A trip to the city in the clouds yields a truth that some characters can't handle.
See full article...
See full article...
At the halfway point of season 3, The Wheel of Time is getting it done
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
I can absolutely understand that - the episode was well done. Loved the Rand flickering back and forth between the same framing, and Moraine spinning camera bits.
But in terms of lore and the importance to... well, everything - I feel like non-book readers would be almost totally lost.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
I have to say, that episode was an absolute banger. Brought me right back to everything I love about the books.
I'm not entirely sure, as a heavy book reader, if non-book readers would have really grasped the full gravity of the revelations there about the Aiel and Tuatha'an, how foundationally that breaks down who they so strongly believe they are, and if we had enough screen time with the Aiel to deliver that. But for me, it really sung. And Moiraine's spinning visions were so well done.
It does seem like this show is getting better every season, which is a good trend to be on. Some of the changes were head scratching at first, but they have said it's making more changes in the beginning so that it will lead to the characters still having their iconic arcs and key scenes landing later on, and having to cut the story down by about half.
Changing Sakarnen to a Saidar sa'angreal was also slightly puzzling at first, but it's fine since it did make a late appearance in the books anyways and so did Vora's Sa'Angreal so I guess they're kind of fusing them and showing that there's a female equivalent to Callandor earlier on. Or using the two as the Choeden Kal instead? A bit of all of the above? But clearly there's some Angreal fusion happening. I wonder if Callandor still has its flaws.
But then again again....Sakarnen has some extreme implications later in the books and I'm not sure how they work this way? But I reiterate my earlier point, the show is making early changes that allow it to line up emotional arc conclusions better, I'll just WAFO here and hope it keeps getting better every season!
I'm not entirely sure, as a heavy book reader, if non-book readers would have really grasped the full gravity of the revelations there about the Aiel and Tuatha'an, how foundationally that breaks down who they so strongly believe they are, and if we had enough screen time with the Aiel to deliver that. But for me, it really sung. And Moiraine's spinning visions were so well done.
It does seem like this show is getting better every season, which is a good trend to be on. Some of the changes were head scratching at first, but they have said it's making more changes in the beginning so that it will lead to the characters still having their iconic arcs and key scenes landing later on, and having to cut the story down by about half.
Changing Sakarnen to a Saidar sa'angreal was also slightly puzzling at first, but it's fine since it did make a late appearance in the books anyways and so did Vora's Sa'Angreal so I guess they're kind of fusing them and showing that there's a female equivalent to Callandor earlier on. Or using the two as the Choeden Kal instead? A bit of all of the above? But clearly there's some Angreal fusion happening. I wonder if Callandor still has its flaws.
But then again again....Sakarnen has some extreme implications later in the books and I'm not sure how they work this way? But I reiterate my earlier point, the show is making early changes that allow it to line up emotional arc conclusions better, I'll just WAFO here and hope it keeps getting better every season!
Last edited:
Upvote
13
(13
/
0)
I have never read the books, I think I kinda get what they were trying to do with the episode, and think I caught the overall gist of it. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Like "finally, the plot is getting somewhere!"
Upvote
9
(9
/
0)
One huge, huge gripe I have with the cinematography - and it's not specific to this series, unfortunately, but seems to be a modern malady... dark scenes are SO dark.
Unless you're watching in a blackened room with a perfectly calibrated, high end TV, so much of the scene is just lost.
Unless you're watching in a blackened room with a perfectly calibrated, high end TV, so much of the scene is just lost.
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)
The brightness seemed really good on my screen & I hate TV that's too dark, is there possibly a settings issue? I know I've heard a lot of similar issues from people watching on computer monitors, I don't know if that's related.
Upvote
7
(7
/
0)
I've never thought that about this series in particular, and I don't have an OLED TV or a particularly bright high end LCD one, it's a middle range Hisense. The show seems bright compared to some of the darker big shows. I've seen it on several devices and never thought it was dark. The show is kind of bright and airy in retrospect.
Maybe something's going wrong? HDR conversion fail? Gamma setting? Now if you have a low end/few year old sub 200 nits TV that unfortunately branded itself as HDR, HDR content can and does look dark and could appear worse than it would have been in SDR.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
Vora's sa'angreal makes an appearance in The Dragon Reborn to heal Mat although it's not named or used again until much later. Since the Healing has already taken place on the show without mention of the sa'angreal, we'll have to wait to see what they do. I can't imagine that the White Tower doesn't have something, but it's not plot relevant until later.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
Hmm, thanks for the input.
I have a brand new high-end LG OLED - not as large as I'd like but, you know... gotta save somewhere - so shouldn't be a panel limitation.
I'll have to recheck the settings. I did watch in a brightly sunlit room, and do tend to run the panel quite dark, overall, but the dark scenes stood out for not standing out, if that makes sense. I even turned off the auto panel power saving before starting the episode (I find LG's Auto setting is too quick to turn down the panel brightness). Maybe it's an HDR-specific settings issue?
EDIT: I'm watching via Prime app on Apple TV. I notice that Prime has the show listed as HDR10+, but the TV flashes up the Dolby Vision rather than the HDR pop up in the top right corner... I wonder if that's related.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
Keep in mind that the end of season 4 is supposed to be the halfway point of the series and let’s look at what they need to get to halfway through the books:If they're actually going to finish this (slightly mad!) exercise then never mind trimming, they're going to be slicing out non trivial plot lines left right and center
7 is Bowl of the Winds, 6 is Dumai’s Wells. So they need the Tower to split, everyone to go to Salidar, and that to advance to Eg taking over as rebel Amyrlin. Elayne/Nyaneve have to do their Tanchico thing and grab Moggy. Mat has to do his red stone door and then win the battle. Now the Bowl of the Winds is ready.
For the Wells we need Mat to win his battle, then Rand to lead a strike on Caemlyn to free Morgase from Rahvin. This is where Moirraine dies. Allan’s has to bond him, in-book this happens in Carmlyn. Then Min has to show up at his side. Now the only person he trusts can’t channel, because Moirraine and Egwene are gone, and the tower can send their embassy. Perrin also has to do his thing in the Two Rivers.
By the end of this season we will have Tanchico, the Perrin in Two Rivers thing, Mat annd doorway, and Rand car’a’carn. We will likely have some advances on the Tower split. So all we’ll need is for the Aiel plot line to advance until May can kill Couladin, the Tower split, the strike on Caemlyn, and we’re halfway through the series at the halfway point.
Note that this also makes the five season plan easy. After the Wells/Bowl everyone is about to start their mid-late plots, so all you need to end satisfyingly is Eg uniting the Tower, cleansing Saidin, and TG, which can be managed in one season
For the Wells we need Mat to win his battle, then Rand to lead a strike on Caemlyn to free Morgase from Rahvin. This is where Moirraine dies. Allan’s has to bond him, in-book this happens in Carmlyn. Then Min has to show up at his side. Now the only person he trusts can’t channel, because Moirraine and Egwene are gone, and the tower can send their embassy. Perrin also has to do his thing in the Two Rivers.
By the end of this season we will have Tanchico, the Perrin in Two Rivers thing, Mat annd doorway, and Rand car’a’carn. We will likely have some advances on the Tower split. So all we’ll need is for the Aiel plot line to advance until May can kill Couladin, the Tower split, the strike on Caemlyn, and we’re halfway through the series at the halfway point.
Note that this also makes the five season plan easy. After the Wells/Bowl everyone is about to start their mid-late plots, so all you need to end satisfyingly is Eg uniting the Tower, cleansing Saidin, and TG, which can be managed in one season
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
As a non book reader, probably not. But it seems reasonably clear - we got to spend some time with the Tuatha'an in series 1, and they are somewhat Romani analogs - travellers who will only use non-violent resistance even when being attacked by the white cloaks; that beating on people who won't fight back is just cruelty, telling us entirely what Valda is. The Way of of the Leaf being an entire pacifist philosophy of bending to the will of the Wheel I think, knowing that things change each time round (and some things not!)
For the Aiel, they are clearly deeply ritualistic desert warriors, guided by the Wise Ones for spiritual matters, and the clan chiefs for martial ones. Life is clearly hard in the Wastes, and so they have many rules of honour amongst the clans so they don't end up killing each other off - but their wrath when pursuing an honour debt is fierce from their pursuit of Moraine's uncle (the ruler of Cairhien presumably, since he built a throne from the chopped down tree) - and ultimately leading to Rand growing up with the wetlanders when his adoptive dad takes the baby after the death of his mother. I don't know what the debt of honor was that lead to the graft of the tree being gifted to Cairhien, but there's so many alliances alluded to but not explained just because they've been around for a long time from the POV of the characters!
So we find out both groups were decendents of servants from the Aes Sedai - followers of the Way of the Leaf who fled the catastrophic attempt to harness a new kind of magic by Lanfear - this is presumably a big part of the breaking of the world which turned the high tech science+magic peaceful world we saw here and with the Lews Therin flashback, into the medieval fedualism and tainted male Power we see now, while the Callandor people (Lews Therin?) were presumably part of the war that followed the breach against the Forsaken, the Blight etc. I'm not sure how much I trust the stuff Ishamel showed Rand in season 1, I'll have to rewatch it.
I liked how they started with fancy shiny carriages... and continue still in rather ramshackle decorated wooden wagons in the current era as the Tuatha'an. I don't know why they started searching for the Song; was it what they were singing in the fields before the fall of the sphere? Presumably it was the group that split off - in the flashback with a lot of dead - who ultimately become the Tuatha'an, with a handful of true Aiel heading over the mountains instead.
So, anyway, the true Aiel founded Rhuidean far away from anywhere as a place of safety for themselves, the sphere and the tree keeping their promise to the Aes Sedai (unlike the Tuatha'an) - the Aiel who have to give up the way of the leaf and were shunned took up the spear as it was more palatable than a sword, which represented their broken oath as purely a weapon, as we see with Rand's ancestor rescuing the girls - and they guard the Wastes and true Aiel from wetlanders. Presumably there were more, or the non-peaceful Aiel line would have died out quick! The True Aiel died out leaving the city unfinished, for reasons unknown, and that Aes Sedai turned the city into a trial for now-Aiel wise women and chiefs, so they find out the truth of their long-ago past that they don't discuss with the Aiel more generally. That they are oath-breakers, killers who abandoned the Way of the Leaf, that hide their faces and hate swords because of that act, and that they will be almost entirely destroyed by following the reborn Dragon - but that they must.
Clearly the 'peaceful' tree was an important tree, to have 10,000 saplings sent out - did any more survive than the one at Rhuidean - it seems to be the last one? And the misty white orb that Moraine now has is clearly going to be a very powerful artifact, the counterpart of Callandor IIRC - and given how often Moraine gets killed by Lanfear, that could be handy - given the accidental reveal that she dies if she doesn't go into Rhuidean, that may be the reason why.
Anyway, that's this non-book reader thoughts. Oddly enough, I read a lot of fantasy in my youth, just not this one; Pern and Lord of the Rings were my big series, and Song of Ice and Fire later. And WoT seemed too daunting to start later on, plus it's infamous for stuff like braid-tugging writing and very meandering plot. I imagine the cuts and changes are pretty annoying to faithful book readers, but as a show watcher I've found it really good, especially now they've found their feet post-covid. I'm eagerly awaiting the rest of the series and more!
Last edited:
Upvote
23
(23
/
0)
As another LG OLED owner (a C9 from 2019), IME that's....just how HDR is. The brights are great, and the darks are fucking unwatchable unless you wait until nighttime and the room is dim or dark. I've started disabling HDR and forcing tone mapping just so that I can fucking see things when I watch TV during the daytime.
HDR is IMO extremely disapointing, and years of faffing around in the settings hasn't really made it any better for me. I like the brights when they're bright, but I wish they had some kind of magic cut-off to make the dim bits just a little less dim.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
Just like the books, Rhuidean is showing Rand the lives of his blood ancestors, not his past lives, which are very different things. It's possible you may be encountering extra confusion because you're choosing to skip 2/3rds of the show.
I have to disagree, I think Rafe has demonstrated numerous times that he knows the series even better than other fans who found the story resonant to them & important through a number of years.
Upvote
21
(21
/
0)
I haven't found the dark scenes bad (this season. Season 2 had a couple that were real bad) but one thing that was super noticeable to me in this episode, which was otherwise a visual treat, was the compression artifacts. There was so much banding in any scene that had a lot of fog. Which in Rhuidean was most of them.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
Yeah, you pretty much nailed it all. Regarding your question as to why the Aiel gave the sapling to the Cairhienen, that was a vision that didn't make it in. Not sure if they will discuss it or not. They might cover it in a later episode, as IIRC Rand has to have the connection between that particular vision and Cairhien explained to him later as well. But long and short of it is
It was an event the Aiel call the Sharing of Water. Everyone who goes through the columns sees it. It took place some time between the vision where Lewin picked up the spear and when Rhuidean was founded. Even with the True Aiel being shadowed by those who would fight, they were generally harassed by bandits and whatnot the whole time, but there was one group of people who let them use their wells and stay and rest for a while without being attacked.
Then about 500 years before the books start, which was well after the True Aiel had died out and they Aiel as we know them today are the only ones left, the Aiel Wise Ones and clan chiefs send a delegation west to the descendants of the one people who had treated them well, and gave them the chora cutting as a symbol of their agreement. Cairhien was the only nation allowed to cross the Waste to trade with those on the other side, which is how they became so wealthy.
Then about 500 years before the books start, which was well after the True Aiel had died out and they Aiel as we know them today are the only ones left, the Aiel Wise Ones and clan chiefs send a delegation west to the descendants of the one people who had treated them well, and gave them the chora cutting as a symbol of their agreement. Cairhien was the only nation allowed to cross the Waste to trade with those on the other side, which is how they became so wealthy.
Upvote
12
(12
/
0)
Yup, you nailed it. Maybe a few small things that are slightly different, but as Jordan would say, WAFO.
Maybe I'm undercrediting show watchers because I already have context to draw from and understand everything in, I don't have to think and remember scene details much since I remember so much of the books. But I also don't think most people watching TV casually are as observant as you hah. Glad you liked it.
The visions scenes really give me hope for a lot of the later absolute banger book scenes being very well done on the show! We're just getting started here, for everyone just watching the show and loving that episode!
I pray they make it and do (very minor chapter name spoiler that doesn't give away much) Veins of Gold its due justice
Last edited:
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
I saw that in the imdb too, and I agree. It makes quite a lot of sense, actually.
Mat's guiding light, beyond figuring out his memories, has been to protect the women. Thom has that as well. Perhaps Mat will serve as Juilin in this instance, though we technically haven't hit Tear yet.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
I hope so - there's so many threads already rolling to see unfold in the near future!
For starters, you've got Rand and Moiraine having to process their respective past/future visions, and how that impacts on how much they should stick to fate and prophecy, or try to avoid it - their little trip to the Eye of the World at Moiraine's urging in S1 lead to just freeing Ishamael, who freed the other Forsaken (the gray man creating one seems particularly bad!) and of course the fun at Falme, Moraine breaking with Siuan, and everything Lanfear. Aviendha seems like she's going to be a fun frenemy for Rand who must have had her own visions of the future in the ring.
And I suspect some Aiel aren't going to take an outlander like Rand as the Cara'a'carn well; Couladin in particular is probably going to be pissed that Rand left his brother to die in the columns, plus he seems quite a dick.
Egwene surely has to figure out at some point that Lanfear is the one torturing her in the world of dreams, perhaps with the Wise One's help? That's going to be messy, given Rand's uh, prior situationship with Lanfear, Moraine's up-to-now detente with Lanfear to get the Two Rivers crew moving, and Moraine's visions!
Liandrin and the black Ajah are clearly up to stuff hunting down a male A'dam in Tanchico - gaining control of Rand, mirroring Egwene's experience would be pretty catastrophic. And with Nynaeve, Elayne, Mat and Min hot on their tails - plus all 4 are struggling with their own issues, such as Nynaeve's block and Mat's growing insanity from the Horn, I'm excited to see what happens!
There's clearly still troubles for Siuan in the White Tower to come - with Elaida plotting, Verin maybe a black Ajah, and the relationship with Morgase and Andor seriously rocky over Elayne's safety - while she merrily walks into trouble in Tanchico, and the secret everyone-thinks-hes-always-been-there Forsaken to stir trouble.
Perrin is no doubt about to clash with Valda and the white cloaks again, and more Trollocs - but at least he has Alanna, I think my favourite Aes Sedai, to help this time!
And of course, the Seanchan might have been defeated at Falme, but it doesn't seem like they're the type to let their destiny go so easily, so no doubt they'll be back and still awesome baddies at some point, Rand has to try to go walk into the inevitable trap at Tear to get Callandor, and we've lots of split partners - Nynaeve/Lan, Moiraine/Siuan, Aviendha/Elayne, Rand/Lanfear (kidding!) So much to look forward to!
Last edited:
Upvote
10
(10
/
0)
You mean splatterhouse wunderkind Peter Jackson? Dead Alive Peter Jackson? Bad Taste Peter Jackson? Meet the Feebles Peter Jackson?
Upvote
6
(7
/
-1)
Interesting, I don't think I've ever made the connection between the two - though that might explain the 'modern malady' feeling I have about the issue.
It's ironic that deep blacks and 'infinite contrast' end up meaning you sometimes are watching a scene that's seemingly just different smudges of black with maybe a bright spot or two.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
I've just caught up with the season so far and I agree with some of the comments here, that Season 3 has picked up the Season 2 ball and is running with it. Great to see the Lee & Andrew show back as well!
I'm very much liking the portrayal of the Aiel - they haven't lost any of their ritualistic culture but they seem to be a lot more straightforward for the other main characters to deal with than I remember from the books, which I much prefer.
The same goes for the slightly more grown up take on most of those main characters. Actually having them talk to each other once in a while and skipping the interminable 'they can't possibly understand because they are men/women/wetlanders/wool-headed sheepherders, etc. etc. etc.' cruft that I remember from the books makes a lot of practical sense (who's got time for that in eight episodes) and also has the happy effect of making the TV show far less tedious.
And yeah, thank the Light for the lack of random acts of nudity and spanking.
One small thing that did strike me though (and I don't remember if this was taken from the books), was the irony of the glass columns being created by Latra Posae but marking any man who passed through them with a sign of the Dragon. Not sure if that was a deliberate choice by Posae (accept that you are descended from violent oathbreakers and be branded accordingly) or whether the Pattern was trolling her a little bit.
I'm very much liking the portrayal of the Aiel - they haven't lost any of their ritualistic culture but they seem to be a lot more straightforward for the other main characters to deal with than I remember from the books, which I much prefer.
The same goes for the slightly more grown up take on most of those main characters. Actually having them talk to each other once in a while and skipping the interminable 'they can't possibly understand because they are men/women/wetlanders/wool-headed sheepherders, etc. etc. etc.' cruft that I remember from the books makes a lot of practical sense (who's got time for that in eight episodes) and also has the happy effect of making the TV show far less tedious.
And yeah, thank the Light for the lack of random acts of nudity and spanking.
One small thing that did strike me though (and I don't remember if this was taken from the books), was the irony of the glass columns being created by Latra Posae but marking any man who passed through them with a sign of the Dragon. Not sure if that was a deliberate choice by Posae (accept that you are descended from violent oathbreakers and be branded accordingly) or whether the Pattern was trolling her a little bit.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
I get the very strong impression that this was
a "Fling a Light into the Future" moment by Latra. She was marking the leaders of the Aiel with the Dragon to mark the Aiel as the People of the Dragon, and her glass columns were waiting for the actual Dragon Reborn to mark him with two Dragons. She was giving Lews Therin's reincarnated soul his first army because she or another Aes Sedai had Foretold it was necessary. Similar to the Eye of the World logic in the books.
Upvote
12
(12
/
0)
That makes sense - thanks.
As an aside, I did like the understated way that Latra created the columns compared to the more dramatic way that Third Age channellers do their thing.
Admittedly she had a hugely powerful sa’angreal to draw on but, even so, it felt very much like we were seeing Latra for who she really was - an elite channeller from a culture that had long since turned channelling into a hard science, rather than something learned by rote and superstition.
Upvote
9
(9
/
0)
I've never read the books, and I've only been casually watching the show (which is to say, I've seen all the episodes, but I've already forgotten a lot of details from the first two seasons).
I watched this episode last night. My jaw is still sore from how hard it hit the floor.
When I started watching this show, it was something of a concession that I was never going to read the books (my reading list is long). Now I am reconsidering that.
Honestly, I want to recommend newcomers to the show to just watch this episode. It's too good to lock behind ~20 hours of prerequisites. This was the single best hour of TV I have seen in years.
Upvote
12
(12
/
0)
As a fan, I would strongly recommend you do read the books. Many, many, will tell you (and very vocally at that) that a few books in the middle are a hard slog – nothing happens and there's no progression of any story arc, there's too much emphasis on minor characters, too many pages spent describing the particular wallpaper choice made by a long-dead ruler and why that is now politically important, how if they'd chosen just a slightly darker or lighter shade the entire country would've faded into irrelevance etc. Okay, that last one was a slight exaggeration... maybe.
To a large extent, they're right, but Jordan's descriptiveness and wordiness are part of the appeal, at least for me. He does have his hangups, and repeats many tropes a lot, but overall it's a fantastic series.
It's impossible to say for certain, but I suspect that book readers probably got even more out of this episode than non-book readers. There just hasn't been enough time in the show to explore the oodles of lore and subtext and so on that add to the significance.
It's a shame that Amazon haven't let the show breathe a little more with, say, 10 or better yet 12 or 13 episodes a season. I can understand starting small(er) with only 8, but my understanding is the show has been/is a success, so they should capitalise on that and expand it out a little.
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)
That's kind of how Jordan did it, too. This scene was present (and actually longer), but it's book 5. He slowly reveals how col the world is. You kind of know something like this is coming, because the prologue of book 1 is the Dragon and Ishy discussing the War, but he takes many books to tell you all these little details, and even after you've read all 14 you gotta read the "Strike at Shayul Ghul" short story to bring some of it together. His favorite anwer to questions was"Read and Find Out," and he delighted in creating situations where the entire fandom was sumultanously shocked that that thing had happened, yet immediately realized that thing is the only thing that could have happened.
If I rewatch this episode I'll try to figure out how much background knowledge from the rest of the show is actually required to undrstand what's going on. It definitly helps to have listened to the Way of the Leaf speech from Season 1, to know that the Aiel are prickly about honor from Season 2,to understand what Aes Sedai are, to know Latra Posae's role from the cold open to 1/8, to know whoexactly Mierin will become, etc.
Upvote
7
(7
/
0)
Didn't feel like that to me as a non-reader.
The travelers had been introduced at notable length before, so now I understand why that was, and we've had a glimpse of the downfall of the high civilization and how all this is tied together and how today's Aiel are connected to it all.
We have one Important Magical Object shown and the complementary one mentioned (and located, at least in an abstract way, so that's apparently one of the next goals to pursue).
And Rand has been force-fed a massive lore dump which we have witnessed (probably just in part) so from now on he won't just be running on rails laid by unknown forces but he does understand at least some of why his role even matters and what the motivations of his presumable goals should be and why.
From what we've seen the entire background and all the motivations of the dark adversaries are not entirely clear but still largely comprehensible and they are now tied to the farthest flashback with at least hints of a deeper context there, too.
I liked the overall presentation of this episode and in particular Josha Stradowski's portrayal of Rand's various ancestors; Under the circumstances the makeup effects were to be expected and didn't really hurt.
Of course Moiraine's disarmament scene was a fun bit (and always a lovely trope when done well).
The books will certainly have more context beyond what we've seen in the episode but even without knowing the books it was not that difficult to follow and it feels like a very solid anchor holding the story together more coherently than we've known before.
One of the best episodes so far indeed, not just a pivotal one!
Last edited:
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)
The writing and direction hadn't given the actors all that much to work with, though, but as we have increasingly seen the actors are indeed capable at the very least if they've got the time and material!
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
Or anyone who goes through the columns without the appropriate ancestors just dies in the process..
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
Book reader, loved the episode.
I enjoyed the books in all their length (but not the wait between them) but between the tics and the meandering, I can admit they had serious flaws. And the show has them too, just different flaws.
Josha's acting is... maybe the biggest one. He really looks the part (and also he's hot as hell) so... y'know, pluses and minuses. It's improved a bit and hopefully that will continue.
I enjoyed the books in all their length (but not the wait between them) but between the tics and the meandering, I can admit they had serious flaws. And the show has them too, just different flaws.
Josha's acting is... maybe the biggest one. He really looks the part (and also he's hot as hell) so... y'know, pluses and minuses. It's improved a bit and hopefully that will continue.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
What they just had really boring ancestors? They come out of the columns like "I don't understand the cultural significance of showing my great-great-grandfather getting really into sourdough, but it was a pretty easy trial."
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
This is one of those places where genealogical math makes that unlikely. Ancestor slots grow exponentially as we go back, and if we’re 500 years back that’s between 524,288 or 1.048 mill. A lot of those will be repeats due to cousin marriage, but that is a lot of slots. By the time our hero is in the Age of Legends/War of Power they’re guaranteed somebody interesting.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
re: what they need to cover still:
I think the
... probably won't happen. They're threads that are easier to cut out without dissolving everything else. I do think we'll have to get Mat back to
because that plot point isn't really escapable.
I think the
Bowl of winds/sea folk, allana bonding rand, and the whole three way relationship
The Seanchan and his future wife
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
I just rewatched the episode, and I swear the compression artefacts were markedly improved - not totally eliminated, but the fog-heavy scenes seemed much better than I first remembered them. Would they actually bother re-encoding? I'm dubious.
Also, the rewatch made me wonder at the significance/symbolism of Lanfear not ever using channelling when killing Moiraine in that final sequence.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
Almost certainly not, but you may get a lower bitrate at some times when either your local connection is slower or the servers are under heavier load when many are watching at the same time and playback switches to a slower stream automatically to compensate.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
Relationship is non negotiable, Rand's entire character arc depends on it.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
I have a question for book readers or people more knowledgeable than me. What was with the weird and decidedly robotic/machine-sounding noises peasant!Rand heard when The Bore tore through the pattern? After the camera zooms in on his face. It 100% sounds like an electrical signal, and sounds startlingly like what we heard in Desmond Hart's memories in Dune: Prophecy. It sounded like The Dark One was.. a robot?
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)