So true and so funny. As someone who has read the first book around 20 times, it never made sense. Perhaps Jordan had some ideas he would have included in the last book that would clarify the ending of the first book, but who knows.

Fair.

Egwene is the only one that is kind of weird looking to me.

I had the same thought about the accents, maybe all the Aiel will be American because, well, we're badass.

Everyone knows Vague European is the true accent of fantasy

Brandon Sanderson, the author who finished the books for Jordan and who also severs as a consulting producer on the show made some Reddit posts with some interesting behind the scenes information. Basically he was pushing for it too be less grim and have more hope. He's trying to make it be less Game of Thrones.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/qxt9h5/some_thoughts_from_brandon_episode_one/

https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/qy2r52/some_thoughts_from_brandon_episode_two/

https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/rc4u6b/some_thoughts_from_brandon_episode_three/

Haven't read those links but why have more hope? This isn't a Hallmark movie/series.

If they try to neutralize all the good/bad it will make it bland, and any dire or hopeful moment will just end up being diminished. Contrast of two opposite moments is what reels people in, not smoothing it out.



Edit, read the posts and Brandon seemed to disagree with the gore to some extent and WoT is generally about hope.

Took this from him:

Quote:

---

By the time I had reached this episode in my reading, I'd already cemented in my mind my personal canon that this is a completely different turning of the wheel from the books. That helped me focus on helping the story be the best version of what Rafe wanted to make, rather than fixating on whether each scene should be replaced with one more directly from the books.

---

At first glance the "different turning of the wheel" is a cop out excuse for the people that aren't happy with the changes. I guess time will tell if people will stick with it for 8 seasons.

So, I couldn't help myself. I read a couple of spoiler threads regarding the last episode. I think book readers are going to be disappointed if what I read is true. Not trying to be "that guy", just wanted to post a warning to the super fans to prepare yourself for some drastic changes from the origin - changes that I really do not see the point behind them.

I keep saying to myself that this series is for non book readers, but I hope what I read is wrong. Just brace yourself.

Q&A with Rafe Judkins

https://www.wotseries.com/2021/12/23/qa-rafe-judkins-and-alvaro-morte/

I'm not sure if any of this episode was in the book at all....

Edit...but that ending

I was about to quit the show if they killed Nyneave off.

I thought it was a mostly good episode but the channeling women was stupid and so was Moraine losing her powers. No idea why they did either of those.

Quad Dog said:

---

Brandon Sanderson, the author who finished the books for Jordan and who also severs as a consulting producer on the show made some Reddit posts with some interesting behind the scenes information. Basically he was pushing for it too be less grim and have more hope. He's trying to make it be less Game of Thrones.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/qxt9h5/some_thoughts_from_brandon_episode_one/

https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/qy2r52/some_thoughts_from_brandon_episode_two/

https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/rc4u6b/some_thoughts_from_brandon_episode_three/

---

Sanderson is a great author but obviously not good tv consultant. I hope they never make his books into tv shows.

AustinScubaAg said:

---

Quad Dog said:

---

Brandon Sanderson, the author who finished the books for Jordan and who also severs as a consulting producer on the show made some Reddit posts with some interesting behind the scenes information. Basically he was pushing for it too be less grim and have more hope. He's trying to make it be less Game of Thrones.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/qxt9h5/some_thoughts_from_brandon_episode_one/

https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/qy2r52/some_thoughts_from_brandon_episode_two/

https://www.reddit.com/r/WoT/comments/rc4u6b/some_thoughts_from_brandon_episode_three/

---

Sanderson is a great author but obviously not good tv consultant. I hope they never make his books into tv shows.

---

To be fair...he can only suggest things...they don't have to listen.

Whoa whoa whoa.

His stories are fantastic. His take on so many of the sci-fi/fantasy tropes are engaging and thorough.

Just bc he's where he is re: WoT doesn't dismiss his actual writing.

That said this show needs to stop trying to be GoT as stated previously in this thread.

Let's see where we stand

Rand - fought off the Dark Ones temptation, channeled and made the DO go poof. Assuming the seal at the eye was one of the DO's seals
Mat - back at the White Tower (I think that's where he was)
Perrin - wasn't happy about not doing anything, then ended up....not doing anything. Well I guess he picked up an axe
Egwene - linked with 4 other women and wiped out a 20K+ Trolloc army, then healed Nynaeve from the brink of death?
Nynaeve - part of the above link, "died" but healed by Egwene. I guess they aren't going with the whole can't channel unless mad thing.
Lan - ran through the Blight to reach Moiraine and arrived after everything had happened. Moiraine being stilled had no affect on him
Moiraine - was stilled after helping Rand get to the EOTW by the DO
Uno and Company - unearthed the Horn of Valere, then instantly killed
Loial - helped unearth horn and then died
Min - saw many visions of people dying, then seen leaving with old/children when fleeing the city
Fal Dara - Algemar and sister are dead along with most if not all of their army
Padan Fain - walks away with the horn, guess that will be "The Hunt" and he has the dagger
End Scene - Seachan have arrived and we saw their channelers

Random thoughts
Seems Ogier might not play any further role in the series, I can't see them introducing another one and I really don't recall them doing a whole lot, especially since they aren't really needed for The Ways now.
That Fal Dara buildup meant nothing when they instantly wiped out the army and no fighting with Trollocs, just shooting arrows from the Gap fortress? Feels like they ran out of $$ for special effects and just made it work.
EOTW showdown was going well, that actor was doing a fantastic job as the DO then it just ended. I will need to reread the first book because I don't remember what happened.
I think my biggest gripe is how narrow they are making everything, there's a lot of content and some needs to be trimmed, but it feels like too much to me.

Wow… that really sucked all the way around Rafe. And I do blame Rafe completely. These changes don't even make sense. The characters are straying further and further away from the books as well.

Super hype with the cold open of 3000 years ago and they even screwed that up. I'm a huge fan of the series so will never stop watching but geez this sucks.

Yep. Not sure why they changed so much when introducing green man and then killing him off and running the same scenario that you stated would've stayed closer to the books.

Guess season 2 is getting the horn back from Fain?

Moiraine getting stilled by the DO is head scratching unless it leads to Nynaeve finding out how ti heal it.

Feels like everything in this last episode was new (although it has been almost a decade since I've read the series).

Honestly, I didn't hate what they did with the story, but I felt the execution was lacking a little bit, it just felt a little rough around the edges.

I should note that I find exact adaptations boring, I hate watching something knowing how everything happens to a T, I need alterations to keep things fresh.

What someone said her about setup is right though, they drop a line about Sheinar (sp?) and my first thought is oh yea, they are there, wait, have they said that yet in previous episodes?

It's kind of similar to their use of the words "dark friend." The use of that phrase is on the level of skirt smoothing and braid tugging in the books. I don't feel like they've said anything here since the inn keeper episode earlier on. Adjusting character dialogue to let the audience know that they're there and something the characters are concerned about takes 2 seconds and costs $0.

The Moraine and Rand excursion felt great, the dreams especially. I felt like they pulled from the last battle in MOL about that version of Egwene (Elayne) not being truly her because she wouldn't make that choice to be the version of her that is presented in the dream.

It looks like they're jumping Rand's arc straight to book 3.


In the city and the Gap were where it felt choppy to me. I felt like they kept showing the Gap like they wanted us to notice something and my only thought was that there's clearly something there but I have no clue what its supposed to be.

I'm still not entirely sure where the army appeared from. Yes I'm aware its from the blight but Moraine and Rand seeing them but not seeing them felt disorienting.

The set-up for the battle at the wall and the battle itself felt rushed.

Did they have an accepted (the Lord's sister) kill the entire army and 60 fades with the help of 5 channelers? Ok, I guess, I liked the visuals.

And then Nyneave becomes burnt popcorn. Can the power bring back people from the dead in the books? I can't remember.

In the city-Perrin ran in a circle while being very confused about what and who he is, cool. They killed Loial to get a reaction out of book readers or they're not sure how he fits with the rest of the story. If I had not read the books, I feel like I'd be very confused about why he was introduced and tagged along to begin with.

I'm pretty sure reading through my thoughts is about the equivalent to the choppiness of the episode, my apologies.

Choppy, but warranted, bud.

1. Loial was wounded. I think he survives.
2. Roght on about the minor adaptations. Not so much the full on "dragon can be male/female. The minor chamhes keep ke watching. The major changes make me question.
3. I don't remember the one source bringing someone bck from death, but it has heen a bit.

NM

I'm pretty sure it was the shadar logoth dagger that was used by Fain, maybe they go with Moiraine cleansed it if Loial survives.

Too bad Egewene doesn't also heal the others around her….

Well, I for one am happy with the 6 part trailer for the Wheel of Time series. When does the first season start?

Seriously, I found myself thinking that this is the Cliff Notes version. Here is the important things you need to know without all of the messy words that are involved in making the story a cohesive unit.

I also do not understand why the characters who play Rand and Perrin ALWAYS have their mouths open. Do they have a nasal blockage that prevents them from breathing through their nose?

Really wish they would have shown the Green Man and the Eye of the World. I agree with the poster above who stated that the showrunners must have run out of money because the battle of Tarwin Gap was poorly done. Why did they assemble outside the wall just to ride into it? It felt like the last battle of Winterfell in Game of Thrones that was so dark you couldn't tell what was going on.

If they ran out of money, what did they spend it all on? Because Amazon is getting a bad deal here for the money they paid out. I hope they fire Rafe ASAP and bring in somebody else that can fix this mess he's making of everything. I actually feel somebody else could do a better job for less $/episode.

Do we know Nynaeve actually died? Or had she just passed out? It wasn't real clear...will watch again tonight.

The amount of effort depicted to "revive" Nynaeve didn't seem like what would be required to resurrect someone from death. If she was dead, then they've got their magic system really out of whack, imo.

She looked about the same as the others that "died". Who knows, but trying to have a shocking scene with a main character apparently dying, then being perfectly okay minimizes the whole event.