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Wheel of Time Season 2 (Sept 1 Amazon Prime)

The Gnat

By The Gnat
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Xenos

Xenos

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Matts4313 said:

So ive seen all the episodes, which then sent me spiraling into ~2-3 hours of researching all about the books, the characters, weaving, power levels, different tribes, etc. 

 

What a mess.... at least now I can enjoy the show with a half-arsed understanding of the general plot dynamics

The animated shorts help provide some background as well, especially the first one on the breaking of the world.

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Xenos

Xenos

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4 hours ago, SMashMouthMike said:

The Pacing and dialogue is much better after watching episode 4, although I thought Mat’s corruption was abrupt and convenient for that Fade encounter. It still was cool.

After Rand’s dream, I admit I was probably wrong about Perrin’s wife NOT being a Darkfriend.

I hope we get to see or are told how Thom survives that Fade ordeal, if he does. 
 

I’m glad I haven’t read the books considering how mad some of the book followers are getting at the ending of episode 4, and how much this show apparently departs from the author’s work.
Overall I’m enjoying it, but can see both of why some of the book followers are not, and why some viewers/critics might be put off by all the ‘magic’.


 

What if it’s Mat who drew the Fade?

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Xenos

Xenos

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1 hour ago, SMashMouthMike said:

Good question. I guess they’re in dire trouble. I don’t know how that cursed blade is supposed to affect things, but it seemed like the blade scared that Fade into the rafters?

Would have been nice to see a fight between Mat and the Fade then.

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Matts4313

Matts4313

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1 hour ago, Xenos said:

The animated shorts help provide some background as well, especially the first one on the breaking of the world.

Where do I find the animated shorts? They arent on the amazon page with all the WOT stuff. At least not for me. There are just some episode primers that are not animated. 

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Xenos

Xenos

Posted
Posted (edited)
31 minutes ago, Matts4313 said:

For anyone who cant find them - you play the episode on your computer, hit the pause button, click on the xray tab, click on bonus content and then youll see the "origin".

 

Why Amazon hid the content making it so hard to find, I have no clue

I’m glad you found them. I was going to tell you. Yeah, I wish it was a separate thing. But Amazon just has an awful interface.

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Matts4313

Matts4313

Posted
Posted (edited)

Okay so I came into this series completely blind - so I am going to give my general feedback on the story. That said, after watching the first 3 episodes I did a bunch of research, so because of that I am going to spoiler my comments.

Spoiler

First thing - it only took about halfway through the first episode for me to go "ya, Anakin dude is going to be the super hero". I really wish I had not confirmed that online, because episode 4 would have mind-f'd me. 

 

Here is my complaint: I feel like I was extremely confused in terms of scale when I finished the first 3 episodes. How big is the world? How immediately dangerous is the enemy (aside from typical fantasy trope)? I kinda understood that magic came from the one power, but outside of that, magic was screwing with me. 

1. What did magic allow them to do exactly? In the battle episode it kinda looked like it just allowed them to throw rocks. Not really that big of a deal. But then you see her healing people and go "wait, there is more to this".

2. How many people could use magic?

3. WTH was with all the different names that all seemed to mean "magic"? One, Light, Wisdom, Listener, etc

4. The dynamics of how magic worked in general

 

Now that the complaints are out of the way - clearly the story was intriguing enough that I invested extra time in learning. So thats obviously a huge plus. I do think the production value is very good - but its clearly not GOT level. Then again, most Amazon series seem just a notch or two below HBO. The only one that breaks that mold, imo, is Carnival Row which could absolutely be a HBO show. 

 

I dont know how the characters are supposed to be like - obviously as I came in blind - so all I can say is that I think the acting has been top notch. Especially the big fella (Perrain? is that how its spelled?), ive loved his parts. I read in this thread he wasnt supposed to be married to that chick at the start; I gotta tell you - its the best sub plot of the series so far. I dont know what to say to you book readers, I absolutely love that its haunting him. You really feel for the big guy and his struggle. 

Speaking of not calling that guy by his name - this series is going to suffer the same thing that all hi-fantasy does. The names are too weird and too hard to remember. I remember Rand and Mat; the other 3 I would have to look up spelling. That sucks. One of the nice things of GoT Jon, Jaime, Cersei, Dany, all very easy to remember. They are short and kinda common-ish. The 5th girl, black, uses the amazing power to heal Lan (another easy to remember) - - I will never be able to spell her name. We need a shorthand. 

 

  • The people of light, I am pretty sure you guys are calling them White Cloaks, need some more screen time. Because Amazon did a great job introducing them to us; now I want more. They are intriguing. 
  • I thought the monsters were very cool. I know they come from the "dark" guy (Dark God?, Satan?), but is it like LOTR where they are created out of dirt or whatever? Or do they procreate and have lil monsters?  
  • From my reading I quickly realized that the dagger was one of the trinkets/artifacts that give you super magic, but I am a little confused on how those artifacts are made and imbued with powers?
  • Part of my read up included the fact that Rand has 3 wives. We saw a little bit of polygamy in episode 4; but its going to be interesting to see how that plays out because its clear he and the Indian lady (Ewjean?) are both madly in love. Girl number 5 scoffed at the 3 going into the tent, so clearly its not widely accepted that people can have multiple partners. 
  • I feel like Logain should have been in more than just 1 episode before they neutered him. His character was done really well. I would have like to seen his power/army fleshed out more before they basically killed him off.  

Those are my initial thoughts. They are a lot. I didnt proof read all that yet - its kinda just raw vomiting all my takeaways. 

Edited by Matts4313
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Malfatron

Malfatron

Posted
Posted

I read the first 3 books, the prequel, and part of the 4th book

i really really like this series, but i only remember the broad strokes of the world

my wife is a fan girl who read and loved all the books. she likes the series(less than me) and is fairly critical of the stuff they changed

i think they do an excellent job keeping the lore and yet making an exciting and engaging tv product

 

i can understand the book peoples gripes. If they ever do a live action Confederacy of Dunces, im sure i would be up in arms too

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Fresh Prince

Fresh Prince

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Malfatron said:

this is a good article on it.

basically each color fits different roles and personailities

https://www.google.com/amp/s/screenrant.com/wheel-time-aes-sedai-colors-robes-roles-differences/amp/

Thanks for the link, it was a good read.

so the Red group tracks down men who have the same powers as them, only to remove said power. Harsh

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