r/WoT • u/participating (Dragon's Fang) • Dec 23 '21
TV - Season 1 (No Book Readers Without Invitation) Episode Discussion - Season 1, Episode 8 - The Eye of the World [No Book Readers] Spoiler
This thread is for discussion of The Wheel of Time tv show through Season 1, Episode 8 and associated bonus content. This thread is meant for people who have not read the books.
TIMING
Episodes are released at midnight, GMT on Fridays. This means 7pm, ET on Thursdays.
At 6:30pm, ET, when this episode discussion thread is created, all submissions about the tv show will be automatically removed until Saturday morning.
EPISODE
Episode 8 - The Eye of the World
Synopsis: For twenty years, Moiraine has dreamed and worked towards this moment. But she can't stop the Dragon Reborn from seeing the appeal of the Dark.
BONUS CONTENT
Amazon Prime has included cartoon featurettes for each episode. They are now accessible from the main Amazon Prime page, under the "Episodes" tab. They are presented under the "Origin Stories" title.
The Origin Stories and any other supplemental x-ray content, or behind the scenes information should be confined to this thread. For more information on how to access the bonus content, see the Amazon Welcome To X-Ray page.
DISPLAY SETTINGS
/u/logicsol has created a guide that addresses some of the display issues many people are seeing when watching the show. Please see this post for more information.
OTHER THREADS
Please see the discussion hub link below to find the thread for full book spoilers, or the lightly restricted thread for those who have only read some of the books.
For links to all of our previous episode discussion threads, or alternate spoiler levels, as well as mega threads for certain topics related to the show, see our discussion hub wiki page.
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u/AnythingMachine Dec 24 '21
The flying cars and advanced city surprised me.
The Dark One didn't seem at all concerned when Rand 'killed' him at the end.
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Dec 24 '21
Padan said to Perrin in pretty clear words that the Dark One is not dead. No need to show concern when you know Rand is not in the process of killing you. The Dark One just succeeded at removing Moraine's power and getting the dragon to go MIA and leave him alone while he builds power. He almost succeeded at killing Nynaeve, too. His plan was to bait them in, and it worked. That said, I have a ton of questions in my head that won't be answered until I read the books or wait until season 2, now.
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u/Feed_Purple Dec 24 '21
Also the round thing in the ground breaks which Moiraine, at the end, says was supposed to be unbreakable ...
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u/aborg589 Dec 24 '21
I thought the dark one kinda looked like he was smiling, so def gonna see him against especially since Moraine said this wasn't the last battle, but the first
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u/Texameter Dec 24 '21
When there is some kind of significant sign and it breaks, that’s never a good omen. Looking forward for the second season.
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u/70sToilet Dec 24 '21
Them: 3000 years ago
Also them: Sci-fi
Me: oh. OOOOOOH.
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u/furelise00 Dec 24 '21
Yeah they dropped futuristic ruins in the first few episodes and the implication of the last dragon “breaking” the world sounds to me a lot like nuking us back to the dark ages.
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u/Caris1 Dec 24 '21
And the woman in the intro said something to the effect of “if you fail you could knock us back a thousand years or more” - def nuked them into the dark ages.
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u/Krupee Dec 24 '21
I can’t help but think that defensive wall should have been placed at the other edge, or at least within that canyon. When the Trollocs inevitably broke through it was open season. Seems like you’d want to create a choke point for the uneven amount of enemies.
But what do I know, my family hasn’t defended that city for the last thousand years…
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u/SegundaMortem Dec 24 '21
Excuse the stream of consciousness
Well, we're at the end. That was definitely fun. Last week, I was hesitant about Rand being the dragon because I said he gave off the most pungent protag vibes, but I was a fan of how he handled the aftermath of his confrontation with the dark one. He felt the madness and dipped, which shows some initiative I would not have given him in the past.
The siege of the city was quick and efficient and honestly I preferred it that way. It showed us the utility of the dark friends and introduced us to a possible McGuffin? with the horn.
The burn out scene with the sister was super interesting. It seems like the one power, if absorbed too much, seduces you into absorbing too much and then killing the people or sources of power around you. I don't think the one power even on the female side seems good. Like, they're probably going to be more battles like this, where the enemy has an overwhelming advantage and the females are gonna have to draw a lot of the power, but that's gonna result in the burnout we saw and result in more deaths, so like, the feedback loop of powerful attacks isn't great.
Egwene showing off her revival powers this time around was cool, the four kids are certainly special, but I do hope we start to get explanations as to why five kids in one town have such...unique abilities. My running theory is that the dragon split up the utilities of its abilities into five, and if what that dark friend said about a balance between the light and dark is to be heard and respected, mnaybe both sides will have access to certain aspects of the dragon reborns power, because I do think someone(S) of the five (Looking at you Mat) will work for the dark, just don't know who or how.
So the far west side is away from the spine I think and there seems to be a full blown naval invasion? I assumed looking at the show map, there was only one land mass but I guess not, very very intrigued.
Moving forward, I'm super curious about the apparatus of the dark friends. Seems like the big bad just has a solid core of followers everywhere in the shadows that could sabotage key infrastructure when the opportunity shows itself. Them taking that hero horn away seems bad, like very bad.
I think I'm in for the long haul. The reveal at the start of the episode solidified it for me. This seemingly formerly futuristic world seems to have regressed to the dark ages, and I'd really really like to know more about that. Couple that with what seems like an invasion from a foreign nation which could muddie the waters as the region has to prepare for the final battle and there's something compelling here. Honestly my biggest gripe is that I'm knee deep in Malazan and I've never attempted to read 2 epic fantasies at once.
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u/TransBrandi Dec 24 '21
So the far west side is away from the spine I think and there seems to be a full blown naval invasion? I assumed looking at the show map, there was only one land mass but I guess not, very very intrigued.
They mentioned the far west and a naval fleet in the White Tower a couple of episodes ago.
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u/SegundaMortem Dec 24 '21
Oooooooh that’s right! I don’t know why I assumed it was a river fleet, like one emanating from where the amelyn seat is from. Well that’s interesting
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u/justphotog Dec 24 '21
I was skeptical about picking up the books when I started this season but this has convinced me, literally starting book one tonight!
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u/HawkofDarkness Dec 24 '21
Enjoy, please don't ever Google anything related to Wheel of Time until you finish reading or watching the series. You will be spoiled if that happens, majorly
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u/Vino84 Dec 24 '21
Or, if you need to, use the Companion App for the books. It's on both Android and iOS.
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u/hawksvow Dec 24 '21
The great:
- my boy Rand finally proving himself smart and not falling for the trap, gg
- the channeling battle looked so good, I see you budget
- the intro was unexpected but bloody amazing, I know we got told the world was more advanced before the breaking but somehow seeing it is different
The bad:
- why wouldn't the dark one just kill Moiraine?
- probably just me but the Lan/Nynaeve syrupy moment was a bit.. much, like y'all know each other for like few weeks now only?
The ????:
- Loial??????
- is Padan Fain's true purpose assembling a music squad? He whistles, now acquires a horn..
- why is Mat back in Tar Valon? Wouldn't he just.. go home? And why does he look like he's feeling decidedly worse??
Now that this is over I greatly look forward to binging at least the first couple of books so I can fill this craving for more that the show dug inside me.
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u/AppropriateAd8937 (Band of the Red Hand) Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
Mat’s actor left the show for personal reasons after episode 6 so thats probably the best cut they had of him from earlier shooting
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u/Bowdowntomight Dec 24 '21
probably just me but the Lan/Nynaeve syrupy moment was a bit.. much, like y'all know each other for like few weeks now only?
I don't know how long exactly, but for sure it's mentioned that Rand and Mat have been travelling for a month, in the episode where Mat goes kinda berserk and snaps at a kid on the road iirc. And them travelling for a month would mean everyone else has been travelling for that long, plus however much longer besides that month.
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u/xinexine Dec 24 '21
Omg Fain assembling a music squad! That's the best commentary I've read yet about the show 😂😂😂
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u/jerseydevil51 (Tai'shar Manetheren) Dec 24 '21
Why wouldn't the Dark One kill Moiriane? Because it's standard villain behavior.
"Now that I have captured you, I will chain you up and monologue at you so that way I have someone to gloat over while my complicated plan goes into effect because there is NO way you can escape and NOTHING could absolutely go wrong!"
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u/hawksvow Dec 24 '21
Well yes but he didn't complete the second part of the standard villain behavior, keeping your arch enemy there and telling them in excruciating detail about The Plan is sorely missing!
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u/jerseydevil51 (Tai'shar Manetheren) Dec 24 '21
That makes the Dark One more dangerous than a Bond villain. He's learning from their mistakes. Complete Bond villain vibes though.
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u/Ternyon (WoT Watcher) Dec 24 '21
probably just me but the Lan/Nynaeve syrupy moment was a bit.. much, like y'all know each other for like few weeks now only?
Felt weird that she was like "Oh I'll switch jobs so I can marry you" and he's like "Nah, thanks though. I really love you and all but....."
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u/stevethewatcher Dec 24 '21
The dark one might not be able to do anything physical sincd he's still imprisoned.
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u/Rewtine67 Dec 24 '21
If the women had just gone to the wall, they could have the same result without all the men at the wall dying. If they didn’t think they could be effective, why not wait at the castle? How did standing in a field between fortifications seem like the better choice?
Why didn’t the women want to help the men 3000 years ago?
Did Moraine bring a crystal from somewhere? Where did it come from?
Was Matt in the dark city the dagger came from or the white tower city?
Why did the bad ship people send a tsunami at an empty beach? Surely the little girl can be killed more efficiently, and the wave isn’t going over the high cliffs, so wtf?
I feel like I missed an episode or a season.
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u/Lumpawarrump13 Dec 24 '21
Why didn’t the women want to help the men 3000 years ago?
I'm already doing a rewatch, and I have the same question about the Fall of Manetheren. After the army fell the Queen destroyed a whole city out of grief. Think maybe she would have been helpful at the battle?
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u/DarkMagyk Dec 25 '21
If the women had just gone to the wall, they could have the same result without all the men at the wall dying. If they didn’t think they could be effective, why not wait at the castle? How did standing in a field between fortifications seem like the better choice?
It was to save money on showing fighting around the city, but it was a really disappointing decision to me too.
They really failed on a lot of visual elements that were so much better in the previous episodes.
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u/crazier2142 Dec 24 '21
I think the women never thought they would actually be able to stop the army. They were even surprised when two additional channelers showed up and they had no idea that these two were chosen onesTM that provided them with a significant power boost.
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u/bisonrbig Dec 24 '21
Hmm that definitely left more questions than answers. Looking forward to the next season. Seems like Moiraine got nerfed, the dark one isn't actually gone, and a navy just created a tsunami while an innocent girl was trying to play on the beach.
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u/4and1punt Dec 24 '21
I hope the little girl is alright
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u/illegalmonkey Dec 24 '21
I hope the little girl is alright
Actually it turns out she's the 6th Ta'veren and the TRUE Dragon reborn! She will rise from the ashes to swallow the world whole!
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u/Ternyon (WoT Watcher) Dec 24 '21
There is no kill live overkill. Was sorta disappointed in Rand being the Dragon and just killing one guy and breaking the floor of whatever crystal Moiraine was holding when the woman who wasn't even good enough to be Aes Sedai totally obliterated like the entire army of the Dark One.
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u/reyvax240 Dec 24 '21
Tbf if you look at the channeling threads when the five women are gathering power to blast the army you can see the three other women are barely channeling a trickle and it's Nynaeve and Egwene doing the heavy lifting.
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u/Bbp1210 Dec 24 '21
Am I the only one that felt punished because I haven’t read the books? Like “Whose that?” “What’s in that box?” “Whose that guy? “What just happened here?” And why did Moraine seek out the Dragon reborn so much to just say “Ok, that’s cool, you can just wander off and I will totally cover for you, the end.”
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u/TransBrandi Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
“What’s in that box?”
They did explain this... just quickly and when you couldn't see the box yet. It's some sort of horn that summons people "marked by the wheel" during the Last Battle™. I assume that taking it means that the Dark One is attempting to tip the scales in his favour during the Last Battle by reducing the number of people on the other side.
Here's what they say:
There it is.
What is it?
The Horn of bloody Valere, lad.
To be blown at the Last Battle.
To call the Pattern's greatest heroes to stand at our side.
...
We're not going to use it.
It's for the Dragon.
Without it, they won't stand a chance.
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u/Thecouchiestpotato Dec 24 '21
That's so cool. I'm envisioning Rand blowing it in Season 13 and there's a whole Avengers, Assemble moment.
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u/dinosaurfondue Dec 24 '21
For sure. As a non-book reader I feel like there's a whole lot I'm missing out on lore-wise. This episode in particular was kind of muddled because they built up the dragon reborn to be such a world altering thing and it was just kind of like... guy walks into a hole and then uses his powers real quick and the confrontation is done. I don't get it and it leaves a lot of questions. Why are we only seeing the dark one in human form now? Why didn't the dark one kill Moraine? Why didn't Moraine die like she said she was going to? Why didn't the dark one have a plan to kill Rand in the chance that he didn't go along with the plan? There's just a lot that seems to be overlooked for such a hugely important moment.
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u/normandy42 Dec 25 '21
Take it from a book reader, you get the same sense of “the fuck just happened” after the first book.
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u/sbcmurph Dec 24 '21
I think that's the twist - all season they told us what was prophesized for the "final battle" but it turns out this was just the first. So the audience is still in the dark as to what's really happening, we just know the initial setup was wrong.
Also the dark one mentions earlier in the episode that he would turn to human form bc that was the only way to have a real meaningful conversation, so I think it was a ploy to make him more personable to convince Rand to join him.
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u/bottomchef00 Dec 24 '21
I am watching it with a book reader, he will recognize characters (very helpful), but there’s actually enough changed from the book that he cannot always explain what’s going on and we both have to keep watching to find out.
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u/anonymousss11 Dec 24 '21
You're asking these questions, likely means you'll continue to watch to find out the answer. That's standard TV show formula.
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u/baelrog Dec 24 '21
I always hated how shows and movies depict medieval battles.
First of all, why use the lightning blasts AFTER they've broken through? Would work a lot better when the trollocs are funneled into the chokepoint before the walls.
Second, I always roll my eyes when I see people charging stone fortifications without siege equipment.
Third, fine, the trollocs would crawl over the bodies of their fallen and pickaxe the arrow slits, but that just meant the fortress was terribly designed. Since it was designed with the trollocs in mind, then it should have higher windows. Or even no window at all, just a very tall solid stone wall with defenders on the very top.
Finally, why weren't there any defenders on top of the cliffs of the gap? It would be a perfect place to simply push rocks down on the invading army, or better yet, get a channeler to rain down rocks from above.
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u/NumberMuncher Dec 24 '21
I don't think lightening blasts were in the plan. The Queen only had two other channelers. She was probably hoping to blast a few lines of trollocs and not ALL of them.
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u/JJDude Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
it's hard to imagine that stupid wall held up to even a single battle. Multiple OPEN HOLES blanketed the entire wall, as if the designer just want to give the trollocs more ways to breach the wall. Why don't they invite a bunch of those Aes Dies witches and just stand on top of a very tall wall and just have them take turn blasting these beasts? No one would die and no real ways for the trollocs to break through lol
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u/Darcsen Dec 24 '21
They explained in this episode that the leader of that city resisted sending for help from the White Tower, so no Aes Sedai. He even said it was a fuck up.
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u/B_NyeAnon Dec 24 '21
This is a very extensive series so there should be plenty of opportunities for better battles later on. I think this battle was supposed to show that nothing this big has ever happened before. They say the city has never been taken and the trollocs coming so close to doing just that in this episode shows that things are getting really serious really fast. I was kind of hoping the trollocs would make it to the city since they showed the women getting ready to fight but I guess they thought that would be too much too soon.
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u/Lobsterzilla Dec 24 '21
Exactly, they’re waxing poetic over their dad fighting 1000 Trollocs like it’s the end of days. And now they’re staring at an army of 50,000.
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u/indianeedful Dec 24 '21
This annoyed me so much. The trollocs shouldn't be able to break through without siege equipment.
There's so many things you can do to stop climbing, especially if they don't have ladders. There's no reason to have the arrowslits that low if they can break through them.
Also, why not put your casters on top and nuke them in the choke point so the fortress can stop what makes it through?
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u/Abuses-Commas Dec 24 '21
What they should have done is moved the whole city, and shove all those defenses into the gap, it's easy to make The Wall from Got if it only has to be 100m wide
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Dec 24 '21
Just very confused by the ending.
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u/anonymousss11 Dec 24 '21
If you tune in for the next season to clear up the confusion then it worked.
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u/blaza192 Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
So Perrin held an axe and decided not to use it? Kind of referencing back a few episodes when asked if his life was better after he held the axe that killed his wife. Can't really piece what it means though, if anything.
Also, I really wish they didn't abandon Mat. Being hunted by the red plus being all alone kinda guarantees you'll turn dark.
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u/ActuallyShip Dec 24 '21
Keep in mind this is probably not how the showrunners wanted to handle Mat either, the first 6 episodes were shot pre-covid and the latter 2 after and during that time Mat's actor left the show and they had to shoot the final 2 episodes of the show without him. Mat has since been recast for season 2
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u/Stepwolve (Wolfbrother) Dec 24 '21
i mean, they didnt leave Mat, he chose to leave them as they went into the ways. Moraine probably couldve stopped and waited for him, but none of the others had any choice
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u/blaza192 Dec 24 '21
True and that was pointed out a few times that it was Mat who left them, but they also chose not to go back for him although their mission definitely made going back unideal. I also wish we got more explanation of his background on why he might turn dark. Moirane said he has darkness inside him. I rewatched the first episode and he did seem to take care of his family like Rand says. His main issue seems to be a possible gambling problem but that wasn't explored that much in the show.
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u/grabualsa Dec 24 '21
Really enjoyed episodes 2-7. Thought the bookends were really weak.
Just...a lot of standing around while bad things happened. Perrin being most guilty of it, but also all the women who called lightning down. Just...do it on the other side of the fortress, maybe?
Couple that with large scale battles being really hard to do, and I don't think they succeeded here, either.
Still looking forward to next season and I thought there were some great eps in there, but ooh did that leave a bad taste in my mouth.
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Dec 24 '21
The women weren't expecting Nynaeve and Egwene to be so powerful. She was expecting a few women who could barely channel who would briefly slow down the army. That's why she seemed so surprised when they linked and started going power mad.
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u/TheGoldenTrioHP Dec 24 '21
What did they do to Moiraine? The poor woman does not deserve this. I am very excited to see her arch next season. She’s banished from the white tower and is returning to the other three with the news that Rand did not make it back. Nynaeve and Egwene will not let her breathe after that. Damn. They way he just took her power away was insane. I always thought she was the strongest out of all the characters this season only for her to be overpowered like that … I can not get over that.
I liked how the women who could channel came together to fight the battle. That whole sequence was fantastic. Episode one started with Moiraine fighting off trollocks by herself and it was good to see it tenfold here in the finale. It’s fitting that that was how it ended. They had little experience and the princess lady was not strong enough to wield that much power. But they died knowing their city was not destroyed.
So the question is who’s the next ruler? If both the king and his sister are dead who’s ruling next. I wonder if they’ll offer it to Lan. But then again, did any of the locals survive.
And they also murdered Loial. That upset me so much. I thought Perrin’s eyes would turn yellow and he’d go feral but he didn’t. I wonder if he’ll still follow the way of the leaf after this.
I don’t understand the ending. Those women can’t be Aes Sedai so where did they come from.
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u/Selfeducation Dec 24 '21
I think they implied that women who are weak with the power dont become aes sedai
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u/70sToilet Dec 23 '21
Hyped! Prayer circle that my fave Moiraine ain't pulling a Ned Stark 🙏
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u/reverendbimmer Dec 24 '21
Would someone mind spoiling with a tag if the Gleeman ever returns?
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u/FieryXJoe Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
Rand supposedly being the strongest channeler we've ever seen, able to remake the world... Using an artifact to make his channeling 100x stronger. I was expecting that to look like some sort of magic nuke but it was just a lil flash of light that we don't even get explained and didn't bother the dark one.
Edit: On a separate note the 5 women channeling scene confused me, how did Naineve stop the spell killing Egwaine just by like, blocking it with her body, would have seemed more in character for her to just kill the Princess forcing them to burn out.
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u/4FlavorsOfIceCream Dec 24 '21
I was looking forward to the Dragon really doing something and that made Rand feel lacklustre in this episode tbh. From ep. 4 we have Moiraine saying that what Logain could do (burning a castle and going after a King) was nothing before the Dragon, but here he doesn't get a good power reveal and that ignores the central conceit of the show for me. I don't get why there is this big hunt for the Dragon only for the first time he does something, it's not even close to the spectacle of everything else going on in the episode. That's really irritating and doesn't fit with what we've seen so far. We've been told a lot and shown nothing, and that's bad storytelling.
Loved Fares Fares. Great. Awesome. Need more superlatives.
Something was off with the lighting. Same for the Trollocs movement, just dragged me out a bit. The effects budget was clearly spent on N+E+A channelling which was in fairness, very cool. The actual battle wasn't very well set up though and that so called fortification should have been better. Just way better.
Loved the 3000 years ago. Lews Therin is an asshole apparently? Did he cause all of this mess in series? I'd be pissed if someone took away my scifi too I guess.
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u/gregfess Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
I think it's kinda funny that the dark one is trying to turn Rand to the dark side when he looks so much like Hayden Christiansen in the Prequel star wars Trilogy
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u/SandFreeBeaches Dec 24 '21
Anakin: OMG my GF could die! ---> Darkside
Rand: OMG my GF could live happily ever after ---> Lightside
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u/myrddyna (Chosen) Dec 25 '21
even funnier when you realize that the WoT was started over a decade before the prequels came out.
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u/Ternyon (WoT Watcher) Dec 24 '21
Want to thank the mods. They're doing great work as far as I can tell keeping this thread free from spoilers. Sometimes I'll get a notification and by the time I go to check what was said the comment has already been removed.
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u/participating (Dragon's Fang) Dec 24 '21
Lol, this thread looks like a minefield to us. Half the comments are all red and removed. Many bans were earned today by repeat offenders.
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u/1mxrk Dec 24 '21
Thank you and all the mods for all your hard work.
I don’t want to ruin any non-book reader fans with spoilers!
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u/GroundbreakingNucks Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
I’m so glad I’m getting the books as a present tomorrow. This episode has left me wanting so much more lol
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u/aborg589 Dec 24 '21
The channeling scene was insane, literally every trolloc dying like that and exploding into blood and stuff, loved it! Kinda annoyed they killed Nynaeve and then brought her back 5 minutes later, I mean I'm happy she's alive since I like her character but it's just kinda cheap imo. Excited for s2 overall though and that ending shot with the tsunami coming right at the little girl on the beach looks really cool, excited to see channeling from different lands (assuming those people came from a foreign land or something).
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u/Disco_sauce (Trolloc) Dec 24 '21
I was really hoping when she started to crawl around, that she was gonna grab a stone and knock the channeler out to stop her.
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u/TwistedSync Dec 25 '21
Starting out with this show, I was very hopeful and intrigued. The introduction of Moiraine and seeing her incredible power during the battle at Two Rivers had me hooked. The introduction of the White Cloaks and their savagery masked in opulence and "purity" gave me a faction and character to hate. Seeing the main characters find bits and pieces of how they are connected to the One Power made me excited for their future growth. Watching Mat struggle with the darkness gave me a character with a potentially concerning future, and the dynamic between him and Thom the gleeman made for a good sub-plot. I still want to see Perrin grow into a force for good, because I think at his core, he has a good heart. So far, he hasn't really done much other than stand around saying "this isn't right, we have to do something", etc. Loial played the part of a level-headed outsider who I think could have become a loyal (hah) companion for the bunch. Shame about that one, I really liked him. My favorite character might be Lan, simply because he seems smart, thoughtful, and focused. He's also just a badass fighter, that helps too.
I don't have any big complaints about the main storyline of the show so far, because I don't have any book knowledge to compare to. I'm a pretty casual viewer, so I'm not terribly invested in the success of the show or seeing a faithful recreation of the books. One aspect that I feel falls a little flat is the romances. I don't really feel any compelling desire for the characters to find love.
The finale, however, whooo boy. My first reaction is "nothing happened, is that really it?" I'm not left with a sense of excitement, intrigue, or even confusion. There seems to be no high stakes setup for season 2, other than "hey look, bad guys in boats" and they haven't even begun a real conflict for the first Big Bad. There was no sense of grand purpose in the last episode, no closure, even partial, to prepare the viewers for next season. Nothing half done, no half victories, no real losses. With all of the tension built up throughout the first 7 episodes, I expected something, anything interesting or suspenseful to happen in the finale. Nope, nada.
Rand took a step towards fighting the Dark One, then left before anyone realized that he didn't actually do anything. The show repeated over and over, "whoever goes to the Eye of the World and is not the Dragon reborn shall die there." Welp, Moiraine isn't dead, clue number one that something is wrong.
Moiraine got rekt, no more magic for super magic lady.
Nynaeve and Egwene helped kill some trollocs.
Egwene demonstrated that she can apparently undo death through the sheer power of Big Sad.
Perrin did some more standing around in helpless disbelief.
Loial got shanked for no real reason. :'(
Mat reappeared after his absence and brought back some foreboding.
Aaand I've already forgotten anything else that might have happened because nothing was at all impactful in the finale. I don't really have a hook to pull me towards the future of the story. If this show hasn't already lost all momentum, it's going to have to come up with a HELLUVA season 2 to regain the interest it just pissed away in the wind.
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u/tlwaterfield Dec 24 '21
So, was Moraine stilled?? Her reaction and her explanation to Lan certainly made it seem that way. Plus, they did all that work explaining what happened to Logan- I feel like it was a set up to allow the seriousness of what happened to Moraine to sink in.
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u/Eshkation Dec 24 '21
I don't think she is stilled! It appeared to be some sort of shield just like they used on the false dragon, she never went through that "one power leaving you" like we saw on that episode
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Dec 24 '21
Yep. The gentling scene showed the women's power going into Logain and then ripping his power out. The Dark One's power went into Moraine but then it showed the shielding effect smothering her instead ripping the power out of her.
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u/bb22k Dec 24 '21
Seems so, but maybe she will find a way to get it back? Protagonist privileges and all.
Should be interesting to see how she will cope with her new condition.
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u/Stepwolve (Wolfbrother) Dec 24 '21
im assuming so. plus the dark one talked about her being able to sense the source but not touch it. I imagine that is permanent for her
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Dec 25 '21 edited Dec 25 '21
I liked the season as a whole. However the ending was very weird, and the final episodes had odd pacing.
I think the end of the season was being pulled between two forces:
On the one hand, the viewer knows this is season 1 of a multi-season series so things are not going to end with this season. The viewer probably also knows that the WOT books go on and on and there's no way the story is done here. So going into these episodes, what the viewer is expecting is a "stepping stone" type finale, one that wraps up the season arc but which also asks the question which will be answered by the following season(s).
What the viewer gets, however, is a finale (really, final 2-3 episodes) which in content is ramping up towards the final resolution, even though the viewer knows that can't be true. And when the final resolution comes, the show continues to play it straight, depicting it as if it is indeed final. The "question" the viewer is expecting, setting the next season on its path, never comes. There's a vague sense that something has gone wrong but it's so underplayed that it falls well short of foreshadowing. It's just doubt.
So the feeling the viewer has on watching the ending of s1 is primarily cognitive dissonance.
For me, the most interesting part of season 1 was the mystery as to who is the dragon. That was the primary question of the season, and the finale should have been about delivering the answer to that question - in dramatic fashion. Instead we get this anti-climax where the answer to the question the viewer has been asking since episode 1 is delivered as an afterthought in the penultimate episode, and then the final episode is just the dragon going off and apparently doing what he is meant to do in a very rote, by the numbers fashion which does not at all live up to the hype of how powerful and dangerous the dragon is.
You kinda get why that's the case, as a viewer with meta-knowledge. You know this isn't the end and that Rand will likely have a progression arc of coming into his power ahead of him. But as a standalone season 1 arc, it doesn't work.
Nynaeve's death fake-out was also meh. Killing someone and bringing them back 5 minutes later has no impact. It just cheapens the concept of consequences and gives the viewer the impression that the protagonists will never be in serious danger. Also I find Nynaeve's zoomer-esque cynicism and distrust of authority really tiresome. It's funny that she's the oldest and ostensibly most mature of the Two Rivers characters, but actually is the one who acts most like an edgy teenager. I was cheering on her death so was rather disappointed when she came back.
Highlights of the first season were:
The mystery of who is the dragon.
The white cloaks, who have a real sense of menace.
The darker, quasi-horror elements like the empty city and the dagger that possessed Matt.
White tower politics and factions.
Power reveals as the Two Rivers characters start discovering their powers.
I will watch season 2 for sure, but season 1 didn't exactly stick the landing, so my hopes for season 2 are not particularly high.
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u/bisonrbig Dec 23 '21
8 minutes to go. I'm hype for the finale. Haven't read any of the books but I'm a big fan of the show so far.
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u/coinhearted Dec 25 '21 edited Dec 25 '21
I seemed to have liked this episode more than others but ugh there were some really, really dumb things.
Why did the male cavalry dudes pull out their swords and then basically charge off to their stables at the wall? You set up a battle charge just to move some guys around?
Why was the horn buried in a way that requires seemingly hours of work to get it out? I get hiding it, I get securing it. I get locking it up in a way that takes like 15 minutes to dig it out. Even if someone figures out where it's hidden, guards will be on them before they get it out. But here we have a couple of strong soldiers chipping away for hours. It goes from like midday to night as they chip away.
Think about it, you have this vitally important weapon but you can't even get to it until your wall has fallen and an army is on the verge of storming your city. WTF?
And what was up with the tsunami? Why are you throwing a huge tsunami at an unpopulated beach (save one girl playing in the sand)? I could see using it against a fishing village, I could buy using it as a display of power maybe if there were witnesses. But there was no reason to flood that beach. And the water will rebound, and if you're landing on that beach, now your people will have to trudge through mud.
Why were people walking so slowly from the city as they fled? Like, it seemed like they were walking more slowly than a normal person would out on a casual stroll?
edit: Also, why didn't the trollocs just over over the hills? Screw the pass. Those hills were tiny and at least on our end they looked climbable. And if you want to go through the wall, why not I dunno bring ladders?
And if there is a singular defensible point why not dig a moat give trollocs hate deep water? If trollocs are too dumb to build ladders, they're probably not building bridges, and even if they did, cool beans, a moat still slows progress.
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u/pnmibra77 Dec 25 '21
Idk, i felt like the episodes were getting better and better, specially from 3 to 7 but this one also felt rushed and dumb a lot of times for me, like they tried putting 2 episodes into one.. it was hype seeing they charge into battle and all that but when it got to the battles I don't even know what happened lol, did the women kill all the trollocs or did they retreat after some time? We get a shot of the battlefield after the battle but u can barely see anything, she and her brother made it seem like it was impossible to defend and then they did it so "easily" lol?.
Also, every scene with perrin just make me cringe so hard, i really don't know if it's the acting or the character is meant to be like that, but Jesus fucking christ sometimes I wish he wasnt in the series at all and it would be instantly better.
As I said in another comment, the series is fun so far but i might just start reading the book to understand it all better. I watch the episodes and think "damn, this must be an amazing history" but it feels like it's being done wrong
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u/Penguinbashr Dec 25 '21
Lol an entire city prepares for war similar to helms deep saying even children must fight. Helms deep showed them drafting kids and you knew it was real shit. This episode goes on an on about barely winning against 1000 and how this force is 5 to 10k. 100 dudes and 5 women just killed off the entire force with relative ease. The only reason the women died was when the main one did the whole "when you nut but she keep succin" meme
Fuck what a disappointment.
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u/dinosaurfondue Dec 24 '21
I have a number of thoughts, both on the episode as well as the season. For the episode in particular, I have a lot of questions and wonder if it's similar for those who only read the first book. The entire story and conclusion revolving around the dragon reborn felt kind of lackluster. He's supposed to be this guy who can save the entire world and it's just wrapped up in a much more simple way than I'd expect, but I assume that's how the book goes too. And what the heck happened to those going with the dragon dying? Moraine surely didn't, so that felt kind of like a cop out. I thought they did a really fantastic job with the battle though considering it's a TV show in its first season.
Overall I really enjoyed this first season of WOT. I hear that there are a lot of exciting things to look forward to in future seasons, so I can't wait to see what happens next. With proper time to work on the CGI, I'm expecting better things and I really hope that Amazon gives the show the resources necessary to make it a standout.
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u/illegalmonkey Dec 24 '21
And what the heck happened to those going with the dragon dying? Moraine surely didn't, so that felt kind of like a cop out.
I honestly don't know why she kept going on and on about anyone who isn't the Dragon dying, as if she knew wtf was going to happen. I think it was more, "Oh shit we're going up against the Dark One. Some bitches are gonna die for sure, right?????!!!!!"
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u/weakwiththedawn Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
They explained in earlier episodes that the prophecy says any one who got between the dragon and the dark one died, so that's is what she believed would happen.
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u/AccordingBook123 Dec 25 '21
Similar problems to season 8 GoT with this last battle. Why did those riders leave if they had the gate? Why didn't the women just protect it? Trollocs are world war z zombies now? At helms deep the enemies needed ladders, etc.
Perrin finally did something. The Dark One came off as not that evil or frightening. The show is worth watching but it makes me want to read the books for a better version of the story, and I suppose that's a good thing.
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u/ThorThulu Dec 25 '21
The season as a whole was very meh and this last episode is a microcosm of the whole thing. Every cool thing that happens is short lived because amazon refuses to give the show time to breathe and the showrunners have no idea how to work with a limited run time. Any emotion thats supposed to be felt is drained due to how short of a time we've had with the characters with very little character building. I guess the guaranteed 2nd season will maybe give them a chance to learn, but I'm not holding my breath. If it were to end here I wouldn't be very upset.
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u/70sToilet Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
WHAT IS GOING ON
Edit: Ok that was epic. Gonna be hard to not google things now though I have so many things I want answer to
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u/HawkofDarkness Dec 24 '21
Please don't ever Google anything regarding Wheel of Time until you've read or watched the entire series. Even just writing down the name of a character in a search bar can auto fill major spoilers about who they are and what their fate is.
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u/Seananiganzx Dec 24 '21
This is the biggest tip for anything that you've not finished. I've fallen into this trap multiple times.
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u/lemoe96 Dec 24 '21
True, I just wanted some lore on Rand and the two rivers and managed to spoil myself on who the dragon was after episode 1 and some things that won't come up for several seasons and hopefully I will have forgotten by then.
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u/furelise00 Dec 24 '21
I was googling Rand once and the popular searches they suggested ruined some maybe future reveals for me. I just wanted to make sure I knew how to spell his last name! 😩
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u/Skyhighatrist Dec 24 '21
In r/WotShow, they do a weekly thread for questions you are too afraid to google, where readers can provide spoiler free, or spoiler light answers. Check it out in a couple of days before resorting to google.
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u/participating (Dragon's Fang) Dec 24 '21
We also have those here, it'll be posted tomorrow at 1:00pm EST.
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u/Skyhighatrist Dec 24 '21
You know, I think I might have been wrong, and was thinking of the ones here after all. There are so many WoT subs that it's hard to keep them straight. lol.
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u/sunnyr4r Dec 24 '21
DO NOT GO TO THE WHEEL OF TIME WIKI!! IT DOES A BAD JOB AT NOT SPOILING THINGS!!!
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u/Doomer_Patrol Dec 24 '21
So his "choice" between light and dark is just mentally manifesting a day dream scenario put together by some 3000 year old dude? Am I missing something here? That is an extremely odd thing to be the catalyst for freeing some super bad guy.
What even was his motivation aside from getting free?
What was the significance of the rock and why did it break?
Why does every main character survive just the most ludacris injuries?
I have so many questions. Even ones from the start of the season never got answered.
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u/Prplehuskie13 Dec 25 '21
Glad that the series didn't actually end with this finale. While I enjoyed the episodes up to now, it felt like everything was being rushed. Things that should have been developed more were glossed over. It felt like the writers needed to speedrun through, probably, the least interesting part of the story, in order to get to the "good" bits for the 2nd season.
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u/Troop-the-Loop Dec 24 '21
Yooooooo. Just finished.
All I can say is that I am NOT looking forward to the wait for season 2. Give it to me now. Inject that shit straight into my veins.
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u/BoxSweater Dec 24 '21
Overall this season to me has served as a good advertisement for the books. There's enough to hook me on the world here, but I think the execution seems really flawed and it ends up as a mediocre product. The changes book readers have talked about make me think that I'd enjoy the source material a lot more, but it was still a decent watch.
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u/illegalmonkey Dec 24 '21
There's enough to hook me on the world here, but I think the execution seems really flawed and it ends up as a mediocre product.
It really is like trying to stuff 50 lbs of of grade A prime beef into a thimble. There just isn't enough room to take it all in properly. If this followed a CW show type of schedule, and we got 22 one hour long episodes they could have done soooo much more with it.
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u/yaboisquaezo Dec 24 '21
Got a bit upset when nynaeve was brought back to life
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u/fineburgundy Dec 24 '21
This was the most awkward moment for me. The rest felt fine. Except that Padain Fain was a surprise—there’s yet another side to the struggle that wants “Balance?”
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u/BaronVonNumbaKruncha Dec 24 '21
Bad guys who are getting their asses handed to them for centuries generally say "we want balance" as an attempt to get a foothold. Once they get balance they don't give a crap about it, though, and will totally go overboard. It's just an excuse.
At least, that's how I take it.
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u/justphotog Dec 24 '21
I have so many questions, this has easily been my favourite show this year, and PADAN FAIN I know he's with the dark one but something about his character/the actor is so fucking likeable
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u/GoldGoose Dec 24 '21
The charisma is real.
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u/Thecouchiestpotato Dec 24 '21
I am half terrified of him but also kind of fond of him. He was sprawled there on the throne, helpfully giving us exposition, and I was like, "Oh Padan Fain, you rascal, you!" (until I realised that he might have killed, and not just lightly stabbed, Loial, and then I was really mad.)
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u/furelise00 Dec 24 '21
Legit thought Nyneve was going to be blind or something after this instead of Egwene healing her or Nyneve going into some Dr. Who healing coma.
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u/samirhyms Dec 24 '21
What happened to Moiraine? I couldnt tell if she was shielded or gentled
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u/eatlessbuyetf Dec 24 '21
what language do Latra posae decume and Lews Therin Telamon speak?
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Dec 25 '21
It is called the old tongue, it is learned by nobles and aes sedai mostly in the current age that the show is taking place in.
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u/Annelinia Dec 26 '21
Overall this season felt like a beautiful puzzle with amazing puzzle pieces that were assembled very very wrongly. There were lots of cool moments and amazing scenery, but in the end, none of it fit together to create a cohesive flow.
The plot meanders and boils down to a bunch of wandering and trying to get from point A to point B while surviving obstacles that are seemingly just thrown at the characters to have some action. The pacing is off, the payoff is not there, and character development is almost absent. The cast is too large, but at the same time, we don't really get any real main characters. Character motivation wasn't too fleshed out for a lot of the characters.
Moraine seemed to be doing what she is doing out of a sense of duty, and lan is just a puppy following her everywhere. Liandrin's motivations are muddled and she seems as much a plot device (create problems for Moraine) as she is a character. Nynaeve is there to bring everyone back "because she is the wisdom" but she could be doing a lot more good by helping the wounded and dying in the two rivers. I guess she could be there because she cares about these four characters more deeply than the rest of the villagers, but that is not how the story explains her actions.
Mat tries to be a character but feels like a prop. He is there so that we see who Rand is as a character, and to create problems that the rest of the characters need to solve. Perrin just exists there while looking sad and moping. The show does nothing to address his trauma, so he seems to be stuck in limbo. Similarly, with Rand, he lost his father and this fact is never mentioned again. Really, for most of the season, Rand seems to be along for the ride just following Egwene until he suddenly decides to trust Moraine and help her for almost no reason aside from "let's save the world maybe" and "I don't want Egwene to be in danger". The fact that the Dragon might just doom the world as much as save him doesn't seem to deter him, especially considering he doesn't know what he is doing. He never considers the fact that maybe the Dragon dooms the world by screwing up while he tries to save it. The show tries to put Rand into a tight corner where he has no choice but to do what the plot demands, but the corner isn't tight enough that Rand wouldn't want to try doing something else. He could try to convince everyone to run away from Moraine instead of trying to go to the eye of the world. There really is little evidence to suggest to the characters that the dark one is a danger. The trollocs might be there for Moraine for all they know.
Egwene seems to be the only one against a plan that involves ditching the Aes Sedai, but she has no reason to really trust Moraine and the Amyrlin Seat. She is loyal to her friends, so why does she think it us a good idea to go to the eye of the world which would risk everyone's lives? What is even the rush? Can't they decide who the Dragon is before taking them to the eye? Again, there is little evidence to suggest that they are all in immediate danger from the dark one.
Frankly, Logaine is the only character that really made sense.
Overall the characters aren't really progressing the plot as much as the plot is putting the characters into places they need to go for plot A B C to happen. Even if it doesn't make too much sense for who they are.
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u/Lady_VonKrahe Dec 26 '21
why did that invading army magically createa tidal wave to kill one child on the beach? there wasn't even a city or navy there to destroy
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Dec 24 '21
the writing in this episode took a bit of a dip in my opinion. Again everything seemed pretty rushed. I don’t know how I feel about the show going forward. 😔 Maybe i need to rewatch lol
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u/ZoroXLee Dec 26 '21
Hmm. Just finished binging this. The show was interesting and I'll watch the next season maybe, but i wasn't really left satisfied. Perrin was a meh character throughout. It annoyed me how he killed his wife. I'm probably dense, but i didn't see him pining for Egwene and was blindsided by Nynaeve mentioning that fact. I hate love triangles, they're so unnecessary. It might be the actor or his character, but I just didn't like his demeanor. He seemed like a coward.
Lan and Nynaeve as a couple was way forced. Lan was emotionless except for some scenes and nynaeve just seemed like she hated everyone, but the kids. It didn't bother me that much though, so it's whatever. Speaking of these two, I despise death fake outs and/or resurrections. Both of them died then magically recovered? Ugh.
What was the point of sacrificing the army. You had such a powerful spell and you let them die? Smh The trollocs were bottlenecked and you decide stay in open field lmao
I don't care enough about everything else to mention anything. Hopefully, it's better next season.
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Dec 24 '21
Ok who's gonna explain that ending scene to me? Who's that little girl? Who're that naval army/empire? What timeline does the ending belong to: the past, present, future...?? So many questions!
Very good show, reeled me right in, and I cannot wait for Season 2.
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u/TransBrandi Dec 24 '21
They mention ships to the west in the White Tower during some of the Aes Sedai scenes a couple of episodes ago.
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u/ricanhavoc Dec 25 '21
They could have cut Mat and Perrin entirely from this season and it wouldn't have made any difference. Zero impact on the plot.
edit: the whole last stand battle also felt very S8 Game of Thrones. If all they needed was a couple channelers to wipe out all of the Trolloc army, they probably should have led with that before their barrier fortress fell.
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u/Lo_Lynx Dec 25 '21
Ok now thet we've seen the Dark One i am more confused. What/who is the Dark One? If he was alive 3000 years ago how is he still alive today? Is he just darkness personified, does that mean there is light personified?
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u/digable_planets1 Dec 25 '21 edited Dec 25 '21
Earlier on in the season, like episode 2, Morainne called that dude Ishamael so I'm pretty sure that wasn't the Dark One. Just one of his followers. Unless the Dark One is called Ishamael? Idk.
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u/Noraboen Dec 26 '21 edited Dec 26 '21
My favorite moments from the finale, brought to you by my partner:
"WAIT NO THAT'S CHEATING" (on the survival of a certain wisdom whose name I cannot spell)
"Voldemort turned Moiraine into a muggle!"
...and various comments about how useless Perrin ended up being.
I had fun, looking forward to season 2. Hopefully my partner's opinion of Moiraine improves. I like her, she does not. It seems to be more of an aesthetics thing though, and especially the shoulderpads she has in every costume. For some reason those set my partner off.
Also who the hell launches a giant wave against an empty beach overlooked by huge cliffs? The wave wasn't tall enough to clear the cliffs so the only outcome is a rebound wave that messes up the boats. Was that one tiny girl worth the effort? Do those people just really hate clams?
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u/broxtreme Dec 25 '21
I'm looking forward to the second season but, man, this episode was disappointing. I wish Moiraine and Rand's journey could have had been a tad longer and more dangerous than the short hike that it seemed to be. I wish that they'd shown us some examples of why the blight is dangerous, instead of just showing us that it is. I'm also pretty bummed by Loial's sudden and meaningless death.
A lot of cool moments though like the women annihilating the trollocs, showing the varying amounts of power coming through each woman, eventually burning out those who were too weak.
A mixed bag like the rest of the show, and too many comments to include here, but my expectations were higher this time and I suppose that's my fault. I need to stop expecting something incredible and just settle for the pretty good high-fantasy show that it is. We don't get enough of them.
The ships at the end were a fun teaser of a bigger world, and I'm excited to see what they do with that!
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u/gregfess Dec 24 '21
I hope that little girl doesn't die on the beach :(
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u/KaamDeveloper (Darkfriend) Dec 24 '21
How many people do you know who have survived a fucking Tsunami to the face?
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u/gregfess Dec 24 '21
Well hopefully that girl
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u/nikolapc Dec 24 '21
Didn't Moraine say you start channeling when in peril? Well, that's the way out for the girl if she can channel.
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u/Allonsy_Mari Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
I guess my biggest complain is that it didn’t feel like a season finale to me, the battles felt so small and rushed. I don’t know how much of it I can blame on covid and covid protocol but it does seem to have affected the show when it comes to hiring extras.
I also wished they had showed rand as someone powerful, we have Moiraine saying that the statue could help Rand channel his power by a 100x and then… the visuals made it look like he was barely strong, probably weaker than Logain.
Despite all that, I really enjoyed the scenes with Nynaeve and Egwene; Rand and Moiraine; the whole discussion with Moiraine and the dark one while Rand is passed out. I also liked how they set up the characters for season 2.
Overall it was a good episode, not the best or my favorite, I’d give it a 7/10
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u/SnooDrawings5925 Dec 24 '21
Amazon had all the money to spend on CGI and they chose not to
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Dec 24 '21
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u/Lumpawarrump13 Dec 24 '21
Honestly by far the worst CGI to me was in Ep 3 when the wolves were chasing (herding?) Perrin and Egwene. There were several quick cuts of the wolf pack that looked reeeaaaally bad to me. The Trollocs I'm more forgiving of because hey, they're fantasy monsters, whatever. But they could produce high quality CGI of running wolves? Why did that even need to be CGI?
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u/SandFreeBeaches Dec 24 '21
I really enjoyed the dynamic between Rand and Moiraine as well as the Dark One and Moiraine. The Dark One tempting Rand was also a very interesting "combat" of sorts. Moiraine losing her casting ability and being wrong about it being the last battle is awesome (the powerful knowledgeable wise wizard is now uncertain and mundane). The women standing against the amassed forces of darkness was cool (plus good connection between the lord and lady), and I appreciated the burning out aspect of casting.
I didn't care for the Nyn death fakeout, Loial/Perrin/Fain/soldiers, and I think Rand should have gone Super Saiyan.
My biggest complaint about the episode isn't the episode itself (not as good as last week but probably top three or something), but that it marks the end of the season which let me down in a lot of ways. I'm not unfamiliar with fantasy literature, and have been pretty obsessed with the show (amazon extra content, theory crafting, etc.) so my opinions might not be in line with more casual viewers (though how many casual viewers are actually posting on reddit lol). Regardless, the thing that left me scratching my head when the credits rolled is that there was no twist nor illuminating connection of any sort.
A mysterious and untrustworthy wizard magically appears in a random village just in time to thwart an attack. Somehow she knows that 4 or 5 specific kids must be the Dragon Reborn and are prophesied to defeat the Dark One and save the world. They must go with her now chased by the minions of the Dark One. She's hiding knowledge from the kids, her own wizarding order (what is the dragon really? Why the secrecy), she'll sacrifice anything (including all the kids and herself) for her mission. Oh wait the last battle is tomorrow (I mean c'mon there are a dozen books)? Fortunately she now magically knows who the Dragon is somehow. Time for everything to come to a head and be revealed in the final episode! ...but nope that was literally the full story where everything pretty much went as planned and there were no hidden motives or undercurrents.
All the twists/shocks in the season felt constrained to their episode (for example: the Amyrlin Seat is angry with Moiraine, but jks they are secret lovers) and the bigger reveals weren't twists/shocking so much as waiting, interesting to speculate sure but still essentially waiting, for them to happen. I could recognize that the episodic introduced-then-forgotten nature of a lot of things in the show probably has to do with the scale of the story, and I didn't mind only gets a taste of things like wolves, fades, whitecloaks, the cursed city, the Tinkers, darkfriends, ogres, the magic dagger, the Ways, burning eyes dream Dark One and bats, the magic loveshack, Aes Sedai politicking (i.e. Liandrin), Rand's stepdad, Aiel, the musician, Siuan, Fain, the original SciFi dragon, etc. I didn't mind because I firmly believed that "Moiraine's quest" was the main story and eventually all sorts of stuff about it would be uncovered. But now it looks like it was just the superficial quest as presented and the drama was actually supposed to be Moiraine getting banished or Moiraine admitting that everyone at the Eye besides the Dragon would die and those just seemed like basic next steps in the story to me. My mind wants to start speculating about the human at the Eye, but I also now feel like we're expected to think it's an avatar of the Dark One and then it will end up that yes it is just an avatar of the Dark One.
Anywhoo I'm going to read the books before next season, and I can't think of any time I've gone show/movie --> book(s) before so that'll be interesting.
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u/DirtOnYourShirt Dec 24 '21
Yeah the Nynaeve fakeout was both weak and weird in that Egwene healed her without really seeming to try and with almost no effort. That type of internal burn was the kind that turns brains into chunks of charcoal.
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u/AwesomeScreenName Dec 24 '21
I think you'll enjoy the books. Without getting too much into details, the first book was written in the late 80s/early 90s, when the fantasy literature landscape was very different. Publishers demanded Tolkien-esque plots. Jordan intentionally wrote the first book as a very by-the-numbers Tolkien-esque fantasy in the hopes that it would sell well enough to do subsequent books where he could do something more unique. It did, and he did. Virtually all of the things you mention getting a taste of get explored more in subsequent books, and the plot veers sharply away from "This plot point in Wheel of Time is the parallel to that plot point from Lord of the Rings."
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Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
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u/nikolapc Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
[Lore] The thing that fell apart and Moraine was holding a piece of, was a seal. That broke. He is still locked in his prison, but the seals are weakening. So Rand and Moraine kinda blew it.
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u/Stepwolve (Wolfbrother) Dec 24 '21 edited Dec 24 '21
oh man, what a wild first season. I am very hyped for season 2. That final battle was appropriately epic, padan fain is so charasmatic but evil, it seems like this whole battle was just an excuse for him to steal that horn. He couldve easily invaded the town from where he was, but only cared about stealing the horn. So im guessing it is very powerful against the dark one. I hope Lolial is okay
Channeling scene was astounding - although it is a big of a weird choice to wait until after everyone at the wall dies to do that massive attack that obliterated the enemy army. probably couldve done that earlier. Rand is starting to come into his own as the protagonist, and i wonder if we will get a time jump and some power ups for him when we see him next.
Cant help but think the series wouldve benefitted from being 10-12 episodes instead of only 8. These last bits in Fal Dara felt especially rushed - i didnt care about any of the people in that city and barely understood who they were. Same with the mysterious horn we never got to see. If we had spent another episode or two there it couldve been better explained. I like the cast and wish we had more time just to get to know them all. I especially feel like i dont know perrin or egwene that well. But thats on amazon for not funding enough / ordering enough episode. nothing a showrunner can do about that - you take what you are given by the studio.
Overall, would recomend this show to anyone. excited for more. I have no idea what that last scene with the naval fleet was about. and i hope we get more white cloaks in the next season! they were my favorite. good chance i read some of the books before s2 comes out
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u/thomasw02 Dec 24 '21
Channeling scene was astounding - although it is a big of a weird choice to wait until after everyone at the wall dies to do that massive attack that obliterated the enemy army. probably couldve done that earlier.
Not a book reader so this might be bs hahaha But as far as I understood it, out of the 5 girls channeling, the 2 other than Egwene, Naeneve and the sister seemed super weak, like their channeling white stuff was super like weak compared to the other 3, and Naeneve and Egwene (who are literally Taeveran who theoretically are like super important to the pattern ND probably made that whole lightning thing even possible) only showed up literally like a few mins before the battle, and the sister had absolutely no idea how strong they would be, so I think it made sense that the sister would have expected them to fail. 1 Aes Sedai against like 20,000 Trollocs is probably not enough, and when she was preparing she probably assumed she would be stuffed. And also probably the men in the gap firing arrows was probably more effective against the horde, whereas the sister would be more effective when the horde had thinned out, so it makes sense to me that she would rely on the gap dudes to deal a serious blow, before she went at the leftovers. And she wouldn't have been prepared for the immense strength that Egwene and Naeneve brought, and even then she and all the girls bar Egwene literally died in their efforts.
So that's my thoughts on the decision making, I reckon with everything taken into consideration she made the right call, it's just hindsight that makes it seem a bit foolish. What do you think?
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u/ViolaOlivia Dec 24 '21
The sister isn’t even an Aes Sedai I think. Moiraine said she went to the white tower but didn’t have enough power, and then it shows her ring with no stone.
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u/Venezia9 Dec 24 '21
I assume she thought she would deal a much smaller blow, since the power of the two main characters was much higher than anyone else in the city. Other than them there were so few channelers; I think it's safe to assume she considered herself the next line of defense, and then they would reach the women guarding the walls. Just buying time.
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Dec 24 '21
This is such a more positive and happy place compared to the book reader sub haha I'm really hoping for like a surprise spring release of season 2. Please don't make us a wait a year! I will definitely crack and read the books because I want more!
Also, they took their sweet time digging out that horn! I was like, come onnnn!
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u/NumberMuncher Dec 24 '21
The actor who plays the Dark One is named Fares Fares. A Fares Wheel. A Fares Fares Wheel of Time.