29 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

I'm baffled by why this bothers people. Why can't Lan enjoy a nice, hot bath after a few grueling days on the road? Is there something ... unmanly ... about liking warm water?

 

May you find water and shade.

The whole scene is terrible. Like most scenes I've witnessed so far. 

1) They should not be taking a bath together in the first place. Mo is Blue, not Green. And Cairheinin to boot. She'd never invite him into her bath, and as a Malkieri, he'd never accept without invitation. 

2) He is a stoic badasss, not some whining douche asking her to make the water hotter. 

If it gets better from here, I will not be a part of it. I've seen enough to know I am not enjoying it one bit. In fact, I actively dislike it. 

I am out. For those that can enjoy it.....good for you. 

On 11/19/2021 at 9:14 AM, Beidomon said:

 

Can’t believe I’m the guy that’s gonna defend this stuff, but the change makes sense unless you want to reveal the DR in the first episode. They can do it later as a flashback maybe. 

 

 

Maybe. Or maybe Nynaeve is just full of it. This is what Nynaeve was told - not necessarily what happened. A lot of women are turned away because they are way too weak. Something Mo might explain later. 

 

 

I was very skeptical, but Pike works for me. She brings the needed gravity to the role. I like her. The channeling looks great to me. The bath scene was actually really good. It implies they are intimate - and some AS are intimate with their warders - but to the folks who, it just demonstrates how closely bonded these two are. They basically two halves of the same person. Taking a bath together would be no big deal. And the warming of the water was a nice touch. 

 

 

You’ll get it in E2, and it falls extremely flat. The monologue worked great in the books but it’s pretty terrible here. 
 

 

Well yeah, the leavetaking felt extremely tacked on and basically sucked. Lowest point of the episode. 

 

 

Was it though? I didn’t mind any of these additions (except for the massive “it could be a boy or girl” change, which is terrible). The additions didn’t take long and they worked. It all added up to a pretty great episode except for the stupid leavetaking.

Just because Rand is an orphan does not make him the DR. Anymore rhan Perrin being a wolfbrother did for him. And, of course, if you do not know Mo is looking for the DR at this point (which you shouldn't), it ruins nothing. 

The problem with Mo's character is not the acting, it is the stupid stuff she says (and Lan complaining about the water not being hot enough, seriously?). Both totally out of character. 

The Manetheren speech, of course, would work better in Emind's Field (is this what Aemon's blood has come to?). I may not make it to episode 2. I may have seen enough if this garbage. Episode 1 was BAD. 

I could have done better. And I have zero writing or TV experience. 

Color me incredibly underwhelmed. 2 or 3 on a scale of 10. 

I mean, I knew it would be rushed, and there would be changes, but lordy, that was poor. 

Minor gripes: 

1) Perrin is married. And kills his wife. 

2) No Thom. 

3) Nynaeve gets kidnapped. 

4) Moiraine is recognized as Aes Sedai right away.   

5) Moirane knowing there were 4 ta'veren from the start. 

Major gripes: 

1) Losing the drama of Rand taking Tam to Emond's Field. And therefore Tam's rambling about finding a child in the snow. This is what drives Rand for most of the series, who am I? 

2) Rand seeing the Fade is also gone. Trollocs are the main threat here, and it should be the Fade instead. 

3) The Tower turning away Nynaeve's mentor. The Tower wants girls who can channel badly. Siuan is a fisherman's daughter, FFS. This is awful. Attempting to build elitist tropes. 

4) Moiraine's character is awful. Blurting about the Dragon Reborn? Preposterous. Destroying the Inn to throw rocks at Trollocs? Awful. She is Aes Sedai & from Cairhein. Totally out of character. As is a bath with Lan. Ugh. 

5) Having Rand accuse Moiraine of bringing the Trollocs, not the townspeople. Again, this totally misrepresents how rural communities feel about AS. The fear. The distrust. The ignorance.    

6) Losing Moiraine's tale of Emond's Field. 

7) The ease at which they go with Moiraine. So much for stubborn Two Rivers folk. Yeah, I have never talked to you before, but sure, I will leave everything I know to go with you. Sure. 

? 8. Lots of extraneous stuff was added (Perrin's wife, Matt's mom, the Reds, and Egwene at the river, even the battle), at the cost of better stuff.

They should have opened with Rand & Tam. Fade on the road. Arrived to a quiet, not yet boisterous Inn (Marin was bad). Done some world building with the adults at the Inn. Meet Egwene, Nynaeve, Perrin, Mat, and Fain.  Strangers. Gleeman. Moiraine with the coin. Return to al'Thor farm. Winternight. Rand arrives to Emond's Fielsld in ashes. Nynaeve cannot help his dad. Thom/Bran Dragon's Fang talk. Moiraine heals Tam. Then the whole convincing them to go, finding out that the al'Thor & Cauthon places & the forge were all that were attacked. Rand/Tam talk. They sneak out. End episode.  

A lot of them were bad.

There were plenty of Thom/Moiraine clues early on. That one was easy.

Galad/Berelain for me. Totally shallow. 

Funny, I have not posted for many years either. I recently went back & re-read the last 3 for the first time sine aMoL came out to see if I had a different take on them. 

I never really had an issue with how Rand ended things. I kind of liked that.

My issues were about the plot (Verin's letter), some characters being off (to be expected some, but yikes on Mat), characters being really clever and then really dumb (Egwene reads letter from Darlin about wanting to keep some forces back to guard vs the Seanchan, then Elayne moves all her channelers who can make a gateway by themselves to Merrilor; Rand admits the others have to win the LB, but does not teach them any handy AOL channeling tips; why didn't AS/good channelers just link more often, including men?).  The list goes on. Would have liked to seen Hopper/Egwene/Siuan make an appearance when the Horn was blown.

Alternatively, some chapters were great (Perrin forging the Hammer, etc).

I think the anticipation between books kind of started to skew things a bit. At least for me. 

The first 5-6 were really good. Then things kind of started to unravel a bit, with Crossroads of Twilight the low point. RJ seemed to find his stride again with Path of Daggers, but then passed away.

The last 3 are controversial & divisive amongst the fanbase. I was glad they were written & thank Sanderson for them. But I get some of the criticism as well. 

But welcome. As an opening salvo, give us your favorite 3 characters & top 3 books.

Pour moi:

1. Moiraine Sedai

2. Min Farshaw

3. Rand

Honerable mention: Thom, Lan, Nynaeve, Loial.

Books:

1. Shadow Rising

2. Eye of the World

3. The Great Hunt

Hon Men: Lord of Chaos

I always thought it was Lanfear. Around the same time she is impersonating Else Grinwell at the Tower (OK, slightly before), and of course her escapades in the three fold land and those as Selene.

In each instance, she interacts with the main characters directly in her guise, be it Rand, Mat, or Egwene.

Moggy, though, tends to keep herself hidden more, though she also uses disguises (as in Tanchico). But she tends to be less interactive with those she is observing, or covers it up w/ Compulsion when she does.

Plus, isn't there a point where she says something to Rand about "the girl who tries to watch over/protect you," meaning Egwene? We know Lanfear is the jealous type, and she has a reason to keep watch on Egwene. Though, if Lanfear were watching Egwene, you'd think she'd know who she is, instead of having to ask "which one is Aviendha?" on the docks, though maybe she was so angry she just saw two women dressed in Aiel garb and didn't recognize Egwene as one.

1. Lan and Moiraine, New Spring, When To Surrender.

Mo: "It seems Ryne was wrong as well as a Darkfriend. You were better than he."

Lan shook his head slightly. "He was better. But he thought I was finished, with only one arm. He never understood. You surrender after you're dead."

Moiraine nodded. Surrender after you're dead. Yes.

2. Eye of the World, The Wheel Turns.

Loial. "This little space, at least, will not sink into the Blight. The Blight will not have Treebrother."

3. The Great Hunt, To Come out of Shadow.

Rand: "The Light shine on you. Lord Ingtar of House Shinowa, and may you shelter in the palm of the Creator's hand." He touched Ingtar's shoulder. "The last embrace of the mother welcome you home."

Surprise, I got Yellow.

You belong to the Yellow Ajah!

Members of the Yellow Ajah focus on Healing, mostly the body with the One Power, but there are also those who seek to heal the mind in mundane ways. Yellows are firm in their belief that the One Power is the best method of Healing, and it is often said that they will try to Heal anything they come across. While Yellows care about the well-being of others, they can often be very arrogant, too self-assured and even flamboyant at times.

This is your result in its entirety:

Yellow Ajah: 5

Brown Ajah: 4

White Ajah: 4

Blue Ajah: 4

Green Ajah: 4

Red Ajah: 3

Gray Ajah: 2

I'd have thought Blue, Brown, White, or Green. Though all four were in a tie for 2nd.

For me, the idea that both the Dragon and the Tower left the Borderlands to dangle is one of the single most unforgivable, and unbelievable, things in the story thus far. Especially considering:

1) Egwene and Rand are both close to Nynaeve, and Lan.

2) They both regret the Tower not acting soon enough to save Malkier (and so did Moiraine and possible Siuan by the sound of things)

3) Rand intervenes to save Maradon, and says he couldn't let the DO take it after all they did to hold it. Does he think the people of Arafel, Kandor, and Shienar will be any less valiant?

4) Rand vows to Nynaeve, in full Budda Rand, that we won't let Lan down. And then he does so for the rest of the Borderlands. (not to mention not saving the Sea Folk).

Really, Egwene wrote some letters and hatched her plots with the Hall and dealt with the murders and Messy. Not saying she had to go personally, but with Gateways, they should have been able to send help. She had both the Guard and the Rebel Army around. Even fearing another Seanchan attack, they should have been able to do something. Heck, Gateways in and out of Heeth tower sending in 5-10 linked sisters with angreal every so often should have been able to hold the Tower for a LONG time.

And Rand is even worse. At least Eggy has Forsaken in her midst, and fears another Seanchan attack, and is picking up the pieces. Rand does enough to account for about 5-6 days. The 3 days or so walking (no hurry there) to AS to talk to Egwene. A couple days in Tear to reunite with Tam, ID the DF's, mend with the Aiel and Caddy and send her on her mission. A couple more in Bandar Eban. A day in Maradon. A day to get the Borderland rulers. What did he DO for the rest of the month?

We'd better have some kind of plausible explanation.

Oops, sorry, this goes a bit afield.

No, Elayne shouldn't blame Egwene. It is her duty to protect Caemlyn. She should know better than to empty the city, especially when one can just hop back and get the troops anyway.

1. Moiraine. Not even close.

2. Min. Guts and smarts.

3. Birgitte.

4. Siuan.

5. Lan

6. Thom

7. Aviendha

8. Amys/Rhuarc.

9. Ituralde.

10. Silviana

For me, these 10 have been the most consistently awesome. The main characters, for me most parts, have either been so blind in spots, for books on end, that I can't really place any of Rand (madness/tryanny), Mat (selfishness/denial), Perrin (worrywort), Nynaeve (blind spots, irrational AS hatred), or Egwene/Elayne (various reasons) in the top 10.

Though I must say, they've all turned out wonderfully. If I had to take a snapshot RIGHT NOW and say who are my favorites:

1. Rand

2. Moiraine

3. Nynaeve

4. Aviendha

5. Siuan

6. Perrin

7. Mat

8. Faile

9. Min

10. Lan

I still have issue with the timelines, specifically, Mat & Verin's.

BS said Verin met with Matt a month before VoG, and then Verin's letter said she went to Egwene the very next day. That seems off to me.

I've got one, and even started a thread on it (mods can merge it in here if they think that is more appropriate).

Was Osan'gar killed by balefire or not?

I ran across the quote from BS implying that he was (in response to a question about Sammael/Asmodean he said that all the non-reincarnated Forsaken, except those two, had been balefired).

But in reading the passage, I never thought that Elza used balefire. Does she even know the weave? Just sounded like a big fireball to me.

Does Mat's foxhead medallion protect him from saidin, or just saidar? Rahvin kills him, but when Halima (Balthamael) channeled saidin at him, the medallion stopped it.

protects him from both. Rahvins channelling created the lightning but the weaves never touched Mat thus the medallion couldnt stop it.

 

Are not the lightning bolts them selves part of the weave?

no I think it is more the weave sets off a lightning bolt, like when they make it rain, they just create a spark with the Power and it sets off a lightning bolt type thing. Or thats how I interpret it

If that's the case, the necklace doesn't provide nearly the amount or protection I thought it did.

Nope. Elayne and the Sisters threw poop at him on the way to Ebou Dar. It trimmed his sails a bit. If the channeler knows about the medalion and it's limitations, they could still fry him pretty easily.

Still, immobilizing him doesn't work. If he's close enough and the channeler tries that, or any direct attack, they may not have time for a second chance.