Never really understood the problems with having a hot bath but glad to see the above quote to fully put that one to bed. 
 

The sharing of the bath doesn’t bother me too much either. Just because we haven’t been told about their bond yet doesn’t mean that the show can’t express it in a non-sexual way. Also goes some way to being a bit of a shock tv viewers when Lan ends up with Nynaeve as there will be an assumption that the two older characters are together. 

1 minute ago, DojoToad said:

He might have been guesstimating based on the depth of the tracks and soil consistency??  You know - woodsman type stuff...

He put his hand down and closed his eyes. He put his hand between the tracks, which is a really odd thing to do as well. 

When Perrin and Egwene found the tracks, why did Perrin put his hand on the ground and then announce that they were carrying lots of people?

It’s like he was able to read it through magic (which I know he can’t) or that he was using a secret power that he already had knowledge of, which he doesn’t. 

Just now, Harad the White said:

Excuse me if I said "unless." Since you were there from the start, if you believe the HBO was a hit from the start, then you are just wrong.

I didn’t say it was a hit anywhere from day one, so I don’t know why you think I did?

I said that it felt like a more established world from day one. 

3 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

But Thom is also a guy that understands his audience and adapts to it. his performance made sense in the environment they were in. 

 

I’ll be interested to see how his character adapts to new places as we move forward. 
 

Agreed. I’m happy enough with his performance, a bit scratchy and not particularly amazing but fine. 
 

The key is the performance in front of a high class audience, if he can raise the quality to match. 

1 minute ago, Harad the White said:

And don't you think that's what the common criticism of GoT HBO was after 3 episodes? I read the books first and watched the series from day 1. Unless you were there from the start, you're just guessing (incorrectly).

Why is your immediate assumption that I hadn’t both read the books and watched the show?

I read the books first and thought they were pretty poor if I’m honest. Watched the series, was happy with it, re-read the books and thought they were slightly improved but not by much. 
 

Your condescension and arrogance is misplaced. 

1 minute ago, Harad the White said:

Since many bring up GoT, a comment on the HBO series.  When it started it was not the huge blockbuster it became. The first season was nearly ignored, at least until the last episode. It took a couple of years to reach its now revered status. Also, don't hold WoT to the GoT standard. The books are different and the series also should be.

 

It’s more that GoT finally brought fantasy tv mainstream, rather than Hercules/Xena (which I loved) or SciFi schlock. 
 

It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece from day one but it has to have a feel and a consistent world view. GoT very early on felt like an established world with character motivations that were understandable. At the moment WoT feels a bit ‘scene gap new scene gap new scene’ like there isn’t a flow. You don’t get a feel for why characters are operating in certain ways. 
 

I think coming into this blind would be a real struggle for people to get hooked. 

2 minutes ago, Harad the White said:

Yes. Stay tuned and verify that does or doesn't happen (almost certainly not). Which leads to another criticism of criticism. If something appears that you don't like, or something doesn't appear that you like, wait. Elyas is missing--wait. Nynaeve is kidnapped--wait.

I don’t really understand if you are mocking my point or what the aim of your post was. 

They really couldn’t put the Tam fever dream in at this point on a tv series as it removes the mystery angle that all tv shows need. 

5 minutes ago, Akragard said:

Yeah, the Whitecloaks always felt ineffective in the books, despite being named as opposition to the Aes Sedai. Valda was a gem in his cruelty and he clearly upped the ante in that department.

They were basically an insignificant military threat to Aes Sedai. Even the three oaths and a ‘sneaky arrow’ explanations weren’t sufficient to understand why the Aes Sedai even thought about them. 
 

Fine they could have some influence in the political sphere but no so much as to make them almost a world power. 

Any predictions for storylines they are almost definitely going to cut?

I feel like Noal Charon as a whole will be kiboshed.

8 minutes ago, JenniferL said:

Honestly, I kinda love Valda keeping trophies from all the Aes Sedai he’s executed. I know it doesn’t match the lore from the books, but it really makes the Whitecloaks a much more terrifying antagonist. I’m interested to see how this plays out. 

I’m fully on board with the whitecloaks being more of an actual threat to Aes Sedai and Valda being an active hunter of them is great. 
 

They will have to explain the method at some point though as within the series we have been told that an Aes Sedai is worth a thousand soldiers and watched a small band of soldiers burn one alive. 
 

I’m not particularly understanding the criticism of the series for the Aes Sedai not channeling without her hands. It’s established pretty early on that they have to waive their hands due to being taught that way. It’s only when the Wise Ones come into it that movements are removed, which shocks the Aes Sedai almost as much as the Wise Ones being able to channel. 

On a rewatch with my wife, who has never read the books, doesn’t like fantasy (except for LotR trilogy) but did get into GOT.

Thoughts:

- the part with Mat’s mum calling him a prick etc. was very embarrassing. 
- she thought that it looked like Perrin was in love or something with Egwene and that’s why his wife wouldn’t go to the ceremony (same as what I thought but I hadn’t mention it to her beforehand)

- the whole things comes across as a cheesy teenage show. 
- tiny strawberry scene was very odd. 
- why are they getting a weird milky bath. 
- why is the ring so silly (Aes Sedai)

- why are they sitting half naked in the middle of the inn common room. 
- doesn’t like the choice of accents, with everything sounding a bit ‘breathy’

- the look of the whole thing seems a bit childish and cheap. 
 

Got about half an hour in and she said that she’s done with it already. 
 

Annoying but saves me having to explain the world as it goes on!

4 minutes ago, Arthellion said:

This is really interesting to me. Because both I (book fan) and wife (never touched the books) were absolutely wowed by the one power scene. Felt like it was the best rendition of magic we've seen on television or film. (Maybe Doctor Strange beats it out, but aside from that...)

Don’t get me wrong, magic being portrayed on tv or film is normally terrible. Mainly looking at Harry Potter using sparks as a substitute for creativity. 
 

I think I just pictured something more ‘solid’ than what is shown.

Just now, MasterAblar said:

Nowhere did I say I’m looking for a beat for beat remake. That would be stupid and terrible. But when character behave in ways that strains credulity, then it’s an issue.

 

Villagers don’t trust Aes Sedai and moreso don’t know truth from legend when it comes to them anyway. There’s a reason the whole village was hostile to Moiraine after the attack in the books. You need to give some reason for the boys to go along. One conversation, perhaps her giving them the coins would at least have helped. At best you could argue that Perrin is shell shocked from killing his wife.

 

Obviously this doesn’t ruin the episode, let alone the series. But it definitely contributes to the episode coming across as too rushed.

That’s my issue. Happy for the pacing to be increased but for them to just saunter off with no push back didn’t make any sense in the context of a village that sees a couple of outsiders a year. 

I kind of feel like they are rushing the pacing to get the dragon reborn mystery out of the way this season. 
 

It was never really hidden from readers in the series, so I imagine they wouldn’t want 2-3 seasons of it hanging over them, which is probably why they are going to run through books 2-3 in this season alone before slowing it down. 
 

I do have a huge problem with the channeling though. It just looks so cheap and I am struggling to picture how it will be scaled up for the larger battles. 
 

I can get on board with Tam’s fever dream not being included, unless it was modified to say that basically all of the kids are orphans from a battle, which would have been mental and a worse compromise. They will probably include the fever dream as a flash back when Rand becomes ill at some point

I assume for the sake of cost they have ignored the smooth ageless face of the AES Sedai?

2 minutes ago, Mnemosyne said:

 

LOL, I thought this too, but then maybe he knows that an Aes Sedai would find a way to get around answering it...

You would still give it a go though wouldn’t you.

I felt Thom looked fine but the singing was… rough to say the least. I am hoping that is him playing the voice down to the crowd and that it improves as the quality of his audience does. 
 

The Tinkers being immediately threatening and forcing the repeat of their words almost under threat of attack was very odd. 
 

Rand’s channeling being ‘super strength’ was particularly bland. I wonder if they are going to push the sickness angle when he is originally getting closer to touching the source.

Mat’s character looks the part but he has been really mishandled in the writing. 
 

Dana looking like a terrible terminator running through the streets was poor but I did like her twist on the Dark One i.e. trying to break the world free because the turning is what causes harm. Gives a bit more weight to why people become Darkfriends beyond ‘more power’. 
 

Rand appears to be too stoic already, he doesn’t really have any of the wide eyed wonder about seeing all this for the first time. 

8 hours ago, Beidomon said:

Thoughts in order…. (and remember I really LIKED Epi 1)

 

Whitecloaks seem menacing. Is cutting off the hands supposed to signify something? Can you not channel without hands “in this turning?”

 

Oh so that’s the title sequence. Sorry all…. that’s pretty lame. And the music is extremely meh. That’s no GOT - not even close. 

 

Trolloc effects aren’t always that good.

 

So wait did Moraine just kill the ferryman with the OP?

 

Campfire exposition was forced and lame. Man so far Epi 2 stinks.

 

Matt has a good moment with Rand. 

 

That’s how you pronounce ManETHeren? Okay. It was a fine monologue in the books but it doesn’t work here. 

 

Why’d they make the Aes Sedai rings look like something out of a crackerjack box?

 

This is Matt’s episode. He gets all the good lines.

 

Shadar Logoth was beautiful but the action sequence was extremely underwhelming. I expected so much more. It was over in a few minutes. That’s what she said. 
 

I’m not as upset about super ninja warrior Nynaeve as I thought I’d be. 

I was expecting to be pronounced Man-e-therin. Man-eth-erin made it sound a bit, weak?

I don’t know why beyond a vibe but I really felt that Laila didn’t go to Egwenes initiation because Egwene and Perrin had been intimate in the past. 

Dropped exactly 00:00 UK time, already through episode 1. 

Working through episode 1 and a few things just feel a bit jarring:

-Cauthon family being terrible people. Does help to stop almost all Two Rivers characters from being portrayed as saints though. 
- The Dragon Reborn being a man or woman. If it becomes Egwene, which looks to be what they are aiming for then I am 100% out. 
- Perrin having a wife. Just no and hope this doesn’t impact down the line. 
- Nynaeve being cool and in control of her emotions. Nope. 
- the way the One Power is shown doesn’t look workable or complex enough for a full series.