The Wheel of Time Trailer

[Sideshow Spock]

I've never read the books, but the first couple eps of the series were promising enough to keep me coming back. That Trolloc raid on the village in E1 was a very impressive spectacle and I'm pretty sure blew 80% of their VFX budget I was even able to forgive how hilariously derivative of LOTR many of the show's tropes were.

But as the show plodded on, I started to feel like I was watching that awful Shannara series on MTV from a few years back (a series of books I devoured as a kid). Things just kept getting sillier.

By the finale I was just happy it was over

[YoungOnce]

I've never read the books, but the first couple eps of the series were promising enough to keep me coming back. That Trolloc raid on the village in E1 was a very impressive spectacle and I'm pretty sure blew 80% of their VFX budget I was even able to forgive how hilariously derivative of LOTR many of the show's tropes were.

But as the show plodded on, I started to feel like I was watching that awful Shannara series on MTV from a few years back (a series of books I devoured as a kid). Things just kept getting sillier.

By the finale I was just happy it was over

This was me. I never read the books, but thought I'd give it a go. The start of the series seemed promising enough, but by the finale, it all felt rather rote.

Maybe it's just that I was hoping for a better resolution. It felt like they beat the "level 1" boss and now they'll move on to level 2, 3, 4 etc...

[Nostalgiabuff]

it was a very weak S1. i will also come back at least to start S2 but if they do not make some serious course correction i will be out too. I don't understand why they take these amazing fantasy series and so drastically alter them. it never, never works. the one series that worked was the LOTR and that is because it was such a labor of love for all involved and even though they did make some changes to the overall story, they still stayed faithful to the source material

[Dark Shadow]

We watched the first three episodes of Season 2.

I've come to terms with the reality that the creators have no intention of adapting Robert Jordan's story, but have instead co-opted his world & characters in order to tell their own story. Whether this is due to a lack of confidence in their own abilities, or if they believe themselves to be more intelligent than the author is anybody's guess?

I'm having a hard time understanding how anybody who has not read the books would be able to make any sense out of the series. As a reader, I'm able to fill in the blanks for most of the holes and lack of clarity, but still find myself asking "Where? What? Who? How?".

I was pretty forgiving with Season 1 due to the repercussions of the pandemic and the "greenness" of the creative team, but nearly half way through Season 2 and let's just say I'm a lot less forgiving this time around.

I'm going to watch the rest of the season to see if they are able to make this story of theirs cohesive and/or find some sort of footing.

If not, I'll not return for the third season.

[Nostalgiabuff]

yeah, i have only watched the first 2 so far, but it's not any improvement over the mess that was season 1. so far at least

[drquest]

I haven't decided if I want to waste any time on season 2. Season 1 was a mess.

[Nostalgiabuff]

they definitely are not following the books, other than the main concept and names of places and characters. it's entertaining enough to keep me watching but ultimately it is a disappointment as a fan of the books

[Dark Shadow]

We watched S2E4, and it looks like some threads may be starting to come together. Maybe?

On the downside, we are already halfway through the season, and it's frustrating to realize how much precious time has been wasted on nonsense.

On the upside, Matrim is gambling, Perrin's learning more about his nature, Rand is channeling, and it looks like Nynaeve, Egwene & Elayne are headed to Falme. I'm certainly not assuming that this means things are "getting on track", but it was nice to watch an episode that had some moments that reflected the actual story that was written.

If S2 is going to wrap up where we leave off at the end of The Great Hunt, the next four episodes should be pretty well stacked. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out and whether or not S3 will actually happen.

[Dark Shadow]

We watched S2E5 over the weekend. I found it to be the best episode so far this season, and it is first episode that I'd be willing to watch again since the middle of the first season. Fluke, or a sign of things to come? TBD.

[Nostalgiabuff]

good to hear. i have to watch ep5 still

[Nostalgiabuff]

i guess as fans of the books, we have to set that expectation aside and just enjoy the show for what it is. I thought Ep5 was fine. some action and building towards the greater story

[MRP]

i guess as fans of the books, we have to set that expectation aside and just enjoy the show for what it is. I thought Ep5 was fine. some action and building towards the greater story

I haven't started on season 2 yet, but season 1 felt more like someone using Jordan's characters and world to tell their own pastiche stories than an adaptation. If you accept that, it's a decent fantasy series. If you can't accept that, it's not going to be to your liking. I am behind in my series watching (I am in the middle of House of Dragons and have to get to Secret Invasion yet before tackling season 2 of this-Ahsoka is the only thing I'm current on because it's appointment TV for my wife).

-M

[Dark Shadow]

I found S2E6 overall to be another "step up" for the season. There was much to appreciate in this episode (the Sul'dam/Damane relationship portrayed fairly well, O'Keeffe's Lanfear and her interactions with Rand & Liandrin, Rand seizing the source, Finn's portrayal of Mat, and Rand & Mat reuniting). That said, there was still plenty of time-consuming nonsense that kept this episode from achieving greatness.

I get that they need to keep the characters Lan & Moraine in the story in order to keep the actor's engaged with the series, but are those two arc's really the best the writers could come up with? They could have had Lan help guard & work with Rand to train him on the sword, and they could have had Moraine interacting with some of the more interesting "sisters" to help flesh out the nuances of the power and the politics. But instead, they're given these weird uninteresting tangents that seemingly add nothing to the greater story.

There's still much to achieve to effectively wrap up even just the basics of The Great Hunt, it'll be interesting to see how/if they do it.

These deficiencies and whatever the lingering effects of the writers' strike will have on S3...well, it isn't exactly looking like sunshine & lollipops.

[Dark Shadow]

S2E7 - I didn't find much at all to appreciate in this episode. The brief encounter between Lan & Rand was nice, but really should have happened in S2E1, but in much greater depth. There's plenty to criticize in this installment, but I'll just pick a few nits.

The smallest would be the idea that Rand had to embrace the source to actually see the tied-off weave, but Logain could see it without having any access to the source at all? The largest for me (aside from all the wasted time on peripheral characters and the character perversions of the main cast) would be that the creators seem to have no idea what made the relationship between the Sul'dam & Damane truly terrifying.

I used to think that the creators either didn't understand what made the characters and the different cultures in the novels actually work, or they just thought they could improve upon them. It's beginning to look like they simply don't understand human nature.

[Dark Shadow]

S2E8: Train Wreck.

If it's 2-3 years before S3 drops, that may be enough time for me to forget why I am so disappointed with this series overall. I don't think it will be long enough for me to forget how badly both season finales were executed though, and overall how all 6 of the main characters have been stripped of their actual character.

I really want to like this series, but the creative team just won't let me.