it’s so much harder to resist the urge to jump in to tell y’all when you’re actually catching things I thought they made too subtle.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Remember that this is not a book thread. The show has to stand 100% on its own merits and if they fail to do something in the show, that's a flaw of the show that is not solved because the books exist.
So I've suitably digested the finale and now the season as a whole, so when I get time I'll write more full thoughts but the finale was utterly dreadful. As a cliff notes on my initial thoughts:
What on earth makes the blight scary? Vaguely weirdly shaped trees? Why tell someone not to touch everything and then sleep in the damn place, while touching as much of it as possible.
Perrin literally gets shit on all season and at the end, gets to stand around like an absolute complete knob while evil guys run off with a horn....
...for no explained reason whatsoever. Why do they want it? Who knows! Who cares apparently, other than it's a season 2 macguffin.
Because as explained in the show it's supposed to be used to fight in the Last Battle against the Shadow. The bad guys don't want the good guys to have that.
The whole "battle" with the evil whatever was deeply unsatisfying. Rand has already easily passed a similar test and so there was basically no tension there unless we suddenly assume Rand develops dramatic brain damage at the last minute.
What test are you talking about?
Speaking of battles, outside of the excellent opener, we haven't really had a decently portrayed fight that feels like more than 2 people in a while. Everything about the defense of the gap is idiotic and I have nothing but derision for the entire thing. One spellcaster in a village repelled a large number of Trollocks, without having a solid defensive position or support - so why the fuck aren't they defending the gap? A tiny area where the trollocks cannot possibly evade or move, backed by archers - albeit all 3 of them because none of these battles feel interesting - I just can't go on with how badly this is all portrayed.
AND WHY CAVALRY CHARGE INTO YOUR OWN FORTRESS? ??????
Then they blow up the army of trollocks. Again, couldn't you have done that BEFORE the gap fell and a bunch of people died? Wouldn't it have been easier to kill them in that tiny gap instead of outside of it? Did everyone get their tactics from the last braindead season of Game of Thrones (infamously putting catapults in front of the cavalry and infantry lines).
They didn't expect the channeling to accomplish much. It was basically a last ditch effort to buy a small amount of time for preparation/evacuation for the city. Amalisa was not a full Aes Sedai (no stone in the ring, I forget if Moiraine said anything else about it). She gathered literally anybody who could channel, no matter how weak. They were expecting a futile valiant last stand with pea shooters and didn't know they had nukes in their back pocket.
Whole thing was awful and felt like it was cobbled together from emergency plans, probably due to COVID heavily disrupting whatever original idea they did have. Some of this though is just basic storytelling failures on a fundamental level - such as whatever is going on with the horn and Perrin, poor Perrin. You've been shit on all season outside of your one good moment with the wolves at the camp. Oh and a bunch of random people on ships turn up, to presumably drown a little girl with a tidal wave or something. No idea who they are, but at least they have the whole magic BDSM fetish ticked at last thank god.
Overall the series was good in places, but that finale was atrocious and I'm not confident they can turn this train wreck around in Season 2.
But yeah the finale was super weak and probably my least or 2nd least favorite episode. COVID and Barney's departure screwed them royally.
Except y’all keep saying things like, “they aren’t explaining things enough” after giving the exact correct answer for why things happened.
I’d prefer it if we avoid referring to how reasons from the book make our take on the show right, even in vague terms. There’s already another thread for that, and doing it here is just spoilers waiting to happen.
Again it's the GoT issue. They came up with visual moments, and then wrote some paste to stick them in.
The entire channeling defense thing makes no sense. Why not do it from the First wall / fort. Or the walls of the fortress like city. Instead standing the the middle of a completely empty featureless field. That scene was basically them trying to ape 300, but with lighting instead of spears.
Same reason there's the stupid cavalry charge to the fort and the 3 fake out on screen kills.
Why build up Angelmar(and spend so much time with him and his sister, and that long pointless reflection on the dad's armor) if you are just gonna kill him, in a really weak inessential way.
Again it's the GoT issue. They came up with visual moments, and then wrote some paste to stick them in.
The entire channeling defense thing makes no sense. Why not do it from the First wall / fort. Or the walls of the fortress like city. Instead standing the the middle of a completely empty featureless field. That scene was basically them trying to ape 300, but with lighting instead of spears.
Same reason there's the stupid cavalry charge to the fort and the 3 fake out on screen kills.
Why build up Angelmar(and spend so much time with him and his sister, and that long pointless reflection on the dad's armor) if you are just gonna kill him, in a really weak inessential way.
I mean the women weren't allowed to fight at Tarwin's Gap but were the last defense of the city by order of Agelmar is what the episode told us didn't it?
Agelmar is one of a few "deaths" in that finale with named Borderlanders that I'm not certain of.
I rewatched it and it's not clear how much of that Trolloc spear actually penetrated his armor. He was knocked into the wall by it and he looks down at the spear. You don't really see blood and then it cuts away.
Except y’all keep saying things like, “they aren’t explaining things enough” after giving the exact correct answer for why things happened.
I’d prefer it if we avoid referring to how reasons from the book make our take on the show right, even in vague terms. There’s already another thread for that, and doing it here is just spoilers waiting to happen.
Yep, and there's also a fair number of book readers who don't like the show who are dropping in here and asking leading questions to try to poison the well so they can go "see, I told you the show sucks" and they need to stop doing that, too.
Again it's the GoT issue. They came up with visual moments, and then wrote some paste to stick them in.
The entire channeling defense thing makes no sense. Why not do it from the First wall / fort. Or the walls of the fortress like city. Instead standing the the middle of a completely empty featureless field. That scene was basically them trying to ape 300, but with lighting instead of spears.
Same reason there's the stupid cavalry charge to the fort and the 3 fake out on screen kills.
Why build up Angelmar(and spend so much time with him and his sister, and that long pointless reflection on the dad's armor) if you are just gonna kill him, in a really weak inessential way.
I mean the women weren't allowed to fight at Tarwin's Gap but were the last defense of the city by order of Agelmar is what the episode told us didn't it?
Agelmar is one of a few "deaths" in that finale with named Borderlanders that I'm not certain of.
I rewatched it and it's not clear how much of that Trolloc spear actually penetrated his armor. He was knocked into the wall by it and he looks down at the spear. You don't really see blood and then it cuts away.
I was counting the Moraine dream death(It was all a dream is just hackish), Nyneave dying and being resurrected, and Loial being stabbed down on the floor having the cursed dagger wrenched out of his chest, but you still see him moving around in the background a bit while Perin stands around looking Gormley. Trying to have their "we kill main characters" cake and eat it too.
I hadn't considered Agelmars not dead too I'll be more annoyed if that is the case, So you are probably right.
Except y’all keep saying things like, “they aren’t explaining things enough” after giving the exact correct answer for why things happened.
I’d prefer it if we avoid referring to how reasons from the book make our take on the show right, even in vague terms. There’s already another thread for that, and doing it here is just spoilers waiting to happen.
Yep, and there's also a fair number of book readers who don't like the show who are dropping in here and asking leading questions to try to poison the well so they can go "see, I told you the show sucks" and they need to stop doing that, too.
Meh, I don't think anyone is doing that and I'd appreciate if the book thread's apologists and critics don't snipe at each other here.
I mean, you clearly don't need any leading questions to prompt criticism in here, IMO the show does suck but I'm intrigued by the setting and lore and will cut it some slack for another season at least.
Again it's the GoT issue. They came up with visual moments, and then wrote some paste to stick them in.
The entire channeling defense thing makes no sense. Why not do it from the First wall / fort. Or the walls of the fortress like city. Instead standing the the middle of a completely empty featureless field. That scene was basically them trying to ape 300, but with lighting instead of spears.
Same reason there's the stupid cavalry charge to the fort and the 3 fake out on screen kills.
Why build up Angelmar(and spend so much time with him and his sister, and that long pointless reflection on the dad's armor) if you are just gonna kill him, in a really weak inessential way.
I mean the women weren't allowed to fight at Tarwin's Gap but were the last defense of the city by order of Agelmar is what the episode told us didn't it?
Agelmar is one of a few "deaths" in that finale with named Borderlanders that I'm not certain of.
I rewatched it and it's not clear how much of that Trolloc spear actually penetrated his armor. He was knocked into the wall by it and he looks down at the spear. You don't really see blood and then it cuts away.
I was counting the Moraine dream death(It was all a dream is just hackish), Nyneave dying and being resurrected, and Loial being stabbed down on the floor having the cursed dagger wrenched out of his chest, but you still see him moving around in the background a bit while Perin stands around looking Gormley. Trying to have their "we kill main characters" cake and eat it too.
I hadn't considered Agelmars not dead too I'll be more annoyed if that is the case, So you are probably right.
I don't consider the Moiraine death to be an example of an "it was all a dream" thing, given her "death" happened right away and within 5 minutes the dream was over and it's a show in which we've received several previous examples and warnings of fucked up dreams.
It's not like it's the ending of Wizard of Oz or Dallas where it's like haha none of any of this actually happened.
Again it's the GoT issue. They came up with visual moments, and then wrote some paste to stick them in.
The entire channeling defense thing makes no sense. Why not do it from the First wall / fort. Or the walls of the fortress like city. Instead standing the the middle of a completely empty featureless field. That scene was basically them trying to ape 300, but with lighting instead of spears.
Same reason there's the stupid cavalry charge to the fort and the 3 fake out on screen kills.
Why build up Angelmar(and spend so much time with him and his sister, and that long pointless reflection on the dad's armor) if you are just gonna kill him, in a really weak inessential way.
I mean the women weren't allowed to fight at Tarwin's Gap but were the last defense of the city by order of Agelmar is what the episode told us didn't it?
Agelmar is one of a few "deaths" in that finale with named Borderlanders that I'm not certain of.
I rewatched it and it's not clear how much of that Trolloc spear actually penetrated his armor. He was knocked into the wall by it and he looks down at the spear. You don't really see blood and then it cuts away.
I was counting the Moraine dream death(It was all a dream is just hackish), Nyneave dying and being resurrected, and Loial being stabbed down on the floor having the cursed dagger wrenched out of his chest, but you still see him moving around in the background a bit while Perin stands around looking Gormley. Trying to have their "we kill main characters" cake and eat it too.
I hadn't considered Agelmars not dead too I'll be more annoyed if that is the case, So you are probably right.
I don't consider the Moiraine death to be an example of an "it was all a dream" thing, given her "death" happened right away and within 5 minutes the dream was over and it's a show in which we've received several previous examples and warnings of fucked up dreams.
It's not like it's the ending of Wizard of Oz or Dallas where it's like haha none of any of this actually happened.
Yeah, it's not like the fake you out with it for more then a second. It's like a split second shock moment followed by "Oh, it's a dream, of course". It only annoys me if they belabour this shit long past the point where the audience knows it's fake. But the show goes straight to evil guy having a friendly chat with Rand so it works.
In general I get annoyed with dream sequences (see Batman v Superman), but it's hard to avoid them when they're all tied up with prophecy and whatnot
Ooh, to bring a bit of positivity into my posts: I liked Moraine being Gentled as a twist on the mentor dying
Assuming that she keeps hanging out with the Two Rivers people, she can provide exposition and guidance, but she isn't just an automatic Fuck You I've Got Magic button
All on all, I have liked what I have seen so far, with one relatively trivial exception.
Rand full fisting the bow draw. He's done it multiple times, and it sets my brain on fire every time.
I'm hardly an expert archer, heck, I wouldn't even consider myself proficient. But it's one of the first things you learn.
When you draw back on the bow, it's with two or three fingers (index above the arrow, middle and optional ring below), using the first joint below the fingertip.
Rand uses all four fingers, at the second joint, and that might make you feel more comfortable drawing the string back, but it's positively shit for any kind of aim/release.
It's not as bad as the occasionally seen Hollywood take where an archer draws back by holding the arrow at the nock and picking it between thumb and forefinger (easiest way to have a misfire of the bow unless it's draw weight is trivial).
I would think any weapon master worth their employmentwould have taught him otherwise, as it's not a particularly difficult thing to learn.
There's the other issue with keeping the bow perpetually strung (and having a weird holster for it) but I don't know if that's just my own experience/training or if some cultures did it that way.
There's the other issue with keeping the bow perpetually strung (and having a weird holster for it) but I don't know if that's just my own experience/training or if some cultures did it that way.
Rand-t over.
I'm no master archer but will admit that did seem very odd to me
That's very much a TV/movie thing where unless it's plot relevant (or fancy tech bow like Hawkeye has) it's always strung for expediency and visuals. Also they're usually bows with a baby draw weight.
That's very much a TV/movie thing where unless it's plot relevant (or fancy tech bow like Hawkeye has) it's always strung for expediency and visuals. Also they're usually bows with a baby draw weight.
Oh, I get why they do it, especially with the draw weight. Safety and fluidity of motion. I can live with that, I don't expect complete realism in fight scenes. Same as how often Hollywood has swordfights that would end with broken blades and would be over a lot quicker based on how the fighters interact, and let's not get into how most gunfights are orchestrated.
Because it's cool.
But full fisting the bow draw? That's not cool, and with the light draw weights, doesn't need to be done for safety either.
And as I said in the original rand't, it's a relatively trivial complaint. Otherwise I liked most of the show fine. Enough that I'm in for S2.
Damnit now I’m gonna need to watch back through the season to see if he fucks up the draw every time or if it’s only some of the time. I wanna see if it’s your standard Hollywood fuck up or if they’re trying to have a subtle “Rand doesn’t like violence” thing going on. Just cause of the one scene where they call it out explicitly.
Alright I watched this as it aired and then rewatched so I don’t think I missed much. This is gonna be a rambling-ass post as I try to review/breakdown an entire season of what worked, what didn’t and what can be improved on aka my 2 goddamn cents.
Episode 1
The opening monologue is short and concise. We’re introduced to Moiraine, who is getting ready to search for someone called the Dragon Reborn. She packs up a few items, nothing of note except maybe a small statue. This, I feel, is mixed. For new viewers, throwing them in blind is typically a bad move. The show does NOT do this but they DO throw a LOT of information at you and not a lot of time is given to digest it.
We move quickly to the Two Rivers where we meet the core five: Rand, Egwene, Nynaeve, Perrin and Mat. Egwene is undergoing a right of passage where she gets her hair braided and…pushed into a rushing river. Have people died because of this? Cause I feel like that’s a thing that can happen. We move to later and the tavern is in full swing. There are some quick shots (and I do mean quick) of Perrin looking at Egwene. I missed it the first time around. This is probably the earliest seed about how Perrin has unrequited love towards Egwene.
Moraine arrives and the camera immediately lets us know who she's giving the once over but she plays it cool so as not to spook anyone. We then get some young couple in love stuff between Rand and Egwene (nothing great but nothing terrible either) and it’s the next day.
Festival time! Can you say doomed home town? I can. I played JRPGs, I know how this ends. A peddler, Padan Fain arrives and Mat tries to pawn off some jewelry he “found.” Fain stiffs him. There’s some more idle chatter Nynaeve gets into it with Moiraine over account of her mentor being turned away from the Ai Sedai, the group to which Moiraine belongs. This resentment/pride is going to be a big part of Nynaeve’s character going forward. The Festivel begins with a lantern ceremony, so we get insight into how faith/religion works here, basically reincarnation.
The festival begins with music, dance, alcohol and blood. Blood? Oh, yeah. Trollocs attack. *sigh* Trollocs? If you’re going to name a monstrous race (there has got to be a better term here but I don’t know it), you gotta do more than just add a few letters. Padan Fain nonchalantly dips out during the carnage. If we were trying to keep his allegiance ambiguous, this is a failure. If not, hey we know he’s a baddie. Rand and his father, who were at their homestead are also attacked and Rand’s dad busts out a very nice looking sword (Jeez, I was joking about the JRPG thing) and tires to kill the Trolloc. Seriously though, this is actually a nice battle sequence. Rand’s father goes for blocks against an opponent bigger than him and pays for it by almost dying. In the village center, Moiraine shows off her power by decimating Trollocs and her Warder, Lan, parrys blows by using their size against them. To me, this says that the dad is out of practice but Lan is at the top of his game. Moiraine is hit by an errant dagger though as she finishes off the last of the Trollocs.
The casualties are high. Many of the townsfolk are killed, Nynaeve looks to be among them. Perrin’s wife is accidentally killed by his own hand. This wouldv’e been more tragic except we barely got to know her and her death is pretty much used to make Perrin feel sad. Yep, it’s the thing. Kitchen appliances ahoy.
There’s no time to grieve and Moiraine informs the core cast that one of them is the Dragon Reborn and that they need to leave.
TL;DR
I’m going to say that this is a rough start. The primary issue is the pacing. This would’ve benefited GREATlY from more time but as I understand it, Amazon did not give them this or the budget they asked for. Second are choices like Perrin’s wife. It’s 2021, can we not do that sort of crap? Despite all that, the cast I thought was very good. Ensemble piece, multiple points of view from within the core group. Shoutouts to Mat and Egwene. Mat’s fear when he realized his sister were still in danger was spot on and Egwene when she asserted her wants in front of Rand.
Episode 2
The episode starts with a nice drone shot into a camp where a man in white eats a very small dish. There’s a joke in here about overpriced dining and portion sizes. However we find out that the man, named Valda, is torturing/murdering an Ai Sedai by CHOPPING OFF HER HANDS AND BURNING HER AT THE STAKE…Imma say this dude is bad news. Valda leaves the Ai Sedai to her death as we cut back to the core party.
The party left the Two Rivers in a haste as another Trolloc war band gave chase. Moraine uses her power to replenish the horses stamina, good to explain that as I was wondering how the horses were managing to maintain a full gallop for presumably days. They eventually lose the Trollocs by crossing a river. I just don’t buy that these insanely brutal monsters are scared of deep water.
There are some side conversations but the core issue is none of the Two Rivers people really trust Moiraine. She tries to alleviate this by telling them a bit about herself and Ai Sedai but the only one willing to listen is Egwene. Still this let’s the audience know more about the world. They run into the man in white from the opening. White Cloaks they’re called, a cross between Spanish Inquisition and witch hunters. Valda also does not respect boundaries, to which Lan takes great offense. They manage to part ways without further issue though.
Perrin’s actor continues to be a believable emotional wreck at the cost of a bad writing choice. He gets a private moment where he runs into a pack of wolves who, curiously, don’t attack despite him bleeding. The implication from this meeting is that Perrin’s going to be like Aquaman but with wolves…dope.
In the middle of the night, Rand has a nightmare where he vomits up a bat and this is our first introduction to the Dark One. He looks like a man with a burned head and embers for eyes. As far as evil overlords go, this comes off as underwhelming. Sauron, as a giant flaming eye with creepy whispers, says run the f*ck away. The Beast from season 1 of The Magicians rips out the eyes of another character and uses them to make a smiley face with blood. The Dark One gives you nightmares where you puke bats. Disappointing.
Safety doesn’t last as Lan informs the group that the Trollocs found their trail. They get desparet and manage to hide in a cursed city. This is a believable deterrent. The city itself comes off as a set but I imagine budget is the culprit again. It doesn’t look bad, it just feels like it could be better. Lan informs the kids to not touch anything so of course the first thing Mat does when everyone else is asleep is to pick up a dagger. Shadows come to life and start trying to kill the party. The shadows force them to separate: Mat and Rand, Egwene and Perrin, Moiraine, Lan and Nynaeve. Wait, Nynaeve? Yep, she’s alive to the shock of no one.
TL;DR
This episode set up group dynamics and secondary antagonists. The Dark One’s first appearance was underwhelming. I don’t know why I should be afraid of him. Valda had a significantly more intimidating introduction, highlighting his cruelty. The cursed city was okayish I guess. It was super obvious the beam light onto the dagger was fake but moonlight(?) can be damn tricky to fake. I never believed for a second Nynaeve was dead. An okayish episode.
Episode 3
The episode starts right off with answering “How the hell is Nynaeve still alive?” Short answer: Trollocs are dumb. But seriously, luring the Trolloc to the pool from earlier, hiding in the water and stabbing it in the back with it’s own weapon? Smart. Cut back to the present and we see Lan disarm Nynaeve and tie her up. Lan tries to enlist her aid as Moiraine is dying from the Trolloc wound but Nynaeve actually refuses at first. Nynaeve just wants to find her friends and go back home but she has a LOT of resentment/issues to work through. Meanwhile, Lan’s actor, who hasn’t said much until now, continues to say little but his facial expressions are pulling a lot of weight.
Egwene and Perrin are stuck in the plains during (I assume) winter with no food or shelter and the wolves are howling in the distance. Bad times. Or at least that’s what it looks like until they stumble their way into the Tuatha’an aka this world’s equivalent of the Romanis who are non-violent and presumably vegetarian. Egwene and Perrin both decide to go to the White Tower as that’s where they think they’ll find the others
Rand and Mat get stuck hiking through the mountains. Rand wants to find Egwene by going to the White Tower whereas Mat just wants to go back to the Two Rivers. They eventually come across a mining town and stumble into a bar but not before Mat spots a trinket hanging from a corpse outside of town. I have a handle on Mat’s character, he makes all the worst choices. The barmaid is all kinds of snark but offers work for lodging while Mat and Rand listen to the bard or gleeman sing a song. This guy is no Jaskier but that’s a tall order. The song wasn’t bad, very evocative of The White Buffalo. After sitting down, Mat is immediately robbed but the gleeman gets the money back…and keeps it for himself. So it’s THAT kind of town.
We bounce back and forth between the groups: Lan goes off in search of something, Egwene and Perrin get used to their new traveling companions and Mat considers grave robbing instead of serving drinks. Eventually Mat hits that low point and goes to the corpse. The gleeman is also there, having come to bury the body, who was an Aeil. He lets Mat do what he came to do and the two share a little bonding moment. Meanwhile Rand has been making nice with the barmaid but after he refuses her advances she steals his sword? Oh, she works for the Dark One. Did not see this coming, well played writers. Rand manages to escape and runs into Mat but the two are cornered by the barmaid who says she’s summoned a Fade and that all five of them are destined to stand before the Dark One. Mat and Rand are confused by this but they don’t know Nynaeve is alive. However the barmaid is killed by the gleeman before anything else can happen and the three of them get the hell out of fantasy Dodge.
We then transition back to Lan, Nynaeve and Moiraine and frankly I thought the transition was really well done. The three of them find other Ai Sedai who are transporting a man they captured named Loghain, a man claiming to be the Dragon Reborn.
TL;DR
The party has been split and this episode sees conflicting goals amongst the protagonists. Nynaeve’s initial refusal to help Moiraine was very cold. I get she has resentment issues but to refuse to help a dying person is pretty callous. Granted she did eventually come around and she hasn’t had much time to be a character at this point but I feel like this was a misstep.[/spolier]
So we see Loghain’s conquest of another kingdom. How’d he do it? He can channel. Given what they show, he’s pretty good too, blocking spears while barely moving his wrists. And here why find out what the deal is with male channelers. If a man touches the One Power, they eventually go cuckoo for cocoa puffs. However, in a surprise move, Loghain resists the madness and spares the enemy king. Can’t help but shake the feeling that if it weren’t for the madness, Loghain might make for a powerful ally.
Cut to the present and we’re in the Ai Sedai camp. Moraine finally gets treatment for her wound and is shown to Loghain. Moiriane and Alanna stand guard over Loghain and reminisce about their younger days and theorize about Loghains power. Nynaeve and Lan are left to wander about the camp. Lan socialies with his fellow Warders while they practice martial forms. Minor quibble, handaxes seem like a distinct disadvantage against anything with better reach. Nynaeve keeps to herself, at first anyway. One of the red Ai Sedai, Liandrin approaches her, tries to make polite conversation but is definitely angling for leverage.
Meanwhile, Mat and Rand are still traveling with the gleeman (named Thom) and happen across a farm. After a tense but brief standoff with the farmer, they’re allowed to stay the night in the barn. Rand points out the farmer is doing a fist draw with his bow but I went back and it appears Rand has been doing that the entire time up until now. Maybe it’s like leaving the safety on? Or maybe it’s an error. Moving on.
Egwene and Perrin continue to travel with the Tuatha’an learning about the new culture they find themselves in. So far, they have the best company.
Cut back to the farm and Mat is acting strange. Ok, more than strange. He’s got strange black stuff crawling out of his mouth but supress it as he socializes with the farmer’s daughter. She probably reminds him of his sisters. But Thom has noticed Mat’s odd behavior and warns Rand. Men who channel all end up badly either dead or insane, usually both.
Back to the Ai Sedai camp. Nynaeve has joined the Warders around their fire. This is a nice moment as it also means these characters get to be fleshed out: Nynaeve lets her barriers down a little and we get to know the Warders. Also apparently certain Ai Sedai and Warders are just in a polyamory. Neat.
Back at the Tuatha’an camp, Egwene gets to dance and Perrin learns about Tuatha’an pacifism. The matriach also gets to explain why she is so devoted to the idea of nonviolence. In a roundabout way, she’s getting revenge for the murder of her daughter. Complicated but then again grief is never simple.
Rand wakes up from a nightmare to find Mat missing. He and Thom run to the farmhouse to find the farmer and his family dead and Mat acting all creepy. Before they can do anything, Mat points into the shadows with his evil dagger and mutters “I see you.” A Fade promptly appears and attacks. It’s left deliberately vague if Mat succumbed to madness or if the Fade killed the family. Thom fights the Fade as Rand and Mat hightail it out of there.
At the Ai Sedai camp, the green Ai Sedai, Krene and Laindrin debate what to do about Loghain. They’re unsure if they can hold him all the way to the White Tower and Liandrin wants to deal with him now while Kerene disagrees. Despite presenting a united front to outsiders, the Ai Sedai appear to have cracks in their unity. I get vague Jedi from the prequel trilogy vibes here. Meanwhile, Nynaeve and Lan have a quiet moment together as they begin to open up to each other. Lan manages to translate what Nynaeve’s parents' last words to her were. Her facial expression kind of says it all, props to the actress.
It all goes pear shaped as remnants of Logains army have reformed and come to his rescue. It culminates in a large chaotic battle sequence. On the plus side we get to see what a group of Ai Sedai and Warders can do and they do not disappoint as they are all very impressive. On the down side, I found the battle to be somewhat difficult to follow as it devolved into mass melee VERY quickly. Loghain uses the chaos to break free and Kerene gives her life to save the others. I was unclear as to why she could only put up a shield for Moiraine and Liandrin.
Kerene’s Warder feels her death and charges Loghain who counters and fatally injures almost everyone present. Except for Nynaeve who uses her anger and grief over seeing Lan bleed out in front of her causes her to tap into the One Power and heal everyone present. That’s awesome but I’m afraid this may cheapen near fatal injuries going forward. Loghain is stunned by what he saw and the Ai Sedai use the moment to sever his connection to the One Power.
TL;DR
The strength of the episode was the quiet moments. It allowed various actors to express themselves and further build upon their characters. The winners here were Nynaeve, Lan with Mat and Ran being runners up. The mass combat was entertaining but was on the messy side. Better cinematography could have been used.
Episode 5
The episode opens with a funeral. At first I thought those were some shallow graves but then I saw the snow and remembered that digging into frozen ground is a pain in the ass on the best of days. Stepin (I remembered his name!) looks beside himself as we go into opening credits.
Cut to one month later and the various travelers are approaching Tar Valan. Mat is getting worse as he’s snapping at just about everyone. Rand’s keeping an eye on him like an older brother but he notices a mountain in the distance and realizes he knows it but doesn’t remember from where though. The two of them arrive in the city and head to an inn. It looks like they reused set pieces from the cursed city. I have to assume budget constraints rear their head again. Rand says Thom(?) told him about it and while he gives an excuse that they need to rest and clean up, it’s clear he doesn’t want to take Mat to the White Tower as he’s worried what will happen to Mat. Meanwhile Mat is clearly drawing in his guilt as even he is unsure if he killed the farmer. Misery thy name is Cauthon.
Moraine, Lan and Nynaeve arrive at the tower and Nynaeve is told because…you know…the mass healing thing. Whether she likes it or not, she just jumped right to the top of the recruitment list.
Perrin and Egwene are still traveling with the Tuatha’an when who should they run into? Valda and the f*ckin White Cloaks. That good fortune had to run out some time. They’re captured and taken away.
Meanwhile, Rand is browsing a library when he runs into Lioal, an Ogier. These naming conventions are killing me. They socialize for a bit with Lioal calling Rand an Aeil which Rand denies when suddenly they notice a commotion on the streets. Loghain is being paraded through and it looks like Mat went to watch. Rand and Mat have a moment where a promise is made. Whatever happens, Mat does not want to end up like Loghain. At least he’s self aware enough to have some idea what’s happening.
Back at the White Tower, Stepin is going through another funeral. But this is to melt down Kerene’s ring. It’s clear he doesn’t want to let this go as it’s the last physical thing of her’s but I guess tradition demands it be melted. The act is clearly a lot for him.
Meanwhile at the White Cloaks camp, Egwene is forcefully bathed, clothed and tied to a chair while Valda questions her. When he doesn’t get the answers he wants he brings in Perrin and begins to cut open his back. I would very much like for this sadistic asshat to be fired…out of a cannon…into the sun. He gives the pair an ultimatum: one can live but at the cost of the other's life.
Back at the White Tower, Stepin goes to Nynaeve, saying he’s having trouble sleeping. Can’t blame him, he’s in mourning. Nynaeve uses the time to explore the tower where Liandrine again tries to make small talk/foster friendship. Nynaeve doesn’t trust her but apparently takes her up on the information to explore the garden/library.
I say apparently because the next we see Nynaeve, she’s been taken to Mat and Rand via Loial. I can’t help but think there must’ve been a scene inbetween that got cut due to time constraints. The scene works but only barely. She tries to get a look at Mat but he’s only getting worse. She and Rand reminisce about Egwene, sharing that they’re both worried.
Going back to the White Cloak camp. Egwene refuses to leave Perrin behind but Perrin finally comes clean about his guilt. Just then, Valda comes back and because neither Perrin nor Egwene has given in, he decides to continue the torture. Egwene manages to channel a minature fireball…which does nothing. But it wasn’t supposed to as it distracts Valda long enough for Egwene to damage the ropes binding Perrin whose eyes go full wolfman. Valda wets himself as the camp is attacked by wolves, none of which attack Perrin or Egwene. Aquaman but with wolves. Egwene also managed to steal Valda’s trophy Ai Sedai rings. Respect.
Back at the White Tower Liandrine tries to goad Moiraine but Moiraine doesn’t bite. Meanwhile Stepin and Lan have a quiet moment with Stepin offering prayers. Moraine retires to her chambers (not a lot her but she basically lives on the road) Alanna is with her to give a warning, The Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche is returning and she is not happy about the Loghain situation. We cut back to Lan and Stepin sharing a drink and having a laugh. The mood does not last as come morning, Lan finds Stepin has committed suicide. Another Funreal is held and Lan bears his anguish for all to see.
TL;DR
This was very much a character focused episode. There were some politics at work with the Ai Sedai but the goal was everyone has to get to Tar Valan. The standout moment of the episode was Lan at the end. That was one of the most emotionally raw performances I’ve seen in recent memory. Stepin’s actor also brought his A game as he convincingly portrays a broken shell of a man just going through the motions.
Episode 6
This episode begins in a hut beside a river. A young girl helps her father catch fish. A difficult task as he only has one hand. But the girl can channel so that makes things easier. Or so it would seem, the father is worried if someone saw the girl use the One Power and while she swears no one saw, someone did. By the time they get back to their home, it’s been reduced to ruin. This convinces the father that the girl has to go to the White Tower, it’s the only place safe enough for her.
Turns out, that was the past and the girl was Siuan Sanche and she grew up to be The Amyrlin Seat. Loghain is brought before her so judgement can be rendered. With his connection severed, he’s no longer a threat, despite this he tries to goad the Ai Sedai into killing him but it fails. He gets a life sentence and begs to be mercy killed as he’s dragged away.
Moraine, Liandrin and Alanna are called to testify before The Amyrlin Seat, to explain what happened with Loghain. Liandrin tries to bluster her way through the hearing but Siuan Sanche is having none of it so Liandrin tries a different tact aka blame Moiraine. It’s more complicated than that as Moiraine has a informant network and the other Ai Sedai received no warning from her about Loghain. Of course we know Moiraine has been searching for the Dragon Reborn for the past 20 years, so some random jobber is low on the priority list. Still this is enough to raise questions and Siuan Sanche demands answers. Moiraine pleads the 5th or tries to because I guess not directly answering The Amyrlin Seat is a serious offense. Siuan Sanche is not happy as she dismisses the hearing. There is some posturing outside the hall but it’s clear Moiraine’s in hot water. Side not, love how Alanna’s thing is to be snacking whenever she can.
Speaking of hot water, Moiraine gets some tea at a local inn. And it just so happens it’s the same inn Rand and Mat are staying at. She waits for Nynaeve to leave and confronts the two boys. She immediately deduces what’s wrong with Mat and exorcises the dagger that has been corrupting him. Moiraine then immediately chastises both Rand and Nynaeve for not coming to her sooner. Rand chose not to do so out of fear, Nynaeve chose to do so out of pride.
Cut to a steam bathouse. The head of the Blues is asking Moiraine to stay so she can better coordinate with the rest of the Ai Sedai. It’s not being reassigned to Alaska but it might as well be from the look on Moiraine’s face but she has to leave suddenly as she receives another coded message.
I guess this is where all the Yellow Ai Sedai hang out as there are a lot of them. Figures this is where Perrin and Egwene ended up. Moiraine assures Egwene that Perrin will be fine and Egwene hands over the rings. Moiraine looks genuinely touched.
The day has come to an end as Moiraine prepares to turn in…or so I thought. One secret magic door later and Moiraine is in a recreation of Siuan Sanche’s childhood home AND SHE AND MOIRAINE ARE LOVERS AND THE WHOLE SCENE AT THE HALL WAS AN ACT!? Ok, I’m down. Representation is a good thing. So it looks like Moiraine and Siuan Sanche were the first to hear the prophecy and the reason they didn’t tell any of the other Ai Sedai is because The Amyrlin Seat must remain neutral. You’d think they’d be willing to bend the rules here but given what I saw, I guess they’re sticklers for them. It’s weird that Moiraine is considering that the Dragon has been split into five people when she was the first person in the series to use the word ta’veren. I guess that just got lost in the shuffle. Anyway, Siuan Sanche lets Moiraine know that she’s been having dreams that the Dark One is weak and could be destroyed at the Eye of the World and the Dragon should go there immediately. But without know who the dragon is, the other four are likely to die. Welp stakes are set. Moiraine says the only way she can leave is if Siuan Sanche exiles her. Office politics strike again.
The mourning starts with Moiraine and Liandrin having another confrontation. Liandrine tries to show off intelligence gathering skills but Moiraine shuts her down by threatening to out Liandrine’s secret lover. I guess Reds aren’t allowed male companionship. I loved how quickly Liandrine went from smug to silently terrified when Moiraine dropped that bomb and just walked away. Power move.
Moiraine goes to meet Lioal asking for his assistance with something to which he agrees. Moiraine then goes to show Egwene the main hall of the White Tower. It’s pretty obvious now that Moiraine dotes on Egwene as Moiraine thinks she’s the one most likely to be the Dragon. Oh and Nynaeve is here. Because Egwene and Perrin still didn’t know she was alive. I almost forgot about that. From there, the two of them are introduced to Siuan Sanche and are given a weird pep talk that amounts to “go save the world, it doesn’t matter what you want, the wheel says to do this.”
Moiraine gets a quiet moment to herself, probably the last time she’ll see this view for a long time before her staged punishment. It goes off without a hitch by the way, though Moiraine slips in some different wording to her magically binding contract so that Siuan Sanche and not The Amyrlin Seat is the one with the power to call her back. Exact words loophole, nice move.
Moiraine leaves the city and heads to a strange looking arch in the middle of a field called a Way Gate. The five kids, Lan and Lioal all meet up with her there and Moiraine almost is honest with them about the danger ahead. The gate is opened and they all step through, except for Mat as his actor bowed out of the series at this point. Damn shame, I liked him.
TL;DR
This was Moiraine’s episode and she was absolutely in her element. She could probably have a Masterclass video series on information gathering and manipulation. It sucks about Mat’s actor but sometimes things don’t work out. Did not see the relationship between Moiraine and Siuan Sanche coming but I am please they went this route.
Episode begins with a literal cold open in a snow covered battlefield. An Aeil woman runs through the snow, the sounds of battle waging not too far off. She unveils and chooses a spot to give birth. Right forgot to mention, she’s pregnant and judging by her breathing, in labor. She doesn’t get much chance to rest however as she’s immediately set upon by enemy soldiers. I’m gonna get this out of the way right now, this is the best fight sequence in the season. Every move the Aeil woman does here makes sense from trapping arms and using her opponents as human shields to using her spear’s length advantage to striking the weak points in the enemy armor. Everything here is just top notch.
Now given what Thom said about Aeil veils in episode three and the soldiers reaction here, there are one of two possible explanations: first is that the meaning behind the veil is not widely known. The second is that the enemy soldiers don’t care, she’s still the enemy as far as they’re concerned. She would’ve won this fight had it not been for a poorly timed contraction. She unfortunately gets a dagger in her side. She kills her last opponent and prepares to give birth. Then a bloody sword point comes into frame and we cut to the title sequence.
Back to the main cast, they demand to go back for Mat but Moiraine refuses. The kids are not happy with the choice. The Ways are, in short, a fast travel network. Unclear exactly who made them but it doesn’t really matter at the moment. The only rule while in here is do not channel, no explanation as to why yet. Lioal is basically the guide but they wind up in trouble as one of the markers has been defaced and they’re temporarily stuck.
They camp for a bit until they’re ambushed by a Trolloc. Trollocs being inside the Ways is apparently big news but more pressing concern is that Egwene reflexivly channeled and now something called Machin Shin is coming for them. They run to the nearest exit but are caught in Machin Shin, a black dust cloud that gets inside their minds and hammers them with their darkest thoughts. Nynaeve saves them with another outburst of power and emotion and manages to save everyone. Still a little worried about how that’ll play out in the future.
The group finds themselves near Fal Dara, a fortress city near their destination. It stands as a bulwark against something called The Blight. Apparently Lan has history there as the guards seem to know him. The group is taken before the king(?) and he guesses (incorrectly) as to why they have arrived. Moiraine corrects him and tells him about the Trollocs in the Ways. Because the bad guys having unfettered access to the fast travel network is a bad thing.
Cut back to the Way gate and a familiar figure has exited it. I don’t know why they’re bothering to hide Padan Fain. He walks off towards Fal Dara, a spring in his step.
Moiraine makes pleasantries with the king’s sister. Apparently she tried to be an Ai Sedai but her connection to the One Power wasn’t strong enoughbut she points Moiraine towards a seer in the city. She also askes to have a message sent to the Reds, telling them to be on the lookout for Mat. That guy just won’t stop getting into trouble. On the way there, Perrin does a double take as he thinks he saw Padan Fain. Nynaeve tells him he’s wrong.
They get to the seer who works in a bar and reads the four potential dragons. Rand is holding a baby, while Perrin has wolf eyes and blood covering his mouth. The girls get even vague reads with “White flame and a ring of gold.” This isn’t what Moiraine was hoping for.
They’ve returned to the main castle and are sitting around a fire and Moiraine FINALLY comes clean about the danger they face, specifically how going to the Eye of the World is fatal for anyone other than the dragon. This revelation causes…friction and probably the best quiet scene in the season. Egwene’s blind trust in Moiraine gets called out for what it is, Nynaeve’s distrust and pride get called out. Perrin’s unrequited love is outed and it appears out of nowhere at first but subsequent rewatches, I noticed maybe half a dozen clues. Mat’s choices are called out and by extension Rand’s willingness to make excuses for Mat. This is solid work from all of the cast.
We transition briefly to Moiraine and she gives Lan the night off to go see relatives. Nynaeve shadows him and we meet Lan’s family. Side note, it’s weird how Nynaeve is looking in the window and as she turns to leave, Lan is there. He was just inside the house no more than 2 seconds ago. Anyway, the two of them are candid with one another as Lan invites her in. As they head back to their chambers we find out that this is basically a surrogate family for Lan and that he’s royalty of a fallen kingdom. The relationship gets more intimate as the two ultimately spend the night together. Nynaeve may have issues with Moiraine but this is a culmination that these two care for each other and it’s a good moment.
Rand is off by himself practicing his archery. Makes sense as he’s been on the road for at least a month and is likely out of practice. He’s not using the full fist draw but his grouping leaves something to be desired as it’s kinda spread out at (I’m guessing) roughly 25 feet. Egwene finds him and they talk some more before also deciding to spend the night together. Or at least that’s what Egwene thinks as Rand disappears in the middle of the night. He goes back to the range and hits three arrows dead center no more than two to three inches apart though it’s difficult to tell for certain at the angle they shot at. Pretty sharp improvement there Rand. We also flashback to earlier parts in the season and find out Rand’s been instinctively channeling this entire time and that his father, while in a haze, basically told him he was adopted while being carried down the mountain in episode 1. Well that’s a lot of revelations.
Rand goes back to the Seer who cautions him against wanting to know but Rand doesn’t care so she tells him the first vision she ever had and we cut back to the Aeil woman from the beginning. The soldier puts his sword down and it’s Rand’s father. The baby is Rand, the mountain is the same one overlooking Tar Valan. Rand goes to Moiraine and tells her he’s the dragon. Dawn breaks and everyone gets ready to leave only to find Rand and Moiraine have already headed toward The Eye in the center of The Blight and Moiraine has masked her bond so Lan can’t track them.
TL;DR
This is the strongest episode of the season in my opinion. The fight sequence at the beginning is now the gold standard for the series as far as I’m concerned. Once we got to the fortress city, everyone nailed their scenes where we saw the culmination of a few arcs.
Episode 8
Another cold open. First time I watched this I didn’t have subtitles on so I was more than a little confused. It was interesting to see where civilization was 3000 years ago (flying cars!?) So the last Dragon royally f*cked up.
Rand and Moiraine trek through The Blight, it’s hard going as there is no clear path but The Blight is also dangerous…somehow. We see a corpse with spores coming out of it and Moiraine says not to touch anything but beyond that we don’t actually know what The Blight does or how it works, just that it’s caused by the Dark One. Back at Fal Dara the rest of the group are worried about Rand and Moiraine but can’t really do anything. Nynaeve tells Lan that when she left the Two Rivers she didn’t track Lan, she tracked Moiraine. How is ultimately unimportant as this gives Lan a means to follow Moiraine even when masked.
We cut back to Rand who wakes suddenly, clearly disturbed. Moiraine asks what's wrong and she’s stabbed from behind by the Dark One! Rand shoots him in the eye and the Dark One is more annoyed than anything as he pushes the arrow into himself revealing a normal face underneath the burned one. He invites Rand, calling him by the previous Dragon’s name, to sit down and talk with him. How affable of him. Rand doesn’t buy that any of this is happening and stabs himself waking up from the dream. Moiraine asks what happened but Rand doesn’t want to talk about it. They keep moving. Rand asks for specifics about the plan and Moiraine reveals a tiny statue, the same one glimpsed in Moiraines opening scene in episode 1. If I’m not mistaken, Chekhov’s Gun ahoy. The statue will allow Rand to supercharge his channeling and seal away the Dark One.
Back at the city, the group has gone back to the seer but the conversation has been cut short as horns start blaring, a trolloc army has begun massing in the canyon. Rand and Moraine can see the army from where they are. I admit this came off as confusing as I thought they couldn’t see the city anymore. We go back to the king and his guard tells him the city’s drawbridge has been sabotaged and the Trolloc army numbers in the thousands. The city will likely be overrun. Despite this the king decides to deploy soldiers to the fort to hold off the Trollocs and orders his personal guard to retrieve something.
Rand and Moraine make it to the entrance to The Eye. Just before they enter, Rand realizes that Moiraine could die if she goes any further and asks her to stay. She says nothing as she passes him down into The Eye.
The King is suiting up and his sister begs him to reconsider. He admits it’s a suicide mission but points out that if this isn’t done, the Trollocs will overrun them and every other city. I get that this is an important sacrifice but we just met these characters. Not having as much an impact as it could.
Rand and Moiraine enter the main chamber of The Eye and Rand gets pieces of visions showing the Dark One and the previous Dragon. Suddenly Rand is pulled into a dream where he’s back home with Egwene and they have a baby daughter. Meanwhile Moiraine tries to snap him out of it when the Dark One appears in fron of her. She gets ready to fight him but he severs her connection to the One Power with literally nothing but his pinky. This is the kind of shit I wanted him to do in his first appearence. Not exactly this but something to show why people should be afraid of him. Things like this show why he’s a threat.
We cut back to the fort and the king does a cavalry charge to it after sitting still for who knows how long outside it. Meanwhile Fal Dara is being evacuated and everyone is being called up to serve. The King’s sister sends out word for anyone who can channel. Egwene and Nynaeve respond. While Perrin and Loial go to help the King’s guard.
The Trollocs attack the fort and this thing has next to nothing in terms of proper fortifications besides crossbowmen. Seriously, some ditches with sharpened staves would do wonders. To be fair, the number of Hollywood movies that get medieval warfare right are few and far between. Good rule of thumb, if you watch any media with fortifications under attack by medieval warfare and the defenders did not dig at least one ditch in front of the wall, someone f*cked up.
Back to Rand in dreamland. He tries to convince himself it’s a dream but it doesn’t work. The Dark One appears and says that Rand can make this a reality and he can show him how. Classic temptation by the dark side aka good stuff. The Dark One knows what Rand would want most and is dangling it right in front of him.
Meanwhile back in The Eye, Moiraine may not be able to channel but she isn’t going down without a fight. Either Rand seals the Dark One or she kills Rand…not sure how she’s supposed to know what Rand is doing but then again I don’t think she figured on him being unconscious. Dark One has a sort of prisoner’s dilemma thing going.
The fort is eventually overrun and the King dies via spear to the chest. The King’s sister plans to destroy as many Trollocs as she can using the One Power. Interesting observation here. The two random channelers that showed up barely have any power moving through them. The King’s sister has some but nothing amazing. Egwene and Nynaeve have a significant amount going through them. The implication here is that the King’s sister did not know what she had and it spiraled out of her control. Nynaeve and Egwene barely have control to begin with so this setup is SUPER risky/dangerous.
Rand begins to channel seemingly listening to the Dark One and the Dark One taunts Moiraine Ultmately however Rand channels into the statue Moiraine gave to him and banishes the Dark One…or did he because the Dark One was definitely grinning as he was envelopled in light.
Back to Egwene and Nynaeve. The Trollocs are all dead but the One Power is out of control. Nynaeve sacrifices herself to save Egwene saving her from death and Egwene ressurect Nynaeve. Kind of cheapens the whole sacrifice play if the person who dies comes back after dying.
Perrin, Loial and the guards have been digging in the throne room this entire time for a horn that is supposed to help during the last battle. Perrrin notices Padan Fain in the hallway. He follows after him but loses him in the halls. Upon returning, Perrin finds Padan and a pair of Fades have killed the guards and grievously injured Lioal. Padan Fain also has Mat’s cursed dagger or an identical one. Before taking the horn Padan drops a revelation on Perrin that he, Egwene, Nynaeve and Mat are all ta’veren. Basically a person of destiny. I don’t know if this is different from the Dragon. I assume so. Could’ve used that definition earlier but I have to admit it makes for good narrative impact here but it’s kinda clunky at the same time. Padan Fain also says that the goal isn’t really to kill them but to turn them to the dark. They just can’t catch a break.
Back to Rand. He asks Moiraine to be honest for once and asks if it;s true about the ultimate fate of men who channel. Moiraine says they all go mad. Rand decides to leave, presumably so as not to hurt anyone. Moiraine asks where he’ll go. Rand says nothing. Some time later, Lan arrives at The Eye but Moiraine can’t reconnect as her conncection to the One Power is gone. She holds up the stone of the Dark One’s seal. It’s broken. This plus the grinning, it’s assumed he got out.
TL;DR
The finale was messy. Lot of story threads, lot of characters, lot of set pieces. Some of this worked. Rand in the dream and his ultimae refusal of it came across as believable. The Dark One finally got to do stuff besides stand around and look creepy. Perrin, Nynaeve and Egwene weren’t bad but they weren’t great either, just ok. The royals of Fal Dara were largely pointless. Overall I’d say the series has promise, they just need to focus on what worked: the core dynamics of the group and learning not everything need to go at a breakneck pace.
Oh and I don’t know what that girl did to deserve getting taken out by a tidal wave but it must’ve been pretty bad.
It may be an artifact of him doing training during shooting of the season here cause he starts the season fisting that bowstring when he draws on the road into town, and the draw on the trolloc is iffy, it might be a fist or it might be a real sloppy three finger draw. When he’s missing his shots in Fal Dara he’s actually using a two finger draw. When he’s centering his shots during the reveal in Fal Dara it’s again hard to tell, it’s like it’s a three finger Mediterranean style at the wrong knuckle. When he plants one in ishy’s eye it almost looks like he was using a pinch. Then later in the blight while he’s walking arrow knocked hand on string he’s doing a three finger draw.
Having this around as mostly background noise today while I mostly concentrated elsewhere really made me notice how much I dig the soundtrack.
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Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
Finally watched this last week. I know nothing about the book series other than what I’ve seen in internet memes about a dude with red hair and someone that tugs on their braid a lot.
It was just okay. There were plenty of interesting hooks thrown out there, maybe enough to get me to check out a season two if it ever comes out. But generally it felt like a very standard fantasy story. The show’s production didn’t really wow me either. It reminded me a bit of that “Legend of the Seeker” show that came on TV several years back. Not quite that bad, but I feel like if that show had been produced by Amazon Studios in 2022, it would look very similar to how Wheel of Time turned out, if that makes sense.
I think the story could have potential to go interesting places though. I understand the source material is largely complete now, which already gives it a leg up on GoT at least. I’ll probably give it one more season to see if it really goes anywhere interesting. I should read the books. I’m not sure why I never did, as I generally enjoy high fantasy shit. Probably just the idea of starting a new series that spans like 20 books feels a bit daunting at the moment.
You'll probably dislike the show more if you read the books, but otherwise go for it. The show will be back for sure, too.
Good to know, if it’s definitely coming back then yeah, I’ll probably hold off on the books. Other than The Expanse, I can’t think of any other examples where I read the book/series first and then was actually happy with a TV show that was based on it.
I will say, the one hook that really sunk into me was the intro to the last episode of the season:
Where it was like 3000 years in the past, showing the last Dragon or whoever he is, and then it pans to the window and shows this insane futuristic city with flying cars and shit. I was not expecting that, and it makes for both a unique bit of world-building and a cool tease of where the series could go from here. Even though the show general feels like pretty standard fantasy fare, that one scene gives me hope that it could really go in some wild directions.
Yeah it seems really long. Probably a lot of post production work for VFX. I think they already completed filming for block 3 of 4. Hopefully that time will let them do better than the last couple eps of season 1. Possibly also some of that is just Amazon scheduling the release for when they like it. Maybe we'll end up with an ever growing time lag between filming and release to the point where new seasons show actors from 2-3 years ago.
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Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
I’m expecting since they’ve already got a deal for season 3 they might be aiming to get it locked up a bit So they can trim the space between season 2 and 3. Also season 2 is being pretty explicitly saved for after the lord of the rings show finished up its season.
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But who knows, as the show has not tried to contextualize any of this and this is a big problem with a lot of the show as it stands.
I’d prefer it if we avoid referring to how reasons from the book make our take on the show right, even in vague terms. There’s already another thread for that, and doing it here is just spoilers waiting to happen.
The entire channeling defense thing makes no sense. Why not do it from the First wall / fort. Or the walls of the fortress like city. Instead standing the the middle of a completely empty featureless field. That scene was basically them trying to ape 300, but with lighting instead of spears.
Same reason there's the stupid cavalry charge to the fort and the 3 fake out on screen kills.
Why build up Angelmar(and spend so much time with him and his sister, and that long pointless reflection on the dad's armor) if you are just gonna kill him, in a really weak inessential way.
I mean the women weren't allowed to fight at Tarwin's Gap but were the last defense of the city by order of Agelmar is what the episode told us didn't it?
Agelmar is one of a few "deaths" in that finale with named Borderlanders that I'm not certain of.
I rewatched it and it's not clear how much of that Trolloc spear actually penetrated his armor. He was knocked into the wall by it and he looks down at the spear. You don't really see blood and then it cuts away.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
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Yep, and there's also a fair number of book readers who don't like the show who are dropping in here and asking leading questions to try to poison the well so they can go "see, I told you the show sucks" and they need to stop doing that, too.
I was counting the Moraine dream death(It was all a dream is just hackish), Nyneave dying and being resurrected, and Loial being stabbed down on the floor having the cursed dagger wrenched out of his chest, but you still see him moving around in the background a bit while Perin stands around looking Gormley. Trying to have their "we kill main characters" cake and eat it too.
I hadn't considered Agelmars not dead too I'll be more annoyed if that is the case, So you are probably right.
Meh, I don't think anyone is doing that and I'd appreciate if the book thread's apologists and critics don't snipe at each other here.
I mean, you clearly don't need any leading questions to prompt criticism in here, IMO the show does suck but I'm intrigued by the setting and lore and will cut it some slack for another season at least.
I don't consider the Moiraine death to be an example of an "it was all a dream" thing, given her "death" happened right away and within 5 minutes the dream was over and it's a show in which we've received several previous examples and warnings of fucked up dreams.
It's not like it's the ending of Wizard of Oz or Dallas where it's like haha none of any of this actually happened.
Yeah, it's not like the fake you out with it for more then a second. It's like a split second shock moment followed by "Oh, it's a dream, of course". It only annoys me if they belabour this shit long past the point where the audience knows it's fake. But the show goes straight to evil guy having a friendly chat with Rand so it works.
Ooh, to bring a bit of positivity into my posts: I liked Moraine being Gentled as a twist on the mentor dying
Assuming that she keeps hanging out with the Two Rivers people, she can provide exposition and guidance, but she isn't just an automatic Fuck You I've Got Magic button
Rand full fisting the bow draw. He's done it multiple times, and it sets my brain on fire every time.
I'm hardly an expert archer, heck, I wouldn't even consider myself proficient. But it's one of the first things you learn.
When you draw back on the bow, it's with two or three fingers (index above the arrow, middle and optional ring below), using the first joint below the fingertip.
Rand uses all four fingers, at the second joint, and that might make you feel more comfortable drawing the string back, but it's positively shit for any kind of aim/release.
It's not as bad as the occasionally seen Hollywood take where an archer draws back by holding the arrow at the nock and picking it between thumb and forefinger (easiest way to have a misfire of the bow unless it's draw weight is trivial).
I would think any weapon master worth their employmentwould have taught him otherwise, as it's not a particularly difficult thing to learn.
There's the other issue with keeping the bow perpetually strung (and having a weird holster for it) but I don't know if that's just my own experience/training or if some cultures did it that way.
Rand-t over.
I'm no master archer but will admit that did seem very odd to me
Oh, I get why they do it, especially with the draw weight. Safety and fluidity of motion. I can live with that, I don't expect complete realism in fight scenes. Same as how often Hollywood has swordfights that would end with broken blades and would be over a lot quicker based on how the fighters interact, and let's not get into how most gunfights are orchestrated.
Because it's cool.
But full fisting the bow draw? That's not cool, and with the light draw weights, doesn't need to be done for safety either.
And as I said in the original rand't, it's a relatively trivial complaint. Otherwise I liked most of the show fine. Enough that I'm in for S2.
Alright I watched this as it aired and then rewatched so I don’t think I missed much. This is gonna be a rambling-ass post as I try to review/breakdown an entire season of what worked, what didn’t and what can be improved on aka my 2 goddamn cents.
Episode 1
We move quickly to the Two Rivers where we meet the core five: Rand, Egwene, Nynaeve, Perrin and Mat. Egwene is undergoing a right of passage where she gets her hair braided and…pushed into a rushing river. Have people died because of this? Cause I feel like that’s a thing that can happen. We move to later and the tavern is in full swing. There are some quick shots (and I do mean quick) of Perrin looking at Egwene. I missed it the first time around. This is probably the earliest seed about how Perrin has unrequited love towards Egwene.
Moraine arrives and the camera immediately lets us know who she's giving the once over but she plays it cool so as not to spook anyone. We then get some young couple in love stuff between Rand and Egwene (nothing great but nothing terrible either) and it’s the next day.
Festival time! Can you say doomed home town? I can. I played JRPGs, I know how this ends. A peddler, Padan Fain arrives and Mat tries to pawn off some jewelry he “found.” Fain stiffs him. There’s some more idle chatter Nynaeve gets into it with Moiraine over account of her mentor being turned away from the Ai Sedai, the group to which Moiraine belongs. This resentment/pride is going to be a big part of Nynaeve’s character going forward. The Festivel begins with a lantern ceremony, so we get insight into how faith/religion works here, basically reincarnation.
The festival begins with music, dance, alcohol and blood. Blood? Oh, yeah. Trollocs attack. *sigh* Trollocs? If you’re going to name a monstrous race (there has got to be a better term here but I don’t know it), you gotta do more than just add a few letters. Padan Fain nonchalantly dips out during the carnage. If we were trying to keep his allegiance ambiguous, this is a failure. If not, hey we know he’s a baddie. Rand and his father, who were at their homestead are also attacked and Rand’s dad busts out a very nice looking sword (Jeez, I was joking about the JRPG thing) and tires to kill the Trolloc. Seriously though, this is actually a nice battle sequence. Rand’s father goes for blocks against an opponent bigger than him and pays for it by almost dying. In the village center, Moiraine shows off her power by decimating Trollocs and her Warder, Lan, parrys blows by using their size against them. To me, this says that the dad is out of practice but Lan is at the top of his game. Moiraine is hit by an errant dagger though as she finishes off the last of the Trollocs.
The casualties are high. Many of the townsfolk are killed, Nynaeve looks to be among them. Perrin’s wife is accidentally killed by his own hand. This wouldv’e been more tragic except we barely got to know her and her death is pretty much used to make Perrin feel sad. Yep, it’s the thing. Kitchen appliances ahoy.
There’s no time to grieve and Moiraine informs the core cast that one of them is the Dragon Reborn and that they need to leave.
TL;DR
I’m going to say that this is a rough start. The primary issue is the pacing. This would’ve benefited GREATlY from more time but as I understand it, Amazon did not give them this or the budget they asked for. Second are choices like Perrin’s wife. It’s 2021, can we not do that sort of crap? Despite all that, the cast I thought was very good. Ensemble piece, multiple points of view from within the core group. Shoutouts to Mat and Egwene. Mat’s fear when he realized his sister were still in danger was spot on and Egwene when she asserted her wants in front of Rand.
Episode 2
The party left the Two Rivers in a haste as another Trolloc war band gave chase. Moraine uses her power to replenish the horses stamina, good to explain that as I was wondering how the horses were managing to maintain a full gallop for presumably days. They eventually lose the Trollocs by crossing a river. I just don’t buy that these insanely brutal monsters are scared of deep water.
There are some side conversations but the core issue is none of the Two Rivers people really trust Moiraine. She tries to alleviate this by telling them a bit about herself and Ai Sedai but the only one willing to listen is Egwene. Still this let’s the audience know more about the world. They run into the man in white from the opening. White Cloaks they’re called, a cross between Spanish Inquisition and witch hunters. Valda also does not respect boundaries, to which Lan takes great offense. They manage to part ways without further issue though.
Perrin’s actor continues to be a believable emotional wreck at the cost of a bad writing choice. He gets a private moment where he runs into a pack of wolves who, curiously, don’t attack despite him bleeding. The implication from this meeting is that Perrin’s going to be like Aquaman but with wolves…dope.
In the middle of the night, Rand has a nightmare where he vomits up a bat and this is our first introduction to the Dark One. He looks like a man with a burned head and embers for eyes. As far as evil overlords go, this comes off as underwhelming. Sauron, as a giant flaming eye with creepy whispers, says run the f*ck away. The Beast from season 1 of The Magicians rips out the eyes of another character and uses them to make a smiley face with blood. The Dark One gives you nightmares where you puke bats. Disappointing.
Safety doesn’t last as Lan informs the group that the Trollocs found their trail. They get desparet and manage to hide in a cursed city. This is a believable deterrent. The city itself comes off as a set but I imagine budget is the culprit again. It doesn’t look bad, it just feels like it could be better. Lan informs the kids to not touch anything so of course the first thing Mat does when everyone else is asleep is to pick up a dagger. Shadows come to life and start trying to kill the party. The shadows force them to separate: Mat and Rand, Egwene and Perrin, Moiraine, Lan and Nynaeve. Wait, Nynaeve? Yep, she’s alive to the shock of no one.
TL;DR
This episode set up group dynamics and secondary antagonists. The Dark One’s first appearance was underwhelming. I don’t know why I should be afraid of him. Valda had a significantly more intimidating introduction, highlighting his cruelty. The cursed city was okayish I guess. It was super obvious the beam light onto the dagger was fake but moonlight(?) can be damn tricky to fake. I never believed for a second Nynaeve was dead. An okayish episode.
Episode 3
Egwene and Perrin are stuck in the plains during (I assume) winter with no food or shelter and the wolves are howling in the distance. Bad times. Or at least that’s what it looks like until they stumble their way into the Tuatha’an aka this world’s equivalent of the Romanis who are non-violent and presumably vegetarian. Egwene and Perrin both decide to go to the White Tower as that’s where they think they’ll find the others
Rand and Mat get stuck hiking through the mountains. Rand wants to find Egwene by going to the White Tower whereas Mat just wants to go back to the Two Rivers. They eventually come across a mining town and stumble into a bar but not before Mat spots a trinket hanging from a corpse outside of town. I have a handle on Mat’s character, he makes all the worst choices. The barmaid is all kinds of snark but offers work for lodging while Mat and Rand listen to the bard or gleeman sing a song. This guy is no Jaskier but that’s a tall order. The song wasn’t bad, very evocative of The White Buffalo. After sitting down, Mat is immediately robbed but the gleeman gets the money back…and keeps it for himself. So it’s THAT kind of town.
We bounce back and forth between the groups: Lan goes off in search of something, Egwene and Perrin get used to their new traveling companions and Mat considers grave robbing instead of serving drinks. Eventually Mat hits that low point and goes to the corpse. The gleeman is also there, having come to bury the body, who was an Aeil. He lets Mat do what he came to do and the two share a little bonding moment. Meanwhile Rand has been making nice with the barmaid but after he refuses her advances she steals his sword? Oh, she works for the Dark One. Did not see this coming, well played writers. Rand manages to escape and runs into Mat but the two are cornered by the barmaid who says she’s summoned a Fade and that all five of them are destined to stand before the Dark One. Mat and Rand are confused by this but they don’t know Nynaeve is alive. However the barmaid is killed by the gleeman before anything else can happen and the three of them get the hell out of fantasy Dodge.
We then transition back to Lan, Nynaeve and Moiraine and frankly I thought the transition was really well done. The three of them find other Ai Sedai who are transporting a man they captured named Loghain, a man claiming to be the Dragon Reborn.
TL;DR
The party has been split and this episode sees conflicting goals amongst the protagonists. Nynaeve’s initial refusal to help Moiraine was very cold. I get she has resentment issues but to refuse to help a dying person is pretty callous. Granted she did eventually come around and she hasn’t had much time to be a character at this point but I feel like this was a misstep.[/spolier]
Cut to the present and we’re in the Ai Sedai camp. Moraine finally gets treatment for her wound and is shown to Loghain. Moiriane and Alanna stand guard over Loghain and reminisce about their younger days and theorize about Loghains power. Nynaeve and Lan are left to wander about the camp. Lan socialies with his fellow Warders while they practice martial forms. Minor quibble, handaxes seem like a distinct disadvantage against anything with better reach. Nynaeve keeps to herself, at first anyway. One of the red Ai Sedai, Liandrin approaches her, tries to make polite conversation but is definitely angling for leverage.
Meanwhile, Mat and Rand are still traveling with the gleeman (named Thom) and happen across a farm. After a tense but brief standoff with the farmer, they’re allowed to stay the night in the barn. Rand points out the farmer is doing a fist draw with his bow but I went back and it appears Rand has been doing that the entire time up until now. Maybe it’s like leaving the safety on? Or maybe it’s an error. Moving on.
Egwene and Perrin continue to travel with the Tuatha’an learning about the new culture they find themselves in. So far, they have the best company.
Cut back to the farm and Mat is acting strange. Ok, more than strange. He’s got strange black stuff crawling out of his mouth but supress it as he socializes with the farmer’s daughter. She probably reminds him of his sisters. But Thom has noticed Mat’s odd behavior and warns Rand. Men who channel all end up badly either dead or insane, usually both.
Back to the Ai Sedai camp. Nynaeve has joined the Warders around their fire. This is a nice moment as it also means these characters get to be fleshed out: Nynaeve lets her barriers down a little and we get to know the Warders. Also apparently certain Ai Sedai and Warders are just in a polyamory. Neat.
Back at the Tuatha’an camp, Egwene gets to dance and Perrin learns about Tuatha’an pacifism. The matriach also gets to explain why she is so devoted to the idea of nonviolence. In a roundabout way, she’s getting revenge for the murder of her daughter. Complicated but then again grief is never simple.
Rand wakes up from a nightmare to find Mat missing. He and Thom run to the farmhouse to find the farmer and his family dead and Mat acting all creepy. Before they can do anything, Mat points into the shadows with his evil dagger and mutters “I see you.” A Fade promptly appears and attacks. It’s left deliberately vague if Mat succumbed to madness or if the Fade killed the family. Thom fights the Fade as Rand and Mat hightail it out of there.
At the Ai Sedai camp, the green Ai Sedai, Krene and Laindrin debate what to do about Loghain. They’re unsure if they can hold him all the way to the White Tower and Liandrin wants to deal with him now while Kerene disagrees. Despite presenting a united front to outsiders, the Ai Sedai appear to have cracks in their unity. I get vague Jedi from the prequel trilogy vibes here. Meanwhile, Nynaeve and Lan have a quiet moment together as they begin to open up to each other. Lan manages to translate what Nynaeve’s parents' last words to her were. Her facial expression kind of says it all, props to the actress.
It all goes pear shaped as remnants of Logains army have reformed and come to his rescue. It culminates in a large chaotic battle sequence. On the plus side we get to see what a group of Ai Sedai and Warders can do and they do not disappoint as they are all very impressive. On the down side, I found the battle to be somewhat difficult to follow as it devolved into mass melee VERY quickly. Loghain uses the chaos to break free and Kerene gives her life to save the others. I was unclear as to why she could only put up a shield for Moiraine and Liandrin.
Kerene’s Warder feels her death and charges Loghain who counters and fatally injures almost everyone present. Except for Nynaeve who uses her anger and grief over seeing Lan bleed out in front of her causes her to tap into the One Power and heal everyone present. That’s awesome but I’m afraid this may cheapen near fatal injuries going forward. Loghain is stunned by what he saw and the Ai Sedai use the moment to sever his connection to the One Power.
TL;DR
The strength of the episode was the quiet moments. It allowed various actors to express themselves and further build upon their characters. The winners here were Nynaeve, Lan with Mat and Ran being runners up. The mass combat was entertaining but was on the messy side. Better cinematography could have been used.
Episode 5
Cut to one month later and the various travelers are approaching Tar Valan. Mat is getting worse as he’s snapping at just about everyone. Rand’s keeping an eye on him like an older brother but he notices a mountain in the distance and realizes he knows it but doesn’t remember from where though. The two of them arrive in the city and head to an inn. It looks like they reused set pieces from the cursed city. I have to assume budget constraints rear their head again. Rand says Thom(?) told him about it and while he gives an excuse that they need to rest and clean up, it’s clear he doesn’t want to take Mat to the White Tower as he’s worried what will happen to Mat. Meanwhile Mat is clearly drawing in his guilt as even he is unsure if he killed the farmer. Misery thy name is Cauthon.
Moraine, Lan and Nynaeve arrive at the tower and Nynaeve is told because…you know…the mass healing thing. Whether she likes it or not, she just jumped right to the top of the recruitment list.
Perrin and Egwene are still traveling with the Tuatha’an when who should they run into? Valda and the f*ckin White Cloaks. That good fortune had to run out some time. They’re captured and taken away.
Meanwhile, Rand is browsing a library when he runs into Lioal, an Ogier. These naming conventions are killing me. They socialize for a bit with Lioal calling Rand an Aeil which Rand denies when suddenly they notice a commotion on the streets. Loghain is being paraded through and it looks like Mat went to watch. Rand and Mat have a moment where a promise is made. Whatever happens, Mat does not want to end up like Loghain. At least he’s self aware enough to have some idea what’s happening.
Back at the White Tower, Stepin is going through another funeral. But this is to melt down Kerene’s ring. It’s clear he doesn’t want to let this go as it’s the last physical thing of her’s but I guess tradition demands it be melted. The act is clearly a lot for him.
Meanwhile at the White Cloaks camp, Egwene is forcefully bathed, clothed and tied to a chair while Valda questions her. When he doesn’t get the answers he wants he brings in Perrin and begins to cut open his back. I would very much like for this sadistic asshat to be fired…out of a cannon…into the sun. He gives the pair an ultimatum: one can live but at the cost of the other's life.
Back at the White Tower, Stepin goes to Nynaeve, saying he’s having trouble sleeping. Can’t blame him, he’s in mourning. Nynaeve uses the time to explore the tower where Liandrine again tries to make small talk/foster friendship. Nynaeve doesn’t trust her but apparently takes her up on the information to explore the garden/library.
I say apparently because the next we see Nynaeve, she’s been taken to Mat and Rand via Loial. I can’t help but think there must’ve been a scene inbetween that got cut due to time constraints. The scene works but only barely. She tries to get a look at Mat but he’s only getting worse. She and Rand reminisce about Egwene, sharing that they’re both worried.
Going back to the White Cloak camp. Egwene refuses to leave Perrin behind but Perrin finally comes clean about his guilt. Just then, Valda comes back and because neither Perrin nor Egwene has given in, he decides to continue the torture. Egwene manages to channel a minature fireball…which does nothing. But it wasn’t supposed to as it distracts Valda long enough for Egwene to damage the ropes binding Perrin whose eyes go full wolfman. Valda wets himself as the camp is attacked by wolves, none of which attack Perrin or Egwene. Aquaman but with wolves. Egwene also managed to steal Valda’s trophy Ai Sedai rings. Respect.
Back at the White Tower Liandrine tries to goad Moiraine but Moiraine doesn’t bite. Meanwhile Stepin and Lan have a quiet moment with Stepin offering prayers. Moraine retires to her chambers (not a lot her but she basically lives on the road) Alanna is with her to give a warning, The Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche is returning and she is not happy about the Loghain situation. We cut back to Lan and Stepin sharing a drink and having a laugh. The mood does not last as come morning, Lan finds Stepin has committed suicide. Another Funreal is held and Lan bears his anguish for all to see.
TL;DR
This was very much a character focused episode. There were some politics at work with the Ai Sedai but the goal was everyone has to get to Tar Valan. The standout moment of the episode was Lan at the end. That was one of the most emotionally raw performances I’ve seen in recent memory. Stepin’s actor also brought his A game as he convincingly portrays a broken shell of a man just going through the motions.
Episode 6
Turns out, that was the past and the girl was Siuan Sanche and she grew up to be The Amyrlin Seat. Loghain is brought before her so judgement can be rendered. With his connection severed, he’s no longer a threat, despite this he tries to goad the Ai Sedai into killing him but it fails. He gets a life sentence and begs to be mercy killed as he’s dragged away.
Moraine, Liandrin and Alanna are called to testify before The Amyrlin Seat, to explain what happened with Loghain. Liandrin tries to bluster her way through the hearing but Siuan Sanche is having none of it so Liandrin tries a different tact aka blame Moiraine. It’s more complicated than that as Moiraine has a informant network and the other Ai Sedai received no warning from her about Loghain. Of course we know Moiraine has been searching for the Dragon Reborn for the past 20 years, so some random jobber is low on the priority list. Still this is enough to raise questions and Siuan Sanche demands answers. Moiraine pleads the 5th or tries to because I guess not directly answering The Amyrlin Seat is a serious offense. Siuan Sanche is not happy as she dismisses the hearing. There is some posturing outside the hall but it’s clear Moiraine’s in hot water. Side not, love how Alanna’s thing is to be snacking whenever she can.
Speaking of hot water, Moiraine gets some tea at a local inn. And it just so happens it’s the same inn Rand and Mat are staying at. She waits for Nynaeve to leave and confronts the two boys. She immediately deduces what’s wrong with Mat and exorcises the dagger that has been corrupting him. Moiraine then immediately chastises both Rand and Nynaeve for not coming to her sooner. Rand chose not to do so out of fear, Nynaeve chose to do so out of pride.
Cut to a steam bathouse. The head of the Blues is asking Moiraine to stay so she can better coordinate with the rest of the Ai Sedai. It’s not being reassigned to Alaska but it might as well be from the look on Moiraine’s face but she has to leave suddenly as she receives another coded message.
I guess this is where all the Yellow Ai Sedai hang out as there are a lot of them. Figures this is where Perrin and Egwene ended up. Moiraine assures Egwene that Perrin will be fine and Egwene hands over the rings. Moiraine looks genuinely touched.
The day has come to an end as Moiraine prepares to turn in…or so I thought. One secret magic door later and Moiraine is in a recreation of Siuan Sanche’s childhood home AND SHE AND MOIRAINE ARE LOVERS AND THE WHOLE SCENE AT THE HALL WAS AN ACT!? Ok, I’m down. Representation is a good thing. So it looks like Moiraine and Siuan Sanche were the first to hear the prophecy and the reason they didn’t tell any of the other Ai Sedai is because The Amyrlin Seat must remain neutral. You’d think they’d be willing to bend the rules here but given what I saw, I guess they’re sticklers for them. It’s weird that Moiraine is considering that the Dragon has been split into five people when she was the first person in the series to use the word ta’veren. I guess that just got lost in the shuffle. Anyway, Siuan Sanche lets Moiraine know that she’s been having dreams that the Dark One is weak and could be destroyed at the Eye of the World and the Dragon should go there immediately. But without know who the dragon is, the other four are likely to die. Welp stakes are set. Moiraine says the only way she can leave is if Siuan Sanche exiles her. Office politics strike again.
The mourning starts with Moiraine and Liandrin having another confrontation. Liandrine tries to show off intelligence gathering skills but Moiraine shuts her down by threatening to out Liandrine’s secret lover. I guess Reds aren’t allowed male companionship. I loved how quickly Liandrine went from smug to silently terrified when Moiraine dropped that bomb and just walked away. Power move.
Moiraine goes to meet Lioal asking for his assistance with something to which he agrees. Moiraine then goes to show Egwene the main hall of the White Tower. It’s pretty obvious now that Moiraine dotes on Egwene as Moiraine thinks she’s the one most likely to be the Dragon. Oh and Nynaeve is here. Because Egwene and Perrin still didn’t know she was alive. I almost forgot about that. From there, the two of them are introduced to Siuan Sanche and are given a weird pep talk that amounts to “go save the world, it doesn’t matter what you want, the wheel says to do this.”
Moiraine gets a quiet moment to herself, probably the last time she’ll see this view for a long time before her staged punishment. It goes off without a hitch by the way, though Moiraine slips in some different wording to her magically binding contract so that Siuan Sanche and not The Amyrlin Seat is the one with the power to call her back. Exact words loophole, nice move.
Moiraine leaves the city and heads to a strange looking arch in the middle of a field called a Way Gate. The five kids, Lan and Lioal all meet up with her there and Moiraine almost is honest with them about the danger ahead. The gate is opened and they all step through, except for Mat as his actor bowed out of the series at this point. Damn shame, I liked him.
TL;DR
This was Moiraine’s episode and she was absolutely in her element. She could probably have a Masterclass video series on information gathering and manipulation. It sucks about Mat’s actor but sometimes things don’t work out. Did not see the relationship between Moiraine and Siuan Sanche coming but I am please they went this route.
Now given what Thom said about Aeil veils in episode three and the soldiers reaction here, there are one of two possible explanations: first is that the meaning behind the veil is not widely known. The second is that the enemy soldiers don’t care, she’s still the enemy as far as they’re concerned. She would’ve won this fight had it not been for a poorly timed contraction. She unfortunately gets a dagger in her side. She kills her last opponent and prepares to give birth. Then a bloody sword point comes into frame and we cut to the title sequence.
Back to the main cast, they demand to go back for Mat but Moiraine refuses. The kids are not happy with the choice. The Ways are, in short, a fast travel network. Unclear exactly who made them but it doesn’t really matter at the moment. The only rule while in here is do not channel, no explanation as to why yet. Lioal is basically the guide but they wind up in trouble as one of the markers has been defaced and they’re temporarily stuck.
They camp for a bit until they’re ambushed by a Trolloc. Trollocs being inside the Ways is apparently big news but more pressing concern is that Egwene reflexivly channeled and now something called Machin Shin is coming for them. They run to the nearest exit but are caught in Machin Shin, a black dust cloud that gets inside their minds and hammers them with their darkest thoughts. Nynaeve saves them with another outburst of power and emotion and manages to save everyone. Still a little worried about how that’ll play out in the future.
The group finds themselves near Fal Dara, a fortress city near their destination. It stands as a bulwark against something called The Blight. Apparently Lan has history there as the guards seem to know him. The group is taken before the king(?) and he guesses (incorrectly) as to why they have arrived. Moiraine corrects him and tells him about the Trollocs in the Ways. Because the bad guys having unfettered access to the fast travel network is a bad thing.
Cut back to the Way gate and a familiar figure has exited it. I don’t know why they’re bothering to hide Padan Fain. He walks off towards Fal Dara, a spring in his step.
Moiraine makes pleasantries with the king’s sister. Apparently she tried to be an Ai Sedai but her connection to the One Power wasn’t strong enoughbut she points Moiraine towards a seer in the city. She also askes to have a message sent to the Reds, telling them to be on the lookout for Mat. That guy just won’t stop getting into trouble. On the way there, Perrin does a double take as he thinks he saw Padan Fain. Nynaeve tells him he’s wrong.
They get to the seer who works in a bar and reads the four potential dragons. Rand is holding a baby, while Perrin has wolf eyes and blood covering his mouth. The girls get even vague reads with “White flame and a ring of gold.” This isn’t what Moiraine was hoping for.
They’ve returned to the main castle and are sitting around a fire and Moiraine FINALLY comes clean about the danger they face, specifically how going to the Eye of the World is fatal for anyone other than the dragon. This revelation causes…friction and probably the best quiet scene in the season. Egwene’s blind trust in Moiraine gets called out for what it is, Nynaeve’s distrust and pride get called out. Perrin’s unrequited love is outed and it appears out of nowhere at first but subsequent rewatches, I noticed maybe half a dozen clues. Mat’s choices are called out and by extension Rand’s willingness to make excuses for Mat. This is solid work from all of the cast.
We transition briefly to Moiraine and she gives Lan the night off to go see relatives. Nynaeve shadows him and we meet Lan’s family. Side note, it’s weird how Nynaeve is looking in the window and as she turns to leave, Lan is there. He was just inside the house no more than 2 seconds ago. Anyway, the two of them are candid with one another as Lan invites her in. As they head back to their chambers we find out that this is basically a surrogate family for Lan and that he’s royalty of a fallen kingdom. The relationship gets more intimate as the two ultimately spend the night together. Nynaeve may have issues with Moiraine but this is a culmination that these two care for each other and it’s a good moment.
Rand is off by himself practicing his archery. Makes sense as he’s been on the road for at least a month and is likely out of practice. He’s not using the full fist draw but his grouping leaves something to be desired as it’s kinda spread out at (I’m guessing) roughly 25 feet. Egwene finds him and they talk some more before also deciding to spend the night together. Or at least that’s what Egwene thinks as Rand disappears in the middle of the night. He goes back to the range and hits three arrows dead center no more than two to three inches apart though it’s difficult to tell for certain at the angle they shot at. Pretty sharp improvement there Rand. We also flashback to earlier parts in the season and find out Rand’s been instinctively channeling this entire time and that his father, while in a haze, basically told him he was adopted while being carried down the mountain in episode 1. Well that’s a lot of revelations.
Rand goes back to the Seer who cautions him against wanting to know but Rand doesn’t care so she tells him the first vision she ever had and we cut back to the Aeil woman from the beginning. The soldier puts his sword down and it’s Rand’s father. The baby is Rand, the mountain is the same one overlooking Tar Valan. Rand goes to Moiraine and tells her he’s the dragon. Dawn breaks and everyone gets ready to leave only to find Rand and Moiraine have already headed toward The Eye in the center of The Blight and Moiraine has masked her bond so Lan can’t track them.
TL;DR
This is the strongest episode of the season in my opinion. The fight sequence at the beginning is now the gold standard for the series as far as I’m concerned. Once we got to the fortress city, everyone nailed their scenes where we saw the culmination of a few arcs.
Episode 8
Rand and Moiraine trek through The Blight, it’s hard going as there is no clear path but The Blight is also dangerous…somehow. We see a corpse with spores coming out of it and Moiraine says not to touch anything but beyond that we don’t actually know what The Blight does or how it works, just that it’s caused by the Dark One. Back at Fal Dara the rest of the group are worried about Rand and Moiraine but can’t really do anything. Nynaeve tells Lan that when she left the Two Rivers she didn’t track Lan, she tracked Moiraine. How is ultimately unimportant as this gives Lan a means to follow Moiraine even when masked.
We cut back to Rand who wakes suddenly, clearly disturbed. Moiraine asks what's wrong and she’s stabbed from behind by the Dark One! Rand shoots him in the eye and the Dark One is more annoyed than anything as he pushes the arrow into himself revealing a normal face underneath the burned one. He invites Rand, calling him by the previous Dragon’s name, to sit down and talk with him. How affable of him. Rand doesn’t buy that any of this is happening and stabs himself waking up from the dream. Moiraine asks what happened but Rand doesn’t want to talk about it. They keep moving. Rand asks for specifics about the plan and Moiraine reveals a tiny statue, the same one glimpsed in Moiraines opening scene in episode 1. If I’m not mistaken, Chekhov’s Gun ahoy. The statue will allow Rand to supercharge his channeling and seal away the Dark One.
Back at the city, the group has gone back to the seer but the conversation has been cut short as horns start blaring, a trolloc army has begun massing in the canyon. Rand and Moraine can see the army from where they are. I admit this came off as confusing as I thought they couldn’t see the city anymore. We go back to the king and his guard tells him the city’s drawbridge has been sabotaged and the Trolloc army numbers in the thousands. The city will likely be overrun. Despite this the king decides to deploy soldiers to the fort to hold off the Trollocs and orders his personal guard to retrieve something.
Rand and Moraine make it to the entrance to The Eye. Just before they enter, Rand realizes that Moiraine could die if she goes any further and asks her to stay. She says nothing as she passes him down into The Eye.
The King is suiting up and his sister begs him to reconsider. He admits it’s a suicide mission but points out that if this isn’t done, the Trollocs will overrun them and every other city. I get that this is an important sacrifice but we just met these characters. Not having as much an impact as it could.
Rand and Moiraine enter the main chamber of The Eye and Rand gets pieces of visions showing the Dark One and the previous Dragon. Suddenly Rand is pulled into a dream where he’s back home with Egwene and they have a baby daughter. Meanwhile Moiraine tries to snap him out of it when the Dark One appears in fron of her. She gets ready to fight him but he severs her connection to the One Power with literally nothing but his pinky. This is the kind of shit I wanted him to do in his first appearence. Not exactly this but something to show why people should be afraid of him. Things like this show why he’s a threat.
We cut back to the fort and the king does a cavalry charge to it after sitting still for who knows how long outside it. Meanwhile Fal Dara is being evacuated and everyone is being called up to serve. The King’s sister sends out word for anyone who can channel. Egwene and Nynaeve respond. While Perrin and Loial go to help the King’s guard.
The Trollocs attack the fort and this thing has next to nothing in terms of proper fortifications besides crossbowmen. Seriously, some ditches with sharpened staves would do wonders. To be fair, the number of Hollywood movies that get medieval warfare right are few and far between. Good rule of thumb, if you watch any media with fortifications under attack by medieval warfare and the defenders did not dig at least one ditch in front of the wall, someone f*cked up.
Back to Rand in dreamland. He tries to convince himself it’s a dream but it doesn’t work. The Dark One appears and says that Rand can make this a reality and he can show him how. Classic temptation by the dark side aka good stuff. The Dark One knows what Rand would want most and is dangling it right in front of him.
Meanwhile back in The Eye, Moiraine may not be able to channel but she isn’t going down without a fight. Either Rand seals the Dark One or she kills Rand…not sure how she’s supposed to know what Rand is doing but then again I don’t think she figured on him being unconscious. Dark One has a sort of prisoner’s dilemma thing going.
The fort is eventually overrun and the King dies via spear to the chest. The King’s sister plans to destroy as many Trollocs as she can using the One Power. Interesting observation here. The two random channelers that showed up barely have any power moving through them. The King’s sister has some but nothing amazing. Egwene and Nynaeve have a significant amount going through them. The implication here is that the King’s sister did not know what she had and it spiraled out of her control. Nynaeve and Egwene barely have control to begin with so this setup is SUPER risky/dangerous.
Rand begins to channel seemingly listening to the Dark One and the Dark One taunts Moiraine Ultmately however Rand channels into the statue Moiraine gave to him and banishes the Dark One…or did he because the Dark One was definitely grinning as he was envelopled in light.
Back to Egwene and Nynaeve. The Trollocs are all dead but the One Power is out of control. Nynaeve sacrifices herself to save Egwene saving her from death and Egwene ressurect Nynaeve. Kind of cheapens the whole sacrifice play if the person who dies comes back after dying.
Perrin, Loial and the guards have been digging in the throne room this entire time for a horn that is supposed to help during the last battle. Perrrin notices Padan Fain in the hallway. He follows after him but loses him in the halls. Upon returning, Perrin finds Padan and a pair of Fades have killed the guards and grievously injured Lioal. Padan Fain also has Mat’s cursed dagger or an identical one. Before taking the horn Padan drops a revelation on Perrin that he, Egwene, Nynaeve and Mat are all ta’veren. Basically a person of destiny. I don’t know if this is different from the Dragon. I assume so. Could’ve used that definition earlier but I have to admit it makes for good narrative impact here but it’s kinda clunky at the same time. Padan Fain also says that the goal isn’t really to kill them but to turn them to the dark. They just can’t catch a break.
Back to Rand. He asks Moiraine to be honest for once and asks if it;s true about the ultimate fate of men who channel. Moiraine says they all go mad. Rand decides to leave, presumably so as not to hurt anyone. Moiraine asks where he’ll go. Rand says nothing. Some time later, Lan arrives at The Eye but Moiraine can’t reconnect as her conncection to the One Power is gone. She holds up the stone of the Dark One’s seal. It’s broken. This plus the grinning, it’s assumed he got out.
TL;DR
The finale was messy. Lot of story threads, lot of characters, lot of set pieces. Some of this worked. Rand in the dream and his ultimae refusal of it came across as believable. The Dark One finally got to do stuff besides stand around and look creepy. Perrin, Nynaeve and Egwene weren’t bad but they weren’t great either, just ok. The royals of Fal Dara were largely pointless. Overall I’d say the series has promise, they just need to focus on what worked: the core dynamics of the group and learning not everything need to go at a breakneck pace.
Oh and I don’t know what that girl did to deserve getting taken out by a tidal wave but it must’ve been pretty bad.
It may be an artifact of him doing training during shooting of the season here cause he starts the season fisting that bowstring when he draws on the road into town, and the draw on the trolloc is iffy, it might be a fist or it might be a real sloppy three finger draw. When he’s missing his shots in Fal Dara he’s actually using a two finger draw. When he’s centering his shots during the reveal in Fal Dara it’s again hard to tell, it’s like it’s a three finger Mediterranean style at the wrong knuckle. When he plants one in ishy’s eye it almost looks like he was using a pinch. Then later in the blight while he’s walking arrow knocked hand on string he’s doing a three finger draw.
Having this around as mostly background noise today while I mostly concentrated elsewhere really made me notice how much I dig the soundtrack.
It was just okay. There were plenty of interesting hooks thrown out there, maybe enough to get me to check out a season two if it ever comes out. But generally it felt like a very standard fantasy story. The show’s production didn’t really wow me either. It reminded me a bit of that “Legend of the Seeker” show that came on TV several years back. Not quite that bad, but I feel like if that show had been produced by Amazon Studios in 2022, it would look very similar to how Wheel of Time turned out, if that makes sense.
I think the story could have potential to go interesting places though. I understand the source material is largely complete now, which already gives it a leg up on GoT at least. I’ll probably give it one more season to see if it really goes anywhere interesting. I should read the books. I’m not sure why I never did, as I generally enjoy high fantasy shit. Probably just the idea of starting a new series that spans like 20 books feels a bit daunting at the moment.
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Good to know, if it’s definitely coming back then yeah, I’ll probably hold off on the books. Other than The Expanse, I can’t think of any other examples where I read the book/series first and then was actually happy with a TV show that was based on it.
I will say, the one hook that really sunk into me was the intro to the last episode of the season:
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God that feels like forever between Seasons.
Rand's actor is gonna be recast as Tam by the final season.
I agree the other stuff in the scene was pretty boring, but man… that one shot! That was enough.
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Feel of the budget, casting, drama, all of it.