Think the cleverness of "anyone might be the dragon" lasts ok at first glance but as a very specific contributor to the underlying gender/magic politics and history im not sure they havent screwed up things a bit with it
Perrin/Mat backstories might make it easier for this rafe lad to jump things forward quickly but it's significant disimprovement on the patience you'd have hoped for- part of the energy of the first few books is the slow reveal and the very open feel of what might be happening as the characters and situations emerge
In one way Im relaxed now because the divorce from the source material is so complete and strong already that theres no emotional heft to this after two episodes and i can just watch it until the surprisingly cheap FX get to me, if i get into it (and it has plenty of good points) then great if not then great, but a bit of a pity
Whatever about Perrin, whatever about sex scenes and swearing (bad indicators here as to whether our producers have a feel for or care about our books i feel) its a scandal how abell cauthon has been done so dirty
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, 26 November 2021 09:32 (two years ago) link
Mainly i want to go on holidays to slovenia
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, 26 November 2021 09:34 (two years ago) link
The books more or less ruined fantasy for me when I was twelve.
Early in the fourth volume I realized Robert Jordan had no plan for how to finish the story, and I lost my taste for the genre. Giving up on a novel has never felt better.
It was so unsurprising when Robert Jordan died with this shit incomplete, what was it... thirteen years later. But I did (and do) feel bad for everyone who had stuck with it only to be cheated out of an ending by the original author.
― davey, Friday, 26 November 2021 11:23 (two years ago) link
XP darrahmac have you been to Slovenia before? I was lucky enough to visit a few years back and it was well worth the trip.
― davey, Friday, 26 November 2021 11:29 (two years ago) link
The whole region is high on my list, never went further than landing in bratislava and immediately coaching to vienna (lol ryanair)
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, 26 November 2021 12:12 (two years ago) link
The books are worthy (better than this imo) through 6 and pick up again at *disputed book number here* but this os ofc a matter of personal taste
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, 26 November 2021 12:15 (two years ago) link
the western side of lake bohinj is one of the most beautiful places on Earth(imo)
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 26 November 2021 18:04 (two years ago) link
yeah the landscapes are magnificent, nice one slovenia 👌🏻
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 26 November 2021 18:56 (two years ago) link
My non reader brother’s favourite character: Nynaeve Why: “she’s better than everybody else”— ciara📖 (@emmacarstairsgf) November 21, 2021
― mookieproof, Friday, 26 November 2021 20:32 (two years ago) link
Episode three:
Matts a good actor, sells the somewhat grittier shorthand world/story they are giving us here
Darkfriend shouldnt have been asked the philosophy, it was hollow stuff and as discussed jordan himself wasnt much cop beyond "riches or threat" at that level.
Merrilins nick cave was as bad as feared but i like the rest of him
Getting into it
Herself likes it without having any investment in the books, she has enjoyed witcher and shadow and bone and i guess its in those wheelhouses (of time) pretty squarely, when i can remember not to wonder what (change x) will mean for (what i know about the books) im sure its simple, fast-paced enough fare
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, 26 November 2021 22:20 (two years ago) link
Arams irish accent is fucking nonsense
Which is impressive bad acting given hes irish
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, 26 November 2021 22:39 (two years ago) link
can already see that show vs darragh's reactions will be the real entertainment value here
that said i find it quite decent, and am taking bets on when orla brady will appear
― mookieproof, Friday, 26 November 2021 23:21 (two years ago) link
Four eps in
This is good now, its own thing
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, 26 November 2021 23:24 (two years ago) link
They pronounce everything wrong, ofc
Maria Doyle Kennedy is, I think, trying for an irish traveller accent, i think thats a bit literal but a choice is a choice
Only just spotted merrillin as merlin whether thats just coincidence or jordan playing with names as is his wont or them pronouncing it that way (cf above) is hard to say
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, 26 November 2021 23:27 (two years ago) link
End of episode 4 - that didn't happen in the books right
Agree on MDK's accent it's definitely not her normal one but it's not a traveller either it's like "imagine you're still Irish but you have a different accent good luck"
― bespoke sausages (seandalai), Saturday, 27 November 2021 00:02 (two years ago) link
The paving on this show is so strange.
― ian, Saturday, 27 November 2021 21:08 (two years ago) link
The pacing too.
― ian, Saturday, 27 November 2021 21:11 (two years ago) link
crazy
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Saturday, 27 November 2021 21:35 (two years ago) link
pic.twitter.com/hGCpcjVq1d— Assmodean (@AsmodeanChosen) November 30, 2021
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 30 November 2021 18:30 (two years ago) link
i dont see an issue, and the potential was there, because of the extensive and immediate changes
Its not the books, nobody can mistake it for the books, wonder what theyll do with it
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Tuesday, 30 November 2021 22:41 (two years ago) link
I'm actually enjoying that while I'm reasonably confident as to the broad outline of where things will go (i.e. I think a one minute summary of the show's overall plot ultimately will basically match an equivalent summary of the books) I can't be sure of the specifics.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 1 December 2021 00:16 (two years ago) link
Yes, pretty much
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Wednesday, 1 December 2021 00:21 (two years ago) link
Disappointment: various kingdoms and lands are just gonna be transposed eg spain
In my head while reading its a lot freer, and its important imo to have the national/ethnic/whatever entities not shorthanded to the familiar
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Wednesday, 1 December 2021 00:26 (two years ago) link
episode 4 was v exciting! rand seems like such a smoothbrained idiot, i really dont care for the character or the actor at all so far everyone else v good, no complaints yet
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 1 December 2021 01:20 (two years ago) link
i have to say, i really love the CGI scenes where moraine is doing some incredible spell and lan is tromping around the spell's area effect, kicking ass like it's Diablo II
― skull. kneel. kneel. kneel. kneel. (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 1 December 2021 01:34 (two years ago) link
The bad news is that this contravenes major elements of the magic and world as written in several serious and important ways the good news well the producers liked it too i guess
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Wednesday, 1 December 2021 01:40 (two years ago) link
wait, why can't moraine charge up and do her cool magic spells?
― skull. kneel. kneel. kneel. kneel. (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 1 December 2021 02:46 (two years ago) link
Good new episode, I thought. Felt the last minutes were especially striking. Loial of course now the greatest character.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 3 December 2021 21:39 (two years ago) link
loial was really awkward/corny, but i suppose that's vmic
can only assume that making rand the least interesting person the wheel has ever spun out is being done on purpose? i guess it worked for star wars
― mookieproof, Friday, 3 December 2021 22:18 (two years ago) link
Won't be watching until tonight, but wishing I hadn't already stumbled on photos of Loial on Twitter already. Would have been a nice surprise to see how he was rendered.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 3 December 2021 22:25 (two years ago) link
Bad episode furthered nothing corny ending changes served no purpose at all
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, 3 December 2021 23:23 (two years ago) link
Given that I've landed closer to Ned's opinion than darraghmac's on the previous episodes, I'm still excited.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 3 December 2021 23:37 (two years ago) link
That Chris Eubank wannabe mf character is getting on my nerves, annoyed that he wasn't seen to be killed, hope a wolf polished him off.
― Maresn3st, Friday, 3 December 2021 23:57 (two years ago) link
pvmic i cried my face off during that ending
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 6 December 2021 05:24 (two years ago) link
I'm glad they made Perrin bad ass at the end of this last one, I was going to completely lose my shit if they decided to just have him cry through the entire series
― talkin' about his flat tire (DJP), Monday, 6 December 2021 14:26 (two years ago) link
I think the character is right i think the actor is fine i just think theyve given him nothing yet
Rand otoh given nothing yet and im still worried about the lad tbh
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Monday, 6 December 2021 15:08 (two years ago) link
Mat and Nynaeve are clearly winning the series so far
― talkin' about his flat tire (DJP), Monday, 6 December 2021 15:23 (two years ago) link
serious Hayden Christensen vibes from your man playing Rand alright
Show is a dutiful slog so far. Wonder what the general public makes of it
― Number None, Monday, 6 December 2021 16:40 (two years ago) link
I just don't feel like they've given Rand much chance to show off any kind of range at all yet.
Fwiw, my wife enjoys it and came to the show blind.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 6 December 2021 16:43 (two years ago) link
yeah I know nothing about the books and am enjoying the series thus far, it has done about the right amount of world-building and exposition as compared to actually advancing the plot. Agree that Rand is a bit of a charisma vacuum but the rest of the cast seems pretty good.
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Monday, 6 December 2021 16:51 (two years ago) link
Liandrin, and i mean look ok its why she was cast and its a living, ok, has just a great hateful face and i hated her straight away more than i should and i looked up other roles and shes from les mis, where if anything her hateful face is put to even better use
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Monday, 6 December 2021 17:20 (two years ago) link
it is an astonishing face. absolutely steals all its scenes
― mookieproof, Monday, 6 December 2021 22:19 (two years ago) link
Shes good in the role too, i dont want to undermine that, but yeah
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Monday, 6 December 2021 22:21 (two years ago) link
read a couple things about the series and found it exhausting. it's either 'this is not like the books' (don't care) or a representation scorecard (half the cast is people of color and half the characters in this world are evil -- there's gonna be some overlap, and also a lot of people are gonna get killed)
that said, making *both* eamon valda and padan fain black dudes seems . . . sketchy
i'm told the latter was in the crowd for logain's grand entrance, although i missed him
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 7 December 2021 21:52 (two years ago) link
in the show it's not yet apparent that padan fain is evil - I doubt anyone who has not read the books would have even noticed or cared that he was in the crowd in tar valon. And the Eamon Valda character is so much more impressive and magnetic than any whitecloak that actually appeared in the books - he's probably the best character in the whole show so far.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 7 December 2021 22:19 (two years ago) link
Im not sure the performance fits at all tbh, its trying to do a lot shorthand
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Tuesday, 7 December 2021 22:51 (two years ago) link
Just catching up now
Episode 5: Nothing happened
― bespoke sausages (seandalai), Wednesday, 8 December 2021 00:55 (two years ago) link
otm
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Wednesday, 8 December 2021 01:18 (two years ago) link
I did enjoy the whitecloaks beating up the crusties tbf
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Wednesday, 8 December 2021 09:24 (two years ago) link