Posts made by Rucket

@vixanic said in The Wheel of Time:

Finally have caught up to Episode 5 and thus been able to read this without being spoilered!

I am a long-time fan of the books, and I agree with a lot of what is said above, particularly about Perrin's wife. Though, most of the "hammer vs axe" stuff was his own inner dialogue in the books, so I can sort-of understand the need to externalise it.

The thing I've found most about the series though, is it's teaching me all the wrong ways I've been saying words in my head! Like the mention of Birgitte with the girl's doll, in my head that's been more of a 'birrzhitte' rather than 'bir-gi-ta'. That kind of thing. It's fun

I was spoiled by listening to the Kate Redding and Michael Kramer audio books haha. Listening to those after reading the series really helped hone a lot of pronunciations.

@silverfox said in Brandon Sanderson:

@rucket Yeah. Considering how some people here feel about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I was avoiding saying it.

Sorry, I'm not meaning it in a demeaning way. It's just that I kind of think his worldview stunts him in some areas of his writing. The man does really good work, I just think there are aspects that he could really work on. Besides, I am thankful he finished the Wheel of Time if nothing else.

@silverfox said in Brandon Sanderson:

I wonder, a little, if some of the shallowness comes from the fact that his books are squeaky clean when it comes to sex.

I think a lot of it has more to do with him being a Mormon. I've complained forever that he couldn't handle morally grey characters as well, everything in his storytelling felt very black and white, good v. evil, like there was hardly anything in between. And when he finished Wheel of Time, the one character of the core three who was one of the more complicated characters? He struggled a lot with and Mat is NOT the same character as he was in Books 4-11 after Jordan found his way with that character.

@seraphim73 said in The Wheel of Time:

I have to admit that I was disappointed that they cut Caemlyn/Elayne/Galad/Gawyn/Min entirely and transposed Loial and Logain's procession and a few other things to Tar Valon. But I understand why they did it, especially with only 2 episodes left. Blu and I finished the episode and looked at one another and said, "Other than people getting to Tar Valon and Perrin going wolf-y for the first time, was there anything that actually -happened- in that episode?"

Weellll, I get why you cut Caemlyn and go to Tar Valon. Also, Elayne is coming in Season 2 according to casting and Min IS in this season, so I'm curious to see if she pops up in Ep 6 or if she pops up in 7 or 8 (as there are 3 episodes left, not 2!)

And yeah, I see where you're coming from, but if I look at it from the perspective of someone not knowledgable about the lore or the setting, this one gives me more characterization and a chance to know more about stuff without having some more stuff thrown at us.

Another rewatch. Anyway, looked closely at the figurines that Steppin is checking out and ooohhhh boy, I'm happy that we are at least getting this fellow:

Sorry for the bad quality, had to cap on my phone since windows screen captures weren't working.

Spending some time at the Forsaken scene there are 8 figurines and they look to be, going from right to left --

1. Moghedien
2. Semirhage
3. Sammael
4. Ishamael
5. Lanfear
6. Asmodean
7. Demandred
8. Grendael

I'm not actually sad if they cut out some of them like Be'lal and Rahvin, tbh. If they only use 8, those are probably the key 8 that I'd use.

Love that Amazon drops episodes at midnight GMT so that we get to see them on Thursday evenings lol. Anyway, really enjoyed Episode 5, I think they did a good job building up a few characters and introducing another. Next episode is 6 and that was being highly spoken of by critics so I'm really looking forward to it.

@wildbaboons said in The Wheel of Time:

I saw an interview with the show runner that said he envisioned finishing the series off in 8 seasons. Given the current pacing I'm not sure how that will be possible without dropping a lot.

There was a lot in the books that could be cut but here is to hoping the later seasons are more than 8 episodes

Yeah I saw that too, and his point was that they didn't want to go longer than 8-ish because then people would age up a lot and the story really only takes place over like 2 years or so. Which I totally understand.

@wizz said in The Wheel of Time:

In the books, he does. He has a similar Talent to Siuan

Yeah I'm aware, sorry I worded that badly. I meant that the scene with Nynaeve wasn't him seeing a ta'veren, it was more the feedback from her going ham and doing a healer LB3 (to put it in Final Fantasy 14 terms) and saving the entire party.

@wizz said in The Wheel of Time:

@arkandel said in The Wheel of Time:

for instance Logain knew how strong Nynaeve was when she channeled (in the books a man can know if a woman channels but that's it) yet he was captured in the first place by Aes Sedai who infiltrated his camp and Shielded him before he was able to defend himself.

This is super unlikely to be the actual explanation, but my headcanon went instantly to the books, where Logain in fact has a Talent to see ta'veren. The first time he sees Rand in Caemlyn? He's "shining like the sun."

Personally, I always figured Egwene and Nynaeve were also ta'veren, though I don't think this was ever explicitly stated in the series? So that part made a lot of sense to me.

No, in the books the only three ta'veren where Rand, Mat and Perrin. However it does make sense to kind of broaden things to Egwene. As for Nynaeve, I don't think Logain saw ta'veren, my head is telling me that the simplest explanation is that after Moiraine's conversation that Nynaeve's explosive first channeling was far stronger and far more powerful than any of the Aes Sedai he had faced that everything resonated with him.

I mean, she basically upcast a Cure Mass Wounds upcast to the highest possible level. Shit had OOMPH.

@seraphim73 said in The Wheel of Time:

I agree with those above that the whole "The Dragon Reborn" could be a woman thing could be problematic for the Red Ajah, but it does have the interesting point of making souls genderless (theoretically), which is nice.

Yeah. I am not sure where I really fall on this. Like it could be interesting, but I also really like the idea of the Wheel of Time where you have people like Birgitte and Gaidal Cain who are destined to be born, Gaidal an ugly man, but Birgitte always falls in love with him. I think Sanderson/Jordan (can't say which) really highlighted this the moment when a certain person realizes that they and another person are one in the same, and that being reborn is not just about living again, it's about having a second chance.

But yeah, if the Red Ajah is hunting after male and female channelers, it really makes me wonder how a few Book 7-10 plotlines are going to be rolled into the overall story.

I dunno, the Show Runner said that this is "another turning of the Wheel" and I'm down with that. It's not a 1-for-1 of the books, but there's too much in the books to do 1-for-1. The story we're getting works, and important plot beats are still being hit. Plus the channeling looks cool.

And goddamn, if that fight we saw in Episode 4 is how Aes Sedai roll when they "feel in danger" I look forward to the people who have no qualms about tossing around the One Power without being bound to the three oaths, lol.

@arkandel I think so, yes. If I had to take a step back, the show is doing a good job of showing me people I should like: Moiraine, Alanna, Lan, the Eamon's Fielders, Logain (who is a king) and Thom (also a king). And doing a good job of showing me people I should not like: Liandrin, for example. Granted I KNOW these characters, but there's stuff they are doing that I think works well.

• Nynaeve and Lan have been fantasitic.
• Moiraine and Alanna having a personal chat while guarding Logain.
• Logain just being Logain, who is a king, but also the scene where he chooses to push past the madness and heal instead of kill was baller for showing the type of character he is.
• Thom's story to Rand was just, whew, really well done.

Yeah, I would LOVE it if Amazon started giving them 10 episode seasons, but so far things have worked really well. They've cut out a bunch of stuff that, quite honestly, could be cut out. Even if I'm sad for no Bayle Doman lol, but the characters are all standing on their own so far.

@Derp

I definitely remember not really giving a damn about Siuan until way, way later, after all that went down and we got to know a very different Siuan.

This is a fair point.

@derp said in The Wheel of Time:

@arkandel said in The Wheel of Time:

@derp I'm too big a purist to be okay with them changing any of the book relationships, dammit.

By the way I thought they handled the gay (bi?) Warders scene pretty well. No big deal about it, it flowed organically.

The one at the inn, too, where Rand was all, "If I wanted a man I could do better than Mat."

Oh man, I laughed at this line. In his current state, it's not an untrue statement but goddamn it Rand, you douche, lol.

@arkandel Yeah, the polyamorous relationship between a Green and her warders was on point. It was funny seeing Nynaeve's face for a sec when Lan went to go hang out with Moiraine though, lol. I'm really happy that the general characterization of their relationship is on full display. They are and have always been partners in their war against the Shadow, nothing less, nothing more. I hope we get to see more Aes Sedai and warders and their various relationships as the show progresses.

Hell, I would also love a few New Spring flashbacks too. Especially for Moiraine and Siuan.

@arkandel said in The Wheel of Time:

@three-eyed-crow Btw did you read that Mat's actor is changing in season 2?

No explanation was provided that I know of.

Yeah I'm a wait and see on that. Overall I've loved the casting so far, so if the new Mat comes in and does a great job then great.

@arkandel I mean, I'd be fine if most people had a top echelon of how strong they are with the power, keeping them on the same level, and then you have the Dragon who was already stated in the show as being "the most powerful channeler to have ever lived" lol.

@arkandel Hey, the Warders were fun and cool and tbh I like how personable all of them are, in the books they were way too grumpy and I think that would suck to watch on TV, lol.

The producers have said that some of the CGI work was impacted by COVID, so my hope is that Season 2 and beyond will be better in that regard.

... Also why did that Warder's axe break the Shield on Logain?

To set up Nynaeve going Super Saiyan, pft.

@runescryer said in The Wheel of Time:

Seriously, they could have used Master Luhhan for the same purpose with the same effect; Perrin accidently killing hismentor and father figure would have been devastating enough and served the same purpose, without creating a character from whole cloth.

I agree with this, and for what its worth, Brandon Sanderson himself commented on reddit that this was a suggestion he passed along as well.

@arkandel said in The Wheel of Time:

S P O I L E R S for Episode 4

For example I don't think anyone has said 'Saidin' or 'Saidar' once

Not outright, no but there's a clear difference between Saidin and Saidar given that Saidar is pure and white while Saidin has the taint wrapped up all in it, as can be seen whenever Logain channels. I think they are setting up how different the two powers are with the stuff we got on Logain and will see more/know more when the Dragon Reborn makes their debut.

I don't believe they've actually said male channelers are stronger on average than female channelers. Logain specifically was but that could be because he was an exception.

They haven't said anything on that either, but there were Aes Sedai there commenting on how strong Logain was. That said, Nynaeve is one of the strongest female channelers alive (barring 2 others in the book), so Logain sensing her power makes sense that he'd be shocked because he just wrecked the shields of two women who were holding him, and it took all 7 or 8 women (? I didn't get an actual count) present to block him and gentle him once they linked.

Also why would the Red Ajah hunt down all false Dragons if some are female? Wouldn't they rather train or use them against the Dark One's forces? There's no taint, there's no risk they'll go mad and kill everyone around them.

Hrm, I agree on this point. Unless the Dragon Reborn as a female could channel Saidin. There IS precedent for a female channeling Saidin, but that's not exactly something I could see the Creator/the Pattern approving, lol. This is one of my nitpicks as well. Like I GET it for the "mystery" and such, but there's some flaws in the basic logic unless there are reasonable explanations. Though I've heard one person kind of explain it as the Prophecies being mucked up because it's been 3,000 years and this is believable, so I've pushed past it and am enjoying it for what it is haha.

The focus on 'who is the Dragon Reborn' subplot is kinda weird.

I mean, Book 1 makes it abundantly clear, yes. But this is the first season of a TV show and there needs to be some build up to 'hook' viewers who aren't familiar with the source material. I'm fine with the mystery and the misdirects because it is ABUNDANTLY clear who the Dragon Reborn is, even in the show based on context clues that they have just punched viewers in the face if they are familiar with the series. So it's a give and take, and honestly Book 1 focuses very little on the other Eamon's Fielders, and the show is expanding things to show more viewpoints and give us better characterization of people like Mat, Perrin, Moiraine, Lan, Nynaeve, and others which I think is great because once the series gets going, it's far less about ONE person, and it's a much larger ensemble cast. Starting off with an ensemble makes perfect sense to me.

@derp Oh for sure. I have no real issues with the changes that have been woven in, just a nitpick here and there. My only thing is I just wish they had more time in the Two Rivers to explore one or two little things before everything went nuts. Not a big deal in the grand scheme, and I think Episodes 3 and 4 had a lot more character building which is what a show like this needs.

@ominous Oh damn, my eyes skipped right over that thread lol. Thanks for the heads up.