10 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

good point.

though still going to be missed by any but the most observant viewer.

that said, the books are full of subtle things that nobody will notice unless they look for an internet guide, so in this the tv show keeps to the spirit of the book

Right, if you needed to go frame-by-frame to see the tattoo they missed the opportunity for a subtle set-up.  If @WhiteVeils is correct in her idea, bad editing wrecked a great plan.

1 hour ago, WhiteVeils said:

Or gain it as his drinking problem kicks in.

I thought the drinking problem made him go skeleton-mode.  Thought I remember him being described as 'all the flesh being boiled off him'.  But that may have been someone else.

6 hours ago, zacz1987 said:

I agree. I didn't have a problem with tattoos themselves but it seems a lot of work and time for something that really doesn't matter.

 

This was my main issue with Season 1 in general and unfortunately I'm not hopeful it will be much different in season 2.

Doesn't really matter that you know of.  Maybe they are the key to unlocking portal stones or navigating through the Ways...

If it was created just for Tairen culture - meh.  Does seem like a lot of effort for something you have to slow down to frame-by-frame to appreciate.  There may be a story tie in, as the optimists say - WAFO.

14 hours ago, Cipher said:

I imagined him to have a perpetually angry face.  Resting Jerk Face?

That's where acting and make-up come in.  He'll also have to lose weight from first show appearance to when he is under Fain's influence.

4 hours ago, DigificWriter said:

 

Haters' attitudes notwithstanding, everybody working on the show is clearly heavily invested in delivering the best adaptation of these books that they possibly can.

I certainly hope so...

I like the casting for all the Maidens.  Love their costumes as well  - the combination of fabric and leather.

The actor cast as Dain is way more handsome than I pictured him.  Will be interested to see how he handles the character's downward spiral.

16 minutes ago, DigificWriter said:

^ An adapted TV series can deviate - sometimes significantly - from the source material upon which it's based and still do said source material justice.

 

The line of criticism that emerged from certain 'book purists' about the show being disrespectful to the books due to it not being absolutely 100% faithful  is an absolute fallacy that has no true factual basis, as is the similar line of criticism about Rafe and his team disrespecting and being ignorant of the books by not being absolutely 100% faithful to them either by conscious choice or by circumstances beyond their control.

Okay - but any comments on the video that this thread is about?

Favorite added scenes/changes/execution:

• Logain scenes (except for healing bomb)
• Mat's family becoming disreputable (Congar/Coplin vibe 👍)
• Nynaeve and Lan's developing relationship
• Blood Snow - excellent choreography
• Warders and Aes Sedai chillin' in the evening

Not enjoyed added scenes/changes/execution:

• Healing bombs
• Ninja Nynaeve
• Terminator Darkfriend
• Lan/Stepin doing forms together
• Attack on Aes Sedai camp by Logain's soldiers
• Loial being a short muppet
• Trollocs looking like creatures from the Dark Crystal (1982)
• Perrin's wife (but maybe this will go somewhere in S2)

6 hours ago, thacq said:

I haven't read GOT yet - although I do have the first book sitting on my shelf...

Grab the books as you are able, but I wouldn't recommend reading them yet.  We're still waiting on the last two books in the series - which may or may not ever come.  Been over 11 years since the last one...

1 hour ago, SinisterDeath said:

Yes, and that goes back to animated adaptation is just better for this book series, than a live action version.
 

And a lot of people didn't need the animated shorts to enjoy this TV show, hell many don't even know they exist.

To add to this, the book purists may derive more joy out of the tv series by watching the shorts, because the shorts will massage their fears that the show is changing to much. 

Example: 
IF you dislike the TV Show because it didn't explain what Saidar & Saidin are, and thusly fear it is getting rid of the two halves of the one power. Watching the shorts may allow you to enjoy the show because now you know they aren't removing Saidar & Saidin.

For me, it is not a failure of the show to include extra material in the form of 2-3 minute long exposition dumps that better explain the intricacies of the world building that might not appeal to the average viewer.

The shorts are a supplement - or as you say, an exposition dump.  As much joy as the book purists may derive from the shorts they are not an adaptation of the books.  Maybe an animated show is what some of us needed.  But we didn't get that, nor did we get a show we enjoyed.

I don't take it personally that some people like the show with or without the shorts.  But some seem to get very defensive when I/we say we didn't care for what Rafe and team produced for Amazon - and for me at least, it has less to do with how true the show was to the books and more to do writing and other production qualities.

38 minutes ago, SinisterDeath said:

The Matrix got "animated shorts", to explain the machine uprising.
 

A lot of movies and TV shows have "extra features" on their DVD, they include behind the scenes footage, and sometimes they include extra stuff that expands the lore in some way.

Hell, look at Lord of the Rings if you want to get into "extra features"...

 

In fact, the Wheel of Time (and the lord of the rings!) also have supplementary books (BWB & Companion) to explain the books. Should we say the books are bad, because need books to explain the books?

Difference is that I didn't need supplementary material to enjoy The Matrix (movie) , LotR (books and movie), or WoT (books).  Supplements and features may add to enjoyment and understanding, but the originals all stood on their own merit and were great without additions.

Unlike the animated shorts for WoT which you just said were arguably better than the show itself.

3 hours ago, SinisterDeath said:

You laugh, but an animated series would have arguably been the best medium for the Wheel of Time.

I do laugh.  Because we didn't get an animated series - we got shorts in order to explain the show...

6 hours ago, Lightfriendsocialmistress said:

I still do have many questions after 14 books, which has prompted me to reread them. On the other hand many questions are answered on completion of the series. I will agree with you that one thing for me that still lingers is the idea of why this turning of the wheel “seems” so fatalistically important compared to all others. All I can come up with is that… maybe it isn’t…? 

It's important because it is the 'current' one.  I never thought beyond that.  Everything is important when it is happening to you...

Enjoy the ride; it will be wild.

1 hour ago, SinisterDeath said:

The animated shorts are cannon to the show, you may disagree but they are. They're also arguably the best part of the show.

 

Unfortunately, I signed up for a live action show - not animated shorts.

Too bad they spent all those millions on the show but the cartoon ended up better. 🤣

41 minutes ago, WhiteVeils said:

Or....he made a good show despite the strictures.  The audience knows exactly as much about the magic system as it needs to know to understand the story as it has been presented on screen so far. They certainly know more than we readers did when we finished EOTW. That's all they need to know at this point.  They learn more later.

Good point.  That's part of my problem. We were fed information as we needed it in the books and it worked beautifully.  But in the show I already know all that so...

Personal issue.  Show was not made for me.  Just have a hard time not knowing what I know.  Different medium, different rules.

2 hours ago, SinisterDeath said:

 

Or, and bear with me on this for a moment; The first season was a character driven story that was more about character building, then world building.

 

Throughout the first season. We met with Characters, that are going to be the driving force of the series for the foreseeable future.

Those characters, are going to be the vehicle with which they go about building the world with in the following season(s).

We know, that next season, we're going to get some of the girls in the Tower, learning the OP. That sounds exactly like the kind of place they're going to teach the viewers how the magic system works. It's akin to how we learn more about how magic works, every time Harry Potter started a new year at Hogwarts.

 

Similarly, we're going to learn more about the various cultures, as the characters split up, and go to different parts of the world. 

Or, I guess we could just wallow in self flagellation that the IP is going to be ruined by an overly woke lgbt gay agenda, and gawk as the show slowly devolves into a trans musical opera about the hardships of transwomen reading in southern libraries.

Whatever floats everyone's boats. 

You had a decent argument going until the sarcasm at the end (my bold).

That aside - can't they character and world build at the same time?  Or does that go back to the Amazon didn't provide the budget and episodes needed?  If that is the case, maybe Rafe should have walked: 'I can't make a good show under these strictures.'  If enough folks told them that, maybe...

1 hour ago, nsmallw said:

Hey Don't bash David Eddings. I have great fondness for his Belgariad series. Wonderful memories. 

I enjoy him too.  Not as much as Jordan or GRRM, but still an enjoyable read.

1 hour ago, Lightfriendsocialmistress said:

Yes! It’s so fascinating how many characters who aren’t officially Darkfriends exhibit characters just as selfish and harmful as the dark evil ones 

Yep.  Serving herself instead of the DO.

2 hours ago, Lightfriendsocialmistress said:

Another one I just remembered is Nicola. I think that’s her name. Never quite trusted her. 

Not a darkfriend, but selfish, self-important brat - that committed immoral actions (blackmail).

2 hours ago, Lightfriendsocialmistress said:

Ohhhh ok thank you for your explanation, that makes complete sense. So that means when Rand tapped into it during the semirrage debacle (probably mispelled that) it was because the DO himself allowed him to? Wow! 

Either that or Rand, being the special guy he is, reached out and took what he needed out of desperation.  Perhaps made possible by his 'connection' to Moridin...

5 hours ago, Lightfriendsocialmistress said:

This may be none of my business as it’s not directed at me but it’s posted on a forum where any members can read…was this meant to be mean or did I misinterpret it? Just curious, I’m new to this forum and have never participated in any other ones, so admittedly I have no context for interpreting the intent behind the statement which is why I’m asking. I’ve only been participating on this forum for a short time and while people certainly have some strong opinions and are sometimes very direct in their ways of expressing them, I have yet to see anything that seemed mean spirited but it could be that i just haven’t been around here long enough to see it, or that I misperceived your intent or that I’m just a little too naive and inexperienced in terms of how people interact in the world of anonymous forums. 

Calling someone a tool is generally not considered a compliment.  Some people are blunt, rude, mean, nice, complimentary, encouraging.  Some cycle through all of these.

50 minutes ago, mogi68 said:

Can we get a betting pool going? I bet a Tar Valon mark that S2 will come out in September!

You can keep your tainted coin, but I'm sticking with November.

2 hours ago, Blackbyrd said:

lines like....

 

When Mat jokes about 'crazy women' and Lan threatens to kill him

 

There's a brilliant Nynaeve passage, where, in a space of a page she contradicts herself in her own narrative

 

 

What are the good quotes?

I imagine 'good' would be subjective, but I'll let you know the next time I read CoS.

2 hours ago, Blackbyrd said:

 

Why not ask Glenn Cook?

 

Then go ahead and query the Malazon?

 

I hoped for you Toad, that you could ever be anything more... . but you are nothing more than less than a tool of the ordinary. Enjoy the eddings of it 

 

What a tool

Hmm.  A bit to unpack here.

Malazon evidently had many similarities to Black Company.  And I think that you are mirroring that to my comparison of Eddings and Jordan (different thread).  Though the comment of mine that you responded to was about Harriet's editing skills, especially after LoC - not about similarities between WoT and Eddings' works.

Tool of the ordinary?  If you mean simple, yes I am.  If you mean something else, you will need to speak plainly - due to me being simple.  Appreciate further thoughts...