I think people are overreacting to Brandon's concerns and just using it to fuel the fire they want to create. He has been overwhelmingly positive about the show. As has Harriet.

I've been obsessing lately and this is as good a topic to put it in as any. I've been trying to compare google trends with other Amazon shows (and fantasy shows).

E.g. here is Jack Ryan (which cost $8 million per episode in season 1). You can't see the dates here but max interest was the week after season 1 episode 1 aired so that gets a value of 100. The week before it premiered it is at 12. Right now WoT is at 14. Additionally, Jack Ryan was more popular in general leading up to the TV show because it had recently had a movie. So even though in general more people were searching for Jack Ryan before that series than search for WoT, WoT has more hype just before the TV show air date.

 

Quote

Amazon Prime Video announced the renewal of ‘Jack Ryan’ for a third season on February 13, 2019. In fact, on October 14, 2021, the show was also given the go-ahead for a fourth season. 

Jack Ryan was renewed for season 3 9 months before season 2 came out, and it has been renewed for season 4 3 months before season 3 comes out.

54 minutes ago, Maximillion said:

 

Female heroines are everywhere in life and on screen.

I would say it is absolutely 'woke' to want the DR in WoT to be female.

But be careful to understand what I am talking about when I use the term - it's described above.

 

How is it woke? It seemed clear you were talking about non-readers. It would absolutely not be woke of any non-reader to want Egwene to be the DR. They only know about the story they are getting in the TV show. If you weren't talking about non-readers then I don't know who you are talking about. What WoT reader wants Egwene to be the DR? They have to be in a tiny minority so why care?

On 10/6/2021 at 3:59 PM, DaddyFinn said:

Does Josha use a wig? ? He's not ginger enough? He has really short hair in his social media pictures so just wondering

I've wondered that also.

4 minutes ago, Pandemonium said:

From the clips I have seen so far and the 1st 3 episodes review on Tor, Matt doesn't seem that funny yet.  hopefully the new Matt actor conveys lots of Matt's humor as that is the key to his charm

Ya, basically everything I've seen makes me a bit concerned about his portrayal, and I am guessing he was doing what he was directed to do, since I doubt he chose that his parents in the show would be bad apples. Mat should be happy and wanting to make people laugh up until he takes the dagger, so you can see he's changed. At least they have a good in-book excuse to change his character a lot with the new actor.

15 minutes ago, Maximillion said:

Now that Rafe has confirmed that the DR is Rand, I wonder how that is going to play with the woke crowd who will want it to be Egwene?  Will they be disappointed?  Will they be upset that they were misled?

I'm sorry, but this is silly. It isn't "woke" to want a female hero, especially when you've grown up having very few of those.

That said, I really doubt many at all will care. By the end of season 1 it will be obvious that all of the EF (except maybe Mat) have a very important role to play in the story.

2 minutes ago, Ralph said:

I believe Rafe said some of the books need a whole season, and some very obviously can fit two or three two a season. If definitely gave me the impression that he meant the plod etc

Ya, hopefully they don't condense too much early on during the time when they don't know whether they'll get enough seasons.

2 minutes ago, mogi68 said:

WOW!

Season 3

How far will we go? The Stone? Rhuidean??

They'll have to start condensing at some point, but book 4 is the best book (imo) and has a ton of good stuff going on, so it's really hard to guess. But I like this idea. They could end season 3 at Rand getting marked in Rhuidean. Then season 4 would cover the rest of book 4 and the entirety of book 5. I think/hope most of the condensing will happen in books 7-10. 

3 minutes ago, SinisterDeath said:

It's a Rumor, but I'll allow it. ? 

I think the thing that lends at least a small amount of credence to it is it would make sense to make up for lost time due to covid by filming seasons 2 and 3 back to back. And maybe they are needing to film some season 3 scenes now that are in the same locations they are currently in (that's the only reason I can think of for not waiting a month or 2 to renew). Additionally, I'm sure Amazon has done more analytics the past couple months.

9 hours ago, Ralph said:

Seven can't include Thom, so only Moiraine? 

Moiraine and Egwene. 

I wonder if they'll kill Moiraine off permanently. Kinda hoping not but wouldn't be shocked. Rosamund Pike may not want to agree to come back for 1-2 more seasons a couple years later.

That would suck for me though since she is my favorite character and I wanted to see more from her when she returned. The TV show is the last chance to get that.

‘The Wheel of Time’ Renewed for Season 3 at Amazon Studios [Exclusive] | MOVIESR.NET

Quote

We have confirmed with our source that “The Wheel of Time” will shoot Season 3 immediately after the second season finishes filming in the Czech Republic. The information comes from a credible source in the Czech Republic, who has previously informed us about Hanna Season 3 filming status and the number of episodes.

13 minutes ago, Wraith235 said:

the eg and Min stuff actually came from this thread 

the DR Stuff is not that big of a leap, also I have not seen Rafe say "Rand is DR" 
I have seen Rafes Quote that there have been female dragons in the past, and even in the trailers there is supporting evidence such as "one of you 5" and "we dont know weather the dragon is a boy or a girl" 

I dont Trust Rafe (or any writer/ director for that matter)  not to go full ham on these changes - Particularly when they are in the trailers 
if they are willing to make those changes, how much farther will they go .... they have already basically said they know how Jordan would be writing if he were still alive and that makes these Lore altering changes ok 

how many Other IP's are out there that have been RUINED by a Writer/director thinking they know better than the creator, I just dont want to see it of this series, Im not saying I wont watch it .... but I am definatly terridfied of whats comming

Ok. But the way you worded things made it sound like you heard these things are happening. I think it's a little weird to fear things we have no evidence of yet. I would be utterly shocked if Min was trans, because then they'd either not have him be Rand's love interest or Rand would need to be bisexual or pansexual. I doubt they will change anyone's orientation other that potentially Moiraine's. But I think Moiraine will be bi rather than gay.

36 minutes ago, Wraith235 said:

I am more and more concerned with this 
Im down to a 5 maybe a 4 after a lot of what I read over the last few days 

Souls across time -----was a big thing to Jordan  the Dragon has always been a male - and while I see a lot of the current world gender politics coming out TBH if they are dumb enough to try to change DR into Eg, or Nyn that is amount to ending themselves - that's one things the fans wont stand for , but as has been said elsewhere in this thread - why are you doing this ?

Perrin Married - ugh ok I guess since all the characters are being aged up but I agree with the mentality of what Perrin would do if that happened

Eg as a lesbian..... its a hard pill to swallow particularly when you factor in her reaction to meeting Gallad for the 1st time, as well as her relationship to Gawain(sp?)

Min as Trans - this is probably MY PERSONAL  biggest grumble .... Min was my favorite character in the books so this one is a little more personal to me- it looks like a leap to go from here to her being trans based on twitter bio but weirder things have happened

Why are you so worried about things that aren't going to happen? Rafe has already said Rand is the DR in the show, not that there should have ever been any doubt.

Why do you think they're going to make Egwene a lesbian?

Why do you think they're going to make Min trans? Will Rand fall in love him or will he just be Rand's friend?

5 minutes ago, Gothic Flame said:

If they're making changes that change the entirety of the books then this isn't for me.

It's like GoT without dragons or the Houses.

What is like GoT without dragons or Houses?

16 minutes ago, JaimAybara said:

I just thought all they had to do to fix any issue with Perrin was condense the Shaido plot line. Not get rid of it though because it was still good. I enjoyed the whitecloak stuff and slayer after that. You do get a parachute for your favorite character though…Lucky…

Ya, that is my main problem with his story line. As far as the character, really liked him through 6. But there is one scene that pisses me off every time I read it, which is when he gets mad at Rand for "using" people and asks if there is anyone he won't use. Like it's ok for Rand to go sacrifice himself to save everyone but god forbid he ask for assistance. I still enjoyed reading lots of his stuff after but that was one of the most annoying scenes in the series for me.

Since I like Mat a lot more than Perrin I'm more concerned about Mat's humor being screwed up. But luckily they can change things (if they want) pretty easily due to the dagger plot.

Here is a review of the first 3 episodes from Tor:

I’ve Seen the First Three Episodes of The Wheel of Time: Here’s Why You’re Going to Love It | Tor.com

40 minutes ago, TheDreadReader said:

 

Turn that around and Brandon would probably say the same thing to Rafe if it were related to Brandon writing another story in the Wheel of Time-verse.

 

But, I'm in the camp of fans that put an asterisk next to books that Brandon Sanderson wrote.

 

 

 

This was my first thought. I have no problem with the showrunners disagreeing with Sanderson. 

4 minutes ago, swollymammoth said:

You're kidding yourself here. Absolutely kidding yourself. One piece of fan art or even a small subsection of Gay Perrin fanart might exist, but to pretend as if there are not broad trends in the ways that people chose to depict their favorite characters and that these depictions are not generally indicative of the fandom's concept of that character is asinine in the extreme. 

 

Most fanart has Egwene as waaaay lighter skinned that Madeline Madden. This is a good indication that most people imagined her that way. This should not be contentious among circles where everyone present has a functioning brain. 

It would also be ridiculously stupid to go off what you think the fans picture the characters as, since that would bias the characters toward whoever is reading the series and what their defaults are. The best way to cast is go with the actor that best portrays the character, and if there's a tie go with the one that looks closest to the actual book description.

He looks really cute here (which he should in  season 1) but also like he could potentially be a future bad ass

Just now, swollymammoth said:

I again point to fan art for a representation of what most people thought Egwene looked like casting announcement. 

 

Then there's the gaslighting. Like, are people not allowed to have an opinion? Am I only allowed to have opinions on set design and costuming or casting so long as it's Rand or Perrin or Mat or one of the other white characters, but the second it comes to the non-white characters it's off limits? 

 

The obsession with Egwene's casting is rooted entirely in the rabid, defensive response to any suggestion that Madeline Madden doesn't look like Egwene. 

 

I don't like Lan's casting. He's leaner than I imagined. No one cares. But the second I'm like, "Egwene is way darker skinned than I imagined" people just fly off the handle. 

You're literally allowed to have an opinion right now. You're stating it. The people who think you're totally in the wrong are also allowed to state that opinion. You seem to expect you're going state your opinion and then only people who are happy about it and agree with you are going to reply.

1 minute ago, Ryan al'Thor said:

People think Tuon is white? LMAO

I've seen the comment multiple times over the years and it always gets corrected. There is a lot more fan art now and it mostly depicts her correctly, but I remember seeing fan art where she was white too. 

9 minutes ago, swollymammoth said:

So she's Aboriginal/Australian. That doesn't change the substance of my opinion in the slightest. I'll refer to her as such from now on, and I'll no doubt rue this moment when St. Peter sends me to hell for mischaracterizing the race of a multimillionaire (poor girl!)

 

To be clear, Madeline Madden could do a great job, but so could someone else who more closely matched most people's image of Egwene from the books. (If you don't believe me, just google "Egwene fan art" and check out all the results from before the casting was announced.)

It continues to amaze me how people think it is so easy to cast good actors that they can just simply pick someone that matches the exact description in the books (dark features like Nynaeve), and this is adding an extra level of craziness where you go off of what you think people think Egwene looks like. Lots of people think Tuon is white.

1 minute ago, swollymammoth said:

I'll admit the analogy was a little rushed. For example, Indian Egwene isn't playing a white girl. It's not like the other characters on screen are just going to pretend that she's white even though she's not. 

 

However, it's still an unnecessary barrier. People saw the casting reveals and had exactly 2 reactions for Egwene. "Oh, cool, they cast a not-white person as Egwene" and "What the heck? That isn't Egwene." I doubt that more than 5% of people saw TV Egwene and said, "Wow, that's exactly how I always pictured her." 

 

For some book fans, (especially ones who like patting themselves on the back) Egwene's casting isn't gonna be a barrier to engagement. For plenty of others, it will be. They're still asking us to look at someone who is recognizably not Egwene and accept her as Egwene. "This is what she always looked like," "You're racist if you have a problem with this." It's gaslighting (65% joking). 

 

And for what? 

 

If they'd just cast someone who more closely matched the book description, the showrunners could have made everyone happy. Instead, they looked at people like me and effectively said, "This show isn't for you," and then just did their own thing while flipping us the bird. 

For what? I dunno, probably because she was the best actor who auditioned. This isn't complicated. If it's a barrier for you, you're the one who is the problem. And by the way she is not Indian. Also, please find the passage(s) where Egwene is described as white. Can you please at least know what about the topic you're posting on before you post on it?

10 minutes ago, swollymammoth said:

There is no logic to this at all. Do physical characteristics matter or don't they? There is no logical reason why skin color should be any different than height, age, hair color etc. 

It's incredibly illogical to lump age in with skin color. If it was our world it might make sense because it can change experiences growing up drastically, but this isn't our world. And I'm not sure why we're talking about pretending a 50 year old is 20. Another extremely illogical comment. Nobody who isn't an idiot is going to be pretending Egwene is a played by a white girl. It doesn't require any effort whatsoever for non-idiots to watch Egwene played by someone who isn't white. No pretending need be involved.