So, I watched the first episode of Wheel of Time...

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Dark Elf, Jan 7, 2022.

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  1. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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    ... and I'm just going to say this: someone needs to be high-fived in the face with a chair.
     
  2. Barabbah

    Barabbah Member

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    It's that bad?

    Honestly I haven't even heard of this show.... :p
     
  3. Jungle Japes

    Jungle Japes Well-Known Member

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    So you must be a fan of the books then...

    I watched the whole season, and I actually liked it a lot. It was a little shaky at the start, but as the story comes together and the actors settle into their characters, I think it all works pretty well. Sure, there are cringe moments sprinkled throughout, but lets not kid ourselves by pretending that the source material isn't loaded with cringe of its own. Obviously the story had to be massaged and condensed to fit the medium, and while some of the decisions were head-scratchers (Perrin's backstory, for instance), I think they did a good job of narrowing the focus and producing something comprehensible and enjoyable.
    That's more than I can say for the final chapters of The Eye of the World, which are chaotic, bloated, and bewildering. I'll take the show's condensed version over that mess any day.
     
  4. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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    I have a funny relationship with the Wheel of Time series, in that while I have yet to read it in its entirety, the first few books will always have a special place in my heart on account of them being a pivotal part of what drew me to the fantasy genre. My brother used to read the Swedish translations back in the late 90s, and told me about the story quite enthusiastically, so naturally I read what books he had too. In my old age I've read the... first five, I think, in English. Anyway, I've probably read the first book about five times or so.

    One thing I've been saying for years now is that I am wary about live-action adaptions of written works, because I don't like it when things are changed. Perhaps I should have said changed needlessly, because I get that things have to be condensed and omitted due to the time constraints inherent to the medium, but it's all about how that is done. For example, cutting Tom Bombadil out of the Fellowship of the Ring made enormous sense, since his inclusion would just have proved a distraction from what was already a three-hour movie. No, what I find grating is when changes are made that deviate from the essence of the original. The Lucifer Netflix series is a good example, where I simply found the lead actor too damn glib. Yes, a certain glibness was always part of Lucifer's character, but he coupled that with a sense of gravitas, and what's-his-name didn't do it for me.

    The first episode of The Wheel of Time felt like it was rushing through things at a maddening pace. Dialogues and relationships between the characters felt disjointed, shallow and devoid of context - which made the drawn-out fighting scenes seem even worse, since they took valuable time away from the character development and explanation of the lore they should have banked on instead. Making it possible for the Dragon Reborn to be a woman changes something essential to the story, which is the sense of foreboding inherent in a powerful male channeler inevitably going insane, which everyone knows and responds to in different ways. I didn't really get the feel, either, that the Bel Tine of that particular year was special in any way, which you get in the book. You know, the spring that didn't really come and so on - I always imagined Emond's Field to be grey, overcast and cold (something about the filters used just made it seem too warm to me). Rand doesn't see the Myrddraal on his way to Emond's Field, Perrin has a wife, and, gah... I could keep going.

    EDIT: And yeah, the excessive, blatant wokeness. There, I said it.

    Just didn't do it for me, and I'm a bit sad about it.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2022
  5. Jungle Japes

    Jungle Japes Well-Known Member

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    Rather than a massive info dump at the beginning, they opted to unpack the lore gradually throughout the season. Your criticisms are valid, but I would encourage you to keep watching because it gets better. If you're not onboard after the fourth episode, it's probably not for you.

    I did read all the books (what, 13, 14 of them?), and there's a lot of fluff in those thousands of pages. A lot of ground gets retread multiple times, and there's plenty of uncompelling story arcs that can afford to get the axe. But there's also a lot of good stuff to draw from, so hopefully the show finds the right mix moving forward.
     
  6. Smuel

    Smuel Well-Known Member

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    The only thing I know about the Wheel of Time books is that there is a character called Mat who wears a hat.

    If I find out the TV series has changed this in any way I will be outraged.
     
  7. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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    Would you be okay with a character called Map who wears a cap?
     
  8. Smuel

    Smuel Well-Known Member

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    Tell me they didn't. What's next, the cartoon version has a character called Melmet?
     
  9. Arthgon

    Arthgon Well-Known Member

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    Or maybe they are calling the character Bonnet.
     
  10. Smuel

    Smuel Well-Known Member

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    Hey, did you know that a Fedora is also a type of hat?
     
  11. Arthgon

    Arthgon Well-Known Member

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  12. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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