09-01-2023, 09:37 PM
Episode 1
I felt like 20 years of RP’ing various wheel of time forums were validated in the scenes inside the white tower. It felt like a nod to the superfans to follow Egwene through her day. I was so happy to glimpse new views of outside and inside the Tower. It really is a beautiful set and feels like a combination of a holy temple/shrine and austere, grand government building. And the moments of character that were infused were fun, such as the novices leaning over the rail watching the training warders spar and Alanna having a romp with her two warders in the bedroom much to Egwene’s shock!
The lesson with Alanna and the novices was like something I’ve written a hundred times. haha. She even tried the flower bud exercise. A non-book reader wouldn’t understand what she was doing, but it was really nice reference.
To be honest, the Great Hunt was kind of a boring book for me. Most of it was eaten up by the road with the boys hunting Padan Fain. It’s like a fantasy-novel road chase scene for me, which I usually skip through in movies. I’m pretty glad that they condensed that to a few pointed scenes and skipped several months. I was glad that amazon prime ‘extras’ tell you where the characters are. I couldn’t tell that Perrin and the Shienarans were in Arad Doman until I saw the trivia. I love seeing what people visualize as the geography, flora/fauna of the different countries. I always pictured Arad Doman as pretty tropical, and maybe it is along the coast, but the dry, shrubby landscape was a neat visualization.
I dont have a strong opinion either way about merging Elyas with the tracker that was used in the books. I thought it was a clever way to reduce the outrageous number of characters in the books and fluff up some supernatural powers that Perrin will eventually get. I loved Elyas’ look, too. His eyes were actually golden yellow in a way that makes you uncomfortable to look at them, which was how I always thought the wolfkin eyes should be. Maybe its because he just doesn’t blink very much? not sure what the otherness is.
Then there are little worldbuilding mythos looped in with the show, like the Shienarans whispering “Sheltered in the palm of the creator” when they come upon the corpses. Like its a neat nod to the culture of the WoT that doesn’t impact the show storyline at all, yet brings in the mythos.
Bayle Doman was cast really well, imo. when his accent spilled out and he said “be” in his speech, I fist-pumped the air. You all know I don’t care if they change storylines or move characters around, so the plot with Moiraine researching prophecies all by herself was a nice way to give her something to do when she basically did next to nothing in book 2. Doman brought her a piece of Cuendillar, which he said was from an old ‘moon dial’ that shattered last spring. My money is that it’s from the seal that Ishy breaks that releases what we presume is Lanfear, which looks like will be shown in episode 4 according to the episode preview. it seems the ‘poem’ he brought her was the same that Ishy chants when he grips the bloody hand in the episode 4 preview.
I loved the chat between Lan and Tomas. Lots of character being shown there. That’s something I noticed a lot more this season: loooots of character. For instance, Maksim correcting Nyn saying “Alanna…” with “Alanna Sedai, to you.” I smiled at that, him defending her. Another one is when Egwene visits Alanna in her room, and wow what a GREEN Alanna is, but Egwene kind of props herself on the cushion mimicking how poised and enchanting Alanna is naturally. Such a great moment of character for both of them. I also love how Alanna is always snacking! She’s like the Brad Pitt of WOT.
Okay Liandrin and Nyn: Can i comment on the wicked cool blade of Air that Liandrin conjured up then immediately dismissed it for how futile it is compared to what else she can do? WOW. The channeling is so beautiful this season.
Side note, Liandrin said after she shielded Nyn in her little demo in the kitchens: “you can still feel it but you can’t touch it, can you.” - and that is straight out of the mechanics of how shielding works. Which is almost exactly how Ishy spoke to Moiraine at the Eye. Saying it must be an awful feeling to still feel the source at the end of your fingertips but can’t touch it. Technically, if you are stilled or gentled, you’re suppose to not be able to even sense the source. Therefore, I take that as evidence that Moiraine is shielded. Coupled with the golden threads in Ishy’s palm, I think he knotted it/tied off the shield after he shielded her.
Which leads me to think that Moiraine is still bound by the 3 oaths. She even told Rand when he asked her to say that he died that she could not lie, but then he says she’ll work out a way. She does, she says “he’s gone” sadly, when if she was severed and the oaths gone, she could have said he died.
So I think she’s just max-shielded and cannot lie. It remains to be seen if the show will follow those same rules. but that’s my guess.
GLORY TO NEW MAT
I can’t say enough how much I love love love new Mat. I don’t think it’s just the absence of the darkness from the dagger. It’s Donal. I read an interview from him explaining his process for taking on Mat, how he analyzed Mat in the books as a character and as a member of the encore of characters, and he is a true Mat fan. Side note, Manflesh’s new favorite character is new Mat. (Previously, it was Lan - and he’s still a fan, but new Mat has taken over). And Liandrin psychologically torturing him was so mean. The sympathy meter is off the charts.
THE FADE ATTACKS
I gasped when the Fade moved into the shadow behind Moiraine. I was SOOOO happy to see them being the badass monsters they are. It was a huge payoff from season 1 when they were this sort of tangential threat. I loved how they followed the books, that they writhed on the ground dying but don’t actually die for a while. (technically its not till sunup). The behind the scenes talked about how the stuntment that did the Fades fought with this sort of supernatural style that really translated well. The sword fighting with Lan and the fades was chilling. CHILLING it was so cool. I thought it was wicked cool that 2 of them beat Lan. It shows that they are real threats and real dangers. and the little moment when Verin channels and Moiraine thinks it was her before she realizes it’s not, was very sad. AND hello sword of fire! that was so cool. One behind the scenes mentioned that the Fade attacks are an homage to the draghkar attack on Moiraine, which I was satisfied with. This was way cooler.
I felt like 20 years of RP’ing various wheel of time forums were validated in the scenes inside the white tower. It felt like a nod to the superfans to follow Egwene through her day. I was so happy to glimpse new views of outside and inside the Tower. It really is a beautiful set and feels like a combination of a holy temple/shrine and austere, grand government building. And the moments of character that were infused were fun, such as the novices leaning over the rail watching the training warders spar and Alanna having a romp with her two warders in the bedroom much to Egwene’s shock!
The lesson with Alanna and the novices was like something I’ve written a hundred times. haha. She even tried the flower bud exercise. A non-book reader wouldn’t understand what she was doing, but it was really nice reference.
To be honest, the Great Hunt was kind of a boring book for me. Most of it was eaten up by the road with the boys hunting Padan Fain. It’s like a fantasy-novel road chase scene for me, which I usually skip through in movies. I’m pretty glad that they condensed that to a few pointed scenes and skipped several months. I was glad that amazon prime ‘extras’ tell you where the characters are. I couldn’t tell that Perrin and the Shienarans were in Arad Doman until I saw the trivia. I love seeing what people visualize as the geography, flora/fauna of the different countries. I always pictured Arad Doman as pretty tropical, and maybe it is along the coast, but the dry, shrubby landscape was a neat visualization.
I dont have a strong opinion either way about merging Elyas with the tracker that was used in the books. I thought it was a clever way to reduce the outrageous number of characters in the books and fluff up some supernatural powers that Perrin will eventually get. I loved Elyas’ look, too. His eyes were actually golden yellow in a way that makes you uncomfortable to look at them, which was how I always thought the wolfkin eyes should be. Maybe its because he just doesn’t blink very much? not sure what the otherness is.
Then there are little worldbuilding mythos looped in with the show, like the Shienarans whispering “Sheltered in the palm of the creator” when they come upon the corpses. Like its a neat nod to the culture of the WoT that doesn’t impact the show storyline at all, yet brings in the mythos.
Bayle Doman was cast really well, imo. when his accent spilled out and he said “be” in his speech, I fist-pumped the air. You all know I don’t care if they change storylines or move characters around, so the plot with Moiraine researching prophecies all by herself was a nice way to give her something to do when she basically did next to nothing in book 2. Doman brought her a piece of Cuendillar, which he said was from an old ‘moon dial’ that shattered last spring. My money is that it’s from the seal that Ishy breaks that releases what we presume is Lanfear, which looks like will be shown in episode 4 according to the episode preview. it seems the ‘poem’ he brought her was the same that Ishy chants when he grips the bloody hand in the episode 4 preview.
I loved the chat between Lan and Tomas. Lots of character being shown there. That’s something I noticed a lot more this season: loooots of character. For instance, Maksim correcting Nyn saying “Alanna…” with “Alanna Sedai, to you.” I smiled at that, him defending her. Another one is when Egwene visits Alanna in her room, and wow what a GREEN Alanna is, but Egwene kind of props herself on the cushion mimicking how poised and enchanting Alanna is naturally. Such a great moment of character for both of them. I also love how Alanna is always snacking! She’s like the Brad Pitt of WOT.
Okay Liandrin and Nyn: Can i comment on the wicked cool blade of Air that Liandrin conjured up then immediately dismissed it for how futile it is compared to what else she can do? WOW. The channeling is so beautiful this season.
Side note, Liandrin said after she shielded Nyn in her little demo in the kitchens: “you can still feel it but you can’t touch it, can you.” - and that is straight out of the mechanics of how shielding works. Which is almost exactly how Ishy spoke to Moiraine at the Eye. Saying it must be an awful feeling to still feel the source at the end of your fingertips but can’t touch it. Technically, if you are stilled or gentled, you’re suppose to not be able to even sense the source. Therefore, I take that as evidence that Moiraine is shielded. Coupled with the golden threads in Ishy’s palm, I think he knotted it/tied off the shield after he shielded her.
Which leads me to think that Moiraine is still bound by the 3 oaths. She even told Rand when he asked her to say that he died that she could not lie, but then he says she’ll work out a way. She does, she says “he’s gone” sadly, when if she was severed and the oaths gone, she could have said he died.
So I think she’s just max-shielded and cannot lie. It remains to be seen if the show will follow those same rules. but that’s my guess.
GLORY TO NEW MAT
I can’t say enough how much I love love love new Mat. I don’t think it’s just the absence of the darkness from the dagger. It’s Donal. I read an interview from him explaining his process for taking on Mat, how he analyzed Mat in the books as a character and as a member of the encore of characters, and he is a true Mat fan. Side note, Manflesh’s new favorite character is new Mat. (Previously, it was Lan - and he’s still a fan, but new Mat has taken over). And Liandrin psychologically torturing him was so mean. The sympathy meter is off the charts.
THE FADE ATTACKS
I gasped when the Fade moved into the shadow behind Moiraine. I was SOOOO happy to see them being the badass monsters they are. It was a huge payoff from season 1 when they were this sort of tangential threat. I loved how they followed the books, that they writhed on the ground dying but don’t actually die for a while. (technically its not till sunup). The behind the scenes talked about how the stuntment that did the Fades fought with this sort of supernatural style that really translated well. The sword fighting with Lan and the fades was chilling. CHILLING it was so cool. I thought it was wicked cool that 2 of them beat Lan. It shows that they are real threats and real dangers. and the little moment when Verin channels and Moiraine thinks it was her before she realizes it’s not, was very sad. AND hello sword of fire! that was so cool. One behind the scenes mentioned that the Fade attacks are an homage to the draghkar attack on Moiraine, which I was satisfied with. This was way cooler.