Television The Wheel of Time | Thread for the TV show - book nerds shoo

Bobski said:
:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

No, not ready for this abomination to return. Makes Rings of Power look like The Sopranos level quality in comparison.
Click to expand...


I enjoyed it a lot more than Rings of Power. They may not have had the budget but they did a far better job in making a good TV show.

The characters actually seemed real and were better written
 
cafecillos said:
I know this is going to sound outrageous but maybe you could, you know, not watch it?
Click to expand...

Don't be rational, there is always the sliver of hope that they will have improved the writing and might bring a little more of the best qualities of the books to a wider audience. There is a lot of fluff and unnecessary bloat in the books but the core of the story is pretty great, would love for a competent team to show that.

I enjoyed it a lot more than Rings of Power. They may not have had the budget but they did a far better job in making a good TV show.

The characters actually seemed real and were better written
Click to expand...

Makes sense, WOT is character driven while LOTR is more of a thematically driven piece. As a fan of the WOT books all I could see in the first season is all the great stuff they weren't using, how poorly they had established the magic system, and how nearly every male character was awful for some reason.

How they retcon Egwene effectively healing death in that atrocious finale will be interesting to see.
 
Last edited:
I’m going to start watching season two tonight.

Can anyone tell me whether I’m safe to enter theTV/Book thread after I have finished it? I have nearly finished reading book 6 and don’t want to have any spoilers for the final 7 books but also quite interested to read the discussion around the adaptation and differences.
 
Pexbo said:
I’m going to start watching season two tonight.

Can anyone tell me whether I’m safe to enter theTV/Book thread after I have finished it? I have nearly finished reading book 6 and don’t want to have any spoilers for the final 7 books but also quite interested to read the discussion around the adaptation and differences.
Click to expand...
That thread is full of open discussion regarding character arcs from the books. I would keep the discussion here only to avoid spoilers.
 
Pexbo said:
I’m going to start watching season two tonight.

Can anyone tell me whether I’m safe to enter theTV/Book thread after I have finished it? I have nearly finished reading book 6 and don’t want to have any spoilers for the final 7 books but also quite interested to read the discussion around the adaptation and differences.
Click to expand...

I'd avoid, I think. Most discussion is naturally closer to the first 3-4 books in relation to the show, but bigger spoilers might pop out of nowhere at any point. You definitely want to go into the rest of the books free from spoilers.
 
Phenomenal 6th episode, probably the best of the entire series so far. Giving me a slither of (possibly misplaced) hope for the 2nd season of Rings of Power.
 
Salt Bailly said:
Phenomenal 6th episode, probably the best of the entire series so far. Giving me a slither of (possibly misplaced) hope for the 2nd season of Rings of Power.
Click to expand...
I'll never understand people thinking Wheel of Time is on the same level as Rings of Power, let alone better. I like em both, but in comparison Wheel of Time feels like amateur hour to me. Maybe having so many female leads in WoT is secretly scary to me *Shrugs*
 
I think I've made this point before, but I think the main difference is that the writers of Wheel of Time didn't think to have the main character (who is the best fighter and also right about everything) decide to swim across an entire ocean and by chance bump into the person she's been looking for.
 
nimic said:
I think I've made this point before, but I think the main difference is that the writers of Wheel of Time didn't think to have the main character (who is the best fighter and also right about everything) decide to swim across an entire ocean and by chance bump into the person she's been looking for.
Click to expand...
Yeah I've seen that criticism before but at the same time I'm willing to give em a bit of a pass for two reasons: 1. no book to draw from and 2. if Sauron is indeed the great manipulator im willing to subscribe to the idea to it not being a chance meeting at all. But, I get what you're saying. Just feels like if we re picking on things that shouldnt be possible we ll never get done dissecting fantasy shows and movies.
 
I don't think the fantasy argument is valid here. This isn't asking how someone flew or turned into a dragon or whatever, it's just bad writing. Not having a book to draw from is not really a defence either IMO, since that's sort of the point of the entire show. No doubt that moment looms larger in our minds than it strictly needs to, it's just that it was a moment that seemed particularly ridiculous. I did watch on for a few episodes, I just lost interest. It looked pretty, but I didn't see much substance.
 
Redplane said:
I'll never understand people thinking Wheel of Time is on the same level as Rings of Power, let alone better. I like em both, but in comparison Wheel of Time feels like amateur hour to me. Maybe having so many female leads in WoT is secretly scary to me *Shrugs*
Click to expand...
I'll never understand people thinking that RoP is levels above anything...but that has been made apparent enough in the more relevant thread.

This season of WoT has been watchable, but not still enough to drag myself - a non-book reader - into being a huge fan.
 
Organic Potatoes said:
I'll never understand people thinking that RoP is levels above anything...but that has been made apparent enough in the more relevant thread.

This season of WoT has been watchable, but not still enough to drag myself - a non-book reader - into being a huge fan.
Click to expand...
Tis funny though. Other than people crying over "woke" or hardcore Tolkien fans I haven't heard a single person away from the interwebs complain about it. People seem to like it a lot. At least people in my environment. We'll see what Amazon does with new showrunners but I think at least those in the first two categories will never be happy with it - so no point in trying to cater to them. Guess we'll if Amazon continues to invest in it.

We have a lot of fantasy mediocrity out there and Wheel of Time and RoP are both a lot better than stuff like the Witcher, or Shadow and Bone. House of the Dragon is fairly meh as well. I used to think HBO getting the rights to something would be great but it seems like ever since it became Max it stopped cranking out top shows.
 
So I have watched the last 2 episodes after all the praise, and I feel like I am still watching a different, very average show.

However, the scenes with Egwene in Damame training are by a considerable distance the best thing that this show has ever put out, massively superior to the mediocrity around it, and the one part of the show that actually felt like what I hoped it would be, excellent performances by the 2 actors there as well. To be fair the yellow ajah sister and her warder in Falme were pretty good as well, an actual competent warder at last.

Coming up to the end of the season 2 and it still feels like key characters, Mat, Perrin and Rand have been very poorly developed, so much time wasted on superfluous arcs, The Lan and the Alanna threesome has been a disaster, Moraine's family drama felt totally redundant, put in to give Pike some content.
 
Last edited:
A small complain not just to WOT but the newere medival fantasy genre shows. Not sure if Game of thrones have set the bar too high or something to do with the new HD shooting. The actors and set looks too fake and clean for it it to be believable.
 
stoinz said:
A small complain not just to WOT but the newere medival fantasy genre shows. Not sure if Game of thrones have set the bar too high or something to do with the new HD shooting. The actors and set looks too fake and clean for it it to be believable.
Click to expand...

I've noticed this as well. Everything is gleaming for some reason and nobody's skin has even the hint of a blemish.
 
Bobski said:
So I have watched the last 2 episodes after all the praise, and I feel like I am still watching a different, very average show.

However, the scenes with Egwene in Damame training are by a considerable distance the best thing that this show has ever put out, massively superior to the mediocrity around it, and the one part of the show that actually felt like what I hoped it would be, excellent performances by the 2 actors there as well. To be fair the yellow ajah sister and her warder in Falme were pretty good as well, an actual competent warder at last.

Coming up to the end of the season 2 and it still feels like key characters, Mat, Perrin and Rand have been very poorly developed, so much time wasted on superfluous arcs, The Lan and the Alanna threesome has been a disaster, Moraine's family drama felt totally redundant, put in to give Pike some content.
Click to expand...

Ya I would actually agree with most of this, even though I think season 2 has been far better than 1. Rand is truly the greatest weakness of the show, completely awful acting and a lot of stupidity displayed by the character. The best part of the show has been Ishamael and Lanfear, the scene of the two of them together from an episode ago was maybe the best of the series so far. Liandrin has been pretty good. Logain adds an interesting angle. Lan has been made into a shell of the book version, while Alanna and her 2 feck boys are completely pointless. Moiraine is a total cnut really for no reason, couldn't care less about her family. Mat has some potential I reckon but Perrin has fallen flat and his scenes don't move the plot forward much at this time, although I think there is potential for him to be a plus for the show down the line. The Seanchan are pretty compelling, the southern American accents fit their role well and add a lot to why I dislike them in a good way, would be great to see a lot of them meet a nasty end, which suggest they have added something meaningful to the show.
 
Rand, Mat and Perrin are outside of Lan the worst thing about this show in terms of characters. At some point they are going to have improve the work around the male leads because it has been dogshit so far.
 
Bobski said:
Rand, Mat and Perrin are outside of Lan the worst thing about this show in terms of characters. At some point they are going to have improve the work around the male leads because it has been dogshit so far.
Click to expand...

I don't understand why you as a book reader are in this thread shitting on the show in front of the sweet innocent TV viewers. Why not post this in the other thread?
 
nimic said:
I don't understand why you as a book reader are in this thread shitting on the show in front of the sweet innocent TV viewers. Why not post this in the other thread?
Click to expand...

Fair, though I do think those who have only watched the TV show must also be finding those arcs rather underwhelming.

Being honest I used the wrong thread.
 
Bobski said:
Fair, though I do think those who have only watched the TV show must also be finding those arcs rather underwhelming.

Being honest I used the wrong thread.
Click to expand...

Yeah I assumed as much, since you usually post in the other thread. It's a dangerous game, posting in the wrong thread. One spoiler and an admin who watches the show, and you're toast :p
 
nimic said:
Yeah I assumed as much, since you usually post in the other thread. It's a dangerous game, posting in the wrong thread. One spoiler and an admin who watches the show, and you're toast :p
Click to expand...

I would hope our admins would have better taste, or more self discipline than me.
 
Thought season 2 was finished and kind of binge watched whats released of it last week. I'm enjoying. Never read the books which probably helps and dont think its great. More of a solid, watchable 7/10 kind of thing. I think its improved as its gone on, its an interesting world and setting and premise. Dont love all the actors but after just finishing a rewatch of Rome its funny to see Servilia showing up here and theres enough solid actors sprinkled around to keep things moving. The Matt recasting is distracting, I'm kind of getting used to it and it might not seem so terrible as time passes. Necessary evil i guess, it usually is.
 
Really enjoyed the finale, the action barely let up for the entire 70 minutes. This show has a weird knack of looking big budget one minute and Legend of Hercules the next, but I've learned to live with it. The Horn-blowing scene was cheesy as hell but I was still grinning from ear to ear, and seeing Egwene get her revenge was extremely cathartic. Dom Nynaeve is my new crush and the Lan/Moiraine bro/womance being back means all is good with the world again.
 
Season one was fecking terrible, but this season was a marked improvement, actually really enjoyed it. The production value was much better and a notable improvement in the acting and writing. Maybe there is hope for Rings of Power after all. Come on Amazon!
 
caid said:
Thought season 2 was finished and kind of binge watched whats released of it last week. I'm enjoying. Never read the books which probably helps and dont think its great. More of a solid, watchable 7/10 kind of thing. I think its improved as its gone on, its an interesting world and setting and premise. Dont love all the actors but after just finishing a rewatch of Rome its funny to see Servilia showing up here and theres enough solid actors sprinkled around to keep things moving. The Matt recasting is distracting, I'm kind of getting used to it and it might not seem so terrible as time passes. Necessary evil i guess, it usually is.
Click to expand...

ha! Season one was so bad that I didn’t even notice Matt had been recast until you just said it, and I finished the whole season. New actor did a good job.
 
I liked season 2 and while i found s1 enjoyable, i also found it a decided step up in overall quality.
The finale felt rushed though, suddenly just all the things happened, but some people barely showed (Lanfear just gone awol after being super important all season) or just didn't show up at all (where the absolute feck was Liandrin? The white tower and Moiraines accomplices?), instead those white knight dudes are back from somewhere for some reason.
I still mostly liked what was going down, just wish they had taken one or two extra episodes to flesh it out.
 
It’s not perfect by any means and has some daft stuff going on, but it’s entertaining enough. I enjoyed S1 and S2. Lanfear was probably the best thing about it.
 
As someone who thought the first season felt like a really expensive made for TV series with garbage tier dialogue and baffling deviations from the source material.... would season 2 feel any different?
 
Really enjoyed s2 especially the second half. I get s1 was introducing characters and all, but s2 felt like a better world building season.
Eps6-8 were great.

I maybe enjoyed the season moreso due to binge watching it all over two days rather than waiting week to week?

I can't remember much from s1 but s2 seemed more memorable
 
Sylar said:
Really enjoyed s2 especially the second half. I get s1 was introducing characters and all, but s2 felt like a better world building season.
Eps6-8 were great.

I maybe enjoyed the season moreso due to binge watching it all over two days rather than waiting week to week?

I can't remember much from s1 but s2 seemed more memorable
Click to expand...
S2 was measurably better, despite it's flaws. It clawed the show out of the fantasy embarrassment realms headlined by the likes of Rings of Power - at least for a non-book reader.
 
Organic Potatoes said:
S2 was measurably better, despite it's flaws. It clawed the show out of the fantasy embarrassment realms headlined by the likes of Rings of Power - at least for a non-book reader.
Click to expand...
Yep, I fall under the non book reader. I'm not sure how it goes towards adaptation or changes (only finished today and haven't read any reviews) but this was solid fun. Thought the action towards the end was great and warranted and not just action for the sake of it.

I' enjoyed the tease for what's to come for the next season too.
 
I'm nearing the end of the first season. I like it, and I also think that GoT simply raised the bar so high that flaws of this and LOTR series seem bigger than they would seem if GoT never existed. but that's how it goes.

the characters... I love that there are so many of them. but the problem is, I keep forgetting their names and that was never a case with GoT in the first season or even the original LOTR trilogy, where you learned every name in 20 minutes and remembered them even after 20 years. the guys you follow from the start... come on. how bland and boring can they possibly be? it's no wonder I keep forgetting their names. GoT is praised for many things, like great battles, visuals, locations, dragons, whatever. but the main thing about it were always characters and dialogues. this doesn't come close I'm afraid and you can't have great show without it.

meaning, nothing you see on the screen will ever feel important as it sounds or looks. whether it's village turned to dust or character dying, it doesn't really matter. I'm being led to believe something terrible is happening, but I don't really feel anything neither I see it on character's faces.

the episodes are long and I like it that way, as the show keeps throwing enough shit and some of it fortunately sticks. it's obvious to me that the full potential has been reached already and it won't get much better, but at least it's interesting enough to keep me going. regardless of how the last episode ends, I'm pretty sure I'm going to watch the second season as well.

6.5 or 7, if I had to rate it.
 
Last edited:
what a fecking mess this show is :lol: I completed the second season as well, but come on. I feel there is about 3 and the half of season worth stuff in these 16 episodes. there's not a single silent, slow episode to let me breathe a bit, to absorb all the shit that has been thrown at me. what I got to know about the characters in the first few episodes of the show was pretty much it, I learned very little about them since that point. sure, you get to see which power they can use, but you never really know any of them. they don't have personalities, just powers.

in general, the show lacks that plotless, personal episodes. meaning, all the reunion stuff, them seeing each other in the end again, huge battles, "dramatic" music and all that - was entirely meaningless. you simply can't feel anything about them or the city that is being under siege (which you see for about 20 minutes at that point), it just doesn't work like that and it never will. It's incredible they don't understand basic stuff like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.