Whew ok. Just rewatched this episode and I have to say it felt a lot better upon second viewing. Still some issues that are irksome. The Nynaeve and Moraine scene still feels weird to me. Rand and Tam teleporting to Emond's Field without the gravity of that journey is a character/narrative loss IMO. Aaaand of course the final scene makes no sense. "You gotta leave with me strangers! Everyone and their families and friends cool with that? Yup, great."

That all being said, everything else I wasn't sold on at first probably had more to do with my book brain/expectation than with it actually being lesser than. The scenery was gorgeous. The dialogue was better than I thought (though not as good as it needs to be ultimately) and pretty much everything made sense as an adapted version of the beginnings of this story. Even the abruptness I initially felt wasn't quite as bad as I thought. 

So yeah, I'm feeling better already. Gonna see what Episode 2 looks like after a second go round now! 

3 minutes ago, MasterAblar said:

 

I actually feel like Trollocs were made much more of a threat in the show. In the books they're basically cannon fodder. Or maybe its just they made Moiraine and Lan less terrifying in battle?

I seem to remember Trollocs being portrayed as terrifying in the early part of the story. Like Rand killing Narg was a huge deal. True that during the sprint to SL Matt and Perrin handled some Trollocs just barely, but to me anyway, it didn't feel like Trollocs weren't a big deal to kill until Rand takes back the horn from Fain in The Great Hunt. But so far in the show anyone can kill them. Even randos with pitchforks haha.

But I don't know. Just my thoughts.

5 minutes ago, MasterAblar said:

 

Don't really feel like she showed any particular fighting skill to be honest. She certainly didn't when fighting off a trolloc with Egwene. All she did later was hide from a trolloc in the darkness, and then stab him in the back with his weapon that was within her reach. Nothing particularly special there other than she has guts.

I mean maybe fighting skills isn't the best description of it, but in the books it takes a decent amount of something to kill Trollocs right? In Eye of the World Tam fights off Trollocs because he's a trained swordsman, Rand kills one by accident because Rand, Lan and Moraine can obvi. I don't know, either Trollocs aren't really as big a threat in the show or Nynaeve has better than average ability in that regard.

1 minute ago, LoRd PyrO said:

Also, where is Thom Merrilin?? Did I miss something?!!

He shows up in episode 3. Perhaps not the way we thought he would/should, but he does exist!

1 minute ago, AusLeviathan said:

A person can't have excellent tracking skills if you don't explain how. What about Nynaeve would suggest she know how to track someone?

I'll admit the choice to show Nynaeve as a skilled killer who has little problem fighting Trollocs struck me as odd (I'm still not totally on board with that haha). That being said, they've changed her backstory to one we as the viewer don't understand yet. So there could easily be a forthcoming explanation as to how she got her tracking (and perhaps fighting skills). 

Quick thought about how Mat is portrayed; Everyone seems to be hating on his new backstory of a broken home, but I actually like it. Felt odd at first of course, but after settling in I found it to give Mat the depth that he sorely lacked in the first few books. And for those who have a problem with him not being the jovial mischief maker they wanted him to be, I say giving him a troubled past makes a lot of sense for why he's a gambler and mischief maker (he's had to be). Maybe he's not so care-free and wise cracking, but he has a cynical sense of humor that works for me. Anyway, my two cents on that ?

10 minutes ago, SashaTarasa said:

Nyneave didn't tug on her braid even once!!! Sad one of her characters main traits didn't make it in. Would've been very simple to add. 

Personally I'm glad she's not tugging on her braid as in the books. That got really annoying after the 100th time haha. One of those "character traits" that doesn't really do much other than show frustration, which in a tv show can be done better through the actors facial expressions.

In the same vein, I'm glad that Rand, Matt, and Perrin haven't been constantly talking about how they sure don't understand women but the other ones do. Haha.

Hi all! My name's Joe and I have a feeling I'm about to start posting a lot haha. I've read the book series all the way through twice, but I've probably read 1-6 like 10 times. Obviously the tv show has gotten me excited again and I watched the first 3 episodes as soon as they dropped. Bout to give them a second watch. Hope to have some fun discussions here as well as be entertained by the inevitable internet commentary nonsense. Cheers!

2 hours ago, Arthellion said:

This is really interesting to me. Because both I (book fan) and wife (never touched the books) were absolutely wowed by the one power scene. Felt like it was the best rendition of magic we've seen on television or film. (Maybe Doctor Strange beats it out, but aside from that...)

Haha it seems like half of everyone loved the way Channeling was portrayed and the other half hated it. Well I fell in the middle. Didn't amaze me, but I didn't think it looked bad either.

Same type of convo going on about the Trollocs. But here I definitely skewed more negative. The back and forth between actors in costume and CGI felt super obvious to me and gave them a slightly goofy feel IMO. 

Well that was something! I just watched the first 3 episodes and will say it got progressively better. The first episode I definitely thought was not great. Some of the changes that they made felt odd at first but I understand them (Perrin's wife, Matt's family problems, etc.).

But the way the episode flew through things made it hard to get a good sense of the characters. 

The second episode was IMO not good for the first half. But by the second half I felt better about it. I was confused by the choice to make Rand so against Moraine's insistence that they leave the Two Rivers, but thought maybe that was to set up his eventual mistrust of Aes Sedai. Then that totally changed in the third episode, so I don't know what to think. Also, Lan felt so much less than he should be in this and all 3 episodes so far. But blah! 

The third episode finally started to make me feel good about the potential of the show. Even though a lot of changes were made, the character development finally began to get results. Rand seemed more who I wanted him to be. Matt's character felt more in line with how they've set him up. Egwene is great! Perrin felt more like himself (although, the whole death of his wife thing hasn't come to fruition yet), But Lan is still flat. Nynaeve is somehow a skilled killer. And Moraine is mostly dead.

Overall I was seriously concerned this might be bad after 1 and a half episodes. Now I feel like it could be solid. Especially considering what happens as the story progresses. But man, definitely could have been a better start. Hopefully people give it a chance and the show continues to improve. 

Side note; I was curious how they would alter the dialogue, because Robert Jordan's words don't necessarily suit a tv adaptation. Aaaand it was ok. But needs to get better if the show hopes to really connect with non book readers audience.