The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

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Aira
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by Aira » Mon Nov 22, 2021 10:10 pm

WoT might have one plus over other shows, like Sense8 and GoT: less filming locations. Sense8 was cancelled because it filmed in so many locations, which upped the cost hugely. GoT filmed in Croatia, northern Ireland, Spain, Iceland, Morocco, and Malta in earlier seasons.

WoT would likely have to do an outing to a dry and/or desert area to film the Aiel Waste bits, but at some point as the books switch to a more political thing, they can likely film huge swathes on soundstages, like Shadar Logoth and other cities. Considering they took over a huge former factory building and turned it into a studio where already they had sets of three cities, that is likely going to be cheaper than flying all over the place. Especially given the uncertainty of how covid's going to go.

Also, at some point, the basics have been designed, there will be a huge stockpile of costumes and weapons, images of cities, so those don't have to be made/ developed. GoT's cost went up due to looking more expensive and more and better special effects, but it started as a cheap knockoff from the books, most notably visible in the royal parade as it arrives at Winterfell.

Obviously more episodes mean more time shooting, which costs money, but it may not be all bad. It may just be another reason why GoT and WoT aren't really comparable.

Kordin
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by Kordin » Tue Nov 23, 2021 3:08 am

Ashlee wrote:
Mon Nov 22, 2021 7:51 pm

Season 1 is a combination of the first 3 books. The conventional wisdom among those reading the tea leaves is that they are skipping Caemlyn and instead stopping through Tar Valon, then heading to Shienar.
Well...if so...it's going to suck even more after these 3 episodes....

Three books from a series like WoT, condensed into a single season... :lol:

Aira
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by Aira » Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:36 am

It's mostly going to be Eye of the World with some scenes for subsequent books. I imagine the induction of Egwene etc.? Not a clue what they could be taking from book 3 except maybe the Aiel scene we've already seen?

Nevirha
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by Nevirha » Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:05 am

Katherine wrote:
Mon Nov 22, 2021 5:29 pm
I do notice a dumbing down of the One Power from the books to the screen. There was no distinction between saidin and saidar in the first three episodes and the Reds in episode one stated that (paraphrasing because I forget the exact words) men were not worthy of using "their power" which belonged to women alone. Of course, a Red might say that about the One Power as a whole, but certainly women cannot lay any claim on saidin even figuratively. So for now, the audience is being led to believe by the show that there is a single "source" and that only women can use it without going mad. Dumbed down, but easy to follow I guess. I don't like it and I am hoping as we get further into the story we get a better explanation of saidar/saidin and the taint.
If you pay attention to when you do and don't see weaves, I think it makes it clear there will be a distinction.

I don't remember all the uses of the OP in the show, but here are a few instances:
- Liandrin catching/gentling MC (no weaves, story seen from MC perspective, he can't see weaves)
- Moiraine heating bathtub (no weaves, story seen from Lan's perspective)
- Rand channeling open the iron door (no weaves, Rand doesn't know he can channel, DF can't see weaves)
- Moiraine channeling over Egwene in the cave (no weaves, seen from Rand's perspective)

We start seeing weaves when Nynaeve and Egwene look at Moiraine channeling. Though it's not bookish that Nynaeve and Egwene would see weaves at this point, they are the two who will go on to be powerful Aes Sedai so they would be able to see weaves at some point. I think these little touches are really great and make the show much more nuanced than it seems at first watch.

Simeon
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by Simeon » Tue Nov 23, 2021 10:08 am

WHEEL. OF. WOKE.

Katherine
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by Katherine » Tue Nov 23, 2021 1:34 pm

Aira wrote:
Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:36 am
It's mostly going to be Eye of the World with some scenes for subsequent books. I imagine the induction of Egwene etc.? Not a clue what they could be taking from book 3 except maybe the Aiel scene we've already seen?
** book/show spoilers**

The Great Hunt ends with Falme/Toman Head and the horn.

The Dragon Reborn ends with Callandor.

In between those events is a lot of travelling and conversation with some minor plot points to provide context and richness to the central epic story. We're going to see ALOT of that cut out. I would not be surprised if Toman Head was skipped completely or gets merged into part of t he later seanchan plot similar to how that town where Rand and Matt was betrayed in Episode 3 is kind of a melting of Baerlon (mining town), Whitebridge (river) and Four Kings (attack by df).

I also expect we'll see characters we loved from the books die or be "discarded" in some way as background characters in order to keep the audience focused on just the main group of people. Its entirely possible Min, Elayne and Aviendha are all or mostly cut from the plot. They provide important support and guidance to Rand, but do their stories matter all that much to a screenwriter who has to cut 5000 pages out of the screenplay? Also I have a bad feeling about Siuan.

To be fair, I think we all knew when they started this production that the screenwriters would have to discard ALOT of material. There's just no way anyone can fully capture even half of the books in the time allowed for a show series. I am trying to remind myself of that while watching and just appreciate the series for what it is rather than what it could never possibly be.

Aira
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by Aira » Tue Nov 23, 2021 1:38 pm

Sanderson has said that season 1 covers book 1, with a few scenes from the following books. Considering the guy has read the scripts, I'm believing him. Even if he wasn't aware of the opening that was in Ep1 since that was changed at the last moment. I suspect the one to blame for that is Amazon.

So, something like the EF5 meeting Siuan could be in here, since they're going to Tar Valon. It would replace the meeting in Fal Dara. I'm just puzzled what book 3 event that is reportedly in there could be it. Unless, again, it's the Aiel in a cage, which would refer to the one in Remen.

Katherine
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by Katherine » Tue Nov 23, 2021 1:52 pm

Aira wrote:
Tue Nov 23, 2021 1:38 pm
Sanderson has said that season 1 covers book 1, with a few scenes from the following books. Considering the guy has read the scripts, I'm believing him. Even if he wasn't aware of the opening that was in Ep1 since that was changed at the last moment. I suspect the one to blame for that is Amazon.

So, something like the EF5 meeting Siuan could be in here, since they're going to Tar Valon. It would replace the meeting in Fal Dara. I'm just puzzled what book 3 event that is reportedly in there could be it. Unless, again, it's the Aiel in a cage, which would refer to the one in Remen.
If its just a few scenes from TGH and TDR, then it could work out well. I was under the impression that they had accelerated the narrative already in Season 1 to cover all three of the first two books. To be honest, if I were a screenwriter trying to compress all of this material into 5-8 seasons, I would wait until the middle books in the series to really cut stuff. Books 1-4 have good pacing. Books 12-14 have really fast pacing. Everything in the between is alot of subplots, some important, and some not as important, with the central epic story really stretched out and slowly paced.

I also read that Amazon is working on three movies, possibly a trilogy covering the Age of Legends era. I'm kind of excited by that. Its like Peter Jackson putting together a movie trilogy based on Tokien's Silmarillion anthology, except its not Peter Jackson and its not Tolkien. Its still cool. ;)

halfhand
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by halfhand » Tue Nov 23, 2021 2:38 pm

First Amazon Prime aftershow video for Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFvponAPJ6M

Also just a reminder that each of the episodes have an animated Origin Stories available through the Bonus Content in certain browser/clients.
Episode 1 origin story: Breaking of the World
Episode 2 origin story: Fall of Manetheren
Episode 3 origin story: The Greatest Warder

added to OP

Reyne
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Re: The Wheel of TIme Season 1 Episode 1, 2, 3 Discussion Thread

Post by Reyne » Tue Nov 23, 2021 3:29 pm

Katherine wrote:
Sun Nov 21, 2021 2:56 pm
Ok about the "Aes Sedai ring".
The ring has been driving me wild.

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