The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

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halfhand
Posts: 180
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:12 am

The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by halfhand » Thu Dec 09, 2021 1:51 pm

Moiraine faces the consequences of her actions. Mat faces the darkness in himself. Egwene faces the most powerful woman in the world.
Director: Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Release Date/Time: Thursday 12/9/2021 7 PM EST, Friday 12/10/2021 12 AM GMT

WOTMUD Discord Channel #tv-series-spoilers (you need admin permission to view)

Sneak Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aghup-LUDQY
The stakes keep rising and the fate of the world hangs by the thread of a shawl. This Friday on #TheWheelOfTime, politics infect the White Tower and the Amyrlin Seat is forced to make a choice.

Spoiler warnings: Spoiler mark Episode 7 and further. Spoiler mark any appropriate Book spoilers.

Reviews:
AV Club. A-. The Wheel Of Time is turning out to be one of the most pleasant television surprises of the year. Fingers crossed that the surprises stay pleasant.
The Review Geek. 3.5/5. The Wheel of Time returns with a solid episode of intrigue, world-building for the Aes Sedai and one big problem. There’s not enough emotional connection with the four potential Dragon Reborn. At least not from what this reviewer can see.
Meawww. Whenever we talk about a fantasy series, we always look out for two things: 1) an engaging story and 2) visuals that take you on a magical journey. As of now, ‘The Wheel of Time’ has been treating audiences with both the aforementioned things. Episode 6 of the Amazon series is everything that fans would have hoped for and exceeds all the expectations because of brilliant writing.
Last edited by halfhand on Fri Dec 10, 2021 3:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Detritus
Posts: 282
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Re: The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by Detritus » Thu Dec 09, 2021 9:14 pm

Far and away my favorite episode so far apart from ways being a channeler thing standing in the air.

No quarterstaff fight i was expecting while in TV was epic let down as well, can hope it still happens later.

Also random topless but not naked women for no reason... wtf? Relatively tastefully done but... why?

Protus
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:29 am

Re: The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by Protus » Thu Dec 09, 2021 10:31 pm

I was sort of expecting there to not be the staff fighting as they cut out the Caemlyn visit introducing the family. But yeah I was secretly hoping it was there.

Channeling to open the ways I did not like but the look inside the ways was nice and creepy as I hoped.

Fuujin
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Re: The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by Fuujin » Thu Dec 09, 2021 11:48 pm

my gf and I both absolutely loved seeing Moiraine and Siuan's relationship portrayed. i really loved watching moiraine bounce between scenes, moving the chess pieces along.

prob the only thing i didn't like was reducing mat's healing to only needing moiraine, but given the way the episode ends i hope there's more to mordeth/mat

rahda
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Re: The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by rahda » Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:23 am

I can understand some deviations, but the idea of banishing Moiraine is fundamentally wrong :(

Lots of stuff I did like though.

Katherine
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:10 pm

Re: The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by Katherine » Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:23 am

Fuujin wrote:
Thu Dec 09, 2021 11:48 pm
my gf and I both absolutely loved seeing Moiraine and Siuan's relationship portrayed. i really loved watching moiraine bounce between scenes, moving the chess pieces along.

prob the only thing i didn't like was reducing mat's healing to only needing moiraine, but given the way the episode ends i hope there's more to mordeth/mat
*** possible spoilers ***

The sequence with Matt was not wholly inaccurate from the books. In the episode, Moiraine said she broke the connection with the dagger rather than fully healing him. She also hinted that part of Shadar Logoth (readers would specifically say Mashadar) is still part of him and him part of it. In the books, she uses an angreal to accomplish breaking the connection in Caemlyn without fully healing him which he would need later.

As far as Moiraine and Siuan go, this is also book accurate, or at least we assume it is. Their relationship in the books is mostly hinted at through gossip and rumor rather than stated directly. In fact I did not pick up on it until I read NS after reading most of the other books first.

I am just extremely relieved the screenwriters did not turn Siuan into a pseudo-Elaida as we were supposed to believe as naïve viewers in Ep 5.

Soooooo...the Eye of the World is now the Dark One's prison? What the...BEEP BEEP BLIPPITY BLEEP??!!

Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation!

This episode was better than 5 by far, but the needless plot and lore deviations make me sad. The writing team is just not up to it, and I cant believe Sanderson and Harriet approved of this. I'll still watch, but...*sigh* yea. I also watched Billy Zane play Ishmael twice, so this show has a low bar.
Last edited by Katherine on Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:55 am, edited 3 times in total.

Katherine
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:10 pm

Re: The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by Katherine » Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:30 am

rahda wrote:
Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:23 am
I can understand some deviations, but the idea of banishing Moiraine is fundamentally wrong :(

Lots of stuff I did like though.
I enjoy the show even in its cringe moments and I can see how this would really appeal to those who have not read the series. Its a better series than most on streaming services and cable and I will say it is fun to watch these characters come to life. I really liked how Moiraine looked in this episode during her judgment. The way her hair was done with the hanging gem and the dress she wore in this episode is the Moiraine from my imagination. Anyways, to scratch my itch for detail and RJ's storytelling, I'm re-reading EoTW again in parallel to the show.
Last edited by Katherine on Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:52 am, edited 7 times in total.

Kordin
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Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 5:17 pm

Re: The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by Kordin » Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:36 am

Katherine wrote:
Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:23 am
I also watched Billy Zane play Ishmael twice, so this show has a low bar.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

EDIT: Let's not forget the 1999 first-person shooter PC game :mrgreen:

Katherine
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:10 pm

Re: The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by Katherine » Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:47 am

Kordin wrote:
Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:36 am
Katherine wrote:
Fri Dec 10, 2021 2:23 am
I also watched Billy Zane play Ishmael twice, so this show has a low bar.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

EDIT: Let's not forget the 1999 first-person shooter PC game :mrgreen:
:o :lol:

Mronz
Posts: 197
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 6:49 pm

Re: The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6: The Flame of Tar Valon

Post by Mronz » Fri Dec 10, 2021 3:20 am

Likes:
1. Seeing Siuan's as a child/why she left for the WT.
2. The different aspects of Moirane's judgement/bannishment. (IMO, bannishment kind of works I think, since I don't think we ever see Moirane in the WT, anyways. LOL, I've read the series over 10 times, but i'm blanking on if its 100% never)
3. Lan/Moirane, "did it sound like a request" interaction.
*Spoiler* 4. Matt getting left behind, near TV *Spoiler*
I feel like this opens up the possibility for the possible staff fight, who knows.

Dislikes:
1. The bit with the Oath Rod, since she'd already sworn the 3 oaths, she can't lie anyways, seamed just filler/fluff. Felt like it undermined the entire point behind the 3 oaths, making her swear on the rod to obey, when she simply could have declared it, and been bound by that normal oath.
2. The overt Moirane/Siuan lesbian bit. I feel if RJ wanted overt content like that in his world, it would have been detailed, like so much else he detailed. Instead, it was always descrete mentions, like, pillow friends as novices, etc. Just came across as a forced change, for the sake of doing it, instead of depicting how their relationship was portrayed in the books.
3. WTF, how is it possible they couldn't even get something as simple as a waygate right?
3a: First, it sounds like they are suggesting it requires the power to open the ways, which has all sorts of historical/future issues. Least of which is, how in the world were the ogier able to use the gd ways, since they can't channel?
3B: Ignoring point 3A, would it have been that difficult to still make it a stone wall carved in leafs/vines/etc, not the "a stone platform, with stone steps, and stone pillars" as the audio description painted it to be.
3c: Finally, lol, it also wouldn't have been that hard, to have it be in the ogier grove, in TV, where it was supposed to be.

4. I'm getting so tired of the RL fowl language, and I love cursing... Where in the world are all the RJ world profanities? Did they think if it didn't have multiple RL curse words, per episode, people wouldn't watch it? Kind of like point 2 above, seams like something they are forcing to be different, instead of portraying how RJ depicted it, something simple as language.

Questions:
1. When Moirane departed to go meet Siuan,
Visually, do people think she
already discovered how to spin a gateway;
was entering the world of dreams; or
something else?
Audio Desc, used similar phrases, as when the waygate was opened, referring to a "passage opening", except mentioned white light, for Moirane's solo use.
*Spoiler*2. When the gang was looking out, and calling for Matt, when he was still outside the gateway, was there any visual distortion to what they were seeing/was he appearing to move slower?*spoiler*

Had alot of dislikes, but overall, I did enjoy this episode, and am looking forward to see what happens next.

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