WoT S1E8: The Eye of the World
Jan. 5th, 2022 08:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerS1E8 of The Wheel of Time is the season 1 finale. As I expected sometime back it aligns with the climax of the first book in the series, The Eye of the World. The episode shares the book's title.
This episode, like the others in the series so far, omits and/or changes various plot points in Book 1 of the written series to condense it for TV. That's necessary, of course, as each of the 14 hardback books is 600+ pages and would span far more than 8 one-hour episodes if recreated location by location and line by line of dialogue. Though even at its greatly accelerated rate, with season 1 aligning to the first book, does it follow that the show will run for 14 seasons?!
Anyway... about omitting and changing plot points from the book. As I said in my commentary on S1E1, I don't object to changes per se. Many are necessary and many improve the storytelling in a visual medium. But some changes are poor. I've railed about a few of them in past blogs and won't repeat it here. There are new ones to discuss now. đ
Five Things about this episode, spoilers protected:
1) The episode starts with a cold open from the Age of Legends.
Lews Therin and Ilyena Sedai debate how to imprison the Dark One. Ilyena is the Tamyrlin Seat— so the predecessor of the modern Amyrlin Seat of the Aes Sedai— and Lews Therin is The Dragon Reborn. That means he's a previous incarnation of Rand! This scene is well done and is a nice piece of backshadowing (kind of like foreshadowing but, well, you can figure it out) but I wish it were more tightly connect to Rand. Like, it should be a dream that Rand has that he struggles to make sense of. Sadly the showrunners have dropped the whole Book 1 story arc of "Rand struggles to make sense of how to fulfill enormous prophecies he's only just learned of." đ on the visual quality of the scene, đ on integrating it meaningfully into the story.
2) Rand has a troubling dream in the Blight.
Rand dreams of the man with fire for his eyes and mouth again— except this time the man also appears in human form, as Ishamael. Ishamael taunts and tempts Rand. Rand, determining that it's a dream, kills himself rather than let Ishamael take him. What bugs me slightly about this scene is that in the Wheel of Time cosmology, certain types of dreams like this are not just the random firing of neurons like they are in our world; they represent something akin to astral projection. In certain conditions a person who is injured or killed in one of these dreams is actually injured or killed. This may seem like an irrelevant point right now in the TV series, but the workings of Tel'aran'rhiod are a major story element later in the books. And Jordan's meticulous rules about how things like this worked are one of the things that made the series so fascinating.
3) Showdown at the Eye of the World
In my preamble above I noted that some simplifications in the series weaken the narrative or are lazy storytelling, some are good. The screenwriters simplified the climactic showdown at the Eye of the World, and it's a good change. In the books the whole Scooby Gang is here: Moiraine, Lan, Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, even Loial; and there's a new creature introduced, the Green Man, of a race called the Nym; and there are three powerful villains to fight. It's almost confusing who does what, to whom, and when! đ
In the streaming series it's basically just Rand vs. Ishamael. Good vs. Evil. Moiraine is there, but Ishamael quickly overpowers her and makes her a non-factor. This creates narrative space for Ishamael not to fight Rand but to tempt him. Remember, the Dark One doesn't necessarily want to defeat the Dragon Reborn; he wins also if he turns the Dragon to his side! So Ishamael shows Rand a tempting vision of how enjoyable his life could be if only he shies away from fighting. There's no way the Father of Lies could be so smooth if there were a 12-way melee going on.
4) Lady Amalisa and the mechanics of channeling
In the previous episode we're introduced to Lady Amalisa Jagad, sister of Lord Agelmar Jagad, ruler of Fal Dara, and a woman who can channel... but only a little bit. In this episode she summons every woman who can channel to join her in fighting off the Trolloc horde numbering in the thousands. Amalisa doesn't exist in the books... the important Shienaran characters are all men. I like the fact that the screenwriters have created a strong female character here. But the way she coordinates the weaves of the One Power really rubs me wrong.
As I've noted before, an important aspect of how the One Power works in the books is that each individual is born with a particular capacity for channeling. The TV story establishes that Amalisa can handle the power only weakly; she was too weak to be accepted by the Aes Sedai. Well, Egwene's raw power is at least as great as any living Aes Sedai. And Nynaeve's capacity is legendary... as in, not seen since the Age of Legends. There's no way Amalisa should have been able to let their power flow through her and not burn up first. Granted, the way it's depicted in this climactic battle is great, dramatic TV. It's just that the mechanics of the OP were one of the things WoT creator Robert Jordan was meticulous about, very meticulous about. The TV series seems in danger of throwing that all away for the disappointing TV trope of the heroes' powers going up and down at the whims of lazy writing.
Also, it's not a good showing for diversity and inclusion to introduce a new powerful female character then kill her off one episode later. đ
5) Padan Fain!
It's no surprise to people who've read the books that Padan Fain reappears as a mustache-twirling villain. ...Well, it's a small surprise, because this scene is partly pulled forward from early in Book 2 and partly changed (the Horn wasn't hidden in Fal Dara in the books). Fain, revealed as a darkfriend, has snuck into the sanctum of Fal Dara, accompanied by two Fades. Perrin returns from investigating a distraction in the hallway to find they've killed several guards, and Loial... and stolen the Horn of Valere! I like the way Fain is characterized here as a smooth, taunting villain. In the books he starts out as a very abased servant, almost literally a hound dog for the Dark One, and only later grows into a menacing villain. This is a good change.
Though... Loial's dead now? Bummer. âšī¸ Well, I guess that explains why they cheaped out with 1990s Star Trek TV show quality makeup for him. đ And: Uno's dead, too? Foul-mouthed Uno is a fan favorite from the books! And on a Reddit AMA showrunner Rafe Judkins answered a question about cursing in WoT (there's a particular lingo used in the books) by promising we'd hear a lot of it from Uno. Well, I didn't hear much cursing in the last 2 episodes so I'm going to assume Uno isn't really dead. đ¤Ŗđ¤Ŧ
On the whole, despite some of these frustrations with the TV show ditching rules of magic Robert Jordan was very meticulous about devising and which made his books so enjoyable, I thought the show worked well as a finale for Season 1. A tag ending even provides a view of what's to come in the next season.
This episode, like the others in the series so far, omits and/or changes various plot points in Book 1 of the written series to condense it for TV. That's necessary, of course, as each of the 14 hardback books is 600+ pages and would span far more than 8 one-hour episodes if recreated location by location and line by line of dialogue. Though even at its greatly accelerated rate, with season 1 aligning to the first book, does it follow that the show will run for 14 seasons?!
Anyway... about omitting and changing plot points from the book. As I said in my commentary on S1E1, I don't object to changes per se. Many are necessary and many improve the storytelling in a visual medium. But some changes are poor. I've railed about a few of them in past blogs and won't repeat it here. There are new ones to discuss now. đ
Five Things about this episode, spoilers protected:
1) The episode starts with a cold open from the Age of Legends.
Lews Therin and Ilyena Sedai debate how to imprison the Dark One. Ilyena is the Tamyrlin Seat— so the predecessor of the modern Amyrlin Seat of the Aes Sedai— and Lews Therin is The Dragon Reborn. That means he's a previous incarnation of Rand! This scene is well done and is a nice piece of backshadowing (kind of like foreshadowing but, well, you can figure it out) but I wish it were more tightly connect to Rand. Like, it should be a dream that Rand has that he struggles to make sense of. Sadly the showrunners have dropped the whole Book 1 story arc of "Rand struggles to make sense of how to fulfill enormous prophecies he's only just learned of." đ on the visual quality of the scene, đ on integrating it meaningfully into the story.
2) Rand has a troubling dream in the Blight.
Rand dreams of the man with fire for his eyes and mouth again— except this time the man also appears in human form, as Ishamael. Ishamael taunts and tempts Rand. Rand, determining that it's a dream, kills himself rather than let Ishamael take him. What bugs me slightly about this scene is that in the Wheel of Time cosmology, certain types of dreams like this are not just the random firing of neurons like they are in our world; they represent something akin to astral projection. In certain conditions a person who is injured or killed in one of these dreams is actually injured or killed. This may seem like an irrelevant point right now in the TV series, but the workings of Tel'aran'rhiod are a major story element later in the books. And Jordan's meticulous rules about how things like this worked are one of the things that made the series so fascinating.
3) Showdown at the Eye of the World
In my preamble above I noted that some simplifications in the series weaken the narrative or are lazy storytelling, some are good. The screenwriters simplified the climactic showdown at the Eye of the World, and it's a good change. In the books the whole Scooby Gang is here: Moiraine, Lan, Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, even Loial; and there's a new creature introduced, the Green Man, of a race called the Nym; and there are three powerful villains to fight. It's almost confusing who does what, to whom, and when! đ
In the streaming series it's basically just Rand vs. Ishamael. Good vs. Evil. Moiraine is there, but Ishamael quickly overpowers her and makes her a non-factor. This creates narrative space for Ishamael not to fight Rand but to tempt him. Remember, the Dark One doesn't necessarily want to defeat the Dragon Reborn; he wins also if he turns the Dragon to his side! So Ishamael shows Rand a tempting vision of how enjoyable his life could be if only he shies away from fighting. There's no way the Father of Lies could be so smooth if there were a 12-way melee going on.
4) Lady Amalisa and the mechanics of channeling
In the previous episode we're introduced to Lady Amalisa Jagad, sister of Lord Agelmar Jagad, ruler of Fal Dara, and a woman who can channel... but only a little bit. In this episode she summons every woman who can channel to join her in fighting off the Trolloc horde numbering in the thousands. Amalisa doesn't exist in the books... the important Shienaran characters are all men. I like the fact that the screenwriters have created a strong female character here. But the way she coordinates the weaves of the One Power really rubs me wrong.
As I've noted before, an important aspect of how the One Power works in the books is that each individual is born with a particular capacity for channeling. The TV story establishes that Amalisa can handle the power only weakly; she was too weak to be accepted by the Aes Sedai. Well, Egwene's raw power is at least as great as any living Aes Sedai. And Nynaeve's capacity is legendary... as in, not seen since the Age of Legends. There's no way Amalisa should have been able to let their power flow through her and not burn up first. Granted, the way it's depicted in this climactic battle is great, dramatic TV. It's just that the mechanics of the OP were one of the things WoT creator Robert Jordan was meticulous about, very meticulous about. The TV series seems in danger of throwing that all away for the disappointing TV trope of the heroes' powers going up and down at the whims of lazy writing.
Also, it's not a good showing for diversity and inclusion to introduce a new powerful female character then kill her off one episode later. đ
5) Padan Fain!
It's no surprise to people who've read the books that Padan Fain reappears as a mustache-twirling villain. ...Well, it's a small surprise, because this scene is partly pulled forward from early in Book 2 and partly changed (the Horn wasn't hidden in Fal Dara in the books). Fain, revealed as a darkfriend, has snuck into the sanctum of Fal Dara, accompanied by two Fades. Perrin returns from investigating a distraction in the hallway to find they've killed several guards, and Loial... and stolen the Horn of Valere! I like the way Fain is characterized here as a smooth, taunting villain. In the books he starts out as a very abased servant, almost literally a hound dog for the Dark One, and only later grows into a menacing villain. This is a good change.
Though... Loial's dead now? Bummer. âšī¸ Well, I guess that explains why they cheaped out with 1990s Star Trek TV show quality makeup for him. đ And: Uno's dead, too? Foul-mouthed Uno is a fan favorite from the books! And on a Reddit AMA showrunner Rafe Judkins answered a question about cursing in WoT (there's a particular lingo used in the books) by promising we'd hear a lot of it from Uno. Well, I didn't hear much cursing in the last 2 episodes so I'm going to assume Uno isn't really dead. đ¤Ŗđ¤Ŧ
On the whole, despite some of these frustrations with the TV show ditching rules of magic Robert Jordan was very meticulous about devising and which made his books so enjoyable, I thought the show worked well as a finale for Season 1. A tag ending even provides a view of what's to come in the next season.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-05 07:02 pm (UTC)That wasn't Ilyena. That was Latra Posae Decume, the woman who canonically refused to let any of the female Aes Sedai help him.
Amalisa does exist in the books, she's the woman Liandrin uses and abuses to try to get to Rand! She just wasn't a channeller.