We don’t know that he turned them gay. I’m fairly certain he intended them to be bi. And, before screaming at me that they weren’t bi in the books either, I think there is a good faith interpretation of the books that sees their relationship as having romantic undertones. You can dislike it, but you can find textual support for all of the LGB relationships in the show.

Which character?

They should have left that mystery exactly the way it was in the books, with Mo knowing it was one of the boys and pretty quickly zeroing in on Rand.

These AI scientists are like the scientists in Jurassic Park, more interested in whether they can do something than whether they should do something. AI will end humanity.

I think this is wrong for a number of reasons. First, it unnecessarily limits the story - that’s not what WoT is at its core. Second, it cedes what makes WoT unique (the saidin/saidar dichotomy) and the gender dynamics. Third - it would demand massive amounts of CGI. They started to get the tone right in S2 and nailed it in S3. Do away with “Who is the Dragon” and stick to the original story beats (I’m ok skipping Camelyn and/or changing the Eye) focusing on the horror aspects with the theme being that nowhere is safe. Psychological thriller/horror. Then run a B plot with the Tower going after Logain. Use the B plot to do all the magical world building and exposition. That’s really all it would have taken. But it would eliminate the excuse to give Nyn and Egwene big plot moments to make people think one of them could be the dragon - goodbye Mary Sue complaints; you give Rand his time with Lan; Mo her time with Eggy; set up Perrin vs. the Whitecloaks; Mat with the dagger.

Absolutely!! I don’t even think you have to look that hard. I think RJ had a sort of “live and let live” attitude towards the world. That cultures were unique and diverse and that each had its own inherent strengths and weaknesses; goods and evils; etc.

I’m going to vastly oversimplify and say this: Who Is The Dragon killed the show. I firmly believe that the core problems all stem from this choice.

This conversation has drifted from the original point. While some may disagree, I am not of the opinion that Rafe’s politics weren’t a part of the show. They were. I am of the opinion that the show itself wasn’t political. Whether they were wise or not, trolling or not, Rafe’s comments do not move the needle in any direction on that issu for me. Other than a couple of awkward moments in S1, the show did not feel preachy or political to me at all.

Do you find that to be a good thing?

I don’t believe this. The uncanny valley is a thing.

Yes. Because I’m sure you’ve never told a stupid joke or said something rash in a moment of frustration.

An AI does not have a soul. It does not understand love or fear or awe because t has never experienced those things. So, no. I do not believe that anything created by an AI can have that spark of soul.

It was obviously in jest. And a reaction to people endlessly complaining.

I can’t believe people are even entertaining the idea that AI could do a competent job of creating a WoT movie/series. The resulting product would be entirely soulless. Interest level: 0.0

It’s not irrelevant. It’s yet another example of politics trumping common sense.

This was clearly a joke.

Exactly this!! It's the mid-2010's and you have the simultaneous issues of a certain set of people clamoring for strong female characters, LGBT representation, and diverse casting. You have another set of people upset at what is perceived to be the heavy-handed shoehorning of these priorities into existing IPs and/or weak, paper thing girlboss characters with no flaws. And then you look at this IP, the Wheel of Time. It's an existing property. It is already chock full of strong, interesting female characters with real depth; there is a textual basis for including LGBT relationships; the world is huge and diverse allowing for castings across racial lines. What could possibly have been better than that?

I think this is an oversimplification. I don't think the story was changed "to please" anyone in particular, so much as the showrunner's own views of the important themes overshadowed what others felt were the most important themes. Amazon marketed the show? I must have missed it. I don't think the show's failure can be boiled down to one single, all-encompassing reason. Though I would argue that the "who is the Dragon?" element of Season One was the single biggest issue.

I don’t understand what you’re trying to say here. I’m not arguing that the people in the show lacked political views or that the product didn’t reflect those views. That is different from a story that is written to push a political message.

I think this is a fair criticism. Which is why I said But the women’s circle aren’t “Mary Sues”. That is a specific term meaning a specific thing. And this is where you show me that you start with a political view and then filter what you see through it. A show should no more have to prove that it isn’t “woke” any more than it should have to prove that it is. This doesn’t have anything to do with my point which is that, while you can decode some of the showrunner’s political views from decisions that he made, the show itself was not a vehicle for propagandizing a political viewpoint.

Idk about this. Because we never got to see the ending. But the actual core message of WoT is about balance. Balance between genders and cultures and traditions. Even balance between good and evil. At the beginning of the story, things are out of balance. Men are vulnerable because of the taint. Women are disproportionately powerful compared to men. That all changes as the story unfolds, ending with balance established (for a time) before the inevitable turning of the Wheel disrupts that balance once more. If the story Rafe started — accepting that he intended to elevate women and LGBTQ elements of the story — finished, I hoped that it too would emphasize this theme, ending at a similar place of balance. Now, we will never know. From my PoV, this show was representation done (mostly) correctly. If one insists on viewing it first through the lens of politics, then I can see why people find it political. On the other hand, if one sets politics aside and just watches the show, this is not a situation where the writing clobbered audiences with “the message”. There were no Mary Sues (even Egwene had flaws, though she’s clearly Rafe’s favorite); “favored” political classes were not depicted as always virtuous; there were no thinly veiled allusions to real world politics. There were just characters doing stuff.

The idea that an adaptation can’t add or combine characters or add story and plot elements not contained in the original is nonsense. He attempted to adapt a long, complicated series. In some senses, he did it well. In others, not as well. But Maksim’s existence in the show is not - in any sense - proof that the show wasn’t an adaptation.

The irony is that WoT was more profitable than RoP. Amazon allowed the car to be repo’d so they could keep making payments on the huge house they bought.

There was a 5 season commitment to RoP from the jump. They are forced to spend on it.

Incorrect. Amazon is contractually obligated to air five seasons.