I agree that the sooner this is canned and forgotten the better, but I’m the pessimist that assumes this was the one shot this novel got. There are few examples that come to mind of an adaptation failing but then a second reviving the series. Dune, maybe. And then there’s the whole inexplicably weird Harry Potter thing going on, but I guess only time may or may not tell.

Then explain it that way! A single line of dialogue clears that up. “Look what I’ve discovered/Ive been practicing/I realized what was done to me could be done to others.” Or if Lanfear did it, “That’s a neat trick Lanfear used.” Seriously. One line. But the writers care less about telling the story coherently than setting up scenes they want to show whether or not they fit. I really don’t have a problem with the fact that he was shielded and tied off, just that it doesn’t work against other examples we’ve seen in the show without even a tiny bit of explanation. I do think it was dumb that they had a captured Forsaken and just left him alone. Shielded or not, you keep an eye on him and certainly bring him with when you travel…

Yes! You nailed it with Seuss. I give it a pass because it was going to be weird no matter what. I wonder what non-readers thought.

Did Lanfear heal herself this episode? That’s a no-no.

While I agree, that’s always something that can be done later. It should have happened but ah well.

This is seriously the second time in two seasons Lanfear has had her throat slit. It really is unreal…

Going in to this, I’m sure many of us heard that it was going to be “controversial.” Of the three season finales, this one was by far the least controversial and if that statement was about Siuan, good riddance. She wasn’t all that likable; she wasn’t all that impressive a leader; she didn’t seem to have much use going forward.

Book Elaida was a villain, but not evil, per se. She was harsh, and very misguided, but I was fine with her leaving Siuan alive.

A show shouldn’t ask you to make up your own wild assumptions like this, though.

I really wish they had given Rand vs. Couladin more time and had gotten into the visions. They certainly played it up as if they were going to, and Rhuarc especially acted like Rand was going to go too far, and then they essentially just went right to the rain. One-upping Couladin was a great moment in the books and it also showed how Rand fulfills the prophecy of “breaking” the Aiel. Yelling “oathbreakers” didn’t have that same impact.

The fact that they showed the oath rod scene probably means you are correct, even though it doesn’t make a ton of sense. It’s a trope you see in shows and movies where a loved one just somehow “knows.”

Moiraine to Lan: “Today is possibly the day I die.” Lan: Disappears to meditate so far away from anyone that nobody notices a possible assassination attempt and then some death-via-broken oath all while his Aes Sedai is alone in a tent with the man who she says might kill her. Also Lan: Go ahead and channel, Moiraine, while I guard you from half a mile away so I can get to you just in time after I see a Forsaken appear in this featureless desert and slowly strangle you while I do my best to finally get in a position to protect you.

They had to have someone use the doorway so they could have some exposition to explain a little of what we were going to see later in the episode. Like I’ve mentioned elsewhere, subtlety is not a strength of this show. There was zero other point to that cold open.

Well, I guess we can add to the “‘Tis merely a flesh wound,” list.

I felt like I was watching a Cliff. It’s version of the show. They tried to cram way too much in here and combined events happening offscreen with exposition, and really rushed through some major stuff. The pacing was not good.

The writing here is so damn stupid all for the sake of creating the scenes that the writers want. Lanfear wanted to kill Moiraine, so when she catches her unaware and vulnerable she…knocks her over with air then tries to strangle her?!?

- Why is Lanfear’s TAR weaving black? Did Sony just need to save money and use the effects from the Venom movies? - Wow, Egwene sure learned how to master TAR and beat a Forsaken pretty quickly, huh? - Did Thom really have a free shot at the black sister and yell “Hey” before he through the knife? Good grief. - The Finn was fine, I guess. Maybe looked a little cartoony but I don’t j own what else they could have done. Weird creatures in the book, weird here, too. -Liandrin points her fingers and people die. I think she killed 6 of the panarch’s guards with one quick weave. But then her plan with Nyn is to wrap her in chains and throw her in the water? Dr. Evil-level stupidity, there. But hey, the writers needed Nyn in the water, so stupid ideas know no bounds.

Moiraine shielding Sammael is 100% what is wrong with the garbage-tier writing on this show. In Season 1, we had something like 8 Aes Sedai keeping a constant shield on Logain, Moiraine included. Skip two seasons forward and Moiraine just casually drops that, by the way, she can now tie off shields and subdue a Forsaken. Not earned, not explained, just written that way because that’s how the writers want it.

I don’t think so. That would have been good motivation for Perrin but I think he just wanted to go home because he missed it.

My point, though is that he said he wanted to chronicle history in the making (my words, not his; I’d have to go back for the direct quote), but then he doesn’t follow the Dragon Reborn, he doesn’t follow the blower of the Horn, he followed a guy who went home because he was homesick…

Yes, but I keep being told we can’t compare these to the books. As far as the show story and the show logic, why was he there?

Why was Loial even in Emond’s Field to begin with?

Without knowing anything about him, I imagine he looks a bit like a heavyset version of those douchy Terry Gookind poses in the back of some of his books…

Yeah, and I cannot begrudge a couple individuals playing hardball so the Amazon. If I could leverage Amazon for a billion dollars I would…

While I agree completely, isn’t it pretty common in the business to have initial agreements for 3-4 years? I feel like I’ve hear somewhere that actors almost always get to re-negotiate around that time, which is why it used to be a big deal for shows to make it to a 4th season, meaning they got through that hurdle. Talking out of complete ignorance and heresay, here, though.