After the first watch, I had to really take in the density and take some time to unpack everything before I watched it again. The 2nd watch I tried to look for themes and really appreciate what all the additional scenes that they included bring to the table. Then the third watch I was mostly looking for book reader Easter Eggs and found a pretty good amount of them. They threw a lot of them in for our BookBros, just showing a lot of respect for all us longtime fans.

Love what they have done with our series so far! Loving it!

My review
https://dragonmount.com/forums/topic/110377-season-1-discussion-no-book-spoilers/?do=findComment&comment=3991814

Absolute masterclass TV. 9/10

Friends, it feels so exciting doesn't it to finally arrive at being able to watch this masterpiece of a series!

My compadres and I are crafters, and we brewed a special brew just for this occasion called White Tower ale! It does not really match a specific beer style as outlined by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style guidelines, but I guess would be close to a Belgian. It's a deep amber with about 5.8%ABV and and OG of about 1.06. It's built on a big foundation of malt with strong tones of honeysuckle and toffee. It also plays up the fruity, caramel aspects of English malt and yeast. We will be enjoying this brew for the first time, I am the only one who so far has tasted it and it is excellent.

After we finish watching the first three episodes, being that we will be amped up I think we will resume our ongoing Gloomhaven tabletop campaign. For those of you that don't know, Gloomhaven is pretty much considered to be the best tabletop game of all time by most informed critics.

I'm really looking forward to how they play up the friendship of the Edmonds Field 5 and Lan and Moiraine, and I can't wait until they introduce my favorite character, the Lady Elayne, down the road.

Friday, I am going to cook a nice dinner, a couple of gourmet Filet Mignon steaks to perfect medium rare, some Potatoes Lyonnaise, and Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots. My wife and I will enjoy a wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon from the Bordeaux region of France that I have been saving for this occasion, deep garnet in color with a profound earthy nose, notes of black cherry, ripe (not baked) plum, and subtle licorice. I will build a cozy fire in our wood burning fireplace to stay comfy and warm and set the tone. After watching we will retire to the bedroom to have an intimate tantric experience with each other.
 

At least it won’t be as bad as Legend of the Seeker, or Shannara. We’ll still have that.
I hope.

8 hours ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

I don't think having those convictions makes me homophobic.

It kinda does though. What you’re expressing is pretty much the standard definition of homophobia. 

6 hours ago, AusLeviathan said:

enough that it becomes clear that no one in WOT seems to have a problem with it,

As I remember those parts, it was treated as something you were supposed to “grow out of”, 

But perhaps other subtleties flew under my gaydar. 

-I have no problem with the TV show gaying it up a couple (or several) notches though. 

It is only natural that an adaptation to a mass market conforms more to the predominant morals and values in the society it is intended for, than the society the source material was produced for.

Also, isn’t “woke” just another way of saying “(socio-)politically correct”?

22 minutes ago, AusLeviathan said:

As far as the books are concerned, all kinds of sexuality are accepted in the WOT world

It seemes very prudish about it though, not much non-heteronormative stuff going on, at least not openly. The closest is the vague hints at the equivalent of English public school... activities.

You have to keep in mind that the first two books, especially the first, are not entirely consistent with the later ones, since RJ was writing a much shorter series at that time.

Mat’s arc from closeted to Out.

Mostly for the rage of various reactionaries and book-purists.

1 hour ago, Reader said:

Season 1 -

Season 1 theme: Coming out.

Seen a lot of talk of "wokeness" about this upcoming TV show, which I firmly believe is completely overblown fearmongring by reactionaries, possibly spurred on by the usual type of right-wing internet grifters. (Think of the annual "War on Christmas".)
It probably doesn't help that the marketing fr ths show has emphasized the "wokeness" or whatever, which IMHO is just marketing for what otherwise is going to be a pretty normal fantasy TV series. Remember the hullabaloo about how Mad Max: Fury Road was going to be "Feminist" because of some consultant they hired on for production? Well, it turned out to be a pretty good Film in any case. Unfortunately I don't have that much hope for the WOT series, but that has more to do with the "non-woke" divergences from the source material, and various production designs. (Czechoslovak movies from the 50s have better production values. Look up the Hussite Trilogy.)

Frankly, I don't think there will even be a third season, one of the main cast quitting after season 1 (apparently because he objected to filming gay sex scenes) does not bode well for the rest of the show. Not to mention that Amazon will go all in on LOTR if the first season tests well.

TL;DR: The show won't be all that "woke", and the whole thing is just a Marketing strategy, using Manufactured Outrage to create a buzz.

On 11/10/2021 at 3:03 PM, notpropaganda73 said:

the writers, Rafe, whoever, are in a room together maniacally laughing as they tear up the books and just have a whiteboard with phrases like "Men are Trash!" "White privelege in WoT!" "Let's make everything woke!".

Incidentally, this is what a lot of /pol/tards really believe.

There needs to be more nudity in the TV show, and going by the age rating I’m guessing there is.

1 hour ago, Elder_Haman said:

But what does that look like? 

A whole lot less spanking, is my guess.

Amazon’s objective is of course to make money somehow. Getting more Prime-subscribers by launching an “exciting new franchise” is one way, and using bloated production costs to launder otherwise taxable income is another. The two are not mutually exclusive, of course.

I doubt the show will get a 4th season, or even a third, unless it’s as succsful as GOT was. There’s a limit to how much money even Amazon is willing to burn in the face of diminishing returns, when they have LOTR coming up, and that’s a much better established franchises.

And I am not very hopeful after seeing the promo shot of the whiteskirts.

That said, I hope WOTTV will be an enjoyable watch for everyone.

Just remember how they introduced various changes in GOT, like Robb’s wife, and other subplots. Nothing they can change without completely wrecking the original main plot should be a surprise. 

Casting Meera Syal as Lanfear for season 2 was a pleasant surprise though.

2 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

That would be a major change for no real purpose.

“To a television producer, nothing is unnecessary which is expedient.”

What it does is add more “depth” and conflict to a character. You and me might not like character changes, but this TV show was not made for the book purists.

On 4/5/2021 at 6:38 AM, mistborn82 said:

When do we see her struggling with nightmares, issues with channeling and the like. I'm not being sarcastic so could you point to some, maybe I've forgotten.

Eh, like in her very first chapter of the next book, when she completely overreacts to the minor Whitecloak-threat?

On 3/31/2021 at 10:59 PM, muddasssir said:

obviously Nynaeve is one of the best written character in the book and Eggy the exalted hyena is the worst.

No, Egwene is well written, but as a villain/antagonist who doesn’t know she’s a villain.

On 10/30/2021 at 6:46 PM, king of nowhere said:

Brandon mentioned one change the fans would not like.

That might just be that the show’s writers changed him to be

 . TV writers love to write

that don’t drive up production costs.