and how specific the prophecies are in the books, I don't see why it matters which side of the source was tainted. Oh, thematically and the drama of the savior-destined-to-go-mad, of course, but "only the male half was tainted" doesn't by itself seem like a metaphysically binding rule that would require a male savior.

1 minute ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

Sanderson did say ... A second time I think, that this episode was his favorite of the series.

 

Interesting.

 

 

I think before it aired he had only read the script, and his comments were based on that. Unless he repeated himself since.

Someone mentioned Semirage "needing" to go to Seanchan because she wouldn't have fit in otherwise. But Rahvin himself was very dark of skin and just inserted himself into Andor without much fuss.

I feel like if she knew it was Rand she would have told Siuan, or at least not have been so clearly frustrated and confused during their conversation on it.

I hope we're going to see Mat in episodes 7 and 8 and they just have an alternative plot for him. It is what it is if he's not there, casting issues happen, but I really hope that is not it.

I'm hoping for some better scripting and direction next season. I do feel like something is off and hasn't corrected itself yet. There seem to be some implied admissions of difficulties like this from Rafe. He mentioned more time to do script editing for season two of all episodes together, difficulties with the visual effects teams and COVID, etc...

I can accept skipping Caemlyn as a concession for adapting, developing sets (Caemlyn won't be seen again for awhile, Tar Valon is coming right back). I am missing some more screen time and development for our EF5, though, and at the cost of time spent elsewhere, even if I know it sets things up down the road, not sure it's worth losing focus on the others.

The show hasn't hit its stride yet for me, and late in the season that's concerning. That's not to say it hasn't done anything right. I'm still going to keep watching. It may hit its stride in season two.

2 minutes ago, WheelofJuke said:

I can't believe people are subjecting themselves to rewatches! You people are saints! ?? ?

My first watch is stream of consciousness "that's not in the books that's not in the books that's not in the books." On the rewatch I can watch it without those nagging thoughts.

2 minutes ago, Maximillion said:

 

 

Rotten Tomatoes critic scores:

 

all critics :

49 fresh

23 rotten

 average score 7.25

 

top critics

 16 fresh

12 rotten

 average score 6.6

 

 Somehow that equals 84%?

 

 

Episodes that get at least four critic reviews get their own ratings, and that's factored into the score. Episode 4 met that bar and has 100% positive reviews. 72 + 100 / 2 = 86.

Something else must have happened since then if it's 84 now, but that's the logic.

And this really isn't fair, but I could not help but think of the Klingon High Council turning its back on Worf in Star Trek TNG during the exile scene. It's like... almost beat for beat.

I haven't done my rewatch of E6 yet, but at this time it's my least favorite episode. I'm not entirely sure I can put an explanation into words yet. This may change on rewatch.

3 minutes ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

 

I have a theory that the guy she's meeting isn't a boyfriend, but actually 

  Hide contents

A Forsaken!

 

I'm thinking brother/father/uncle/childhood best friend. Though it sounded like she had a bad relationship with her father.

"The Dragon has five heads" - Rhaegar Targaryen

While there could be other explanations for this, Barney Harris is credited as being in episodes 7 and 8 on IMDB. I'm putting my money down on this not being due to him leaving the show, and they're going to do something else with him during this time. Fain? Luck? It'd be interesting if weird luck stuff started happening now.

Mat will probably just use the deluminator Dumbledore left in him in his will to find the people he left behind and then apparate to them. Wait! Wrong books.

I expect Loial to still be needed as a guide in the Ways, hence his presence. We may get a bit more exposition as they travel.

I loved the Seanchan reference.

One thing I will add is that the EotW is really a kind of confusing book in itself. It's hard to go back to being a first time reader, but I think to the first time reader there were a lot of concepts introduced that were presented in a confused manner or in a manner that gave the wrong impression. I think the show is leaning into that on some things. We don't know what the Dark One really is (do we even learn that Ba'alzamon isn't the Dark One until the end of TDR? And even then some people miss that.) We don't really know much at all about the Dragon Reborn.

40 minutes ago, phoenixtrinity said:

Sadly, at this point I can only imagine the folks who hate the show (not just dislike it) would accept nothing less than a page-for-page transcription from book to screen.

I've been a big apologist of the show, but I really think this is unfair. Book purists whined about LotR. Book purists whined about GOT. But not all things are equal. As an apologist for this show I can still admit they are taking quite a broad license with the adaptation, much more than either LotR or GOT, imho. I can certainly imagine something closer that's still far from a page-for-page transcription.

Oy vey. I need more processing time and a rewatch. The Eye is now Shayol Gul? Or believed to be. Not that it'll happen, but they're floating a split soul Dragon? Mat not entering certainly ups the drama, I wonder where they'll go with that. Might be we'll see his luck and show-onlies will be like "he must be the Dragon but he's the only one not there?" I am keeping in mind that book-Mat does always think about running from these things, evading his destiny, it's not a complete break from character, but I feel like the writers are missing his wry-ness and charm, why people like him. I wonder if now that we're out of our detour with the split group and Tar Valon it'll be more on track. Kind of feel like our heroes should have had some encounters with shadowspawn or darkfriends to show they're still being hunted. We haven't seen a dream in awhile.

Yeah, my mind is still in the "it's not like the books!" processing phase.

7 hours ago, wotfan4472 said:

One book series that needs to be done well is The Dark Is Rising Sequence. A collection of 5 books that all deal with a threat. 

The movie attempt dealt with book 2 and it was nothing like the book. It was worse that Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.

At least that had all the adventures that Caspian and crew deal with, just not with the same purpose. Seeker had at most a tiny amount.

Even the Black Rider was wrong.

Is it wrong that I can quote the entire prophetic song they had? There were two, but I only remember one... with three verses.

31 minutes ago, Badmaw said:

Blamed for but not actually caught stealing.  There’s a difference from the point of the viewers/ readers perspective.  And, (maybe) stealing pies vs. obviously selling stolen goods is the difference between a rowdy young man and a straight up thief.  The idea that he is stealing to provide for his sisters is somewhat legit BUT he lost all his money gambling.  He sold the stolen item to recover his gambling loss.  Thus, the degenerate gambler perception.  TV Mat is nowhere near as likable as book Mat.  That’s a shame.

I think he was gambling to try to get more money to buy gifts for his sisters because he didn't have enough to start with. Then he lost it and was even worse off.

2 minutes ago, themann1086 said:

I'm surprised folks don't find Mat sympathetic. He's stealing yes but he's doing it to try and provide for his sisters. He's got a gambling problem but again he's doing it to try and get more money for his sisters (lots of people make this mistake). The people I'm watching with, non-book readers, really like Mat and feel for him. Just my 2 cents!

His relationship with his sisters was certainly supposed to make him likable as a character, a counterpoint to his thieving. It's not meant to excuse his thieving entirely or mean it's right, but people who do bad things can be likable characters. That was what they tried to do.

6 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

I think it's meant to convey the idea that they were unprepared for Logain's strength. That most of the male channelers they deal with are like Owyn, or the poor dude at the beginning: weak and easily subdued. Logain is something they were not prepared for.

Agreed.

Though this post brings up feels for me. I've been a big apologist for the show as I think much of the negativity is over the top or frames things wrong, or at least deserves a counterpoint. But that's not to say I don't think the show could be better. Things like this make me wish we could get all the nuance and lore of the books on the screen. A much larger, well funded project that can take the time to do that, whether in ten episodes or twenty. I hear the disappointment in those who haven't gotten that, and I have disappointment too. I'm just trying to be realistic and positive about the constraints: budget, time, executives, actors, needing to make a product to sell to keep the ball rolling... all on top of needing to change the medium.