The Wheel of Time Trailer

[Dark Shadow]

If it helps, The Third Age that is featured in the series is technically post sci-fi due to The Breaking which destroyed a technologically advanced civilization which was based on our (very distant) future.

[Nostalgiabuff]

if I recall correctly, the age of legends referenced often in the books, also include a variation of King Arthur

[Dark Shadow]

The way I understand WoT history is in this order:

The Creation
A Prehistoric era (evolution of Earth, dinosaurs, early primates, etc.)
The First Age (our recorded past, present & a bit into our future)
The Second Age (Age Of Legends)
The Third Age (includes events after The Breaking, all the way up through the end of the book series)
The Fourth Age (after The Last Battle).

It's hard to know for sure though, because Jordan never really clearly defined timelines for us. All we know is what is stated from certain characters' points of view, beliefs & memories, which are all subject to manipulation and/or fault.

Artur Hawkwing's true name (Artur Paendrag Tanreall) is a clear nod to the legend of King Arthur, but I think his conquests are loosely lifted from Alexander The Great's. My understanding is that Hawkwing's conquests happened about 2,000 years or so after The Breaking, which is roughly the middle of The Third Age. He was Ta'veren, but not a Dragon.

Another nod is The Stone (the fortress that was built outside of Tear in order to secure Callandor, The Sword That Cannot Be Touched). I guess it could be said that The Dragon himself could be yet another nod to King Arthur (Pendragon)?

Sorry for the geek out...love this series.

[drquest]

Thanks for the timeline info!

I'm listening to these on audiobooks right now. I'm on The Dragon Reborn book, about halfway through it now.

[Nostalgiabuff]

that's interesting. i don't recall there being anything about the first age being our timeline, but I guess it makes sense in the context.

[Dark Shadow]

That tidbit actually comes from an interview Jordan did, I think, in the mid 90's.

From the first book, Thom tells gleeman stories that ring from The First Age: he talks about Materese The Healer, Anla the Wise Counselor, Elsbet The Queen of All, Lenn (who flew in the belly of an eagle made of fire)...Mother Teresa, Ann Landers, Queen Elizabeth, and John Glenn respectively. These are just a few examples, there are several others, mostly from Thom's stories, but some from other characters as well. Jordan said something to the effect that he did this to illustrate how our modern world would be twisted and distorted through the ages.

Later on, I don't remember which books though, there's something about an object that is described as a three pointed star inside a circle, made of a strange soft metal (older than the other objects from the Age Of Legends) that gives off vibes of "pride & conceit"...A Mercedes Benz hood ornament. Also a reference to bones of an animal that had slim long legs and a very long neck...Giraffe.

There is also a story about Mosk and Merk (giants that fought with spears of fire)...Moscow & America.

[Dark Shadow]

Well, there were a few things I liked about E7, and several things that I didn't. I'm trying to keep in mind that Barney Harris left the production after E6 and that there was a mad scramble to complete the final two episodes without him. That reality, along with the creators' intent to enshroud the identity of The Dragon Reborn within a teasing mystery for nearly an entire season, made for a very hasty episode & reveal.

I really liked the opener, I thought it showcased the essence of the Far Dareis Mai pretty well, however as a cold intro to the Maidens Of The Spear, I think it may come across as a bit far-fetched for those who have not read the books. I liked Fal Dara (thought the set was amazing), much of the character development, and The Ways was done fairly well.

I think more time should have been dedicated to the reveal in this episode, especially on the "why" & "how", and less time spent on the bizarre Perrin/Egwene/Rand thing. The flashback scene of Tam & Rand seemed way too brief & rushed, as well as the "it was me all along" montage.

I'm not expecting greatness from the final episode, but I do have higher expectations for S2 (much higher).

[Nostalgiabuff]

i'm hanging in there but I agree, they are rushing too much of the story without explaining it for the benefit of anyone who has not watched the show. that opening sequence was well done, but not explained at all. not even a footnote saying "20 years ago"

the most irritating aspect of the show for me though, is that they changed the race and/or sexuality of almost every character, for no purpose other than forced diversity. None of it affects the story, or makes the character more interesting, IMHO.

here's hoping that S2 finds better footing.

[Dark Shadow]

So far, I haven't seen changes of sexual orientation in any of the characters. The two involved green warders are new characters created for the show, and Siuan & Moiraine were identified as "pillow friends" in the books.

Jordan made it fairly well known that the term did indeed refer to intimate physical relationships, usually among women, and most prevalent within The White Tower. It was quite common among the Novices & Accepted, but generally faded away by the time the women were raised to full Aes Sedai status and began to pursue their missions, although some did maintain life-long relations.

He said he coined the term as a way to circumvent censorship in the early 90's, but also the current age was a modest one, so modest terms were commonly used (small clothes, bosom, burn you/me, blood & ashes, etc.).

As for the changes that have been made, if there are any existing works that require diversification, The Wheel of Time certainly isn't one of them. But that's where we find ourselves in all things entertainment today. Theoretically, I really shouldn't be able to enjoy the book series at all. There are only two known gay male characters in the entire series, and neither of them are working class suburbanites. They are both Lords and appear much later on in the series.

Yet somehow, this story manages to captivate me on levels that plunge much more deeply than skin tone, body organs, thought patterns & belief systems. Color me a human being that can identify with other human beings, am I really that much of an odd man out? Somehow, I seriously doubt it.

[drquest]

I will say the cold open on E7 had me more intrigued than the rest of the episode. I hope season 2 is better, but beyond the rapid pace and some storyline changes from the books(which has to happen) it's rather disjointed and to be honest, the acting/direction is a little meandering. Now I'm sticking with it, but I had hoped for better 7 episodes in.

[Dark Shadow]

Are you still listening to the Audio Books? I just started another re-read of The Dragon Reborn and am listening to The Great Hunt on audio. I'm really liking the audio experience, it's fun to hear someone else's take after reading through the material.

[drquest]

Are you still listening to the Audio Books? I just started another re-read of The Dragon Reborn and am listening to The Great Hunt on audio. I'm really liking the audio experience, it's fun to hear someone else's take after reading through the material.

I am still listening to those. I agree the audio book is a nice way to experience it for sure.

[Dark Shadow]

I liked the glimpse that we caught of The Age Of Legends before The Breaking in the opener of E8, and the intro of the Seanchan in the epilogue. Aside from that, I found this episode to be the most disappointing so far.

It's pretty evident that Barney Harris' departure really sent them scrambling, but even setting aside the Perrin/Loial/Mat/Padan thread, the rest was not done very well either.

It looks like they've decided to figuratively "gentle" Rand in an effort to elevate Nynaeve & Egwene, which is really very sad to me. All three achieve amazing feats in the novels, there is no need to tear one down in order to build another up. And it seems they really have no idea what to do with Perrin yet, making zero sense (so far) as to why they felt the need to give him a tragic back story. Also, the FX were not done very well in this episode either, especially the trollocs & fades, there was an "unfinished" appearance to them.

Many imperative scenes flew past without explanation, while other superfluous scenes seemed to soak up precious minutes. I really hope upon hope that S2 can stabilize this series. While the ratings have been high so far (for an Amazon show), it would be understandable if there was a significant drop for the next season considering the final two episodes of S1.

Meanwhile, I cannot recommend the books enough for those who have watched but have not read the series. If reading isn't your thing, the audios are great too.

[Dark Shadow]

Just found this quote from the showrunner, Rafe Judkins, (on Decider) which brings some relief:

Decider asked Judkins if it was always the creative plan to leave Mat behind and he said, “We try to take any production thing that happens and try to make it the strongest reactive decision we can and to move forward with it creatively. So, there were a bunch of different things that happened during COVID that we had to sort of bob and weave with in terms of production. We tried to do all of those in as seamless a way as we could and try to tell the best story we could and then, you know, take us and land us back closer to the books in Season 2 as well.”

[MRP]

What a disappointing mess the last 2 episodes were. I will probably at least start watching season 2 when it drops, but everything I love about the books is missing from this series, the characters are nearly unrecognizable, and I feel there is this weird cognitive dissonance in that if you haven't read the books, the series doesn't make a lot of sense as it just leaves out or poorly explains a lot of key lore and plot points, but if you have read the books, the series doesn't make a lot of sense either because things have been weirdly and needlessly changed to undermine the lore the thematic underpinnings of the series and robbed of everything that gave it its charm.

It just seems like the showrunners either don't trust the material or don't really understand it. From little things like calling Lews Therin the Dragon Reborn when he was the first Dragon to either confusing or intentionally changing the different ways the Source works for men and women-in the books men must aggressively control the One Power while women must submit to it and let it flow naturally through them, accepting the One Power and becoming one with it rather than conquering it, in the show it is the opposite as the Forsaken explains to Rand that to channel he must submit to it and let it flow through him and become one with him while Morraine describes how she learned to channel and having to seize the one power and master it. Not sure if they meant this change to be intentional and were trying to make some sore of thematic or sociological statement about the nature of masculinity and femininity in opposition to that portrayed in the book or whether they just plain screwed the pooch and got it backwards because they didn't understand what was actually in the books. Either way it fundamentally changes the lore and the portrayal of the one power and how its used which is at the heart of so much of the books' thematic underpinnings.

And the other stray thought was, for a show with such a large budget, I am not sure what they spent it on. Maybe they blew the vfx budget on the early episodes, but the CGI got progressively worse as the season progressed, and the editing of the last episode in particular looks like the editors were asleep at the wheel.

There were things I liked about the season, and I even liked a small portion of the changes made (and acknowledge some changes needed to be made to cram that big a book into an 8 episode season). There were performances that stood out in a positive way, but overall the negative far outweighs those meager positives and my overall feeling is one of wasted potential and missed opportunities. A strong second season could go a long way to rehabilitating my impressions of the show, but the second season really does need to be a reclamation project, and it will be an uphill battle because they killed some of my favorites (who continued to play huge important roles in later books) or have fundamentally altered favorites to remove or change the things that drew me to the characters. But we'll see.


-M