Loved the cold open. Forsaken scenes continue to be the shows greatest strength. The writing this season is about 10x better than it has been the last 2 seasons. No wasted time. Dialogue is on point - characters are being developed and showcased through the acting and writing much more than previously (Matt in particular). For example, Sammael had … what … one line? But you have the sense of who he is - he hates LTT and wants to fight. Im ready to actually like Faile - let’s see if they can pull it off?!

Finished the 1st 3 episodes and I think: it’s great Tv! Also, a lot of things in there for book fans to geek out over: Matt quarterstaff fight. Camelyn succession war references. 7 of the 8 Forsaken that will be in the show have been named or seen. More Aiel. I’m sure some book purists (myself included) can nitpick a # of complaints. But overall it’s really good!

Who's going to rewatch episode 1 tomorrow first before going onto the next two episodes? I think I'm going right to episodes 2 & 3. Then I'll find time to rewatch episodes 1 through 3 a second time before episode 4 comes out next week.

Alviaran is also in the Hall and then helps with Egwene's Accepted test 🧛‍♀️

And who decided that 2am was a good release time? You doing that just to torture us, Amazon? Amazon: "I dare you not to sleep tonight... I dare you!" Me: "The last time I pulled an all nighter was in college 15 years ago ..." Amazon: "Then you don't care about WoTTv and want it to fail!" Me: "Ok Nynaeve ... don't get your britches in a bunch; I guess it's time to roll the dice and see if I die at work on Thursday!"

The horses were pretty significant characters in WoT; soooo the show better not do Bela or Mandarb dirty!

Just finished Ep1 Fan Event. Initial thoughts: 1) It was good Tv. Started with a “bang” and was compelling throughout. 2) Lot of things to love as book fans: bubbles of evil, grey man, OP battle, Red Stone doorframe, Rand reading prophecies. Good set up that he needs to win over the Aiel. Mention of Tear and Callandor. I think the more positive fans are going to be overwhelmingly supportive. 3) But There are definitely some major changes that really hard-core fans could hate: everyone starting in TV and Aiel openly walking through the streets and it’s no big deal? Lanfear and Moiraine working together (and that’s what the bubbles of evil are?) Moggy is the only Forsaken that makes grey men & Lanfear is surprised she’s at work there? And I know people are gonna complain about the cold open battle because there’s quite a bit of - why would they do that - stuff (just walk out of the tower rather than kill them/get killed by Alannas Warders when it’s 7 on 1 Aes Sedai?) stuff like that. But I still say… it was good Tv! I want more!

Bela disagrees! 😉 With OP healing and motivation she’s pretty fast.

Yes but is it in this first episode? I think it’d be quite a strange episode/energy if this happens after the cold open scene in the show timeline and not before somehow, don’t you think? My guess is that in the first episode - we’ll get the BA battle as the cold open scene- but then go back in time for the rest of the episode & see what led up to it. Maybe?

They are in TV. In the cold open you have Lan & Moiraine in TV seeing the effects of the BA battle & having apparently already connected with Suian. Nynaeve is in that clip. This clip is confirmed from the first episode. In fact, I think about 1/4 of the first episode has been released at this point. The clip that was just released of the Galad and Gawyn fight is the warder training ground of the WT and Matt, Nynaeve, Elayne, and Min are in it. Yes, that would have to be route - I guess, as pointed out - that didn't make sense to me if in the clip they were saying that they'd be headed to Tear in the morning. It's good Tv. I'm getting good vibes from this. I'm not sure how this is going to all fit in the first episode (if it is first episode material) especially if the BA battle is the cold open - unless we time jump and then go back in time? But hey, in the Wheel of Time, we can do all sorts of interesting things with time, right?! I really hope we get that scene and it's well choreographed; it's an iconic Matt moment from the books & we've gotten none of that so far in the show. I think they should just pretend everything they've done thus far with the SL dagger didn't happen and start afresh with that plot-line! lol

It's funny how minds work, because I didn't even read my own typo & my mind automatically "corrected it"; and if you hadn't said this, I would have never noticed that I typed "immorality" instead of "immortality" & that someone made a joke of it! lol That is funny!

Im sure it’s including the cost of the Licensing/buying the rights to make it; so good point. But All that means is that the more episodes they make that number of “cost per episode” will come down (other than that I think it’s still worth considering)! Especially since, say in the case of RoP, they have lots of financial incentive to not cancel a show but keep making episodes if you paid, say 1 Billion dollars, in order to make any episodes at all. Anybody know what the licensing/rights to WoT cost? Doesn’t Sony currently hold the rights?

It did look that way; but I think one of Moiraine’s lines in the show was something about Lanfear being “granted immorality by the DO.” Maybe I’m remembering wrong?

Actually, I was just looking this up and it’s not in the top 5 according to my googling (WoT is about 10 million an episode). RoP is by far more expensive (58 million an episode). Citadel reportedly cost about 50 million an episode. Stranger Things 30 million an episode. And most of the Marvel shows are about 25 million an episode. So yeah. Cancel RoP and give us more money and more episodes!

Yes. Do that. More episodes! RoP is more expensive than WoT and is not even half as good.

Some initial thoughts on the clips: 1) Confirmed time jump - they spent "a month couped up on a boat" in order to get to TV? Ummm - there's no way to get from Falme to TV by ship. Soooo that's interesting... 2) Confirmed that all the main cast starts in TV in S1 (don't love that [especially Rand and Aiel in TV - that would never happen in the books without a big-time throw-down] unless we get an explanation of why they went there, but ok). And why would Moiraine be giving this warning about the network of Red Ajah spies - after bringing them into TV? Why did you go to TV then? 3) Costume department is still on top of their game - seriously give those ladies a raise - killing it! 4) Elayne is the only character sitting ... significant? 5) Brother Book - holding a book - making a perfect Lolial comment about always leaving at dawn - love it! 6) The Rand and Moiraine tension/dialogue - "Where do you want to go?" "Home." ect... Well written. Feeling good about that. Mixed feelings. Hard to set aside book knowledge/overlook lack of attention to detail with lines like "couped up on a boat for a month". Just seems like such lazy writing at times. But then they have these amazing flashes of brilliance - with the acting and writing as well. So, I don't know. I'm still really exited but also some trepidation.

Even if this season was ... only just as good as S2 ... I still hope they keep going! It's hands down better than Rings of Power or anything else on - even if it's just "pretty good"!

You guys already know you can go on Prime and register for the Fan Event this Saturday - and get to watch the first episode early, right?

Honestly, I don't think we're going to get that (but I could easily be wrong since we know that Rhuidean is in episode 4!). But I do agree that they've shown an ability to "show and not tell" and get across bigger concepts in shorter scenes. For example, having Bain and Chiad beat down Avi because of Ji'eh'toh. For me, perhaps the best writing of the entire show thus far, was the scene of Ishy and Lanfear in the Tel'aran'rhiod. That dialogue was as good as anything that was in the books; and IMO actually made the viewer understand the Forsaken dynamics with each other better than anything in books. Ishy: "Are you going to betray me?" Lanfear: "Obviously." Ishy: "Do you know why the DO released me first and trusts me above all the other Chosen?" Lanfear: "Because Moghedien is insane. Graendal is a vain idiot. And the boys couldn't execute a plan even if it was set up for them on a silver platter." Ishy: "It's because I actually believe in the Dark. I want to break the Wheel and end all this misery and suffering." I'm looking forward to seeing if they can make the other Forsaken more 3D - we've already gotten Lanfear's motivation and we know they're going to do more with that this season (we're going to see Meiran) - she really genuinely loves LTT & sold her soul to get him to love her back. She's the worst crazy ex-girlfriend you can imagine! lol Isha'mael was the ultimate nihilist - and a true believer - in the Reincarnation worldview you can actually sympathize with his motivation to just have it all END. I'm hoping that we actually get some more of the motivations of the other Forsaken as well. Like perhaps we find out that Moghedien really is just a dark-tetrad type personality and enjoys hurting people? And Graendal sold her soul to be the most beautiful and really is just vanity incarnate. And Sammael is driven by jealously - he wants to be LTT. Hopefully they explore these things. They've done a better job than the books thus far - let's give credit where credit is due!

I think the showrunner/writers have actually gotten a little too much undo criticism (and some of it even from me!); if you consider that they had to deal with COVID and a main character leaving the show & then with the SAG/writers strike... and when you had an impossibly long and complex fantasy book series to adapt in the first place ... I think they've done alright thus far. And I rewatched S2 - and I think it was - for the most part - pretty well written as far as a TV show/adaptation goes. My ... main beef ... if you will ... with the writing so far... is that they framed all of S1 around the question, "Who is the Dragon?" and I don't think that's a compelling question. And ... it's hard to say with viewing numbers ... if things dropped off so bad with S2 because people didn't like S1 or if people actually thought S1 was better than S2? But, all that is to say, I don't think they have enough time to give much more exploration into Tinker and Aiel culture - but I think they'll have some well-written short scenes that will help set-up that payoff a bit.

This is an excellent point. What happens with the Forsaken is not, purely speaking, Reincarnation - since they aren't "reborn" into a new body. It's more like a transmigration of a soul directly into an already formed body. I'm not sure what you would call it - because it's not resurrection. I think in the show they used the phrase "granted immorality" about Lanfear & I liked how they pictured her coming back to life after being killed.

People are assuming Ishy is in this season because he's on the poster? That's not a good assumption. We are definitely getting AoL flashbacks - that could be why he's in the poster. We have no confirmations that his character is back in their timeline that I know of. I agree. I hope the showrunner and Amazon writers understand how core to the story it is that in the Reincarnation Worldview - Good always has to struggle to overcome Evil - and there is no end. Part of the ... discouragement and arc that the heroes go through is the fact that ... every enemy they defeat comes back (unless they balefire them - which they are never supposed to do, but do all the time)!

As someone who studies religion(s) there is absolutely a difference and Lezbi Nerdy is wrong. Resurrection means that there is a continuity with your physical body - you, in your body, come alive again and live forever. [This is the foundational Western Christian belief.] And is easier to do for a show because you don’t have to change actors/actresses. Reincarnation is the idea that you have an immortal soul that is reborn into a new body (human or animal). This is basic belief of several Eastern Religions & what happens in WoT. Hard to show in the show that Isha’mael’s soul is in Moridin's body (I suppose you could have a different actor but have them copy mannerisms or something?). Though they have shown reincarnation through AoL flashblacks and the fact that LTT is a different actor than Rand (Dragon/Dragon Reborn don't have the same body). I haven't seen the Lesbi Nerdi video though - and another thread made me aware of the fact that - even in the books - what happens with the DO and the Forsaken isn't, purely speaking, reincarnation or resurrection. Because the Forsaken's souls are put immediately into a new adult body. So - would need a new word for that. But I liked what the show did with Lanfear; though then they were rather inconsistent in making it seem like Ishy is really dead and gone (which in the books can only happen by balefire, which they are never supposed to do - but do all the time! lol)

Nobody is “resurrected” in the books. Wheel of Time is intentionally from the Eastern Worldview. They are reincarnated. I understand why logistically and cinematically the show is doing resurrections instead … or in Lanfear’s case they used the phrase “granted immortality” (tough to change out actors/actresses & hard to show and not tell “reincarnation”.) I just feel it’s an important distinction…

If the show decides that Couladin and Demandred could be combined and that Couladred isn’t just Savanna’s puppet - that could be a “a good change…a good change.”