ArrylT
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Posts posted by ArrylT
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1 minute ago, DaddyFinn said:
Witcher has like half a dozen different extra BTS and lore on Netflix. Haven't seen those but I suppose they explain a lot of stuff
Yes I think it all depends on one what is looking for. Personally the more the better for me. I am the type of person who has the 4 disc LOTR box set for each movie. I love having the WoT glossaries and the Companion book(s). So give me all the bonus content you want. Part of why I am giving the show itself a 10/10 is all the additionals - be it behind the scenes, Origin shorts, after shows, interaction with other fans & so on. The fact that Netflix did this for The Witcher is a positive for me, even if The Witcher is currently a few tiers below Wheel of Time for me in terms of quality entertainment.
But just noting we should not give a negative (or a positive) to Wheel of Time without doing the same for The Witcher.
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I just recently watched Episode 1 of S1 of The Witcher.
It is pretty difficult to grade a show on 1 episode vs another show on 1 episode.
But in this case The Wheel of Time did beat The Witcher in one very key metric (for me). My significant other currently has no desire to watch any more The Witcher. She is a major LOTR fan (books & movies), loves GOT, and has become a big WoT show fan (to the point that she is making t-shirts & other stuff, re-watching episodes on her own & getting ready to read EOTWf). But 1 and done with Witcher as a show.
Personally if I had to grade both after 1 episode I would do it like such
Acting: Edge to Wheel of Time
Cinematography: Edge to Wheel of Time
Action: Slight edge to The Witcher
Plot: Edge to Wheel of Time*
Writing: Slight edge to Wheel of Time
Tone: Edge to The Witcher
Character attachment: Major edge to Wheel of Time
My biggest "dislike" of the Witcher after 1 episode is that
SpoilerMultiple Characters came off as very unlikeable, and a couple seemed to straight out be liars. IE they'd make a promise or describe something & it was completely fabricated. Ex: Queen of Cintra tells her granddaughter she'll know when she (the Queen) will be dead. Then she goes and falls out of a window slightly later on. Impact to Ciri? Nada.
* - admittedly I have the benefit of having read the books (but she did not and neither did several of our friends) however for me at least the holes in the Witcher Plot are easy to notice and I am not looking for them because I have no desire to dislike The Witcher, so that was interesting.
I will keep watching The Witcher on my own. But I think while WoT had some flaws in the first episode, it was a lot easier to deal with, because of my past attachment to the books, to be able to be accepting, and with re-watches enjoy the show more & more. But when judging Witcher Ep1 on simply fantasy entertainment it was somewhat lacking (but like a 6/10 not a 1/10). I simply feel no sense of compulsion to keep watching. There where things that bugged me about The Boys after Ep1 but none of which to the point were keeping me from wanting to continue then and there. But to each our own right?
Anyways lots of time over the next months to keep enjoying my re-read of the book series, further re-watches of S1 and enjoy all the WoT show content out there.
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On 12/30/2021 at 10:04 AM, Mirefox said:
I couldn’t agree with this any less than I do. You might as well say that the show expects viewers to read the books to learn the details it doesn’t provide. It is a massive cop out to leave things out of a show then provide bonus content to explain everything you failed to explain.
Just wanted to note that Netflix did the exact same thing with the Witcher - they literally created a website for the show to help explain things. Not saying anyone is not "judging' The Witcher for this - just that WoT is not alone in doing so.
- Vambram, Skipp and Weird_Old_Lady
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On 12/25/2021 at 2:02 PM, Skipp said:
Overall I am fairly happy with the season and would rate it a 7.5-8/10. Lots of room for improvement but I feel the soul of the work is there. Very excited to see where season 2 takes us.
And honestly it is very neat to be able to speculate on Wheel of Time again!
Yeah I've decided to give Season 1 an 8.5/10, and the show itself a 10/10. I am grading the season specifically on certain merits and the show itself as a whole with additional merits added.
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Edited by ArrylT
Always funny how we all have different experiences. When I was at the nearest bookstore to where I live - they had all 14 books in the Fantasy section - and 6 months ago I do not recall them having any on the shelves (but obviously stock in warehouses).
I asked the manager how sales were doing, and he said that they were very brisk - I didnt ask about other series though.
Anyways while 5-6 weeks old - this article has it as the 5th best selling fiction book (not fantasy but fiction overall)
https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/wheel-of-time-book-sales-spike-amazon-prime/
That is apparently up since Sept
https://amazonadviser.com/2021/09/15/sold-amazon-books-september-5/
Which had it at 13th.
Today currently it is 3rd overall for fiction - according to most recent sales figures.
https://www.amazon.ca/charts/2021-12-26/mostread/fiction/ref=dp_chrtbg_dbs_1
and 6th most read?
https://www.amazon.ca/charts/2021-12-26/mostsold/fiction?ref=chrt_bk_dx_intra_sd_fc
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I was reading, what I thought, was a really well done reddit review of S1 changes, more objective and less subjective than most.
Anyways it mentioned something that I think no one may have recalled. I certainly do not think of it when I re-read EOTW recently. Had to go back and find the brief mention.
Nynaeve was injured at the Eye of the World and healed by Moiraine.
So in that sense the only thing that changed was Egwene replaced Moiraine as the healer.
Nynaeve, typically imo, acts as if it wasnt much in the books - but without detail how do we know how close to death she was? Moiraine, for not being Yellow Ajah, does have a strength in healing.
"A battle ensues in which Moiraine, Nynaeve al'Meara, Lan Mandragoran, and Egwene al'Vere are all hurt."
https://wot.fandom.com/wiki/Eye_of_the_World
Basically the ONLY person in Ep8 that does not get hurt physically, as in the books, is Lan - so an argument can be made that the show is making Lan stronger as this is an instance of where he is not shown as being defeated by an enemy. Instead he chooses duty over love and enters the Blight alone.
SpoilerLan's sword sprang from its scabbard too fast for Rand's eye to follow. Yet the Warder hesitated, eyes flickering to Moiraine, to Nynaeve. The two women stood well apart; to put himself between either of them and the Forsaken would put him further from the other. Only for a heartbeat the hesitation lasted, but as the Warder's feet moved, Aginor raised his hand. It was a scornful gesture, a flipping of his gnarled fingers as if to shoo away a fly. The Warder flew backwards through the air as though a huge fist had caught him. With a dull thud Lan struck the stone arch, hanging there for an instant before dropping in a flaccid heap,
Aginor clearly thinks nothing of the best Warder.
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Edited by ArrylT
So wow just discovered something about the Horn of Valere that gives it a Perrin connection
SpoilerIt is also later revealed that the Horn can summon not only human heroes, but wolves as well.
SpoilerGhost wolves
During the Last Battle in Thakan'dar the blowing of the Horn of Valere is able to summon along the Heroes, also the spirits of all the past dead wolves that were dwelling in Tel'aran'rhiod. They are silvery figures and are among the few things that are able to fight successfully against the Darkhound packs.
https://wot.fandom.com/wiki/Horn_of_Valere
Also if you read the wiki - it suggests that Mat was broken of his connection to the Horn of Valere - ergo is it actually necessary that Mat needs to be connected?
SpoilerIt is also revealed that Mat is no longer the Hornsounder; his death and revival during the events of the invasion of Andor were sufficient to sever his ties to the Horn, allowing a new Hornsounder to emerge. Mat was hanged after his second visit to Sindhol, but in AMoL Hawkwing tells him that "Not the tree, Gambler. Another moment, one that you cannot remember. It is fitting, as Lews Therin did save your life both times.". The effects of death and revival by Balefire affect the weave of the pattern, and thus Mat's second death may well have been ignored by the Pattern if so.
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Edited by ArrylT
Makes a solid point regarding the Stepin arc (along with plenty of other thought provoking comments).
SpoilerThese major additions are also faithful to the structure of the books, which tell many ‘mini’ stories about people in the world to flesh it out.
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Edited by ArrylT
Having just recently watched Ep1 of S1 of The Witcher, and hopefully understanding the perspective shared about Warhammer 40K - I can now try to have a scale of which to compare "grimdark" between WoT, GOT, and so forth (ex: The Boys).
Right now with the OP description of Warhammer as 10 right now I'd say (personal subjective)
0 He-Man / GI Joe / Mask (other cartoons)
1 Chronicles of Narnia
2 Once Upon A Time
3 Wheel of Time Books
4 Wheel of Time Show
5 Hannibal
6 The Boys
7 Game of Thrones
8 The Witcher
9 The Walking Dead
10 Warhammer
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On 12/27/2021 at 11:30 PM, Wassup said:
A couple things I have seen mentioned somewhere else:
a stones board on the table in the Winespring Inn.
the way the tinkers linked arms to block the white cloaks. I thought this was a nod to how the Aiel did this to hold off one of the forsaken so people could flee to safety 3000 years before. It would have been interesting if they had started singing.
It looks like there is a Snakes & foxes & game in the tavern in Fal Dara
- EasingTheBadger, Terry05, Skipp and 8 others
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9 hours ago, Sir_Charrid said:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/wheel-of-time-showrunner-interview-1235051283/
Not sure if this one has been posted but a few interesting points that indicate Rafes thinking behind certain aspects. I fully agree that the Aes Sedai needed to be introduced fully in season 1. I also understand that if you focus on Rand for winters night then, as he says, you don't really get an introduction to the other characters (Mat is my fav character in the books but really he didn't click for me until about book 4 first time of reading).
I still think Eomonds Field could have done with a slightly longer slower intro.That was one of the better articles I have read - I think the interviewer did a good job of asking the right questions in a way that allowed Rafe to answer them in detail.
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Edited by ArrylT
Just a couple portions from the Seanchan attack on Ebou Dar
Using spoilers due to volume of text
SpoilerAbout to turn away, he realized almost no one was moving. The docks usually bustled, yet on every ship he could see, crewmen lined the rails and had climbed into the rigging to stare toward the bay. Barrels and crates stood abandoned while shirtless men and wiry women in green leather vests crowded together at the ends of the docks to peer between the ships, south, toward the thunder. Down that way, black smoke rose in thick towering columns, slanting sharply north on the wind.
Hesitating only a moment, he trotted out along the nearest dock. At first, ships tied to the long fingers of stone to the south blocked his view of anything except the smoke. Because of the way the shoreline lay, though, each dock stuck out farther than the next down; once he pushed into the murmuring crowd at the end, the broad river made an open path of choppy green water to the wave-tossed bay.
At least two dozen ships were burning out on the wide expanse of the bay, maybe more, engulfed in flame from end to end. A number of others had already settled, only a bow or stern still above water and that sliding under. Even as he looked, the bow of a broad two-masted ship flying a large banner of red and blue and gold, the banner of Altara, suddenly flew apart with a roar, a boom like thunder, and fast-thickening tendrils of smoke wafted away on the wind as the vessel began settling by the head. Hundreds of vessels were in motion, every craft in the bay, three-masted Sea Folk rakers and skimmers and two-masted soarers, coastal ships with their triangular sails, riverships under sail or sweep, some fleeing upriver, most trying to beat out to sea. Scores of other ships swanned into the bay before the wind, great bluff-bowed vessels as tall as any of the rakers, crashing through the rolling waves, throwing aside spray. His breath caught as he suddenly made out square, ribbed sails.
“Blood and bloody ashes,” he muttered in shock. “It’s the flaming Seanchan!”
and
SpoilerThe Seanchan were not the only reason everyone else had gotten out of sight. At the other end of the street, a good hundred mounted men swung long-pointed lances down. They wore baggy white breeches and green coats, and the gold cords on the officer’s helmet glittered. With a collective shout, a hundred or more of Tylin’s soldiers hurled themselves toward the city’s attackers. They outnumbered the Seanchan in front of them by at least two to one.
“Bloody fools,” Mat muttered. “Not like that. That sul’dam will—”
The only movement among the Seanchan was the woman in the lightning-marked dress raising her hand to point, as one might launch a hawk, or send off a hound. The golden-haired woman at the other end of the silvery leash took a small step forward. The foxhead medallion cooled against his chest.
Underneath the head of the Ebou Dari charge, the street suddenly erupted, paving stones and men and horses flying into the air with a deafening roar. The concussion knocked Mat flat on his back, or maybe it was the way the ground seemed to leap from under his feet. He pulled himself up in time to see the front of an inn across the way suddenly collapse into the street in a cloud of dust, exposing the rooms within.
Men and horses lay everywhere, pieces of men and horses, those still alive thrashing, around a hole in the ground half as wide as the street. Screams from the wounded filled the air. Fewer than half the Ebou Dari staggered to their feet, dazed and stumbling. Some seized up the reins of horses as wobbly-legged as they, heaving themselves into saddles, kicking the animals into some semblance of a run. Others just ran afoot. All away from the Seanchan. Steel they could face, but not this.
Running, Mat realized, seemed a particularly fine idea right then. A glance back down the alley showed dust and rubble piled at least a story high. He darted down the street ahead of the fleeing Ebou Dari, keeping as close to the walls as possible, hoping none of the Seanchan would think he was one of Tylin’s soldiers. He should never have worn a green coat.
The sul’dam apparently was not satisfied. The foxhead went cool again, and from behind another roar hammered him to the pavement, pavement that jumped up to meet him. Through the ringing in his ears, he heard masonry groan. Above him, the white-plastered brick wall began leaning outward.
“What happened to my bloody luck?” he shouted. He had time for that. And just time to realize, as brick and timbers crashed down on him, that the dice in his head had just stopped dead.
Basically evidence that the Seanchan were willing to use tactics that could/would hurt innocent civilians during assault. Because until they had sworn the oaths ...
Also, as an fyi according to the WOT Wiki
The Ever Victorious Army is a reference to an imperial army in 19th century China.
So it makes sense that the navy has a similar look to Chinese Junks
And according to the books themselves
A typical Seanchan soldier wears a uniform of red, green and gold painted steel plates and dark leather (Great Hunt Chp 29).
As for the idea that the tidal wave was meant as a warning shot - very possible. They used this to force Bayle Domon to let them board:
SpoilerDomon had no intention of meeting any Seanchan, if he could avoid it.
He was raising the glass to see what he could make out on the nearing Seanchan decks, when, with a roar, the surface of the sea broke into fountaining water and flame not a hundred paces from his larboard side. Before he had even begun to gape, another column of flame split the sea on the other side, and as he was spinning to stare at that, another burst up ahead. The eruptions died as quickly as they were born, spray from them blown across the deck. Where they had been, the sea bubbled and steamed as if boiling.
“We . . . we’ll reach shallow water before they can close with us,” Yarin said slowly. He seemed to be trying not to look at the water roiling under clouds of mist.
Domon shook his head. “Whatever they did, they can shatter us, even do I take her into the breakers.” He shivered, thinking of the flame inside the fountains of water, and his holds full of fireworks. “Fortune prick me, we might no live to drown.” He tugged at his beard and rubbed his bare upper lip, reluctant to give the order—the vessel and what it contained were all he had in the world—but finally he made himself speak. “Bring her into the wind, Yarin, and down sail. Quickly, man, quickly! Before they do think we still try to escape.”
Basically everything from the brief glimpse of the Seanchan shown suggests, imho, that the show has done them very very well.
I underlined a certain sentence that could serve as a reminder that even when we do not expect it, the show takes stuff from the books and places it in episodes we do not expect. ?
How did the show hold up for non-fans watching with you?
in Wheel of Time TV Show
Movies Peter Jackson directed before LOTR
Heavenly Creatures
Forgotten Silver
The Frighteners
I do not think we need to rehash the fact that a lot of LOTR fans were upset with the changes to the films other to say that the parallels are pretty similar
Person with some experience in the industry & a fan of the material that a fair minority of fans disagree with their adaptation.
Speaking of Favreau - his last movie The Lion King was somewhat critically panned and disliked by many (Elton John for example disowns it) while still being a financial success. Oh and a lot of people like to "hate" on the Shannara Chronicles - which coincidentally enough Favreau was involved with. He also did Cowboys & Aliens.
Favreau however as a writer would have been pretty interesting - since I think that is his biggest strength - but like Jaysen Gore mentioned - likely out of the price range.