Sorry I realise you are probably referencing s01e08 One of the criticisms leveled by people was just how idyllic the world in the that cold open was and that it did not accurately convey the absolute desperation that should have been present.

The War of the Power I don't think could be described as fairly calm. Are you referring to the cold open in the book? Have you read the cold open in the book? As the book only references the war in that section at all with LTT saying for 10 years your foul master has wracked the world. I cannot ever remember the number 500 coming up in terms of the WoP, so I am not sure about it's accuracy.

Everyone in Shienar bathed together in the same baths and the Aiel sweat tents, which are the same as baths, everyone also washed together.

It's probably a thing that varies for each individual but I never considered any of the books a slog. I am also a massive re reader I have read the completed series above 10 times and the earlier books more than double that number with the earlier the book obviously having the most reads. The only sections that I find a little slow are the early parts of Faile's capture and the early section of Elayne's securing the throne.

Was that the timeline the show created in the Latra cold open? The book version is that it was around 80 to 100 years of slow breakdown from the opening until the War of Power began which Jordan said lasted only around 10 years but events in the books supported it could have lasted around 50 to 75 years according to the WoT wiki.

I think someone said that the extra material has the timeline from the start of the series is just over 2 years has passed. I don't feel that the show has in any way made it feel like this amount of time has passed. AMOW was actually rudely responding to one of my posts quoting Daddyfinn.

The only thing I can think of is after they gave the clipping to Carhein they were able to travel the waste and unlike the tinkers I am assuming they may have had some contact with the Aiel and even possibly have been warned away from approaching Rhuidean as it was a sacred site. In the books Rhurrac when he meets the trading caravan warned the trader that if he had continued on his path then he would have reached the city and it would have been a bad thing for them. I think I remember as well that the trader knew it was not allowed.

Was it just me or did the wolf heads in the white cloak camp look much bigger than Hopper's head?

Lol as you can probably guess rule of cool does not quite cut it for me.

Nope Nyn she told him about the tracking tell to allow him to follow Moiraine to the eye.

The show actually said Moiraine had a tracking tell that Lan had not spotted in 20 years which is a super nerf on him.

The euphoria of holding the power is well established and his lucid conversation about what the taint feels like is not madness, he is talking about the thing that will drive him mad in the end. I'm sorry I don't recall that s3e1 convo.

So you are saying the tonal discordance is real and was intended. I think the Taarad where happy because their chief had returned. I don't think they should have been joyful with Rand given they knew who he was and what his future speaks for the Aiel. Which was my point. Grim, stoic, and committed not laughing and gleeful. We have seen no real development of Rand being taken by the Madness at this point. You are suggesting this as it's first appearance? I'm sorry I don't buy those as the reasons. I believe they wanted to set up a relationship between Rand and the kid to make a future scene hit harder, this was not an impossibility what I question is the manner they have chosen to achieve it. For example have Rand training with Lan and then Rhurrac approaches and offers to help him learn the spear or hand to hand fighting and have the girl laugh at his initial attempts and then even joins in on the lesson mirroring the moves along with the men.

That certainly is not Rand's lived experience though. And being stoic does not exactly fit with the way he and the child acted. For the audience it is still tonally discordant as Rand who only a couple of scenes earlier learned the Aiels history and shame and only just before that learned that he would destroy almost their entire civilization. It's the same level of discordance as when Rand was being one of the boys at the pub joking about sleeping with Lanfear, it's simply not the reaction a normal person would display when faced with a incredibly confusing and emotional situation like that. I think we are agreeing that by having a diverse cast you are going to have a diverse set of people being good and bad and some people are going to read things into those choices. I had not thought it heavily or deliberately skewed. Yep but that picture is from the show where it very much feels like they are going to make those relationships sexual. My concerns are mainly to do with the ceremony and the fact that they were sisters not lovers in the books which requires changing the relationship dynamics. It also raises the question are we going to see some threesomes or moresomes. When not all the characters are sleeping together it is not a question when they are all sleeping together it becomes likely that they would engage in this activity. I am not against it I am just saying if this is the relationship going forward do we expect this to be shown.

As I have stated before I do not care if they give Rands wives a more sexual component with each other to their relationship. My issue is that in the books they are sisters and the ceremony they undertake clearly involves a rebirth as the twin sister of each other and it clearly seems that rafe is going to keep this ceremony which is called first sisters. If you are happy with the relationship involving an incestuous element then it is no issue. If they remove the maternal birthing segment of the ceremony then it could work, however with this it is will it will not.

ewwww the thought of all those dangly bits flapping around and potentially getting caught in ropes or on the rigging. That would be a bad place to get a rope burn.

But at no point in the books do I remember those wives actually having a sexual relationship with each other. The same as in the books Rand's wives do not have a sexual relationship with each other.

Considering the lack of extras at this point in the show I'm fairly sure they could have actually found enough actors of any body shape and size. If every one of those casting choices had been white there would have been complaints about only casting white people in those roles. Sammael, Moggy, Lanfear and Morgase are all white and clearly evil at this point of the show. I am not sure having a solitary bald person in the BA out of 11 is exactly falling into the bald = evil trope. Although she is the only bald woman I can remember in the show so maybe?

I find the idea that only a marriage between 2 people to be the correct formula antiquated. The idea that every person on Earth fits neatly into a 2 person loving relationship feels wrong surely some people can be involved in multi party loving relationships/marriages and be happy. The examples you raised are where a considerable power imbalance is present usually and the vast majority of these relationships that have occurred in our world fall into this category. Cult like harems are rarely done for the right reasons and thus should be avoided.

I am aware of the current thought line that this will replace the Tear scene. I am fine with that scene being moved although without Callandor it will make it harder to replicate his feeling of being filled with so much of the power that he can literally do anything. The scene in the book did not require him having an attachment to the child and worked very well, again not saying that having said attachment could not work well here. What I am questioning is the jokey way the introduction was handled. Rand has just become the Car'a'can and learned that he will destroy basically the entire Aiel nation as his future, he has also just learned and experienced the entire history of the Aiel nation and their fall and shame. Having Rand be all jokey and happy in this scene is jarring considering everything he has just experienced. The fact that the child knows of the Car'a'can would indicate that his upcoming role is not a secret to the general populace and so to a lesser extent her role is also questionable. Would have been a fine scene if you had made their meeting more sombre and reflective especially from Rand POV.

Storytelling has accepted metrics that can be judged and they can be good or bad.

Again excusing them as nitpicks (which a lot of them are more severe than IMO) does not make them not true. The better the writing the fewer the nitpicks. You really almost have that paragraph on auto fill. It is of course not possible to for an adapter to not change some things as then it is not an adaption but a copy. And of course the life experiences of the writer is going to play a role on the material they produce. However claiming that they have the same freedoms as the original author is simply not true. If they are adapting a work they must work within the world the original author has created or it is no longer an adaption but a new world. My analysis is based on how effective they are in this endeavour. The quality of the world building, keeping the characters true to their counterparts in the books, how the magical system is used and its rules in comparison to the books, characters competence being tied to the character and not the story requirements. I base my analysis on all these things and others, I provide clear examples for them. This is not ignorance.

Definite for Siuane and Moiraine in New Spring. Was it simply the fact that they were trapped in a harsh all girls environment? No idea it's not important. They share a lifelong bond and they have a goal that trumps every other relationship and thing in their lives Elayne and Avi are sisters and that is it they are rebirthed together as essentially bonded twins. Ishy in the books I never got an impression either way the same as Siu and Mor he had taken up a cause that was more important than anything else to himself. As a man from an extremely cultured and educated world I don't believe he would have any issues any form of relationship although this does not prove in any way which way he might have swung before his fall. I don't care relationships between characters should make sense to the characters worldbuilding.

I present clear examples of the world breaking and storytelling issues when I provide my analysis on each issue. People frequently dismiss them as nitpicking however the fact that you are able to look past said issue as you do not see it as a problem does not mean the problem is not present. The show writers are there to adapt the WoT their personal interests and beliefs are not as important as the story written by the original author. The are working within Jordans world so no they do not get the same freedoms as he does. As you are talking about tone and tenor your posts almost always come across as if your word is absolute and sacrosanct on every writing issue and are unwilling to accept that there are any worldbuilding or story issues at all.

Well firstly the first sister ceremony is not a marriage. They literally become sisters, birthed again and imbued with a magical bond of basically becoming a twin sister. If they keep the bond and ceremony the same as the books and have them sleeping together it is going to be incredibly close to incestuous. Yes Elayne and Avi spend far more time together than they do with Rand but it is not sexual in nature they are sisters holding each other. This I believe is a queer person seeing something that is simply not there and I will again reference the fact that the first sisters ceremony involves a birthing element. I am not against Rands ladies having a more physical relationship but it should not be between sisters unless the show is advocating for a truly incestuous intent. I respect the issues his mormon upbringing coupled with his sexuality must have caused, but this is truly not the relationship that occurred in the books. I really like the talk about not setting the sexual identity of the character as that characters main defining trait. A real problem in a lot of the increased prominence of female and gay leads is that it is those very characteristics are their main ones. However, I don't believe that he has followed this. I have never disliked the idea that we could see an expanded physical relationship between Moiraine and Siuane. My problem is that it has super ceded their defining trait which was the single-minded desire to find and guide the Dragon and thus save the world. It began with the FFH ter'angreal being used for a hookup and when they finally had the meeting there they had sex before discussing the fact that Moiraine had found the Dragon which had been there most important goal of the past 20 years and their lives. And then this episode he has broken down the worldbuilding and storytelling to throw these characters at each other again by using Egwene.