The he thing that made me really enjoy Peter Jackson’s LOTR was that despite the departures from the books the story was told in the same tone as the novels and so it still felt like LOTR

 

Same went for Game of Thrones, the books had a darker tone and thus so did the show so it felt like the same world and the same story. 
 
WOT by contrast just does not have the same tone as the books. It feels like they are trying to tell the story of WOT in the tone of GOT and it just feels off, despite some familiar characters and scenes it just doesn’t feel like the same story. 

9 hours ago, The_Watcher_And_Wanderer said:

The he thing that made me really enjoy Peter Jackson’s LOTR was that despite the departures from the books the story was told in the same tone as the novels and so it still felt like LOTR

 

Same went for Game of Thrones, the books had a darker tone and thus so did the show so it felt like the same world and the same story. 
 
WOT by contrast just does not have the same tone as the books. It feels like they are trying to tell the story of WOT in the tone of GOT and it just feels off, despite some familiar characters and scenes it just doesn’t feel like the same story. 

Agree 100%. I’ve been saying this since day 1.  They tried to make this show something different than the books and it is Wheel of Time in name only, a façade.

I disagree. I think especially this season we are seeing more and more of the characters in lighter moments  which gives me more of a book feel. Even the more serious dialogue has felt in character. 

56 minutes ago, Turin Turambar said:

I disagree. I think especially this season we are seeing more and more of the characters in lighter moments  which gives me more of a book feel. Even the more serious dialogue has felt in character. 

I do agree that the show has gotten better with each season and I hold out hope that it will turn out to be the exact opposite of GOT in that it will start out disappointing and end awesome. 

58 minutes ago, Turin Turambar said:

I disagree. I think especially this season we are seeing more and more of the characters in lighter moments  which gives me more of a book feel. Even the more serious dialogue has felt in character. 

Totally agreed with this. A big issue is that WoT doesn't have a consistent tone the way LOTR does (haven't read ASOIAF). Jordan was just so good at writing different perspectives, and a Mat chapter feels different from and Elayne chapter which is different from a Graendel chapter, etc. Even in TEOTW, we'll have legit horror scenes with Ba'alzamon terrifying Rand in a  dream chamber built of human skulls, and then Rand will wake up and be grumpy with Moiraine or something really mundane and silly. 

14 minutes ago, Kaleb said:

Totally agreed with this. A big issue is that WoT doesn't have a consistent tone the way LOTR does (haven't read ASOIAF). Jordan was just so good at writing different perspectives, and a Mat chapter feels different from and Elayne chapter which is different from a Graendel chapter, etc. Even in TEOTW, we'll have legit horror scenes with Ba'alzamon terrifying Rand in a  dream chamber built of human skulls, and then Rand will wake up and be grumpy with Moiraine or something really mundane and silly. 

It was the juxtaposition of the naieve/idyllic upbringing the the EF group with the horror of the Enemy that makes the difference in times work in the book.  The tone changes as the kids grow.  They were to WoT what the Hobbits and the Shire were to LotR.  But instead, we started this show off from the very first episode with a Shire where the Hobbits are thieves, drunks, adulterers, pushing their women off cliffs into a river, casually sleeping with each other, etc.  if you can’t at least recognize that that is a change of tone then there is no way to even debate the merits of it.

14 minutes ago, Mirefox said:

It was the juxtaposition of the naieve/idyllic upbringing the the EF group with the horror of the Enemy that makes the difference in times work in the book.  The tone changes as the kids grow.  They were to WoT what the Hobbits and the Shire were to LotR.  But instead, we started this show off from the very first episode with a Shire where the Hobbits are thieves, drunks, adulterers, pushing their women off cliffs into a river, casually sleeping with each other, etc.  if you can’t at least recognize that that is a change of tone then there is no way to even debate the merits of it.

It is rather difficult to debate the tone of the books with someone that thinks the unique flavour of WoT is that it starts exactly like LoTR. The kids don't grow up - they are already adults. How does the whole Two Rivers grow up with them? Jordan steered the story away from the Two Rivers is the Shire into the real WoT story line and tone. 

 

I think things like no casual sex means more to you than it does to the story. 

1 minute ago, HeavyHalfMoonBlade said:

It is rather difficult to debate the tone of the books with someone that thinks the unique flavour of WoT is that it starts exactly like LoTR. The kids don't grow up - they are already adults. How does the whole Two Rivers grow up with them? Jordan steered the story away from the Two Rivers is the Shire into the real WoT story line and tone. 

 

I think things like no casual sex means more to you than it does to the story. 

First, it was one example of many in the show, I just went right back to the start.

 

Second, they were between 17-19 when the books start.  They were kids.

 

Third, I’m sorry for you that you read over 4 millions words’ worth of novels and didn’t see any character growth from Eye of the World to A Memory of Light.

2 minutes ago, Mirefox said:

Second, they were between 17-19 when the books start.  They were kids.

 

17-to 19-year-olds aren't 'kids' in any jurisdiction anywhere on this planet.

 

 

3 minutes ago, DigificWriter said:

 

17-to 19-year-olds aren't 'kids' in any jurisdiction anywhere on this planet.

 

 

If you’re being a legalistic ass, maybe.  If you’re an adult and come across a 17 year old, they are a kid in every way possible.  

1 hour ago, Mirefox said:

If you’re being a legalistic ass, maybe.  If you’re an adult and come across a 17 year old, they are a kid in every way possible.  

 

That's not how age works. 

25 minutes ago, DigificWriter said:

 

That's not how age works. 

It’s how maturity works, hence the word “kid” instead of “minor.”

You see what I mean about it being difficult to debate? The men are 20 (or near enough) at the beginning of the story, not 17. They are adults, not children, not kids, except in the laziest meaning of the word. 

 

And yes the characters mature - but does the Two Rivers? You tied the Two Rivers to being the Shire and the EF5 being hobbits. How do you mature out of that? And it has nothing to do with the tone of the books, taking that they come from a rural backwater with puritanical attitudes to nudity and premarital sex is hardly the tone of the books, it is a minor detail - as you point out they mature past much of it. It is in no way an argument that the traditions in the Two Rivers are any better than that of the Borderlands or Mayene for example. They are just meant to be rural and ill-educated in the ways of the world outside the Two Rivers which I think is a normal feature of the Hero's Journey which is also included in the show. 

 

There is no moral tale there. 

4 hours ago, Mirefox said:

Second, they were between 17-19 when the books start.  They were kids.

Per the Books, the year at the start of the Eye of the world was 998

Rand, Mat, and Perrin were between 19 and 20. Rand officially turned 20 by sometime around Chapter ~49 of The Great Hunt.

 

Rand was born in 2 Danu 978 NE (~19-20)
Mat was born in 978 NE (~19-20)
Perrin was born in 978 NE (~19-20)

Egwene was born in 981 NE (~16-17)

Elayne was born in 981 NE (~16-17)

Nynaeve was born in 974 NE (~23-24)

Min was born in 975 NE (~22-23)

Since WoT is not a medieval time period, but something closer to renaissance... Think ~1300s-1600s, people in the cities did still marry young, but child brides were... probably far less common as they were a few centuries prior...

 

But even in the two rivers, as per the books... Rand, Mat, and Perrin were all very much eligible bachelors, and the Women's council were on their ass about getting married and settling down... for good reason. 16/17 was about the age they were looking for them to enter into their tradition of "wait a "year and a day" before marriage. (betrothed at 16, get married at 17...)

 

They didn't like having eligible bachelors like Tam sitting around, potentially causing a ruckus (Mat) with all the girls in town.