"Show Matt is the opposite of what he is supposed to be" Sadly, I feel this statement applies to just about every character and concept portrayed in the show. Everything is inverted starting with how the OP is portrayed, to an idiot Moiraine who doesnt know the prophecies, to a Tyrant Siuane who thinks the world belongs to her, to emotional shirt rending Lan to Lews Therin the Just another Arrogant Dick, to having male AND female dragons, to Ageless Ads Sedai all being very clearly middle-aged bordering on menopausal aes sedai, to how the dagger is apparently easily healed and not deadly to Ogiers at least, to the Ways needing the power instead of being built specifically for a species who cant touch or use the source, to Damane having ball gags instead of leashes and collars, to Ishamael being reasonable and canny instead of utterly insane, to the Black Wind being dangerous because it spouts objective truths about yourself in an impromptu therapy session instead of being a demonic evil that litterally wants to turn you inside out and suck your marrow dry, to the EotW being the dark one's prison instead of a "time capsule" left by long dead heroes at great sacrifice for the dragon to find, to Lord Agelmar being a great supporter of the White Tower and one of the great military captains to a petty man who hates Aes Sedai and a failed commander who cant hold a wall against an enemy that does not have any siege equipment, and on and on and on.
One of the biggest cringe moments was Lan and the other guy, the show tried desperately to make us care for, did the weapons practice that really looked like the director just said, "Do something badass, anything."
Something you didn't mention about Egwene that I thought about is what being made a Dragon candidate takes away from her. In the books Egwene is observant enough and clever enough to put together all the clues that the boys are leaving, and then she is ambitious and reckless enough to bully her way into the party as they leave. Egwene is the only Emond's Fielder who WANTS to be there, who actually has agency, and the show misses this by just having Egwene be dragged along by Moiraine with the boys
I totally agree. I don't know if they thought making her ta'veren as well was more "fair" or something, but they just took away one of her strongest traits.
Yeah, it's awful. She's really smart, but not the smartest. Incredibly talented, but not the most talented. She is however the most ambitious. She gets where she gets through grit, hard work and pure hunger for power. She's not served the things she gets on a platter by fate/the wave - she fights for it and wills it into reality without being ta'veren. You can like her or dislike her, but removing this from her makes her less than she really is.
In a way, they do exactly the same thing to Nynaeve.. Nynaeve goes after them to rescue them from Moiraine... which is her own agency. Of course, later on, they try to make it so that SHE is a DR candidate, too... which is the show breaking its own canon. She's too old, as Moiraine already knew, or should have known, unless Moiraine is too stupid to realize that Nynaeve is several years older than the rest.
I pretty much agree with you on all your character analysis. I'm not a book reader but the show got me interested in the books and from what I've read so far Rand is the main character, being the dragon reborn and all. This adaption is like, if the Harry Potter movies were adapted from Hermione and Rons point of view with Harry being just another member of the cast. It feels weird and underdeveloped. Really enjoying your videos. Keep em coming 😁👍
Good comparison. But the view point would be more like from Professor McGongall and she tires to figure out who the boy who survived is and thinking it could be Hermione because she is smart and has a lot of skill.
All of the EF5 are important but there is no denying Rand is the first among equals. The first book is almost all from his pov and serves to start empathizing with him and see how much his character will change from the naive, nice sheepherder. Sidelining him for the first season was a big mistake honestly.
The books are mostly all Rand's POV for the first two. As others have said, Perrin and Mat dont do too much, though we get some Perrin POV chapters in the first two books. I do think the characters are defined from early on though and the show had a lot of material to draw from to make the whole ensemble interesting.
@@amys0482 The only thing more frustrating than a pure failure, is something you can see the potential in getting squandered. I just wish the writers understood what was good and bad in their own show. I'll watch season 2 but honestly, it's the last chance I'll give them to convince me I should continue with it. There is much better fantasy adaptions out there, like The Witcher.
Bingo. What the LOTR did, and the Wheel of Time as well, is start off with a POV character, the main hero, and then later branch out as the various companions go in different directions. Rand, Egwene, and Perrin are fun to follow, whether those moments are humorous or grim. The TV show is entirely grim, and diluted. There were things they could've cut to focus more on the relationships and character development.
It seems to me the Showrunner actively has gone out of his way to make all the men worthless and weak. I have no confidence that this will change at all in later episodes.
Eh. The 1st season covers mostly the 1st book where mat is the annoying little brother and then immediately becomes dagger mat. Most people didn't like him. He's not likable at all until book 3 where we finally start to see him from his pov. Until then he's either an annoying prankster or jerk with the dagger. His later development is someone who never broke a promise but earlier books tell of him breaking promises so even the books weren't settled on him. Perrin is in the same boat for the most part except for a couple of chapters in his pov and then the rest of the time he's just hiding his eyes from everyone. Both of these characters evolved over time and don't start becoming fully fleshed out until much later.
@@Ailthas I do think that, considering they had the whole complete book series to draw from, they could have done a better job with both Mat and Perrin. I see what they were trying to do with Mat, even if I didn't love it (I might have if the actor didn't leave, who knows). Perrin's arc however was botched, and pretty badly at that.
Doubtful as season 2 is done filming, Perrin has been puppy-fied in the show. Possibly Matt's arc may be salvageable. I suggest read the first book, then you will see why so many book fans are so disappointed.
Great analysis. *Really* looking forward to part 3. I do wonder if you are being too charitable though regarding the handling of the male characters. In the sense of leaving it as a still open question as to whether Rafe et al, simply don't get them or not. It seems fairly obvious that the show has been intentionally tearing the male characters down. Every single one of them were diminished in some way - several of them extremely so. And it's not like they don't have complete access to Brandon Sanderson; who is on record stating that he actively dislikes and spoke out against several of these changes; He's also warned readers not to think of this as an adaptation, so much as imagining of a different turn of the wheel (because it is so much a mess)- and Brandon is notoriously amenable. Not to mention that Rafe himself is repeatedly on record saying that he was changing the show to match his view of feminism (4th wave intersectional), doesn't want Rand to be the focus, that his favorite characters are the females, etc. Also, the tearing down of established males characters has been a Hollywood trend for years (for example, look at how the Star Wars sequels trashed Han and Luke). The "creatives" (read activists) in these projects, like Rafe, seem to consistently suck at writing in general, and don't know how to build the female characters up without making them Mary Sues and tearing the male characters down. Matt and Perrin had to have their backstories completely rewritten to make them weak and broken and more or less the opposite of who they really are in the books. They couldn't quite do the same to Rand because of his role being so central to the series, but they minimized his development, made him a complete simp, and stole as many of his moments as they could. The "moment" Lan got in episode 1 during the EF trolloc battle, only happened because Sanderson pushed Rafe for it so hard (this is on record). And, even though Lan is portrayed the best of any male in the show, they still diminish he in numerous ways: Nynaeve doesn't merely track him, she completely gets the drop on him (some warder he is); Nynaeve also has to instruct him on how to track Moiraine through the Blight; Moiraine as chides him for taking them into Shadar Logoth (even though she actually makes that call in the books); getting drugged, etc. Heck, the warders overall were diminished - where was the warder watch when Lan et al approached the Aei Sedai camp? Where was their watch when Logains . Lord Agelmar, one of the five Great Captains, is portrayed as a largely incompetent boob, who sister has to constantly be trying to save him from his bad decisions and. lack of strategic ability. Tam, Blademaster, wielder of a power forged heron marked blade, one time Second Captain of the Companions (Illian's most elite unit), isn't allowed to kill even one trolloc by himself; let alone have the heroic scene he has in the book. Meanwhile, Nynaeve gets to go full on Navy Seal on a trolloc (something that never happened). Thom is suddenly not only a thief, but one that will steal from boys that are obviously destitute. The mentoring of the boys by Lan and Thom (not to mention Tam's Flame and Void training which is so important for Rand) would have required developing the EF boys characters, portraying them with some level of actual competence, and allowing masculinity to be seen positively. - in the form of Lan, Thom, & Tam as positive male role models This also why Elias needed to be cut. That the lack of mentoring weakens the story in all sort of ways doesn't matter... because agenda always comes before story for Rafe and his ilk. Rafe had even rewritten the lore and changed the magic system in order to promote his agenda and further vilify both male characters and masculinity. I just don't. see how the portrayal of the boys (and the male characters in general) can be anything other than. intentional. Anyhow, I'm obviously frustrated with Rafe's mistreatment of Jordan's work. And seriously appreciate channels like yours that are pointing out the missteps and enjoy your analysis in general - even if I think you go too easy on them sometimes. ;) Keep up the great work, glad to see your channel growing so fast.
Spot on. How people cannot see the utter and complete emasculation of the men in this series speaks volumes about the current real gender imbalance out here in the real world
I don't want to ascribe negative intention based on assumption or a misreading so I want to see how it actually plays out. I do share many of these concerns, though.
Mostly agree, except on one point. Nynaeve actually DOES manage to sneak up on him unnoticed just after Shadar Logoth in the book. He doesn't notice her at all, Moiraine senses her presence though and calls her out after a few minutes. I also got the feeling that this was the very moment he "noticed her" as a woman.
@@FiliusFidelis It's been a while since I've re-read the series. But as I recall, and totally correct me if I'm mistaken, Nynaeve tracks him, but doesn't completely get the drop on him in the sense that that she does in the show - eg. doesn't actually get up close, personal, and put a knife to his neck like he is an incompetent fool. I've got another re-read on the series on my todo list... so we'll see. But that isn't how I remember it.
Yup, pretty much dead on, I especially like your comparison for Mat. I had not really broken down Mat in my head even though he is one of my favorite characters in the books. ( I just enjoyed his development cause he seemed very real to me.) In the show I was so divided because I really like Barney Harris, but hated the characterization. your breakdown really helps that reasoning cement for me.
The DR mystery really killed any kind of development the EF5, especially the boys, should have had. The boys characters ended up being watered down, sidelined or straight up changed. This is the season that should have made you feel some sympathy for Rand, going from a nice, naive sheepherder to one of the most feared men in the world. Instead all his personality ended up being...."Egwene". He did nothing impressive or interesting all season. And i share your worry after reading Rafe saying that he doesn't even think Rand has the most pov chapters, when asked about the ensemble cast. Cause he obviously does, by far. Perrin was straight out character assassinated. The only reason i can think of for the show giving him a wife to kill was to have a shocking scene right off the bat. It served no purpose and he ended up going around moping all the time. That scene with him just "growling" and Valda quivering was all kind of terrible. Mat....i guess they wanted to make him more likable since he is far from being it for a lot of book readers for at least a couple of books, but i don't think it really worked? Especially with how much they are going with "evil Mat". I know the problems with Barney, but he could have just not wanted to go on a suicide mission and wanted to see his sisters? Egwene was always my least favorite of the EF5, but i said since the first leaks came out that i didn't want her to be ta'veren. Yes, parts of her arc could justify it (though it also doesn't work given her future relationship with Rand), but her most defining characteristic right from the start was her doing whatever she did because she CHOSE to. The boys complain all the time about being ta'veren and being forced on a path they didn't want. Her not being ta'veren doesn't make her less important, she even has more pov chapters than Mat.
Great video. My main concern with the series is that the writers are not good enough to do the story justice. Rafe said he wanted to do a feminist take on the series, which could potentially work (I’m open minded). But all of the messages or changes are done in the most heavy handed fashion and get in the way of the core story and characters. The female characters don’t seem to have any subtle faults and the male characters aren’t allowed to shine so much unless it’s for the sake of a woman. Will Rand still have the issue of not wanting to put women in danger? Also, there is a tendency to have broken characters in modern TV as a way to have stronger catharsis or make characters more relatable. This is evidenced in Mat and Perrin and I think it will kill a lot of their depth for the sake of making a cheaper and more stereotypical character arc. We’ll see what happens, though. Thanks for the detailed videos.
I love what you said about Mat claiming to be one way but his actions showing who he really is. I think that’s what makes him interesting and likable in the books
I really enjoy your videos on WoT. You obviously know the the books well and enjoy them. There is a lot to be critical of in the show, but many other book readers let their passion get the best of them and come across as slightly unhinged. In contrast, your critiques are balanced, thoughtful and well articulated. Thanks for being an oasis of reason. I will return for future videos.
U becoming a pro, on Reviewing n analysis the show. Great idea on using pictures n writing to help us go along with u, but I would recommend to add those pictures of characters n writings on top of ur videos n not as a full screen. U have a great voice clear n easy to follow, but watching u while narrating ur notes help us bond with u n see some micro emotions. Also having u keeping and eye on ur cat n putting him on time out on ur lap when he is misbehaving is priceless. Those moments help use relate to u and fill like we are having a discussion on ur reading room with pictures n writing appearing around u. I truly looking forward for the continuation of ur channel as u follow the show n possible other things u are interested. I would recommend u keep the things u want to cover n not ur fans so u can just discuss what u are interested n truly like, then ones u want to search for new staff always make a list n just ask use what we would prefer for u to do first but be like Matt follow ur hart n directions.
Great analysis I agree mostly with it though I definitely lean towards the less forgiving scores. One of the big breaking points for me was Perrin as I'm a huge fan of his character in the books, I really hate what they've done to my boy. Keep up the good work though, I liked the new style with the visuals and look forward to the rest of your thoughts
Wow, you did an exceptional job at this Amy! Very well done! I can't speak for everyone, but I really connect with you when you're addressing the camera. The visuals were really nice, but I think half way through each slide, as you've pretty much covered what was in each slide by this point, you could've dropped the visual while you continued your synopsis of each character. I'm not sure if you know this, but 1.3K have subscribed to you and over 3K people a have viewed this because _you_ and your intelligent delivery of the subject at hand are the star! Visuals are good for enhancement of the subject matter, but you making eye contact with us through the camera lens, is definitely the highlight.
It just hit me. The person Perrin is secretly in love with (in the show) is Rand. In that bedroom scene in ep.8 where Egwene is sitting on the bed crying and she says, "I love him." Perrin replies, "I love him, too." Maybe that's what's going on there. Just a thought.
You are spot on with your analysis. I wish Amazon would hire you as a consultant for the show. Unfortunately season 2 I believe is already completed filming, so I fear we're going to get more of the same confusing and unsatisfying story telling.
MY guess is that it's going to get WORSE... due to the added confusion and complexity of the Seanchan... and that they INSIST on continuing the Wheel of Moiraine drama. It's going to be even harder to do the things that they should have ALREADY done in season one.
As you did ask. Your enthusiam and passion come so much from vissually seeing you, I mean you have amazing facial expresions, great smile and infectuous laugh. I know this would involve more editing but a more mixed seeing you vs the visuals I personally think is more engaging. The voice narration after a while becomes a little tedious and I found myself taking breaks in the video more than when the video is mostly you. Great visuals though, Loved the character sheats. I can see your editing skills have bumped up quite a few levels. I'm thinking about trying to make a channel at some point hence why I'm focusing on learning things like how B Roll interacts with A Roll so to speak and the Music comment earlier.
Agree with analysis. Graphics were good. Music was distracting. Like it better when you are speaking naturally as opposed to reading prepared text. More cats.
I think I mostly agree with this analysis. It's nice to see it all put into a summary, I never thought about the characters in a structured way like this. The more I watch you, the more I get the urge to reread the books with greater understanding of them. Maybe more appreciation for them, after watching the show. Definitely a thumbs up from me for your content, you are one of two WoT TH-camrs I watch.
Congrats on getting that 1k benchmark! I binge watched series after your last video and man did appreciate the first 4 episodes a lot more. The first half of season, with exception to most of E1, was actually really solid, especially in comparison to the 2nd half of season. Even though I liked the end of E4 this is where things started to fall apart for me, because this is where they deviated hard from books and the new story arc from this point on was just poorly written/conceived. I want to distinguish the two because I wouldn’t say E5 was poorly written just a bad decision in concept. We wasted that whole episode with new Steppin arc completion and barely developed any characters that matter. E6 was just written poorly and continued off course from book and again left little time to develop main characters, with exception to Moiraine and that development was questionable. E7 began in the most amazing way, and finished pretty strong, and is easily the only redeemable segment of the last half. Then E8 happened, blah/puke worthy content.
Spot on about what you thought about the episodes, imo. I feel it would have been better if the Nynaeve storyline had continued in place of Stepin for EP5, examining what the mechanics of the power and what it meant to be a male channeler vs female. Also, they could have discussed what awaited a male dragon reborn vs a female one. The could have made it show that we really wouldn't want a male Dragon Reborn. Then I feel EP6 could have had essentially the same storyline, but as Amy said the conflict in the Hall of the Tower would be what to do with the Dragon Reborn. That would have kept it focused and tight. Then we should have seen Moiraine go to the library in Tar Valon and read false information about how the Dragon Reborn can cage the Dark One at the Eye Of The World. That would have given rationality to Moiraine's plan and hinted at darkfriends in the Tower when the plan went wrong in EP8. I feel they were wedded to getting two "rocks" into the show which ultimately ruined the season: 1). The "wedding" between Moiraine and Siuan using the Oath Rad in EP6 2). The bonding of Stepin into the polyamorous relationship between Alanna and her warders in EP5
You did a good job analysing the series. Very thorough. I disagree a little bit on Moiraine, but that's par for the course. These things are subjective anyway. Anticipating your future posts. 👍🏿👍🏿
I would like to add that Nyneave in the books could be called a prude by most people. It is very surprising that she would have sex with Lan outside of marriage, if she is constantly angry when she sees a woman showing skin in public 🤔
Great point. So, small village folk in at best an early Renaissance era, what birth control are they using? Does Nynaeve do this often or did Lan take her virginity? Show wants a fantasy world with Tindr rules and zero consequences. Egwene's mum and dad happily got out of the way with a wink so Rand could jump their unwed daughter. Yeah right
@@JonasGrumby-OO I do believe there's a contraceptic potion mentioned in the books (something like a morning after pill or even a bit more severe?). But I agree, the show is a bit too "modern" to be good fantasy. I remember this meme I saw where Lan asked Nynaeve how she tracked him and she replied with "Wardr".
I really want the show to improve and give us the WoT we all know and love, to see all those amazing moments from the books being portrayed on screen. But, at this point, I don’t have any hope for that. The baffling choices the writers made for Season 1 lead me to a conclusion that they don’t understand what the books were about and what we liked about them. It seems that the show is more interested in pushing its own narratives rather than faithfully adapting the source material. I’d be overjoyed to be proven wrong about that. And yeah, can’t wait for more analysis from you.
Really enjoyed your character analysis. I agree with many of your concerns about the shows depictions of Perrin, Mat and Rand but I do think they may improve on this quite a bit in coming seasons, at least I'm hoping they do.
Book Mat is an impish rogue, but one who always does the right thing. He has a code. Show Mat? Have no idea, the development was so short... The only characters I see as having any resemblance to the Books are Nyneave, Lan and Morraine (all to a point). Right from the off I struggled with the age difference and the sexualised content. Up to the point Nyneave knocked on Land door...she was basically book Nyneave. The same with Moiraine, up to the "on your knees" 🤷♂️ It's almost like they think that to compete with GoT, they need overt sexualised content. The biggest disappointment was Perrin's story change. Just why? The best part was the Tigraine ep6 flashback. The rest of the series a hodge-podge of threads lashed together with no real development - I can't understand how non book readers are hanging in there. The "finale" was below sub par - i was waiting for the Seanchan appearing as hinted about "boats going missing" in the White Tower episode - but using tsunamis to wipe out coastal communities? The Seanchan don't kill indiscriminately. I actually hope the show gets cancelled.
As highly deatiled in your analysis as I've come to expect. You are consistently putting out high quality content! I really hope Rafe is trolling TH-cam for especially reactions of book reader's. And I especially hope he comes across your channel. He would do well indeed to find where there is allot of consensus of things we do and do not like about the show. I hope that he pulls from the community rather then just from his team and their vision. The show is heavily inclusive and I'd hope that covers the readers to. Anyway thanks as always. Greetings to the comment section y'all have been great!
In regards to Egwene's cut on her arm, she actually receives it during the woman's circle ceremony when she has to try and trust the river. She doesn't have a wound prior to it and once she crawls out of the water and lays down on the beach you can see it bleeding on her arm. It is also a wound that is gone the next day which could have been foreshadowing of Nynaeve's healing.
Yeah, I caught this reading the leaked script. The only reason I didnt think of this was that it seemed half healed like hours later and there is no scene where Nyneave tends it. Something they cut out, I guess.
Video was great and I’m loving this in-depth analysis! I disagree on some on the character ratings ( I feel like the show has done a huge disservice to Lan and his character is unrecognizable to me) but I can appreciate the discussion and you raise a lot of interesting points! Congrats on 1000 subs!
In the last episode, Rand says that Moiraine was betting on Egwene, because she was training only her. Except that we saw ONE instance with the glowing stone, and nothing to guess that it was a routine. Not even a montage. Unless you've read the books, and you fill in the blanks yourself.
True, they have put out comments and bonus material to try and explain things but important character development points like you mention should have been in the show itself.
@@rustung1638 It's actually the opposite. We've seen bits of their journey, and Rand is _telling_ us what we were not shown. Not sure what the "unreliable narrator" has to do here.
@@bidossessi I'm just trying to say that just because a character says something, doesn't mean it's right or true. Characters are often wrong when they make statements in the books. Edit: I do think I misunderstood the original statement though. I see now.
Very well edited video Amy, Congratulations on the 1000 subscribers and I like the upping of the game. Nicely Edited video. Just one small critique, maybe drop the backgrouund music volume by about 10 percent. Its a little distracting from listening to you. Not sure if anyone else would agree with me. Wow your editing seriouly is looking good though.
Book Moiraine is cautious. She's Mrs Maybe. She is not gullible, she does not take things at face value. She is wary of false trails, and acutely aware of the strengths of the Father of Lies. She would also never preach absolutes, and condemn doubt as a "path to the shadows". Show Moiraine is the opposite. She's gung-ho, autocratic, irrational. She's not even the protagonist in a mystery drama: she never does any investigating. She just waits for the culprit to literally knock at her door, and never questions them.
I really like your reviews and subscribed since episode 6. I would like to give some feedback on the new design: The music doesn't work for me, it was distracting from your excellent analysis; every time it did stop I was praying it would not repeat again. Use something more melodic and with less volume. I also like to see you when you speak, since I imagine I not alone in this I would recommend a divided screen. On a side note: I'm always interessed in other people's book shelfs. "The witches are coming" are now on my reading list. What else do you like? What is that book with the rabbit on it? Happy New Year!
The Witches are Coming is Lindy West. She is local to me and has a unique perspective. Very liberal, though, just FYI. She writes for The Stranger. The rabbit cover is Sophie's World, which tells the history of Western Philosophy as a sorta coming of age novel with an existential twist.
fantastic breakdown. i tried to stay positive through most of season 1. i even started to have hope around episode 4, but then it was all downhill to that dreadful ending.
Fantastic character breakdown - love the new format with the added graphics! I agree 100% with your analysis - however, I have to say I like show Nynaeve more than the book version. I’m not disagreeing with what you said - that show Nynaeve’s characterization is inconsistent - but rather adding those inconsistencies made her more likable to me. I didn’t hate book Nynaeve but she definitely annoyed me many many times in the books with her behavior. I just found the show version more sympathetic. Your comment about this turning into a conglomeration of set pieces (paraphrasing here), really resonated with me. That’s how I felt about this entire season - that it’s more akin to an anthology rather than a cohesive narrative. I hope they can turn this around in subsequent seasons.
Loved the content as always! I thought the new format with you offscreen most of the time wasn’t as dynamic. Your energy really comes through in your facial and hand expressions, without those it felt a bit flat and less of a personal connection between yourself and the viewers. It might make sense for you look at other popular TH-cam reviewers to check out how they keep things energetic while incorporating graphics. I’m sure there are many different styles out there. Take some elements and borrow them for yourself. As a simple interim idea, reframe yourself slightly off center like a newscast or late night show and use graphics in the more open side / corner of your screen. I’m thinking Jon Stewart Daily show, SNL Weekend Update, etc. I look forward to parts 3, 4, and other new content!
56:04 "don't like that all the boys are sidelined..." yes, thank you! Please let Amazon see/ hear how many women WoT fans feel this way and fix this in future episodes. Personally, I love a strong female character and loved that these books have so many of them (can't wait to see Birgitte in the show). But it doesn't have to mean so thoroughly leaving our Male heroes under-used and under-developed. I honestly got the feeling (not always but at times) that some of the show creators are Red Ajah themselves.
This was an excellent breakdown video, you seemed to effortlessly break many of these characters into their essences. Was it hard to narrow down the list of adjectives for each character into the core ones? Fantastic work. I've been pretty confrontational in my comments on your other videos, which are all very well done by the way. As I progress through your library, I'm seeing that you see the same things that I'm seeing, but you're just choosing to be much more forgiving than I am. Perrin and Nynaeve were my favorite characters. Perrin because I really identify with his character and way of operating. So I'm happy about the glory Nynaeve has gotten but I feel cut deep because of how Perrin has been treated. Thank you for taking the time and acknowledging this. But... :) please stop calling this an "adaptation". They're not trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole, they're using the fact that it doesn't fit as an cover excuse for making a brand new peg to fit into the particular hole that want.
I do think they are trying to carve the story into something else. I am more forgiving because I know how hard it is to create and I don't think it's fair to lambast everything about a creative effort that a lot of people worked really hard on. I don't like some of the decisions and I think the show has many weaknesses that are independent of creative differences from the books, but it's not the WORST thing I have ever seen. It's just disappointing and I find some of the messaging problematic.
Imo, Lan should’ve been something like Geralt from the Witcher. Mostly emotionless with a dry and a little bit sarcastic humor. I don’t necessarily find his portrayal in the show bad, but he was much more intimidating and inspiring.
20:45 his 1 major act afterwards is taking blame for going into Shadar Logoth without a plan to survive, Moiraine's viable plan in the books, and being a vehicle to show how awesome Nynaeve is at tracking.
As far as comments on visuals vs staring into the camera...I was treating it more as a podcast so I wasn't looking. Short pictures with an otherwise unchanged format could be good too, but unless you're including visual cues or comparisons they're not generally necessary for reviews.
It's great casting, but the writing stunk. There was more focus in the book on the POV of (at first) Rand, and then the others. There was also more lightness, in terms of humor, and longer build up of relationships. I pretty much shipped my way through the books, which I don't often do. Readers care about the characters a lot, or hate them. Not sure anyone would get worked up one way or the other about characters in the TV series.
I mostly agree with your character assessments, so I'll really only address where my opinion seems to differ. I'll preface by saying that the show appears to be making all the characters more "human," for what that's worth. Brandon Sanderson also described the show as portraying "the same characters, except everything is harder for them in this version." The simplest example is that Trollocs are a much bigger threat than they are in the books, e.g. book Tam taking out multiple Trollocs at the farmhouse versus show Tam being overpowered by a single Trolloc. Moiraine - Show Moiraine knows a lot less than book Moiraine. Apparently, *everyone* in the show knows less about the One Power, the Dragon, the Prophecies, and even the Breaking then their book counterparts. Show Moiraine does discuss the Prophecies, but it seems that these are much more fragmented and contradictory than in the books. As for her handling of Aes Sedai politics, I think she put herself in a bad position in order to give Siuan a chance to shore up her authority. But that could just be me giving the writers too much credit. Lan: Book Lan in The Dragon Reborn seems willing to murder an innocent man in order to preserve Moiraine's anonymity. I do wish we'd had more interaction between him and all the Two Rivers folk, though. Nynaeve: It took a very long time for me to like book Nynaeve. On first read she just comes across as a bully and a hypoctrite with zero self-awareness. Show Nynaeve has a much less nebulous reason for distrusting Aes Sedai (her mentor's supposed rejection). Egwene: Book Egwene alsays seemed to me to start off as a selfish, spoiled brat. She runs away from home for the lols. She's also a soical chameleon, immediately unbraiding her hair and accepting Moiraine as her new authority figure with little hesitation. Show Egwene comes across as far more mature in her motivations and adaptable rather than fickle. She's also a lot less bossy. Perrin: This character definitely got shortchanged. Marcus Rutherford has done a great job with the material he's been given, communicating quite well through body language and facial expression. But he clearly got less screen time and weaker development than the other characters and having him pick up an axe as the culmination of his arc was ... lackluster. That being said, book Perrin didn't get much development in TEotW either. And keeping the wolf powers more mysterious is a fine narrative choice for this season, I think. Mat: The show did a lot of subtle things with Mat. For example, he instantly figured out that Egwene had dumped Rand in the first episode. In the second episode, he's the one who notices that everyone seems down and starts the Weep for Manetheren song to liven them up, if not exactly cheer them up. He also sacrifices one of his very few possessions while trying to help Perrin work through his grief. On the surface, he's a very different character from book Mat, but book Mat was a cardboard cutout with "Fool" written on his forehead until the beginning of The Dragon Reborn. I'm afraid the show is probably trying to set up some kind of redemption arc, which is scary, because those are *very* hard to pull off successfully. Rand: I watched a video the other day that took the actor screen time numbers from IMDB Pro and dsiplayed them in bar graph format. Interestingly enough, Rand is second only to Moiraine in total screen time. Again, I think the show was simply too subtle, because a lot of people didn't really pick up on that. I can only hope that the writers have a plan to slowly phase from a Moiraine-centric ensemble to a Rand-centric ensemble as they progress through the seasons. We'll see, I suppose.
Sadly lot of screentime =/= development. Rand was mostly passive in a lot of the scenes he appeared in, he often was just there during other characters scenes. When Rafe was asked about going on with the ensemble cast, he said that he doesn't even think Rand has the most pov chapters in the books...that doesn't give me much hope considering that yes, Rand has by far the most pov chapters and many of the others revolve around him.
The show runners have stated that co producer Rosamund Pike has the main billing as Moraine as the show is about her. She is the main character. They changed it.
So thank you for validating my decision to subscribe. Your video actually provides criticism rather than compliant poorly masked as criticism. I am going to offer a TL;DR summary now and a more full counter criticism later. There are a few major flaws in your analytical lense. By listening only positive traits or the most positive traits and weak negative traits you create a very lopsided frame. Rafe began the construction of his characters not with the books but with the "base souls" of the characters (the mythological characters Jordan began with) he then interpreted each POV chapter from that character through that lense. Lastly he then interpreted each non-POV chapter through that second lense. P.S. to the TL;DR Jordan broke the Loki (Mat) character with the badger thing. It's completely out of character for Loki. An 18 year old farmer living in a pre-industrial region knows badger's are mini murder tanks. This makes his actions pre Shadar'logath much darker than it would be otherwise. My biggest criticism at the end of season 1 is that the characters are over developed compared to the end of book 1. I like that they are.
* Some Spoilers Ahead* One of the best traits about Nynaeve is how often she yells at someone for doing the exact same thing she just did the chapter before. It's awesome. The other thing is that Nynaeve is one of very, very.....very few channelers, male or female that Rand allows near him or trusts. Especially after that whole Dumais Wells fiasco. It speaks so much to her character, and I love the relationship she and Rand have. The trust he shows in her is exemplary, even when he is a paranoid mess. My favorite Mat moments are when he shows little regard for Aes Sedai and their power. He just dares them to try anything. It's great seeing them taken down a peg or six. I would also argue that of everyone in the entire story, Mat might be the only character that, if he had to, could give Rand a run for his money in a fight. Ta'veren aside anyway. The characters in the books are so great. They just have great arcs. Nynaeve being my favorite character, probably in all of fantasy. I just love her. But they all are fantastic. Even if Egwenes whole arc with Elaida in the tower at times gets kinda cringe. Lastly, I disliked Faile the way RJ wrote her. She annoyed me. But when Sanderson picks her up at the end of the series she becomes one of my favorite characters. Not sure if it was just the author that made the difference, but she's way more likeable at the end. Great review. I look forward to part three.
Yeah, about Nynaeve. I've always called them Nynaevisms. Jordan was absolutely brilliant at doing this with her. Sometimes it's the same paragraph. Sometimes it's the next page. Next chapter as you say. Sometimes, same sentence. Now that I have digital versions of the books I've been highlighting every one I find. Another one that's a do as I say and not what I do is her fashion sense. She always remarks about simple clothing but has one of the best wardrobes by the end of the series.
The visual aids you used were well done. The music was pretty distracting, though; it almost would have been better to leave the music out entirely. I admit, I suspect that the right music played at a low volume may have enhanced everything you were presenting in this video. You don't have to take my suggestions; but I will let them stand. I like you and your videos (and your cats) quite a lot. I appreciate the erudite approach you take with your videos and your analyses.
I haven't read the books, but from what I watched with the show I pretty much agree with your characterizations. I didn't like really anyone, aside from Nynaeve; she is basically the only character I like, but I want to see more depth from her. They really are poorly written and contradict themselves throughout the series, and it's honestly disappointing. At least the world is cool.
If sitting down and reading is too much to ask for, the audiobooks are fantastic. I got through all of them in a few months while driving for my old job.
Moiraine is also wiling to do unethical things. She uses balefire which has been forbidden for everyone (including the shadow) since the Age of Legends. She shouldn't even know how to do it. The show does indicate her willingness to do bad things with the ferryman drowning. After a couple of books she clearly loves Rand and not just because he is the dragon. He is HER dragon. The show could still go that way, but there is no evidence for that now.
If they don’t truly establish the flame and the void training from Tam to Rand as well as Lan’s sense of duty during his training of Rand, it will be a HUGE disservice to Rand’s character. It has so much to do with Rand’s character progression and his ability to master saidin. The F&V is his gateway to embracing Saidin, and Lan’s sense of duty and honor rubs off on Rand and becomes a foundational trait that fuels him. Most of the books Rand does everything he must to fight the shadow and reach the last battle assuming he will die at shayol ghul…I don’t think it’s until his final preparations during MoL that he realizes a possibility around certain death. This sense of “duty is heavier than a mountain, death light as a feather” is a huge part of Malkieri and Lan’s dna, and Rand’s adoption of this dogma is critical in his progression. If I don’t hear Lan say that line in this show, I will lose my sh!t
19:45 my distaste for that scene was as much because they decided he would choose to be a designated mourner as anything else. It wasn't that he was crying at a funeral, though that is still a huge divergence from a character that participated in many wars and has had everyone that cared about him pre-Moiraine die, but that he was so attached to some random warder that he'd be chosen/volunteer to be designated mourner. The whole conflict of the next episode is that Moiraine never comes back to the Tower. Where did this extremely "meaningful" relationship come from, so meaningful that he'd voluntarily be the designated mourner for a warder? A warder that died, if anything, in a much less brutal fashion than is expected for a warder who's Aes Sedai died. Another issue with saying he's just acting out of duty as the designated mourner would be Moiraine crying. She has no reason to feel personal anguish, not that Lan does either, but him acting as designated mourner at least lends credence to the fact that he is in anguish regardless of how much he should show it. Her crying by proxy would imply that he's in so much pain that his anguish causes her to cry. Which, again, makes no sense. For either of them.
You can't be stoic if you don't have pain to hide. Feeling pain and showing pain are two different things, imo. I could have still lived without both funeral scenes.
I read that (Moiraine crying) as a poorly written attempt to draw an allegory between Lan's performance as mourner with the high likely hood that Moiraine herself will be killed. But like so much else of this show, you kind of have to guess at what the character's motivations are.
@@dicknarcowitz That would make it worse. As if neither of them actually considered the fact that either of them could die in their war against the shadow and only realized it at a funeral. A funeral for a death in a regular war over the last 20 years of trying to find the Dragon and start the Last Battle... It may be a poignant moment, but they didn't start their quest at the beginning of the show. Maybe having Nynaeve cry as she looks between Moiraine and Lan would make sense, but this funeral shouldn't have been a revelation to either Moiraine or Lan.
@@gogroxandurrac I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. It sounds like you're saying that I shouldn't be sad at a funeral because I should have expected it? Or maybe that seeing someone lose their husband/wife shouldn't make me consider how it would feel to lose my wife, cause I would have already considered it? I'm sorry if I'm describing this wrong, trying to understand.
They did Perrin so dirty in this show. They turned him into GoT season 8 John Snow. I keep expecting him to start saying "Ah don't wan' it" and "She's muh queen!" Over and over.
Perrin isn't my favorite character in the books either, but the show's version was just so unkind, and also a disservice to the actor, who has some creds.
@@amys0482 I love Perrin in the books. One of the great things about Wheel of Time is that through the three main characters it shows what healthy masculinity looks like in different personality types. Since Perrin's personality is very similar to my own, I relate to him a lot and his arc in Shadow Rising makes it my favorite book. I really like the actor they chose to play him, it's just such a shame they didn't give him anything to do or say and they give all his character moments to Egwene. Speaking of which, I love Egwene in the books, but I can't stand her in the show. I cried in A Memory of Light when she sacrificed herself to save the world. She was funny, loveable, and tragic. In the show, she's a narcissist that steals everyone else's thunder. The will they won't they plot with Rand is so stupid and tiresome and just made me hate them both. I nearly threw my remote through the TV screen when they tried to turn it into a love triangle with Perrin. The whole thing feels like a really bad soap opera.
Instead of building Tar Valon they should have spent money on fight choreography. A couple scenes with Lan training the boys to use their weapons. Lan instilling some Borderlander philosophy about duty in Rand is central to his character going forward. Putting the scene where Lan, Nyaeve, and Moraine save Perrin and Egwene back in would have given Lan(and all warders by extension) more credibility with fieldcraft and actually makes it a surprise Nynaeve could have snuck up on him. For that matter, leave in Perrin killing the whitecloaks. Killing two humans while being in contact with the wolves would be enough conflict. Killing his wife seems too traumatic to realistically come back from as quickly as he will need to. Much of the content in Tar Valon could reasonably have been moved to Fal Dara and after the visit to the Eye. It would also fit closer to the story too. The scene with Moraine's welcome to Fal Dara still rankles me. I don't believe a borderland lord would greet an Aes Sedai like that.
My biggest problem with the mourning scene was that a warder who looses his aes sedai would go to the blight for the last mission to fight trollocs till he could fight no more, suicide is considered a dishonorable way to go and so that morning scene would never happen as it's elevating that which is dishonorable and paying respect to it. on the other hand that scene would of worked if Stephan went off to the blight and they used an Effigy of him instead. For my ratings i'd rate Moiraine as a 2, I do agree with your Lan sumerisation and rating. but when talking about nyneave but it is important to lans character You missed Lans commitment to the melkier vow he believes the shadow will kill him and he doesn't want to give any woman he's commited to a death knell as bride price he's too honorable for that which is why he fights the relation in the books. Nyneave had the potential to become the strongest 'female' channeler in 1000 years she's still weaker than a lot of the male channelers in the books like Rand, Taim and Logain. I would also describe her personality with 1 additional trait in the first few books . . . 'ANGRY' which she does over come in book 7 i think, also her tracking ability is only passable she's described as an Average tracker enough to get by with herb collecting and evading dangerous animals of Eamond field aka wolves, that is the extent of her tracking she is no hunter, infact her tracking of the E4 was down to the 1 power connection to Egwene and is hinted at in the books much like moiraines coins to the boys. so rather than going round about she's able to cut a path on a quicker straighter route to them. my ranking of her is a 1/5 she's way to nice and no where near angry enough and very flippant in her nature which to me isn't stubborn. Egwene didn't really feel like she got enough air time for development, i can see how she stays true to her book character for the most part i'd of rated it a 4 as it did seem t stray and sometimes was a bit inconsistant, ie barely use a fireball, but then heal from the dead a few episodes later. Perin Fridged his wife in episode 1 then the show runners pretty much ignored him and why set all that up just to ignore him :|. Lelia does actually say 'I love you' to Perin, which he replies i know or something bland like that showing strain on their relationship and to me Lelia looked and acted somewhat pregnant with her mannerisms. I'd gave him a 0/5 cos he feels useless wasted and a back ground character. Matt i'd say is more Reluctantly Heroic (rather than heroic) he spends much time trying to avoid heroic moments but still gets drawn in anyway cos ultimately he can't leave his mates hanging. i would never say he's after glory, but more that Glory is attracted and pulled to him. he gets pulled into gambling and has unconciously makes bets where he's thinking to himself what why nooo this is bad why did i do that. basically foot in mouth to extreme levels. the Band of the red hand gets formed around him despite him trying to ditch them and shirk his duty with them and does his best when i can't loose them to take them into a safer place . . . .of course then that safer place ends out being just the place to attain the most glory and renown. I felt that the dagger actually suppressed Matts Pattern luck so that when he was healed from it it went into over drive and to extreme and ergo i could literally hear the dice rolling in his head afterwards. after all of that i do agree with your rating of a 1 :) and I thought Barney did try hard:) and was decent with the writing. Rand oh rand . . . where art thou rating oh rand . . . i gave him a 2 mainly cos he did come across with correct traits but really failed to make an impact in the show. for your final question maybe more of you or a split screen with you on 1 side and the pictures on tother :)
You are way to easy on Lan. His ability's and skill build a lot of who is in the books. In the show is is basically a manservant. He did some underwhelming fighting in E1 and that's about it. He is also a hard man and would not cry easy. He has lost a lot of comrades on arms and would probably just bite down and do something suicidal dangerous than cry about it. His adaptation is in level with the other good guys.
An excellent breakdown. I have a long standing theory on book Faile. I believe she was supposed to die. Everyone has a purpose in life. I think Faile completed her purpose long before The Last Battle. But Perrin’s Ta’veran bent The Pattern enough to save her from her fate. It might be the reason she falls by the wayside towards the end of the story. The things her character does in the last couple of books a Redshirt could have taken care of. Your analysis of the show females being closer than the males to their book characters is pretty good. I would comment like the Maidens to Elayne, “What you say comes close but misses entirely”. But it’s fine tomato tomato. To me book Nyneave took too long to develop as a character. Any Wisdom would know when they’re out of their depth and she refused to admit she didn’t know everything, when out of The Two Rivers. During this video I had an apostrophe (that’s a call back to the movie Hook). Anyway, I suddenly saw book Egwene & Nyneave mirroring book Siuan & Moiraine. Siuan’s roughness (bullying) and way of thinking, to me, really worked against her as a leader; contributing to her downfall. Nyneave’s bullying and hardheadedness really worked against her and really made situations worse than they had to be. Book Egwene & Moiraine we’re the charismatic ones (unless they were arguing with their friend), both choosing diplomacy and political maneuvering to get get their objectives achieved. I never noticed that till now. I believe the males of the story will continue to take a backseat in season 2. And we will focus on Egwene, Nyneave & Elayne’s interaction with The Black Ajah & Seanchan. As book 2 does. Rand will not have a Forsaken to fight and will most likely not be around except in glimpses. Perrin will either wonder off or spend the season chasing Egwene around like a lonely puppy even to the point of attempting a rescue in the background, or need to be rescued. Mat I feel will have the largest of the 3 males only because they need to catch him up in the story. He may blow the horn, he may not. I have a feeling the three Accepted will fight off the Seanchan in a lot smaller battle and escape into the night. And we’ll end the season with a glimpse at Callendor acting funny like it activated or something. I still say Nyneave is the one they’ll have save the world, this is because of the Dragon’s Fang that appears in trolloc blood on the surface of the pool before she emerges. They don’t things for no reason. We know from the books she helps cleanse Saidin and the show runners will most likely say, if she can do that she can save the world. That’s my theory but we’ll see.
Changing the lore and cutting the prophecies really hurt Moiraine for me. I saw some show viewers wondering why Rand & co don't blindly follow her and i don't get it. I guess many like her cause she is strong and more developed, i don't know. When i watch the show it's clear that she pretty much knows nothing and doesn't seem to have any kind of plan for the DR. She also warns the kids about dreams, and then just straight up believes whatever Siuan dreamed. Lan....if i didn't know the books i wouldn't mind him. But it's hard when they go on and on about Aes Sedai, Warders, and their bond in the show and then he barely does anything aside from the first episode? He has been with Moiraine for 20 years, the Borderlands is his home and he needs Nynaeve to tell him how to find her in the Blight? And this "tell" must be something unrelated to the Power since he goes alone.
I feel one can watch eps 1-4 then skip to 7 and 8 without missing much, especially if you watch the preview for ep 7. Eps 5 and 6 didn't add substantially to the main story which says a lot about a waste of two precious episodes. They could have gone to Camelyn following the book plot even after Nynaeve's mass healing. But no the showrunner wanted to show Tar Valon and the Hall of the Tower, etc.
Still watching, but one editorial note to consider, during the Moraine breakdown there is a very persistent drone tone in the background music that distracts from what you're saying. Maybe as a musician I'm particularly sensitive to this kinda' thing so take it with a grain of salt :) Enjoying the channel!
Oh summer child, I love your optimistic attitude. I was a leftie until I had my Saul on his road to Damascus moment in 2020. I supported Bernie twice until the blosovikes took over
Lan being emotional: I thought the scene was going to cut between Lan tearing his shirt off, to Moiraine, then back to Lan (shirt on and being stoic), to imply his emotional state while he continues to present a controlled front. The showrunners probably didn't do that because 'men shouldn't repress their emotions', or something. Let's face facts, though: if men, or people in general, didn't repress their emotions, violent crimes would be a lot higher than they are now. Lan would have worked through his emotions by practicing with the other Warders.
Just started watching the video. Comment regarding Moiraine and Rosamund Pike, for me Pike has been one of the worst performers in the show. Yes she is a good actress but her portrayal of Moiraine is in my eyes very close to overacting. Her facial expressions (trying to act regal, Aes Sedai like etc), her exaggerated gestures for spell casting and so on. A more relaxed portrayal would have seen much more natural. A great Moiraine portrayal would have been how the actress playing the mentor sorceress in the Witcher season 1 acts. Just started watching that series. Don't know the name of the actress. Anyways, she has a very natural way of acting that sells the mentor role completely.
Yep, she's in Downton Abbey too and I immediately thought she seemed very much like an Aes Sedai. Not sure about Moirainr but you'd have to see her take to know. I like Rosamund Pike in the role but the writing and directing does lean into melodrama that overplays the character.
If rumors are true, next season Egwene gets gagged with a golden pacifier but reverse the damane and breaks free on her own. The battle in the skies is her. Rand is off in the Aiel Waste and does that backstory stuff before going to Tear. It all ends in Tear where Rand takes Callandor. If this sounds super rushed to you...it is. But that's just the rumor.
A believable rumour sadly. My rough guess based on how they have done season 1 Episode 1 & 2 at the Tower, Egwene and Nyneave training and setting out novices, accepted etc. Get introduced to Elayne and hopefully Elaida as if they merge this character as some rumours suggest I think it will be bad. No Rand here as it will be insane if he goes to the Tower now that he knows he can channel so Elayne will not met him here. Perrin may be sent after the Horn to have something to do. Mat could be too relating to the dagger. Episode 3 & 4 more about our new sea faring arrivals and a show down at Falme. Episode 5 & 6 back to the Tower after the fallout and the introduction of black sisters. Episode 7 the start of the hunt for the black sisters, reintroduction to Rand and somehow he'll be persuaded to go to Tear Episode 8 the big battle at Tear but who gets the glory this time? Rand will break another seal.
@@step4018 it will scarey putting Rand at falm without any sword training :| god the horror of that :( and then rushing strait to tear afterwards :O you're giving me nightmares already
10:55 and a lack of any plan of what happens when she gets them to Tar Valon. The big goal for the majority of the show...and she accomplishes absolutely nothing by succeeding.
I personally am Cha Faile and Gawyn Trakand is my favorite character in the entire series! Matrim was horrible to Rand in The Great Hunt, never giving him a chance to explain himself.
They got Nyaneve wrong in a big important way. Nyaneve is my favorite character in the series hands down. She's an exposed nerve, prickly towards other characters, but she's incredibly intelligent and resourceful, though she never gets any credit for her big wins except from the audience. In short, she's hilarious and relatable. Nyaneve is kind of a parody of a Mary Sue character. All of her wins blow up in her face in comical ways and instead of earning her idolatry and respect, they just earn her more scrutiny and more trouble. I actually really hate episode 4 because that episode did a lot of subtle damage to the magic system and to Nyaneve as a character. By having her go Super Saiyan, it undercuts her talent with chemistry and herbal remedies which is shown to be the basis for her skill at healing. It also cheapens her big wins. It was at this point I realized this Lifetime soap opera was never going to be Wheel of Time
39:56 one point where your description isn't quite accurate: book Perrin does understand, and greatly admires The Way of The Leaf. He just sees further to its failings in a world where Shadowspawn and Darkfriends exist. He occasionally ponders in his internal monologues, or even in discussion, how much he truly wishes he could follow The Way of The Leaf, but knows it cannot be.
I think Perrin views The Way of the Leaf as a "nice idea" but untenable. I wouldn't say that is quite the same as admiration. He never considers joining the Traveling People and adopting the Way of the Leaf in the books that I recall. He does consider throwing away the axe, but I don't think Perrin's struggle is ever between a desire for pacifism and the necessity of warfare. What he fears is liking violence too much and becoming an animal.
@@amys0482 yes, that's pretty much what I was getting at, that it's a nice idea but untenable. And perhaps our ways of using the word admiration is being thwarted by the concept of degrees. I'm not saying he holds it in extremely high admiration, but some admiration. Having read the books so many times, some of the details get jumbled as to what happened when, but I recall a few times that he either thought to himself or said out loud that he wished the world were different, so people _could_ practice The Way of The Leaf, but that he has to confront what _is_. I don't know where to find exact quotes for that though. In fact, I don't even have any hard copy books any more, just the Audible versions. I've moved around the US and sometimes other countries so much and trimmed down my belongings for each move to the point even my prized books eventually had to go. And btw, I'm really enjoying your videos, and I appreciate that you took a moment to reply to me!
22:20 one of my biggest issues with Nynaeve from the shows is that I disagree. She gets humbled a lot in the books. A lot. It removes a lot of her rough edges and exposes the awesome character underneath. My problem with the show is that they're using a more developed Nynaeve, so there isn't room to grow. She was significantly more abrasive and it elicited much more reaction from other characters, so her rough edges are either already gone or everyone else is just too nice to mold her into a better person making the show version an inferior character. Even if she is mostly true to the source.
I think there might be a lot of room for her to grow. In the show she's a bit.. not self absorbed, but she does some things out of spite, and though she's kind, she needs to loosen, and trust more easily. There's more, but I can't seem to find the right wording.
@@thedusty194 There are no consequences that would force her to change, though. She disrespects the Amyrlin in her seat of power and nothing happens but a snippy comment. Also, all the things you pointed at were edges that started ground down by the show.
Moiraine's character... SCHEMING... CONNIVING... MANIPULATIVE. She treats people like wooden pawns on a chess board. THIS is the problem that Rand has with her... he doesn't want to be her puppet/pawn. It's also a large part of the reason he doesn't (and shouldn't) trust her. In the books, when he REFUSES to be her puppet... and STILL manages to fulfill prophecies, is when Moiraine actually begins to become a better person.
If the background is too loud or annoying, you can watch the middle content without music here: th-cam.com/video/N_SmkjZtdJY/w-d-xo.html
dammit wish id read this comment before i got to the end :D But yeah that was my only criticism. The musics godawful but the content is good :)
The suspense of waiting for part 3 has been building. Hope your schedule allows for it soon. ;)
@@patricksmith8262 This is a really busy time for me so it might be awhile. I am back to work after a holiday break. But working on it when I can.
@@amys0482 I get it. Looking forward to it when you get time. You've been doing great stuff.
@@amys0482 Take your time. We're not going anywhere.
"Show Matt is the opposite of what he is supposed to be"
Sadly, I feel this statement applies to just about every character and concept portrayed in the show. Everything is inverted starting with how the OP is portrayed, to an idiot Moiraine who doesnt know the prophecies, to a Tyrant Siuane who thinks the world belongs to her, to emotional shirt rending Lan to Lews Therin the Just another Arrogant Dick, to having male AND female dragons, to Ageless Ads Sedai all being very clearly middle-aged bordering on menopausal aes sedai, to how the dagger is apparently easily healed and not deadly to Ogiers at least, to the Ways needing the power instead of being built specifically for a species who cant touch or use the source, to Damane having ball gags instead of leashes and collars, to Ishamael being reasonable and canny instead of utterly insane, to the Black Wind being dangerous because it spouts objective truths about yourself in an impromptu therapy session instead of being a demonic evil that litterally wants to turn you inside out and suck your marrow dry, to the EotW being the dark one's prison instead of a "time capsule" left by long dead heroes at great sacrifice for the dragon to find, to Lord Agelmar being a great supporter of the White Tower and one of the great military captains to a petty man who hates Aes Sedai and a failed commander who cant hold a wall against an enemy that does not have any siege equipment, and on and on and on.
yep. agree.
Min Farshaw being a nihilistic middle-aged barmaid with clinical depression instead of a slightly cynical young tomboy with a cheeky sense of humor.
@@figjam9530 Yep, add that one to the list.
I agree with everything the OP said... but to summarize,
the show is a shitburger pretending to be filet mignon.
One of the biggest cringe moments was Lan and the other guy, the show tried desperately to make us care for, did the weapons practice that really looked like the director just said, "Do something badass, anything."
Something you didn't mention about Egwene that I thought about is what being made a Dragon candidate takes away from her.
In the books Egwene is observant enough and clever enough to put together all the clues that the boys are leaving, and then she is ambitious and reckless enough to bully her way into the party as they leave. Egwene is the only Emond's Fielder who WANTS to be there, who actually has agency, and the show misses this by just having Egwene be dragged along by Moiraine with the boys
Great observation.
I totally agree. I don't know if they thought making her ta'veren as well was more "fair" or something, but they just took away one of her strongest traits.
Yeah, it's awful. She's really smart, but not the smartest. Incredibly talented, but not the most talented. She is however the most ambitious. She gets where she gets through grit, hard work and pure hunger for power. She's not served the things she gets on a platter by fate/the wave - she fights for it and wills it into reality without being ta'veren. You can like her or dislike her, but removing this from her makes her less than she really is.
I like Egwene. They did this for the mystery plot. You are supposed to think Egwene is the DR. It says so right on the website. But no one did!
In a way, they do exactly the same thing to Nynaeve..
Nynaeve goes after them to rescue them from Moiraine... which is her own agency.
Of course, later on, they try to make it so that SHE is a DR candidate, too... which is the show breaking its own canon. She's too old, as Moiraine already knew, or should have known, unless Moiraine is too stupid to realize that Nynaeve is several years older than the rest.
I pretty much agree with you on all your character analysis. I'm not a book reader but the show got me interested in the books and from what I've read so far Rand is the main character, being the dragon reborn and all. This adaption is like, if the Harry Potter movies were adapted from Hermione and Rons point of view with Harry being just another member of the cast. It feels weird and underdeveloped. Really enjoying your videos. Keep em coming 😁👍
Good comparison. But the view point would be more like from Professor McGongall and she tires to figure out who the boy who survived is and thinking it could be Hermione because she is smart and has a lot of skill.
All of the EF5 are important but there is no denying Rand is the first among equals. The first book is almost all from his pov and serves to start empathizing with him and see how much his character will change from the naive, nice sheepherder. Sidelining him for the first season was a big mistake honestly.
The books are mostly all Rand's POV for the first two. As others have said, Perrin and Mat dont do too much, though we get some Perrin POV chapters in the first two books. I do think the characters are defined from early on though and the show had a lot of material to draw from to make the whole ensemble interesting.
@@amys0482
The only thing more frustrating than a pure failure, is something you can see the potential in getting squandered. I just wish the writers understood what was good and bad in their own show. I'll watch season 2 but honestly, it's the last chance I'll give them to convince me I should continue with it. There is much better fantasy adaptions out there, like The Witcher.
Bingo. What the LOTR did, and the Wheel of Time as well, is start off with a POV character, the main hero, and then later branch out as the various companions go in different directions. Rand, Egwene, and Perrin are fun to follow, whether those moments are humorous or grim. The TV show is entirely grim, and diluted. There were things they could've cut to focus more on the relationships and character development.
I officially look forward to your reviews more than the show. Here's to S2 improving 🥂
I doubt it as long as these clowns are in charge
Thank you for the in-depth character study. I look forward to more. One note: a one hour deep dive is not too long. Don’t apologize.
Amen, bring it on.
Never cater to the low iq or those with short attention spans.
Yep, one hour is great!
It's too long for my computer to render 😅
It seems to me the Showrunner actively has gone out of his way to make all the men worthless and weak. I have no confidence that this will change at all in later episodes.
Your egwene description is 100% the best i have ever heard. It puts a finger on something i have been thinking but couldn’t grasp for 20 years.
As a show only viewer book Matt and Perrin sound so much cooler than their show counterparts. Hopefully season 2 do them both more justice.
They are!
Eh. The 1st season covers mostly the 1st book where mat is the annoying little brother and then immediately becomes dagger mat. Most people didn't like him. He's not likable at all until book 3 where we finally start to see him from his pov. Until then he's either an annoying prankster or jerk with the dagger. His later development is someone who never broke a promise but earlier books tell of him breaking promises so even the books weren't settled on him.
Perrin is in the same boat for the most part except for a couple of chapters in his pov and then the rest of the time he's just hiding his eyes from everyone.
Both of these characters evolved over time and don't start becoming fully fleshed out until much later.
@@Ailthas I do think that, considering they had the whole complete book series to draw from, they could have done a better job with both Mat and Perrin. I see what they were trying to do with Mat, even if I didn't love it (I might have if the actor didn't leave, who knows). Perrin's arc however was botched, and pretty badly at that.
Doubtful as season 2 is done filming, Perrin has been puppy-fied in the show. Possibly Matt's arc may be salvageable. I suggest read the first book, then you will see why so many book fans are so disappointed.
Great analysis. *Really* looking forward to part 3.
I do wonder if you are being too charitable though regarding the handling of the male characters. In the sense of leaving it as a still open question as to whether Rafe et al, simply don't get them or not. It seems fairly obvious that the show has been intentionally tearing the male characters down. Every single one of them were diminished in some way - several of them extremely so. And it's not like they don't have complete access to Brandon Sanderson; who is on record stating that he actively dislikes and spoke out against several of these changes; He's also warned readers not to think of this as an adaptation, so much as imagining of a different turn of the wheel (because it is so much a mess)- and Brandon is notoriously amenable.
Not to mention that Rafe himself is repeatedly on record saying that he was changing the show to match his view of feminism (4th wave intersectional), doesn't want Rand to be the focus, that his favorite characters are the females, etc.
Also, the tearing down of established males characters has been a Hollywood trend for years (for example, look at how the Star Wars sequels trashed Han and Luke). The "creatives" (read activists) in these projects, like Rafe, seem to consistently suck at writing in general, and don't know how to build the female characters up without making them Mary Sues and tearing the male characters down.
Matt and Perrin had to have their backstories completely rewritten to make them weak and broken and more or less the opposite of who they really are in the books. They couldn't quite do the same to Rand because of his role being so central to the series, but they minimized his development, made him a complete simp, and stole as many of his moments as they could.
The "moment" Lan got in episode 1 during the EF trolloc battle, only happened because Sanderson pushed Rafe for it so hard (this is on record). And, even though Lan is portrayed the best of any male in the show, they still diminish he in numerous ways: Nynaeve doesn't merely track him, she completely gets the drop on him (some warder he is); Nynaeve also has to instruct him on how to track Moiraine through the Blight; Moiraine as chides him for taking them into Shadar Logoth (even though she actually makes that call in the books); getting drugged, etc.
Heck, the warders overall were diminished - where was the warder watch when Lan et al approached the Aei Sedai camp? Where was their watch when Logains . Lord Agelmar, one of the five Great Captains, is portrayed as a largely incompetent boob, who sister has to constantly be trying to save him from his bad decisions and. lack of strategic ability.
Tam, Blademaster, wielder of a power forged heron marked blade, one time Second Captain of the Companions (Illian's most elite unit), isn't allowed to kill even one trolloc by himself; let alone have the heroic scene he has in the book. Meanwhile, Nynaeve gets to go full on Navy Seal on a trolloc (something that never happened).
Thom is suddenly not only a thief, but one that will steal from boys that are obviously destitute.
The mentoring of the boys by Lan and Thom (not to mention Tam's Flame and Void training which is so important for Rand) would have required developing the EF boys characters, portraying them with some level of actual competence, and allowing masculinity to be seen positively. - in the form of Lan, Thom, & Tam as positive male role models This also why Elias needed to be cut. That the lack of mentoring weakens the story in all sort of ways doesn't matter... because agenda always comes before story for Rafe and his ilk.
Rafe had even rewritten the lore and changed the magic system in order to promote his agenda and further vilify both male characters and masculinity. I just don't. see how the portrayal of the boys (and the male characters in general) can be anything other than. intentional.
Anyhow, I'm obviously frustrated with Rafe's mistreatment of Jordan's work. And seriously appreciate channels like yours that are pointing out the missteps and enjoy your analysis in general - even if I think you go too easy on them sometimes. ;)
Keep up the great work, glad to see your channel growing so fast.
You’re very right about the show creator diminishing his male characters. Part of the Hollywood agenda, which all too often destroys great stories.
Spot on. How people cannot see the utter and complete emasculation of the men in this series speaks volumes about the current real gender imbalance out here in the real world
I don't want to ascribe negative intention based on assumption or a misreading so I want to see how it actually plays out. I do share many of these concerns, though.
Mostly agree, except on one point. Nynaeve actually DOES manage to sneak up on him unnoticed just after Shadar Logoth in the book. He doesn't notice her at all, Moiraine senses her presence though and calls her out after a few minutes. I also got the feeling that this was the very moment he "noticed her" as a woman.
@@FiliusFidelis It's been a while since I've re-read the series. But as I recall, and totally correct me if I'm mistaken, Nynaeve tracks him, but doesn't completely get the drop on him in the sense that that she does in the show - eg. doesn't actually get up close, personal, and put a knife to his neck like he is an incompetent fool.
I've got another re-read on the series on my todo list... so we'll see. But that isn't how I remember it.
Yup, pretty much dead on, I especially like your comparison for Mat. I had not really broken down Mat in my head even though he is one of my favorite characters in the books. ( I just enjoyed his development cause he seemed very real to me.) In the show I was so divided because I really like Barney Harris, but hated the characterization. your breakdown really helps that reasoning cement for me.
The DR mystery really killed any kind of development the EF5, especially the boys, should have had. The boys characters ended up being watered down, sidelined or straight up changed. This is the season that should have made you feel some sympathy for Rand, going from a nice, naive sheepherder to one of the most feared men in the world. Instead all his personality ended up being...."Egwene". He did nothing impressive or interesting all season. And i share your worry after reading Rafe saying that he doesn't even think Rand has the most pov chapters, when asked about the ensemble cast. Cause he obviously does, by far.
Perrin was straight out character assassinated. The only reason i can think of for the show giving him a wife to kill was to have a shocking scene right off the bat. It served no purpose and he ended up going around moping all the time. That scene with him just "growling" and Valda quivering was all kind of terrible.
Mat....i guess they wanted to make him more likable since he is far from being it for a lot of book readers for at least a couple of books, but i don't think it really worked? Especially with how much they are going with "evil Mat". I know the problems with Barney, but he could have just not wanted to go on a suicide mission and wanted to see his sisters?
Egwene was always my least favorite of the EF5, but i said since the first leaks came out that i didn't want her to be ta'veren. Yes, parts of her arc could justify it (though it also doesn't work given her future relationship with Rand), but her most defining characteristic right from the start was her doing whatever she did because she CHOSE to. The boys complain all the time about being ta'veren and being forced on a path they didn't want. Her not being ta'veren doesn't make her less important, she even has more pov chapters than Mat.
Had to check the profile name a few times to make sure I didn't write this because damn you took out of my head.
The wheel must have spun you out in order to provide actual thoughtful critiques and not make excuses one way or another. Great stuff!
Great video. My main concern with the series is that the writers are not good enough to do the story justice.
Rafe said he wanted to do a feminist take on the series, which could potentially work (I’m open minded). But all of the messages or changes are done in the most heavy handed fashion and get in the way of the core story and characters. The female characters don’t seem to have any subtle faults and the male characters aren’t allowed to shine so much unless it’s for the sake of a woman. Will Rand still have the issue of not wanting to put women in danger?
Also, there is a tendency to have broken characters in modern TV as a way to have stronger catharsis or make characters more relatable. This is evidenced in Mat and Perrin and I think it will kill a lot of their depth for the sake of making a cheaper and more stereotypical character arc.
We’ll see what happens, though. Thanks for the detailed videos.
I love what you said about Mat claiming to be one way but his actions showing who he really is. I think that’s what makes him interesting and likable in the books
I really enjoy your videos on WoT. You obviously know the the books well and enjoy them. There is a lot to be critical of in the show, but many other book readers let their passion get the best of them and come across as slightly unhinged. In contrast, your critiques are balanced, thoughtful and well articulated. Thanks for being an oasis of reason. I will return for future videos.
U becoming a pro, on Reviewing n analysis the show. Great idea on using pictures n writing to help us go along with u, but I would recommend to add those pictures of characters n writings on top of ur videos n not as a full screen. U have a great voice clear n easy to follow, but watching u while narrating ur notes help us bond with u n see some micro emotions. Also having u keeping and eye on ur cat n putting him on time out on ur lap when he is misbehaving is priceless. Those moments help use relate to u and fill like we are having a discussion on ur reading room with pictures n writing appearing around u. I truly looking forward for the continuation of ur channel as u follow the show n possible other things u are interested. I would recommend u keep the things u want to cover n not ur fans so u can just discuss what u are interested n truly like, then ones u want to search for new staff always make a list n just ask use what we would prefer for u to do first but be like Matt follow ur hart n directions.
Great analysis I agree mostly with it though I definitely lean towards the less forgiving scores. One of the big breaking points for me was Perrin as I'm a huge fan of his character in the books, I really hate what they've done to my boy. Keep up the good work though, I liked the new style with the visuals and look forward to the rest of your thoughts
Congrats on reaching 1k and being monetized! Hope you go from strength to strength!
Wow, you did an exceptional job at this Amy! Very well done!
I can't speak for everyone, but I really connect with you when you're addressing the camera. The visuals were really nice, but I think half way through each slide, as you've pretty much covered what was in each slide by this point, you could've dropped the visual while you continued your synopsis of each character. I'm not sure if you know this, but 1.3K have subscribed to you and over 3K people a have viewed this because _you_ and your intelligent delivery of the subject at hand are the star! Visuals are good for enhancement of the subject matter, but you making eye contact with us through the camera lens, is definitely the highlight.
It just hit me. The person Perrin is secretly in love with (in the show) is Rand. In that bedroom scene in ep.8 where Egwene is sitting on the bed crying and she says, "I love him."
Perrin replies, "I love him, too."
Maybe that's what's going on there. Just a thought.
Other youtubers have said this. It's not an original idea. It's an implausible one too having seen one of the scripts.
i love your videos. they're organized, clear, and enthusiastic. Please keep it up!
You are spot on with your analysis. I wish Amazon would hire you as a consultant for the show. Unfortunately season 2 I believe is already completed filming, so I fear we're going to get more of the same confusing and unsatisfying story telling.
MY guess is that it's going to get WORSE... due to the added confusion and complexity of the Seanchan... and that they INSIST on continuing the Wheel of Moiraine drama.
It's going to be even harder to do the things that they should have ALREADY done in season one.
Fun episode!!!!
Have background music a little softer but otherwise liked the addition of visuals
It sounded softer on my computer and louder once uploaded 🤔
That breakdown was great, they really trashed the boys... and poor perrin in particular. Looking forward to themes :)
Oh wow an hour review 😀 I’m going to save this one for bedtime! Can’t wait
As you did ask. Your enthusiam and passion come so much from vissually seeing you, I mean you have amazing facial expresions, great smile and infectuous laugh. I know this would involve more editing but a more mixed seeing you vs the visuals I personally think is more engaging. The voice narration after a while becomes a little tedious and I found myself taking breaks in the video more than when the video is mostly you. Great visuals though, Loved the character sheats. I can see your editing skills have bumped up quite a few levels. I'm thinking about trying to make a channel at some point hence why I'm focusing on learning things like how B Roll interacts with A Roll so to speak and the Music comment earlier.
100% agree. You’re the star and should be front and center most of the time, not the background narrator!
I like how one of Rand’s abilities is sheep herding 😅
Great analysis, agreed on all points and looking forward to the next one!
I actually thought he had to herd wild cats into a bath. 🤷
Agree with analysis. Graphics were good. Music was distracting. Like it better when you are speaking naturally as opposed to reading prepared text. More cats.
Someone give this woman a job on the show.
I think I mostly agree with this analysis. It's nice to see it all put into a summary, I never thought about the characters in a structured way like this. The more I watch you, the more I get the urge to reread the books with greater understanding of them. Maybe more appreciation for them, after watching the show. Definitely a thumbs up from me for your content, you are one of two WoT TH-camrs I watch.
Congrats on getting that 1k benchmark! I binge watched series after your last video and man did appreciate the first 4 episodes a lot more. The first half of season, with exception to most of E1, was actually really solid, especially in comparison to the 2nd half of season. Even though I liked the end of E4 this is where things started to fall apart for me, because this is where they deviated hard from books and the new story arc from this point on was just poorly written/conceived. I want to distinguish the two because I wouldn’t say E5 was poorly written just a bad decision in concept. We wasted that whole episode with new Steppin arc completion and barely developed any characters that matter. E6 was just written poorly and continued off course from book and again left little time to develop main characters, with exception to Moiraine and that development was questionable. E7 began in the most amazing way, and finished pretty strong, and is easily the only redeemable segment of the last half. Then E8 happened, blah/puke worthy content.
Spot on about what you thought about the episodes, imo.
I feel it would have been better if the Nynaeve storyline had continued in place of Stepin for EP5, examining what the mechanics of the power and what it meant to be a male channeler vs female. Also, they could have discussed what awaited a male dragon reborn vs a female one.
The could have made it show that we really wouldn't want a male Dragon Reborn.
Then I feel EP6 could have had essentially the same storyline, but as Amy said the conflict in the Hall of the Tower would be what to do with the Dragon Reborn. That would have kept it focused and tight.
Then we should have seen Moiraine go to the library in Tar Valon and read false information about how the Dragon Reborn can cage the Dark One at the Eye Of The World. That would have given rationality to Moiraine's plan and hinted at darkfriends in the Tower when the plan went wrong in EP8.
I feel they were wedded to getting two "rocks" into the show which ultimately ruined the season:
1). The "wedding" between Moiraine and Siuan using the Oath Rad in EP6
2). The bonding of Stepin into the polyamorous relationship between Alanna and her warders in EP5
You did a good job analysing the series. Very thorough. I disagree a little bit on Moiraine, but that's par for the course. These things are subjective anyway. Anticipating your future posts. 👍🏿👍🏿
Lan. Doesn't. Cry.
Thank you for attending my Ted talk.
I would like to add that Nyneave in the books could be called a prude by most people. It is very surprising that she would have sex with Lan outside of marriage, if she is constantly angry when she sees a woman showing skin in public 🤔
Oh definitely
I remember one of the boys (I think Mat?) being shocked when he sees Nynaeve in a dress that shows her neckline (not even cleavage).
Great point. So, small village folk in at best an early Renaissance era, what birth control are they using? Does Nynaeve do this often or did Lan take her virginity?
Show wants a fantasy world with Tindr rules and zero consequences. Egwene's mum and dad happily got out of the way with a wink so Rand could jump their unwed daughter.
Yeah right
@@JonasGrumby-OO I do believe there's a contraceptic potion mentioned in the books (something like a morning after pill or even a bit more severe?).
But I agree, the show is a bit too "modern" to be good fantasy. I remember this meme I saw where Lan asked Nynaeve how she tracked him and she replied with "Wardr".
And it pays off in a big way in the Mashiara scene in book 7.
I really want the show to improve and give us the WoT we all know and love, to see all those amazing moments from the books being portrayed on screen. But, at this point, I don’t have any hope for that. The baffling choices the writers made for Season 1 lead me to a conclusion that they don’t understand what the books were about and what we liked about them. It seems that the show is more interested in pushing its own narratives rather than faithfully adapting the source material. I’d be overjoyed to be proven wrong about that.
And yeah, can’t wait for more analysis from you.
Really enjoyed your character analysis. I agree with many of your concerns about the shows depictions of Perrin, Mat and Rand but I do think they may improve on this quite a bit in coming seasons, at least I'm hoping they do.
Hooray I love this channel!
Book Mat is an impish rogue, but one who always does the right thing. He has a code. Show Mat? Have no idea, the development was so short...
The only characters I see as having any resemblance to the Books are Nyneave, Lan and Morraine (all to a point). Right from the off I struggled with the age difference and the sexualised content. Up to the point Nyneave knocked on Land door...she was basically book Nyneave. The same with Moiraine, up to the "on your knees" 🤷♂️
It's almost like they think that to compete with GoT, they need overt sexualised content.
The biggest disappointment was Perrin's story change. Just why?
The best part was the Tigraine ep6 flashback. The rest of the series a hodge-podge of threads lashed together with no real development - I can't understand how non book readers are hanging in there. The "finale" was below sub par - i was waiting for the Seanchan appearing as hinted about "boats going missing" in the White Tower episode - but using tsunamis to wipe out coastal communities? The Seanchan don't kill indiscriminately.
I actually hope the show gets cancelled.
Me too. I dont want this defilement to continue any further.
As highly deatiled in your analysis as I've come to expect. You are consistently putting out high quality content! I really hope Rafe is trolling TH-cam for especially reactions of book reader's. And I especially hope he comes across your channel. He would do well indeed to find where there is allot of consensus of things we do and do not like about the show. I hope that he pulls from the community rather then just from his team and their vision. The show is heavily inclusive and I'd hope that covers the readers to. Anyway thanks as always. Greetings to the comment section y'all have been great!
In regards to Egwene's cut on her arm, she actually receives it during the woman's circle ceremony when she has to try and trust the river. She doesn't have a wound prior to it and once she crawls out of the water and lays down on the beach you can see it bleeding on her arm. It is also a wound that is gone the next day which could have been foreshadowing of Nynaeve's healing.
Yeah, I caught this reading the leaked script. The only reason I didnt think of this was that it seemed half healed like hours later and there is no scene where Nyneave tends it. Something they cut out, I guess.
Video was great and I’m loving this in-depth analysis! I disagree on some on the character ratings ( I feel like the show has done a huge disservice to Lan and his character is unrecognizable to me) but I can appreciate the discussion and you raise a lot of interesting points! Congrats on 1000 subs!
I am stoked for you to hit the 1k mark! I've also been sharing these videos on reddit so hopefully that has helped 👍🏻
In the last episode, Rand says that Moiraine was betting on Egwene, because she was training only her. Except that we saw ONE instance with the glowing stone, and nothing to guess that it was a routine. Not even a montage. Unless you've read the books, and you fill in the blanks yourself.
True, they have put out comments and bonus material to try and explain things but important character development points like you mention should have been in the show itself.
Remember the unreliable narrator. We see much more than Rand does. We might have seen more and know better, but not Rand.
@@rustung1638 It's actually the opposite. We've seen bits of their journey, and Rand is _telling_ us what we were not shown. Not sure what the "unreliable narrator" has to do here.
@@bidossessi I'm just trying to say that just because a character says something, doesn't mean it's right or true. Characters are often wrong when they make statements in the books.
Edit: I do think I misunderstood the original statement though. I see now.
@@rustung1638 But we're not talking about the books here. And what Rand is stating here is not opinion, it's exposition.
Very well edited video Amy, Congratulations on the 1000 subscribers and I like the upping of the game. Nicely Edited video. Just one small critique, maybe drop the backgrouund music volume by about 10 percent. Its a little distracting from listening to you. Not sure if anyone else would agree with me. Wow your editing seriouly is looking good though.
Several people have mentioned it! It definitely sounded less loud on my computer than it did when uploaded
@@amys0482 All Good, Was just a suggestion, I see your NO music one has like 1.1 K Views already, nice going.
Book Moiraine is cautious. She's Mrs Maybe. She is not gullible, she does not take things at face value. She is wary of false trails, and acutely aware of the strengths of the Father of Lies. She would also never preach absolutes, and condemn doubt as a "path to the shadows". Show Moiraine is the opposite. She's gung-ho, autocratic, irrational. She's not even the protagonist in a mystery drama: she never does any investigating. She just waits for the culprit to literally knock at her door, and never questions them.
Cautious is also a good word to describe her! It is so hard picking only five words...
I really like your reviews and subscribed since episode 6. I would like to give some feedback on the new design: The music doesn't work for me, it was distracting from your excellent analysis; every time it did stop I was praying it would not repeat again. Use something more melodic and with less volume. I also like to see you when you speak, since I imagine I not alone in this I would recommend a divided screen.
On a side note: I'm always interessed in other people's book shelfs. "The witches are coming" are now on my reading list. What else do you like? What is that book with the rabbit on it?
Happy New Year!
The Witches are Coming is Lindy West. She is local to me and has a unique perspective. Very liberal, though, just FYI. She writes for The Stranger.
The rabbit cover is Sophie's World, which tells the history of Western Philosophy as a sorta coming of age novel with an existential twist.
fantastic breakdown. i tried to stay positive through most of season 1. i even started to have hope around episode 4, but then it was all downhill to that dreadful ending.
Fantastic character breakdown - love the new format with the added graphics! I agree 100% with your analysis - however, I have to say I like show Nynaeve more than the book version. I’m not disagreeing with what you said - that show Nynaeve’s characterization is inconsistent - but rather adding those inconsistencies made her more likable to me. I didn’t hate book Nynaeve but she definitely annoyed me many many times in the books with her behavior. I just found the show version more sympathetic. Your comment about this turning into a conglomeration of set pieces (paraphrasing here), really resonated with me. That’s how I felt about this entire season - that it’s more akin to an anthology rather than a cohesive narrative. I hope they can turn this around in subsequent seasons.
Loved the content as always! I thought the new format with you offscreen most of the time wasn’t as dynamic. Your energy really comes through in your facial and hand expressions, without those it felt a bit flat and less of a personal connection between yourself and the viewers. It might make sense for you look at other popular TH-cam reviewers to check out how they keep things energetic while incorporating graphics. I’m sure there are many different styles out there. Take some elements and borrow them for yourself. As a simple interim idea, reframe yourself slightly off center like a newscast or late night show and use graphics in the more open side / corner of your screen. I’m thinking Jon Stewart Daily show, SNL Weekend Update, etc. I look forward to parts 3, 4, and other new content!
56:04 "don't like that all the boys are sidelined..." yes, thank you! Please let Amazon see/ hear how many women WoT fans feel this way and fix this in future episodes. Personally, I love a strong female character and loved that these books have so many of them (can't wait to see Birgitte in the show). But it doesn't have to mean so thoroughly leaving our Male heroes under-used and under-developed. I honestly got the feeling (not always but at times) that some of the show creators are Red Ajah themselves.
Loving the new video format! Congrats on the subs!
It's grafting to know that everyone's reaction to the show so far is "What have they done to my boys!"
This was an excellent breakdown video, you seemed to effortlessly break many of these characters into their essences. Was it hard to narrow down the list of adjectives for each character into the core ones? Fantastic work.
I've been pretty confrontational in my comments on your other videos, which are all very well done by the way. As I progress through your library, I'm seeing that you see the same things that I'm seeing, but you're just choosing to be much more forgiving than I am. Perrin and Nynaeve were my favorite characters. Perrin because I really identify with his character and way of operating. So I'm happy about the glory Nynaeve has gotten but I feel cut deep because of how Perrin has been treated. Thank you for taking the time and acknowledging this.
But... :) please stop calling this an "adaptation". They're not trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole, they're using the fact that it doesn't fit as an cover excuse for making a brand new peg to fit into the particular hole that want.
I do think they are trying to carve the story into something else. I am more forgiving because I know how hard it is to create and I don't think it's fair to lambast everything about a creative effort that a lot of people worked really hard on. I don't like some of the decisions and I think the show has many weaknesses that are independent of creative differences from the books, but it's not the WORST thing I have ever seen. It's just disappointing and I find some of the messaging problematic.
Congratulations on 1000 sub count!
I love your videos and I think that you are doing a great job
Imo, Lan should’ve been something like Geralt from the Witcher. Mostly emotionless with a dry and a little bit sarcastic humor. I don’t necessarily find his portrayal in the show bad, but he was much more intimidating and inspiring.
Really great video, I hope Amazon take a look and learn something!!
20:45 his 1 major act afterwards is taking blame for going into Shadar Logoth without a plan to survive, Moiraine's viable plan in the books, and being a vehicle to show how awesome Nynaeve is at tracking.
I would add book Nynaeve’s motivations as motherly as well, trying to protect the others in the Edmonds field five
Yes, she does show glimmers of this, though I think she also likes the authority!
@@amys0482 Yeah true
That hour long video was easy to watch I enjoyed it.
I really like Lan mentoring Rand and the others in the books, adds a lot to his character especially for a character that doesn’t give much emotion
As far as comments on visuals vs staring into the camera...I was treating it more as a podcast so I wasn't looking. Short pictures with an otherwise unchanged format could be good too, but unless you're including visual cues or comparisons they're not generally necessary for reviews.
It's great casting, but the writing stunk. There was more focus in the book on the POV of (at first) Rand, and then the others. There was also more lightness, in terms of humor, and longer build up of relationships. I pretty much shipped my way through the books, which I don't often do.
Readers care about the characters a lot, or hate them. Not sure anyone would get worked up one way or the other about characters in the TV series.
Gotta put that behemoth on a New Year's diet! Love the videos- good work.
I mostly agree with your character assessments, so I'll really only address where my opinion seems to differ. I'll preface by saying that the show appears to be making all the characters more "human," for what that's worth. Brandon Sanderson also described the show as portraying "the same characters, except everything is harder for them in this version." The simplest example is that Trollocs are a much bigger threat than they are in the books, e.g. book Tam taking out multiple Trollocs at the farmhouse versus show Tam being overpowered by a single Trolloc.
Moiraine - Show Moiraine knows a lot less than book Moiraine. Apparently, *everyone* in the show knows less about the One Power, the Dragon, the Prophecies, and even the Breaking then their book counterparts. Show Moiraine does discuss the Prophecies, but it seems that these are much more fragmented and contradictory than in the books. As for her handling of Aes Sedai politics, I think she put herself in a bad position in order to give Siuan a chance to shore up her authority. But that could just be me giving the writers too much credit.
Lan: Book Lan in The Dragon Reborn seems willing to murder an innocent man in order to preserve Moiraine's anonymity. I do wish we'd had more interaction between him and all the Two Rivers folk, though.
Nynaeve: It took a very long time for me to like book Nynaeve. On first read she just comes across as a bully and a hypoctrite with zero self-awareness. Show Nynaeve has a much less nebulous reason for distrusting Aes Sedai (her mentor's supposed rejection).
Egwene: Book Egwene alsays seemed to me to start off as a selfish, spoiled brat. She runs away from home for the lols. She's also a soical chameleon, immediately unbraiding her hair and accepting Moiraine as her new authority figure with little hesitation. Show Egwene comes across as far more mature in her motivations and adaptable rather than fickle. She's also a lot less bossy.
Perrin: This character definitely got shortchanged. Marcus Rutherford has done a great job with the material he's been given, communicating quite well through body language and facial expression. But he clearly got less screen time and weaker development than the other characters and having him pick up an axe as the culmination of his arc was ... lackluster. That being said, book Perrin didn't get much development in TEotW either. And keeping the wolf powers more mysterious is a fine narrative choice for this season, I think.
Mat: The show did a lot of subtle things with Mat. For example, he instantly figured out that Egwene had dumped Rand in the first episode. In the second episode, he's the one who notices that everyone seems down and starts the Weep for Manetheren song to liven them up, if not exactly cheer them up. He also sacrifices one of his very few possessions while trying to help Perrin work through his grief. On the surface, he's a very different character from book Mat, but book Mat was a cardboard cutout with "Fool" written on his forehead until the beginning of The Dragon Reborn. I'm afraid the show is probably trying to set up some kind of redemption arc, which is scary, because those are *very* hard to pull off successfully.
Rand: I watched a video the other day that took the actor screen time numbers from IMDB Pro and dsiplayed them in bar graph format. Interestingly enough, Rand is second only to Moiraine in total screen time. Again, I think the show was simply too subtle, because a lot of people didn't really pick up on that. I can only hope that the writers have a plan to slowly phase from a Moiraine-centric ensemble to a Rand-centric ensemble as they progress through the seasons. We'll see, I suppose.
Sadly lot of screentime =/= development. Rand was mostly passive in a lot of the scenes he appeared in, he often was just there during other characters scenes.
When Rafe was asked about going on with the ensemble cast, he said that he doesn't even think Rand has the most pov chapters in the books...that doesn't give me much hope considering that yes, Rand has by far the most pov chapters and many of the others revolve around him.
The show runners have stated that co producer Rosamund Pike has the main billing as Moraine as the show is about her. She is the main character. They changed it.
The way they portrayed Matt’s dad in the Two Rivers they should of casted all the kids in the village look like him!!!
So thank you for validating my decision to subscribe. Your video actually provides criticism rather than compliant poorly masked as criticism. I am going to offer a TL;DR summary now and a more full counter criticism later.
There are a few major flaws in your analytical lense. By listening only positive traits or the most positive traits and weak negative traits you create a very lopsided frame.
Rafe began the construction of his characters not with the books but with the "base souls" of the characters (the mythological characters Jordan began with) he then interpreted each POV chapter from that character through that lense. Lastly he then interpreted each non-POV chapter through that second lense.
P.S. to the TL;DR
Jordan broke the Loki (Mat) character with the badger thing. It's completely out of character for Loki. An 18 year old farmer living in a pre-industrial region knows badger's are mini murder tanks. This makes his actions pre Shadar'logath much darker than it would be otherwise. My biggest criticism at the end of season 1 is that the characters are over developed compared to the end of book 1. I like that they are.
* Some Spoilers Ahead*
One of the best traits about Nynaeve is how often she yells at someone for doing the exact same thing she just did the chapter before. It's awesome.
The other thing is that Nynaeve is one of very, very.....very few channelers, male or female that Rand allows near him or trusts. Especially after that whole Dumais Wells fiasco. It speaks so much to her character, and I love the relationship she and Rand have. The trust he shows in her is exemplary, even when he is a paranoid mess.
My favorite Mat moments are when he shows little regard for Aes Sedai and their power. He just dares them to try anything. It's great seeing them taken down a peg or six.
I would also argue that of everyone in the entire story, Mat might be the only character that, if he had to, could give Rand a run for his money in a fight. Ta'veren aside anyway.
The characters in the books are so great. They just have great arcs. Nynaeve being my favorite character, probably in all of fantasy. I just love her. But they all are fantastic. Even if Egwenes whole arc with Elaida in the tower at times gets kinda cringe.
Lastly, I disliked Faile the way RJ wrote her. She annoyed me. But when Sanderson picks her up at the end of the series she becomes one of my favorite characters. Not sure if it was just the author that made the difference, but she's way more likeable at the end.
Great review. I look forward to part three.
"-I won't shout at you!- Nynaeve shouted". Iconic lmao and yeah, her and Rand relationship is great.
Yeah, about Nynaeve. I've always called them Nynaevisms. Jordan was absolutely brilliant at doing this with her. Sometimes it's the same paragraph. Sometimes it's the next page. Next chapter as you say. Sometimes, same sentence. Now that I have digital versions of the books I've been highlighting every one I find. Another one that's a do as I say and not what I do is her fashion sense. She always remarks about simple clothing but has one of the best wardrobes by the end of the series.
The visual aids you used were well done. The music was pretty distracting, though; it almost would have been better to leave the music out entirely. I admit, I suspect that the right music played at a low volume may have enhanced everything you were presenting in this video. You don't have to take my suggestions; but I will let them stand. I like you and your videos (and your cats) quite a lot. I appreciate the erudite approach you take with your videos and your analyses.
I haven't read the books, but from what I watched with the show I pretty much agree with your characterizations. I didn't like really anyone, aside from Nynaeve; she is basically the only character I like, but I want to see more depth from her. They really are poorly written and contradict themselves throughout the series, and it's honestly disappointing. At least the world is cool.
Read the books!
If sitting down and reading is too much to ask for, the audiobooks are fantastic. I got through all of them in a few months while driving for my old job.
Moiraine is also wiling to do unethical things. She uses balefire which has been forbidden for everyone (including the shadow) since the Age of Legends. She shouldn't even know how to do it. The show does indicate her willingness to do bad things with the ferryman drowning. After a couple of books she clearly loves Rand and not just because he is the dragon. He is HER dragon. The show could still go that way, but there is no evidence for that now.
If they don’t truly establish the flame and the void training from Tam to Rand as well as Lan’s sense of duty during his training of Rand, it will be a HUGE disservice to Rand’s character. It has so much to do with Rand’s character progression and his ability to master saidin. The F&V is his gateway to embracing Saidin, and Lan’s sense of duty and honor rubs off on Rand and becomes a foundational trait that fuels him. Most of the books Rand does everything he must to fight the shadow and reach the last battle assuming he will die at shayol ghul…I don’t think it’s until his final preparations during MoL that he realizes a possibility around certain death. This sense of “duty is heavier than a mountain, death light as a feather” is a huge part of Malkieri and Lan’s dna, and Rand’s adoption of this dogma is critical in his progression. If I don’t hear Lan say that line in this show, I will lose my sh!t
great job Amy
19:45 my distaste for that scene was as much because they decided he would choose to be a designated mourner as anything else. It wasn't that he was crying at a funeral, though that is still a huge divergence from a character that participated in many wars and has had everyone that cared about him pre-Moiraine die, but that he was so attached to some random warder that he'd be chosen/volunteer to be designated mourner. The whole conflict of the next episode is that Moiraine never comes back to the Tower. Where did this extremely "meaningful" relationship come from, so meaningful that he'd voluntarily be the designated mourner for a warder? A warder that died, if anything, in a much less brutal fashion than is expected for a warder who's Aes Sedai died.
Another issue with saying he's just acting out of duty as the designated mourner would be Moiraine crying. She has no reason to feel personal anguish, not that Lan does either, but him acting as designated mourner at least lends credence to the fact that he is in anguish regardless of how much he should show it. Her crying by proxy would imply that he's in so much pain that his anguish causes her to cry. Which, again, makes no sense. For either of them.
You can't be stoic if you don't have pain to hide. Feeling pain and showing pain are two different things, imo. I could have still lived without both funeral scenes.
I read that (Moiraine crying) as a poorly written attempt to draw an allegory between Lan's performance as mourner with the high likely hood that Moiraine herself will be killed. But like so much else of this show, you kind of have to guess at what the character's motivations are.
@@rustung1638 That would be ideal, but the scene is there so the mechanics of it should make sense.
@@dicknarcowitz That would make it worse. As if neither of them actually considered the fact that either of them could die in their war against the shadow and only realized it at a funeral. A funeral for a death in a regular war over the last 20 years of trying to find the Dragon and start the Last Battle...
It may be a poignant moment, but they didn't start their quest at the beginning of the show. Maybe having Nynaeve cry as she looks between Moiraine and Lan would make sense, but this funeral shouldn't have been a revelation to either Moiraine or Lan.
@@gogroxandurrac I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. It sounds like you're saying that I shouldn't be sad at a funeral because I should have expected it? Or maybe that seeing someone lose their husband/wife shouldn't make me consider how it would feel to lose my wife, cause I would have already considered it? I'm sorry if I'm describing this wrong, trying to understand.
They did Perrin so dirty in this show. They turned him into GoT season 8 John Snow. I keep expecting him to start saying "Ah don't wan' it" and "She's muh queen!" Over and over.
Perrin isn't my favorite character in the books either, but the show's version was just so unkind, and also a disservice to the actor, who has some creds.
@@amys0482 I love Perrin in the books. One of the great things about Wheel of Time is that through the three main characters it shows what healthy masculinity looks like in different personality types. Since Perrin's personality is very similar to my own, I relate to him a lot and his arc in Shadow Rising makes it my favorite book. I really like the actor they chose to play him, it's just such a shame they didn't give him anything to do or say and they give all his character moments to Egwene. Speaking of which, I love Egwene in the books, but I can't stand her in the show. I cried in A Memory of Light when she sacrificed herself to save the world. She was funny, loveable, and tragic. In the show, she's a narcissist that steals everyone else's thunder. The will they won't they plot with Rand is so stupid and tiresome and just made me hate them both. I nearly threw my remote through the TV screen when they tried to turn it into a love triangle with Perrin. The whole thing feels like a really bad soap opera.
Perrin is indeed a simple man with simple needs. All he needs is a hammer and a Borderland’s princess.
Instead of building Tar Valon they should have spent money on fight choreography. A couple scenes with Lan training the boys to use their weapons. Lan instilling some Borderlander philosophy about duty in Rand is central to his character going forward. Putting the scene where Lan, Nyaeve, and Moraine save Perrin and Egwene back in would have given Lan(and all warders by extension) more credibility with fieldcraft and actually makes it a surprise Nynaeve could have snuck up on him. For that matter, leave in Perrin killing the whitecloaks. Killing two humans while being in contact with the wolves would be enough conflict. Killing his wife seems too traumatic to realistically come back from as quickly as he will need to.
Much of the content in Tar Valon could reasonably have been moved to Fal Dara and after the visit to the Eye. It would also fit closer to the story too.
The scene with Moraine's welcome to Fal Dara still rankles me. I don't believe a borderland lord would greet an Aes Sedai like that.
Only thing I saw with Egwene was her fangirling over the Aes Sedai.
Great job as usual, Amy
My biggest problem with the mourning scene was that a warder who looses his aes sedai would go to the blight for the last mission to fight trollocs till he could fight no more, suicide is considered a dishonorable way to go and so that morning scene would never happen as it's elevating that which is dishonorable and paying respect to it. on the other hand that scene would of worked if Stephan went off to the blight and they used an Effigy of him instead.
For my ratings i'd rate Moiraine as a 2,
I do agree with your Lan sumerisation and rating. but when talking about nyneave but it is important to lans character You missed Lans commitment to the melkier vow he believes the shadow will kill him and he doesn't want to give any woman he's commited to a death knell as bride price he's too honorable for that which is why he fights the relation in the books.
Nyneave had the potential to become the strongest 'female' channeler in 1000 years she's still weaker than a lot of the male channelers in the books like Rand, Taim and Logain. I would also describe her personality with 1 additional trait in the first few books . . . 'ANGRY' which she does over come in book 7 i think, also her tracking ability is only passable she's described as an Average tracker enough to get by with herb collecting and evading dangerous animals of Eamond field aka wolves, that is the extent of her tracking she is no hunter, infact her tracking of the E4 was down to the 1 power connection to Egwene and is hinted at in the books much like moiraines coins to the boys. so rather than going round about she's able to cut a path on a quicker straighter route to them. my ranking of her is a 1/5 she's way to nice and no where near angry enough and very flippant in her nature which to me isn't stubborn.
Egwene didn't really feel like she got enough air time for development, i can see how she stays true to her book character for the most part i'd of rated it a 4 as it did seem t stray and sometimes was a bit inconsistant, ie barely use a fireball, but then heal from the dead a few episodes later.
Perin Fridged his wife in episode 1 then the show runners pretty much ignored him and why set all that up just to ignore him :|. Lelia does actually say 'I love you' to Perin, which he replies i know or something bland like that showing strain on their relationship and to me Lelia looked and acted somewhat pregnant with her mannerisms. I'd gave him a 0/5 cos he feels useless wasted and a back ground character.
Matt i'd say is more Reluctantly Heroic (rather than heroic) he spends much time trying to avoid heroic moments but still gets drawn in anyway cos ultimately he can't leave his mates hanging. i would never say he's after glory, but more that Glory is attracted and pulled to him. he gets pulled into gambling and has unconciously makes bets where he's thinking to himself what why nooo this is bad why did i do that. basically foot in mouth to extreme levels. the Band of the red hand gets formed around him despite him trying to ditch them and shirk his duty with them and does his best when i can't loose them to take them into a safer place . . . .of course then that safer place ends out being just the place to attain the most glory and renown. I felt that the dagger actually suppressed Matts Pattern luck so that when he was healed from it it went into over drive and to extreme and ergo i could literally hear the dice rolling in his head afterwards. after all of that i do agree with your rating of a 1 :) and I thought Barney did try hard:) and was decent with the writing.
Rand oh rand . . . where art thou rating oh rand . . . i gave him a 2 mainly cos he did come across with correct traits but really failed to make an impact in the show.
for your final question maybe more of you or a split screen with you on 1 side and the pictures on tother :)
"split screen with you on 1 side and the pictures on the other"
That's great advice.
Great commentary Amy. Thank you.
Thanks for a great summary Amy.
You are way to easy on Lan. His ability's and skill build a lot of who is in the books. In the show is is basically a manservant. He did some underwhelming fighting in E1 and that's about it. He is also a hard man and would not cry easy. He has lost a lot of comrades on arms and would probably just bite down and do something suicidal dangerous than cry about it. His adaptation is in level with the other good guys.
Agree 100%. Nothing against the actor, but show Lan is not even a shadow of book Lan.
An excellent breakdown.
I have a long standing theory on book Faile. I believe she was supposed to die. Everyone has a purpose in life. I think Faile completed her purpose long before The Last Battle. But Perrin’s Ta’veran bent The Pattern enough to save her from her fate. It might be the reason she falls by the wayside towards the end of the story. The things her character does in the last couple of books a Redshirt could have taken care of.
Your analysis of the show females being closer than the males to their book characters is pretty good. I would comment like the Maidens to Elayne, “What you say comes close but misses entirely”. But it’s fine tomato tomato.
To me book Nyneave took too long to develop as a character. Any Wisdom would know when they’re out of their depth and she refused to admit she didn’t know everything, when out of The Two Rivers.
During this video I had an apostrophe (that’s a call back to the movie Hook). Anyway, I suddenly saw book Egwene & Nyneave mirroring book Siuan & Moiraine. Siuan’s roughness (bullying) and way of thinking, to me, really worked against her as a leader; contributing to her downfall. Nyneave’s bullying and hardheadedness really worked against her and really made situations worse than they had to be.
Book Egwene & Moiraine we’re the charismatic ones (unless they were arguing with their friend), both choosing diplomacy and political maneuvering to get get their objectives achieved. I never noticed that till now.
I believe the males of the story will continue to take a backseat in season 2. And we will focus on Egwene, Nyneave & Elayne’s interaction with The Black Ajah & Seanchan. As book 2 does. Rand will not have a Forsaken to fight and will most likely not be around except in glimpses. Perrin will either wonder off or spend the season chasing Egwene around like a lonely puppy even to the point of attempting a rescue in the background, or need to be rescued. Mat I feel will have the largest of the 3 males only because they need to catch him up in the story. He may blow the horn, he may not. I have a feeling the three Accepted will fight off the Seanchan in a lot smaller battle and escape into the night.
And we’ll end the season with a glimpse at Callendor acting funny like it activated or something.
I still say Nyneave is the one they’ll have save the world, this is because of the Dragon’s Fang that appears in trolloc blood on the surface of the pool before she emerges. They don’t things for no reason. We know from the books she helps cleanse Saidin and the show runners will most likely say, if she can do that she can save the world.
That’s my theory but we’ll see.
Yeah this background music didn't work, I cannot listen to this and the words at the same time. Editing is hard, as we know from watching this show.
well it is hard for someone who has never done it before. The music sounded super soft on my computer but really loud once uploaded 🤔
Changing the lore and cutting the prophecies really hurt Moiraine for me. I saw some show viewers wondering why Rand & co don't blindly follow her and i don't get it. I guess many like her cause she is strong and more developed, i don't know. When i watch the show it's clear that she pretty much knows nothing and doesn't seem to have any kind of plan for the DR. She also warns the kids about dreams, and then just straight up believes whatever Siuan dreamed.
Lan....if i didn't know the books i wouldn't mind him. But it's hard when they go on and on about Aes Sedai, Warders, and their bond in the show and then he barely does anything aside from the first episode? He has been with Moiraine for 20 years, the Borderlands is his home and he needs Nynaeve to tell him how to find her in the Blight? And this "tell" must be something unrelated to the Power since he goes alone.
I feel one can watch eps 1-4 then skip to 7 and 8 without missing much, especially if you watch the preview for ep 7. Eps 5 and 6 didn't add substantially to the main story which says a lot about a waste of two precious episodes.
They could have gone to Camelyn following the book plot even after Nynaeve's mass healing. But no the showrunner wanted to show Tar Valon and the Hall of the Tower, etc.
Still watching, but one editorial note to consider, during the Moraine breakdown there is a very persistent drone tone in the background music that distracts from what you're saying. Maybe as a musician I'm particularly sensitive to this kinda' thing so take it with a grain of salt :) Enjoying the channel!
Yeah, I have never done background music before so.... not claiming I know how to do it right.
@@amys0482 could you publish another copy of this video without the music - keeping both published of course?
Perrin is so faithful he manages to kill lanfear under compulsion to love her. Now he's a dude that is unfaithful to some level
Oh summer child, I love your optimistic attitude. I was a leftie until I had my Saul on his road to Damascus moment in 2020. I supported Bernie twice until the blosovikes took over
Lan being emotional:
I thought the scene was going to cut between Lan tearing his shirt off, to Moiraine, then back to Lan (shirt on and being stoic), to imply his emotional state while he continues to present a controlled front. The showrunners probably didn't do that because 'men shouldn't repress their emotions', or something. Let's face facts, though: if men, or people in general, didn't repress their emotions, violent crimes would be a lot higher than they are now. Lan would have worked through his emotions by practicing with the other Warders.
Just started watching the video. Comment regarding Moiraine and Rosamund Pike, for me Pike has been one of the worst performers in the show. Yes she is a good actress but her portrayal of Moiraine is in my eyes very close to overacting. Her facial expressions (trying to act regal, Aes Sedai like etc), her exaggerated gestures for spell casting and so on. A more relaxed portrayal would have seen much more natural.
A great Moiraine portrayal would have been how the actress playing the mentor sorceress in the Witcher season 1 acts. Just started watching that series. Don't know the name of the actress. Anyways, she has a very natural way of acting that sells the mentor role completely.
Holy crap, you hit the nail on the head, that actress from the witcher would have made a much better Moiraine.
Yep, she's in Downton Abbey too and I immediately thought she seemed very much like an Aes Sedai. Not sure about Moirainr but you'd have to see her take to know. I like Rosamund Pike in the role but the writing and directing does lean into melodrama that overplays the character.
If rumors are true, next season Egwene gets gagged with a golden pacifier but reverse the damane and breaks free on her own. The battle in the skies is her. Rand is off in the Aiel Waste and does that backstory stuff before going to Tear. It all ends in Tear where Rand takes Callandor. If this sounds super rushed to you...it is. But that's just the rumor.
Oh my. That would be a VERY extreme change
god help us . . . it's the Wheel of Crime :|
A believable rumour sadly. My rough guess based on how they have done season 1
Episode 1 & 2 at the Tower, Egwene and Nyneave training and setting out novices, accepted etc. Get introduced to Elayne and hopefully Elaida as if they merge this character as some rumours suggest I think it will be bad. No Rand here as it will be insane if he goes to the Tower now that he knows he can channel so Elayne will not met him here. Perrin may be sent after the Horn to have something to do. Mat could be too relating to the dagger.
Episode 3 & 4 more about our new sea faring arrivals and a show down at Falme.
Episode 5 & 6 back to the Tower after the fallout and the introduction of black sisters.
Episode 7 the start of the hunt for the black sisters, reintroduction to Rand and somehow he'll be persuaded to go to Tear
Episode 8 the big battle at Tear but who gets the glory this time? Rand will break another seal.
@@step4018 it will scarey putting Rand at falm without any sword training :| god the horror of that :( and then rushing strait to tear afterwards :O you're giving me nightmares already
@@SirBlaze75 Oh, Rand never goes to Falme. That's all Egwene.
10:55 and a lack of any plan of what happens when she gets them to Tar Valon. The big goal for the majority of the show...and she accomplishes absolutely nothing by succeeding.
I personally am Cha Faile and Gawyn Trakand is my favorite character in the entire series! Matrim was horrible to Rand in The Great Hunt, never giving him a chance to explain himself.
They got Nyaneve wrong in a big important way. Nyaneve is my favorite character in the series hands down. She's an exposed nerve, prickly towards other characters, but she's incredibly intelligent and resourceful, though she never gets any credit for her big wins except from the audience. In short, she's hilarious and relatable. Nyaneve is kind of a parody of a Mary Sue character. All of her wins blow up in her face in comical ways and instead of earning her idolatry and respect, they just earn her more scrutiny and more trouble. I actually really hate episode 4 because that episode did a lot of subtle damage to the magic system and to Nyaneve as a character. By having her go Super Saiyan, it undercuts her talent with chemistry and herbal remedies which is shown to be the basis for her skill at healing. It also cheapens her big wins. It was at this point I realized this Lifetime soap opera was never going to be Wheel of Time
39:56 one point where your description isn't quite accurate: book Perrin does understand, and greatly admires The Way of The Leaf. He just sees further to its failings in a world where Shadowspawn and Darkfriends exist. He occasionally ponders in his internal monologues, or even in discussion, how much he truly wishes he could follow The Way of The Leaf, but knows it cannot be.
I think Perrin views The Way of the Leaf as a "nice idea" but untenable. I wouldn't say that is quite the same as admiration. He never considers joining the Traveling People and adopting the Way of the Leaf in the books that I recall. He does consider throwing away the axe, but I don't think Perrin's struggle is ever between a desire for pacifism and the necessity of warfare. What he fears is liking violence too much and becoming an animal.
@@amys0482 yes, that's pretty much what I was getting at, that it's a nice idea but untenable. And perhaps our ways of using the word admiration is being thwarted by the concept of degrees. I'm not saying he holds it in extremely high admiration, but some admiration. Having read the books so many times, some of the details get jumbled as to what happened when, but I recall a few times that he either thought to himself or said out loud that he wished the world were different, so people _could_ practice The Way of The Leaf, but that he has to confront what _is_.
I don't know where to find exact quotes for that though. In fact, I don't even have any hard copy books any more, just the Audible versions. I've moved around the US and sometimes other countries so much and trimmed down my belongings for each move to the point even my prized books eventually had to go.
And btw, I'm really enjoying your videos, and I appreciate that you took a moment to reply to me!
22:20 one of my biggest issues with Nynaeve from the shows is that I disagree. She gets humbled a lot in the books. A lot. It removes a lot of her rough edges and exposes the awesome character underneath. My problem with the show is that they're using a more developed Nynaeve, so there isn't room to grow. She was significantly more abrasive and it elicited much more reaction from other characters, so her rough edges are either already gone or everyone else is just too nice to mold her into a better person making the show version an inferior character. Even if she is mostly true to the source.
I think there might be a lot of room for her to grow. In the show she's a bit.. not self absorbed, but she does some things out of spite, and though she's kind, she needs to loosen, and trust more easily. There's more, but I can't seem to find the right wording.
@@thedusty194 There are no consequences that would force her to change, though. She disrespects the Amyrlin in her seat of power and nothing happens but a snippy comment.
Also, all the things you pointed at were edges that started ground down by the show.
32:30 I felt like they wasted an opportunity with that. In the books she immediately stops braiding her hair and started emulating Moiraine.
Moiraine's character... SCHEMING... CONNIVING... MANIPULATIVE.
She treats people like wooden pawns on a chess board.
THIS is the problem that Rand has with her... he doesn't want to be her puppet/pawn.
It's also a large part of the reason he doesn't (and shouldn't) trust her.
In the books, when he REFUSES to be her puppet... and STILL manages to fulfill prophecies, is when Moiraine actually begins to become a better person.