And here's one issue. The mechanic of how the Warder bond works when either of the pair dies isn't relevant in earnest until FOH, and the next time it's plot-relevant big time is MOL. The docks of Cairhien likely won't be there until end of S3. There's plenty of time to explore the essence and implications of the Warder bond and there is zero need to devote a complete subplot to it in S1 - besides, the audience will forget about it by the time S3 rolls out. I'm not saying the Steppin plot arc is bad, because it isn't - it's pretty good. However, in a very time-limited adaptation of a doorstopper novel where we have to cut chunks of content at every corner - do we really have the time for such a distraction? Much like in chess - many bad moves are, in and of themselves, decent. They are bad because they are not addressing the requirements of the position - much as devoting as much screen time to Steppin's arc as was done does not address the requirements of the adaptation. Could not agree more. I mean, there's a ton of change that I give a pass. There's another ton of change I give a pass because I see a possible production reason that could necessitate it. The changes I oppose are ones that (all IMHO, of course) a) don't save production money and/or screen time, at least appreciably - or even spend it inordinately b) act detrimentally to the character dynamics/development or c) produce ripple effects necessitating other changes falling into criterion b. In short - changes which don't make this a better show; some of them making the show worse.

One of the big problems of S1. Many characters central to the book and entire saga turn to be "Who the F is this guy and why should I care?" I feel like the decision to keep the ambiguity of the Dragon was altogether detrimental to developing the characters of Mat, Rand and Perrin; to a lesser extent, Nynaeve and Egwene as well. With Steppin I would agree - while the storyline and the concept are quite decent, they could be told in different means using existing characters in less time. As to Logain - I bear in mind the possibility that the TV character might be an amalgamation of also Taim and even possibly Asmodean. That, coupled with the terrific job Alvaro Morte does with the character, makes the time allotted to Logain potentially justifiable. Down the line, he also becomes pretty important to the plot and gets quite some page time, while Steppin just remains dead.

They've put out a small scene from S2 featuring Rand and Logain. If one wants to be nitpicky, Logain in the books wasn't that larger than life as Alvaro Morte is portraying him. However, for all the extra ham, Alvaro completely steals the scene.

I'm sure that Barney's departure wasn't the only issue here, but there is the question of Ep 8. Say, in Witcher S1 the last episode was awful, but so was the penultimate one. Here, for all the tremendous beef I sometimes have with the series, I really liked Ep 7. So, the show was never particularly bad, although never particularly good, and (for all the plot changes etc.) managed to hit a pretty high note before plunging headfirst off a cliff. My guess here is that they probably needed to rewrite Ep 8 more or less from scratch, and that either with little time available, or in the face of severe constraints, being forced to write what they can film as opposed to that they want to film. I also have to mention that Mat and Perrin don't have much to do in the last chapters of TEOTW, so most of Ep 7 would be unchanged, Mat or no Mat. One notable change would be the Min viewing, of course. I'd say that this adaptation has over 50% chances to end up being an abomination, but "over 50%" is not 100%. I also don't think Rafe did a very good job, and I do think that whatever agenda he has does negatively impact the quality of the product, but I am also aware that in the view of all the circumstances, many of which are unknown to the general public like me, he may actually be doing a pretty good job within the limitations he has. The biggest problem I see is that it overwhelmingly looks like that Rafe wants to tell Rafe's version of RJ's story. Let me give you a comparison. Peter Jackson, while filming LOTR, tried telling Tolkien's story, and it paid off. While filming the Hobbit, he tried to tell Peter Jackson's version of Tolkien's story, and it was very subpar if not an outright disaster.

The only standout character for me was Logain. He was well-written and well-acted - especially given that we know nothing of Logain pre-gentling.

In Rafe's defense, there were hints in TEOTW. I read those as a product of Egwene's mind being a little messed up, which is completely valid in the circumstances. An interesting parallel would be that Harry/Hermione dance (a beautiful scene) that had half of Harry Potter fandom squeeing and the other half incensed :). However, it's really subtle in the books and doesn't go anywhere, which quite often happens IRL. Rafe's decision to make more out of it is questionable, but he didn't conjure it out of thin air.

This is some really great analysis. I must admit that the concept went absolutely over my head on both the first and the subsequent rereads - until this very summary. I would hence hazard a guess that this would also go over the head of a your average show fan, which ironically makes it an omission target. However, you could rework both Noam and Elyas into one-episode (or two-episode) wonders, which would make it much more filmable.

I'd argue it's the only proper way to experience the Daughter of the Night.

Complaining about artistic direction is no longer fun :). On a more serious note, the character lives and dies on whatever the scripwriters have for it and how the actor/actress can deliver. So I reserve any judgment until I've seen her in action. To me, it's like Rand's shaven head - I don't think it's right, but it's a minor issue, all things considered. Nail on the head. The portrayal as acted fit well a world-weary person well into her thirties, not the Min of the books. Even though they seem to have aged the characters, that's still too much of a gap. Especially as Josha Stradowski does pass somewhat convincingly for someone in his late teens/early twenties.

RJ to the rescue! "Renna patted her on the head as she would a dog", "a certain good will for a dog in training", "Damane are like furniture, or tools, always there ready to be used", "Damane are too valuable to be killed out of hand", "I do not mean to train this damane only to have her thrown away", "Her hand stroked Egwene's hair, a mistress soothing her dog". I would suggest that Renna as of TGH is a pretty good authority on damane.

Could you share a link? I don't doubt your words, I'm just curious; as a practicing DM, I'm always a little on the search for curiosities. Perpetual abuse and dominance and control are fine. However, do you perpetually abuse your guard dog? Your hunting dog? Your horse, be it riding or draught? You surely don't dilly-dally with them and you give them the occasional kick. But perpetually abusing them is just a bad investment. Same with damane - they are valuable property, at the very least on par with a really good horse. A single pacifier used by a slightly kooky sul'dam is fine - but as a standard fare it's too much.

It's really interesting how they deal with Rand's arc. Hurin, Loial, Selene - that's one kind of group dynamics, just Selene - well, that's completely another. "You called yourself LTT and were her fervent lover". On a more serious note, the way you develop a character is by its interaction with other characters. One of the reasons we see just a handful of Rand in TDR is because he's alone. The alt-world travel with a little of Selene, then some weddings from TDR, then "the garden scene" to introduce Elayne, then skip to Barthanes's feast and then reunite with Perrin?

Increasing the emotional impact on Egwene or the audience? She has issues for the next few books. My biggest problem with the pacifier gags as they are is that they are so impractical they're anti-practical. Try biting on an average-sized plum and walk around your home for a few minutes that way. You'll be yearning to chew it down. Kid pacifiers and dog muzzles allow to keep the mouth and lips shut or almost shut, the construct that was in the trailer - doesn't. Not being able to close your mouth/lips for a prolonged period of time brings active discomfort. When you are in active discomfort, you are not as good at whatever you are doing. A damane is a tool and a weapon. People are not above neglecting their tools and weapons, but I've yet to see people who actively damage them for no reason. Hence it breaks the suspension of disbelief for me.

I would term this "narrative creep". GoT (or ASOIAF), LOTR, Witcher all start as a concentrated narrative, but later as the series gains scope, you ultimately get multiple arcs, multiple PoVs and the narrative speed starts slowing down. LOTR has that to the least extent, but at a certain point you get four narratives (Frodo, Pippin, Merry, Paths of the Dead) in parallel. WOT started with branching and reconvening as early as post-Shadar Logoth. As of TSR, Jordan abandoned the "reconvening", and from about ACOS the sprawl started hitting hard with the low point in COT. I don't really thing there is an option to avoid that in the series. However, GoT managed to juggle four lines (North, Riverlands, King's Landing, Daenerys) reasonably well. Cutting large swathes of ultimately secondary plots could help keep the amount of parallel threads under that number. At least "long-running threads", defined as those which run longer than a single episode. RJ actually does a good job of merging threads while branching new ones in the early 3-6 books (depending on the viewpoint). I wouldn't worry past that point at the moment.

I probably wouldn't say "best", but definitely "at least reasonably good". I liked the cold open as it was, for all I like the LTT-Ishamael scene that starts the book. Which actually can be toned down almost to the level we've seen in S1. Requires careful thought and planning and a few old cinema tricks, but definitely doable. I'm way out into giggles territory here, but Eurotrip shows you can make at least a movie out of this premise. Okay, without naming names, Rand gets a home run with a total of three females, and possibly some three other females were trying to get to some base of their own volition. I discount, say, a certain Selande because she was more or less ordered to, and possibly a couple of others for the same reason. A popular high schooler can get through the same number on a summer vacation. And let's say that Rand is all any Marty Stu could dream of, not just a popular jock. Mat is another matter entirely. On-page, IIRC, he gets hot and flustered with three females. Sure, he flirts in any inn and steals kisses, but with how many of those tavern girls did he actually get a home run? As per anyone's head canon, anywhere between all of them and none of them. Besides, he's handsome, he's a ladies' man, he has coin and a certain aura about him - so he's probably the most interesting male for miles around. That's possibly not enough for a home run, but first or second base seems both safe and fun. If you recall the details of his love life preceding that "girl in every tavern" phase, the lad probably had PTSD for Pete's sake.