Reading the Wheel of Time for the First Time with Nerdy Negroes: Eye of the World EP 1 (Part 1)

[@AielMelindhra]

Lezbi Nerdy, you're doing such a great job letting Addison theorize and leaving it there. I would keep wanting to explain things, and holding off would stress me out!!

[@LezbiNerdy]

It is hard! I have so much respect for the veterans on all those podcasts!

[@BrittnyShrub]

The Women's Circle is also very secretive about what they do. And getting your hair braided is a right of passage. I think the way it is portrayed in the show is a creative way to interpret this. ETA: Rand's emotional roller coaster trying to save Tam... wow. Great discussion. ETA2: Nynaeve is my favorite too! 😊

[@alananimus9145]

Are you kidding me. Power show. EDN and Lezbi. I can't even.

[@LezbiNerdy]

Thanks! I hope you enjoy

[@pasuht8221]

Who even needs a season 2 announcement when this exists!

[@LezbiNerdy]

Awww, that's so sweet!

[@hiltrud2001]

Exactly!

[@rapunzl347]

This was #TrueHype right here!

[@Novagenesis]

Just started this listen today as a huge fan of both Lezbi and Everyday Negroes. While I agree this is awesome, nothing will stop me needing a S2 announcement. But this will at least help me hold on through more of this painful waiting for it.

[@leighann6341]

The collab I didn’t know I needed ❤️

[@unoseyepatch1895]

This is great, Addison your insights are blowing my mind

[@LezbiNerdy]

Isn't he fantastic? Be sure to watch part 2 on his channel!

[@LeahB31]

I like how y’all are approaching this. You made me want to stay and listen because it wasn’t long-winded and you did concise summaries and thoughts. Amazing job to the both of you. 😊

[@frankb5586]

This is f-ing outstanding.... Love it.... will be waiting on these diligently...... Jenny... Your name from this moment on will OFFICIALLY be "SISTER OG"!!!!!!

[@shelly6524]

What a great collab. His insight that Narg might have been afraid because of what he knew is something I never considered!

[@bodhimofo]

Adison's comment re: hearing Rosamund Pike narration as hearing the story as told by Moiraine turned that version into aspirational reading for me! Just started LoC in my current reread/my wife's first listen after watching the show

[@kathryncainmadsen5850]

So true. It really motivated me to go get her audiobooks.

[@brotherbuddha89]

This is a nice surprise I wasn't expecting from a Rosamund Pike narrated reading of the Wheel of Time. Thought provoking to hear how Addison has been affected as a show watcher first and reader second having the voice of Moiraine be the one who tells the story.

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

I love this for many reasons. Addison, I had so much fun watching you and your buddies going through the tv series. And L Nerdy, my introduction to you was your entry on last year's WoT Idol, which was fantastic! Seeing the 2 of you experience this together and have a veteran WoT fan delving into the new reader's experience is something I appreciate greatly. Looking forward to the continuation of this series!

[@christianrapper]

The people who saw the show first have the advantage of no explanations. It took me awhile to appreciate the show for what it is.

[@mcina001]

This is amazing. Adison is so insightful as a new viewer/reader. I love reliving the story vicariously through new readers’ eyes.

[@dassian]

The Wheel of Time is one of my favorite series! I've read the series several times and I'm so excited to have come across your page!

[@nevrbluffs]

Great editing - throwing the show scenes in while you discuss the book, excellent!

[@LezbiNerdy]

Thanks so much!

[@kathryncainmadsen5850]

There are SO MANY action scenes in the books that happen off stage. I hope they ALL happen in the show! I hope all fans get to see these changes as new wonderful fan fiction content. I hated episode 8 but now that I understand better why they had to give "good enough" I am over that. Into the next season!

[@r.nicolesmith2340]

I love this format! 🎉

[@khedve]

I couldn't listen to the original audiobook because I have a issue with the male voice. Rosamund Pike's audio works better for me. It also makes me happy to know she has fully read the 1st 3 books.

[@LezbiNerdy]

I will say, the first book is probably Michael Kramer's weakest. He gets really good as he finds his groove.

[@wotoholicaussie5086]

this is a DREAM. great stuff for both Channels. a certain someone is watching and smiling.

[@Shimkra]

Fan of both happy to watch the series

[@angelavm84]

Ty so much guys! Adison/Everyday Negroes & Nerdy Nightly are my favorite WoT reactors. Great idea this is, Lezbi!

[@ijustwanttolikecomments4677]

Same!! those are the 2 i stuck with as well lol

[@angelavm84]

@@ijustwanttolikecomments4677 Great taste!🤭

[@mpovari]

Agreed! Same favourites over here. Love them 🥰

[@christineplatt5311]

The collaboration I didn’t know I needed! Came across both your content separately as my fandom of the books/show developed, but just saw this collab right now and I screamed! Love both of your perspectives!

[@Berndr]

I really enjoyed this podcast ... I loved his inputs and observations about the book ...

[@LezbiNerdy]

So glad you enjoyed it!

[@xyr3s]

when i first read the prologue, i was able to understand it. probably because i love orbital weapons of mass destruction in scifi movies and games, so the part where he summons a beam of light and instantly burns a volcano into the fucking ground blew my mind lol. into the badlands is an awesome series :D wish it wasn't cancelled lol. a good guy who can turn bad guy face? so like an anakin skywalker face :D u guys didn't talk about the fridging of perrin's new wife.

[@LezbiNerdy]

Go check out part 2 on the Everyday Negroes channel, we talk about it there!

[@xyr3s]

@@LezbiNerdy yea checked it lol.

[@thane9]

I'm SO excited about this!!!!!!

[@laura-generyke2309]

I'm loving this! Thank you, guys - you're making me think so much more about the show, and how it's not as bad as I felt. This is coming from someone who's read the books multiple times (over 30 times, for the first few!).

[@AngryPieMan]

Love this so much! Glad to see the perspective of someone who saw the show before reading the books! Subscribed for more.

[@LezbiNerdy]

Welcome aboard!

[@cazgreene3055]

Love this so much! Addison’s thoughts are brilliant, his consideration & comparison of the books and the show is mesmerising.

[@LezbiNerdy]

Yay! I'm glad people are enjoying this!

[@Eriths-Honey-Cakes]

Great new series. So nice to see EDN talking about WOT again.

[@mndrew1]

I feel Jenny has an unfair advantage in the poker face department.

[@rapunzl347]

Unfair, but also hilarious.

[@LeahB31]

😂

[@Ryan-gz8rs]

Love this idea and excited to have found your channel! I’ve been a fan of the books for years. Overall I thought episode 1 was a good start. I enjoyed seeing the ceremony with the women’s circle, I thought it did a good job introducing Egwene and Nyneave and establishing their roots as characters. It feels more like an ensemble of main characters rather than just the Rand show, which is how book 1 felt to me. I loved getting to see the attack on the village. I do wish the episode had been like 30 minutes longer. I feel like if it had been there would’ve been time to show how hard leaving home was for the Emond’s fielders, and fix the pacing a bit. I also wasn’t a fan of the fridging either but I commented a bit more on that on the edn channel.

[@ashokova]

This collab is so exciting! You're doing @TheLightsWork Jenny!

[@hopestar2000]

So excited to hear this perspective and excited to find your channel.

[@BlondLanfear]

More first time reader content YAY! Super interesting discussion

[@Nathius_16]

I just discovered this format; am really looking forward to seeing all the episodes. You touched upon the change of perspective of telling the story from Rand's POV in the books and Moraine's POV in the show. This is what made the show very interesting to me. I wander if as a reader after the show, one will be able to appreciate the struggle Rand has for being the dragon. The mystery completely made it impossible to tell the denial story. But maybe season 2 can catch up on this. I would miss the later pay off, if not.

[@bodhimofo]

I am so excited for more of this! I loved Adison & EDN's reactions to the show!!

[@khedve]

Fantastic show!!! I have been waiting for this Collab!!! 🎉

[@brotherbuddha89]

Once word reached the _Stedding_ of this wondrous spectacle I knew it was time to go out to see it for myself. 😊

[@Readera]

I'm really enjoying this video. Im looking forward to the rest of the series. ❤❤

[@brotherbuddha89]

"How dare the book deviate from the show, with all due respect." - Addison I love this so much I am going to put it in one of my sizable pockets to bust out later, might take a minute to dig out though. 😁

[@stace2086]

I just found this reaction/channel and TY TY love it and subbed!! Lol already subbed to E N when they did the WoT reaction and love this book perspective!!

[@mschelleolo]

this makes me really really happy!!!

[@LeahB31]

This is great content to have while we await S2.

[@LandonTheDM]

First time watching one of your videos. The EN reaction was one of the first I saw for the wheel of time show. Also I really liked your submission for the WoT idol last year

[@stevecherney1612]

Yo Addison! I really enjoyed watching Sister strongjaw with my guys

[@purpleajah7425]

🎉 so excited for this

[@MargaretChurchArt]

I’m so happy I found this! I’m a little late but let’s party!

[@Visforelvenshireling]

So excited about this colab! I, like Adison, watched the show and then began reading the books. I really liked the show even though it is definitely inconsistent and sometimes flat out .... bad. Then I started reading and... Now I get why book fans were so mad. I still have a love for the show, but now I keep thinking, why didn't you just do what was written? Oh and Rosamund Pike! I listened to the Eye of the World with her narrating and A agree! So good man!

[@LezbiNerdy]

As someone who has read these books multiple times, I personally loved the show. Not all "book fans" were mad. There are plenty of us who were quite happy.

[@kk_2753]

I LOVE this! Such a great idea. Thanks for getting Adison involved with this :D I loved his reactions to the show.

[@22ronco22]

An important note. In the book the attack on the village was very small and focused only where they thought the boys were, whereas in the series it was a generalized attack.

[@Tanx33]

to me the huge part of reading the physical book vs the audiobook was the maps and appendix. of course this is a thing for a lot of fantasy books. some of the audiobooks i have listened to give links or tell you to go and look at the visual references before the start. I have no idea how many times i flipped back and forth between the chapter i was on and the maps since Jordan's world was so huge. also when new characters popped up i would flip to the appendix to get the pronunciation of the characters' names right for my inner dialogue. I also started this series in 2001 and audible wasn't a thing yet. by the time I got to book 5 I went out and bought the cd audiobooks for 1 and 2 and ended up doing a "by mail" audiobook rental subscription and burned copies of the books up to what I was on. once I hit book 6 I mostly listened to the audiobooks on cd and would read the book where I left off before bed. in books 7-9 I straight up listened to the audiobook only because there is just sooooo much character dialogue and details I would go back and listen to chapters multiple times just to try and get some of the stuff to sink in. I do have to say Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are absolutely awesome and even when I read the books I only hear their voices in my head as inner dialogue. I saw they have rereleased the audiobooks with Rosamund Pike narrating. I have been tempted to get them too, but to me MK and KR are just too much "the voices" of Robert Jordan's books(as well as some of Sanderson's books). I also noticed her narration is quite a bit longer, so I am guessing she either reads at a slower pace or they have added some extras, like EotW is 30 hours from MK and KR and Pike's version is 33 hours, that is a huge difference. Will still probably break down and get both versions like I did with Lord of the Rings.

[@rachelfallonauthor]

I knew Rand was the dragon purely because he had big main character energy! haha And he looks just like Hayden Christenson so I can totally see the turning to the dark look of him! 🤣

[@Berndr]

I was never sure if the show changed that women can be a dragon, or only what information about the dragon prophecy is known .... hence in the show rather than that dragon can be a man Moiraine does not know that Dragon can only be a man so she is looking for girls as well ...

[@LezbiNerdy]

Yeah, my take on it honestly is that it's the loss of information, not necessarily that the Dragon could be a woman.

[@irisbear9421]

oooo! I've been waiting for something like this!! 😁

[@LezbiNerdy]

I hope you enjoy it!

[@irisbear9421]

​@@LezbiNerdy absolutely loved this collab!!🎉

[@kylemoore687]

Great talk loved hearing the impressions from a first time book reader. That being said one of you needs to change your smoke detector battery

[@hathor46]

I love this 💕

[@rapunzl347]

Yay! Some content you can watch without worrying about Spoilers! What are you up to now?

[@hathor46]

FOH ch. 40

[@rapunzl347]

@@hathor46 🔥👀 Savor. Every. Word.

[@bluelight17]

I heard that the Thom actor wasn't available from the start, that's why he appeared later, but i'm not sure if it's just a rumor or not?🤔

[@mpovari]

I heard the same thing! Can’t recall from where though

[@bluelight17]

@@mpovari i guess he was busy with other shows? That's also the reason they gave for him not going to be in S2, cause of 1899. He is a really good actor, but maybe it would have been better to chose someone less busy for such a long term serie...?

[@annanz0118]

I had also heard this - that he was initially meant to be in episode 1 and 2 but couldn't be because of scheduling issues.

[@DaDunge]

16:00 It also makes sense from a first time reading. Since Padan Fain is talking about Loghain.

[@RiseeRee]

This is so awesome 🤩

[@MusicalCircus]

My characters are blurry in my head now that I’m older. When I was younger, I could see people better in my head. :s

[@thatcher174]

YAAAAY this is awesome :)

[@hiltrud2001]

Alison you should listen to the "original" audiobooks read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer!

[@DaDunge]

15:15 Thata another one of those things. In the books the dark one and his servants don't use the dragon fang. It's used by others to denote dark friends but never by the shadow themselves.

[@Wouldyoukindly4545]

I don't think the prolog of EoTW was meant to be understood on a first read. It is meant to be a shock, which comes before a quieter period where the Two Rivers and the main cast are set up. On re-reads the shock goes away, but there are also new things you can pick up with your knowledge from later books.

[@bluelight17]

The Emond's Field in the book does look pretty different from the show one, book one reminds me a lot more of the Shire in Lotr, a simple village. I have to say i wasn't a big fan of the show braid ceremony, i can't imagine Nynaeve ever agree to risk girls lives like that, she would thump whoever had the idea on the head lol I would have liked a more simple ceremony. Btw this is really fun!

[@DaDunge]

3:00 What started playing? Something from the series? I'd didn't finish it. I quit when I saw what they did to poor Thom.

[@BL1NDK1NG]

Are you guys gonna do the great hunt now that he’s watched it

[@thebign2398]

The thing a lot of the people with this unique experience tend to miss: Although the screenwriters indeed hid the answer to the question "who is the dragon reborn", they are also the ones who presented it in the first place. Yes, knowing that this was Moraine goal in visiting Aemond's field, and seeing Rand being the obvious hero of the first book, seems like a no brainer - but these are two different levels of knowledge, and the first is not known to the reader before at least book 2. The question the book is presenting isn't "Who is the dragon reborn?", but "What do these weird things happening to Rand mean?", and so the shocking answer that comes only at the end isn't "It's Rand!", but "He is the freaking DRAGON REBORN and about to go crazy and break the freaking world!!!". So...

[@LezbiNerdy]

I bring this up a bit in the next episode!

[@thebign2398]

Yay!

[@DaDunge]

20:00 I never got the impression that Egwene was on the women's circle in the books.

[@Berndr]

I really hated that they took the Raven scene out of the show because that's when we as viewers learn the information that ravens as well as rats are the spies for the dark one ... and because of that when you watch the show you don't understand how did the army of dark one on winter night knew or got information that Moirane left the village with boys and followed them instead of attacking the village ... So the whole scene made no sense ...

[@DaDunge]

10:45 Tam has been introduced too. And Ewin Fingar.

[@saralee4thewin]

I've purchased the Rosamund Pike version of the audiobooks, it's very different to listen to than Michael and Kate. going to take a bit of adjusting. I think I still prefer the originals.

[@rapunzl347]

Okay. I’ve think I’ve calmed down enough to start commenting. Wait…one more…SQUEEEEE! This was so much fun. This collab just makes me so happy.

[@LezbiNerdy]

Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

[@Zaberella]

Love his belief that Moiraine secretly knows everything that's going on by narrating the story. 😂

[@bozimsaho5590]

Same with me when when reading, the characters are indistinguishable shapes. I don't visualise them

[@LezbiNerdy]

just blurs... with braids, or beards, or something...

[@bozimsaho5590]

Birds eye pesrspetive is h what happenening my my mind when reading

[@gokbay3057]

His thoughts on Thom seem almost prophetic lmao.

[@yves2016]

I’m so annoyed, this only came through to me even though I sub to both channels. On a brighter note, I can binge watch the episodes until I catch up.

[@DaDunge]

40:00 got to disagree there. The point is to keep what the Aes Sedai can and cannot do obscure mystical things our protagonist has only heard off. When we finally get to see her do something its helaing which take a power but isn't big and flashy.

[@DaDunge]

29:00 No i think.its much better to have the battle happen offscreen then you don't have to use time and money on it and can spend that on people talking. How much of the episode is them doing Moiraine channeling?

[@linkelivarmioumai7475]

There IS a Female version of The Dragon. So technically Moirane did not lie!

[@DaDunge]

31:45 Does she follow the pronunciation guide in the back? Cause that's my big gripe with the guy who read the old audio books. He decided how he thought things were pronounced and ignored the pronunciations guide.

[@RobertMoore-mm9ub]

How do I ask this? If it has too many spoilers, take it down. Did Tom recognize Moraine from his time at court that's why he avoided her

[@DaDunge]

29:45 You would have if Jordan had gotten to finish the prequel trilogy. And I bet it would have been a lot better than what the show did. Seriously if they wanted to do a Moiraine focused show thye should have started with new spring not eye of the world.

[@IamVendel]

20:00 There was nothing practical about erasing the Village Council and redoing the entire culture of the Two Rivers. The dynamic between the VC & WC is a microcosm of the entire point of the series. Men and woman working against each other but also together to make things function. Just like the power, which also had its male half erased. 40:20 I find it funny that "the most pivotal moment of episode one" didn't happen in the books. Where one of the most pivotal moments in book one just happened with Rand & Tam and we barely get a peep of it from the show.

[@rapunzl347]

They didn’t “erase” the VC. They shifted perspectives to quickly introduce a whole bunch of characters. The VC wasn’t that important to the characters or the plot, so they just didn’t need to show it. The trolloc attack on Emond’s Field did happen in the book. But since we only had access to one perspective, we didn’t get to see it. The important parts of Rand & Tam’s trip through the woods were shown later in Ep07.

[@IamVendel]

@@rapunzl347 Riiiiight. Remind me where the VC was mentioned. I'll wait. Hell was the mayor even brought up? But I'm sure showing a bunch of women sitting around so they can braid an aged up Egwene's hair and then push her in a river was totally necessary. Just like I'm sure it was necessary to have Moraine destroy the inn while doing interpretive dance rather than focus on something that matters.

[@rapunzl347]

They didn’t mention the VC or the mayor. Why would they? But that doesn’t mean they were “erased”. The coming of age ceremony was loaded with metaphors and foreshadowing for Egwene and Nynaeve. Plus it fills you in on tons of information about those characters. Interpretive dance is how young Moiraine made it through her test. 😂 It helps keep her focused, fearless, and flexible. It did hurt my heart when the inn collapsed. But, it’s been destroyed before. They’ll just rebuild it like they always do.

[@IamVendel]

@@rapunzl347 So they didn't erase the VC and the Mayor? It's just that someone who had never read the books would have no clue either of those things existed. Sort of like the male half of the power. Or that the power has two halves.

[@rapunzl347]

@@IamVendel not showing it does not equate to erasing it. One would assume that a village would have some sort of governing body. They don’t need to be told that it exists.

[@DaDunge]

Winter dragon?

[@estherhotchkiss525]

He needs to listen to the original voices

[@DaDunge]

8:30 Yeah a key aspect of Wheel of time the books is the daoist idea of opposites and in the wheel of time books male and female are part of thaylt separation. Men and women are separate, inherently diffrent, but equal. This is something the the series tried to bury because it flies in the face of western feminist thought. Bit wheel of times is not based on modern Western ideas its based on ideas from China and India that are at least a thousand years old. I think its a big part of why I didn't like the show. It seemed embarrassed more than enthusiastic about the source material it was adapting.

[@DaDunge]

23:00 Weak explanation they could have waited to introduce Lan then. He doesn't do anything in his first appearance.

[@DaDunge]

20:45 Ew. That's not who he is in the books. In the books he's a fop well dressed and meticulously groomed. Not the train wreck they turn him into in the show. What they did with him is the reason I stopped watching the show.

[@garfnob4832]

does he relay know much? the show is so far off the book. like Mat the show mad him a thief and a jerk from the start. the book he was never a thief, scoundrel and impassive yes, but not a thief. do was not a jerk until after the dagger. that is how you knew something was up. i men the show gave Loial a beard. it is also impossible for the dragon to be a woman. a woman would not go mad and break the world again. that is the problem with knowing the prophecy exists before reading. the books tell the story from several points of view before you know the prophecy is a thing. so, make the two rivers part more then one episode. it is not like you have a limited number of them. that is the benefit of a show over a movie. make it true to the source material and break episodes as needed regardless of length. make as many episodes as needed. this is streaming so you so not need to stick to the old broadcast episode lengths or number of episodes to a season. the show made Tam's fight way too clumsy for a blade master. Lan was done better but could have done the he knows exactly where Moiraine is better. some crazy moves you would never do without that knowledge. i don't know behead a trolloc behind his back barley missing Moiraine or something. how you hide that Rand is the dragon is how the book does it. don't tell you the dragon reborn prophecy until latter. you know something is up with the 3 but not what.

[@mcgreeniepants]

"poker face" 💀 okay why are y'all both so cute

[@brandonfenton2448]

Why am I just finding this now 😭😭😭 No seriously, I'm 41 and read the first book when it came out and had every new book within 2 weeks of it being released lol I read the paperbacks so much the bindings broke on most so I've replaced with the hardcovers over the years. Been watching the series but now I'll have to reread the books for the 9th time, almost double digits!! 🤣😂👏🏾👏🏾👍🏾👍🏾🤎🤎