Also, I wasn’t satisfied with how they portrayed Tam. In the book, there are dozens of trollocs that attack the farm, and Tam killed many before being overpowered. I just think they could’ve shown Tam as an actual blades master, instead of being overpowered by one trolloc. Rand and Egwene sleeping together was a huge one for me too. Rand being shy around girls and constantly having his face go red in the book was a big part of his character, and actually sleeping with a woman is not AT ALL like Rand’s character at this time.
Almost all the men in this series so far seem to have been nerfed. Rand isn't even necessarily the dragon, not tall etc Matt is a degenerate, and his family also Perrin is a reckless wife killer Tam goes down like a chump Lan isn't anywhere near the badass man-mountain he was in the book. Only Thom got a buff, but he's also seems a lot more flat as a character. Overall, it's starting to feel like The Last Jedi to me
Rafezemon felt the only way to make it seemed like the women were such harasses in the books was to make every male into a simpering idiot. The man can’t write to save his life, he has to have dirt on Bezos to have gotten this good of a job.
That was when there was 3 Ta'veren. Now that there's 5, she didn't bring enough coins. Sorry, I know this is an old thread, but I'm rewatching her reviews now that season 2 is over. I didn't watch season 2, since season 1 was such a train wreck, but most reviewers seem to have their head up Rafe's ass, so this is a refreshing review.
(Spoiler) The biggest change (aside from a woman being the dragon) in this episode was cutting out Rand backstory. Tam's revelations plague throughout the book and it's his big internal struggle to come to terms with who he is/isn't who he thought he was. Plus none of them comment on the heron marked blade. Not even Lan. Count me surprised. The weird one is that somehow Moiraine picked up rumours of 4 ta'veren in the two rivers. I was like Wuh? From where? Who said that? Wtf? How does anyone even know? How did the word of it spread?
YES, I just talked to someone about this. I get that they want to make it a mystery but the problem is that Rand's story is so tied to it, that they cut out ALL his backstory, and it makes him SO BLAND as a character! I don't think the pay off will be worth it, imo
@@Bookborn yeah same. I wish they could have had someone comment on him being Aiel in Breen Spring and there being a flashback of Tam's fever dream. Definitely a missed opportunity imo. Like they have Nynaeve a backstory where she is an orphan/outsider but not to Rand, like why? Another missed opportunity was the scene where he asks Moiraine to heal Tam in exchange for whatever she wants. Like the bond between him and Tam doesn't feel as strong as it does in the books. But I think that it's just a problem with ep 1 feeling rushed over all
@@Haxerous I feel like they wanted to be less bland about Rand heritage and destiny. The books are rather direct in that regards. Nynaeve & Egween are being great red herrings (I actually likes the making Egween Ta'veren it makes her latter plot more beliveable)
@@Bookborn All the characters are off. For some reason I fail to grasp they decided to give everyone some tragic back story before the real horrors actually stated. They were kids in the book, having fun and doing kid things, which added to the horror of what happened after to them. Now they were miserable young adults for whom things just got more miserable. Frankly feel nothing for any of them the way they are being portrayed. All bland portrayals talking at one another instead of interacting in an interesting way. The writing is horrible so far. Convinced they gave Perrin a wife just so they could kill her and give him a tragic back story as well.
@@arthurgrey8967 although I don't entirely agree with all you said, I do agree on the fact that a good part of EoTW is about loss of innocence and that isn't being captured here. I guess they wanted to make it more "dark and gritty", but i felt the Perrin section was a tad too edgy. I can see non book readers liking it though.
The first episode had many issues, but for me, the biggest issue was actually focusing on the battle at the village instead of Rand's trek through the woods carrying Tam. Not only does the ordeal in the book set up Rand's back story, but it also shows Rand's dogged determination to save what he can. Putting the world on his shoulders, and almost breaking from the strain, plays a big part in his whole story throughout the series. Instead, he comes off as just some random kid from the Two Rivers, whose only important features are red hair and his relationship with Egwene.
@@diemondgames5453 No, they won't. Every piece of promo material prior the release of the first three episodes kinda went like this: "Wheel of Time is the story of Moiraine, a badass stronk independent feminist wahmen Aes Sedai, who can leap tall buildings and has to spend all her time cleaning up messes that stupid men make. Follow her story as she drags some more stupid men along on her journey towards The Last Battle, where she saves the World because those stupid men keep breaking it".
I couldn't believe that they just totally skipped the trek. It was one of the most important character establishing moments for Rand's character. A boy carries a grown man, his father, for miles and we just totally skip over the major character development that happens. It weakens Rand and cheapens his relationship with his father and with himself.
BTW, you're the only one I've seen reviewing the show who actually knows the books and I'm glad at least you are calling out the differences. Kudos to you!!! I heard they had some 20 meetings about the design of Egwenes dagger she carries, which is almost never even used or mentioned, but um where is the Axe Perrin carries and hates? 20 meetings about a dagger no one cares about but the item Perrin carries, kills with, struggles with internal strife for several books is not even in the show? Mind boggling.
I am scratching my head that we haven't seen the axe vs hammer debate. Because I thought the entire point of him killing a wife in the first episode was to fast-track that conversation. But yet...we still haven't really had it much.
@@Bookborn Yeah, I mean it's always a challenge books to cinema/TV, however it feels like they didn't really have people that understood the story writing the script. They should have hired Brandon Sanderson to consult and help them craft a structure they can break down into 8 episodes per season and still keep the core of what is needed to keep it true to the original, without it taking 14 years to to complete.
I agree it is odd that an isolated mountain village would have NYC levels of diversity. Think Quechua of Peru, Montagnards in Vietnam or Swiss Cantons...
Id have been fine if they had made them all one flavor of people. White, black, light brown, dark brown, asian of any flavor but they should have all looked alike.
@@darkhighwayman1757 Yep, it was really important that these were the direct descendants of Manetheran with untainted blood, "the old blood runs deep in you" is a common line that was said.
Moraine in the book: We have to be discreet so, we don't compromise our mission. Moraine in TV Serie: Hey everyone this is Moraine Sedai in the house, troubles are coming tonight, be ready to depart soon. Also entire village looks like modern racial diverse London.
lol YES about Moiraine I was like...so she just keeping her ring on then? Letting everyone call her Sedai? Like in the book she didn't want it getting out. Even with the ferry guy!
I felt the fridging of Perrin's wife totally changed his character. He was always worried that he would hurt the people he loves but as of the book I'm currently in (number four) he has never done that. Now making a character kill not only his wife but his unborn child is going to cause some pretty horrible mental crap that changes Perrin in a way I don't like. Also, I felt Matt was kind of a slimy character in the show where he wasn't like that in the book at this stage. I know they tried to make him likable with the sisters, but again, I thought this made him a different person. All in all I thought they made changes to make the characters darker and edgier. Not things I'm liking so far. I guess I'll see how I like the next two episodes.
YES. I was FOR SURE feeling that way (and still do, in some respects). Don't make it edgy for edgy's sake, you know? Mat and Perrin have stuff going on that they could've brought in earlier. I'm hesitant about Perrin, but I'm really nervous about Mat. He's supposed to be lighthearted and fun! Now, will there be enough of a difference between pre-mat and dagger mat?
Having him kill her like that was stupid, ill agree. But it doesn't change the character at all. He is someone who, like you said, is always afraid he will hurt people he loves. Adding this in just sped up the process. They similarly did that with Mat being such a jerk. That's something that developed in the character over several books. Initially, he was more of a scamp than an actual jerk. At least as I remember.
@@snerdterguson That's the thing, WHY speed up development with shitty fanfiction? 15 books of content and Rafe has to ruin these characters, for what? None of this makes any sense. And don't give me "well if you weren't expecting total change..." bullshit. I wasn't, not on this level. Especially when D&D took the first 3 books in Song of Ice & Fire and adapted over 90% straight from the page, pretty much verbatim. This show is trash, and even some articles are saying "well the bar has been set pretty low now before LoTR comes out."
I was really surprised there are no inlaid metal herons on the grip of Tam’s/Rand’s sword, as those are needed for something important later in the book series.
I need to go back and rewatch episode one, but I swore I saw one on the hilt. Maybe it was only on the scabbard and I got confused? I was so excited that they focused so many shots on it...but then they've done literally NOTHING with it. What's up with that?
@@Bookborn You did see one, but it was only on the base of the blade, next to the hilt. I suppose it is possible there is a heron somewhere else, too, but if so, I didn't see it. And yes, I've no idea why they've been ignoring the sword so much. The whole idea of a backwoods sheepherder with a blade master's blade having to grow into it and earn it is such a large part of who Rand is in my opinion - I just don't see how they can ignore it so much. Maybe it is just part of their whole idea to ignore Rand to confuse non-book readers about who can or cannot channel...?
I think most of the major differences in the series (removing a lot of the humour, the characters having more tragic and broody personalities, Rand being more confident with women) are due to Jeff Bezos wanting this to be his Game of Thrones, but Wheel of Time is NOT Game of Thrones. George R. R. Martin is a great writer and had a specific feeling in mind when he wrote the Game of Thrones series, and the idea that it is constantly dark and shocking, that horrible things happen and he has to write even more horrifying things at big moments to shock you is a very deliberate choice that fits with the theme of the novel. Robert Jordan is a great writer who had a specific feeling in mind with Wheel fo Time, and it is NOT constantly dark and shocking, the world is as kind as it is cruel, goofy as it is serious, light as it is dark and the whole Yin Yang Wheel is constantly turning thing was a major theme. Wheel of Time is not as dark as Game of Throne so you need characters like Matt to be their goofy self for the bad moments to hit as hard. It should be more like Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings where Merry and Pippin get to be goofy, where Sam gets to be just a really nice sincere guy who wants to help everyone. That's just my opinion, removing most of the humour and innocent elements of the series was an odd choice to me.
I think episodes 2 and 3 showed me that they are trying to keep some WOT heart in it (besides Thom. like wtf). I'm going to reserve judgement until the first season is over since it's only 8 eps!
Paren being married really threw me for a loop honestly. I was honestly hoping she would die during the attack on two rivers but then I happened and I was like... not like that! We will see though. I hope they can get back on track though.
@@N8DUHGR8 totally agree with you. I didn't mention the Perrin/wife deal to my wife and when she died my wife said it was traumatic to the viewer. I whispered to her that the character doesn't exist in the book and that I was wondering when they'd get rid of her.
The Two Rivers is this backwater village with almost no exposure to the outside world and bloodlines that have run exceptionally pure... but for some reason it looks like a United Nations convention. The show lost me when Moiraine says "There are rumors of four Tavaren in the next village" - What?? And then stoic, hard-as-nails Lan whines about his bath water not being warm enough. Seriously? It's not that there are changes - of course there would be changes - but the vast majority are unnecessary and many seem to be more motivated by modern Hollywood social politics than in service to the story... which bodes very poorly for the future of the show.
This show is a Portal Stone world Wheel of Times. The name, places are the same. No storyline from the book. Please watch Outpost from local channel CW. It's so cool. Is the bartender . That played Darla in the third episode. Is in Outpost.
Once again this is what happens when people are not invested in the show emotionally such as readers of the saga. Especially amazon, as far as I'm concerned nothing much good comes thru that company. Them going off trail from the book by casting characters that one would seldom see in the Two Rivers region from the book is very disappointing, the area is the last descendants of the people of Menetherin an ancient ethnicity not a microcosm of the Bronx or Santa Monica wtf. Needless to say, I will NOT be watching this p.o.s. adaptation of one of my fave stories.
Yeah, I’m fine with them all being dark-skinned, but they should all appear to be of the same ethnicity. Otherwise we infer that this is a world / region with a lot of migration going on. Unfortunately, you get a lot of people saying “It’s fantasy, so anything goes”.
@@mborok That's what they're saying. What they MEAN is either 'I don't know anything about the actual story' or 'I agree with the political/social agenda being pushed at the expense of the actual story'. The other defenses of these changes are just disingenuous after-the-fact justifications.
I think it would have been interesting if they had kept the "Strange rider" thing in. Would have been hilarious when Lan walks in the way he does and everyone like oh it was the warder. And then sike it was actually a Fade they saw earlier.
Yeah, I'm surprised they didn't hint to the fade in that one scene with Rand and the rocks (At least I didn't see the fade, maybe I didn't look closely enough). I'm actually surprised how little we've seen the fades, period.
I really enjoyed the books, I was hoping the series would follow the story more closely, the so-called slight changes, in the beginning, will alter the whole story moving forward. I will be shocked to see a second season.
Well now in the show the white gates open by the one power. And it's unsafe to bring the horses. Definitely a Portal Stone World Storyline. The show is not Robert Jordan's story line. No names has been changed no places has been changed but the storyline is totally different and not in a good way I think they made this movie like this just so they can use as a tax write off
From what I can recall from the books, while the Aes Sedai don't exclusively dress in the color of their Ajah, they do tend to incorporate it into their garb (stole excluded).
@@Bookborn I think it might just be so the uninitiated to the series have some visual cues as to who's what. I do agree though, it does take some of the intrigue and mystery away.
Yeah, this is also how I remembered them being portrayed in the books (and what I have seen in artistic renderings of Aes Sedai characters). I think the difference in the show is more in the uniformity of it (it looks like they're all wearing a uniform, rather than just incorporating their ajah color into their outfits - even Moiraine's shoulder-part of her jacket thing looks similar to what the red ajah Aes Sedai pictured in the clip here are wearing, just a different color). And you're right that it contributes to the way the show takes away some of the mystery of who is an Aes Sedai and who isn't, upon first glance. I was surprised that the Whitecloaks were fooled when Moiraine encountered them haha. I do like the look of the costumes though. I liked the switch to a pants outfit for Moiraine. It seems more practical for riding and traveling than what she wears in the book.
@@Bookborn Agreed, but I think they could just make the distinction to not dressing as apparently when they're travelling through nations that are much less friendly to Aes'Sedai.
I'm struggling with casting, the time switching, the alterations to the basic logic of the story as well as narratives changing for the sake of sensationalism. I would say "What a load of trollocs" but will keep watching.
I actually really love the casting, but the alterations of some world things are super baffling to me. Mostly the whole "dragon reborn can be a woman" because it doesn't make sense in-world, and the erasure of the fact that Nynaeve and Egwene are like crazy-powerful natural Aes Sedai (in favor of the dragon story). Doesn't make sense. But, like you, I'm going to keep going. I think there could be some magic here.
@@Bookborn Thank you for the reply. I found your channel while looking for reactions to the WOT series and have watched and enjoyed your vids. I'm also a big fan of Brandon Sanderson, especially The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn series. I'm in full agreement on the diversity of the Two Rivers folk, it just seems too random. I don't mind what ethnicity they are, but surely logic would dictate they would be predominantly the same (Other than Rand). I do like the characters, they just don't all fit with my initial perceptions from reading the books. I just wish these serialisations would be true to the originals, rather than changing things around. As you noted, especially the main storyline regarding the male Dragon. But yes, will keep watching as I'm starved of TV adaptations of great fantasy series. I love the big epics from people like Anne McCaffrey, Raymond E. Feist, Roger Zelazny, Stephen R Donaldson, Steven Erikson, Tad Williams, Orson Scott Card and the classics such as J.R.R Tolkien. Also Sci-Fi and Cyberpunk from C.J. Cherryh, Frank Herbert, William Gibson, Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein etc. Will look forward to your next video on episode 4. Take Care!
The Wheel of Time suffers from the same affliction that affects so many modern movies and tv shows. Instead of telling a story, the showrunners are telling an agenda. With every creative decision, they are "fixing" what they perceive to be wrong with the books instead of spending time trying to craft the best story from the source material. And when you combine that with the all too obvious attempt to capture the game of thrones/lord of the ring market you end up with a show that commits the cardinal sin: it's boring and has no rewatchability whatsoever. Thank you for ruining one of the greatest fantasy series of all time.
I agree, I mean for example, what they did to the Witcher is beyond unforgivable to me (I view it as an insult to the fans and to the nation of Poland), hell you only need to look at the upcoming clusterfuck that is Amazon's "Rings of Power"
@@franciszaldivar337 I unsubbed from Amazon after Wheel of Time series ended. Now I'm just gonna be laughing as they burn a billion dollars on a woke LoTR show.
so after reading the book and watching the first 3 episodes. it didn't really work for me. i wish in the opening it showed Lewis Theron Kinslayer wandering a ruin palaced mad out of his mind. and then started the story. Some of the cast like Egwene and Nynaeve and Perrin didn't work either. i don't remember Perrin being married at the start of book one.. I dislike a lot of the changes.
I like all the casting but not necessarily the script. And see, I would've loved that prologue beginning too BUT they had to put SO much on the cutting room floor to keep this "mystery" alive. I don't think it's a good choice. They can't do Lews Therin because then it would point to it being a man too much. They can't give any personality/backstory to Rand because it gives it away. It's a mistake, imo.
@@Bookborn you have a point, but i dont think it would ruin it per se. When i first read that prologue, it didnt make me make connections Rand would end up being the Dragon Reborn. Until the very end of book one. I thought it was weird that prologue felt out of place but made sense later.
Best thing about this series are the animated bonus content. My big issue is Amazon hides them away in its X-ray which you either need a computer or Amazon fire tv to access. These should be prologues in every episode!
I Just said this exact statement to my Brother. When I discovered the Animated shorts, I told him they were the best part of the entire Amazon series. I have read all the books, he has not. So, I constantly have to explain all of the enormous plot holes that Amazon is leaving behind.
I made it seventeen minutes into the first episode so I didn't even see the part about Perrin and his wife, but I had had enough already, Mat's parents being like they are, Mat stealing, Egwene and Rand in the common room? Nah, this is some other story they slapped book names on...
I'd give it three episodes. The first one is very jarring. But, I get where they are trying to go with it. I'm going to watch all 8 episodes before passing judgement on this one, I think.
The whole concept seems to be that this is a different weave in the wheel of time, than what we know in the books, and as someone who hasn't read the books for almost 16 years, I'm just happy seeing some of the characters come to life, and it can recover from how fast they pushed out the story with smaller flashbacks. And for people that havent read the books, apparently the animations do a good job of adding back story.
@@proletariategg yeah I mean I started them in like 04ish when I was a teenager and have read/listened to them several times since, they are without a doubt my favorite book series, I was a bit upset how "The Sword of Truth" series got handled but they weren't my favorite books, these are, and yeah I had thought of it being an alternate spin like all the lives seen in the portal stones or in Rhuidean, but that's not the story we were told, not the one I tuned in for, hell I might've liked it if that was what they were trying to do rather than a convenient excuse for the crap they decided to make for whatever reason
Oh my god. Are you going to do this for every episode? SUBBED!! It's been almost 2 decades since i read Eye of the World so your "refresher" is great. Thank you.
More than likely, it was just a one-off garbage social commentary line about classism, and it will never be addressed again. Down in the grave it goes, with Nynaeve's father who taught her how to track :)
My problem with Rand and Egwene doing it is they're knocking the dishes off the counter banging while her parents are upstairs. Not smalltown at all. Not parents at all. It just doesn't make sense.
The Dragon is supposed to be a male. The whole idea of The Dragon is that it is a male that has the gift to channel from the True Source and defeat Shai'Tan, but also could cause The Breaking of the World. What can cause The Breaking is Saidin, or rather the male half of the True Source. Saidin are the magical powers that are of the more destructive variety. This is why in the world of WoT males are banned from the True Source. It makes absolutely NO sense that even in the opening monologue of epsisode 1 Moiraine states the The Dragon could be a man or woman. It also makes no sense Moiraine would thing either Egwene or Nynaeve would potentially be The Dragon. In the book Moiraine knows it is either Matt, Rand, or Perrin.
They didn't change the characters much at all. Mat is kind of sped up to where his character is emotionally a few books later, but the character traits remain the same for each of them as far as I remember. They messed up a few things, but the characters they did very well. I would be interested to know how you say they've changed the characters, as it has been quite a while since I've read the books.
They just did that to increase the tension for viewers who hadn’t read the books. It didn’t bother me. The writers are also fans of the books. They know all that and will adress it eventually I’m sure.
@@snerdterguson This is a flat out lie. Rand has zero experience with girls, yet he and Egwene have been fucking for quite some time? Perrin has a wife, she's pregnant AND is his master? A garbage fanfiction plot that serves no purpose. Why transplant book 6 Mat into the very beginning? Why makes his family be completely in shambles? Why is Nynaeve a wise, godmother figure? Two girls with literally zero experience with any type of weapon, is able to put up a better fight than Tam? Who they made look like a buffon. I can go on and on. This show is utter garbage and after one episode has completely ruined what could've been the best fantasy adaptation of all time.
@@kevlar1482 Thx, though I am enjoying the show 4 episodes in, actually. I read the first 6 books or whatever when I was in high school in the 90s (yikes), so there may be some nostalgia and I am not remembering enough to see the changes. But I generally like it and think they have done a decent job of making it feel distinct from the LotR and GoT films, as much as one can in this trope-y genre. But yeah I am definitely not liking mouthbreather Perrin.
I see that most people are pretty hyped about how well Rosamund Pike played the character of Moiraine. I'm on the fence about their casting choice, Moiraine was a lot shorter, and she made a very interesting pair with her warden who was the complete opposite. She was able to gain respect based on her words and not on rudeness/or by giving this.. hint of arrogance, she was humble and driven in the books. Also like you mentioned, she didn't reveal herself in Two Rivers in the middle of the inn "Bask in my greatness! *thunder in the background* Get ready for inspection! (as she stays in the middle of the inn)". Also she didn't really show emotions, none of the Aes Sedai did, where in the tv show Moiraine is played a bit.. different.
Mat wasn't a damn petty thief either, also I have a difficult time seeing any man (his father) cheating in that village in front of his wife.. old blood my ass, they were stubborn, honest and hard working, I don't think any person there was either that poor or a cheating snake, doing it in front of the entire village. Other changes do make some sense, Perrin's wife and how that rage took over him, killing her with an axe, Egwayne being thrown off the cliff having to let go of control to survive. Also Tam's swordsmanship skills are more than questionable.. :))
@@sieuzice The entire social structure of the Two Rivers was retconned into some degenerate Woke culture cesspit. Rand and Egwene boinking? The Women's Circle and the Village Council would not have tolerated such shenanigans. They'd have been ALL over that post-haste. Abell Cauthon being a sexist womanising pig, cowering in a house and leaving his daughters outside to be eaten by trollocs? Abell Cauthon was the undefeated Beltine Two Rivers quarterstaff champion and an expert archer. He wouldn't have been hiding behind his missus while the wahmen were outside, circling trollocs with pitchforks. Fk Amazon, fk Harriet McDougal and fk Brandon Sanderson.
When a book is popular there is a reason...Directors and movie producers, screen writers I understand making changes but not 90% of this show has nothing to do with the show.
I'd like to consider this adaptation as another turning of the wheel rather than the WoT books on screen. The book series is the frame , and the show is growing and filling that frame, but it also makes changes to show the internal traits of characters we can't be inside of anymore.
Was reading the books recently, aloud, to my sister. The speech Moiraine gives it's missing. It's so good. The whole history of the Two Rivers, in one scene, delivered in powerful words with a display of magical power.. I wonder how the viewers in TV land would have received it.
The tv show is way off from the book. Not only the way they’ve fast tracked trough the first few chapters, but one of the most important characters is missing. Tom the gleemen who takes on the boys is missing. So many missed Opportunities.
And there will be more. MANY MANY more. The Wheel of Time is huge! The only way they could really stay true to the books and get the series done before Olver's actor died of old age would be to give us an hour long episode every week day! That can be done - soap operas have been pulling that kind of thing off for decades on end - but you can forget about serious special effects and impressive scene locations. I came in watching this with more of a "I wonder what they will manage to squeeze in" attitude, so I'm impressed that characters like Thom and Loial are in the series at all instead of muttering about whether Thom shows up now or in a later episode. The way Nyn got carted off was a surprise, but I'm thinking "now how are they going to fix that!?" instead of just "that's wrong."
@@ZlothZloth You could actually cut Olver out of the story completely with no real change :) I feel if they had planned on 10 seasons 10 episodes each instead of 8 season with 8 episodes it would fell much less rushed than it currently does.
I honestly mixed up the fathers from Wheel and Sword of Truth. For a split second I was like"What the hell?!? The father dies in the book!!" Then it hit me, duh doy Been too long since I've read the books.
Wow…there’s a flashback. I remember those books as well. I couldn’t get as far with those. Maybe it’s time to go back and try again. There’s always “Legend of the Seeker” reruns… ;-)
The wheel of time grabbed me with characters that went from clueless and unknowing about the world to well traveled and rounded people. There is more growth in Book Perrin than in TV Perrin despite TV Perrin KILLING HIS WIFE... Wtf? I don't know what shit this is, but I'm just horrified.
Yeah, I mentioned that to my husband when we watched. I said the problem with making them less innocent is that there is less room for character growth. That being said, I think we could still see some interesting changes, they'll just be different than the book. IDK if you saw Sanderson's Reddit posts about his thoughts, but he really nails it about Perrin's wife. That now that he's killed her, it takes out the tension of his story line of "will I or won't I go berserk". He already has.
@@Bookborn thus it completely removes the growth of a character that is probably the one I love most. Perrin choosing the axe then the hammer always gave me chills. The forging had me riveted to the story. This all feels like it's been dumbed down to beyond working as a whole.
The deaths were almost comical. We saw Perrin's wife for what? 20 seconds? There are Star Trek red shirts who get more screen time before they die. And the Trollocs attack the guy who gets hit by the axe? Are we supposed to know who he is? They zoom in like it's a big dramatic death. Perrin 'Boba Fett? Where?'
Basic Summary: this did not happen. But seriously…the wife I just couldn’t get over that while watching! Why are they so old? I was glad to see Rand looking different from the rest of the town.. at least! Thank you! I don’t have anyone to talk to about this haha
@@Bookborn i'd say you were pretty successful. i also liked your inputs about the changes, was very similar to mine. i hope you do a longer video breaking some of these down!
since they did decide to show the "weave" to the viewers, they also messed that up in not showing the line to the source, or showing it as a weave at all, both of which are pretty huge book plot points
Just found your channel yesterday. Love your analysis. I'm surprised you don't mention how different healing is between the books and the show. If I recall correctly the method of healing Aes Sedai in the first few books know would have been considered a quick battlefield triage technique that is exhausting for both the Aes Sedai and the patient. And the Aes Sedai must lay hands on the patient to heal them as it starts with a probe (weave) of spirit. When Moraine heals Tam in the book, Moraine is exhausted and is leaning heavily on her angreal. From what I recall, Moraine manages to purge the taint of the Troloc blade but fails to completely heal Tam. Tam does not wake and remains bed ridden so Rand must leave without saying goodbye. They leave him at the Inn (which was not destroyed in the book, BTW) to finish his recovery. I think the treatment of healing in the show is potentially problematic because the poor state of the art of healing is so central to Nynaeve's character development in the later books. Nynaeve's innate understanding of healing, her "discoveries" after capturing Moghedien as well as her own personal discoveries leads many in the Yellow Ajah to seek her out and in just a few short years to rally behind her as their natural leader. Indeed, the one big thing that Nynaeve manages to learn to heal all on her own is monumentally pivotal in the series. She learns to heal Stilling in both men and women. But given the way healing seems to be portrayed by the show, I'm having a really struggling to imagine how they could possibly do justice to Nynaeve's discovery...
Yeah I only mentioned the end scene but your comments about healing really exemplify problems with the magic throughout the entire thing. Nothing had adequate cost; power lines of what is hard and what is not we’re not defined; apparently learning the power is easy…
I think that's a perfect percentage. There's a ton of Wheel of Time in there, but... things are just really mixed around and locations have been condensed a lot.
The writer missed a huge opportunity to sum up some of the back stories of the main characters by using the lantern ceremony. It was for remembering the dead they could have revealed Tams backstory as a soldier, why Team has a sword and the fact that his mother was a non native all by Tam telling Rand the story of how he met his mom as part of a ritual. It would have taken less than four minutes and helped the story a bit.
My personal theory is that they cut out all Rand's backstory because it makes it too obvious he's the Dragon. They wanted to keep this tension about "who's the dragon?" But I'm finding it very unsuccessful. First, a woman being the dragon wouldn't be scary because Saidar isn't tainted. And second, it's making Rand boring because they aren't giving him any backstory...
Love this video! Agree so much with you! I stopped watching 20 minutes in because it was a dumpster fire, but I think I’ll try and get through it. So far, Red Eagle wore it better though :/
Man you hit every point I was disappointed with. My biggest concern now is if they were so liberal with the first episode, what changed are in store for us readers.
I felt better after the next two episodes. I'm hoping that the rest of the season will bring really good surprises. I'm going to give the first season a chance and pray it works out.
I haven't been able to summon up the enthusiasm to watch it yet. I'll probably wait until the whole thing is released and then decide whether to binge it, or just not bother with it at all.
Thom is the GOAT. I haven't read the books in years and still need to finish the series. legit one of the best characters. especially since Mat is my favorite plot line.
out of all the reviews I watched and read, your review is the most accurate, especially on one very specific detail that from the very beginning, made absolutely no sense. Morriane Sedai would absolutely know that the Dragon Reborn would be a man in the context of this age. Also, Bela (the horse) was missing, I believe she was named in one episode briefly but I thought they could have kept her in more, she appears many times in the book at key points as well.
Yes I can't believe that I didn't mention the poor erasure of BELLA, the real hero of the story. Yeah, I think they were just super committed to making the mystery of the Dragon Reborn, and I guess they felt like 3 people wasn't enough.
@@Bookborn I can see that, they did say 4 Ta'Veren when in the book it was 3. Which i do believe Egwene was and should have Nynaeve as the fifth which is hinted in episode 3 with the Darkfriend who mentions 5. Which you mispronouce Nynaeve's name... and it hurts... From Robert Jordan himself its Nigh Neev. no A sound. more e. like green or bee. but it's also in the glossary in the book and this link is Mr Jordan himself. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GRyABBFTk6c.html
I'm thru 2 episodes. I read the books as they came out so there is a lot that I don't remember. There were also so many characters by the end... There was a lot to remember. I like your review. It reminded of how much that I had forgotten. Perrin's character had the biggest backstory change. They made the trollocs genuinely scary... very much like orcs. I wish them luck in adapting this incredibly complicated story. That will be no small feat.
Yeah, I'm trying to give them a lot of credit. There is a LOT of stuff going on in WOT, and things just have to be cut if you're going to make it into a show. I guess some people hate how the Trollocs look but I quite liked them too!
@@Bookborn you mean like the two rivers being a small town of close nit families who's women and men keep each other in line. Not publicly cheating husbands and what whores?
(SPOILERS FOR NON READERS) Some of these changes I was mostly okay with... the only ones that bother me and am curious to see the reason for these changes down the line hopefully... -How did they know there were four Ta'varen in the two rivers? That would mean The Dark One also could have found them quickly without Paden Fain, and also there is NO explanation in the show why this matters or is of any importance. -Why is Perring married, and why is she just killed off? This also leaves him weaponless leaving Edmond's Field being he doesn't bring the axe -No one comments on Rand having a Heron Marked sword?! -Why is it mentioned that one of them might be the Dragon Reborn so early?! -channeling
I talked to someone who hadn't read the book and they were for sure confused about the male channeling thing. I don't think they made that clear enough, and it's even more muddied by making it possible for the Dragon to be a girl (I honestly think that's a confusing change given the lore of the world). They did a close up on the heron a ton so I was expecting it to be more of a thing...it's got to come up again soon right?
Hey I just wanted to make a quick but important point. We get Moiraine through Rand's POV in book 1 which is a problem because she casts a compulsion spell on him, Mat, and Perrin in chapter 2. This seriously warps his judgement when it comes to her and becomes a major (if unknown on his part) point of contention between him and her as he is constantly fighting her compulsion. (Understanding this helps understand why he YoYo's between doing what she wants and doing the opposite of what she wants). The weave she uses is similar to (but different than) the compulsion weave used by Verin later in the series. It is also the explanation for their weird attachments to their coins and why Moiraine tells them they are now "bonded".
One minor thing you missed that was changed, though the town was attacked on Winter Night no one died. There was some property damage, but no deaths. That being said, however, I'm cautiously optimistic about the show as a whole. I'll wait out the first season and see how I feel about it at the end, decide weather or not I'll be coming back for season 2 then. The changes, as you said especially in episode 1, were glaring, certainly. And, I think they put the largest changes IN the fist episode to put all the fans on notice. Things settled down, quite a bit, on the change front after the first. All and all, a decent effort, and I'm curious to see more.
Thought I remembered that correctly about no one dying. When the town was attacked in the show I was thinking "theres a bit of a different energy Im feeling here"
totally agree on mat except faulting them for taking away the daggers effect on his personality. Mat is supposed to be the clown who pretends not to care about anyone but would take a bullet every time for his friends
This Thom actually is book Thom, he is just not Rand's Thom. Being very familiar with the source material of WoT I could instantly tell how they constructed the characters. The way they went about making character decisions was by creating a character profile of the mythological figure then using the character's own POV to create a show profile. Thom is actually very cynical and much darker than people think because we are often times looking at him through either Rand or Elayne's POV. As far as the Mat decision goes the way they have decided to construct his character is interesting from a technical stand point. That isn't to say I am in love with it cause ya'know... Mat is best boy. But I very much understand the direction they are coming at it from. Emond's field is actually suggested to be much darker than people think and Mat and Rand are in particular. Mat's "prank" is the equivalent of an 18 year old putting a rabid dog in a sack and releasing it at the school dance. Rand's casual acceptance of this doesn't imply good things for Emond's field. That said I completely ignore all badger references when I read the series... cause ya'know... Mat is best boy. Anyway. Rather than starting him off light I think they are giving him a darker tone but not too dark before they turn him into Smeagol-Mat. Once we get Smeagol-Fain and Mat becomes Loki-Mat I think we will start to see Best boy Mat (so about three quarters of the way through season 2). The truth of Emond's field. Everyone projects this image of Mayberry onto Emond's field and it is completely unjustified from the text. We get very brief glimpses of what Emond's field was like prior to the Trolloc attack. We know nothing of Mat's home life at all. Your image of Emond's filed is all head-canon. Nothing wrong with that just keep that in mind.
nice play by play, missed a few big things as mentioned in some of the comments, the biggest one (for me) that you almost touched on, was during the scene with liandrin, they basically said (and have reinforced subtley in other eps) is that in this series, the one source is one. they dont separate the halves, which is a monumental (and stupid) change.
You know I could've accepted all of the ridiculous changes if they had purchased the rights to make an announced adaptation and called it something *other* than The Wheel of Time but nope, they had to try and capitalize on the popularity of the novel series as a vehicle for their nonsense. This is *not* The Wheel of Time, full stop, end of story.
Thank you for the vids, I'll be watching more! I read the first 5 books many years ago so it was interesting remembering things and then not, and its funny cause I didn't remember the things cause they weren't in the books 🙃 which is nice getting validation from you. So far I loved the first episode and I can see the changes being done seemed to be good visually for the TV show but I did feel the rush of the leaving at the end ... well felt rushed 😂. Looking forward to the rest.
Biggest issue was dropping the prologue from the books, its so important and sets up so many plot points that are relevant throughout the series, dropping it for some Reds chasing a random hobo hallucinating has nowhere bear the same impact as seeing a man murder his own family in a fit of madness and then kill himself by creating an enormous volcano, making the scale of devastation if the Breaking believable
@@Bookborn While she was fridged, there was reason behind it, whether bad or good is yet to be seen. First it condenses so much of Perrin's internal and external feelings about using his axe and when he does use it him going into a rage into one short scene, and second it also was a brief glimpse of him being Ta'veren.
Great review. The show, not so good. I'm always excited for on-screen adaptations of books/series I've read but I don't feel this show does Jordan's work justice. The books start by exemplifying the innocence and naivety of the kids of the Two Rivers. That's a huge part of the progress of the story. Either way, I'm still excited to see this play out on-screen. Thanks for your videos!
Yeah, I'm really dubious about the removal of innocence too, because it removes a lot of character-growth opportunities. I'm curious why they changed it - I'm wondering if it's because that trope is used a lot.
That's damage control and cope. If it was a different turning none of the names would be the same, etc. It's more like a bastardized portal stone world. Hopefully the Dark One wins in this turning.
I've finished season 1 and 2, and now I'm going through my first rewatch of both seasons. I think a lot of the changes worked, but Perrin's wife definitely hasn't. I also haven't seen anything justifying Nyaneve being from somewhere besides the Two Rivers. As you said, the population was very homogenous other than Rand, and I wish they had kept that to show how much of an outlier he is.
I've only watched the first episode, at this point. Maybe I'll get to the other two. I thought it was a bit corny when I watched it. And now? The more I think about it, the more I miss all that was cut. I stopped reading the books halfway through book three. Partly because I needed a break, partly because I thought I might be able to watch the show. Now I think I'll skip the show and pick the books back up. But the audiobooks, this time.
@@moridin73 the book 8 to 9 range especially, but then the first time I read book 1, the first half was a slog, so I guess I can't complain too much about the show now can I?
Hi 👋 I just watched the 1st the episode of wheel of time tv show... it was good... but it was rushed the first episode... but good start!! Thanks for the review!! Happy reading to you!! 📖😊
Popping in from the future after watching Brandon and Dan's podcast episode about the WoT show and it sounds like Perrin having (and killing) a wife was Brandon's biggest disagreement about it as well. He UNDERSTANDS why it's there as opposed to killing later on, but would have preferred that it be someone less close to him and a non-mortal injury. I thought that a reasonable take.
I felt odd as well but I'm on board. I think to keep the viewers and explain the backstories... or more to add the right emotion to each character they made the right choice. I did want to see that Rand solo fight in the house and trying to save his father by getting him back to town.
It would not cost them much to do the book intro either...Showing Lews Therin Telamon in his madness, and creating the Dragonmount. But making Perrin bearded and married + making the Cauthons a broken marrige like that...just made me hostile to the shows...And I think it's only gotten worse ever since...
I personally have liked every episode more and more (actually, I think 4 was better than 5, but all drastically better than 1). Getting cut from 10 episodes to 8 means that the prologue def just has to get cut. Plus, I think the prologue might give too many hints about how the Dragon is, which they are trying to avoid.
I’ve only seen the first episode so far, but why do all the trollocs look like the minotaur from Your Highness? They’re supposed to be behemoths with a mix of man and beast. I was looking forward to seeing an 8 foot tall dude with goat’s horns or legs or a wolf’s muzzle.
I think they were worried it might look cheesy? I was okay with the trollocs, but yeah, they were a lot more monster and less man. Same with the Fades.
Maybe. I just wanted more than another faceless crtl+c ctr+v army. I mean one spoke! I wanted to hear that. Really makes you wonder what they’re going to do with draghkars, darkhounds, and the gholam.
I understand you and I feel the same way, but there are worse crimes in the first episode like almost skipping all of Rand.. You are too hard for Trollocs. There is no way the whole army would be CGI, if it was CGI it would be cheap or too expensive. The Dragons it GOT are just outstanding, but thats not the topic. CGI is out of place, so human actors must play the monsters. There is no way they would find the whole army of 8foot people (2.4 metres) to play the monsters. Thats just not possible. There are HUGE limitations when you are making films.
I have to disagree with you about Moraine. I think casting someone younger would have been a better choice (like, early to mid 30s. And from what I remember about Moraine is that she is small and looks very delicate and you would not expect the strength that exudes from her. She is a very strong woman, but she doesn't look strong to those who don't know her well. I will say though, that I'm not unhappy with the casting choice, as I thought she did very well.
Moraine so far is the only person cast correctly. Unless that white cloak is Bornhald the elder then include him also. Rand & Tam I can give some leeway to. But the rest? Bran & Lan are bigger. Same with Perrin. Matt isn't a scrawny thief. Fain is older. I could go on. Had to watch my mouth with the wife watching with me since she never read the books and I didn't want to spoil it for her. But after watching the first 3 episodes anything I tell her could be off or just considered a general idea of how things should be, not how they're actually going to be portrayed. I prayed this thing wasn't going to be cw'ed like Shannara. Now I'm seriously worried. In my opinion this is a series for people that didn't read the books.
I agree that she should've been smaller - I actually meant to bring up her height when talking about Rand's height but forgot. But, the show seems to have completely dismissed her whole "look unintimidating" act. Like, she just barges into the Two Rivers full Aes Sedai. I don't love that choice, but I guess her being tall and commanding works for it. Otherwise, I'm so glad they didn't make her younger. Shows try to force women to be younger than they are all the time, and I'm glad they avoid it here.
@@Bookborn they are supposed to be young the touch of saidar makes them stop aging at a certain point. Their hair is the only thing that shows their age. This is covered in the books. Until they get to be like 300 years old then they start showing signs of aging. They stop aging at roughly 25-30 this woman looks to be in here mid 40’s to early 50’s
I too agree with your review. I think there were too many changes. The personality of the two river’s characters are completely different and they dropped most of the humor. Maybe the budget was really small but what happened to the warders cloak and especially the gleemans cloak?
Yeah I think I'm going to do my thoughts on the season. There are just a lot of people putting their thoughts out right now and I'm not sure I need to add mine to the pile yet haha
I can't wait to see the show's version of Siuan Sanche! I had a love-hate relationship with her character when I read the books. On the one hand, she's a bit annoying because she thinks in sea shanties. She's like a pirate tourist attraction tour guide is her inner monologue voice. But she's an amazing spirit too, an imposing, forceful authority. I like that they're building up an air of mystery about her by not showing her face yet but bringing her up. Kind of weird to me is how they got everyone to Tar Valon so quickly, bypassing all the things they do in Andor? They haven't even met Elayne Trakand and Morgase yet? Are they cutting Camelyn politics out of the story? Or am I remembering the order of events from the books wrong?
Nope! They should've gone to Caemlyn first. Supposedly Elayne and Min are showing up in season 2; so looks like they are trying to make us attached/get to know our main characters before introducing more love interests. I hope they don't completely get rid of Andor politics, I feel like there's a lot of interesting stuff there. Hopefully next season gets a few more episodes...
I would say it's a misconception that the two rivers is homogeneous. Rand sticks out coz of his height, hair colour and eye colour. Which he still does coz I didn't see anyone else there who was a red head.
Very good point. I've seen a lot of people talking about it so I felt I had to mention it, but it was something I honestly didn't even think about when I first saw the trailer either. I just always assumed nobody else had light eyes/red hair. Which still leaves a LOT of non-uniformity.
The Two Rivers is very secluded and later in the books, when the main 5 meet the sea folk, they are amazed at how dark their skin is, suggesting that they have never seen a dark skinned person before, therfore implying a more homogeneous population in their home village and even in the surrounding regions. I know it's a minor detail, but that's kind of what the Wheel of time is all about, the little details that continually build the world we are learning about. It's just one less thing for the main characters to marvel at, as they grow.
@@Cloudstrife112233 iirc they were more amazed by the cultural differences with the skin tattoos and nudity rather than just their skin colour. Iirc the only two homogeneous people groups are the Aiel (mostly blond/red heads) and the Sea folk who are supposed to be all super dark skin (African heritage probably). So there's also that for them to be surprised about, where as the people in randland are mostly all mixed up because of the breaking/trolloc wars etc.
I think my biggest surprise was al'Lan played by an oriental, the books mention Lan's blue eyes a number of times, but when you can get Daniel Henney to play him, no complaints from me.
Changes I like: The ladies feel far less annoying and the outright disdain for men seems subdued. Egwene and Nyneve’s portrayal is pretty amazing so far. Morriane I’m still on the fence about but not Pike’s acting. That’s hands down stellar. I like Mat’s new direction though I dislike him being a thief. I dig the Trollocs and Half-Men/Fade’s. I’m still waiting to see if they will reveal just how terrifying they really are. The portrayal of the evil in Shadar Logath was visually cool. But in the books not only did it look different but it was much more like a spider’s web or venus fly trap that was slightly mobile not purposely chasing them but I still dig it. Changes I dislike or having a hard time with: Perrin is married already!? WTF? No. Rand and Tam’s backstory…so critical. The absence can only mean the show is going in a completely different direction from the books. But…maybe not. TV likes to back track sometimes. Padan Fain should have been more prominent as should have Egwene’s father and the other Village Counsel leaders. I get that a TV show has to move the plot forward so this overstep is a minor complaint. The outright in your face of Aes Sedai instead of their subtle hidden agent type nature from the books is a big change. Whitecloaks…I get that they want you to dislike them, but I’ll keep my reservations in check for now. Major Dislike: No Thom!? NO THOM!?! Until episode 3?!? Not happy.
What would be the point of the Village Council in this hedonistic, debauched version of Emond's Field? There isn't a even a point to keeping the Women's Circle. Rand is boinking Egwene and Abell Cauthon is an openly sexist, degenerate womanising pig. The socially conservative fabric of the Two Rivers is non-existent in the tv show, so they don't need an elected body of elders to police morals that simply do not appear to exist.
All I can say is...YEP YEP YEP! I seriously agree with everything you said. I LOVE Pike as Moiraine but some of the script changes with her are interesting. I absolutely think Tam/Rand's backstory is still going to be included but they couldn't include it now because they seem determined to keep the Dragon a secret and make it a "mystery". Unfortunately, that means slashing a ton of Rand's backstory right now.
It’s been a year since I’ve read the books. I liked some of what they did but other stuff I didn’t. I liked watching it but it didn’t really pull me in. At least not yet. I was really hoping they would show Rand seeing the fade. I was expecting it and was let down. Also I think the Trolloc says something to Tam. I also was waiting for Nynaeve to tug her braid when angry. I hope they keep that struggle in the show. It’s a huge character arc when she finally masters it and makes her a stronger. And for some reason I thought Min was from the Two Rivers too but I might be mistaken. I thought we’d see her. She’s one of my favorites. I hope they keep her in the show later on.
We don't meet Min until Baerelon, but they skipped that city in the show (episode 2). So, I'm not sure where we will end up meeting her... I am a little bummed by how they've cut out so much of Rand's story. I think it makes him a bit bland because they've cut out stuff so people won't know he's the Dragon. I'm not sure it's a good choice.
Good point on it not pulling you in. There was no point in watching where I wasn't consciously and subconsciously aware I was watching a show. There were times in some episodes of Game of Thrones where I was so completely enthralled by what was happening, it was honestly jarring when the screen went black and credits rolled. Hopefully this show can grow into that. Its not easy at all, and not doing it isn't really a failure. Just a sign that this may just turn out to be a show I like rather than a show I can't wait to see. Really hope I'm wrong because I've been waiting a long time for this series and Legend of the Seeker did enough damage to small screen adaptation of fantasy literature.
@@bwilhelm4214 I think they have mentioned this like a year ago about getting rid of the 3. I think they are going to keep Min as a love interest (she is the most impactful on Rand of the 3 in the books) and will make Aviendha and Elayne a couple. And @Bookborn, thinking we first see Min at Fal Dara.
"Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the shadow of Amazon with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder Judkin's eye on the last day."
I really wish they would have allowed the first episode some more room to breathe. Obviously GoT is going to be the most common comparison but I think WoT could have benefited from similar treatment. GoT didn’t rush to get to a big action scene it followed the first book very closely and set up all the characters very well. Im excited to see where this goes but so far I think it is falling a little short as an adaptation especially when compared to GoT.
Thanks for your Herculean efforts in posting this! I thought the strongest parts were the castings by far, no weak links that I've seen yet. Perrin's wife is... and I am lamenting the lack of Thom from the beginning also but I think they were trying to reduce character bloat at the offset so we'll see. I've seen a lot of book fans not mind the bath scene because it kinda makes sense for their relationship, however I think the scene itself was a mistake for episode 1. My wife thought they were married. When establishing 15 characters in an episode, it doesn't seem smart to do something so strange with two of them that the vast majority of people would interpret as a romantic/sexual thing.
Obviously I agree with everything you've said which is no surprise lol. I think Thom had to be introduced later because you already have like 8 characters you're supposed to care about in episode one and that's just...a lot. For those who have read the book, obviously not, but this is trying to capture way more than that audience. And yeah, the Moiraine/Lan thing is fine in context of the book, but without that context it seems romantic which makes no sense!
So Perrin didn't have a wife in the book, but Laila IS in the books. In tSR we see Laila has married someone else, but Perrin remembers having feelings for her previously.
