"(b) Mat wasn’t very well formed by this point in the books either. " I respectfully disagree with the above statement, and your follow up comment did not sway me. 🙂

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree here. 😉

What?! By this point in the books, Mat is established as a masterful quarterstaff user, an avid gambler and carouser, has his arc with the dagger and humorous post-healing eating sequence, is persuaded to "escape" Tar Valon, et al. He's not full-on Mat yet, but he's still Mat. Definitely an established character by this point in the books. Sorry.

My 5-year old uses my old legos from the 80's to build copies of the OG D&D 80's cartoon characters. She does a pretty impressive job!

Whenever I encounter these I always immediately think of Greek diacritical marks that denote differences in aspirations.

Honest feelings about the end: To be brief, kinda disappointed. The series seemed (to me) largely to lose traction after LoC. RJ spun out some crazy threads that were just too much to gather back in successfully, especially without RJ alive to do so himself. Sanderson did okay. I'm glad he finished the series. Definitely not trying to rag on him as an author. He did a reasonable job, even if I don't particularly care for his style (vs. RJ's). I think the more I reflect on the impossible pipe ending, the more I'm okay with it; however, too many loose ends just floating about without proper resolution. Rand as a father? Rand as a son? Rand as a lover? All "off" at the end...imho.

I should note I haven't read any other BS work, so when I make statements regarding his writing style, I'm only speaking in reference to his stint with WoT, and in comparison/contrast to RJ. I'm sure he's a fine writer in his own milieu.

While Sanderson did a fair enough job wrapping up the series, he writes in a markedly perfunctory manner, especially in dealing with subjects of emotional depth, especially between two or more characters, something at which Jordan excelled. It felt to me like he was going by a checklist of plot points to tick off, without adding much in terms of emotional impact. Obviously I paint with broad strokes, and there are some notable exceptions (e.g., Egwene's ending), but Sanderson just doesn't punch at quite the same weight as RJ. There's a quasi-mystical element to RJ's style that Sanderson simply couldn't reproduce nor find a suitable replacement.

The best romance in the book that felt the worst in BS's treatment was the Gareth Bryne/Suian Sanche arc. Man, I was pissed off at how that ended. Not necessarily the actual outcome, simply how it was written. No spots for Thom/Moiraine? I'd put them somewhere in the middle category. Mat and Tylin's "romance"? Probably dead last. 😐

This sums it up pretty nicely and I agree with your order. I loved the romances during RJ's books, but they mostly fell flat for me during BS's part of the series. While I thought RJ had some questionable moments (to say the least!) I felt his characterizations to be more...believable? Lived in? Not sure exactly what, but even during the worst of The Slog, Perrin-Faile still had "life" to their relationship, if that makes any sense.

Now I'm picturing Rue McClanahan as Berelain! 😮 (Golden Girls one of my all-time fave tv shows.)

Angela Lansbury?? 😐

Convinced my wife to finally cut Amazon completely, after years of seeing diminishing returns. Enshittification (aka platform decay) is a real thing and Amazon is one of the world leaders at it. Certainly not going to help a show like WoT... I'm increasingly glad I bailed after season 1.

I disliked the characters of Nynaeve and Egwene so much I almost didn't finish the series. Now, after a couple read throughs (and reading the earlier books many times over), I can confidently say they are my favorite characters, definitely out of the leads from Emond's Field, and Egwene's story arch is by far the most satisfying in the book (for me, at least). So, yes, there is growth and change.

I think, without being too verbose, like most, my feelings are mixed.

Nothing makes good tv if the writers are bad. 😐

Maybe the uncertainty of Myddraals' origin stems from the use of Unwanted Trolloc Baby Drop Boxes... *young Trolloc couple give birth* *see eyeless human slug thing* *decide to try again, later* I'll show myself out now, thanks. 😐

I remember when this game hit shelves...I had already adapted WoT themes/classes/storylines from the first several books into my own AD&D 2nd Ed. homebrew campaign. Never picked it up, but I definitely remember being intrigued. Thanks for the write up!

After seeing comments from others, I'm glad I reached the conclusion after S1 not to continue. During my S1 viewing, I tried a variety of techniques from lowering my expectations, "another turning of the wheel," et al. in an attempt to jive with the show's vibe. Simply too painful.

Yeah, only we ended up with Girl Talk and not Raekwon....:(

That shall be decided in court, as the federal anti-trust regulators are currently suing Amazon for the very thing.

I mean, you have the option to NOT watch, too. 🙂 If it's offensive, don't subject yourself to it. Respect yourself as a viewer. Just cuz amazon serves some slop up on a platter doesn't mean we need to consume it. 😉

This very much sums up where I stand on the matter; however, I decided not to give S2 a go...I literally pulled it up the night of release, looked at it paused and ready to go for like 10 minutes just staring...and then said, nah I got too much other stuff going for me right now. 😛😄

Being an illegal monopoly (allegedly) isn't enough for Amazon? Gotta get some ads in now, too? Sheesh. Not renewing Prime next year if I can convince the spousal unit. 😐

If it bothers you, stop watching. I don't think I'm going to watch S2. Maybe later this winter if I get really bored. But right now I'd rather keep the novels pure in my mind rather than having a half-baked adaptation spoil things. 🙂 YMMV.