The show doesn't give the viewers any reason(s) to care about the characters. When it does, it also gives you reasons to actively DISlike the characters... like turning Mat into a thief, and Perrin fridging his wife. It even takes away 2 of Nynaeve's best early scenes... where she comforts Rand after he learns he was adopted, and tells us how she healed Egwene's fever.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS BTW... I loved your predictions at the end, for the last episode... so I'm looking forward to your review of the last episode. Also, I told you in an earlier comment that I was really looking forward to your review of Ep5... (which I *did* enjoy) but I was off on that... I really meant your review of Ep6... because something happens that I consider to be outrageous, egregious... and I *think* it's going to send you off an epic rant... I've got a nickname for that scene. After you watch it, if you want, ask me what it is and I'll tell you... but it's... well, I think it's much too appropriate... "spoilery"... before then.
I am not bothering to watch this show ever again. Meanwhile your summary is the perfect thesis on why this show keeps failing to match the briliance of the book.
The show isn’t that bad, at least compared to Rings of Power. However, these episode reviews are phenomenal. You should give classes on scripting UA-cam review videos because most are pretty dull and for this show, focused on superficial issues like how many ethnicities are represented instead of the bigger issues with plot and pacing. I love all the detailed dissections of scenes. I literally laughed out loud a few times. Keep it up!
@@jawinter1818 while Rings of Power was bad, at had a good excuse: they had the rights to use anything in the LotR trilogy, including appendices, but not the rights to use the Silmarlion, which was the book that came closest to covering this period of Middle Earth's History (Silmarlion focused mainly on the first age, not second, but still main source on 2A) so while they could use something if it was mentioned in an appendix, for the most part they had to make things up whole cloth. I'd argue the better choice if they couldn't get rights to the Silmarlion would have been not to do the project, but assuming they wanted to move forward, they really couldn't have done a good job. Wheel of Time, on the other hand, was done with full rights, access to RJ's widow and primary editor, and Brandon Sanderson's (mostly ignored) input. So while both projects are bad takes on their respective properties, WoT had every advantage in production, while LotR RoP had every disadvantage. I honestly wish they'd done a 1st age LotR show, the fight for the Silmarils, the war with Morgoth, the fall on Gondolin... Tons of good material to work with, but that _really_ would have required the Silmarlion rights.
@@nathanmorgan3647 I'm still giggling from the fact that one of the first scenes of the show is the moiraine putting pants on. That's how you introduce the world.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS In essence, it's done out of greed and pride. Greed because they want it to be theirs alone, and pride because they think they can do just as good if not better by changing something that's popular. I doubt Rafe wants the audience to think about Jordan when they see this show, he wants them to think about Rafe. Then there is the golden rule of Hollywood, adapted for modern audience.
The show runner told he wanted to make the story "more feminist". Their concern was not telling a good story, it was pushing the "right" political message. And when good storytelling is not the main goal, that shows.
There was an interview where Daniel Henry said he felt Lan mentality is toxic,and so he changed it. Basically that’s the equivalent of kit Harrington saying, “I don’t like Jon Snow being straight, so I’m going to make him gay. The actor is portraying the character, not the other way around. By the way I know kit Harrington isn’t gay, that was just an analogy
Rafe Judkins considers WOT to have been a "feminist manifesto" and that it is "no longer feminist enough". His words. No way would he allow this stoic, masculine version of Lan to exist. Also Daniel Henny blew it - Lan is the way he is for a reason. He is surviving heir of a dead kingdom. Of course he is going to be like this. It's the only way he can continue on. Changing his character / demeanor negates who he is and his entire past. I hate this show so much.
@@D3G4355 Of course Lan has some masculine traits that some ppl would call toxic, as he's basically meant to be the hardened warrior to an extreme, to be admired by male readers while also telling the cautious tale of what dangers lies in that, and the second part can't be done without the first. That's why Nyneave is so important to his character arc.
Episode 5, the one where the warder considered if he could get with other warders and in the end decided....no. This episode really didn't send the message I think they expected.
I just finished watching your review of this episode. You are so right 😅🤣 There's no supervisor in the writing room. I'm convinced. (BTW, you asked for my DM contact info and I tried to send it to you [my email in the description], but sometimes YT sends replies with emails to the revjew folder).
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Just wanted to let you know that Lan'ss actor, said he spoke to production about incorporating a ritual from his culture which is on his mom's side is Korean. I like watching your videos because you break down so many technical issues that make sense I think binging the show it has a different momentum
Forced homosexuality is just a terrible look to begin with and then to have the dude kill himself after disclosing that he's going to have to start learning to sleep with men is a really messed up message to send as a show. Like the showrunner should've been fired for that alone outside of the already numerous offenses he's committed with his "show".
@thanos619 I could chalk it up to "it feels like oversight from a rookie writer/showrunner". But then that begs the question.... why is an amateur in charge of this show?!
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Rafe isn't an amateur which is what makes it much worse. Like there's no excuse for that crap to not hit the cutting room floor. Like didn't someone just stand up and go "Aren't we worried about alienating the LGBTQ+ community by insinuating forced homosexuality?"
Jain Farstrider is absolutely a guy in the books. Rand and Matt were both huge fans of the Travels of Jain Farstrider so they're referenced throughout the books.
@@rgoodwyneh, they were adventure stories. Everyone has days they're stuck in the house due to weather or being grounded (which I'd imagine happened to Mat a lot). If you can't run around getting into trouble, reading about someone else doing so is the next best thing.
@@velinion1 true, if Mat were to read it would be something like that lol. Spoilers: The way they spoke about the book early on I expected him to be from a much earlier period in history. Pretty impressive how quickly his legends spread. I always wondered who wrote the book since it really seems like he wouldn't have written it himself.
I'm going through the books again and am into "The Dragon Reborn" - it was actually Rand and Perrin who are fans. In the Caemlyn chapter when Mat is in the Queen's Blessing's library, he sees the book and reflects that he always meant to read it because Perrin and Rand were always telling him about it. And man, it's been a while ... I'd forgotten how much I love these books...
@@Hangry_SasquatchI really struggle to find any woman in the series I like, I'm on book 5 now. Maybe Elaine, Moraine? Egianean, I really liked her I guess.
I love your reviews 🤣. Thank you. Blues are said to be “married” to their cause. Moiraine and Lan are both completely dedicated to finding The Dragon and fighting the shadow. Moiraine does begin to worry about Lan’s growing affection for Nyneave, but it is because she is worried his dedication to their cause might be weakening. They do not have a sexual relationship. In fact, most bonds between the Aes Sedai and Warder are not sexual. Greens are really the only ones that cross that line, but there are no hard rules, just tradition. Greens will sometimes marry a warder, but all of the bonds are very close. The show definitely sexualizes more of the books’ characters’ relationships.The show adds relationships that do not exist in the books. Elayne(the princess) is very important to Rand. The Aes Sedai would never have allowed The White Cloaks to run around killing sisters in their territory!
The frustrating part is there are answers to all these questions about what the warder bond is or how it works, the show creates an entire character and storyline seeming to explore the warder bond yet none of it is explored, no questions answered
True, but to be fair Jordan was still adding/ revising how the bond can work 6 books or more into the series lol. We don't get definitive answers for a looooong time.
@@rgoodwyn yes that’s true but if you are going to waste everyone’s time with a warder centric story made up from whole cloth then you kinda have to delve into it, yet they don’t, it’s a story line that seems to be from a later book (minor spoiler) it isn’t, in the same way when they make up a bunch of stuff about aes sedai that didn’t happen forces them to explain things like the amerlyn seat, the hall of the tower, more about the ajahs etc
@@williams456 I feel like they explained how some Aes Sedai are romantically involved with their warders and some are not. They showed how warders sort of lose it when their Aes Sedai die. They introduce the idea of a Warder bonding another to ease the pain of losing his initial Aes Sedai. We also get a glimpse of how Warders view Aes Sedai ( I totally don't agree with it, especially in the books) in their very biased and subjective way. Without going into too much spoilers these are all important elements to introduce to the audience. The show has many many issues but I feel like this was a decent intro to the extremely complicated issue of Warder bonding.
From what I gather, based on interviews with Rafe (the show runner and lead writer for several episodes), he very much prefers the Aes Sedai political intrigue plotlines to the main plotline of Rand trying to prepare the world for the last battle, and has said he prefers to think of Moiraine and, in later books Egwene, as the true protagonists of the story. Hence the significant time spent in the show setting up all that at the expense of the books' main plot.
In the book Rand actually channeled before during the night they left, Its subtle but when they are riding long into the night and he's concerned that Bela wont be able to keep up, he's unknowingly channeled giving Bela more strength which moraine notices. Also when Moranine tells Nynaeve the after effects of channelings it lines up with how rand acted in beralon.
Yes, it’s very easy to miss on a first read. Same with the second incident (the boom on the Spray that side-swipes the Trolloc, followed by Rand’s acrobatics on the rigging a few days later). Details like this make the series so enjoyable to re-read.
That is not channeling. That is His Ta'averen power. Rand has the power to imbue life force (he uses it a lot later in the series), Perrin has the Dreamer stuff and Matt well Mat has his broken bend the universe powers. Explicitly in the third book Morraine explains that the one power cannot restore life force or imbue it (that is why after being healed someone get super hungry and sleepy)
@@tiagostein4057 No, it’s well-established that Rand’s 3 first channeling incidents are (1) wiping fatigue from Bela, (2) the boom on the Spray, and (3) the Howal Gode lightning bolt. He experiences reactions to touching the Source all 3 times, and they steadily occur closer to the time he uses it. So (A) about a week later in Baerlon (when he giddily confronts Dain Bornhald), (B) a few days later when he’s up in the Spray’s main mast, and (C) when he has the final reaction and the fever sickness in The Queen’s Man in Market Sheran.
@@bookcloaks Robert Jordan NEVER stated that openly.. he said literally MAYBE. Also Morraine clearly states that the one power CANNOT DO THAT... not without Rand Ta'avern powers.
If you look at the extras for episode 1, you'll not there was a scene cut from the end of the episode that has concept art, and probably would've included this event...but the first episode was hacked to bits by amazon execs.
Notably, in that escape from the White Cloaks scene in the books, before Nynaeve returns we get an exchange between Moiraine and Lan where she has to stop him from running off to look for her. It's an indication of his feelings for her. From Chapter 38, Rescue: > A shadow stirred, and Moiraine’s voice came, weighted with irritation. “Nynaeve has not returned. I fear that young woman has done something foolish.” Lan spun on his heel as if to return the way they had come, but a single whip-crack word from Moiraine halted him. “No!” He stood looking at her sideways, only his face and hands truly visible, and they but dimly shadowed blurs. She went on in a gentler tone; gentler but no less firm. “Some things are more important than others. You know that.” The Warder did not move, and her voice hardened again. “Remember your oaths, al’Lan Mandragoran, Lord of the Seven Towers! What of the oath of a Diademed Battle Lord of the Malkieri?” And a few lines later: > "She slid down off Bela, but as she started toward the Emond’s Fielders Lan caught her arm and she stopped short, staring up at him. > “We must go, Lan,” Moiraine said, once more sounding unruffled, and the Warder released his grip. > Nynaeve rubbed her arm as she hurried to hug Egwene, but Perrin thought he heard her give a low laugh, too. It puzzled him because he did not think it had anything to do with her happiness at seeing them again.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Another good one that's "blink and you'll miss it" is Nynaeve's concern for Lan (and the fact that Moiraine knows how she feels about him) when he's out scouting in Shadar Logoth. Chapter 19: > “He has been gone a long time.” Nynaeve looked worriedly at the night outside. Full dark had fallen, as black as pitch. > “Lan will be well,” Moiraine said soothingly, and spread her blankets beside the fire while she spoke. “He, was pledged to fight the Dark One before he left the cradle, a sword placed in his infant hands. Besides, I would know the minute of his death and the way of it, just as he would know mine. Rest, Nynaeve. All will be well.” But as she was rolling herself into her blankets, she paused, staring at the street as if she, too, would have liked to know what kept the Warder.
The Wheel of Time story is like a web intricately woven into a history and Rafe is the anti ta'veren casually walking through the webs ripping them apart like a six year old through a writing spider's wondrous creation.
@@TheNightrider88 Naw dude, a fanfic implies that the writer is actually a fan. This show is deliberate subversion and inversion to marr and remake RJ's core message and change it into the image of alphabet ideology. That's what "updating for a modern audience" means when they say it.
@@nathanmorgan3647 Doesn't mean that they aren't stupid enough to not be able comprehend messages and ideas they are inverting. ) Like, in the endgame Rand is basically solving a theodicy problem. I don't think that writers even know this word.
There are so many times you start a sentence with “it would’ve been so much better…” and my brain just completes it as “…if they stuck closer to the source material”
This is true in almost every case so far. 🤦🏻♀️ I was so glad they were gonna show Lan and Nynaeve's romance more openly, but that totally backfired, when it became apparent that the writers didn't know how to write romance... or logic. Lol.
@@ritashaw5812 I know he didn't kill himself because of the warders. I was just saying that the way they portrayed the situation made it appear as though that could've been the reason.
Other question: Would you consider just making a video about the book, maybe a review, maybe just what stood out to you, but I'd really love you talking about mainly the book and your thoughts about it.
I thought exactly the same. I know it wrecks our hostesses idea for the channel but the TV series is not worth the time of anyone with the slightest interest in the actual story rather than this Woke vomit spout.
No, you read it right - Jain is a bloke, pronounced Jah-een. Also I agree, I loved the guy playing Loials performance. I just felt bad for him with that ridiculous rug they put on his head
I like to believe every scene in the White Tower took place in Steppin's bedroom. They just changed furniture around to pretend it was a different room.
@@dandyjohnsonthe goal is just to usually make it less noticeable, but it does make some sense if all the rooms are the same layout. I didn't notice it too much for the rooms, but the tar valon v shadar Logoth streets seemed a bit too noticeable.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 That intro was phenomenal! I love your episode analysis, particularly since your critiques hit a lot of the issues i have with the show as well.
Part of the problems with Stepin and his story is that all of his story is new. His book presence is pretty much a single line in the prequel book, New Spring. They said they had to cut so much from the books then go and make up so much new material. It's baffling. Also, please do more intros like this one. Absolutely hilarious.
I wanted to make a point after you said it, Rand mentioning that he had seen the mountain makes no sense at all. In his previous life, it was him channeling himself to death which created the mountain, so he died and never would have seen it. In his current life, he had literally just been born and would have no possible way to remember the mountain.
If you'll try to reimagine original Nynaeve as... Star Wars character, you will end up with young, but already respected healer from backwater planet. If you'll do the same with the Show!Nynaeve, you will end up with carbon copy of Rey Skypatine.
My biggest problem with the warder/funeral is how much time it takes up. Time is already ultra condensed in an adaption and they spent far too much of it on additions to the story. The books have more than enough content.
For me, the funeral scene irked me a lot because it just seemed so out of character for Lan. Now I'm only on book 4, but so far Lan has only ever been the stoic and silent, and wouldn't be the type of guy to scream and cry in grief. He'd keep it tucked in, for better or worse. At the very least not crying in front of dozens of others. Maybe this is a scene lifted from later, but for book 4 rn it seems strange. Maybe others who have finished the story could tell me if this ever happens or not lmao
It should have been the other way around. Moiraine also is not a cryer, but her crying and Lan being stoic in the face, but with a stiffness, that it is visible, that he can feel her pain too would have been far more in character for both of them.
@@HessalamWoT I don't know - Moiraine doesn't go in for the whole Eternal Stoicism thing, but she's ice cold. The only emotions she shows is a bit of enjoyment, and whenever Rand manages to stubborn her into a temporary fury.
29:55 This really highlights the show's writing, doesn't it? It appears to be penned by individuals who either lack an understanding of men or haven't had real men in their vicinity. It certainly raises questions about the show's overall direction.
Well it's written by a bunch of angry feminists and run by an arrogant gay dude, all of whom are DEI hires. with no real experience beyond being a losing contestant on Survivor. Of course they don't know anything about real men or masculinity.
Stephen and the Warders have been reduced to “sad boys”. The campfire scene in the previous episode was a joke. Warders are not “tired” and as you read on you will discover traits about the warders in the books that make the show Warders appear a shadow of their original selves. A lot of people praise the mourning ritual, but that still undermines the Warders’ ideals/beliefs. “Embrace death!” The tuatha’an are passive aggressive as hell. Illa silences Reign with a glance like “how dare you speak, know your place”, (might have been in last episode) and then they stand up to the white cloaks like protestors. Which is probably why they didn’t use the book quote about the axe harms the tree but the tree also dulls the axe with each blow. Which is why they run from violence because they don’t want to harm the one that’s doing it as well. So standing up to the white cloaks is ridiculous. The show really feels it’s being clever by what they think is distracting the audience as to who could be the dragon reborn. Egwene isn’t actually supposed to be tough as nails “like Nyneave “, she’s the diplomat which is why she reasons with the white cloaks in the books.
Mainly agree with you but isn't the embrace death ideal more of a borderlands belief than warder-specific? Other than being swordmasters in order to be chosen and agreeing to whatever the aes sedai who bonds them sets as personal conditions for their relationship I don't recall there being much at all in the form of shared ideals between warders, a browns warder could basically live his whole life as essentially a glorified librarians assistant never leaving Tar Valon for instance, yeah they are all magically enhanced badasses but their ideals and goals aside from defending the aes sedai sisters will vary as wildly as the sisters themselves goals do.
@@rustyshackleford1062 although it isn't specifically stated, there is heavy implication that warders have a similar attitude. it's a "dedicate your life and death to fighting the Shadow" kind of thing. boderlanders do it fighting the Blight and trolloc raids, warders do it by serving their Aes Sedai. Dai Shan is portrayed as the perfect warder, in part, because of his Sheinar upbringing. then on top of that, he is Lord of the Seven Towers, Lord of the Lakes, True Blade of Malkier, Defender of the Wall of First Fires, Bearer of the Sword of the Thousand Lakes, known to the Aiel as Aan'allein (a man who is an entire people). Lan IS the Golden Crane, and he DOES NOT CRY.
Yes, and that burial is actually a Shienaran tradition (what they call the Last embrace of the mother), when Rand and the others saw it in the books they thought it was weird. In other places, they cremate/ funeral piers. Regarding Illa and the rest, they are buffing up the female characters and sidelining the male. Look at Reign, Bran Al'Vere, Lan, Lord Agelmar, etc. From mayor & Innkeeper to always standing behind his wife with a meek voice (One of the only men in the books Nynaeve had praise for). Lord Agelmar from Great Captain to a prideful idiot who needs his sister to tell him about commanding armies when he was the one in the books who begged for Moiraine's help (And disrespectful to an Aes Sedai, a borderlander?). Reign went from being the leader/seeker to being shut up by a slight gesture like a Seanchan Da'covale. As for the warder depression, I would not categorize it as depression, more like suicidal aggressiveness. Him attacking Logain was on point but him refusing Alanna and moping around like an idiot was another attempt by the show to pacify the Warders. I mean, they changed around how Nynaeve actually found Lan and Moiraine why? So that she could one-up Lan, a Warder and Malkieri/Borderlander trained by her having to tell him how to track Moiraine. 🤣
Lan in the books: "In war, you say a prayer for your dead and ride on, because there is always another fight over the next horizon" And Lan is very much at war with the Shadow. Them having Lan in a scene like the show's warder funeral is not something I ever would have guessed they would do. Huge swing and miss for trying to portray the character of Lan.
I'm at the point in book2 where I am really feeling this. And someone in another comment said that Lan has a "break out of the shell" moment later in the series. This scene has taken the significance out of any future shell breaking.
It's so annoying how many people defend this show by saying "it's an adaptation, they have to make a ton of changes...they could never make the show like the books," but it's just so untrue. The early Game of Thrones seasons did so well *because* they followed the books very closely, and that book series is massive as well. If they don't have enough time for the events that occur in the books, why are they wasting time making new storylines with this Stepin character? It makes no sense! I truly do not understand
About the Aes Sedai 'tolerance' of the whitecloaks: the reason Aes Sedai don't do anything is that the oath only allows them to use their powers against 'darkfriends' or in self defence. Unless the whitecloaks are actively threatening your life its physicallly impossible for them to use their magic against them.
So in practice it would take one Green to act as bait and then others would appear to solve this life-threatenng situation. They tolerate them because they are not a serious threat yet.
I don't know if it's your opinion of the show, you accurate way of point out inconsistencies, your sense of humour, the editing, the way you visibly don't take yourself seriously, the fact that you effectively display your skills as an editor by providing solutions to the many ridiculous choices of the scriptwriters, your analysis of the books, or maybe your very nice collection of eyewear... i don't know exactly what makes me feel that way, but one thing is sure: YOU ARE AWESOME!!! It's the second video I've been watching in a row and I'll keep on watching (also on your main channel) until there's nothing left for me to watch. I look forward to your eventually analysing season 2. Thanks for this!!
😅😋 Well Garsh! Thank you for these kind words. I definitely try not to take myself too seriously, as I get things wrong sometimes. Me episode 7 is taking forever (not only have family things interrupted my editing time quite a bit, but my episode 7 review started at 4 hours long, so lots of cutting required to get it closer to 2 hours).
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Four hours long! I have no experience in video editing, but I can imagine it must take three or four times the duration of the video itself... Bon courage! Well one good thing always comes from that: I think you can measure how much people really like your content by counting those who stay with you all the way through a two-hour video 😁
The whole Perrin and Egwene being captured sub arc is a perfect example of the butterfly effect in action. The writers of the show made choices to remove plot elements, but then remembered they needed to have Perrin and Egwene captured, so they just kind of forced it into the show.
@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS I stumbled upon your review, or critique, of season 1 episode 8, and found that we had very similar opinions. That said I started going back and watching your videos of the other episodes. Since you're relatively new to the books, you have a refreshing take on them. I first read Eye when I was in middle school, many many years ago, and I almost yearly reread the entire series. Now, I've tried to do what you're doing, except I've posted comments/threads on different social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc...). If I focus on the changes from the books, and dang there are a lot of them, or call attention to the non canon filler material (did we really need an entire Steppin episode?), fans of the show immediately label me as a bookcloak, and usually reply with a long worded explanation of how adaptations won't be 1 to 1 to the source material (something I was fully aware of and never expected). Or if I focus on the incoherent, inconsistent, and some times flat out lazy writing, I get told I'm just nit-picking and that I should get over myself.
@dematar I often find myself reading such comments and thinking... "this person clearly has no sense of storytelling logic, so there's no point in trying to discuss it with them". Remember, "No amount of evidence wil ever persuade an idiot". I think Mark Twain said it, but also that's up for debate. Anyway, it should make you feel better to know that out of the Avery 700 comments I get per video, there are only 1 or 2 that don't agree with my points, and dozens of them state clearly that they don't expect a 1 to 1. They just want a dhow that is true to the heart of the books and makes sense on its on feet. I think there is a loud minority of people who love the show.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS I try to avoid those comments as well, but occasionally I find myself drawn into such a debate/argument where eventually I just end it. The most recent one had to do with episode 8 of season 2, but I won't go into the details if you've not seen it yet. I realize that nothing I say will change their mind. It doesn't matter if I apply show logic (not that there's much of that) or book logic, they refuse to even consider my position. For others, who generally seem to like the show, I usually say nothing. As much as I'd like to see it canceled, all footage burn, and the ashes spread to the four corners of the globe, if I think someone is honestly enjoying the show I'm not going to be that guy who tries to ruin it for them. That said, I hope you're enjoying the books and finish the series. I was in college when I heard Robert Jordan had die, and was devastated thinking the series wouldn't be finished. And while Brandon Sanderson has a different writing style, I was more than happy with how he finished the series. (I tore threw his first entry into the series, an almost 900 page book, in a single day)
In the books, Nynaeve is one of my all time favorites. She has consistent motivation that slowly evolves to be broader than just protecting the other 4. It's never really about her being a boss girl but protection and responsibility Also 23:30 could not be more true, but apply that to the whole tv series
She's my least favourite character in all of literature. The show does it brilliantly. She's as dislikeable in the show as she is in the book. Absolutely nailed by the actress.
@@Dragonslairminis the good thing about this is that you're allowed your opinion. I've been part of so many communities recently that do not allow for differences of opinions like this. I can think that you're 100% incorrect (as you are about the book Nynaeve) and still accept your misguided assessment 😇
This episode is a great example of ripple effects, small changes that lead to disaster later on in the series. Thom had a history in Camelyn, but because the story's setting skipped that town, we don't get some hints for that. Moving the events to Tar Valon also turns Rand meeting Loial into a plot hole; Loial said that he was chased through the streets when he arrived, having been mistaken for a monster. And yet, he's got free reign to walk right into the White Tower? Moraine and Lan's conversation as they approached the city gets even worse with a revelation in the next episode... With the Warders, it's actually pretty uncommon for an Aes Sedai and her Warder to bone. I think the number of Aes Sedai who do is in the single digits. And finally, the stuff with the Whitecloak guy gets even worse with the knowledge that the Whitecloaks think all Aes Sedai are Darkfriends. He wouldn't believe a word any of them say, much less site one as a credible source.
Chuckled when you mentioned babysitting while listening to the audiobooks. I read quite a few of the books many, many years ago when getting up in the night to feed my baby daughter.
In the book "Inkheart", there is a quote about our experiences in whatever setting and situation we are in when we read a book for the first time... it suggests that those experiences are sort of implanted into the book. Then, when we re-read that book, we are sort of transported back to that first situation. We can remember things about it that we never would have remembered without the implanted memories coming back through the familiar words. I love that!
Ok, hear me out. There will be a certain percentage of quoting my own previous comments, but I feel the urge. When I saw the Tar Valon from the show, something died inside me. I'll explain. First, hey didn't even tried. The city walls is taken directly from the Agra Red Fort and the whole setpiece looks like it was named "generic medieval Indian city". But not only it is cheap, it is another inversion of fundamental parts of the worldview. In the WOT world, people know value of aesthetics. They love beauty. Even the Rand himself takes his time to marvel not only at the scope of Caemlyn, but at beauty of it. And the readers will not have higher ground, like in Baerlon, when we will knew that it just a mundane rennaisance-era town. In the Caemlyn, both reader and Rand will be awestruck. But the Tar Valon surpass it. Anytime books mentions Tar Valon, and there will be descriptions of its wide streets, large plazas and out-of-time parametric architecture. It is the most beautiful city in the continent where lack of proper monumental architecture in the capital is the sign of decay. It also tell us that world is bigger and more beautiful, than in stories. This slums? No. It just slums. Nothing to marvel about. In this world, nobody cares about aesthetics, and this world is more dirty and mundane, than in the stories. Next point. Jordan was critical about Aes Sedai of Third Age! He portrays the White Tower as deeply flawed institution, that is losing power, losing knowledge, losing numbers, losing public trust and is infiltrated beyond belief. And one of the reasons of their failings is their fondly cultivated inhuman allpowerful image and how Aes Sedai put themselves above all naions and cultures. And on the other hand, the Whitecloaks in the books are portrayed as deeply misguided people, leaving more harm in their wake, but not as evil villains and there is a fair share of just, honorable people among them. Their current Lord-Commander is a downright tragic figure! All I can see in the show is the ultra-cool sisterhood of magical girlbosses and the brotherhood of depraved sadistic villains (because of course only such a scum can oppose such a wonderful sisterhood). Is this more nuanced interpretation? More ambiguous? More complex? How? Speaking of Moiraine, what I think is matters is the LACK of any relationships she displays in the book. She is so selflessly dedicated to her mission, that she simply forbid herself to engage in any sort of romantic relationships, beacuse it can became weakness and liability. But what is the driving force behind Show!Moiraine? What light her fire? Judging by her irresponsible attitude - clearly not a sense of purpose. Maybe she doing it out of lust for Amyrlin, like "I will find the DR and she will love me more!" is this more admirable? Is this a beter role model? How the one can claim that she loves the character and then destroy their best traits? Basically, one of major redeeming virtues in the WOT books is the serving the needs of many. I dont' see it in the show. But there is a plenty of petty self-serving interests instead. Ok, dumpsterfire is over)
"Whitecloaks in the books are portrayed as deeply misguided people, leaving more harm in their wake, but not as evil villains and there is a fair share of just, honorable people among them. Their current Lord-Commander is a downright tragic figure! " - in the series as a whole yes, but in the Eye of the World? For me, with the exception of Bornhold, the Whitecloaks came across as pretty evil. As with many things its only in later books that we get a more nuanced view.
@@gildor8866 In the EotW, they detained Perrin for a damn good reason, and they never wanted to harm Egwene. Surely, Byar was established to be a piece of work from the beginning, but that's enough to set them as a legit threat, but not as the villains. Compare this to the show, with bornhald not even raising eyebrow to the feats of perverted torturer valda, beating up the Tinkers etc. can this portrayal be used as a groundwork to show them as anything but villains?
@@TheNightrider88 First, Bornhold and Valda part ways after meeting Moirane, explicitly stated at the end of that scene. So Bornhold isn't present when they beat up the Tinkerers. Also they are "just" beating the Tinkerers up, they are not killing them. Given that they are trying to apprehend two suspects and the Tinkerers block their way the Whitecloaks are essentially doing what cops would do in our world - forcing their way with nightsticks. And finally: while I consider burning the Aes Sedai at the stake a "Villain Upgrade" lets not forget that in The Hunt for the Horn Bornholds observes that the Inquisitors have burned entire villages allegedly because everybody was a darkfriend. Bornhold doesn't like it but he has orders state he has to allow it. For me that had vibes of the Inquisitors acting like the SS and Bornhold being the german-army officer not stopping them. That was my personal association of course and in later books the image of the Whitecloaks improves a lot.
@@gildor8866 Yeah. In second book Bornhald is seen enraged by the false flag operations conducted by Questionners, and opposed them. In the show, nobody gives a damn about burning at the stake and chopping AS fingers off. And while your analogy about Whitecloaks vs Tinkers as cops beating down "peaceful demonstartions" are spot on... does it actually make any sense? Especially since Tinkers in the books would rather flee as violence should be avoidied by any cost... So, once again - how this vilification and simplification is a good thing, especially when it comes with blatant idealization of Aes Sedai?
Also, I have a sneaking suspicion, that it is the reason for making local perrin a wife-murderer. Because no one would believe that anybody can be haunted by the manslaughter of such a horrible whitecloaks.
Again, agree with everything you said!! They seriously need to hire you to write these shows. And what can I say about you opening “spa commercial”…hilarious!! Sooo perfect. You just keep getting better.
I'm still angry they skipped over the subtle nods to Rands channeling during the chase scene from Emonds Field to Tarren Ferry... Go back and read those chapters and see if you can catch it...
Jain Farstrider is a man in the books, and I thought that he was serving in Lan's brigade during the Aiel War (I just listened to 'New Spring'), but it could be someone with a similar name.
@@ArdghalTheThinker ... SPOILER ... ... That's going to be interesting when she shows up in later seasons - old, ugly, some of her memories missing, suffering from compulsion ...
13:50 - Stepin, cave, Logain... Yes, it was Stepin's fault... and yes, they go on rampages when their Aes Sedai die. In the lore from the books, that would make this his fault, BUT with "extenuating circumstances" to use the modern parlance. Taken together with the rest of what happens in the show in S1, I strongly suspect it was just another chance to make something a man's fault. TBF, it also might have been written by one of the writers who knows nothing about the books. Of course, that would make it the show-runner's fault for not catching it and correcting it... or CHOOSING not to correct it... At the same time, it also might have been one of those cases where he'd made up a BS assignment (bullying) to get their "lore specialist" to "collapse as a human being".
Great opening scene! The contrast of the soft voice and tranquil music over the visual of someone being prepared for torture/death was hilarious. We of course understood it as parody; if the writers of "Rosamund Pike's Vanity Project" saw it though, they would probably think it was praise for their work. I will not watch season 2, but if your mental health can handle it, I would love to see what you do with it. More reimaginings and parodies, please! When you started talking about the funeral scene, I also thought about the Klingon death scream, and was so happy you mentioned it! I think the difference between the Aes Sedai and Warder funerals ties into the theme of the show. The female Aes Sedai is given a quiet, dignified, honorable funeral. The male Warder is given a completely ridiculous, loud, violent funeral. I expect that there's a deleted scene after the Warder funeral where all the other Warders get drunk and start bashing each other with rocks. The Whitecloaks did not capture Egwaine and Perrin because they remembered them from earlier. They did it because the script told them to do it. For what it's worth, you understand the Bro Code far better than Rafe Judkins.
Rafe is such a cornball, he had a hard on to show the white tower. They could have saved that reveal for season two. You dont have to blow your load in season 1
The Warder and Aes'Sedai bond is "closer" than any relationship in that it's more intimate because of how aware it makes them of each other. Warders and their Aes'Sedai can feel each other's emotions, sensations to a degree, where they are, stuff like that.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Bond and romance are different kind of relationship, like friendship and romance. Lan falling in love doesn't necessary "penetrates" his bond with Moiraine, there was never romantic relationship between them in the first place. But it makes the situation rather complicated, and books admit it. Those complications that arise when warder bond comes at odds with love are what makes some Green to take only one warder. In particular those Green who marry their warders, they rarely have more than one. Because having two or more will make things awkward. As for the number of warders, I believe there is no tower law that regulates that, but there are traditions. Aes Sedai are conservative ladies, traditions for them are as binding as laws. And those customs say that Red don't take warders, Green take as many as they think they can handle, everyone else (Gray, White, Brown, Yellow and Blue) take no more than one.
@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS the Warder bond is not necessarily a romantic or sexual relationship. In fact, most are not. It's more a shared purpose kind of thing. In book two you actually get some of moraine's viewpoint on Lan's relationship with Nynaeve. She's not jealous - it's more about whether he's still committed to their goals.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Warder depression, including psychotic episodes, suicides, etc., are very much a real thing in the books. If an Aes Sedai dies while bonded to a warder, the warder not only loses that bond but feels the entire death of someone they are very close to. This can break their spirits and their minds, sending them spiraling into a psychosis that there isn't a cure for in the books, even bonding them to another doesn't heal them but can prevent the suicide. This is explained well in the books, however, whoever has been saying that this isn't a thing in the books is completely wrong. In fact, this is a large part of the books later in the series, so it's important to understand how this bond actually works.
Yes when a Warder dies, he swallows her death. He will immediately go on a rampage into battle into an attempt to follow her. One thing some Aes Sedai did to prevent this, was pass the bond to another Aes Sedai. The issue with this is, they'll still have the desire to follow her but will also respect the bond. This means they will walk across the world in a straight line to the new Aes Sedai, not avoiding danger. If that means going through an army, that's what they do. So they normally don't make it. This entire "bring the ring back to the tower" is nonsense. There is nothing special about the rings except as a symbol of who the bearer is.
It sounds like a pretty cool world element. I got so little about it from book 1, and everyone tells me that the bond has been screwed up in this episode. I've started book 2, now, so hopefully I get a better picture of how it works.
Maybe we all missed the brilliant marketing plan by Prime, and we're the dummies. Instead of trying hard to make a good show, intentionally piss off the readers by making it really bad, so that we would all continue watching to see how bad it actually gets. That must be it.
Liandrian touching Moraine is something similar that happens with 2 other Reds later in the books, borrowed from them, and the warders didn't act anything like they are shown in this show. They were hard men thar cared only for their Aei Sedai. They had a job to do and didn't fully trust one another even if they had a lot of respect for one another. My thoughts
Haha! Thank you. 😊 it was a last second add-in. I was about to upload, but inspiration struck and I went back and re-recorded new audio for a totally different intro from the one I had... this one was way better.
I don't care about any of the potential dragons, or anyone else to be honest. I'm not a book reader so maybe it's different if you have more knowledge, even though I am sure it's more frustrating as well due to the changes made to the source material, which sounds like a good story. Going back to the first episode the main characters weren't set up well enough, and it isn't even explained why anyone is doing what they are doing, I'm still not even sure why the dragons even left with Murraine apart from for honourable reasons since they all know that all except one of them that is the actual dragon will die. But as the episodes go on the dragons don't act as though they would be doing this out of doing the right thing for the world. Nothing is explained in this show!!! I don't need everything explained but a little would be nice.
I've got to defend the show on Lan's sleeping position. I dimly remember it being implied that Stepin gave Lan the sleeping potion to knock him out. That aside nothing remotely good can be said about this episode. It's a total trainwreck.
The why is sleeping wasn't the issue, but that as soon as you fall sleep, your arm will relax and you'll end laying in the floor. That's the nonsensical part, that just reinforces that they know nothing about filming. Judgins is just an inclusion token and we all know that, he is way out of his league for a project of that size
@@jorgen6133 I have managed to fall asleep holding open books without letting them go and once or twice even with a glass or bottle of beer, therefore I hesitate to limit the uncomfortable positions one can fall asleep in and even retain while asleep 🤣
Another good and detailed review. I'm really enjoying them! The challenge you have with this and future episodes is that the show departs further and further from the books as the season goes on. The replacement of Caemlyn with Tar Valon wasn't done for any reason other than the Showrunner thinks White Tower drama is the best part of the story and wants more of it, sooner. Also, it enabled them to minimise Rand and his story, and that serves their goals. You have accurately identified the biggest issue the show has, and it isn't the lack of fidelity to the books (yes, that's a problem and disappointment, but not the biggest failing). The biggest issue is that the writing in this show is dreadful. To call it amateur fanfiction is being generous (and unfair to fanfiction, some of which is far better written). The show fails to stand up as as standalone story because the characters speak and act in illogical ways, the dialogue is awful and awkward, the show constantly 'tells, not shows,' and the new story the writers are inventing is just boring - anticlimactic and predictable. The show also can't seem to set up any long term payoffs. I won't spoil future episodes for you (not because they are great, but because you should get to react organically to them) but really important things, which are meant to happen many books from now, are just thrown at the audience in S1, out of context, because the writers seem to be in a rush and don't understand how to build narrative tension and mystery. Lastly, the Stepin funeral scene was an example of the show's deliberate deconstruction and subversion of the books. People will argue that the scene is justified because Lan always does his duty, and his duty in this ceremony was to be the head mourner on behalf of everyone else. What this overlooks is that the entire funeral ceremony, and this duty, were made up for the show in the first place. There is no basis for any of it in the books, none of it ever happened and it didn't need to happen in the show. Now, why would the show writers invent a scene, and take the most stony faced and stoic character from the books, who (at the risk of a minor spoiler) tells Rand 'There is one rule, above all others, for being a man. Whatever comes, face it on your feet,' and put him on his knees, tearing at his breast, yelling out in grief? It's blatantly obvious that the writers think they are updating and improving Jordan's toxic characters and flawed story. They think book Lan is an exemplar of toxic masculinity, of unhealthy emotional repression, and that just has to be fixed! The fact that faithfully representing characters from a book is not an endorsement of those characters beliefs or behaviours seems to be lost on so many modern writers. Flawed characters with diverse personality traits make for a more interesting story than a sanitised version where all their flaws are smoothed over, there is no struggle or growth, and the characters are already perfect and emotionally healthy. It's as if the writers don't understand the heroes journey, nor what makes fiction compelling (including conflict and tension). Anyway, looking forward to the next one!
This is an excellent point. I wonder if they think they are going to get so many people who haven't read the books that they don't care about alienating all the people that have read the books. Everytime they make a needless change, they lose more and more of the book fans without picking up more non-book readers. I don't see how they are going to last (what is it, 8 years?).
Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't remember the show actually telling us that Dragonmount is important, so to people who've never read the books they don't understand the significance of the "i think i've seen it before" line. Which is just anoter problem incurred from changing this into a mystery. Ripple effects...
This show feels like fan fiction made life. Like someone with just a wild imagination was like, "wouldn't this scene be really cool" and then Rafe said yea, lets shoe horn that in somewhere, it may make no real sense, it may be contrary to any kind of reason, logic or source material, but it will look really cool and the audience won't care.
Lan would never show emotion like in that shit funeral scene. when his father figure dies he says something to the effect that tears are wasted on the dead you can only continue forward
Another good review. Subbed. As a many times reader, I like how good you are at picking up things first time round that really will matter later, at least in the books which are much more consistent and coherent in the follow-up. Foreshadowing is one of things RJ is particularly held up for. Towards the end you had a concrete example of something different in the book. No shock that it was better in the book! Earlier on you were quite frequently making comments along the lines of "Well, if it's that way in the books, then..." Rest assured, it's almost never 'that' (ie the show) way in the books. The vast majority of the time it's completely different or the exact opposite. The books aren't perfect but I've enjoyed them over and again for decades. Don't let the show put you off the books. Ironically, your 'favourite scene' does actually draw on something specific from the books. I'll leave out the key spoilery bit, so you're safe to read on. A character finds out about an event from the past when the ancestors of the Tuatha'an did a much larger version of what Ila et al did in this episode. 10,000 of them linked arms and sang to try and delay a channeler gone mad, buying time so that the people of a city could escape it before he destroyed it. He gradually killed them all. It was presented as a heroic sacrifice by pacifists. Ila and co were doing something similar here. Infuriatingly, it goes to show that at least some of the people working on the TV show really do have an in depth knowledge of the texts, which just makes all their nonsense, incoherence and poor storytelling skills that much more frustrating. Even more so because they have frequently been dropping references that casual viewers cannot possibly get. Sometimes these are actually very important things where they seem to be counting on vewers to have book knowledge in order to understand what's been done or said on screen. And yet their changes tend to be most poorly received by those who have that very knowledge. I'm honestly perplexed at what they're trying to achieve. A significant chunk of their 'effort' is likely to be wasted on casual viewers / first time readers, whilst many of those who know the material in depth find the changes objectionable. Who are they making this show for? I suppose there might be some slice of the audience that will watch every season for as long as this runs and then rewatch them, picking up extra things on later watches. But how many people could that possibly be? I'll probably end up being a glutton for punishment who watches everything they do at least once, since I drew so much pleasure from the books. But it's painful. It's a sunk time fallacy that I'm struggling to get past. For you, honestly, I'd say just stick to the books. I doubt you'll like everything, but I'd bet the bank you'll find the books to be vastly more rewarding than the show...
I'm not a reader of the books, but what you described and the Tuatha'an and why they did what they did makes more sense now so if the writers have this knowledge why couldn't we have seen a flashback of this somewhere, maybe at a campfire story telling. It wouldn't have had to shown much but it would enrich the viewing experience. To be honest I'm confused about nearly everything in this show including any the 4 potential dragons even left with Murraine. All I have it is firstly they have to escape and they will have some level of protection being with her, and secondly for honourable reasons, though after this they don't act in any way honourable so if that was the reason they did a complete 180 in the matter of one episode. It's not explained so the Whitecloaks even are or their relationship with Eas Sedei. Again a scene setting the context from a past event might have been useful, but all we have is then being stopped on the road, and maybe I'm a bit slow but I didn't get hardly anything from this. If there are expert advisors on the production team then they are either forgetting what the average viewer will know or as I suspect they are only there to insert little nods to things book readers will know, Easter Eggs I think is the term and not influence the show runners vision at all. I can only say that the LOTR movies were so great I think because Peter Jackson was a huge fan of the books, but as a non reader of that series as well I think the story but together incredibly well. I know that's a big budget movie that took years and years to sculpt into the end result, but I think the suggestions in this analysis video would have been better than what we have got.
the writers of this show seem to not be able to accept that the books do everything better than they ever could and so they insist on re-writing every single thing that is in the books. The metaphor was SUPPOSED to be about an axe against a tree and that the axe might chop the tree down, but the axe blade gets dulled in the process so by engaging in violence the person who does so diminishes themselves in the process. And this was supposed to be one of the traveling people explaining the way of the leaf to perrin.
I believe that super, crazy, obsessed with the book fans just can't fathom that changes need to be made to make it into a show and some of the changes are actually quite good as they have very little impact on the story and in some cases make it better. Perrin having a wife for example was absolutely brilliant.
The only "justification" I have for the snow is that in the books, the weather is messed up, but, as with many things in the show, they forgot to mention it. You'll see that there will be several minor things that "makes sense" if you have book knowledge, but aren't explained in the show (at least, according to show "apologists" not yet).
Yes, I get the feeling they are sometimes trying to be a bit too clever. E.g. when you see things that are to modern for the timeperiod like matches or the to modern appearance of Rands coat. As someone who has read the books I think I understand they are deliberately including these anachronisms ad remnants of the Age of Legends, though Matches aka. Strykers should not yet be in widespread use. But someone who has not read the books it must come across as the showmakers being to lazy to do their homework. And given that those who have not read the books are the larger group of the target audience this a failure of the show.
@@gildor8866the book does a better job of giving clues. Like how characters make it pretty clear that the world has been in decline. They talk a lot about the Breaking of the World. They talk about magnificent structures that people in the current time no longer have the knowledge to build. They talk a lot about things that have been lost throughout the ages. So even though you won't know that the Age of Legends was a Star Trek level sci-fi world until like book 4, you do get that the world used to be way better.
@@shazariahl No, it's right from the start. While it's no longer full on winter, spring is very slow to start and it remains cold for the time of year.
Warder Depression very much IS accurate in the books. There is a character in a book known for taking in Warders so they don't end themselves. And we see a couple that are very lost after losing their Aes Sedai. Warders and Aes Sedai have very close bonds and feel each other's deaths. Some are even driven to temporary insanity when one passes.
What perplexes me the most about this series is the show writers and execs had to have seen GOT. What made it so successful was how closely it followed the books and was very true to the characters. That series began to fall apart as soon as they stopped having source material. Instead of using Jordan's novels to develop, well anything really, it appears someone decided they could do better. What they have created has fallen flat. At very least, they could have tapped Sanderson to help them create a script where all the characters weren't horrible. The three boys don't even seem to like each other and their friendship and growth is crucial to the story. Each of those characters has a strong central driving trait and that has not been shown by any of them. Perrin's was ruined in ep 1 when he killed his wife. Sorry I don't want to write a novel, but wait until you read the entire series and revisit this season. I feel like the portrail cuts even deeper. It's like whoever wrote the screenplay was told what happened in the first book, and the person telling them only read a summary of the Cliffsnotes. Then, my guess is that they hired a bunch of different writes who were not allowed to talk to each other, but were tasked with writing one episode each. Shameful.
I'm not a book reader, I've only watched the show, but I think you are completely spot on with the analysis. There is no world building here for what seems to be a very complex world. I didn't watch GOT from the start, and I've never read the books either, but even after watching the first series I could remember the main character names and the main families and groups of people. After 3 days of finishing this series apart from Moirane I don't think I could tell you want of their names, in fact I was going to mention the guy who was the dragon reborn, but I can't even remember his name, it's just not memorable and I'm still confused what happened even now. I wonder if condensing everything from one book into 8 episodes as well as setting the background wasn't enough for it all to make sense.
@mattpotter8725 I do understand this was an expensive show to make. I also understand the desire to make the first book into one season because this is a series of 14 books. Eye of the World is a fairly long book, so I even understand that the producers/writers would have to cut/condense the content. I just can't quite grasp how they choose what to keep and exclude from the book. Even more perplexing is why they chose to create things, which were not in the novel, to put into the TV show that neither added to character development nor the overall story (while cutting things I think do matter). For me, it is just hard to watch knowing the potential this had. It is good to know that it isn't just the people who have read the books who are disappointed. A part of me was holding out hope that this was better than I thought, but it was just disappointing to anyone who had already read the books. They certainly tried to do too much and ended up doing too little of the things that mattered. Patrick Rothfuss has some good quotes about this pertaining to fantasy writing, which (I think) basically mean writing and telling a good story has to come first. If the story you are creating isn't good, the magic, mythical beasts, and/or actors aren't going to be able to save it.
See, I think a lot of the problem is, they seem to have seen GOT but rather than thinking "oh this was successful at the start because it followed the books and was true to the characters", they thought "oh this was successful because sex and grim and dark and edgy".
@@Waniou137 But as GOT showed in the early series you could have both. In this case I think they thought they could take the source material and improve upon it, which I think is bad in many aspects because it will piss off the core people who might want to watch your show in the first place and secondly they aren't good enough writers to pull this off. Having looked at the episode descriptions on Wikipedia (which may or may not be accurate so I take it with a pinch of salt) every episode seems to have been written and directed by different people, which I think could have caused the continuity issues we've seen in the show thus far. I think the overall control of the production though has caused just as many though. It's a good example of how to burn through money as though it wasn't an issue whilst not concentrating enough on the quality of the production.
@@Waniou137 That may be true, but this series is lacking most of the grim dark and edgy aspects. The trolloc scenes were violent, but lacked both tension and the depth needed to elicit and real sense of fear. The same could probably be said of the fades. If there is anything remotely romantic or passionate or even scenes with juvenile sexual tension/angst I missed them. The Perrin wife debacle was just horrible.
I am in awe of your psychology. You picked up details in your first video out of this set that I had missed by a mile. Identifying the significance of the conversation between Perrin and Nynaeve in the tavern of the first episode and it's implications for the relationship between show-Perrin and his wife. You are detail-oriented at an order of magnitude that I cannot even begin to fathom. Being a professional editor must require and reinforce these traits by a fairly significant factor. Or perhaps it is the difference between the kind of literary critical analysis involving identification of theme and the common techniques used in moving a plot that you would pick up from a classic liberal arts education and that of a STEM background.
I feel like a lot of that happens with Stepin could have been handled with him being in such horrible grief that he wasn't able to function, Nynaeve checking on him and not understanding why he's so messed up, and Lan explaining the Warder bond and letting her know that could be him if Moraine dies. Then they could discuss how the emptiness and pain could be relieved if he bonds another Aes Sedai and how sometimes it's done forcibly by Greens to prevent the Warder from seeking their own death, which is inevitable if he doesn't rebond. Lan could have shared some of his background here and what he would like to happen with him if Moraine died, i.e. he'd want to go to the Blight to throw himself against the Dark One's teeth until he finds death, and Nynaeve could have shown the horror and pain she felt at the thought of Lan tossing his life away when she's starting to come to like and respect him. They could talk about bonding, rebonding, passing bonds, and breaking bonds and given an info dump that would have given their characters some setup for their eventual romance as well as been a learning opportunity for Nynaeve about how the power could be used to basically tie men to you and steal some of their agency. Lan could have then tried to convince Stepin to bond Alanna with the mention that she'd bonded Warders who lost their Aes Sedai before to save them from seeking death, knowing he wouldn't pick that bond himself from his previous conversation with Nynave, and it could have been a very short, brotherly scene. Later they could have checked on Stepin to find he'd chosen his own way out, with it very heavily implied that could happen to any Warder, but that it was an inevitable fate that they all shared if their Aes Sedai died before them.
Greens would not forcibly bond a warder against his will. Doing so is certainly possible but is against Tower Law. Bonding someone against his will is viewed as equivalent to rape. Bonding with a new Aes Sedai helps alleviate the suffering, but does not heal it completely. Some warders continue to be suicidal despite the new Aes Sedai's efforts. Some Aes Sedai are better than others and helping mourning warders. I was sure I remembered Elyas being a rare example of a warder who managed to overcome the madness triggered by his Aes Sedai's death on his own (or with the help of the wolves), but when I checked the wiki I found his Aes Sedai merely masked their bond and is in fact still alive.
As to how can Aes Sedai be captured by Whitecloaks: besides the oath to "never speak a word that is not true", they also swear not to use the power as a weapon, except against creatures of the Dark One, Darkfriends and in the extreme act of protecting their (or their warder's) life. This implies that an Aes Sedai that is not yet convinced of being in mortal danger, will not be able to use the Power until she has been clubbed unconscious or worse. Having said that, the only reason for an Aes Sedai to not use the Power while being tortured would be that to do so could undermine the notion that the Tower would not lightly resort to the Power for their own benefit and reduce the trust that several rulers have in them.. if this makes any sense, though, I cannot tell.
My theory is Valda has a device that can detect chandlers. Why they don’t reveal this is bizarre. If he can detect she can channel why does he need her to channel. As evidence? He has no witness? As far as the hand thing with channeling goes. I’m the books it is a crutch. Aes Sadai channel withbthere hands and if they can’t make hand motions they can’t channel. But they will meet others Ariel Wise ones who have not learned with this Crutch and don’t need to use their hands to channel. I think the show is trying to mention this and use it to end Valda later on.
This was the episode that confirmed for me that there was no redemption for this show. The mere fact that they're in Tar Valon this early in the series is beyond dumb. It's like Pippin arriving in Minas Tirith half way through The Fellowship of The Ring.
I kinda hope season 2 will be better. I didn't hate season 1 as much as most people did. The first book was too derivative of LOTR and I kinda wish they skipped most of it. Books 2-6 are where it's at and Sanderson's books.
Lan and Moiraine doesn't seem to be in romantic relationship in books (read 3 and the prequel so far) and yes, there is (very) slowly developing romantic relationship with Nynaeve, mostly initiated by her. Though I have to say, the book's relationships are kinda weird and mostly platonic - and all of the main teen protagonists are still virgins with at most passionate kissing and flirting :D
I'm really impressed by how well you manage to pinpoint problems that the changes show makes will cause without reading later books. I guess this is the skill that makes an editor different from just reader.
It's just about laser focusing on detail differences between the show and the book and asking yourself, "what is the possible magnitude of consequences from this change?" I feel like anyone with OCD (or a Cocain addiction) could probably do my job just as well, or better than me.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS My most face palming change(for the plot not lore) comes in the next episode. Curious if you can spot it as it concerns one of the muchlatter books.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Fortunately and unfortunately not. Your articulation and comprehension of what to change and why only happen if you can pull back from the OCD detail to improve or see ramifications of it. While many of us can feel something off or say it’s bad; the clarity for why and an option to improve is appreciated. Also many are too attached to the story and characters to see through our frustration and give up on explaining.
It would make sense for them to be smudging the Forsaken since they are evil and feared by most. He could be praying for protection against them. Speculation, none of this is in the books to my recollection
Love the prediction about future episodes, but I’ve come to realize this show is impossible to predict. If you think of the dumbest thing they can do, somehow they will do something dumber. It’s amazing… in that very terrible of ways.
The Whitecloaks cathing Perrin and Egwene. This is a bit of a roundabout way and I am not fully onboard with it myself, but..: Child Valda says in Ep that "I will remember your faces, if we ever meet again". He is also very Spanish Inquisition where if something happens, be it good or bad, it must be God's (the Light's) divine will. So him suddenly seeing the same kids must mean something or the Light would not have made them cross paths again. In Ep2 Moiraine also comments in how they cannot heal themselves that they mostly (always?) travels in pairs. So I'm guessing Child Valda assumes that Egwene is either an Aes Sedai who travelled with Moiraine, or at least an Aes Sedai in training. Even though it would be a good idea to read up on the Enemy (the Aes Sedai and their Warders) I think he's just not that well informed about how that stuff works. So, he met them once and now Fate has put them in his way a second time. That must mean something and since he's the Questioner that means he must Question them. I believe this is a reference back to Spanish Inquisition and also the Witch trials. Better safe than sorry, it's bad to let evil walk free in the world. Better kill them.
You are putting way to much thought into it. Valda is evil, plain and simple. Yes it refers to the witch trials, he doesn't really care if she's an Aes Sedai or not, he just wants to torture them.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS though [S1, and light book series SPOILERS] it's Ewgene who resurrects Nynaeve and not the other way around. Which makes even LESS sense for people who read the books and besides being a huge f you and making the stakes completely vanish every time people in future seasons do anything dangerous with the One Power, takes away Nynaeve's _one damn thing_ she's an absolute genius at. The one thing everyone goes to Nynaeve for troughout the entire series, where she's absolutely the best at, and they just make it Ewgene's thing for no reason, especially because she _also_ has her own thing she's the best at troughout the books, not to mention it spoils things from 3, 4 books down the line, big, world-shattering events that shape the entire plot of the last few books. (You'll see it in moraine's 'arc' at the last episode too, if you read the series, for an extra twist of the nife in your gut). It's nonsensical and dumb, and ruins the great balance of how the power works in the book and the genius applications of the power in later books. All gone. All for cheap drama, and all because the "writers" think their brainstorming sessions more important then the lifetime of work Robert Jordan put into the series.
Everything in the inn is stupid. Rand's mention of the book is only there because the writers don't want to explore his background yet. In the book, he changes the subject when Loial starts talking about Aiel stuff, because Tam's fevered ramblings have him worried about his backstory. Meanwhile, we also have the word that Egwene does not like stories of adventure or long journeys. Though at one point they mention that Egwene has read the travels of Jain Farstrider, she herself doesn't think about the book at all, and misses references other characters make to it. If she's read it, she's clearly only a casual fan. What makes it more stupid, is that there is no reason for Loial to be in the inn. There is no reason for Rand and Mat either, because the show has done nothing to justify the decision to stop at a place they think is expensive, rather than going into the Tower. But for Loial, if he can hang at the Tower, why does he fart around in the vastly inferior library of a an inn? In the books it made sense for them to stay at the inn, even though they contemplated going to the Palace to seek the help of the Aes Sedai there. The innkeeper gave them reasons not to go to Elaida, and they still needed a place to stay while waiting for Moiraine & co. For Loial, it makes sense to avoid a Red sister, as the Reds blame the Ogier for making the Breaking worse. But neither of these things apply in the show, where the inn is in Tar Valon. Either they should be going to the Tower directly, or they never should have come to the city in the first place.
So according to Brandon Sanderson (the man who was handpicked by Robert and Harriet to finish the series and also the best-selling fantasy author on the planet) he was never contacted by Amazon for consultation like what was previously discussed and he left it at that because he's a nice guy. That's an insanely telling statement about the series. Like you don't want THE premier Robert Jordan scholar having a hand in how things need to be portrayed or whether or not the Character changes effect THE ENTIRETY OF THE STORY? This series saved my life as teenager when I was in a really bad place mentally. It literally saved my life and Amazon and Rafe Judkins the showrunner just took a massive dump on it and said "The story you know and love sucks and this is what WE think it should be." I literally almost cancelled my Prime account out of pure disdain for what they've done to the second most beloved fantasy series outside of Lord of the Rings. Don't EVEN get me started on the "Rings of Power" because that show is utter trash lol. The Wheel of Time had a bigger budget than the Lord of the Rings and this was the best they can do? And it no longer resembles any of the core elements that made the books so endearing and very loved. It's now a show about men being big dumb idiots and all of the women are suddenly girl bosses right out of the gate and that they know everything and men know nothing. That theme is everywhere in the show and that's a very dangerous message to be conveying considering the story is actually one of unification and coming together to work together to stop the Dark one. Just know that no one asked for this show to be made like this with ALL these changes that twist and contort Jordan's vision until it's really unrecognizable. Sad really because it could've been wonderful instead of trash. And yes Rafe Judkins has stated publicly that he is a feminist jacked on steroids and that the show is still NOT feminist enough which means it will only get worse.
The only episodes where Brandon got the results of the screenplays after-the-fact were the latter episodes of Season 1. That was due to the pandemic. The episodes before that he would get the drafts and provide feedback back to the showrunner.
They did the same thing with the rings of power. The specialist on Tolkien lost his job a day after being hired because he was telling the writers that they were going in a bad direction and they were changing the characters too much
I literally did cancel my Prime account, and I told them why. This series is wonderful and means a lot to a lot of people. The show was genuinely offensive.
I've recently come across your videos and I'm absolutely loving them. Your thoughts on this are pretty much how most of us feel. This tell instead of show thing is incredibly prevalent in a lot of current shows. Rings of Power is riddled with it. It's as though the writers are all inexperienced and have no person of experience or authority overseeing them.
Wow. I missed the bit about the Tinker dogs killing things. That's flat-out contradictory to the books where the dogs bark really loudly ... but have been trained to be wimpy pushovers. And I loathed the whole Whitecloak stuff because, once again, they take away a super important event in one of the boys' lives and give it to one of the girls. Perrin's killing of the two Whitecloaks is integral to his character and continues on well into the later books. And the worse thing: this won't be the last time they take something that one of the boys is supposed to do and let Egwene or Nynaeve do it instead. I'm also amused that your "this is how I would fix this scene" with Rand & Mat & the inn is basically "FOLLOW THE STINKING BOOK!" :P
I keep saying that they took away Perrin's killings, because in the book he knows that he did the wrong thing, is haunted by it and perfectly ready for a comeuppance. But they inverted whole situation so much, that killing these smug villains can be seen only as right thing. So now he is haunted by chopping up his own wife.
Sad they spent 2 episodes cutting out Elayne, gawain, galad, Elias, and the real Thom. To again push the last 2 and a half episodes for stories that occurred as a throwaway mention in the 5th book.
For me, being on the book 5, all there is to Nynaeve/lan romance is her thinking about him. Like how stupid, stubborn, woolheaded he is and how she can't wait to boss him around, oh and show him some dresses on her. I don't get how it's love? No respect, no admiration, nothing but criticism.
Book Nynevev is mentally trying to talk herself out of falling in love with him. Much of her dialog in the books is about her fighting with herself about her own feelings.
@@arleenm7367Oh, that's a great idea, I'm really trying to be openeminded toward Nynaeve, but it's hard for me. I don't get these generalization about men, and how they must be kept in their place and so on. I will keep in mind your perspective.
@@opodobed it's understandable why you don't like her - she is terribly obnoxious at times. She also does some good things (as a healer) later in the books. Plus she really really wants to protect her (Emonds Field) people.
I think what RJ was trying to convey is that she's probably in denial. I probably should know better by now having read the series 7 or 8 times. Try not to get hung up on the fact RJ just doesn't write romance and women (with certain exceptions) very well, so try not to dislike Nynaeve too much, she may just be your favorite character by the end of the series.
@@iamthewaIrus yeah, I can see it. It's like the same obnoxious arrogant woman everywhere 😞 and when he tried to depict a nicer woman he ended up with... Lanfear 😆 he was the first and only sweet talker and it was so on the nose
When an Aes Sedai dies, her warder enters a deep depression and loses all will to live. They will often go on suicide missions seeking revenge, but not always. Revenge is basically the only thing that can motivate a mourning warder enough to do the basic things like eating that he would need to stay alive, but if the warder does not think revenge is possible he might instead go almost catatonic until he starves. Some warders managed to get over their grief enough to live functional lives. Elyas Machera was a former warder who went crazy after his Aes Sedai's death, before discovering that he was a Wolfbrother. The wolves helped him get over his grief and find the will to live for himself. He was an extremely rare exception. Most warders who got over their Aes Sedai's death did so by being bonded to a new Aes Sedai. Myrelle Berengari of the Green Ajah has a good track record of rescuing warders in that way. Even bonding such an Aes Sedai however is not guaranteed to work. An Aes Sedai can unilaterally dissolve the warder bond at any time. They tend to do so if they have enough warning before their deaths. An Aes Sedai can also choose to pass their bond on to another Aes Sedai of her choice. They can even create a weave that will automatically trigger to pass on the bond at the time of their death. This very rarely happens though. It is even more rare for it to happen against the warder's will. The magic of the Bond does not require an Aes Sedai to get the consent of her intended Warder, but Tower Law does. Bonding a man against his will is seen as tantamount to rape. Any Aes Sedai can in theory bond as many warders as she wants, but the red Ajah has an internal rule forbidding warders and the other Ajahs except for the green have rules limiting Aes Sedai to only one at a time. Only about half of the Aes Sedai have warders even if they are allowed. Those in the White and Brown Ajahs, or those who rarely leave the safety of the White Tower, tend not to see much point. Aes Sedai rarely marry, but when they do they usually wed a warder. Most of the green sisters who do not have multiple warders are married to their warder. Some blue and brown sisters are also known to have married their warder. Most of the Red sisters are either lesbians or asexual. There are some who would like to marry and who would like warders, but they are a small minority who keep those views secret as they would make them rather unpopular within their ajah. Morraine is bisexual. Her most important romantic relationship in her life at this point was with the girl who would go on to become the current Amerlyn seat. Both she and the Amerlyn will however eventually marry men.
I know I made a similar comment on yours and Randy’s channel, but do you ever feel that with this show they filmed a large number of random scenes with dialogue exchanges without knowing what way they wanted the story to go, then they spliced things together in the editing room like a choose your own adventure book? If so, then from the start they had NO shared vision around the show. What happened to the days when a group of writers who knew the source material adapted a script, ran it by the studio who then hired a director who had at least partial knowledge of the story but also trust in the screenplay writers’ abilities to tell a story.
I think Rafe has knowledge of the material. He just believes he's a better writer than Jordan, so he's fixing it for his vision. I hate the minimalization of Tom. There was no reason not to have him in the village. He was the person to set up the distrust of the Aes Sedai that this story really needs
If you really want to twitch, check out the scene that shows Rand/Mat, Tar Valon and Dragonmount. Then check out the map and try to guess how everything lines up. Some of how much this show screws up the books is like a punch in the face. But most are like death by a thousand cuts. Also, if you ever ask yourself "Is this how it work?" The answer is no. That is not how it's supposed to work.
I think one of Jordan's flaws as a writer, was that the women were supposed to come off as heavily flawed, showing how living under a Matriarchy is just as bad as a Patriarchy, but he did it too well; a lot of people, myself included, don't like the women in this series much. So many times I was so irritated by women saying "Men only think with their muscles or their hearts." But that's sexism for you, it's supposed to annoy you. With Nynaeve, it's the best example of what I mean. It's so easy to piss her off, and she's so convinced that everything she's doing is right, that it makes me hate her at points. Hell, she mouths off to the Amerylin Seat early in book 2, and what's worse, she get's let off easy because she's so powerful and the Aes Sedai need her. So I get even more irritated, because it comes across as justifying her shitty attitude. I hate that they made the Whitecloaks cartoonishly evil in the show. Byar and Bornhald's interrogation with Egwene and Perrin in the book was great, because it showed that A) not everyone who is evil is automatically a Darkfriend and B) even an extremist organization can have relatively rational, sympathetic and good people in them.
I love Bornhald. He is committed to his world view. He doesn't see himself as evil or cruel but doing the hard thing to protect the world. He's not needlessly cruel. He sees the witches as evil. As using power that shouldn't be touched. And Child Byar has an interesting character arc. He makes a great villain because you can almost get behind him.
I really love how she says I think that the Princess is important to Rand's story.......She gets this from just a few pages and Rafe and Amazon totally ignore this and cut it from the show. As a fan of the books it is a relief to here someone be so frustrated with the show that is not a previous book fan. This show is just so poorly written that you can not trust the idea that all the changes will have "pay offs" in future episodes. From a book fan perspective I appreciate The Sword and the Pen not trying to make excuses for the bad writing. That is what I feel many podcasts that are reviewing/promoting the show are doing. Be honest and don't call this The Wheel of Time. If they just want to say that this is different spinning of the Wheel using the same or similar characters then why doesn't the show take any time at all to explain what the "Wheel" of time is ... how it works ... What a Taveren is and how they manipulate the Weaves within the Wheel? This is just a very poorly adapted, but supposedly very expensive, show that is doomed to fail if they do not changed the writing staff and show runner.
Thank you! 😊 But don't get your hopes up on changing the staff. I heard that they started filming S2 before S1 even got released. And they've already gotten the green light for S3... 🤦♀️
Rand meeting Elayne (the princess) is incredibly significant, the entire family become part of the weave. And he is also almost kept by the Queens counselor Elaida, a Red Aes Sedai, who also plays a massive role in the weave.
It's gonna be weird when they meet in the future and were already supposed to have met long ago... ugh... I don't understand how these people got their jobs writing and producing this show.
Regarding Logain and the laughter, he has been gentled, unlike in the books, so he would not have any preternatural senses that would tell him to laugh at Mat or Rand. Also, Rand could not know the mountain from his previous life. According to the prologue, Lews Therin destroyed himself and the mountain arose in the aftermath. Lews Therin never laid eyes on Dragonmount.
I'd love to see you analyze something that was great, like The Queen's Gambit or Chernobyl, to give yourself a break from the frustration and for us to learn about what makes them so effective.
14:08 You hit the head on the nail. "I see things being broken." This is the quintessential concise of every true book fan. We understand they cant make every little scene from the book, but Bless God make the ones you do accurate! What I hate the most is that the changes do NOT improve anything, they are just changes for the sake of change. 1 Perin's total character change, why add a wife that does not exist, where is his AXE?!?! (It would have been 10,000% more impactful to have him kill Master Luhon his mentor) 2 Additional content that has nothing to do with the story, and does not move it forward. 3 Randomly add people into a scene that were not in the book scene. (Its like they check a box, yep got that scene. Man thise book fans will be appeased)
There is honestly something truly wonderful about your brutal dissection of this show. I now force myself to watch each episode before you rip it apart… guess this means 2 people will watch the show😂 thank you so much for doing this
Really enjoying your commentary. I think one of the problems with the warders is that the warders are a warrior class and they accept death as a consquence if their profession. They would gladly die if their Aes Sedai lived. Which makes Lan and Steppin both acting uncharacteristically. 'Duty heavier than a mountain. Death lighter than a feather'
Aes Sedai and Warders can sense the presence of twisted creatures like trollocs and the eyeless, but the One Power is an active ability, not reactive, so the White Cloaks can pincushion them with arrows before the Aes Sedai knows the White Cloaks are there. A blow to the head also makes it difficult to channel the One Power, so a rock is all the White Cloaks really need to bring an Aes Sedai down. First, they have to identify them, but there's always people willing to sell out the Aes Sedai for 30 pieces of silver, especially since a lot are convinced that all the Aes Sedai are evil and responsible for The Breaking.
And that active ability plus the three oaths makes for why so many Aes Sedai keep warders even if it is such an old custom - the ability to have someone not constrained by the three oaths to defend them. I think in the books it explains that the Whitecloaks hadn't captured or killed a live Aes Sedai in nearly a millennium, and that the last Aes Sedai they had burned at the stake was already dead and her corpse recovered from a battlefield.
During the scene with Logain laughing up at the boys while in the cage, the camera focuses on Matt for a few reasons: 1) For the cheap attempt at mystery for sure. 2) Matt is experiencing madness induced by the dagger as he slowly loses control and to hear the laughter of madness he feels it internally and it pains him much more then Rand to hear it. 3) Logain is laughing in euphoric despair at realizing that he isn't the Dragon but that this boy up on the balcony has such incredible strength with Saidin that the boy must be. No doubt he'd be able to feel Rand's strength that close.
Logain was seeing how strong of a ta'veren Rand was, and started laughing at the fact that he was in a cage while a man who would shake the world was out in the crowd unnoticed.
"It's so hard to care." This phrase perfectly encapsulates this show: I never cared about anyone or anything that happens in this show.
Pretty much!
It's sad. 🙁
Agree 100%.They had the potential to do so much and we ended up with this... travesty. It's the Wheel of Time in name only.
The show doesn't give the viewers any reason(s) to care about the characters.
When it does, it also gives you reasons to actively DISlike the characters... like turning Mat into a thief, and Perrin fridging his wife.
It even takes away 2 of Nynaeve's best early scenes... where she comforts Rand after he learns he was adopted, and tells us how she healed Egwene's fever.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS BTW... I loved your predictions at the end, for the last episode... so I'm looking forward to your review of the last episode.
Also, I told you in an earlier comment that I was really looking forward to your review of Ep5... (which I *did* enjoy) but I was off on that... I really meant your review of Ep6... because something happens that I consider to be outrageous, egregious... and I *think* it's going to send you off an epic rant...
I've got a nickname for that scene.
After you watch it, if you want, ask me what it is and I'll tell you... but it's... well, I think it's much too appropriate... "spoilery"... before then.
I am not bothering to watch this show ever again. Meanwhile your summary is the perfect thesis on why this show keeps failing to match the briliance of the book.
I hope people get some enjoyment out of them. With every next episode, I find myself going from confused and frustrated to slap happy.
The show isn’t that bad, at least compared to Rings of Power. However, these episode reviews are phenomenal. You should give classes on scripting UA-cam review videos because most are pretty dull and for this show, focused on superficial issues like how many ethnicities are represented instead of the bigger issues with plot and pacing. I love all the detailed dissections of scenes. I literally laughed out loud a few times. Keep it up!
@@jawinter1818 It is that bad. Being less stupid than Ring of Power is not an excuse.
I'm with you. I'm not going to let Amazon catch me watching and mistake me for a fan of the show 😂
But I'll happily watch quality reaction videos.
@@jawinter1818 while Rings of Power was bad, at had a good excuse: they had the rights to use anything in the LotR trilogy, including appendices, but not the rights to use the Silmarlion, which was the book that came closest to covering this period of Middle Earth's History (Silmarlion focused mainly on the first age, not second, but still main source on 2A) so while they could use something if it was mentioned in an appendix, for the most part they had to make things up whole cloth. I'd argue the better choice if they couldn't get rights to the Silmarlion would have been not to do the project, but assuming they wanted to move forward, they really couldn't have done a good job.
Wheel of Time, on the other hand, was done with full rights, access to RJ's widow and primary editor, and Brandon Sanderson's (mostly ignored) input.
So while both projects are bad takes on their respective properties, WoT had every advantage in production, while LotR RoP had every disadvantage.
I honestly wish they'd done a 1st age LotR show, the fight for the Silmarils, the war with Morgoth, the fall on Gondolin... Tons of good material to work with, but that _really_ would have required the Silmarlion rights.
When the central theme and essential concepts of the book are changed beyond recognition, it tends to have horrible plot-repercussions.
Yep, the entire premise of the series was fatally marred right at Moiraine's opening monologue in t the first minute and a half of E1.
@@nathanmorgan3647 I'm still giggling from the fact that one of the first scenes of the show is the moiraine putting pants on. That's how you introduce the world.
I don't understand why someone thought that a wildly successful book story needed to be totally changed for it's adaptation..... ???????!!!!!!!!!
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS In essence, it's done out of greed and pride. Greed because they want it to be theirs alone, and pride because they think they can do just as good if not better by changing something that's popular. I doubt Rafe wants the audience to think about Jordan when they see this show, he wants them to think about Rafe.
Then there is the golden rule of Hollywood, adapted for modern audience.
The show runner told he wanted to make the story "more feminist".
Their concern was not telling a good story, it was pushing the "right" political message.
And when good storytelling is not the main goal, that shows.
“There is one rule, above all others, for being a man. Whatever comes, face it on your feet.” - Lan Mandragoran
Based advice
There was an interview where Daniel Henry said he felt Lan mentality is toxic,and so he changed it. Basically that’s the equivalent of kit Harrington saying, “I don’t like Jon Snow being straight, so I’m going to make him gay. The actor is portraying the character, not the other way around. By the way I know kit Harrington isn’t gay, that was just an analogy
Rafe Judkins considers WOT to have been a "feminist manifesto" and that it is "no longer feminist enough". His words. No way would he allow this stoic, masculine version of Lan to exist.
Also Daniel Henny blew it - Lan is the way he is for a reason. He is surviving heir of a dead kingdom. Of course he is going to be like this. It's the only way he can continue on. Changing his character / demeanor negates who he is and his entire past. I hate this show so much.
@@D3G4355 He did?! 🤦♀️
@@D3G4355 Of course Lan has some masculine traits that some ppl would call toxic, as he's basically meant to be the hardened warrior to an extreme, to be admired by male readers while also telling the cautious tale of what dangers lies in that, and the second part can't be done without the first.
That's why Nyneave is so important to his character arc.
Episode 5, the one where the warder considered if he could get with other warders and in the end decided....no. This episode really didn't send the message I think they expected.
I just finished watching your review of this episode. You are so right 😅🤣 There's no supervisor in the writing room. I'm convinced.
(BTW, you asked for my DM contact info and I tried to send it to you [my email in the description], but sometimes YT sends replies with emails to the revjew folder).
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Just wanted to let you know that Lan'ss actor, said he spoke to production about incorporating a ritual from his culture which is on his mom's side is Korean. I like watching your videos because you break down so many technical issues that make sense I think binging the show it has a different momentum
Forced homosexuality is just a terrible look to begin with and then to have the dude kill himself after disclosing that he's going to have to start learning to sleep with men is a really messed up message to send as a show. Like the showrunner should've been fired for that alone outside of the already numerous offenses he's committed with his "show".
@thanos619 I could chalk it up to "it feels like oversight from a rookie writer/showrunner". But then that begs the question.... why is an amateur in charge of this show?!
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Rafe isn't an amateur which is what makes it much worse. Like there's no excuse for that crap to not hit the cutting room floor. Like didn't someone just stand up and go "Aren't we worried about alienating the LGBTQ+ community by insinuating forced homosexuality?"
Jain Farstrider is absolutely a guy in the books. Rand and Matt were both huge fans of the Travels of Jain Farstrider so they're referenced throughout the books.
Haha well its hard to imagine Mat curling up with a good book but I'm sure he maybe read it once and heard the stories a ton.
Jain Farstrider is my nicca
@@rgoodwyneh, they were adventure stories. Everyone has days they're stuck in the house due to weather or being grounded (which I'd imagine happened to Mat a lot). If you can't run around getting into trouble, reading about someone else doing so is the next best thing.
@@velinion1 true, if Mat were to read it would be something like that lol.
Spoilers:
The way they spoke about the book early on I expected him to be from a much earlier period in history. Pretty impressive how quickly his legends spread. I always wondered who wrote the book since it really seems like he wouldn't have written it himself.
I'm going through the books again and am into "The Dragon Reborn" - it was actually Rand and Perrin who are fans. In the Caemlyn chapter when Mat is in the Queen's Blessing's library, he sees the book and reflects that he always meant to read it because Perrin and Rand were always telling him about it.
And man, it's been a while ... I'd forgotten how much I love these books...
"Nyneave seems like a super villian"
Truer words have never been said, She really is one
@@Hangry_Sasquatch yessss
@@Hangry_SasquatchI really struggle to find any woman in the series I like, I'm on book 5 now. Maybe Elaine, Moraine? Egianean, I really liked her I guess.
well there was Rand's mother.. she was just trying to escape from a bad written fight scene @@Hangry_Sasquatch
@@opodobed Min in the books is great! show....not really, but we'll see.
@@opodobed exactly. People believe Nynaeve is likeable. No she's not. She's a terrible character in the book. The show does her justice.
I love your reviews 🤣. Thank you. Blues are said to be “married” to their cause. Moiraine and Lan are both completely dedicated to finding The Dragon and fighting the shadow. Moiraine does begin to worry about Lan’s growing affection for Nyneave, but it is because she is worried his dedication to their cause might be weakening. They do not have a sexual relationship. In fact, most bonds between the Aes Sedai and Warder are not sexual. Greens are really the only ones that cross that line, but there are no hard rules, just tradition. Greens will sometimes marry a warder, but all of the bonds are very close. The show definitely sexualizes more of the books’ characters’ relationships.The show adds relationships that do not exist in the books.
Elayne(the princess) is very important to Rand.
The Aes Sedai would never have allowed The White Cloaks to run around killing sisters in their territory!
The frustrating part is there are answers to all these questions about what the warder bond is or how it works, the show creates an entire character and storyline seeming to explore the warder bond yet none of it is explored, no questions answered
Their priotities are backwards.
True, but to be fair Jordan was still adding/ revising how the bond can work 6 books or more into the series lol. We don't get definitive answers for a looooong time.
@@rgoodwyn yes that’s true but if you are going to waste everyone’s time with a warder centric story made up from whole cloth then you kinda have to delve into it, yet they don’t, it’s a story line that seems to be from a later book (minor spoiler) it isn’t, in the same way when they make up a bunch of stuff about aes sedai that didn’t happen forces them to explain things like the amerlyn seat, the hall of the tower, more about the ajahs etc
@@williams456 I feel like they explained how some Aes Sedai are romantically involved with their warders and some are not. They showed how warders sort of lose it when their Aes Sedai die. They introduce the idea of a Warder bonding another to ease the pain of losing his initial Aes Sedai. We also get a glimpse of how Warders view Aes Sedai ( I totally don't agree with it, especially in the books) in their very biased and subjective way.
Without going into too much spoilers these are all important elements to introduce to the audience. The show has many many issues but I feel like this was a decent intro to the extremely complicated issue of Warder bonding.
From what I gather, based on interviews with Rafe (the show runner and lead writer for several episodes), he very much prefers the Aes Sedai political intrigue plotlines to the main plotline of Rand trying to prepare the world for the last battle, and has said he prefers to think of Moiraine and, in later books Egwene, as the true protagonists of the story. Hence the significant time spent in the show setting up all that at the expense of the books' main plot.
In the book Rand actually channeled before during the night they left, Its subtle but when they are riding long into the night and he's concerned that Bela wont be able to keep up, he's unknowingly channeled giving Bela more strength which moraine notices. Also when Moranine tells Nynaeve the after effects of channelings it lines up with how rand acted in beralon.
Yes, it’s very easy to miss on a first read. Same with the second incident (the boom on the Spray that side-swipes the Trolloc, followed by Rand’s acrobatics on the rigging a few days later). Details like this make the series so enjoyable to re-read.
That is not channeling. That is His Ta'averen power. Rand has the power to imbue life force (he uses it a lot later in the series), Perrin has the Dreamer stuff and Matt well Mat has his broken bend the universe powers. Explicitly in the third book Morraine explains that the one power cannot restore life force or imbue it (that is why after being healed someone get super hungry and sleepy)
@@tiagostein4057 No, it’s well-established that Rand’s 3 first channeling incidents are (1) wiping fatigue from Bela, (2) the boom on the Spray, and (3) the Howal Gode lightning bolt. He experiences reactions to touching the Source all 3 times, and they steadily occur closer to the time he uses it. So (A) about a week later in Baerlon (when he giddily confronts Dain Bornhald), (B) a few days later when he’s up in the Spray’s main mast, and (C) when he has the final reaction and the fever sickness in The Queen’s Man in Market Sheran.
@@bookcloaks Robert Jordan NEVER stated that openly.. he said literally MAYBE. Also Morraine clearly states that the one power CANNOT DO THAT... not without Rand Ta'avern powers.
If you look at the extras for episode 1, you'll not there was a scene cut from the end of the episode that has concept art, and probably would've included this event...but the first episode was hacked to bits by amazon execs.
Notably, in that escape from the White Cloaks scene in the books, before Nynaeve returns we get an exchange between Moiraine and Lan where she has to stop him from running off to look for her. It's an indication of his feelings for her. From Chapter 38, Rescue:
> A shadow stirred, and Moiraine’s voice came, weighted with irritation. “Nynaeve has not returned. I fear that young woman has done something foolish.” Lan spun on his heel as if to return the way they had come, but a single whip-crack word from Moiraine halted him. “No!” He stood looking at her sideways, only his face and hands truly visible, and they but dimly shadowed blurs. She went on in a gentler tone; gentler but no less firm. “Some things are more important than others. You know that.” The Warder did not move, and her voice hardened again. “Remember your oaths, al’Lan Mandragoran, Lord of the Seven Towers! What of the oath of a Diademed Battle Lord of the Malkieri?”
And a few lines later:
> "She slid down off Bela, but as she started toward the Emond’s Fielders Lan caught her arm and she stopped short, staring up at him.
> “We must go, Lan,” Moiraine said, once more sounding unruffled, and the Warder released his grip.
> Nynaeve rubbed her arm as she hurried to hug Egwene, but Perrin thought he heard her give a low laugh, too. It puzzled him because he did not think it had anything to do with her happiness at seeing them again.
Man, a few lines of the book was better than that whole episode…
I remember this.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Another good one that's "blink and you'll miss it" is Nynaeve's concern for Lan (and the fact that Moiraine knows how she feels about him) when he's out scouting in Shadar Logoth. Chapter 19:
> “He has been gone a long time.” Nynaeve looked worriedly at the night outside. Full dark had fallen, as black as pitch.
> “Lan will be well,” Moiraine said soothingly, and spread her blankets beside the fire while she spoke. “He, was pledged to fight the Dark One before he left the cradle, a sword placed in his infant hands. Besides, I would know the minute of his death and the way of it, just as he would know mine. Rest, Nynaeve. All will be well.” But as she was rolling herself into her blankets, she paused, staring at the street as if she, too, would have liked to know what kept the Warder.
@@johanjarvinen damn i love Lan. Tai'shar Malkier!
Your Care Bear Stare comment totally broke me! I was laughing for an hour about how perfectly that describes the way of the Leaf!
The Wheel of Time story is like a web intricately woven into a history and Rafe is the anti ta'veren casually walking through the webs ripping them apart like a six year old through a writing spider's wondrous creation.
Show is like a untalented fanfic, retelling the story without even comprehending its intricacies and meanings.
@@TheNightrider88 Naw dude, a fanfic implies that the writer is actually a fan.
This show is deliberate subversion and inversion to marr and remake RJ's core message and change it into the image of alphabet ideology.
That's what "updating for a modern audience" means when they say it.
@@nathanmorgan3647 Doesn't mean that they aren't stupid enough to not be able comprehend messages and ideas they are inverting. ) Like, in the endgame Rand is basically solving a theodicy problem. I don't think that writers even know this word.
Rafe is the shadow touching the pattern again
So he's Balefire?
There are so many times you start a sentence with “it would’ve been so much better…” and my brain just completes it as “…if they stuck closer to the source material”
This is true in almost every case so far. 🤦🏻♀️ I was so glad they were gonna show Lan and Nynaeve's romance more openly, but that totally backfired, when it became apparent that the writers didn't know how to write romance... or logic. Lol.
Steppen ending himself shortly after finding out that he *has* to have relations with other warders was so unintentionally hilarious...
I thought that said Stepper at first.
That's open to interpretation. I felt he killed his self over loss of A Sidai..not because of the warders.
@@ritashaw5812
I know he didn't kill himself because of the warders. I was just saying that the way they portrayed the situation made it appear as though that could've been the reason.
Other question: Would you consider just making a video about the book, maybe a review, maybe just what stood out to you, but I'd really love you talking about mainly the book and your thoughts about it.
I second this!
I thought exactly the same. I know it wrecks our hostesses idea for the channel but the TV series is not worth the time of anyone with the slightest interest in the actual story rather than this Woke vomit spout.
Would be great. I’d probably be more interested in her review of Red vs Blue. Chupathingy…
No, you read it right - Jain is a bloke, pronounced Jah-een. Also I agree, I loved the guy playing Loials performance. I just felt bad for him with that ridiculous rug they put on his head
I love your cold open for this, it's sooo funny. Thanks, I chuckled a lot!
I like to believe every scene in the White Tower took place in Steppin's bedroom. They just changed furniture around to pretend it was a different room.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 yes!!!! Lol
Stepin’s funeral definitely takes place in his bedroom. The sword display (with 1 missing, that he used to kill himself) is still on the mantle.
After working on movies and tv series for a while, I can 100% confirm that this happens all of the time.
@@dandyjohnsonthe goal is just to usually make it less noticeable, but it does make some sense if all the rooms are the same layout. I didn't notice it too much for the rooms, but the tar valon v shadar Logoth streets seemed a bit too noticeable.
@@fudgyvmp3961 I agree. It was a very poor job of set dec, I worked on a CW show once that did a better job.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 That intro was phenomenal! I love your episode analysis, particularly since your critiques hit a lot of the issues i have with the show as well.
Yay! Thank you 😋 I added that intro as a last second thought before uploading.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS It was such a great last second thought XD. You did such a good job poking fun at such straaaaange scenes.
Part of the problems with Stepin and his story is that all of his story is new. His book presence is pretty much a single line in the prequel book, New Spring. They said they had to cut so much from the books then go and make up so much new material. It's baffling.
Also, please do more intros like this one. Absolutely hilarious.
I wanted to make a point after you said it, Rand mentioning that he had seen the mountain makes no sense at all. In his previous life, it was him channeling himself to death which created the mountain, so he died and never would have seen it. In his current life, he had literally just been born and would have no possible way to remember the mountain.
Hahaha! Yeah. I had a few commenters point this out. It's so weird.
You are correct. They have over powered Nyneave and made her dumb as a brick.
🤣🤣🤣
If you'll try to reimagine original Nynaeve as... Star Wars character, you will end up with young, but already respected healer from backwater planet. If you'll do the same with the Show!Nynaeve, you will end up with carbon copy of Rey Skypatine.
In the book she is dumb as a brick though. Nyneave is portrayed perfectly in the show. Possibly the most annoying character in literacy history.
My biggest problem with the warder/funeral is how much time it takes up. Time is already ultra condensed in an adaption and they spent far too much of it on additions to the story. The books have more than enough content.
For me, the funeral scene irked me a lot because it just seemed so out of character for Lan. Now I'm only on book 4, but so far Lan has only ever been the stoic and silent, and wouldn't be the type of guy to scream and cry in grief. He'd keep it tucked in, for better or worse. At the very least not crying in front of dozens of others. Maybe this is a scene lifted from later, but for book 4 rn it seems strange. Maybe others who have finished the story could tell me if this ever happens or not lmao
Technically spoilers but..
No, it never happens. Dude is supposed to be granite.
@@dudeguy8686 yeah I asked for it thanks lol
Vera's funeral
It should have been the other way around. Moiraine also is not a cryer, but her crying and Lan being stoic in the face, but with a stiffness, that it is visible, that he can feel her pain too would have been far more in character for both of them.
@@HessalamWoT
I don't know - Moiraine doesn't go in for the whole Eternal Stoicism thing, but she's ice cold. The only emotions she shows is a bit of enjoyment, and whenever Rand manages to stubborn her into a temporary fury.
29:55 This really highlights the show's writing, doesn't it? It appears to be penned by individuals who either lack an understanding of men or haven't had real men in their vicinity. It certainly raises questions about the show's overall direction.
Well it's written by a bunch of angry feminists and run by an arrogant gay dude, all of whom are DEI hires. with no real experience beyond being a losing contestant on Survivor. Of course they don't know anything about real men or masculinity.
But neo feminist men in touch with their feeling would say it out loud! 😂
Stephen and the Warders have been reduced to “sad boys”. The campfire scene in the previous episode was a joke. Warders are not “tired” and as you read on you will discover traits about the warders in the books that make the show Warders appear a shadow of their original selves. A lot of people praise the mourning ritual, but that still undermines the Warders’ ideals/beliefs. “Embrace death!”
The tuatha’an are passive aggressive as hell. Illa silences Reign with a glance like “how dare you speak, know your place”, (might have been in last episode) and then they stand up to the white cloaks like protestors. Which is probably why they didn’t use the book quote about the axe harms the tree but the tree also dulls the axe with each blow. Which is why they run from violence because they don’t want to harm the one that’s doing it as well. So standing up to the white cloaks is ridiculous.
The show really feels it’s being clever by what they think is distracting the audience as to who could be the dragon reborn.
Egwene isn’t actually supposed to be tough as nails “like Nyneave “, she’s the diplomat which is why she reasons with the white cloaks in the books.
Mainly agree with you but isn't the embrace death ideal more of a borderlands belief than warder-specific? Other than being swordmasters in order to be chosen and agreeing to whatever the aes sedai who bonds them sets as personal conditions for their relationship I don't recall there being much at all in the form of shared ideals between warders, a browns warder could basically live his whole life as essentially a glorified librarians assistant never leaving Tar Valon for instance, yeah they are all magically enhanced badasses but their ideals and goals aside from defending the aes sedai sisters will vary as wildly as the sisters themselves goals do.
@@rustyshackleford1062 although it isn't specifically stated, there is heavy implication that warders have a similar attitude. it's a "dedicate your life and death to fighting the Shadow" kind of thing. boderlanders do it fighting the Blight and trolloc raids, warders do it by serving their Aes Sedai. Dai Shan is portrayed as the perfect warder, in part, because of his Sheinar upbringing. then on top of that, he is Lord of the Seven Towers, Lord of the Lakes, True Blade of Malkier, Defender of the Wall of First Fires, Bearer of the Sword of the Thousand Lakes, known to the Aiel as Aan'allein (a man who is an entire people). Lan IS the Golden Crane, and he DOES NOT CRY.
Well later in the series she become tough... much tougher than anyone in fact. But at this state she is still... just a girl.
Yes, and that burial is actually a Shienaran tradition (what they call the Last embrace of the mother), when Rand and the others saw it in the books they thought it was weird. In other places, they cremate/ funeral piers.
Regarding Illa and the rest, they are buffing up the female characters and sidelining the male. Look at Reign, Bran Al'Vere, Lan, Lord Agelmar, etc. From mayor & Innkeeper to always standing behind his wife with a meek voice (One of the only men in the books Nynaeve had praise for).
Lord Agelmar from Great Captain to a prideful idiot who needs his sister to tell him about commanding armies when he was the one in the books who begged for Moiraine's help (And disrespectful to an Aes Sedai, a borderlander?). Reign went from being the leader/seeker to being shut up by a slight gesture like a Seanchan Da'covale.
As for the warder depression, I would not categorize it as depression, more like suicidal aggressiveness. Him attacking Logain was on point but him refusing Alanna and moping around like an idiot was another attempt by the show to pacify the Warders. I mean, they changed around how Nynaeve actually found Lan and Moiraine why? So that she could one-up Lan, a Warder and Malkieri/Borderlander trained by her having to tell him how to track Moiraine. 🤣
I forgot that detail about the tinkers! You're absolutely right
Book readers would never assume that Nynaeve was trying to cheer up anyone.
Lan in the books:
"In war, you say a prayer for your dead and ride on, because there is always another fight over the next horizon"
And Lan is very much at war with the Shadow.
Them having Lan in a scene like the show's warder funeral is not something I ever would have guessed they would do. Huge swing and miss for trying to portray the character of Lan.
I'm at the point in book2 where I am really feeling this. And someone in another comment said that Lan has a "break out of the shell" moment later in the series. This scene has taken the significance out of any future shell breaking.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Where exactly are you in Book 2?
It's so annoying how many people defend this show by saying "it's an adaptation, they have to make a ton of changes...they could never make the show like the books," but it's just so untrue. The early Game of Thrones seasons did so well *because* they followed the books very closely, and that book series is massive as well. If they don't have enough time for the events that occur in the books, why are they wasting time making new storylines with this Stepin character? It makes no sense! I truly do not understand
About the Aes Sedai 'tolerance' of the whitecloaks: the reason Aes Sedai don't do anything is that the oath only allows them to use their powers against 'darkfriends' or in self defence. Unless the whitecloaks are actively threatening your life its physicallly impossible for them to use their magic against them.
So in practice it would take one Green to act as bait and then others would appear to solve this life-threatenng situation. They tolerate them because they are not a serious threat yet.
I don't know if it's your opinion of the show, you accurate way of point out inconsistencies, your sense of humour, the editing, the way you visibly don't take yourself seriously, the fact that you effectively display your skills as an editor by providing solutions to the many ridiculous choices of the scriptwriters, your analysis of the books, or maybe your very nice collection of eyewear... i don't know exactly what makes me feel that way, but one thing is sure:
YOU
ARE
AWESOME!!!
It's the second video I've been watching in a row and I'll keep on watching (also on your main channel) until there's nothing left for me to watch. I look forward to your eventually analysing season 2.
Thanks for this!!
😅😋 Well Garsh! Thank you for these kind words.
I definitely try not to take myself too seriously, as I get things wrong sometimes.
Me episode 7 is taking forever (not only have family things interrupted my editing time quite a bit, but my episode 7 review started at 4 hours long, so lots of cutting required to get it closer to 2 hours).
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Four hours long! I have no experience in video editing, but I can imagine it must take three or four times the duration of the video itself... Bon courage!
Well one good thing always comes from that: I think you can measure how much people really like your content by counting those who stay with you all the way through a two-hour video 😁
The opening of this episode is GENIUS!! 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿🍻
The whole Perrin and Egwene being captured sub arc is a perfect example of the butterfly effect in action. The writers of the show made choices to remove plot elements, but then remembered they needed to have Perrin and Egwene captured, so they just kind of forced it into the show.
It definitely felt forced. They really are making some strange choices.
@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS I stumbled upon your review, or critique, of season 1 episode 8, and found that we had very similar opinions. That said I started going back and watching your videos of the other episodes. Since you're relatively new to the books, you have a refreshing take on them. I first read Eye when I was in middle school, many many years ago, and I almost yearly reread the entire series.
Now, I've tried to do what you're doing, except I've posted comments/threads on different social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc...). If I focus on the changes from the books, and dang there are a lot of them, or call attention to the non canon filler material (did we really need an entire Steppin episode?), fans of the show immediately label me as a bookcloak, and usually reply with a long worded explanation of how adaptations won't be 1 to 1 to the source material (something I was fully aware of and never expected). Or if I focus on the incoherent, inconsistent, and some times flat out lazy writing, I get told I'm just nit-picking and that I should get over myself.
@dematar I often find myself reading such comments and thinking... "this person clearly has no sense of storytelling logic, so there's no point in trying to discuss it with them". Remember, "No amount of evidence wil ever persuade an idiot". I think Mark Twain said it, but also that's up for debate. Anyway, it should make you feel better to know that out of the Avery 700 comments I get per video, there are only 1 or 2 that don't agree with my points, and dozens of them state clearly that they don't expect a 1 to 1. They just want a dhow that is true to the heart of the books and makes sense on its on feet. I think there is a loud minority of people who love the show.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS I try to avoid those comments as well, but occasionally I find myself drawn into such a debate/argument where eventually I just end it. The most recent one had to do with episode 8 of season 2, but I won't go into the details if you've not seen it yet. I realize that nothing I say will change their mind. It doesn't matter if I apply show logic (not that there's much of that) or book logic, they refuse to even consider my position. For others, who generally seem to like the show, I usually say nothing. As much as I'd like to see it canceled, all footage burn, and the ashes spread to the four corners of the globe, if I think someone is honestly enjoying the show I'm not going to be that guy who tries to ruin it for them.
That said, I hope you're enjoying the books and finish the series. I was in college when I heard Robert Jordan had die, and was devastated thinking the series wouldn't be finished. And while Brandon Sanderson has a different writing style, I was more than happy with how he finished the series. (I tore threw his first entry into the series, an almost 900 page book, in a single day)
In the books, Nynaeve is one of my all time favorites. She has consistent motivation that slowly evolves to be broader than just protecting the other 4. It's never really about her being a boss girl but protection and responsibility
Also 23:30 could not be more true, but apply that to the whole tv series
Nynaeve in the books is always care about welfare of the others. This one doesn't even trying.
And she gets her ass humbled so many times throughout the books its hilarious. They really did not capture the spirit of her character.
@@peopleschampiii584 yeah, she's brilliantly written. MVP
She's my least favourite character in all of literature. The show does it brilliantly. She's as dislikeable in the show as she is in the book. Absolutely nailed by the actress.
@@Dragonslairminis the good thing about this is that you're allowed your opinion. I've been part of so many communities recently that do not allow for differences of opinions like this. I can think that you're 100% incorrect (as you are about the book Nynaeve) and still accept your misguided assessment 😇
I love the cut to all the contradictory footage. Animal cut was particularly funny
Haha! Thank you. That one was wild, trying to find footage of prey attacking the predators.
This episode is a great example of ripple effects, small changes that lead to disaster later on in the series. Thom had a history in Camelyn, but because the story's setting skipped that town, we don't get some hints for that.
Moving the events to Tar Valon also turns Rand meeting Loial into a plot hole; Loial said that he was chased through the streets when he arrived, having been mistaken for a monster. And yet, he's got free reign to walk right into the White Tower? Moraine and Lan's conversation as they approached the city gets even worse with a revelation in the next episode...
With the Warders, it's actually pretty uncommon for an Aes Sedai and her Warder to bone. I think the number of Aes Sedai who do is in the single digits.
And finally, the stuff with the Whitecloak guy gets even worse with the knowledge that the Whitecloaks think all Aes Sedai are Darkfriends. He wouldn't believe a word any of them say, much less site one as a credible source.
Uncommon... unless she's a green :)
a lot of the green Aes Sedai will either marry their warders, or just sleep with them a lot. Myrelle had 6 warders at the end of the story.
Chuckled when you mentioned babysitting while listening to the audiobooks. I read quite a few of the books many, many years ago when getting up in the night to feed my baby daughter.
In the book "Inkheart", there is a quote about our experiences in whatever setting and situation we are in when we read a book for the first time... it suggests that those experiences are sort of implanted into the book. Then, when we re-read that book, we are sort of transported back to that first situation. We can remember things about it that we never would have remembered without the implanted memories coming back through the familiar words. I love that!
Ok, hear me out. There will be a certain percentage of quoting my own previous comments, but I feel the urge.
When I saw the Tar Valon from the show, something died inside me. I'll explain. First, hey didn't even tried. The city walls is taken directly from the Agra Red Fort and the whole setpiece looks like it was named "generic medieval Indian city". But not only it is cheap, it is another inversion of fundamental parts of the worldview. In the WOT world, people know value of aesthetics. They love beauty. Even the Rand himself takes his time to marvel not only at the scope of Caemlyn, but at beauty of it. And the readers will not have higher ground, like in Baerlon, when we will knew that it just a mundane rennaisance-era town. In the Caemlyn, both reader and Rand will be awestruck. But the Tar Valon surpass it. Anytime books mentions Tar Valon, and there will be descriptions of its wide streets, large plazas and out-of-time parametric architecture. It is the most beautiful city in the continent where lack of proper monumental architecture in the capital is the sign of decay. It also tell us that world is bigger and more beautiful, than in stories.
This slums? No. It just slums. Nothing to marvel about. In this world, nobody cares about aesthetics, and this world is more dirty and mundane, than in the stories.
Next point. Jordan was critical about Aes Sedai of Third Age! He portrays the White Tower as deeply flawed institution, that is losing power, losing knowledge, losing numbers, losing public trust and is infiltrated beyond belief. And one of the reasons of their failings is their fondly cultivated inhuman allpowerful image and how Aes Sedai put themselves above all naions and cultures.
And on the other hand, the Whitecloaks in the books are portrayed as deeply misguided people, leaving more harm in their wake, but not as evil villains and there is a fair share of just, honorable people among them. Their current Lord-Commander is a downright tragic figure!
All I can see in the show is the ultra-cool sisterhood of magical girlbosses and the brotherhood of depraved sadistic villains (because of course only such a scum can oppose such a wonderful sisterhood). Is this more nuanced interpretation? More ambiguous? More complex? How?
Speaking of Moiraine, what I think is matters is the LACK of any relationships she displays in the book. She is so selflessly dedicated to her mission, that she simply forbid herself to engage in any sort of romantic relationships, beacuse it can became weakness and liability. But what is the driving force behind Show!Moiraine? What light her fire? Judging by her irresponsible attitude - clearly not a sense of purpose. Maybe she doing it out of lust for Amyrlin, like "I will find the DR and she will love me more!" is this more admirable? Is this a beter role model? How the one can claim that she loves the character and then destroy their best traits?
Basically, one of major redeeming virtues in the WOT books is the serving the needs of many. I dont' see it in the show. But there is a plenty of petty self-serving interests instead.
Ok, dumpsterfire is over)
"Whitecloaks in the books are portrayed as deeply misguided people, leaving more harm in their wake, but not as evil villains and there is a fair share of just, honorable people among them. Their current Lord-Commander is a downright tragic figure! " - in the series as a whole yes, but in the Eye of the World? For me, with the exception of Bornhold, the Whitecloaks came across as pretty evil. As with many things its only in later books that we get a more nuanced view.
@@gildor8866 In the EotW, they detained Perrin for a damn good reason, and they never wanted to harm Egwene. Surely, Byar was established to be a piece of work from the beginning, but that's enough to set them as a legit threat, but not as the villains. Compare this to the show, with bornhald not even raising eyebrow to the feats of perverted torturer valda, beating up the Tinkers etc. can this portrayal be used as a groundwork to show them as anything but villains?
@@TheNightrider88 First, Bornhold and Valda part ways after meeting Moirane, explicitly stated at the end of that scene. So Bornhold isn't present when they beat up the Tinkerers. Also they are "just" beating the Tinkerers up, they are not killing them. Given that they are trying to apprehend two suspects and the Tinkerers block their way the Whitecloaks are essentially doing what cops would do in our world - forcing their way with nightsticks.
And finally: while I consider burning the Aes Sedai at the stake a "Villain Upgrade" lets not forget that in The Hunt for the Horn Bornholds observes that the Inquisitors have burned entire villages allegedly because everybody was a darkfriend. Bornhold doesn't like it but he has orders state he has to allow it. For me that had vibes of the Inquisitors acting like the SS and Bornhold being the german-army officer not stopping them. That was my personal association of course and in later books the image of the Whitecloaks improves a lot.
@@gildor8866 Yeah. In second book Bornhald is seen enraged by the false flag operations conducted by Questionners, and opposed them. In the show, nobody gives a damn about burning at the stake and chopping AS fingers off.
And while your analogy about Whitecloaks vs Tinkers as cops beating down "peaceful demonstartions" are spot on... does it actually make any sense? Especially since Tinkers in the books would rather flee as violence should be avoidied by any cost...
So, once again - how this vilification and simplification is a good thing, especially when it comes with blatant idealization of Aes Sedai?
Also, I have a sneaking suspicion, that it is the reason for making local perrin a wife-murderer. Because no one would believe that anybody can be haunted by the manslaughter of such a horrible whitecloaks.
Again, agree with everything you said!! They seriously need to hire you to write these shows.
And what can I say about you opening “spa commercial”…hilarious!! Sooo perfect.
You just keep getting better.
Your frustration greatly amuses us :-).
I'm still angry they skipped over the subtle nods to Rands channeling during the chase scene from Emonds Field to Tarren Ferry... Go back and read those chapters and see if you can catch it...
Jain Farstrider is a man in the books, and I thought that he was serving in Lan's brigade during the Aiel War (I just listened to 'New Spring'), but it could be someone with a similar name.
They intentionally changed the gender in the show.
Just read New Spring recently, didn’t see him come up.
@@jsbrads1 It's just one of the names of the people reporting to Lan, one of the old Malikier (he'd be at least late 30's by that point).
@@ArdghalTheThinker ... SPOILER ...
... That's going to be interesting when she shows up in later seasons - old, ugly, some of her memories missing, suffering from compulsion ...
13:50 - Stepin, cave, Logain... Yes, it was Stepin's fault... and yes, they go on rampages when their Aes Sedai die.
In the lore from the books, that would make this his fault, BUT with "extenuating circumstances" to use the modern parlance.
Taken together with the rest of what happens in the show in S1, I strongly suspect it was just another chance to make something a man's fault.
TBF, it also might have been written by one of the writers who knows nothing about the books.
Of course, that would make it the show-runner's fault for not catching it and correcting it... or CHOOSING not to correct it...
At the same time, it also might have been one of those cases where he'd made up a BS assignment (bullying) to get their "lore specialist" to "collapse as a human being".
Great opening scene! The contrast of the soft voice and tranquil music over the visual of someone being prepared for torture/death was hilarious. We of course understood it as parody; if the writers of "Rosamund Pike's Vanity Project" saw it though, they would probably think it was praise for their work. I will not watch season 2, but if your mental health can handle it, I would love to see what you do with it. More reimaginings and parodies, please!
When you started talking about the funeral scene, I also thought about the Klingon death scream, and was so happy you mentioned it! I think the difference between the Aes Sedai and Warder funerals ties into the theme of the show. The female Aes Sedai is given a quiet, dignified, honorable funeral. The male Warder is given a completely ridiculous, loud, violent funeral. I expect that there's a deleted scene after the Warder funeral where all the other Warders get drunk and start bashing each other with rocks.
The Whitecloaks did not capture Egwaine and Perrin because they remembered them from earlier. They did it because the script told them to do it.
For what it's worth, you understand the Bro Code far better than Rafe Judkins.
Rafe is such a cornball, he had a hard on to show the white tower. They could have saved that reveal for season two. You dont have to blow your load in season 1
He was so eager to introduce Liandrin, a third-rate minor villain, that he threw away important characters.
@@TheNightrider88yep and the imaginary characters that he made up.
The Warder and Aes'Sedai bond is "closer" than any relationship in that it's more intimate because of how aware it makes them of each other. Warders and their Aes'Sedai can feel each other's emotions, sensations to a degree, where they are, stuff like that.
I feel like nothing should be able to penetrate that..... 😶
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS You'll see some interesting interactions with it in later books XD
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Bond and romance are different kind of relationship, like friendship and romance. Lan falling in love doesn't necessary "penetrates" his bond with Moiraine, there was never romantic relationship between them in the first place. But it makes the situation rather complicated, and books admit it.
Those complications that arise when warder bond comes at odds with love are what makes some Green to take only one warder. In particular those Green who marry their warders, they rarely have more than one. Because having two or more will make things awkward.
As for the number of warders, I believe there is no tower law that regulates that, but there are traditions. Aes Sedai are conservative ladies, traditions for them are as binding as laws. And those customs say that Red don't take warders, Green take as many as they think they can handle, everyone else (Gray, White, Brown, Yellow and Blue) take no more than one.
@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS the Warder bond is not necessarily a romantic or sexual relationship. In fact, most are not. It's more a shared purpose kind of thing. In book two you actually get some of moraine's viewpoint on Lan's relationship with Nynaeve. She's not jealous - it's more about whether he's still committed to their goals.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Warder depression, including psychotic episodes, suicides, etc., are very much a real thing in the books. If an Aes Sedai dies while bonded to a warder, the warder not only loses that bond but feels the entire death of someone they are very close to. This can break their spirits and their minds, sending them spiraling into a psychosis that there isn't a cure for in the books, even bonding them to another doesn't heal them but can prevent the suicide. This is explained well in the books, however, whoever has been saying that this isn't a thing in the books is completely wrong. In fact, this is a large part of the books later in the series, so it's important to understand how this bond actually works.
Yes when a Warder dies, he swallows her death. He will immediately go on a rampage into battle into an attempt to follow her. One thing some Aes Sedai did to prevent this, was pass the bond to another Aes Sedai. The issue with this is, they'll still have the desire to follow her but will also respect the bond. This means they will walk across the world in a straight line to the new Aes Sedai, not avoiding danger. If that means going through an army, that's what they do. So they normally don't make it.
This entire "bring the ring back to the tower" is nonsense. There is nothing special about the rings except as a symbol of who the bearer is.
It sounds like a pretty cool world element. I got so little about it from book 1, and everyone tells me that the bond has been screwed up in this episode. I've started book 2, now, so hopefully I get a better picture of how it works.
Maybe we all missed the brilliant marketing plan by Prime, and we're the dummies. Instead of trying hard to make a good show, intentionally piss off the readers by making it really bad, so that we would all continue watching to see how bad it actually gets. That must be it.
It's messed up how excited I am for season two, just so I can hate on it.
haha.. right@@SHADOW1414
Liandrian touching Moraine is something similar that happens with 2 other Reds later in the books, borrowed from them, and the warders didn't act anything like they are shown in this show. They were hard men thar cared only for their Aei Sedai. They had a job to do and didn't fully trust one another even if they had a lot of respect for one another. My thoughts
I enjoy your reviews much more than the actual show. I loved your whitecloak commercial at the beginning too 😆
Haha! Thank you. 😊 it was a last second add-in. I was about to upload, but inspiration struck and I went back and re-recorded new audio for a totally different intro from the one I had... this one was way better.
I don't care about any of the potential dragons, or anyone else to be honest. I'm not a book reader so maybe it's different if you have more knowledge, even though I am sure it's more frustrating as well due to the changes made to the source material, which sounds like a good story. Going back to the first episode the main characters weren't set up well enough, and it isn't even explained why anyone is doing what they are doing, I'm still not even sure why the dragons even left with Murraine apart from for honourable reasons since they all know that all except one of them that is the actual dragon will die. But as the episodes go on the dragons don't act as though they would be doing this out of doing the right thing for the world. Nothing is explained in this show!!! I don't need everything explained but a little would be nice.
I've got to defend the show on Lan's sleeping position. I dimly remember it being implied that Stepin gave Lan the sleeping potion to knock him out. That aside nothing remotely good can be said about this episode. It's a total trainwreck.
His pressure is all on his left elbow, not on his back against the chair. Sleeping on that we all know what it'll be like.
The why is sleeping wasn't the issue, but that as soon as you fall sleep, your arm will relax and you'll end laying in the floor. That's the nonsensical part, that just reinforces that they know nothing about filming. Judgins is just an inclusion token and we all know that, he is way out of his league for a project of that size
@@jorgen6133 I have managed to fall asleep holding open books without letting them go and once or twice even with a glass or bottle of beer, therefore I hesitate to limit the uncomfortable positions one can fall asleep in and even retain while asleep 🤣
Re: warders & Klingons - every time I read the books, Lan is always played/voiced by Michael Dorn in my head canon.
Another good and detailed review. I'm really enjoying them! The challenge you have with this and future episodes is that the show departs further and further from the books as the season goes on. The replacement of Caemlyn with Tar Valon wasn't done for any reason other than the Showrunner thinks White Tower drama is the best part of the story and wants more of it, sooner. Also, it enabled them to minimise Rand and his story, and that serves their goals.
You have accurately identified the biggest issue the show has, and it isn't the lack of fidelity to the books (yes, that's a problem and disappointment, but not the biggest failing). The biggest issue is that the writing in this show is dreadful. To call it amateur fanfiction is being generous (and unfair to fanfiction, some of which is far better written).
The show fails to stand up as as standalone story because the characters speak and act in illogical ways, the dialogue is awful and awkward, the show constantly 'tells, not shows,' and the new story the writers are inventing is just boring - anticlimactic and predictable.
The show also can't seem to set up any long term payoffs. I won't spoil future episodes for you (not because they are great, but because you should get to react organically to them) but really important things, which are meant to happen many books from now, are just thrown at the audience in S1, out of context, because the writers seem to be in a rush and don't understand how to build narrative tension and mystery.
Lastly, the Stepin funeral scene was an example of the show's deliberate deconstruction and subversion of the books. People will argue that the scene is justified because Lan always does his duty, and his duty in this ceremony was to be the head mourner on behalf of everyone else.
What this overlooks is that the entire funeral ceremony, and this duty, were made up for the show in the first place. There is no basis for any of it in the books, none of it ever happened and it didn't need to happen in the show. Now, why would the show writers invent a scene, and take the most stony faced and stoic character from the books, who (at the risk of a minor spoiler) tells Rand 'There is one rule, above all others, for being a man. Whatever comes, face it on your feet,' and put him on his knees, tearing at his breast, yelling out in grief?
It's blatantly obvious that the writers think they are updating and improving Jordan's toxic characters and flawed story. They think book Lan is an exemplar of toxic masculinity, of unhealthy emotional repression, and that just has to be fixed! The fact that faithfully representing characters from a book is not an endorsement of those characters beliefs or behaviours seems to be lost on so many modern writers.
Flawed characters with diverse personality traits make for a more interesting story than a sanitised version where all their flaws are smoothed over, there is no struggle or growth, and the characters are already perfect and emotionally healthy. It's as if the writers don't understand the heroes journey, nor what makes fiction compelling (including conflict and tension).
Anyway, looking forward to the next one!
It's Interesting, that they somehow ended with much more flawed and toxic characters. And now they think that their flaws are truly positive traits.
This is an excellent point. I wonder if they think they are going to get so many people who haven't read the books that they don't care about alienating all the people that have read the books. Everytime they make a needless change, they lose more and more of the book fans without picking up more non-book readers. I don't see how they are going to last (what is it, 8 years?).
@@paulrace4339 I honestly hope that they got cancelled earlier)
Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't remember the show actually telling us that Dragonmount is important, so to people who've never read the books they don't understand the significance of the "i think i've seen it before" line. Which is just anoter problem incurred from changing this into a mystery. Ripple effects...
It comes in later.
This show feels like fan fiction made life. Like someone with just a wild imagination was like, "wouldn't this scene be really cool" and then Rafe said yea, lets shoe horn that in somewhere, it may make no real sense, it may be contrary to any kind of reason, logic or source material, but it will look really cool and the audience won't care.
I think you are spot on.
Lan would never show emotion like in that shit funeral scene. when his father figure dies he says something to the effect that tears are wasted on the dead you can only continue forward
Another good review. Subbed. As a many times reader, I like how good you are at picking up things first time round that really will matter later, at least in the books which are much more consistent and coherent in the follow-up. Foreshadowing is one of things RJ is particularly held up for.
Towards the end you had a concrete example of something different in the book. No shock that it was better in the book! Earlier on you were quite frequently making comments along the lines of "Well, if it's that way in the books, then..." Rest assured, it's almost never 'that' (ie the show) way in the books. The vast majority of the time it's completely different or the exact opposite. The books aren't perfect but I've enjoyed them over and again for decades. Don't let the show put you off the books.
Ironically, your 'favourite scene' does actually draw on something specific from the books. I'll leave out the key spoilery bit, so you're safe to read on. A character finds out about an event from the past when the ancestors of the Tuatha'an did a much larger version of what Ila et al did in this episode. 10,000 of them linked arms and sang to try and delay a channeler gone mad, buying time so that the people of a city could escape it before he destroyed it. He gradually killed them all. It was presented as a heroic sacrifice by pacifists. Ila and co were doing something similar here. Infuriatingly, it goes to show that at least some of the people working on the TV show really do have an in depth knowledge of the texts, which just makes all their nonsense, incoherence and poor storytelling skills that much more frustrating. Even more so because they have frequently been dropping references that casual viewers cannot possibly get. Sometimes these are actually very important things where they seem to be counting on vewers to have book knowledge in order to understand what's been done or said on screen. And yet their changes tend to be most poorly received by those who have that very knowledge. I'm honestly perplexed at what they're trying to achieve. A significant chunk of their 'effort' is likely to be wasted on casual viewers / first time readers, whilst many of those who know the material in depth find the changes objectionable. Who are they making this show for? I suppose there might be some slice of the audience that will watch every season for as long as this runs and then rewatch them, picking up extra things on later watches. But how many people could that possibly be? I'll probably end up being a glutton for punishment who watches everything they do at least once, since I drew so much pleasure from the books. But it's painful. It's a sunk time fallacy that I'm struggling to get past. For you, honestly, I'd say just stick to the books. I doubt you'll like everything, but I'd bet the bank you'll find the books to be vastly more rewarding than the show...
This right here. Too many contextless lore for a standalone show.
I'm not a reader of the books, but what you described and the Tuatha'an and why they did what they did makes more sense now so if the writers have this knowledge why couldn't we have seen a flashback of this somewhere, maybe at a campfire story telling. It wouldn't have had to shown much but it would enrich the viewing experience. To be honest I'm confused about nearly everything in this show including any the 4 potential dragons even left with Murraine. All I have it is firstly they have to escape and they will have some level of protection being with her, and secondly for honourable reasons, though after this they don't act in any way honourable so if that was the reason they did a complete 180 in the matter of one episode.
It's not explained so the Whitecloaks even are or their relationship with Eas Sedei. Again a scene setting the context from a past event might have been useful, but all we have is then being stopped on the road, and maybe I'm a bit slow but I didn't get hardly anything from this. If there are expert advisors on the production team then they are either forgetting what the average viewer will know or as I suspect they are only there to insert little nods to things book readers will know, Easter Eggs I think is the term and not influence the show runners vision at all. I can only say that the LOTR movies were so great I think because Peter Jackson was a huge fan of the books, but as a non reader of that series as well I think the story but together incredibly well. I know that's a big budget movie that took years and years to sculpt into the end result, but I think the suggestions in this analysis video would have been better than what we have got.
the writers of this show seem to not be able to accept that the books do everything better than they ever could and so they insist on re-writing every single thing that is in the books. The metaphor was SUPPOSED to be about an axe against a tree and that the axe might chop the tree down, but the axe blade gets dulled in the process so by engaging in violence the person who does so diminishes themselves in the process. And this was supposed to be one of the traveling people explaining the way of the leaf to perrin.
I believe that super, crazy, obsessed with the book fans just can't fathom that changes need to be made to make it into a show and some of the changes are actually quite good as they have very little impact on the story and in some cases make it better. Perrin having a wife for example was absolutely brilliant.
The only "justification" I have for the snow is that in the books, the weather is messed up, but, as with many things in the show, they forgot to mention it. You'll see that there will be several minor things that "makes sense" if you have book knowledge, but aren't explained in the show (at least, according to show "apologists" not yet).
Yes, I get the feeling they are sometimes trying to be a bit too clever. E.g. when you see things that are to modern for the timeperiod like matches or the to modern appearance of Rands coat. As someone who has read the books I think I understand they are deliberately including these anachronisms ad remnants of the Age of Legends, though Matches aka. Strykers should not yet be in widespread use. But someone who has not read the books it must come across as the showmakers being to lazy to do their homework. And given that those who have not read the books are the larger group of the target audience this a failure of the show.
@@gildor8866the book does a better job of giving clues. Like how characters make it pretty clear that the world has been in decline. They talk a lot about the Breaking of the World. They talk about magnificent structures that people in the current time no longer have the knowledge to build. They talk a lot about things that have been lost throughout the ages. So even though you won't know that the Age of Legends was a Star Trek level sci-fi world until like book 4, you do get that the world used to be way better.
Also, the messed up weather comes after this stuff. I think around books 5 and 6 is when that starts.
@@shazariahl No, it's right from the start. While it's no longer full on winter, spring is very slow to start and it remains cold for the time of year.
Warder Depression very much IS accurate in the books. There is a character in a book known for taking in Warders so they don't end themselves. And we see a couple that are very lost after losing their Aes Sedai.
Warders and Aes Sedai have very close bonds and feel each other's deaths. Some are even driven to temporary insanity when one passes.
The show has yet to identify what's going on with the bond and a warder/AS separation.
What perplexes me the most about this series is the show writers and execs had to have seen GOT. What made it so successful was how closely it followed the books and was very true to the characters. That series began to fall apart as soon as they stopped having source material. Instead of using Jordan's novels to develop, well anything really, it appears someone decided they could do better. What they have created has fallen flat. At very least, they could have tapped Sanderson to help them create a script where all the characters weren't horrible. The three boys don't even seem to like each other and their friendship and growth is crucial to the story. Each of those characters has a strong central driving trait and that has not been shown by any of them. Perrin's was ruined in ep 1 when he killed his wife. Sorry I don't want to write a novel, but wait until you read the entire series and revisit this season. I feel like the portrail cuts even deeper. It's like whoever wrote the screenplay was told what happened in the first book, and the person telling them only read a summary of the Cliffsnotes. Then, my guess is that they hired a bunch of different writes who were not allowed to talk to each other, but were tasked with writing one episode each. Shameful.
I'm not a book reader, I've only watched the show, but I think you are completely spot on with the analysis. There is no world building here for what seems to be a very complex world. I didn't watch GOT from the start, and I've never read the books either, but even after watching the first series I could remember the main character names and the main families and groups of people. After 3 days of finishing this series apart from Moirane I don't think I could tell you want of their names, in fact I was going to mention the guy who was the dragon reborn, but I can't even remember his name, it's just not memorable and I'm still confused what happened even now. I wonder if condensing everything from one book into 8 episodes as well as setting the background wasn't enough for it all to make sense.
@mattpotter8725 I do understand this was an expensive show to make. I also understand the desire to make the first book into one season because this is a series of 14 books. Eye of the World is a fairly long book, so I even understand that the producers/writers would have to cut/condense the content. I just can't quite grasp how they choose what to keep and exclude from the book. Even more perplexing is why they chose to create things, which were not in the novel, to put into the TV show that neither added to character development nor the overall story (while cutting things I think do matter). For me, it is just hard to watch knowing the potential this had. It is good to know that it isn't just the people who have read the books who are disappointed. A part of me was holding out hope that this was better than I thought, but it was just disappointing to anyone who had already read the books. They certainly tried to do too much and ended up doing too little of the things that mattered. Patrick Rothfuss has some good quotes about this pertaining to fantasy writing, which (I think) basically mean writing and telling a good story has to come first. If the story you are creating isn't good, the magic, mythical beasts, and/or actors aren't going to be able to save it.
See, I think a lot of the problem is, they seem to have seen GOT but rather than thinking "oh this was successful at the start because it followed the books and was true to the characters", they thought "oh this was successful because sex and grim and dark and edgy".
@@Waniou137 But as GOT showed in the early series you could have both. In this case I think they thought they could take the source material and improve upon it, which I think is bad in many aspects because it will piss off the core people who might want to watch your show in the first place and secondly they aren't good enough writers to pull this off. Having looked at the episode descriptions on Wikipedia (which may or may not be accurate so I take it with a pinch of salt) every episode seems to have been written and directed by different people, which I think could have caused the continuity issues we've seen in the show thus far. I think the overall control of the production though has caused just as many though. It's a good example of how to burn through money as though it wasn't an issue whilst not concentrating enough on the quality of the production.
@@Waniou137 That may be true, but this series is lacking most of the grim dark and edgy aspects. The trolloc scenes were violent, but lacked both tension and the depth needed to elicit and real sense of fear. The same could probably be said of the fades. If there is anything remotely romantic or passionate or even scenes with juvenile sexual tension/angst I missed them. The Perrin wife debacle was just horrible.
I am in awe of your psychology. You picked up details in your first video out of this set that I had missed by a mile. Identifying the significance of the conversation between Perrin and Nynaeve in the tavern of the first episode and it's implications for the relationship between show-Perrin and his wife. You are detail-oriented at an order of magnitude that I cannot even begin to fathom. Being a professional editor must require and reinforce these traits by a fairly significant factor. Or perhaps it is the difference between the kind of literary critical analysis involving identification of theme and the common techniques used in moving a plot that you would pick up from a classic liberal arts education and that of a STEM background.
I feel like a lot of that happens with Stepin could have been handled with him being in such horrible grief that he wasn't able to function, Nynaeve checking on him and not understanding why he's so messed up, and Lan explaining the Warder bond and letting her know that could be him if Moraine dies. Then they could discuss how the emptiness and pain could be relieved if he bonds another Aes Sedai and how sometimes it's done forcibly by Greens to prevent the Warder from seeking their own death, which is inevitable if he doesn't rebond. Lan could have shared some of his background here and what he would like to happen with him if Moraine died, i.e. he'd want to go to the Blight to throw himself against the Dark One's teeth until he finds death, and Nynaeve could have shown the horror and pain she felt at the thought of Lan tossing his life away when she's starting to come to like and respect him. They could talk about bonding, rebonding, passing bonds, and breaking bonds and given an info dump that would have given their characters some setup for their eventual romance as well as been a learning opportunity for Nynaeve about how the power could be used to basically tie men to you and steal some of their agency. Lan could have then tried to convince Stepin to bond Alanna with the mention that she'd bonded Warders who lost their Aes Sedai before to save them from seeking death, knowing he wouldn't pick that bond himself from his previous conversation with Nynave, and it could have been a very short, brotherly scene. Later they could have checked on Stepin to find he'd chosen his own way out, with it very heavily implied that could happen to any Warder, but that it was an inevitable fate that they all shared if their Aes Sedai died before them.
Oh yes! I like ALL of these suggestions. It would have been so much better if they did these!
Greens would not forcibly bond a warder against his will. Doing so is certainly possible but is against Tower Law. Bonding someone against his will is viewed as equivalent to rape.
Bonding with a new Aes Sedai helps alleviate the suffering, but does not heal it completely. Some warders continue to be suicidal despite the new Aes Sedai's efforts. Some Aes Sedai are better than others and helping mourning warders.
I was sure I remembered Elyas being a rare example of a warder who managed to overcome the madness triggered by his Aes Sedai's death on his own (or with the help of the wolves), but when I checked the wiki I found his Aes Sedai merely masked their bond and is in fact still alive.
As to how can Aes Sedai be captured by Whitecloaks: besides the oath to "never speak a word that is not true", they also swear not to use the power as a weapon, except against creatures of the Dark One, Darkfriends and in the extreme act of protecting their (or their warder's) life.
This implies that an Aes Sedai that is not yet convinced of being in mortal danger, will not be able to use the Power until she has been clubbed unconscious or worse.
Having said that, the only reason for an Aes Sedai to not use the Power while being tortured would be that to do so could undermine the notion that the Tower would not lightly resort to the Power for their own benefit and reduce the trust that several rulers have in them.. if this makes any sense, though, I cannot tell.
Agree with everything except the atrocious Asian-Lan nipple-twisting scene. Real Lan is a mountain of stoicism.
My theory is Valda has a device that can detect chandlers. Why they don’t reveal this is bizarre. If he can detect she can channel why does he need her to channel. As evidence? He has no witness?
As far as the hand thing with channeling goes. I’m the books it is a crutch. Aes Sadai channel withbthere hands and if they can’t make hand motions they can’t channel. But they will meet others Ariel Wise ones who have not learned with this Crutch and don’t need to use their hands to channel. I think the show is trying to mention this and use it to end Valda later on.
This episode was such a massive waste of time
The entire Amazon show could be renamed The Waste of Time, to be honest.
This was the episode that confirmed for me that there was no redemption for this show. The mere fact that they're in Tar Valon this early in the series is beyond dumb. It's like Pippin arriving in Minas Tirith half way through The Fellowship of The Ring.
"We needed more episodes"
Also, "we added two episodes of made-up filler".
This show never fails to impress at how poorly it was written
I kinda hope season 2 will be better. I didn't hate season 1 as much as most people did. The first book was too derivative of LOTR and I kinda wish they skipped most of it. Books 2-6 are where it's at and Sanderson's books.
Lan and Moiraine doesn't seem to be in romantic relationship in books (read 3 and the prequel so far) and yes, there is (very) slowly developing romantic relationship with Nynaeve, mostly initiated by her. Though I have to say, the book's relationships are kinda weird and mostly platonic - and all of the main teen protagonists are still virgins with at most passionate kissing and flirting :D
I'm really impressed by how well you manage to pinpoint problems that the changes show makes will cause without reading later books. I guess this is the skill that makes an editor different from just reader.
It's just about laser focusing on detail differences between the show and the book and asking yourself, "what is the possible magnitude of consequences from this change?" I feel like anyone with OCD (or a Cocain addiction) could probably do my job just as well, or better than me.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS My most face palming change(for the plot not lore) comes in the next episode. Curious if you can spot it as it concerns one of the muchlatter books.
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONSof course the natural question is then, do you have OCD or is that white powder on your nose?😜
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS
Fortunately and unfortunately not. Your articulation and comprehension of what to change and why only happen if you can pull back from the OCD detail to improve or see ramifications of it.
While many of us can feel something off or say it’s bad; the clarity for why and an option to improve is appreciated. Also many are too attached to the story and characters to see through our frustration and give up on explaining.
When you reread the book, you will see all the different times that Rand channel
I enjoy your sense of humor entirely, great videos.
Your opening is just amazing.
It would make sense for them to be smudging the Forsaken since they are evil and feared by most. He could be praying for protection against them. Speculation, none of this is in the books to my recollection
It was mainly the wording that bugged me. He was smudging... but he said he was making sacrifices to them.
Huh?!
Love the prediction about future episodes, but I’ve come to realize this show is impossible to predict. If you think of the dumbest thing they can do, somehow they will do something dumber. It’s amazing… in that very terrible of ways.
And yet this prediction was precise as hell! We now all owe Amber 14.62 each (hope I remember the number correctly))))
The Whitecloaks cathing Perrin and Egwene.
This is a bit of a roundabout way and I am not fully onboard with it myself, but..:
Child Valda says in Ep that "I will remember your faces, if we ever meet again". He is also very Spanish Inquisition where if something happens, be it good or bad, it must be God's (the Light's) divine will. So him suddenly seeing the same kids must mean something or the Light would not have made them cross paths again.
In Ep2 Moiraine also comments in how they cannot heal themselves that they mostly (always?) travels in pairs. So I'm guessing Child Valda assumes that Egwene is either an Aes Sedai who travelled with Moiraine, or at least an Aes Sedai in training. Even though it would be a good idea to read up on the Enemy (the Aes Sedai and their Warders) I think he's just not that well informed about how that stuff works.
So, he met them once and now Fate has put them in his way a second time. That must mean something and since he's the Questioner that means he must Question them.
I believe this is a reference back to Spanish Inquisition and also the Witch trials. Better safe than sorry, it's bad to let evil walk free in the world. Better kill them.
But then... how did Valda know that Moiraine was Aes Sedai? She was wounded, so wouldn't he have assumed that Aes Sedai would haven healed eachother?
You are putting way to much thought into it. Valda is evil, plain and simple. Yes it refers to the witch trials, he doesn't really care if she's an Aes Sedai or not, he just wants to torture them.
1:13:53 the accuracy bOiiii
I know right?! 🔥
OMG, really? 🤦♀️
@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS though [S1, and light book series SPOILERS] it's Ewgene who resurrects Nynaeve and not the other way around. Which makes even LESS sense for people who read the books and besides being a huge f you and making the stakes completely vanish every time people in future seasons do anything dangerous with the One Power, takes away Nynaeve's _one damn thing_ she's an absolute genius at. The one thing everyone goes to Nynaeve for troughout the entire series, where she's absolutely the best at, and they just make it Ewgene's thing for no reason, especially because she _also_ has her own thing she's the best at troughout the books, not to mention it spoils things from 3, 4 books down the line, big, world-shattering events that shape the entire plot of the last few books. (You'll see it in moraine's 'arc' at the last episode too, if you read the series, for an extra twist of the nife in your gut). It's nonsensical and dumb, and ruins the great balance of how the power works in the book and the genius applications of the power in later books. All gone. All for cheap drama, and all because the "writers" think their brainstorming sessions more important then the lifetime of work Robert Jordan put into the series.
Everything in the inn is stupid. Rand's mention of the book is only there because the writers don't want to explore his background yet. In the book, he changes the subject when Loial starts talking about Aiel stuff, because Tam's fevered ramblings have him worried about his backstory. Meanwhile, we also have the word that Egwene does not like stories of adventure or long journeys. Though at one point they mention that Egwene has read the travels of Jain Farstrider, she herself doesn't think about the book at all, and misses references other characters make to it. If she's read it, she's clearly only a casual fan.
What makes it more stupid, is that there is no reason for Loial to be in the inn. There is no reason for Rand and Mat either, because the show has done nothing to justify the decision to stop at a place they think is expensive, rather than going into the Tower. But for Loial, if he can hang at the Tower, why does he fart around in the vastly inferior library of a an inn? In the books it made sense for them to stay at the inn, even though they contemplated going to the Palace to seek the help of the Aes Sedai there. The innkeeper gave them reasons not to go to Elaida, and they still needed a place to stay while waiting for Moiraine & co. For Loial, it makes sense to avoid a Red sister, as the Reds blame the Ogier for making the Breaking worse. But neither of these things apply in the show, where the inn is in Tar Valon. Either they should be going to the Tower directly, or they never should have come to the city in the first place.
So according to Brandon Sanderson (the man who was handpicked by Robert and Harriet to finish the series and also the best-selling fantasy author on the planet) he was never contacted by Amazon for consultation like what was previously discussed and he left it at that because he's a nice guy. That's an insanely telling statement about the series. Like you don't want THE premier Robert Jordan scholar having a hand in how things need to be portrayed or whether or not the Character changes effect THE ENTIRETY OF THE STORY? This series saved my life as teenager when I was in a really bad place mentally. It literally saved my life and Amazon and Rafe Judkins the showrunner just took a massive dump on it and said "The story you know and love sucks and this is what WE think it should be." I literally almost cancelled my Prime account out of pure disdain for what they've done to the second most beloved fantasy series outside of Lord of the Rings. Don't EVEN get me started on the "Rings of Power" because that show is utter trash lol. The Wheel of Time had a bigger budget than the Lord of the Rings and this was the best they can do? And it no longer resembles any of the core elements that made the books so endearing and very loved. It's now a show about men being big dumb idiots and all of the women are suddenly girl bosses right out of the gate and that they know everything and men know nothing. That theme is everywhere in the show and that's a very dangerous message to be conveying considering the story is actually one of unification and coming together to work together to stop the Dark one. Just know that no one asked for this show to be made like this with ALL these changes that twist and contort Jordan's vision until it's really unrecognizable. Sad really because it could've been wonderful instead of trash. And yes Rafe Judkins has stated publicly that he is a feminist jacked on steroids and that the show is still NOT feminist enough which means it will only get worse.
The only episodes where Brandon got the results of the screenplays after-the-fact were the latter episodes of Season 1. That was due to the pandemic. The episodes before that he would get the drafts and provide feedback back to the showrunner.
They did the same thing with the rings of power. The specialist on Tolkien lost his job a day after being hired because he was telling the writers that they were going in a bad direction and they were changing the characters too much
I literally did cancel my Prime account, and I told them why. This series is wonderful and means a lot to a lot of people. The show was genuinely offensive.
I've recently come across your videos and I'm absolutely loving them. Your thoughts on this are pretty much how most of us feel. This tell instead of show thing is incredibly prevalent in a lot of current shows. Rings of Power is riddled with it.
It's as though the writers are all inexperienced and have no person of experience or authority overseeing them.
Wow. I missed the bit about the Tinker dogs killing things. That's flat-out contradictory to the books where the dogs bark really loudly ... but have been trained to be wimpy pushovers.
And I loathed the whole Whitecloak stuff because, once again, they take away a super important event in one of the boys' lives and give it to one of the girls. Perrin's killing of the two Whitecloaks is integral to his character and continues on well into the later books. And the worse thing: this won't be the last time they take something that one of the boys is supposed to do and let Egwene or Nynaeve do it instead.
I'm also amused that your "this is how I would fix this scene" with Rand & Mat & the inn is basically "FOLLOW THE STINKING BOOK!" :P
I keep saying that they took away Perrin's killings, because in the book he knows that he did the wrong thing, is haunted by it and perfectly ready for a comeuppance. But they inverted whole situation so much, that killing these smug villains can be seen only as right thing. So now he is haunted by chopping up his own wife.
Sad they spent 2 episodes cutting out Elayne, gawain, galad, Elias, and the real Thom. To again push the last 2 and a half episodes for stories that occurred as a throwaway mention in the 5th book.
For me, being on the book 5, all there is to Nynaeve/lan romance is her thinking about him. Like how stupid, stubborn, woolheaded he is and how she can't wait to boss him around, oh and show him some dresses on her.
I don't get how it's love? No respect, no admiration, nothing but criticism.
Book Nynevev is mentally trying to talk herself out of falling in love with him. Much of her dialog in the books is about her fighting with herself about her own feelings.
@@arleenm7367Oh, that's a great idea, I'm really trying to be openeminded toward Nynaeve, but it's hard for me.
I don't get these generalization about men, and how they must be kept in their place and so on.
I will keep in mind your perspective.
@@opodobed it's understandable why you don't like her - she is terribly obnoxious at times. She also does some good things (as a healer) later in the books. Plus she really really wants to protect her (Emonds Field) people.
I think what RJ was trying to convey is that she's probably in denial. I probably should know better by now having read the series 7 or 8 times.
Try not to get hung up on the fact RJ just doesn't write romance and women (with certain exceptions) very well, so try not to dislike Nynaeve too much, she may just be your favorite character by the end of the series.
@@iamthewaIrus yeah, I can see it. It's like the same obnoxious arrogant woman everywhere 😞 and when he tried to depict a nicer woman he ended up with... Lanfear 😆 he was the first and only sweet talker and it was so on the nose
When an Aes Sedai dies, her warder enters a deep depression and loses all will to live. They will often go on suicide missions seeking revenge, but not always. Revenge is basically the only thing that can motivate a mourning warder enough to do the basic things like eating that he would need to stay alive, but if the warder does not think revenge is possible he might instead go almost catatonic until he starves.
Some warders managed to get over their grief enough to live functional lives.
Elyas Machera was a former warder who went crazy after his Aes Sedai's death, before discovering that he was a Wolfbrother. The wolves helped him get over his grief and find the will to live for himself. He was an extremely rare exception.
Most warders who got over their Aes Sedai's death did so by being bonded to a new Aes Sedai. Myrelle Berengari of the Green Ajah has a good track record of rescuing warders in that way. Even bonding such an Aes Sedai however is not guaranteed to work.
An Aes Sedai can unilaterally dissolve the warder bond at any time. They tend to do so if they have enough warning before their deaths.
An Aes Sedai can also choose to pass their bond on to another Aes Sedai of her choice. They can even create a weave that will automatically trigger to pass on the bond at the time of their death. This very rarely happens though. It is even more rare for it to happen against the warder's will.
The magic of the Bond does not require an Aes Sedai to get the consent of her intended Warder, but Tower Law does. Bonding a man against his will is seen as tantamount to rape.
Any Aes Sedai can in theory bond as many warders as she wants, but the red Ajah has an internal rule forbidding warders and the other Ajahs except for the green have rules limiting Aes Sedai to only one at a time. Only about half of the Aes Sedai have warders even if they are allowed. Those in the White and Brown Ajahs, or those who rarely leave the safety of the White Tower, tend not to see much point.
Aes Sedai rarely marry, but when they do they usually wed a warder. Most of the green sisters who do not have multiple warders are married to their warder. Some blue and brown sisters are also known to have married their warder.
Most of the Red sisters are either lesbians or asexual. There are some who would like to marry and who would like warders, but they are a small minority who keep those views secret as they would make them rather unpopular within their ajah.
Morraine is bisexual. Her most important romantic relationship in her life at this point was with the girl who would go on to become the current Amerlyn seat. Both she and the Amerlyn will however eventually marry men.
I know I made a similar comment on yours and Randy’s channel, but do you ever feel that with this show they filmed a large number of random scenes with dialogue exchanges without knowing what way they wanted the story to go, then they spliced things together in the editing room like a choose your own adventure book? If so, then from the start they had NO shared vision around the show. What happened to the days when a group of writers who knew the source material adapted a script, ran it by the studio who then hired a director who had at least partial knowledge of the story but also trust in the screenplay writers’ abilities to tell a story.
I think Rafe has knowledge of the material. He just believes he's a better writer than Jordan, so he's fixing it for his vision. I hate the minimalization of Tom. There was no reason not to have him in the village. He was the person to set up the distrust of the Aes Sedai that this story really needs
If you really want to twitch, check out the scene that shows Rand/Mat, Tar Valon and Dragonmount. Then check out the map and try to guess how everything lines up. Some of how much this show screws up the books is like a punch in the face. But most are like death by a thousand cuts.
Also, if you ever ask yourself "Is this how it work?" The answer is no. That is not how it's supposed to work.
I think one of Jordan's flaws as a writer, was that the women were supposed to come off as heavily flawed, showing how living under a Matriarchy is just as bad as a Patriarchy, but he did it too well; a lot of people, myself included, don't like the women in this series much. So many times I was so irritated by women saying "Men only think with their muscles or their hearts." But that's sexism for you, it's supposed to annoy you. With Nynaeve, it's the best example of what I mean. It's so easy to piss her off, and she's so convinced that everything she's doing is right, that it makes me hate her at points. Hell, she mouths off to the Amerylin Seat early in book 2, and what's worse, she get's let off easy because she's so powerful and the Aes Sedai need her. So I get even more irritated, because it comes across as justifying her shitty attitude.
I hate that they made the Whitecloaks cartoonishly evil in the show. Byar and Bornhald's interrogation with Egwene and Perrin in the book was great, because it showed that A) not everyone who is evil is automatically a Darkfriend and B) even an extremist organization can have relatively rational, sympathetic and good people in them.
I love Bornhald. He is committed to his world view. He doesn't see himself as evil or cruel but doing the hard thing to protect the world. He's not needlessly cruel. He sees the witches as evil. As using power that shouldn't be touched. And Child Byar has an interesting character arc. He makes a great villain because you can almost get behind him.
I really love how she says I think that the Princess is important to Rand's story.......She gets this from just a few pages and Rafe and Amazon totally ignore this and cut it from the show. As a fan of the books it is a relief to here someone be so frustrated with the show that is not a previous book fan. This show is just so poorly written that you can not trust the idea that all the changes will have "pay offs" in future episodes. From a book fan perspective I appreciate The Sword and the Pen not trying to make excuses for the bad writing. That is what I feel many podcasts that are reviewing/promoting the show are doing. Be honest and don't call this The Wheel of Time. If they just want to say that this is different spinning of the Wheel using the same or similar characters then why doesn't the show take any time at all to explain what the "Wheel" of time is ... how it works ... What a Taveren is and how they manipulate the Weaves within the Wheel? This is just a very poorly adapted, but supposedly very expensive, show that is doomed to fail if they do not changed the writing staff and show runner.
Thank you! 😊
But don't get your hopes up on changing the staff. I heard that they started filming S2 before S1 even got released. And they've already gotten the green light for S3...
🤦♀️
It took 11 seconds before I was literally laughing out loud.
Rand meeting Elayne (the princess) is incredibly significant, the entire family become part of the weave. And he is also almost kept by the Queens counselor Elaida, a Red Aes Sedai, who also plays a massive role in the weave.
It's gonna be weird when they meet in the future and were already supposed to have met long ago... ugh... I don't understand how these people got their jobs writing and producing this show.
Regarding Logain and the laughter, he has been gentled, unlike in the books, so he would not have any preternatural senses that would tell him to laugh at Mat or Rand. Also, Rand could not know the mountain from his previous life. According to the prologue, Lews Therin destroyed himself and the mountain arose in the aftermath. Lews Therin never laid eyes on Dragonmount.
I love your videos! This is such a great breakdown!
I'd love to see you analyze something that was great, like The Queen's Gambit or Chernobyl, to give yourself a break from the frustration and for us to learn about what makes them so effective.
14:08 You hit the head on the nail. "I see things being broken." This is the quintessential concise of every true book fan. We understand they cant make every little scene from the book, but Bless God make the ones you do accurate! What I hate the most is that the changes do NOT improve anything, they are just changes for the sake of change.
1 Perin's total character change, why add a wife that does not exist, where is his AXE?!?! (It would have been 10,000% more impactful to have him kill Master Luhon his mentor)
2 Additional content that has nothing to do with the story, and does not move it forward.
3 Randomly add people into a scene that were not in the book scene. (Its like they check a box, yep got that scene. Man thise book fans will be appeased)
There is honestly something truly wonderful about your brutal dissection of this show. I now force myself to watch each episode before you rip it apart… guess this means 2 people will watch the show😂 thank you so much for doing this
Really enjoying your commentary. I think one of the problems with the warders is that the warders are a warrior class and they accept death as a consquence if their profession. They would gladly die if their Aes Sedai lived. Which makes Lan and Steppin both acting uncharacteristically. 'Duty heavier than a mountain. Death lighter than a feather'
Aes Sedai and Warders can sense the presence of twisted creatures like trollocs and the eyeless, but the One Power is an active ability, not reactive, so the White Cloaks can pincushion them with arrows before the Aes Sedai knows the White Cloaks are there. A blow to the head also makes it difficult to channel the One Power, so a rock is all the White Cloaks really need to bring an Aes Sedai down. First, they have to identify them, but there's always people willing to sell out the Aes Sedai for 30 pieces of silver, especially since a lot are convinced that all the Aes Sedai are evil and responsible for The Breaking.
And that active ability plus the three oaths makes for why so many Aes Sedai keep warders even if it is such an old custom - the ability to have someone not constrained by the three oaths to defend them. I think in the books it explains that the Whitecloaks hadn't captured or killed a live Aes Sedai in nearly a millennium, and that the last Aes Sedai they had burned at the stake was already dead and her corpse recovered from a battlefield.
The Green Ajah often have more than one warder but not always. Those with only one are often/sometimes married to that one.
During the scene with Logain laughing up at the boys while in the cage, the camera focuses on Matt for a few reasons: 1) For the cheap attempt at mystery for sure. 2) Matt is experiencing madness induced by the dagger as he slowly loses control and to hear the laughter of madness he feels it internally and it pains him much more then Rand to hear it. 3) Logain is laughing in euphoric despair at realizing that he isn't the Dragon but that this boy up on the balcony has such incredible strength with Saidin that the boy must be. No doubt he'd be able to feel Rand's strength that close.
Logain was seeing how strong of a ta'veren Rand was, and started laughing at the fact that he was in a cage while a man who would shake the world was out in the crowd unnoticed.
Season 2 explains this scene brilliantly.
In the books, Logain has the talent to see ta'veren, that's why he realizes Rand's importance when he sees him; it has nothing to do with strength.