8 hours ago, johnnysd said:

 

There is literally nothing to suggest it diverts from the main story. 

Literally nothing? A ton of publicity concerning WOTTV suggests (hopefully incorrectly) that the primary focus will be the Aes Sedai.

And what… exactly… is wrong with Aes Sedai? j/k j/k

Dammit.  Now I want 4 different series running concurrently that merge when they overlap.  EF boys running their arcs.  Aes Sedai show based on white tower. Sharra show with Demanded and Graendal wrecking their society then building army up for Bao the Wyld. Seanchan show showing Return and conquest.  Then giant merger for last battle.  Just have an entire Wheel of Time streaming service.

I have been reading since way before the YA label was invented, and I always considered HP a kids' book. WoT is not a kids' book. Even if the first book is still kinda tame, it does start out with the destruction of a world and a madman.

 

I do not like YA. I liked HP, but it does have its flaws. Then again, so does WoT. And ASOIAF. But YA is mostly redacted reality.

 

Is WoT a 'family story'? I dont think so. I would not read it to a 12 year old. I don't think it will be a show you can watch with 'your family', unless everyone is over 15. (And then: if a 15 y/o wants to still watch a TV show with you: feel blessed and grateful. Even if they cringe at certain scenes.)

 

But then, I am Dutch. I watched a tv show with my parents, at age 12 (I looked it up, I was that young), about our national 'founding father' William of Orange, which went heavily into his affairs with loads of nudity, frolicking and I remember a few unsavoury scenes. And of course, my dad and I watched Soldier of Orange every year, which has really crude torture scenes. I dont know if the cultural difference with an audience elsewhere will play a part.

 

It doesn't have to be gory, or full of nudity, but I do want it to feel real and tangible.

3 hours ago, Guire said:

Dammit.  Now I want 4 different series running concurrently that merge when they overlap.  EF boys running their arcs.  Aes Sedai show based on white tower. Sharra show with Demanded and Graendal wrecking their society then building army up for Bao the Wyld. Seanchan show showing Return and conquest.  Then giant merger for last battle.  Just have an entire Wheel of Time streaming service.

 

I love you.

4 hours ago, Guire said:

Dammit.  Now I want 4 different series running concurrently that merge when they overlap.  EF boys running their arcs.  Aes Sedai show based on white tower. Sharra show with Demanded and Graendal wrecking their society then building army up for Bao the Wyld. Seanchan show showing Return and conquest.  Then giant merger for last battle.  Just have an entire Wheel of Time streaming service.

As a former incarnation of Mesaana on DM I am quite upset you did not mention a children’s educational series starring me. 

5 hours ago, Guire said:

Dammit.  Now I want 4 different series running concurrently that merge when they overlap.  EF boys running their arcs.  Aes Sedai show based on white tower. Sharra show with Demanded and Graendal wrecking their society then building army up for Bao the Wyld. Seanchan show showing Return and conquest.  Then giant merger for last battle.  Just have an entire Wheel of Time streaming service.

BOOM!

1 hour ago, CaddySedai said:

As a former incarnation of Mesaana on DM I am quite upset you did not mention a children’s educational series starring me. 

Mesanna's little birds will give me nightmares now.

8 hours ago, CaddySedai said:

And what… exactly… is wrong with Aes Sedai? j/k j/k

If you don't know, I can't explain it to you...

 

?

2 hours ago, Guire said:

Mesanna's little birds will give me nightmares now.

 

I love nightmares. Thank you for letting me in your head rent free now ?

9 minutes ago, CaddySedai said:

 

I love nightmares. Thank you for letting me in your head rent free now ?

Haha I am a healthcare worker with 2 full time jobs.  Half the world is living rent free in my head right now. Only a well executed WoT series can save me.  

11 hours ago, Beidomon said:

A ton of publicity concerning WOTTV suggests (hopefully incorrectly) that the primary focus will be the Aes Sedai.

What about this concerns you?

You have to remember - TV is a different medium from literature. Effective fantasy worldbuilding is much harder on TV because exposition on TV is hard to do without long, cheesy speeches. 

 

As we enter the Wheel of Time as readers, the Aes Sedai are the most powerful organization on the continent. They dominate politics and policy. They command fear and respect. They hunt down and capture male channelers. And we know all of this because Jordan tells us.

 

You can't just tell the TV audience, you have to show them. Putting the Tower at the center of S1 is smart - it gives the writers the ability to immediately help viewers understand important concepts: the Power, the Tower, the Amyrlin, the Hall, the ajahs, and the hunt for male channelers just to name a few. This is important, because getting to know about these things gives the audience the ability to understand the importance of the later shifts in this landscape. 

 

And it takes nothing away from the story to add Logain (which is the context in which we will see most of the Aes Sedai, I believe) who (as you'll remember) proclaims himself Dragon just before the start of Book 1 and is captured and gentled during the events of that book. In fact, portraying those events not only gives the writers the opportunity to develop a character who deserves more screen time. It also allows them to show the power of saidar and the reason why male channelers are feared. It gives them the chance to introduce the concept of the Dragon, why the Dragon is feared and hated, but also why he is loved and respected. It gives us the chance to see Aes Sedai attitudes toward the Dragon and their ideas for using him at the last battle.

 

So I'm just curious, why is focusing on the Aes Sedai a bad thing?

Edited September 9, 20213 yr by Elder_Haman

16 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

What about this concerns you?

You have to remember - TV is a different medium from literature. Effective fantasy worldbuilding is much harder on TV because exposition on TV is hard to do without long, cheesy speeches. 

 

As we enter the Wheel of Time as readers, the Aes Sedai are the most powerful organization on the continent. They dominate politics and policy. They command fear and respect. They hunt down and capture male channelers. And we know all of this because Jordan tells us.

 

You can't just tell the TV audience, you have to show them. Putting the Tower at the center of S1 is smart - it gives the writers the ability to immediately understand important concepts: the Power, the Tower, the Amyrlin, the Hall, the ajahs, and the hunt for male channelers just to name a few. This is important, because getting to know about these things gives the audience the ability to understand the importance of the later shifts in this landscape. 

 

And it takes nothing away from the story to add Logain (which is the context in which we will see most of the Aes Sedai, I believe) who (as you'll remember) proclaims himself Dragon just before the start of Book 1 and is captured and gentled during the events of that book. In fact, portraying those events not only gives the writers the opportunity to develop a character who deserves more screen time. It also allows them to show the power of saidar and the reason why male channelers are feared. It gives them the chance to introduce the concept of the Dragon, why the Dragon is feared and hated, but also why he is loved and respected. It gives us the chance to see Aes Sedai attitudes toward the Dragon and their ideas for using him at the last battle.

 

So I'm just curious, why is focusing on the Aes Sedai a bad thing?

I didn't before, but I am coming around to your point everyday.  Keep talking us down off the ledge. 

7 minutes ago, Guire said:

Keep talking us down off the ledge. 

LOL. I'll try!!

36 minutes ago, Elder_Haman said:

What about this concerns you?

You have to remember - TV is a different medium from literature. Effective fantasy worldbuilding is much harder on TV because exposition on TV is hard to do without long, cheesy speeches. 

 

As we enter the Wheel of Time as readers, the Aes Sedai are the most powerful organization on the continent. They dominate politics and policy. They command fear and respect. They hunt down and capture male channelers. And we know all of this because Jordan tells us.

 

You can't just tell the TV audience, you have to show them. Putting the Tower at the center of S1 is smart - it gives the writers the ability to immediately help viewers understand important concepts: the Power, the Tower, the Amyrlin, the Hall, the ajahs, and the hunt for male channelers just to name a few. This is important, because getting to know about these things gives the audience the ability to understand the importance of the later shifts in this landscape. 

 

And it takes nothing away from the story to add Logain (which is the context in which we will see most of the Aes Sedai, I believe) who (as you'll remember) proclaims himself Dragon just before the start of Book 1 and is captured and gentled during the events of that book. In fact, portraying those events not only gives the writers the opportunity to develop a character who deserves more screen time. It also allows them to show the power of saidar and the reason why male channelers are feared. It gives them the chance to introduce the concept of the Dragon, why the Dragon is feared and hated, but also why he is loved and respected. It gives us the chance to see Aes Sedai attitudes toward the Dragon and their ideas for using him at the last battle.

 

So I'm just curious, why is focusing on the Aes Sedai a bad thing?

 

Agree 100%. Plus it allows a better arc for Rand. If people really see how "Dragon Reborns" need to be feared then it strengthens his entire story. Plus it allows the new viewer of the TV show to actually be surprised when Rand is revealed. And as I said in another post they will still be hitting all the major events so not sure how a little more focus on AS changes anything.

 

By the way, the trailer has 8.3 million views. This is going to be a hit for Amazon.

30 minutes ago, johnnysd said:

 

Agree 100%. Plus it allows a better arc for Rand. If people really see how "Dragon Reborns" need to be feared then it strengthens his entire story. Plus it allows the new viewer of the TV show to actually be surprised when Rand is revealed. And as I said in another post they will still be hitting all the major events so not sure how a little more focus on AS changes anything.

 

By the way, the trailer has 8.3 million views. This is going to be a hit for Amazon.

8 million of the views were probably just from several dozen of us on DM.

41 minutes ago, DojoToad said:

8 million of the views were probably just from several dozen of us on DM.

This is probably not the exaggeration you think it is. 

We're all going to feel very Madona-ish with this show, I think. I'm quite looking forward to that.

1 hour ago, johnnysd said:

 

Agree 100%. Plus it allows a better arc for Rand. If people really see how "Dragon Reborns" need to be feared then it strengthens his entire story. Plus it allows the new viewer of the TV show to actually be surprised when Rand is revealed. And as I said in another post they will still be hitting all the major events so not sure how a little more focus on AS changes anything.

 

By the way, the trailer has 8.3 million views. This is going to be a hit for Amazon.

Agreed. The medium forces a focus shift to do some world-building. The slow reveal and shift in perspective may be frustrating for us who experienced it through the eyes of the EF5, but is a better story-telling model for those who are jumping in through the show. 

2 hours ago, Guire said:

This is probably not the exaggeration you think it is. 

 

I mean I am good at this point for 2.63 million of those. 

 

Now if they would just start selling merch I’d buy it all sight unseen. 

 

Blood and Ashes, even just a t-shirt would be appreciated. Why would you not want ME to pay YOU to advertise for you lol. 

 

Or as Potter said “I’ll take the lot”

Edited September 9, 20213 yr by CaddySedai

And a new perspective might be fun. I always wanted to be a fly on the wall while people look at Rand like hes the devil himself. lol

29 minutes ago, CaddySedai said:

Now if they would just start selling merch I’d buy it all sight unseen. 

Have you been over to my "What merch do you want to buy?" Thread? I'd like to know!

On 9/3/2021 at 7:07 AM, Thrasymachus said:

I kinda half expected them to start singing and dancing.  Wheel of Time: Bollywood Edition.

 

I realize you have been setting yourself up to hate the series no matter what but seriously that is the extent of your feedback?

46 minutes ago, Wolfbrother31 said:

Have you been over to my "What merch do you want to buy?" Thread? I'd like to know!

I’ll be over in a bit heheh. 

15 hours ago, Daenelia said:

I have been reading since way before the YA label was invented, and I always considered HP a kids' book. WoT is not a kids' book. Even if the first book is still kinda tame, it does start out with the destruction of a world and a madman.

HP starts out with a double homicide and child being orphaned...but I'll concede that...

 

HP starts out as a children's book. What sets it apart is that Rowling wrote for a generation instead of an age group. So as the characters get older and the readers get older ... The reading level increases, the length increases, the content gets darker, ECT... So it's a children's, teen, and young adult series. 

 

Which is why I've been putting LoTR and the last HP movies in the same category, and is what I'm hoping for from WoT [at least at first]. So I'm super pleased with the TV-14 rating. And as I wrote, I wouldn't consider WoT, LoTR, or the last HP as YA [like Twilight, Shannara, Shadow & Bone]. 

 

What I really want from Rafe and the team though is to lean into WoT's strengths ... Which in my opinion is: world-building, a unique magic system, and the struggle for power between men & women [with the resolution that gender matters and we need each other]. 

 

Sooo even though I think the trailer looks really good and hyped for the show. I'm still a little skeptical that it'll be very WoT ish as I saw WoT. 

 

But I'm still hyped. And think that the show has the opportunity to improve on: the romances, the antagonists, and sticking to the main story [see the balefired thread].