There was no build up at all. The orderly at the mental ward shacking up in the foregate had 0 presence in the city. He was an imposter that nobody knew. See my above response for a truncated list of how the book was far superior.

Rand had a grand entrance into the city with the bearing of a Lord. Lan gave him a crash course before meeting with the Amyrlin and spent some time leading the Sheinarans. Thom Merrilin a master of the Game of Houses was working in the back ground to prop Rand up. The show is laughable in comparison.

It is not “”100% true” that the Victorian age wast the “most repressive” ever. There is no meaningful way of measuring such a claim. There are nations right now that execute homosexuals and the scourge of female circumcision might still exist and was a major problem in the near past.

No indicator on screen that Lanfear did anything of the sort. Sure that might be to keep us in the dark of who she is, but as it is a party crashing dude in a nice coat who nobody knows is gonna be the talk of the town? Ok if you buy horse dung. In the show Suits a character who faked graduating from Harvard went to a Harvard alum party and some people were like “who the hell is this? We don’t know you.” Way better writing.

I don’t think the audience should invent a narrative to make stupid story telling more plausible.

Agree to disagree. Show has too much ground to cover and they make changes that take away from the EF5 who I think should be the focus. Book Lan would crush show Lan and stay with Moiraine no matter what she said. Whiney, “we really aren’t equals?” WTH? Warders are deadly guard dogs protecting important people.

Healthy man? A man who had his family and nation destroyed by the forces of darkness? Nobody said book Lan is healthy. See my response to Scarloc.

-I don’t know how to break up quote to respond piece meal. -Do you agree with every change of the show? Do you have any criticisms of it? “Randland” 1. Liandrin has been grooming Nynaeve for some unseen purpose. It is not a stretch for Liandrin to say, “come let us rescue your friends,” Nynaeve agrees to come. Egwene and Elayne then get attached the way Elayne does in the show. Liandrin doesn’t need to knock them out show style, but betrays them book style. Carrying 3 people clandestine is much harder than having them willingly following you. Show did its way for drama as a hook for next weeks episode. Contrived. 2. Lan-sigh. Daniel Henney is a good actor for Lan. I can understand the desire to give his character an arc and more screen time. But you know what a 14 book epic that is being adapted to 8 TV seasons doesn’t need? Another character to have to show development on—Rand is being diminished for agendas and decisions that have 0 to do with telling the WoT story. Book Lan is actually a deep character who is mysterious and broken by his past. In Wheel of Rafe he is broken by Moiraine’s loss of the OP and her pushing him away. Moiraine is now on her own trying to save the world without the OP and literally the best swordsman in the world—makes no sense, she needs Lan more than ever. Contrived. 3. I like your take on Selene, but it is a stretch for a Forsaken to just play house and manage an inn. May be emotionally for Lanfear she is just trying to recover some normal life that she lost by turning evil. 4. Ya, we got to show and talk about freaky sex stuff, because of the Aiel sister wife thing. I would be ok if Rand just jumped from one of his girls to the next and never be married to them at the same time. That is something I would approve of being changed. Do people get pregnant in Randland? more later probably

Some really good takes from all sides in this thread. I get goose bumps when the action on screen resembles the books. -Perrin getting mentored -Girls getting lured by Liandrin to leave the tower, but would have made more sense the way Jordan wrote it. Why make unnecessary changes? Changes I like: -Moiraine and her sister -Logain lined up to be mentor Changes which are bad: -Lan being neutered from S1E2 on. -Alanna and her warders get way too much screen time. -Min’s casting is bad. -Selene and Rand shacking up is meh, but may be pays off. -Zombie Lanfear— cut off her head and burn all of her body. Moiraine could walk away. Mid Changes: -Mat is barely there in TGH and so his sidelining is not so bad comparatively.

Ah I must have been day dreaming during the explanation it was an invented story in the book. Jordan did not re-explain that it was an invented story, because I have been listening to the books on audio and they don’t clarify that point except may be when it started(?).

Because in the books the Reds set him up to be a false dragon, so they had to keep that under wraps. They probably had authority over him—their jurisdiction. TV—-? Who knows.

Be cool to see her practicing curses.

I’d like more book faithfulness, but pacifier doesn’t bother me. I want the a’dam to be more faithful to its description like the necklace worn by the man in this art: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/566749934333612551/ I would also prefer to damane to be more submissive and portrayed like dogs on a leash. I don’t believe non- readers quite know what is taking place with them. Which is ok, because not everything needs to be spoon fed. I don’t like where Rand is up to this point. He is playing house with a…..er…..Selene who is out of character running a bar. Ok. No sword training, no Lord Rand arc, no "duty is as heavy as a mountain….”, etc. I guess when Rafe said Rand isn’t the hero of the story he meant, “I am going to diminish Rand’s importance to the story.” In the books there were many heroes with the hero of destiny in the middle.

“Most” means some are essential to the story. Alanna and her warderdoodles are definitely not essential. Between the lines just means that we don’t need to see people actually rolling around in bed to know what is going on. It takes a little creativity to let audience know what is going to happen and then cut to next scene. Ambiguity lets people fill in blanks never explicitly stated like Moiraine and Siune from New Spring. Like one warded could make a comment to Lan about Alanna and her warders while rolling his eyes, but not explicitly state what is going on. People make jokes about sister wives, but never describe sexual acts in the jokes. Alternatively Rafe has Loial cut with a deadly dagger and then just pretends it doesn’t exist. That is bad story telling. IMO Jordan handled sex tactfully while never describing the actual act. Closest was: Morgase compulsion rape was never described on page and just referred to. Mat and Tylin also was never explicitly described, just references to how she likes him in ribbons and nothing else and her chasing him around the room. Glad the nudity from books is being removed. I know those girls are nude in the swimming pool locker room, but it is best for me and them I don’t see it.

Please put it back between the lines. Where most sexuality in shows belongs.

Sometimes the weaves are for the audience and not the characters. See S1E4 with Logain’s weaves where it almost appears that an Aes Sedai sees them.

I am not sure if Liandrin is a dark friend in this adaptation. I think she will be the Amyrlin when the tower splits. And Elaida wasn’t a dark friend.

Worf (human version of him) was my casting for Lan in my book reads. Lan is the best swordsman in the world essentially. He should be something special. Not in Wheel of Rafe. I like some of S1 Picard. Not exactly “Star Trek,” but I liked some of what it did.

Wasn’t this all cleared up with Stepin. We lost valuable time that could have been used to develop Rand, but explaining this bond was crucial for non-readers. About developing Rand, like may be training with a his Da’s sword and all. Well may be Nynaeve can kill Turak.

I find it is less about politics and more about the tone and tenor of the WoT. Rampant sexuality was not present in Jordan’s work and in my experience in polite society it is not discussed. Good friends sure and some men just let some stuff out once in a while (usually when no woman are present), but I don’t think it improves Jordan’s work at all and it has turned away the people I wanted to enjoy the show.

Moiraine is definitely stilled. This obviously will be resolved when Nynaeve restores her and may be Logain.

Uh oh. I haven’t watched yet, but when I watched the S2 trailer I thought, “I have a bad feeling about this.” I will watch, but I give myself permission to stop before end of episode 3.

We don’t really know why the writers took out the leaf key for the Ways, but speculation is to keep them locked to just anybody. Watchers will understand only people with access to the OP can use them.

I really like Logain from the books, but he is never a raving basket case and we have him like that in S1. They could make Logain into Taim and Rand be the man to confront him in S7-S8. (If we make it that far).

I actually sympathized with Steppin and felt sad when he died. But I want that emotional connection with Perrin or Rand. From S2 trailer it does indeed look like Logain is filling that Asmodean slot and can be Taim as well. Yup it is not actually Logain from the books, just a character inspired by Logain with the same name. That applies to a lot of the characters in Wheel of Amazon.