IT'S FINALLY HERE AND I LOVE IT! - The Wheel of Time Reaction (ep01s01)

Literally just me geeking out before and during the premier.
After a battle with copyright, I've thrown in the towel and am uploading the video with a still image over everything.
Hoping to have my episode breakdowns up soon :)

[@Kevinbaconator_]

Will hopefully have some episode reviews up by next weekend. V busy.

[@tw7998]

If i am honest, the first time i watched e1 i wasnt sure in the first half hour as some changes shocked me. Ive watched them all a few times now and spotted lots of little touches i initially missed. Really disappointed at some readers review bombing the show to be honest. Anyway i enjoyed the reaction!

[@Kevinbaconator_]

Most of my criticism lies withing the first 20 minutes of the show. Mostly dealing with pacing. There's still some here and there but it definitely hits its stride half way through ep 2

[@tw7998]

@@Kevinbaconator_ yup i would say that is fair. I think pilots are always difficult because there is so much world building to do but they also want to get the story moving. I am not a fan of GOT comparisons generally, but it had clunky dialogue in the first episode too.

[@cmmaribona]

Loved your reaction!! I felt a little shocked and numb after watching episode 1 the first time, but I've rewatched all three a few times now and feel much better about them.

[@Kevinbaconator_]

Sad Perrin will finally make sense I suppose!

[@Echidna23Gaming]

@@Kevinbaconator_ Not just sad perrin, but his entire intensity and tunnel vision he has

[@mjdaniel8710]

I am pretty darned happy with what I have seen so far and I think it is only going to get better

[@kennethleangabriel59]

Maybe the 4 Taveren was just a nod to RJ's original plan of having 4 boys going out of Two Rivers but was later scrapped

[@Kevinbaconator_]

I'm relatively new to the series so beyond the books and other content creators I'm pretty ignorant. I didn't know this tbh. Very interesting.

[@TheAutoimmuneDad]

Everyone's face at that Perrin scene is so great! Loved the reaction! I hope you have a favorable view of the show, the changes didn't bother me at all and I am hoping book readers can see the reasoning behind it. I also get why it bothers people too though. Looking forward to a breakdown or thoughts video from you if you do one.

[@Kevinbaconator_]

I definitely have a favorable opinion. I do think there could have been a little better relaying of important information to make things more clear for new viewers. Not that they need to be spoon fed everything, but the concept of the dragon seemed so rushed it was almost unimportant. Luckily we know what's going on!

[@TheAutoimmuneDad]

@@Kevinbaconator_ I think we are getting all the information across the season, which I personally prefer. I think episode 4 will be doing a lot about the Dragon. Looks like we will be getting Logain! I watched with two non readers and both my brothers are non readers and they all loved it! They don't really mind not having all the information right off the bat. Small sample size but gives me hope others feel that way too.

[@TheDevler23]

also I love how the general reaction in the fandom to Trollocs was to smile at the evil accuracy, not to cringe or be horrified. You can tell book readers from show watchers just on that reaction alone.

[@Kevinbaconator_]

My fiancé, a non reader: "OMG WHAT THE F**K IS THAT!?!?!"

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

"Men born with great power believed they could cage darkness." Of course the world has forgotten that Lanfear was one of the lead researchers who pushed for drilling a hole in what wound up being The Dark One's prison in the first place. So it wasn't all men's avarice that caused that whole scenario leading up to The Breaking.

[@Kevinbaconator_]

You ain't wrong. That whole sequence needed to be a little longer and more detailed IMHO.

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

@@Kevinbaconator_ I wasn't really saying that this point should have been explained. No one remembers that part of the story and the readers don't find that out until several books in. But it does get a little annoying when male-slander takes a prominent role in the story. I'm big on giving powerful female roles to balance the male ones, bur it's annoying when too many of the male roles have to be weakened or tarnished in the process as we saw with Abel Cauthon, Bran Al'Vere and Raen of the Tuatha'an. Sorry I'm getting into a bit of a side rant, but it does rub me the wrong way.

[@talmanes4589]

@@ryadinstormblessed8308 You know I didn't really care about Bran or Raen. Ila kinda bosses Raen around in the books too iirc. Abel however, well, I'm hoping that they have a redemption arc for him planned. Maybe Winternight will cause Mat's folks to change their lives and we can get the Abel we know by the time they get to tSR. I will say that at least they equally slandered both of Mat's parents, lol. His mother was a drunk and who knows which came first. Is she a drunk because of how Abel is or is Abel the way he is because she's a drunk?

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

She also says, "when they failed". Um...they didn't fail; they succeeded. It's just that as they were imprisoning him, he tainted the male half of the power.

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

@@guruthosamarthruin4459 right. And considering they accomplished that much with only 101 members, who knows what they could have accomplished if ALL participated. While the story never confirmed this, I think the leader of the female Aes Sedai who refused to help Lews Therin was reborn as Egwene.

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

Did you notice Layla was about to attack Perrin before he instinctively turned and killed her? #Layladarkfriend

[@Kevinbaconator_]

Gonna have to watch again but now I'm suspect AF

[@AimaCox-Zucker]

I like all the changes they're making to the Aes Sedai and Egwene/Nynaeve. There are some "book purists" complaining about it, but I don't think they realize how utterly awful the show would be without those changes. If they kept it identical to the books, someone who never read it would think the Aes Sedai were just a club for spanking fetishists with runny noses (and wildly low IQs).

[@TheDevler23]

your reaction to the episodes appearing is EXACTLY what my face and voice did, too! We've waited 2 years, some of us 3 decades, and it was hard to believe it was really there! One click away!

[@Cassandra6]

The casting for Lan and Nynaeve is great. I liked the first 3 episodes a lot

[@firefly5677]

I have my problems with the adaptation, but overall I like it so far and have been able to look past it. The cinematography is amazing, Trollocs look incredible, and the casting is perfect. I can't wait for the next episodes

[@Kopp203]

To those who misunderstand: Being disappointed when a visual adaption of a beloved decades old book series massively changes the plot, the characters, locations and relationships, not so as to condense the story and make other "necessary" adjustments for the change of medium, but (as admitted by the show runner) to push a specific modern political agenda, doesn't make one misogynistic, homophobic, racist or an incel. Kthx.

[@Kevinbaconator_]

I have a feeling the show will get back to the books more now that a lot of the groundwork for character/political motivations have been laid out. I feel like we will ultimately look back at this season as a world building one. As far as the "woke" stuff, other than on screen lesbian/obvious gay warders I've not noticed anything, amd that stuff honestly fits the universe for me. I understand people's criticism of the dragon changes, but let's be honest it's not like it was ever going to change, amd seems largely a way to make it a bit more of a mystery to capture the general audience. Unfortunately it IS a business, and they need the newbies to stay on board.

[@Kopp203]

Looka here folks, this here is a prime example of the genus: Wokus Soyboyus.

[@EpitomyofShyness]

Before diving into my theories (no spoilers just thoughts based on episode 1) I want to say yours is the fan reaction I've wanted and not gotten. I've been only watching non-book readers because of how nasty so many fan responses have been which is a huge disappointment. I've loved these books for nearly twenty years now, but this adaptation is everything I could have wanted. Finding another fan who agrees and is doing a reaction has been all but impossible. You have a new subscriber. My theory on Laila (Perrin's wife RIP) is that she may have recently miscarried. Her body language and self-isolation screams depression, and Perrin grasping at her waist could be a hint towards fertility issues and miscarriage seems likely.

[@Kevinbaconator_]

Thank you for the encouraging words. My initial thought was either a miscarriage or maybe even a stillborn baby. One of the biggest fan criticisms in the books is "emo Perrin" being unrealistic. I'd say this makes for a compelling reason for him to have intimacy issues, and a catalyst for him internalizing emotions. Welcome aboard. It's comments like these that make me want to keep doing these and having discussions with people!

[@talmanes4589]

Two years? HAHAHAHAHAHA. Try 30 years and 5 days for me.

[@Kevinbaconator_]

I DID MY WAITING. 30 YEARS OF IT. IN AZKABAN!!

[@talmanes4589]

@@Kevinbaconator_ Yep, I got the first book for my 16th birthday in 1991. I turned 46 five days before these 3 episodes dropped on Friday. I've read and re-read the series literally dozens of times since then, though more recently I just do the audio books.

[@kiysego3411]

You didnt turn it off in a fit of rage at '4 taveran' not a real fan /s. On a more serious note, nice reaction, glad you enjoyed it.

[@Kevinbaconator_]

It's funny that something that big bothers me less than Thom stealing from mat. To each their own though!

[@AimaCox-Zucker]

@@Kevinbaconator_ Thom stealing from Mat made me shout "NOOOO, he wouldn't do that!!!"

[@Ulriquinho]

@@Kevinbaconator_ splitting hairs. Thom didn’t exactly steal from Matt. A random dude stole from Matt and Thom stole it from the random dude and was like, finder’s keepers. And given how mentory he was later, looks like he intended to give it back later and seems like he really meant it as “teaching a lesson.”

[@Kevinbaconator_]

@@Ulriquinho okay I gotcha. I thought the dude was working for Thom at first. Will have to re watch!