Book vs Show | The Wheel of Time | Season 1 Episode 1

I casually review and compare the book and the show, noting the impact the differences make to the story and characters. As an editor, this is fascinating to me. As a writer, I am learning a lot.
The Wheel of Time (Amazon Prime)
The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan)
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[@tysonsflag]

I'm weird in that the show got me into the books. Then after that, I was like 'why did they make all those stupid choices in the show?' Not using the book's prologue was absolutely mystifying to me because its the big massive hook that can get you through some of the weaker sections of the first book. The prologue is just SO enticing and interesting that it allowed me to push through the big drops in pace that the first book has.

[@dudeguy8686]

You're not alone, and it's for people like you that I'll always be grateful to the show for. Hope you enjoy your journey through the series. It definitely gets slow, but I'll claim it's worth finishing, and even rereading.

[@tysonsflag]

@@dudeguy8686 I'm currently on book 4 and this one seems to be where it moves from being pretty good to absolutely excellent imho.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

The show-runner left out the book's prologue... and massively changed the prophecy about the DR, because the show-runner is an IDIOT... and chose, instead, to push his woke agenda into the show by trying to make it a mystery as to who the DR is. His (stupid) attempt to KEEP it a mystery until the end of the season was the reason for the lack of development in other things... which is another reason that his "creative choice" was a STUPID decision.

[@Wouldyoukindly4545]

I thought the show didn't use the prolog for budget reasons. The prolog ends with a guy exploding so hard that an Everest sized mountain forms, I feel like that would have strained the CGI budget. But I could be wrong.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

@@Wouldyoukindly4545 They would not have needed to show Dragonmount forming... just a massive explosion, which could have been done quite cheaply... and then just end the scene. Just ONE of their CGI people probably could have done it in a single hour... even an intern, no expert skills required. All you need to do is to convey the IDEA of a massive explosion. Of course, you're right that they COULD have spent way too much on it, by trying to DO too much... Like buying a Rolls-Royce to get to work, when a moped would be perfectly adequate for your needs. It would have been FAR easier and cheaper to do, than that "cold open" between Lews and Latra... with all the CGI utopia shown outside the window, which also happens to be VERY wrong... At the time that scene "would" have happened, the Aes Sedai were extremely desperate... "on their last legs"... so a utopian scene is exactly the wrong tone to convey, and it was a deliberate choice to show it... and show it THAT way. If you want more insight into the various choices made, and the more likely reasons behind those choices... Do you remember that trinket that Mat was selling to Padan Fain? The one he stole? Do you know how/when he stole that trinket? From a girl he was "doing". They cut that scene from the show, so you couldn't have seen it... but it WAS in the script that the show-runner wrote. Maybe the gay show-runner is mad that Mat likes girls? Perrin, also in the first episode... He's clearly not a good hubby... They clearly attempted to try to hint that Layla was ALSO pregnant, when Perrin fridged her. Ask yourself a question... Mat and Perrin are two of our main heroes. Abel (Mat's dad) is a main secondary hero. Why does the show-runner want us to dislike them... in the very first episode? I can only come up with 3 logical reasons. 1) Intent/agenda - he knows it's what he's doing. 2) incompetence -he DOESN'T know... 3) stupidity - he's too stupid to realize that the heroes and heroines are supposed to be likable, in order for people to WANT to watch the show.

[@BobMcBobJr]

The reason that it was important that Dragon was a man in the book was that by being a man who can channel he was destined to go mad. The most powerful wizard of all time would at some point return and he would be a madman. So, the Dragon was feared as an impending doom by most people in the world.

[@jsbrads1]

As a reborn, he would be sane when he started, but in completing his goal, then he would go mad and break the world he just saved.

[@TheAdarkerglow]

It was scary for a lot of reasons. Exactly like you say, because Men who channel will go mad, not if but when, and yet they must inevitably rely upon the Dragon, for the prophecy says he will face the Dark One. His coming means too that the end is nigh, mounting upon the horizon. They cannot Gentle the Dragon, and even still he may fall to Darkness, but they must find it in themselves to trust and help him, despite centuries of fear and indoctrination. If it could just be anyone, they need to replace all those stakes.

[@kallistax]

Also the "wheel of time" is the structure of that universe where everything happens over and over till the end of time with variations based on individual choice and free will but that reincarnation is a major truth to that world and the dragon is a specific reincarnation. And the fact that it's that specific reborn soul has massive influence over the story as a whole. Not to get too spoilery but literally required for the end conflict

[@jsbrads1]

@@kallistax the forsaken say that a specific person will be reborn is a unique case. Prior “Dragons” may have shared the same soul.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Yeah, I misunderstood this bit of lore. I'm glad to have folks like you setting me straight. It's hard to keep my lore sorted between book lore and show lore and stuff I thought I remembered people telling me over the last 25 years.

[@EricBentleyEB5minus2]

In the books men did not corrupt Saidin, they were using it against The Dark One and so it was vulnerable for him to taint, which is what causes them to mad.

[@nvfury13]

Technically it was tainted by the men being tricked by men and women who served the Dark One tunneling into what was his prison, releasing the concentrated miasma of the Dark One into a film over the male half of the power.

[@jamesmartin8005]

@@nvfury13 Actually! (had too) It was the '100 companions' who caused the Taint, inadvertently. The 100 most powerful male Aes sedai of the Age of legends, lead by the Dragon. They used Saiden to patch the hole in the dark ones prison. The dark one lashed out at the last second and corrupted the Male half of the One power, starting with the 100 Companions. and it then spread to the rest of the users of Saiden. The taint of the one power did not exist during the war of power until this moment, which also ended the war. As the dark one was sealed up again with his dreadlords (the top 13 evil channelers) and the male channelers went crazy and broke the world.

[@nvfury13]

@@jamesmartin8005 They changed and added details so much in the first six books (which is where I stopped) that my version was the best I could piece together from the mess.

[@EricBentleyEB5minus2]

@@jamesmartin8005 ackshually... your statement is a much better way of saying what I was thinking, but I just sort of oversimplified it.

[@dussan2]

@@jamesmartin8005 Simply and accurately put. Why the showrunners decided to change it is ridiculous.

[@maximillianschlundt7737]

Abel Cauthon (Matt's dad) in the books is a good and respectable man who is a bigger character later in the series so the family change there is massive

[@user-fy9ov1tq4p]

I didn't finish the first show completely because of the character changes, But Abel Cauthon's change was the worst change of them all. And I can list the dumb changes....

[@dant7677]

You're spot-on here. I watch and read LOTS of fantasy and sci-fi. While I appreciate a good adaptation -- The Magicians was a masterclass in how to adapt to a new medium while keeping the important parts -- this production of The Wheel of Time felt like they decided they could change anything they want, without bothering to understand the source text. - "Men bad? Sure! The nuances don't matter." - "Young adults? No need to read further, because obviously they're all having sex and falling in love with each other." - "Prophecy that has zero mystery in the books? Let's tease it out as the central mystery of the entire season." In the end, I think they tried to split the difference between an adaptation to please the fans, on one hand, and a reimagining to try winning new fans, on the other. And they ended up keeping all the most generic parts of each.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

I read The Magicians after seeing the show and thinking it was a very interesting concept. I had mixed feelings about it (book and show), but I thought the concept was brilliant. It's been far too long since I viewed or read that story, though, so I can't recall the differences between the source material and the adaptation. I recall enjoying the show more than the book, though. I know that I watched the whole first season and part of the second, but didn't even read book 2 😬 The problem I see with making big changes to an already popular IP is that you risk the changes not being as good as the IP.... lol... and then you anger the fans of the IP, who tell everyone that the Adaptation is garbage in comparison. Then, even if the Adaptation is good, people who aren't familiar with the IP wont see the adaptation because word has already spread that it's not very good... even if it's actually good, but still not as good as the IP.

[@mcloud1704]

The authors of the show seem to have changed the main drama of the first book in vain. The main first book was Rand's rejection of his fate, the fear of being a Dragon. After watching the entire first season, I didn't get enough motivation to be afraid of the Dragon. And this is the main mistake of the showmen - the story of Rand was presented to us as the story of the chosen one who will fight the Dark One.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

You are more charitable than I am. I don't think the show-runner made any attempt at all to please the existing fans of the books. IMO, he's a product of the participation trophy crowd... a narcissistic ego-on-legs with less than a 1/10th of Jordan's talent... OR his wisdom. To him, WoT is nothing more than a vehicle for his ego.

[@mcloud1704]

@@nyetzdyec3391 And nothing more than a means to make money

[@svenidol]

I think you hit the nail on the head. This was inspired by the writings of Robert Jordan. Its a hell of a stretch to say its BASED on The Wheel of Time .

[@dallassukerkin6878]

Agreed.

[@mnomadvfx]

Not even inspired. More like they took all the characters they liked and powered them up. While casually gimping the main character and everyone else.

[@dyslexicultimatum5318]

There is a tea in the books for contraception, but I think in the show it is due to low testosterone

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

🤣 Okay, that was a funny one.

[@heartflame503]

LOL !

[@nyetzdyec3391]

Just "low"? 😂

[@jsbrads1]

Yeah, the books introduce the contraceptive tea/herbs halfway thru the series because no one is regularly sexually active until then. 😅

[@anonymouslyopinionated656]

you win

[@Bazk01]

I am a super fan of the books and was looking forward to this series. I watched each episode getting steadily angrier for all the reasons you pointed out in this video. It only gets worse through subsequent episodes. They state world building rules, then break them in the same episode. They made the male characters venal and weak and gave the female characters superpowers, they shouldn't have yet. The books are from multiple view points and chronicle each characters growth through the series, this series has made so many changes that they start to cascade by the end of the series. It's already made some of the subsequent books in the series no longer make sense in that world they have built. They blame some of it on the actor playing Mat leaving the show during filming as he didn't like the way his character was going. Everything else they brushed off by saying that this show is another turning of the wheel from the story in the books. This is the statement that has really annoyed me. As you said at the start of the video. Why not say your show was inspired by the Wheel of time and leave it at that? It's a bit of a gut punch to realise that because this fan fic version was green lit for a TV show, we'll never see a more faithful adaptation done. When this show tanks, they'll blame the books, not the re-writing that was done. It will kill off any interest in developing the books further. TV companies don't throw good money in unless they get a profit out.

[@teleriferchnyfain]

Good for the actor playing Matt - these idiots writing the show were gradually destroying his character 😞

[@Ramser2218]

Well said

[@mnomadvfx]

"They state world building rules, then break them in the same episode" The recent Dune movie did this too by making Liet/Kynes a woman which breaks the whole 'Female leaders are Sayyadina, Male leaders are Naibs' rule that Stilgar all but explicitly states near the end of the film when Jamis challenges Jessica to combat. "They blame some of it on the actor playing Mat leaving the show during filming as he didn't like the way his character was going" Pretty much the way some are flinging stuff at Henry Cavill for leaving The Witcher despite Geralt basically being all but written out of it already in season 2.

[@Ramser2218]

@@mnomadvfx The new claim from the Witcher team is that they had to dumb down the show for the audience because it was too complex lol

[@glory4645]

I honestly stoped watching after warder episode, was it episode 5 I wonder? Episode was average but after that I was 100 % sure they will not follow books at all.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

I loved your insight into the scene in the show where "Egwene gets what she wants", and Rand is the one who is losing something, yet he is the one who consoles her.

[@anonymouslyopinionated656]

yeah that's basically chick-lit wish fulfillment

[@MisterZ1P]

-WARNING- If you haven't figured it out yet. The more you Read, Watch and Compare this series, the more the TV show goes the route of Willow and not the Wheel.

[@duaneswab4659]

I greatly enjoyed Willow, both the movie and the television series. In the show it is greatly more slanted to the female superiority aspect of the series. Maerin Al'Vere seems to be given prominence over Bran Al'Vere, the mayor in the book. Likewise, among the Tuatha'An Ila seems to be more important than Raen, her husband and Seeker of that clan of Traveling People.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

@MisterZ1P 🤣 I am a BIG fan of Willow, the movie. The series deviated so much from the totally unique world of the movie, I found that I had to judge it as something completely different. If it hadn't stepped on its own toes so much, I could see it being enjoyable for its own sake, but yikes... it had so many major flaws.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

@duaneswab4659 There's nothing wrong with enjoying entertainment, I say 😜 I do wish that the show honored the movie, though. I think that's something that showrunners, today, need to realize. You can make changes, but you need to be mostly true and honoring of to the source material. Otherwise you are going to anger the pre-existing fanbase... and that's just begging for negative reviews. 😬 I expect that's where a lot of the criticism about the WoT show comes from.

[@korionterivers9995]

I absolutely hate this show for butchering my favorite fantasy series of all time!!😢

[@nyetzdyec3391]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Without getting specific, the guy who is the show-runner for WoT and the guy who wrote and directed The Last Jedi are like two peas in a pod. hell, they've even got the same initials.

[@aldan7812]

So, Robert Jordan himself, said - and I quote 'I always find it strange when people say I built a matriarchal world. To my mind, I was building a more equal world than perhaps the one we currently live in' - and this plays out as you read further into this series. The fact is, the man was a master - he created a world, where women had access to something that gave them the biggest stick in any fight. And the ramifications of this power imbalance play out as you would expect, regardless of ones plumbing between ones legs - while at the same time, having men act like men regardless. Not this ridiculous neutered version we find in the show. I hope to god they stop this activist bs for S2, or my TV is in serious danger.

[@undertone8367]

It's weird that he thought he had created an egalitarian world when he also wrote Ebou Dar and Far Manning. I don't see how you can interpret his world as anything other than matriarchal when men aren't even allowed to be leaders or own property in many of the societies he created.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

I think, at some point, you either decide you can't stand to watch a sub par representation of a fantastic story, or you just try to find something about the show to enjoy. I've had to do the latter before, but I more frequently just pretend the adaptation doesn't exist.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

@@undertone8367 I keep getting these mixed messages about what the books do with the social status of the sexes. I'm curious to find out what's really going on.

[@undertone8367]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS It becomes pretty clear once they start exploring the world, and especially once you start getting pov chapters from female characters. Robert Jordan was not exactly subtle with his gender commentary.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

@@undertone8367 I have a long way to go in this series. Haha!

[@Mars2i0]

Such a spot on comprehensive examination of why the show just doesn’t work as well as the books.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Well, it's the first episode. I'm still open to the possibility that the show improves, but that's always tricky with a mediocre start.

[@tarekt8427]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS get ready to be further disappointed as you read more of the books.

[@teleriferchnyfain]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONSsadlyNope - it gets worse & worse.

[@Dragonslairminis]

The advantage of writing a 600 page book compared to 8, 45 min episodes.

[@teleriferchnyfain]

@@Dragonslairminis No - the problem with the TV show is the writers thinking they can change vital parts of the books with impunity.

[@andrewvalentine797]

I think the writers/producers took the view that, as old-school fantasy, they need to update the story to make it more ethnically diverse and less misogynistic. The problem is, the books were ethnically diverse and quite pro-feminist as written. They had a wonderful opportunity, for example, to show that although the Two Rivers is ethnically homogenous once the naive young characters step outside into the world they realise that there are many different cultures and ethnicities that make up the world, and all have their own strengths and weaknesses. The books did this very well. The show made a mess of it. Also as you have noticed in the books men and women are mostly equal, except for the the fact that some women can channel the One Power and men cannot. As you meet more cultures throughout the books you see that each culture (Borderlanders, Aiel, Domani, Seanchan etc) has its own way of embracing the differences between men and women without elevating one over the over. The show, both directly in stating that men corrupted the One Power (every Aes Sedai would know that this is not true) and indirectly in showing men to be mostly submissive and incompetent, or else just evil, comes across as misandrist. But I think the biggest problem is that, although they had to cut a lot to make the first book fit into one season, they cut way more than they needed to and replaced it with third-rate teen drama. And they made pretty much all of the characters unlikeable. This is not the Wheel of Time. Maybe they could have called it the Wheel of Tim? The Eel of Twine? Whatever. I'm interested enough to follow your journey through season 1. Good luck!

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

To me, I am wondering how many of these showrunners (who do this "update for modern sensibilities") were not really fantasy and scifi fans. I mean, those of us who have been in the genre fandom know that a lot of these stories, for ages, have centered around themes of acceptance and recognition of differences do not mean "better or worse". It makes me want to do the Picard face palm when someone says they want to update and improve a story that already brilliantly conveys these themes. Ugh! Your other point about cutting important stuff to make way for teen drama is a major red flag. Ugh! Please say it isn't so! I like "The Eel of Twine"... and it's about a magical eel that produces twine than can never be broken. Only one person can find the eel of legend... and it's one of you seven! 🤣

[@AtomicAgePictures]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS I suspect many current show runners are the people who used to make fun of the sci-fi and fantasy fans (ie nerds) In high school. Well now that stuff is main stream, and they are forced to pretend that the get it. But they don't get it and never will. I suspect the creator of this show, and others (cough cough, Rings of Power, cough cough, Star Trek: Discovery) never actually read or watched the source material. They couldn't be bothered with it. They probably had some assistant read it and write a summary. Okay stepping off my soap box now.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

@@AtomicAgePictures I think you're spot on.

[@jeannekalvar9504]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Judkins was known in the fan community before the show came out, and has one of the biggest names in the fan community as an advisor for the show. If you finish the series, you can see many things that are hinted at that are definitely things that only very deep fans of the series would know.

[@nineradvocate]

Just wanted to say that every word of this comment is spot on. They had wonderful source material that was very egalitarian and didn't need to be destroyed the way it was. As I said in my comment, the fact that they made all of these changes feels nasty, evil, and the very height of hubris.

[@calvinwilson3617]

Its like the show writers read a one paragraph summary of Wheel of Time and chose to run with it. The entire reason the Dragon was so terrifying is specifically because he is a man. If it was a woman they wouldnt be corrupted by the power, but the dragon was a man who could weild extreme power and it was worried that he would destroy the world in madness

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

😲 I've had a few commenters correct me in my understanding of the prophecy. It makes so much sense, now, that the Dragon would be so feared, and yet so valuable.

[@abigailslade3824]

I don’t believe that Rafe is a fan his actions speak differently to his words.

[@salvadorlloret-farina8767]

The terror of a male dragon is that no matter how noble their intentions the corruption and madness which the Dark One's taint imparts dooms all them, but the taint isn't the only or even the most commonplace of the tools in the Dark Ones arsenal. The temptation of paths not taken , of impossible dreams realised, whether to a man or woman are tantalising and a danger. It's just the most feared and known throughout the world. Each of the main characters has the potential to impact the threads around them for good or ill far more so than most others. Where they travel woven patterns become discernible, over time even those who arent chanellers can see how those threads are woven and begin to manifest in tangible ways.

[@heartflame503]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS One mad man is more powerful than all the nuclear arsenal of our modern world. they can raise or sink a continent. or in the Dragon's case cause the eruption of a volcano that resulted in the mountain called dragonmount.. what a monster eruption that would be.

[@tarekt8427]

@@abigailslade3824 you can tell in his interviews that he arrogantly believes he can do better with RJ story then RJ himself.

[@aldan7812]

Yes, you just succinctly put it all in one statement - I have read this series multiple times, the last 3 books at least 20. I love it. These characters are like my own children. They absolutely tricked me into believing I would finally see them portrayed on screen, and the hottest fires of hell await them for destroying the boys as they did. That being said, I dont think this is something that cannot be turned around yet, and I did not hate the trailer for S2 so we will see.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

I have no doubt it upset big book fans, and they have every right to be upset ar being tricked. I have my doubts they can bring back those offended fans. The characters are starting their stories at different points in life. They are seasoned people, not naive and innocent children. That the sucky thing about innocence. Once lost, it can't be regained.

[@abigailslade3824]

I doubt this series can be redeemed at all to much has being changed.

[@shazariahl]

Season 2 looks worse than Season 1 IMO. this could be the worse book to tv adaptation of all time before we're done.

[@philipgriessel5315]

@@abigailslade3824 I don't thing the writers have any interest in redeeming the series in the eyes of the book fans.

[@douglasdea637]

@@shazariahl I dunno, ever try watching the Sword of Truth series? Ugh, what a flop.

[@MrBenaire]

I hope you continue with this Book vs Show Wheel of Time I really enjoyed this.

[@disparutoo]

Yes the men ruin the magic is through the whole series, it's even shown in the CGI of the magic system later. It's not true, explicitly explained in the books, there is also another severe change they made. As for Perrin and Egwene, I had many a rant about this topic lmao "There are so many changes in episode 1" oh......I now look fondly back on those days when I thought the same.

[@agabrielrose]

It's explained in the book because the Hundred Companions of Lews Therin were all male Aes Sedai, so the Dark One's counterstrike could only reach saidin.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

I have been saying this in other comments... I think that the crappy adaptations we are seeing reveal that the people in charge of making them genuinely don't understand the genre and why people love it. Especially when it comes to "updating for modern sensibilities". Those of us who have been in the genre fandom for longer than 30 minutes know that a lot of these stories, for ages, have centered around themes of acceptance and recognition of differences not meaning "better or worse". Societies in SciFi and Fantasy that put down a certain gender or race or class are often used as a tool to show how disgusting these mentalities are. By removing those elements, you actually remove the most powerful tool for making the very point you were trying to make. And it doesn't take a PhD to see this. I want to do the Picard face palm every time someone says they're updating and improving a story that already brilliantly conveys these themes (Side note... Start Trek: The Next Generation (sans the first season) were so forward-thinking and explored so many issues that are front stage today that I think most people with "modern sensibilities" would have a stroke trying to understand how it was possible... they might also have a fit when these same episodes show the dangers of being "too forward thinking" or the very real limits of humanity that simply aren't evil... just human.) If Perrin's wife was jealous of Egwene's perfection (as another commenter has explained to me) then this is just laughable. Making Egwene perfect, while making another woman jealous of her perfection (while perfectly reasonable to show as a realistic human behavior [the jealousy, not the perfection] totally undermines the intention of portraying women as above these sorts of things.... in fact, portraying a woman as capable of perfection, would actually make all imperfect women look like disappointments... because if all women are capable of perfection, we can only assume that those who are not perfect are simply not trying 🤷‍♀️) Lol... all we can do is laugh, at this point.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

@agabrielrose I don't know what all of that means, but I think i get the general idea. I do keep getting mixed interpretations on this subject in the comments.

[@disparutoo]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS the book describes it as an oil slick on top of the power they have to reach through to use the power. Each time a bit stays in them, slowly tainting them until they go mad. The books are have traditional gendered themes. This would be the sacrificial nature of men. Season 1 doesnt even make sense when you know their are 2 sides of the power (something it looks like theyve had to change in season 2 apparently). As for Perrin and Egwene, i cant explain without tv spoilers. But episode 7 is when I realised, but only due to a knights watch review pointing it out and its the only explanation that makes sense.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

@@disparutoo The oil slick description makes sense to me, and is a good representation of how I have thought of it. Sacrificial nature? Or is this explanation asking for a spoiler? 😋 No need to explain, if it is, but I'm trying to guess what this refers to in a real world context. Men going to war? Or men sacrificing self for the provision/safety of his family? Knights Watch is top tier. I'll be sure to check his WoT analysis and dissection when i get further ahead.... or will it be an autopsy by that point? 😅

[@velinion1]

Re: How the One Power works. You'll learn quite a bit about it in Book 2. The visual representation in the show was pretty good, actually, but probably indecipherable if you're not familiar with how it works.

[@jeremyherndon2974]

Yep I though the way the portrayed weaving the one power was really good!

[@JohnHatesTheStupid]

Hi. Long time fan of the books. I think the show is a burning train wreck into an orphanage full of quadriplegic kittens. Lots of people who are criticising the show have been written off as "bookcloaks" who hate the show because "but it not word for word like book, tho!" Or worse, it's assumed that we hate the casting because...racism? It's nice to see someone pointing out the legitimate issues with the show. Long videos are great. Love the analysis.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

🤣🤣🤣 Those poor kittens! I have heard these accusations on some of my other videos. I was accused of perpetuating propaganda with my Empire of the Sun video (my most successful video to date). I asked these folks to please fill me in on what propaganda I was missing. As someone who is decently well-informed about the Sino-Japanese wars, as well as the nuances of persuasive storytelling, I was completely lost on what they saw as propaganda. I suspected they were trying to say that the movie was "pro-Japanese" (as if I wasn't fully aware of the atrocities committed by the Japanese in WW2). But these accusatory comments just revealed that the commenters completely missed one of the main points of the movie, which was that there are no bad guys in the eyes of a child unless he is told so. Anyway, not one of those commenters ever responded to my request for an explanation. 🤷‍♀️

[@David_randomnumber]

Sadly you´re totally right. The showrunners seemed to not even give a toss about the Source Material. They kept the names but needlessly switched nearly every character: Mat gone from mischievous boy with a heart of gold who always does what is right but complains while doing it to a petty thief. His Father gone from one of the most respected villagers to a drunkard. Perrin goes from a prudish boy who has deep troubles talking to woman without tripping over his tongue to a married man just so they can fridge his wife for no good reason at all. Moraine from a deeply caring, no-nonsense kind of character to a ... wait, no spoiler. Lan from stoic and always very private about his feeling to whiny Hippy. Tom from a lovable, well respected gleeman to a thief and rogue. Egwene from an unsecure but very courageous girl to a career focused b*tch who doesn´t give a crap about Rand. Nyneave from overly protective and always very concerned about the safety to "let me toss you into this raging river". They failed to give every single woman in the show room to grow because they can´t show a weak girl even if we know how that´s necessary to really appreciate what they become. On the other side they refuse to give any man a big moment. They even switched the core characteristica of the 2 sexes. In the books the woman were always the thoughtful and calculating ones while the man were the rash and impulsives and that leads to a lot of entertaining bickering since we see, as the reader, the thoughts behind both of them and how they are both never really wrong.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

@@David_randomnumber The irony is that, in their attempt to put the women on towering pedestals... AVOIDING SPOILERS... through vagueness. They mess up Moiraine, first with her... ahem... let's call it her "Admiral Holdo scene"... and again, later, in a different way... with her... ahem... let's call it her "Hydra", or "Cerberus", scene with Siuan. (Grin. I put in another mythological reference, but decided it was too on-target!) Then there's also Nynaeve... in the last episode of S1... In order to put Egwene on a higher pedestal... or through total incompetence... they took stuff AWAY from Nynaeve... and the part I'm referring to, was mentioned a couple of times, including once at length, in an earlier episode. (IIRC, it was also mentioned another time, more briefly.) All so that they could blow smoke up Egwene's... posterior.

[@jamesmartin8005]

@@nyetzdyec3391 its even worse then that. the last episodes were an utter trash fire. They literally stole the dragons big reveal and gave it to the girls. For those who havnt read the books. everything the girls did at the end of the show? was all done *visibly* by a man .(major plot point moving forward). (trying not to reveal spoilers as much as possible) Also, because they stole that big reveal to make the girls 'look better' or something. It completely ruins the plots of the next TWO books. Since in the show, No one knows anything at all about 'the dragon' reveal. Which is the biggest plot of book 2 (The great hunt) and even Book 3 (the Dragon reborn). Literally everything any male character did in the books that was cool that they included, they instead gave that to a female character . They made all the male characters dumb, and incompetent and the female characters the heroes of the story that isnt theirs.

[@arthurleible7139]

I support completely redoing the first season. They tried, it failed. Either restart or scrap it.

[@screamineagle3052]

I loved the books and hate the show. Was looking forward to introducing my parents to my family favorite book series through the show but after the 4th episode I was too embarrassed to continue tho my mom finished it and said it wasn't very good and didn't understand what was even going on half the time.

[@nineradvocate]

Did you notice almost immediately that Rafe (showrunner) cut out the Town Council while elevating and expanding the Women's Circle? That dynamic in the books was both enjoyable and illustrative of Jordan's themes for the entire story. Between that and de-gendering the One Power (and denigrating all males in the process), Rafe is showing his agenda almost immediately. There are quotes from him out there. Rafe believes that WoT was written as a feminist manifesto, and that it was no longer feminist enough. His words. His version is to denigrate, diminish and steal valor from the male characters in order to elevate the female characters. His changes have utterly destroyed the foundation of the story, and the fact that he is doing it intentionally feels nasty and evil. I think all of the book fans fell in love with this series which did both heavily borrow but also evolved LOTR into a more egalitarian gender story across a very broad world of rich cultures with Characters with definite development arcs playing off of one another. Rafe either doesn't understand that or he just dislikes the actual story. After watching season 1 and listening to him speak on numerous occasions, I'm leaning heavily towards the latter.

[@nineradvocate]

Also I really liked your comments about the characters not having their innocence in the show. That was a significant dynamic in the books, and it was also badly missed / more destroyed foundation. The actor who played Tam played Roose Bolton in GoT. Tam is diminished in the show as well. Your criticism was spot on. I am so glad you called out the costumes. That was indicative of the lack of care, focus and familiarity with the source material that the show has.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Oh gosh! I didn't know that about the showrunner. Those are some pretty damning quotes 😬 The more I'm hearing from folks who love the books, the more I'm anticipating that I'll be watching the series as though it is a fanfic or "another turning of the wheel"... which means that it's not really an adaptation. It's "inspired by" the IP. Thank you so much for the compliment about my criticism. Knowing that this is a much-loved book series, I was nervous about stating anything negative... but as my shtick is "comparisons by a freelance editor who has never read the books or watched the show", I didn't want to be dishonest in my opinion.

[@MohseenLala]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Don't worry, as long as your criticisms are both honest (genuinely your opinion) and objective, in the sense of not being ideologically possessed (aka not woke), 99% of the fanbase will welcome you even if you don't see eye to eye.

[@dudeguy8686]

​@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS "Another Turning of the Wheel" happens to be the primary excuse for the changes in the adaptation from the showrunners. Which sounds cool to me as a concept for a story, yet.. Well, you can decide if their changes were in good faith to the series. Also, as a fan of the books, just wanted to say feel free to criticize them honestly. Heard it said once, "no one likes complaining about the Wheel of Time more than WoT fans", and I'm sure it's true. It's far from perfect, but still an incredible story. Hope you enjoy your time with it, and thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@danieljohnson270]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Interestingly, that "another turning of the Wheel" idea is exactly what Brandon Sanderson (the author who finished the Wheel of Time after Jordan died) says is his "head-canon" for the show, to account for the rather significant changes you have pointed out. He is quick to say that this is very much not official, because it wouldn't even be legal.

[@Sunrunner663]

A friend of mine is a huge WoT fan and he was excited to watch the show with us. After two episodes he dipped out, fairly disappointed. I watchted the whole thing and thought it sucked, but I gave the books a try. I'm glad I did, I'm currently reading the 8th novel and I love them.

[@SaltyTravelingC]

Great analysis and commentary

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Sweet! Thanks. I hope I can improve as we go along.

[@johanjarvinen]

The book prologue is written in a way that you are told a ton of important information before you have the context to understand what it means. But if you pay attention and keep it in mind it fundamentally changes the story of books 1-3 as they unfold. I also happen to think it would have looked amazing, with Elan Morin Tedronai showing up at this desolate mansion, finding Lews Therin Thelamon wandering around the bodies of the family he killed, bringing him back to sanity and having him flee what he'd done and then pulling a mountain out of the ground and killing himself in the process. Against that backdrop, imagine being told that is who you were in a past life, that that is who you are destined to become again. It's a death sentence, but worse.

[@joerenzi2373]

Great video! Another WoT superfan here. Like Lord of the Rings, I re-read the entire series every couple of years. With the show, I was really excited, especially when I learned about Rosamund Pike's involvement. (She's also a WoT superfan). Knowing that some things might be done differently in the show, I went in with a sort of "Okay, let's see what they do" attitude. I came away, unfortunately, meh. That said, considering the density of the books and the intricacy of their storylines, world-building, characters and content, the only way to do it all justice, I feel, would be with 22-episode seasons. Trying to jam it all into eight episodes? The writers were hamstringed and had one arm tied behind their back from the jump. It all felt rushed, to me.

[@aldan7812]

Oh wow you are on chap 16 of book 1!! Mate you are starting a journey that ends in the greatest story ever told - enjoy the ride :-)

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

I am getting more and more excited as I read. I just read the part where Moiraine "steps over the wall" and I was tripping! I want to see that on screen so bad!

[@heartflame503]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS lol sorry.. not in it..

[@Xterius]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS just.. keep reading... Good review/go through though!

[@dallassukerkin6878]

Prof. J.R.R. Tolkien has entered the chat :D

[@GreatGreebo]

At timestamp 0:37 you literally made me laugh out loud. I’m definitely an enthusiastic and *NEW SUBSCRIBER* ! For once, the KZbin algorithm didn’t do me dirty and instead landed me here on your channel. I really enjoyed this first video essay and eagerly await your continuation of the series. Thank you & Cheers 🤘

[@roscoe2311]

I think one of the major themes that the show seems to have completely disregarded is the loss of innocence of the main characters. Perrin being married, Rand and Egwene having sex, Mat having an abusive family, etc. kind of takes it all away. In the books these characters are thrust into the world from a sheltered and rigid upbringing and I love the way they all adjust to the new world they are seeing and experiencing for the first time. They all undergo major changes as a result. Just my opinion, thank you for the video! Edit : I admit I commented this early without watching the entire video and I see that you addressed this, sorry! I am stupid

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

It's all good. It just reinforces how obvious it should have been to the showrunner that doing this was a bad idea 😶

[@roscoe2311]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS yeah :(

[@LordPickleball]

Keep up the good work! How does Hollywood continue to screw up good stories so badly....I wish they would stick to the script!

[@huskerfan-el4jx]

What makes these books great is the character development. Where all these characters and groups of characters start and where they end up is sort of the point of the story. The main characters being young and impressionable is part of the story. Mat's dad being a good man and the things he teaches Mat are important. The chosen one being a man is very important. Its the ripples in the pond type thing. Little changes in the beginning could be very hard to fix as they go along.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

"Give me a pebble at the right time and place, and I can change the course of a river." That stinking idiot Judkins is throwing freaking boulders into a pond... and they have already made inconsistencies in their OWN "turning of the wheel"... it's only going to get worse.

[@danielmennel4565]

One of the things people seem to mischaracterize in the books is that Mat is highly responsible once he actually chooses or accepts said responsibility. He just tries all he can to avoid taking on responsibilities others try to saddle him with. So far none of that comes across in the show.

[@teleriferchnyfain]

What character development? 😂 I have read all the books & what some people seem to think is character development is just naive kids getting experience & training in their respective talents. They do not show much emotional development over the entire series - especially Rand!! Don’t get me wrong, I read all the books & love them for the overall depth of the world building & the whole story.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

@@teleriferchnyfain Rand deosn't have emotional development? REALLY?! Um... Well, how about Moiraine? Trying to be VERY vague to avoid spoilers... She has two pivotal moments... one at that place that starts with an "R"... and "gets some questions answered"... and again at that place that could be called "ToG"... where she went to get more questions answered. Aside from that, experience and training are both two types of development... Perrin, too... He chooses a wife... and learns how to be what SHE wants in a husband... which forces him to change. Now, we might disagree with her choice in that matter... but there absolutely ARE women like that... and not a particularly small number of them, either.

[@teleriferchnyfain]

@@nyetzdyec3391 Yeah, there are pivotal moments, but she basically retains the same personality thru-out the books. As does Rand.

[@unreliable-narrator]

It is a ton of fun to get your first-hand reaction while you’re doing the simultaneous read/watch - and two tons of fun knowing what the books have in store that you’ve yet to see… thanks and please keep them coming!

[@Whitewingdevil]

Sure wonder why Perrin's 'wife' had a forgehammer raised over her head aimed at Perrin. There were no trollocs left in the room.....

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Lol. Yeah! Why?

[@emrek99205]

She was a darkfriend, obviously. The writers claim that she wasn't and the actress said it was just to show the attack as lethal but it shows differently on screen. Decapitation with her turned away would have also worked but there would be no indication of who she was and no chance to show her surprise. So yeah, darkfriend attacking Perrin when his back was turned. I doubt she mistook him for a trolloc when she was looking straight at him.

[@Flyinshoe]

Pretty big Wheel of Time book fan here. Read them all a good 10 times or more and like to think that I have a pretty good understanding of all of the various story beats and intricacies of the world created by Jordan. Pretty nice concept for you to go through both the story and books at the same time. You are pretty spot on with the things in Ep 1 that were absolutely infuriating. I think many book fans controlled their expectations knowing that this was going to be a very difficult story to adapt. However, the thing that got to me is all of the little things like you mentioned (and quite a few others) that were clearly intentional deviations from the book but either undermine the story GREATLY for what's to come or literally have no bearing on the story and it was changed just because they could. I would like to think that when adapting a story to film the default position for different aspects of the story would be to try to stay true to the source material and then adjusting if absolutely necessary. It seems like that philosophy was flip flopped with this show for some reason.

[@Gandharva456]

Thank you, enjoyed listening to your views. It was a balanced and well put-together video. One thing you did leave out is that they didn't introduce Thom Merrilin (the gleeman) in this episode. In the books he is part of the group that leaves Emond's Field. Thom is one of my favorite characters and he plays an important role in that journey, acting as a sort of father-figure for the youngsters (especially Rand and Mat), as they move out of their small village and into the wider world. Changing that was a bad decision. It's like changing one of the members of the original Fellowship in the Lord of the Rings. They also made Mat's parents look bad - his mother is not a drunk and his father is not a womanizer in the books. I feel they corrupted a lot of the characters, possibly with the intention of making things darker and edgier to make it feel more like Game of Thrones, but as you say, so much of the innocence that the characters have in Book 1 is completely lost in the show. It also makes them less likable, whereas what kept me hooked to the books is how much I liked the characters. Please keep making these videos for all the episodes and hope you have a great time reading the books. I have subbed, looking forward to seeing your channel grow and hope you get the numbers needed to be monetized.

[@skybelowus_]

This channel came across my feed and I'm so glad it did! Thank you for the effort you put into this video; I'm looking forward to seeing more. 'The Sword and the Pen Reflections' is an awesome name by the way.

[@Sinnersaves]

Wow, I couldn't have said it better myself. You are very thorough. I applaud your passion for storytelling and commend the effort you put into conveying well thought out points.

[@WhitecloaksPips]

Subscribed! Great review, please keep them up. Walk in the Light!

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Haha Thank! I hope to upload Episode 2 this Tuesday, latest.

[@duaneswab4659]

They aged up Egwene to be the same age as Mat, Perrin and Rand. And they also eliminated the Purity Culture of the Two Rivers, and presumably the blushes from Perrin and Rand that excited the women of the Tuatha'An and Fal Dara.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Okay, i don't know what the Tuatha'An and Fal Dara are... or wait... was that in the chapter when they went to the city for the first time? Maybe it was and I missed it. I was too busy being annoyed that there were whole troops of people who hunt down Aes-Sedai, which would explain why Moiraine had to be incognito and dress in ways that didn't reveal what she is..... which the show didn't seem to do at all in the first Episode. ugh! I think it's fine to age up the actors. But I take issue with changing their stage of development. Yeah... the innocence is gone, so their character arcs are going to have to be very different from in the books.

[@nvfury13]

⁠@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Tuatha’an are basically Romani .

[@b_g_c3281]

​@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Tuatha'An are known far more commonly as... The Tinkers or The Traveling People. As nvfury mentioned they are loosely based upon the Romani ((aka Gypsies)) but they're also loosely based upon the _'The Travellers'_ -- the predominantly ((but not exclusively)) Irish itinerants often who were also called 'Irish Gypsies'... As for Fal'Dara(( and the whole of Shienar for that matter ))... The impression I got from 'The Eye Of The World' is that it's a peculiar blend of aspects of early Han Dynasty _and_ aspects of mid-to-late Mongolian Empire *BUT also* aspects of Medieval Denmark and Russia most especially in the sense of a culture hardened by the constant threat of invasions.... Everything in your overall enjoyable video only further confirms that I made the right choice in sparing myself the abuse of watching this travesty of a so-called 'adaptation'

[@aaronc4899]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS It's more than "innocence". When he referred to "Purity Culture" he meant that the Two Rivers had traditional moral values around sex, which ultimately meant no sex outside of marriage. This was mainstream in Christian, Muslim, and many other societies until about 15 minutes ago (and still is in many parts of the world). Western millennials - like the showrunner - probably don't appreciate that this rule existed because birth control pills did not exist. The traditional morality of the characters created tensions that ran throughout the books. Some of the main characters in the book waited until marriage; others did not. It is not believable that Egwene's parents would allow her to use the downstairs inn to have pre-marital sex with Rand, if for no other reason that they did not have the technology of reliable birth control. Also, there was no reason why they couldn't just be married already.

[@anonymouslyopinionated656]

you can't be sexually chaste and be a good person in todays hollywood, i guess

[@alanhyland5697]

Your honest and insightful analysis has earned you my like and subscription. Thought I'd add a comment to to help out the algorithm.

[@Alustar22]

Trying to alter the gender of the Dragon Reborn is such a key point to the story, it would be like reversing the roles of the humans and machines in The Matrix. I'm probably even more disappointed with what they did to Loyal. This show quickly went the way of The Sword of Truth. The biggest issue I had was with Matt's character. That was assassination of the highest order. Matt was a scamp and a clever, mischiveous kid and man. Matt and Rand's relationship and growth together were some of my favorite moments. 18:48 I had only ever watched the show, but because I've been reading novels since an early age, I've gotten really good at picking up on contextual hints and foreshadowing. Enough so that the minute Jon asked Ned about his mother and Ned said, "Next time I see you, I'll tell you about your mother." I knew two things for certain, at that moment, 1 Jon Snow was the true heir to the throne, and 2 Ned was going to die before they had that talk.

[@davetheblade]

I will say the way you are doing these reviews are unique, because it’s hard to see the whole picture of the book or the show, but still interesting. I will say this though Egwene’s family isn’t poor. They are actually one of the wealthiest in the Two Rivers, not necessarily rich, but most certainly not poor either.

[@rustyshackleford1062]

That's true but the two rivers is also an agrarian and isolationist society. Like you say they aren't poor, but at the same time by wider world standards they'd basically be looked at in terms of wealth by the wider world like a third world nation. They have next to no contact with the outside world whatsoever, aside from the odd peddler with ulterior motives once or twice a year or so. What is it Matt says in tar valon the night he first starts seriously gambling? Something along the lines of with the winnings of that one night he could buy out the biggest horse farm in the two rivers and have enough left over to never have to really work again? Even in the context of Egewene's family being possibly the richest in the two rivers they still wouldn't likely be able to afford anything close to a noblewomen's style of dresses, maybe one for bel tine arguably but certainly not something to be worn to be flung into a river in.

[@davetheblade]

@@rustyshackleford1062 I did say, right there in my point that they weren't necessarily rich. 🤷🏾‍♂

[@geerae3733]

I’d always heard that this book series was amazing, but a huge commitment based on the number of books 😂 So was so happy about the series. After watching the first 3 eps, I was extremely confused about the magic system and the world in general. But because of my interest in the story I decided to start reading book 1. And what a vast difference! Like night and day. It’s not that the book was perfect (there are some minor issues that I had) but it was infinitely better than this series. I’ve gone on to read the next 2 books, and imo, the show runners have made some unforgivable choices that will have profound consequences in future seasons.

[@briane8627]

This was a really spot on comparison and wonderfully insightful. I'm a long time book fan and you caught pretty much everything that gave me pause when watching the series. Some other reviews sure felt like gaslighting or just a knee jerk reaction. It's nice to see an unbiased yet analytical take. Hope to catch more of your videos. 👍

[@D-Z321]

I really like your analysis. Very logical and pleasantly unbiased. Thank you.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Thanks... I hope to stay unbiased... although episode 3 of the show got me pretty fired up. Not because of the differences from the book..... but from the shoddy dialogue.

[@joseseptien]

Matt, super interesting character in the books! Perrin a force of nature in the books that becomes awesome leader.

[@cobba42]

Interesting video from an interesting perspective. I will be looking forward to see your reactions to the rest of the series. Or season at least. I found the books randomly in a store with book three out. Something about a dragon looked like a must-read to me. I subsequently re-read the series each time a new book was released and a couple times after. Most recently to cleanse the taint of the TV show with the words from the original author(s). As for that TV show, it was a given that any adaptation would have to be heavily condensed to fit this - at times - over-expansive world onto a screen. Luckily Jordan's writing affords plenty of opportunity to do just that, especially in the books he wrote later in the series. But the show went overboard, changing the characters into caricatures, adapting the story to fit the casting of Moraine as well as "The Message". The magic system, which is one of the core elements and has clear rules, origins and limitations, has been turned into an ad hoc do-whatever-we-need-and-look-cool graphic effect (Moraine destroying the inn, anyone?). The world depicted in the show feels like it is set within the confines of a shoe box, not something that is unfathomably large to a village kid. In short, it is a dumpster fire of epic proportions for an avid reader. And it only gets worse as the TV show continues. That said, the books aren't perfect either. Not by a long shot. But by and large Robert Jordan did a fantastic job of telling the heroes' journey from the naive boy and girl to people who will ... influence the world at large. I imagine doing a side by side comparison will be a bit more of a challenge as the series goes on since the show does pull scenes from further into the story as it tries to condense. All that while also inventing completely new scenes - most of which they don't have a clue of the ramifications thereof. To leave this on a positive note: I thoroughly enjoyed how you tried to see the distinctions and gave thought about what a reader might or might not expect, as well as how you see the changes to plot and characters - good or those less so.

[@LordTactusMe]

It's insane that I can stumble into a competent writer on KZbin by accident, but Amazon couldn't hire one to save their life.

[@MrAngerissues1]

Excellent, excellent analysis of this episode. You definitely spoke to all the concerns i have.

[@Avenus112]

The books had what it called moon-leaf tea, which works either as a morning-after pill or as something like the birth control pill, no one is quite sure. It worked the way the plot needed it at the time. I read the books as an adolescent and young adult and I expected a reasonably accurate presentation with lots that's truncated. Instead of a young man drags the world to its final reckoning so he can wrestle with metaphysical evil for them, they wrote women wizards save the world from men who ruin everything. The show inverted everything about presentation so completely that all it shares in common with its source material is the names and some places. It's an almost entirely different thing. If you can separate the Wheel of Prime as something separate from the Wheel of Time you might enjoy it. But if you approach it as an adaptation of the books you will be miserable because it's not an adaptation, or even a reimagining. It's Buffalo Bill's skinsuit.

[@MoriMemento117]

Perrin with his wife (don't remember her made up name, let's call her Fridgella) is made even worse when he gives her that hug from behind. He holds her belly and the camera zooms in on that contact. I'm assuming at some point in the writing of this mess that they intended for her to be pregnant... maybe that's why they got married? Either way, it certainly doesn't help the fact they have him driving an axe into her stomach moments later. Why did they do this? I mean, I've watched the show, so I know why. Cause they needed to give another girl-boss moment to Egwene. All I gotta ask is: Was it worth it?

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

The tension between Perrin, Fridgella, and Egwene was very weird. I'm so curious about what the show has done with this.

[@MoriMemento117]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS I really look forward to your analysis of it, as I struggle with being objective toward this show. Perrin was far from my favourite character in the book, but what they did to him in the show was damn near horrific. And this first episode wasn't even the worst of it - though perhaps the most violent and pointless.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

@@MoriMemento117 ugh.... I hope it doesn't get worse. I'm committed to watching the whole thing.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

@@MoriMemento117 You are both right and wrong about the fridging... YES, you're right about her supposed to be pregnant. The REASON for it, though... the fridging, and maybe the pregnancy, too... is the pervasive ideology of the show... "men bad"... just like he needs a "girl boss" to tell him he's being a "bad little boy" and it's "time to go home and do your chores". For example... that trinket that Mat stole? Do you know when/from whom he stole it? It was in the leaked script... he stole it from a girl... that he was "banging"... because it wasn't bad enough to make him a thief, they also had to have him steal from his "lover".

[@jsbrads1]

The wife suffered a miscarriage shortly before the beginning of the show, it probably all ended up being cut due to editing. The most telling moment was them suffering together when launching a candle on the wooden raft.

[@2323dbarro]

I am a big fan of the books. I think you did a great job of breaking down the show. I wanted this show to be amazing and stuck with it through the end of season 1, but i was honestly hate watching it after the first few episodes. You have identified many of the same issues i had. All I can say is buckle up.

[@judyimlay3072]

What I loved about the books was the concept of the Dragon being needed but also feared. Without the Dragon, the Dark One will win, but the Dragon may also destroy the world through the madness.

[@emrek99205]

The Dragon is feared not because of what or who he is, but because of what he represents. It is common knowledge that once the Dragon Reborn appears then the end times are nigh. Most people don't want their world turned upside-down so they don't want the Dragon Reborn to exist.

[@aldan7812]

This is awesome btw - subbed.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

🎊🍻 Sweet! Thanks 😊

[@billybubba8344]

Save your time. Just read the books. Have read the books many times. Was pumped for the show. Watched the first season, hoping it would get better. It didn't. Im done.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Lately, adaptations are very poor representations of the source material. I am already enjoying the book more. But the show can be enjoyable if it sets up its unique world and stayes true to what it sets up. It'll be hard to not compare the two versions, though, and feel that one is better or worse than the other.

[@mikemcquarrie4113]

Most adaptations of books have tended to be nothing more than taking names of people and places and discarding everything else from the source material l.

[@JohnWilkinsonTesla]

The magic: Men and women each have their elements that they can control. When they cross into each others realms they can get hurt. Agreed on all points. You got a new subscriber.

[@SilveryRow]

Your perspective is fascinating to me. I've watched analyses by book fans and by non-book readers but never someone reading and watching simultaneously. You have the advantage of a direct comparison but without the knowledge of completed plotlines, story arcs, and character development. I strongly hope people respect that and don't spoil you. Incidentally, the video was not too long considering your thoughtful and intelligent review; I would've enjoyed a longer one in fact! I like deep dives :)

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Wow! Thanks 😊 I'm sticking with this format, but as my reviews go on, you'll see that my videos start adding lots of editing. That's what's taking a long time. I could hammer out unedited reviews at one per day, but it's all the editing that takes forever. My reviews of season 1 got progressively longer and more "jazzed up". I am trying to shorten the videos for season 2. After my first recording for season 2 episode 1 came out 4 hours, I tried to edit it for a week, but decided I needed to go back a reshoot it. I got it down to half that length and hope to shorten even more.

[@agabrielrose]

Because storge isn't as important as eros in contemporary mainstream culture, so the impart of Perrin losing his entire family, the special love he had for his sister, etc, must be replaced with some romantic trauma, like accidentally killing his wife. It was a sad switcheroo, and the show runners missed an opportunity to highlight other aspects of human love and grief besides romantic/dyadic/erotic.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Some of this stuff when over my head, but I'm interested, for sure. Remember to remind me of these later.... 😁

[@magister343]

​@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS Storge and Eros are two Greek world for love, along with Philia and Agape. The words are not as distinct as C.S. Lewis and those influenced by him claim though. Eros can be sexual love, or attraction to perceived beauty. That is usually sexual attraction to physical beauty, but not always. Socrates also used it for attraction to truth or to the beloved's skills or good moral character. Storge can also refer to sexual love, but rarely. It is mostly the affection that parents feel for their children, or which a ruler has for his subjects, but can sometimes be used in reverse for the love the parent or superior receives in return. It can even be how a people feel towards a brutal tyrant who has ruled long enough that they fear his replacement may be worse. It is mostly about the comfort of familiarity and stability. It can be used for romantic love that has moved past the point of infatuation and is more focused on the practical aspects of maintaining a long term committed relationship. Philia is the most common and general term for love. It often but not always implies an egalitarian relation between the lover and beloved. (No equality is implied is terms like "Philosophy," the love of wisdom, or the name "Phillip," a lover of horses.) It is often called brotherly love. In a misogynistic and strictly patriarchal society like Ancient Greece it would not often be used for the love between husband and wife, although it is an important part of a healthy modern relationship. Agape is often portrayed as a perfect eternal unconditional selfless love, but really isn't. (The first use of Agape in the bible, in the Greek Septuagint, is about a case of man raping his half-sister and then feeling so disgusted with the act that his love for her turns to hatred.) It is mostly a synonym of Philia, but without implying anything about equal or unequal status. It is commonly used for love between family members, especially where differences in age or gender roles makes philia seem less appropriate. What Perrin feels for his parents or for Haral Luhhan (the blacksmith to whom he is apprenticed) may be Storge, but for his sisters I'd say it is Agape.

[@heartflame503]

Yes there is contraception, and the "wisdoms" (Nyneve and Egwene) would know and prescribe it. Re: Tam, in the books Tam killed a dozen Trollocs !! before he got scratched. Long time book reader re-reader , Yeah the changes were disappointing in the first episode .. but it calibrated my expectations of the series down from 100 % to 5% and after that it was fine. Just not crazy excited anymore and just happy they made it .. and almost all your critique of the character and writing of the series is spot on!. they should hire you !!!! liked and subscribed !!

[@icecell]

Oh Tam. He's such an awesome dad.

[@Dragonslairminis]

The importance of the Heron marked blade is missing which hurts Tam's story.

[@kopicat2429]

The lights you see Moraine draw in, is a visual representation of how an Aes Sedai channels the One Power. They draw on Saidar, channeling it into themselves, and then use that to do whatever magic they do. Hence you see her basically sucking up light or whatever, she's drawing in the magic or mana if you will, to transform it into an effect. A description often used for the Aes Sedai when they prepare to fight is that they light up. Along the lines of "She could see her sisters light up one by one as they started to draw on the One Power". It's also very hard to keep it within you for a long period of time, like filling your lungs with more air then they can handle.

[@billtodd2194]

That intro about the Dragon being man or woman is probably the best line to encapsulate all my worries about the show and if the showrunner actually understands it or how the world is meant to work. Because the White Tower power structure is all women, the Dragon has to be a man or all of the tension in the series evaporates. The Tower hierarchy is based on strength in power. The Dragon is the most powerful. If the Dragon were a woman then the Tower would just fall in line behind her and pull the unified world along to fight the Dark One. The Dragon being a man (and crucially a man who can go mad) means now he's outside the entire established power structure of the world and there's a whole order dedicated to taming him. If you want a female Dragon then you have to flip the Tower to all men and reverse the tainted magic side, which would make the world far more patriarchal and less modern, not more.

[@patrickhill8494]

As a super fan, this is not a show adapted from The Wheel of Time. This is a show that is extremely loosely inspired by The Wheel of Time. I have so many thoughts regarding the characters, but I will focus on Matt. They did Matt so dirty, and he is my favourite male book character. In the books, he's portrayed as a trickster or rascal, but one who has a heart of gold (though he shows this less in the early books as he's still extremely immature and has as supernatural influence on him that kiiind of dampens this as well). His affinity/proclivity with/for gambling is extremely relevant to his character later in the series, but the way they show it as an addiction/kleptomania right at the beginning, is so unfaithful to his book character that it was extremely off-putting. On the magic system, the fact that they show Moiraine's weaves before you get a good explanation of the One Power or how it is used, at least the loose technical explanation you're given about weaves of the different elements, makes it super confusing to an uninitiated viewer. I think the show runners were trying to convey that the One Power is present everywhere and is drawn from everywhere by the channeler, but it would probably have been better to show the magic as seen from a non-channeler, thus not seeing any of the weaves/source of the magic, so as not to confuse people and use the appearance of weaves to indicate seeing something happen from the perspective of someone who can channel AFTER the audience's initiation into the basic mechanics of the system. Regarding the constumes, they just didn't fit the world. Considering Robert Jordan's ample descriptions of all aspects of his world, from the food, clothing, and accents, to the cultures, traditions, and architecture, it's sad that so much of it is being ignored or altered for silly reasons. Look at the Aes Sedai. Even if you just take what we've been shown from the trailer and this first episode, they're shown pretty much wearing a coloured uniform-esque dress with their Ajah's colour and silly theming (such as the Green Ajah having bits of "armor" attached because they're the Battle Ajah in the books). Sure, it's visual story telling that I'm assuming they're trying to use to cut costume budgets (since in the books Aes Sedai dress like very wealthy but normal people, so according to their individual fashion sense, just with their shawls and often dress being coloured associated with their Ajah). I slogged through Season 1, but it just gets worse.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Starting Mat out with a gambling addiction and kleptomania was probably the biggest red flag for me. He is very childlike in the book, so far, and this means we are ruining the impact of introducing adult problems to an innocent. Yeah. He has started out on very thin ice in the likability department. I don't know what you mean by "weaves" but I'm about 99% certain that they showed the magic in the way that they did because they thought "this will make the show look really fantasy-esque". Strangely, Game of Thrones didn't need to show this sort of thing, and no one questioned whether or not that was a fantasy show 😅 But sometimes i think that the people in charge of fantasy and sci-fi shows these days don't really understand why people love them. Moiraine's costume apparently "giving away" that she is Aes-Sedai kinda annoyed me. It was such a bid deal later in book 1 that Moiraine navigates the regular world incognito. There are literally groups of other people who want to kill the Aes-Sedai.... that's why she dressed like a noble woman. ugh! I'll try to judge the show fairly, but It's going to be hard, knowing that the book is already doing so many things so much better.

[@patrickhill8494]

@@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS sorry, me talking about weaves is me jumping the gun on the magic mechanics. Using the One Power through channeling is called "weaving" and is described as using threads of the various elements of power, Water, Earth, Air, Fire, Spirit, to create what is described as a weave of the power; essentially a spell, and throughout the books the more complex something is to do with Saidin or Saidar, the male and female halves respectively of the One Power, generally the weaves are described compared to complex lace, or tapestries, etc.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

The trinket that Mat stole in the show, and tried to sell to Padan Fain, was something he stole from a girl he was "banging". The edited it out of the show, but it was in the script.

[@SirBlaze75]

my problem with the Tam v's trolloc fight scene is that he struggled to take on a trolloc on his own needing multiple cuts and needed the help of Rand, and later on Nynaeve took a trollock on her own with a singular stab, and whilst later on in the books the women do play a major part, the men are still considered their equals through out, it is very yin and yang in the books. I hate how they did mat in the show, and now there's a new matt as he's been recast :|, as for the question of birth control, they have wisdoms whom are essentially herb women making tinictures for all sorts of maladies . . . like pregnancy :| . All their clothes bugged me, they're a village of peasants and they all felt way to clean and fashionable I mean Morianne was sposed to stand out due to her rich clothing and yet it just didn't stand out when she entered the tavern. And yeah womens ritual was bad as it seemed like it'd kill too many as they went down rapids.

[@richardaubrecht2822]

Wait, a village girl killed a trolloc easier than a Master swordsman? I'm glad I skipped this "show".

[@SirBlaze75]

@@richardaubrecht2822 like a full blown ninja man, and with never picking up a sword in her life she auto knew how to wield it

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

I definitely picked up on the Yin and Yang vibe in the book. That's why the difference in the show stood out to me. I didn't even think about the comparison with Nynaeve and Tam. You are right, though.

[@drewcipher]

Been a book fan since before the series concluded, this series had so much promise but it almost felt like the showrunner doesn't trust the source material and they wanted to write their own story set loosely in Robert Jordans world. You have an interesting perspective so I'm curious to see what you think of some of the later episodes. Keep it up!

[@danieljohnson270]

I'm a superfan of the books, definitely, have been reading them most of my life. I was bothered by many of the changes you mentioned. But I realized, after watching season 1 and going back and re-reading the whole series afterward (quite an undertaking), that I actually don't want to watch a live-action adaptation of this series, no matter how well done. The reason is this: the books make me feel happy; the world is not grimdark, no matter how dark things get sometimes, because of the way the writing portrays it. But there is a bunch of stuff in the books that when translated from book to screen will inevitably take a basically PG-13 story to a hard-R story. This is especially true with the scenes of bondage, torture, and coercion (which is a theme of the story throughout). It is a totally different experience to watch a scene like that than it is to read one, and I've decided I don't really need that in my life. So I'll be giving the rest of this series a pass, no matter how well-reviewed it ends up being.

[@Patrick-kh4bx]

As we've discussed 🤪, I'm a super-fan of the books and mildly optimistic fan of the show. I think your observations are generally very astute - yes, many changes to books (but some of those are only changes relative to where you are in book 1 or the show). I look forward to your future videos. I plan to continue avoiding major plot spoilers in any comments I leave (see below for my initial reactions to this one) 1) There is readily-available, effective contraception in the WoT world (the herb Heartleaf, though it is rarely mentioned in the books, and I'm almost certain not directly as of book 1). 2) Something some people misunderstand about WoT is the setting's level of development (because it differs from some other major fantasy properties). Robert Jordan explained "But this is not the medieval period, not a fantasy with knights in shining armor. If you want to imagine what the period is, imagine it as the late 17th century without gunpowder." 3) The show creatives definitely wanted to exit the Two Rivers quickly and they race to that outcome by the end of e1. This gets to the "action" of the plot faster, but sacrifices time for character development (which the show especially needs since it is more equally focusing on a number of characters relative to that part of book 1's focus on Rand). The fan understanding from various sources is that the showrunner wanted a 90-minute pilot to get to the same end point while providing more time for character development, but the studio insisted in being closer to 60 minutes. Many scenes were lost to editing (either in writing or post-production). The studio's side of the argument would be that the WoT show had a fairly high completion rate for the first three episodes - yes, the first episodes feel RUSHED, but that breakneck pace may have helped keep audiences watching. (As a book fan who would watch anything WoT-related I prefer the showrunner's perspective, which makes sense since he is also a longtime superfan.) 4) On the show clothing, I (and many others) agree that it's probably a little too nice to be in-world realistic. They also rarely change outfits in s1 (likely to limit production costs and help audiences connect to or differentiate between characters). The observed wear and tear for weeks of hard travel over the course of s1 is modest. The clothing presentation could certainly be more varied as to be more in-world realistic. (But the nice clothing is very pretty 😍 if that's something people favor) Here are a few plausible, in-world explanations to soften that criticism of the clothing being too nice in e1/s1: a) level of development mentioned before - these people arent poor, their clothing would be impeccably made by hand (using quality, hardy natural materials - they raise sheep and such!), they care about cleanliness, etc.; b) Egwene is the Mayor/inkeeper's eldest daughter - she should have the nicest clothing in town. c) The episode and book scenes are set at Winternight, a holiday where everyone from the surrounding community comes together for religious observance (sort of) and socializing. Basically, the people in WoT like Rand and his dad would be showing up in their "Christmas best." (and Rand is seeing his girl for the first time in weeks, she is going through a major life event, etc. - he would plausibly want to dress to impress). d) The women's ceremony would be a major point in Egwene's life - she is being accepted as a woman in the community. Almost like a quinceanera or similar ceremony from our own world - again, very nicely dressed would be appropriate. e) Note that Mat's clothing is much worse, which makes sense in how the show has altered his background - the show is showing varied levels of clothing, even if some for the Two Rivers is too nice. (Moiraine should have the nicest of clothing since she is basically a noble woman, by profession at least....)

[@Patrick-kh4bx]

More comments: 1) Robert Jordan loves to use unreliable narration in WoT. The tv show employs the same technique - just because a character believes something doesn't make it objectively true. 2) The books and show present somewhat different framing of male channeling & madness issues. Both agree that channeling drives men mad in present times. Both agree that actions of some men in the past (when madness wasn't a concern) contributed to this "corruption" (the books call it the "taint" - simpler times...). However, there is a lot more context to that backstory than just the actions of those men. The show will touch upon that backstory, like the books, though the show appears to be making a few changes to that backstory. Both book and show agree that some contemporary people, like that red Aes Sedai you see, FEEL very harshly toward male channelers and men more generally, that the historical men are to blame, etc. There are also people with different, less harsh perspectives. I agree that show, relative to book 1, highlights the harsher views upfront. Hmm... but thinking about this more, it's also the case that Rand in tEotW thinks about the potential horrors of the Dragon Reborn/male channeling and we see those possible horrors in the book's prologue. I wonder if the show's approach in spoken dialogue and fully-presented interactions between men & women is making some of the gender-related conflicts more visceral, relative to the books where the early anti-male stuff is either the "Men are from mars, women are from Venus" attitudes among the Two Rivers folk and that we know Rand is the main character and Dragon Reborn so we don't internalize just how he hated he will be by other people until that conflict is actually displayed in later books? Also, since the show doesn't have the book prologue, we don't have as strong an explanation for why some characters hate or fear male channelers. This just adds fuel to my agreement with your criticism of the chase scene (which I talk about next).

[@Patrick-kh4bx]

3) I also dislike the chase scene. The show originally wrote (and filmed, I believe) a different, less-actiony opening (but not the book prologue). It's unclear why the show took the chase scene tack. One hypothesis is that the studio said there needed to be an action scene upfront or people might turn it off (with their input based on prior experience, research, etc. in tv).

[@Patrick-kh4bx]

4) In the books, the Two Rivers has divided but arguably equal gender roles. Different societies you will meet in WoT have different takes. E1 and S1 certainly play up female characters and matriarchal-esque social structures relative to book 1 and the books portrayal of the Two Rivers. I feel the show leaned a little too strongly and unnecessarily in the female dominance direction. One of the themes of the WoT books is balance, including between the male and female genders (80s-00s writing that almost enitrely stuck to a gender binary). The showrunner has echoed this understanding of WoT's theme of balance while suggesting a need to update certain story elements. (RJ was a man from a traditional mid-20th century Southern background - it may not be a stretch to suggest that his portrayal of certain aspects of female characters wasn't in line with more contemporary norms around female characterization. For example, many people today are more skeptical of a relatively-strict gender binary, particularly as a key element for organizing society.) The showrunner has also articulated that he has tried to push back whenever studio executives try to push a "women power" framing onto the show. Personally, I think the sweet spot on the portrayal of some of these gender-related issues would have been somewhere between the original books and where s1 of the show ended up. Contrary to other commenters, I do not think the show is misandrist. I also don't think the books are misandrist. Both contain misandrist characters and social structures (as well as the misogynist inverses), which do not reflect the personal views of those writing the books or show 🙄

[@Patrick-kh4bx]

Oh, and I enjoyed this video enough to like and subscribe - looking forward to future installments. Hopefully my comments don't come off as overly critical on your reactions - I agree with much of what you say (but I'm usually too lazy to write out that agreement 😂)

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Lol I'm so glad that I have 2 free hands this time (I think, last time, I was trying to reply to you with my 2-month-old niece in one arm.... I don't recommend trying that. 1) Ok. Cool. I'm glad that's addressed, because, as a fantasy and sci-fi fan, we want any differences from the familiar world to be explained. This one bugged me. haha! 2) Oh dang! I would love to have seen costumes that insinuate a parallel to the 17th century! Why didn't they do this?! (as you can probably tell, Rand's H&M sweater is burned into my brain eyes. 3) As I started reading this, I kept thinking, "Why didn't they just do a 90 minutes pilot?" So when you got to the fact that the showrunner wanted a 90 minute pilot, I was physically recreating that meme with the guy pointing at the obvious solution. I think it was a bad decision on the part of the studio. Desptite the fact that they had a high retention-rate for the first three episodes, a 90-minute pilot that had strong character development and a slow build-up of mystery would have been more effective than an opening that was... kinda bland in the character department. Starting any story with "bland" can leave a sour taste in the mouth that is hard to get rid of. This is something I think is not understood by a lot of folks in the higher positions of these studios. If you start out sour, you cannot resurrect. If you have a great beginning and terrible middle, the ending will never be as good as the great beginning. You can only make something a little better than the middle. Ugh. I should really do a video about this. 4) I think I've said all I need to say on the clothing... and I suspect I'll have more to say on future episodes. I just rewatched the "exiting Two Rivers" scene... and WTF is Egwene wearing?!!! I've read your notes on possible explanations of the clothing in S1.... my main complain about this sort of thing is... then the show should probably do something to make this a conclusion that the audience can deduce. From the show, i didn't see any indication that Egwene's dad was the mayor. I thought he was just the innkeeper. And his comment to Egwene after he was assured that she was okay after the initiation was something like "okay, I need your help serving the tables, because we are losing money right now." That was an indicator that her dad was either greedy or poor.... 🤷‍♀️ I was slightly annoyed that Moirain wasn't wearing something more like what was described in the book. Now that I'm on chapter 17, I'm seeing that she likes to be incognito... as an "elegant rich lady" type. That's definitely not what we see in the show, so I'm wondering how that will affect her character.

[@davidmcgarry4355]

OK, I'm a book fan. The first thing to say about the show is that they have storyboarded for 8 seasons for the complete arc. That's compressing 14 (15) books which means that a lot is going to be dropped or condensed. Now, they have drawn concepts that are explained more in later books into the first season, and skipped things that are explained early on to (hopefully) explain at a later date. It isn't really an adaptation of the first book, but the first season of an adaptation of the book series. I think the show is using an unreliable narrator, so when you hear lore it's important to note where the source of the information comes from. I think this makes it quite hard for people unfamiliar with the source material to get a grasp of what is going on. The books were written a while ago, and certainly the first was deliberately written as a different take on the Lord of the Rings. There are a lot of common tropes, but later on many of them are subverted. That being said, if you are familiar with more modern fantasy then some of these trope subversions have become their own tropes. There are some animated shorts that accompany the show which add to the lore. I enjoyed those, but they could have been easier to find. I think a lot of casual viewers probably missed them. I'd answer some of the questions or points you raise, but that would be considered spoilers. Some of your questions/points are valid, and you've noticed some things that are pretty insightful IMHO. I'm very interested to see your reactions and comments further into the show/books.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Oh! I'm enjoying this comment a lot (not just for the compliments 😋). That they have storyboarded all 8 season before shooting season 1 is VERY encouraging. I did not know that was the case. Because of this insight, I now have a little more hope for the show than I did when I made this video. But it will be super tricky to condense a story to about 60% of what it was supposed to be. We have seen this done well (LOTR), without betraying the source material. My main hope is that they remain true to the source material. If they don't, I'll just judge it for what it is, and compare it to the books, and then give my opinion (where applicable) on which did things more effectively and why they were more effective. You are the second person to mention an unreliable narrator. I'm so curious about what's in store for me as a viewer, now. I hate that when there are essential "accompanying shorts" and bonus material that really should have been in the show. It means that the show screwed up and didn't include important info that would have made the story significantly better. I probably won't watch them until the end of season 1, so that way I can rip into the show for not doing something they should have done. haha 😅 Yes, no spoilers, please 😋 I read all my comments, and try to thoughtfully reply to all of them. But your comment is one of the best, so far. I look forward to more of your insights and clues.

[@dant7677]

I missed those animated shorts, but you've reminded me of one thing I really liked. You know how Amazon has that feature ("X-ray"?) where you can pause and it shows you mouseover tiles about the actors currently onscreen? I'm remembering that for this WOT show, they expanded that functionality to have entire articles about the characters or settings that were onscreen. I guess that counts as adaptation to the medium? Kind of? But it was a really cool idea.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

@@dant7677 oh that's cool! I didn't know that. I'd still say it's a problem if vital info is only conveyed through this feature. 🙃

[@liamrobinson2084]

Very good point about contraception!

[@Gunleaver]

Did we need to be teased with the peddler being shifty, when in the books, we have the questions about Rand's birth hanging out there? I think, no matter how shifty the peddler was being in the books, the thing everyone would be curious about going forward would STILL be "what is the deal with Rand's birth?!?" Or "How far can they trust Moiraine and Lan?" "What about the gleeman? Why was he so eager to come along? He definitely knows more than he is telling, and he definitely knew something about Moiraine before everyone else in town!" "Why and how did the Black Rider mark out the boys?" The show successfully teased a mystery about the peddler, while tossing EVERY OTHER mystery that popped up in Emond's Field out the window!

[@agabrielrose]

Oh yeah there was no way in the book that the Dragon would be reborn a saidar user. But whatev - it's a contemporary tv show.

[@Alejojojo6]

This show is not about adapting the WoT... it's about a show where they can project "the message" to the audience. Male and White bad, black/brown/asian and women good.

[@agabrielrose]

@@Alejojojo6 I think that almost aggrandizes what's happening. There are plenty of good men in the show, and the feminist parody Red Ajah are clearly man-hating villains. Yo they cast a dark-skinned actor to be the bigoted whitecloak. I don't think it's as simple as "woke" propaganda. It's just a for-profit contemporary pop culture product.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

I really hope that's not what the show is about. I have no problem with stories that do carry this message, if it makes sense. But I have a big problem with changing long-standing, well-respected IPs to project a message that was not prominent in the IP. For instance... Mulan.... What a badass story. I love it!..... what the hell happened in the Adaptation? They changed how it was her wits that won her the day, and how she legitimately struggled to physically keep up with the men. There is a Chinese live action Mulan that was more adult that I really wish could have been done with a big-studio budget. It's more true to the original legend, and would have been so cool! But if you were gonna remake Mulan for kids, the original Disney adaptation was top notch.

[@undertone8367]

@@agabrielrose I think one of my problems with the way the show handles it vs the books is that there isn't anyone countering the misandry. For example, very early in book 1 Moiraine explains to Egwene that male channelers aren't evil, they're victims, and that Lews Therin saved the world when he sealed the dark one. In the show however it was simply male arrogance, and no one ever suggests otherwise.

[@MoriMemento117]

@@undertone8367 I agree. I've only read the first two books, but I think this misandry runs very deep in the show even in the first episode (never mind the last episode; wow, no spoilers, but that thing is a nightmare compared with the book). The premise that the dragon could be a girl (uh, good? Wouldn't that just make her a powerful and safe Aes Sedai? Wouldn't that be great for the good guys?? What the heck were they thinking with this change to the lore?) and the scene with the woman "fighters" taking down a trolloc are perfect examples of this misandry. It's subtle changes. But these roles were meant to be given to the men of the universe. To show their purpose - and their curse. If you take those away, what do the men even do? Fridge their wives so they can be with their teenage crushes? Mope about and hate themselves? And it gets even worse as the show goes on. Oh, boy, does it get worse.

[@GingerBeardedGeek]

Almost everything about the show upset me in relation to the books 😅 The trailer for season 2 looks promising but they've made so many changes that I can't see how this show will ever feel like the Wheel of Time that we know 😢 The showrunner certainly had his own agenda at the forefront of his mind when making this. I think he must have to be some kind of egomaniac to believe he's a better storyteller than Robert Jordan 😬

[@nyetzdyec3391]

If I hadn't read, and loved, the books, there's not ONE of our main characters about whom I'd GAF, except maybe Nynaeve. Of the secondary characters... Tam... maybe Lan... maybe Thom... but not enough to watch the show. Hell, not even Bela.

[@andrewvalentine797]

@@nyetzdyec3391 shhh, spoilers! Ixnay on the elabay! 😉

[@dandyjohnson]

You have no idea.....how spot on you are on so many things. Amazon needs to hire you.... seriously.

[@chrisf2636]

“If I was a fan of the books, I’d be pretty ticked.” Fell over laughing when you said that. Yes. The fundamental world was destroyed with the way magic is used. The homogeneity of the Two Rivers bloodline is important as they are of the old blood. Old isolated towns might disown kids for sex out of marriage. (Loved the Menetherin song in the show and Moraine’s explanation).

[@arenlarken8647]

The show is just about cramming as many black actors in as possible :) Was looking forward to Matts girl being the ebony princess, but seems like there are 100 already in the Two Rivers

[@Luciana_McC_99]

The two Rivers is like a modern American city full of diversity makes lots of sense.

[@arenlarken8647]

@@Luciana_McC_99 Yeah...thats why the incredible underepresentation of latinos is there...Please just stop...

[@Luciana_McC_99]

@@arenlarken8647 underrepresentation wow I know it's so sad there just wasn't enough Latino s in the two Rivers . I was wrong the show portrayed it exactly how they carefully in detail described it in the books. a place where the same people lived for thousands of years where some rarely leaves and even rarer does someone new come. A lace so far away the tax collector doesn't even come. A place that gets one visitor a year the merchant who described it as the back end of forever. A place described in the books where everyone but Rand had the same features. So yeah a place like this would not look like a international airport everyone would be of the same race .

[@arenlarken8647]

@@Luciana_McC_99 In places like that, the people look exactly the same. It is not a globalized place, so it would not be diverse at all. Horrible casting!

[@Luciana_McC_99]

@@arenlarken8647 exactly.

[@hectorc7080]

Mix feelings? Season 1 was outrageous. Incredible how they butchered the history...

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Seeing as I don't know the history (I'm reading book 1 for the first time as I watch the show) I don't know what is stuff that is to be revealed later in the book or book series and what has been outright changed. I'm doing my best to compare as I consume.

[@markfain7128]

Best review I've watched so far. Great job. As a reader who has multiple rereads you hit on a lot of what we are thinking for somebody who is new to the books. Sadly you did a better job than some reviewers who have read the books as much or more than me. I couldn't even watch this as WoT. You described it perfect with this seems like something inspired by WoT and not WoT. The only way I made it through the season was I started over trying to look at it as something separate from the WoT I know. Really not sure if season 2 will be worth a watch.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Wow thanks 😊 My next video is sorta long and obsessive (Also, I get sorta angry), so I added a bunch of meme-ish video clips to try to spice it up a bit. I hope I don't scare away all my new viewers, nut now it's too late to re-film. 😬

[@Mystichawk65]

Lol, the sweater. I was like, who thought up this atrocity 😂

[@Dragonslairminis]

The initiation is actually a very good metaphor for a very important plot point which occurs later.

[@Ramser2218]

That was an excellent breakdown of many of the issues with the show, especially considering how you are only partway through the first book. But there are even more issues that become apparent as you read further into the series. Some of the biggest issues are changes to the magic system (which fundamentally changes the lore of the entire story) and changes to the characters (which fundamentally impacts the story again). Some changes are quite noticeable (e.g., Mat and his family being thoroughly unlikeable), while others are more subtle yet still significant (e.g., Tam struggling to fight a single trolloc).

[@jfnadoe9509]

Thank you, You have earned my respect with your words.

[@highcommander2007]

10:50 As soon as I saw this scene (others gave hints) I knew they didn't care about the story of the books at all. The story IS innocence in adventure trying to cope with being the last hope vrs evil when they as kids havent even learned how the world works yet. Taking this away instantly cheapens the story and my investment in it.

[@alexanderericson8628]

Men do not make the magic filthy. She is referring to the taint, that happened 3000 years ago by the first dragon. Liandrin is filled with so much hatred because her son is most likely a former magic user and is hidden in the tower suffering unimaginable pain.

[@nyetzdyec3391]

Feeding that pesky hungry algorithm... As a viewer, it's fun hearing your predictions, and knowing which will/won't come true. IMO, it might be good for your channel to keep doing that... or even do more of it.

[@rustyshackleford1062]

I'm a big fan of the books who stopped watching about 10 minutes into the first episode. Your comparison reviews are the first time I've touched the series since. The way they managed to systematically destroy Perrin's, Matt's and Egewene's characters so immediately made me decide that the show wasn't worth my time. I can't imagine them turning it around with just how horribly they've started out. Egewene being one of the Taveren born the month the dragon is reborn for instance completely invalidates her late series accomplishments (where her ambitions that are being shoehorned into the village really comes into play and beat fruit) unless they completely change what being Taveren is, Matt is a gambler later in the series and he's always been a bit of a prankster but he wasn't a klepto or a charlatan and his character is actually really nuanced in his morality and his code of ethics that is ultimately shown to be respectable even if it clashes with rural village life. I feel like the show runners have no idea how to handle him, then again it's obvious they have no idea how a rural agrarian community would realistically function, let alone one that is extremely isolated and removed from world affairs for the most part and it shows in the painful inconsistencies with the two rivers in the show. I can't even start to explain how dirty they did perrin as his was where I had to stop watching the show entirely. I just don't understand why they had to completely destroy his character like that, I'll just say that what they basically did was take Perrin's worst fears and insecurities about himself that his overall arch within the books is overcoming and accepting and completely validated them. I do not know where show Perrin will go but it cannot be book Perrin's story because show perrin already proved all of book Perrin's insecurities and fears to be 100% accurate.

[@markplaw9496]

A modern day remake that had no intention of honouring Jordan.

[@Left4Coragem]

I'm also reading the Wheel of Time for the first time, but I have a friend that read the whole series and he would tell me of every little thing the series was changing compared to the books. So when I watch you giving the benefit of the doubt to the series, I go "Oh, my sweet sweet summer child". :P

[@HallyVee]

Interesting take on the outfits, I hadn't thought to account for the richness of the weaves. As an avid book reader I've been very much appreciating the focus they've clearly placed on the decor and outfits. I noted in my review that the outfits were appropriate to the local climate, and the circumstances laid out in the books. I e, they were wearing wool sweaters effectively. Being a sheep town in the mountains... And yes I too am noticing the usage of for example modern music, or modern haircuts, and additionally modern phrasing, but nothing yet has stuck out like a sore thumb to me. And apparently I'm a rare breed, both an avid book reader and slavering over season 2.

[@HallyVee]

No, I tell a lie, Matt's, admittedly very funny, humor does seem a bit out of place.

[@jeffnoel1342]

I’ve been watching this series of yours in reverse. Again great job. I wonder why the show creators did not have faith in the source material and decided to change so much. I suspect many of the changes were influenced by todays societal movements.

[@dstommie]

When I stumbled on your video I was really hoping it was like a year old so that I could follow up on your thoughts with the rest of the season. I'm a huge WoT fan, first picked it up in the mid 90s when I was a teenager and read the books several times up through when the series ended. Oddly it didn't really occur to me until I got my wife to (listen) to the series in prep for the show coming out that I really kind of realized how much these books meant to me in my life. Anyhow, needless to say I had some pretty strong mixed feelings to the series. I absolutely loved seeing these characters come to life on the screen, but have been absolutely baffled by some of the decisions the show made.

[@stefandobrev9384]

I totally get what you are saying. I love your The Wheel of Time content, as I am a huge fan myself. However, the changes they are doing (at least most of them) are probably dictated by the fact that they have 8 season/8 episodes each to represent a world full with cultures, magic systems, lots of different geographies, and so on. I believe we should be more understanding in our statements when it comes to the writing. Again - I love what you are doing, just wanted to give a quick note on how I feel at least. I am just very thankful that we get to see the world we love so much on screen and I would hate to see them discontinuing that opportunity, because internet is full with hatred. :) (which doesnt come from you, but in general)

[@tarekt8427]

i dont agree with the premise that the 8 episode limitation is why the changes. I think it is a limiting factor in some sense. but when you have such limitations but you spend time on weird friding of characters. useless WB love triangles and warder crying instead of the necessary stuff. then ya. 8 episodes really does not feel like enough. i think 8 is short but i think 8 run by someone who is not a narcissit would have been acceptable by most.

[@Gunleaver]

Rather than having a Harry Potter adaptation instead center on Hermione or Lavender, this show is more like changing the focus of the story to Professor McGonagall wondering whether Harry, Ron, Neville or Hermione is the Boy Who Lived.

[@TheNightrider88]

If they "love" Moiraine so much, why not just go and adapt the New Spring?

[@Gunleaver]

@@TheNightrider88 A real good question. My guess would be Pike can't pass for 22, and also they love Egwene just as much. They gutted Perrin & Nynaeve to hype her.

[@TheNightrider88]

@@Gunleaver You know, there is an unwritten rule about bad fanfiction. The more someone brags about their love about given character, the higher are chances that they will drown said character in the shite, by grossly misinterpreting their traits, motivations and actions.

[@Gunleaver]

@@TheNightrider88Well, look at what they did to Moiraine. The show version is much more passive, more helpless, more subject to the situation or circumstance she finds herself in. Book Moiraine decided screw the Tower's plans, and left despite their orders. Show Moiraine needs a banishment ruse to get away from much less formed plans of her sisters. Book Moiraine lets nothing stand between her and finding the separated ta'veren, while Show Moiraine lets diversions like the false Dragon caravan and the death of an Aes Sedai & warder preoccupy her while the boys are out of pocket, and leaves them alone to spend a night with Siuan. Book Moiraine helped drive off the Trollocs without taking a wound or tearing apart the most important building in town, unlike her show counterpart. Book Moiraine gave the boys roofie trackers to better handle and keep tabs on them. Show Moiraine can't even live up to her claim that she can find them much better than Nynaeve can, in Tar Valon, where she boasts of having spies to help look. Book Moiraine sends the Whitecloaks running, while Show Moiraine has to submit to their search, even letting herself be manhandled disrespectfully. Book Moiraine rubbed Rand's nose in the fact that he was the Dragon Reborn, while Show Moiraine sat around with her thumb up her ass until he figured it out and told her. "they will drown said character in the shite, by grossly misinterpreting their traits, motivations and actions" - As true as Min's viewings.

[@shawnlunsford5310]

thank you for this video Robert Jordan was one of my favorite authors Brandon Sanderson did a amazing Job with his notes to finish the series

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

I am totally loving the books so far. From what I hear, this is a series I will read repeatedly.

[@Unsalted667]

I was given the first three of these as a gift in either 94 or 95 and enjoyed them thoroughly, but they didn't really grab me enough to make time to finish the series. I did keep them on the top shelf in the fantasy section though, so nobody would get upset.

[@boco1951]

Having waited for the second book to come out and get it signed by the author I find it curious that they even pretend that the TV show has anything to do with the books. Why buy the rights if you aren't going to use the story? They didn't get anything right which is not an accident. When the people putting the show together don't respect the original story and think they know better it shows.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

It's baffling. If you want to make a show about a specific thing.... how about buying the rights to a story that already does that specific thing? Why make more work for yourself but picking an IP that you have to totally change?

[@galad28]

Really interesting to here your “new reader” perspective right along side your exposure to the show. I first picked up WOT when I was about 15 back in the early mid 90s. This story was a major part of my life for close to 30 years. To say I was excited about this show would be an understatement. However it has been such a disappointment. I actually thought I knew exactly why I felt that way and still do for the most part, but your “new reader” perspective really exposes the core details of why I feel the way I feel about Rafe’s abuse. Great work.

[@DfsOutlier]

The only thing the show had in common with the books was the names, that's it. They changed the entire scope of the story. I was looking forward to watching the show but I was out after the first episode. Perrin being married and a pos is a perfect example of how much they ignored the source material. Perrin was not married until much later in the series and there was zero chance that Perrin would cheat if he was, That's not the kind of person he was. The real crime in this series is the fact that they used the name wheel of time for a story that really has nothing in common with the source material (aside from the character names as I stated earlier).

[@Luciana_McC_99]

Exactly. I wanted to like the show so bad because I really enjoyed the books but this was awful. It was boring all the characters were unlikable. Nothing about this show was good at all. No we didn't need any mystery of who the dragon was. And it's definitely not possible for women to be it .

[@rkinczel]

I'm a big book fan, I got 1/3 of the way in and had to turn it off. I ended up ranting about the thousand ways they were ruining the story in future by making pointless changes to my wife for a while, she didn't care or understand what I was saying.

[@TheSwordAndThePenREFLECTIONS]

Why anyone thinks they can do better than one of the most popular book series of all time... baffling!

[@scottlescard6154]

You are correct about the magic system. Men don't corrupt the magic, the pool of magic that men can tap into has been corrupted, and those men who are sensitive to magic will become corrupted over time. This is one of many things they get wrong in the show.

[@MrNe0phyte]

Super fan of the books here - I've been reading them since The Great Hunt (Book 2) was published, and the show is killing me. I want to like it. But you are correct, there is a lot of change for what appears to be the sake of change and often the change either muddies the water or serves to modify foundational elements of Jordan's story. For example, there is no mention of there being 2 halves to One Power - male and female. In fact, we are basically told by Liandrin in the cold open that both genders use the same One Power. There is no mention of the village being named Emond's Field, which then takes all the juice out of the story of Manetheren that Moiraine will share in a later episode. In the books, a key to hiding the Dragron Reborn early on is that he is raised in a backwater with almost no interaction with the outside world, and yet in Episode 1 of the show, the Two Rivers is hyper-diverse ethnically. Rand is supposed to stand out from the locals because he appears so physically different but how can he do that when the village appears to have been created out of a dozen races forcibly intermingled. I expected changes. If I'm honest, I expected big changes. This is a series that is simply too detailed to include everything. I expected characters to be combined (or dropped completely) in the interest of casting and time. I expected shortcuts in the plot, again in the interest of time. Even combining 2 or 3 books to create a single season, we are looking at 6-7 seasons to get the story done so a lot of stuff had to be left out. However, the killing of basic concepts that made the story work in the first place was not expected (although maybe it should have been?). Honestly, this feels like the writers have no real understanding of the source material.

[@shouachang1667]

Small thing but something I really hated was how Rand just tossed his bow to the dirt when moving rocks out of the way of the wagon. Like, the Two Rivers is full of folks that shoot bows and he's one of the best after his father and Mat's father. The way he treated his bow was like trash... Everything else was spot on! They changed so many fundamental elements of the world that Robert Jordan created which progressively got worse and worse as the show went on. I couldn't even watch the first episode of the second season. I'm a huge fan of the books and was happy they finally got an adaptation but seeing it now I wish they would have just not even tried.

[@danhutchins3237]

I read the books when I was in high school... (a long time ago) so my memory isn't perfect! But, I noticed more differences than similarities when I started watching the series ... I made it through 2 episodes before I gave up.. Too many changes made for seemingly no other reason than to make changes... The books were brilliant! Following the original story might have been a good idea... Seems like they went out of their way to annoy anyone who's read the books.. Well done, it worked!