Counterpoint to that is- have you ever actually spent time with soldiers? We don’t actually spend that much time with warders in the books. They get a general wash of “manly” or “masculine” which is what we give soldiers in real life, but if you take them individually? They are all vastly different. Some stoic, some quiet, emotional, funny, loud, angry, sensitive. They are people after all. What one outwardly portrays in a formal setting would be quite different among friends- which is what this scene is. Also, all soldiers that I know can admit that they’ve fallen in love with someone. That’s not a particularly nuanced emotional statement. Knowing and growing up in the military ( never having served myself, but being an air force brat) I always found Jordan’s blanket wash of these characters to be uninteresting, even if he did serve. Considering he never went into much detail about their indivual personality, there’s nothing to say that one can’t be sensitive or caring. The only important part the character that must be captured is that they can protect their aes sedei. It would be uninteresting to have 6 characters basically having the same personality on a TV series. Characters who aren’t connected or at least aware of their emotions don’t make for good TV. it actually feels more like you are inserting your political beliefs and ideas of what men should be into this rather than the other way around.

You seem to have some masculinity issues to work out my friend. You really sent this thread off the rails with this post. Clearly the delivery of the line worked because it elicited a response, not only that, it told the story of their relationship in about 3 seconds. You may think the character is pathetic but that’s your own bullshit seeping through and not the fault of the actor. Whatever bullshit you feel about masculinity and the way men / warders are supposed to act is your own, don’t burden us with them. It’s trite at this point. also, I thought it was fairly clear Nyneave hadn’t been exclusivly sword training for 5 months. This felt more like a group of friends blowing off steam and trying to get the one friend to relax so she could hear some much needed advice. Sometimes when you are having an problem the best solution is to drop it and come back to it. Lan’s fighting was fine. The point is that he was off his game due to the lack of bond. If you can’t understand that, maybe take a HS English class again? the episode was far too slow, but the show needed a reset with it’s characters. The problem was in direction. All the scenes had the same pace and seriousness- they were also shot similarly. This plagued episode 2 as well. Seems like Napper is a bit indulgent/ unimaginative.