Talking Wheel of Time Season 2 Ep. 1-3 with Amber from Road to Tar Valon

I sit down with Amber from Road to Tar Valon to talk about Wheel of Time Season 2, episodes 1-3.
Amber's channel (Road to Tar Valon):
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The Wheel of Time is an American high fantasy television series developed by Rafe Judkins for Amazon Prime Video. The series is based on the novel series of the same name by Robert Jordan with Brandon Sanderson.
The first season, consisting of eight episodes, premiered on Prime Video on November 19, 2021, with the first three episodes released immediately and the remaining five on a weekly basis after that, culminating in the season finale on December 24, 2021. The series was renewed for a second season in May 2021, before the series premiered, which premiered on September 1, 2023. In July 2022, ahead of the second-season premiere, the series was renewed for a third season.
The Wheel of Time follows Moiraine, a member of the Aes Sedai, a powerful organization of women who can channel the One Power. With her Warder, Lan, she seeks a group of five young villagers from the secluded Two Rivers region of Andor following an attack on their village, believing one of them is the reincarnation of the Dragon, an extremely powerful channeller who broke the world. The Dragon Reborn is prophesied to either save the world from a primordial evil known as the Dark One, or break it once more.[1][2][3]
#wheeloftime

[@KevinThornComedy]

It's interesting to see Preston as the casual and not knowing all of the intricacies of the story. And seeing Amber know what he's missing and struggling to hide her mirth at how much he's missing.

[@Royges]

If it wasn't for this I wouldn’t know it just released. I'll be back...

[@lenguascalvasp]

Same here

[@ognjengaric2687]

same

[@MrBlk4]

Swear to God I did the same thing a couple days ago. Just came back to watch this. Lol.

[@FrshChees91]

Amazon has been awful about marketing this. I have no idea why. Literally just put an ad on all the packages you send out lol

[@Mars2i0]

Watching Preston explain to Amber that Wheel of Time has no themes and isn’t about anything even though he’s only read the first book was extremely cringe.

[@danieln6700]

He definitely has themes. What kinda take is that

[@tarlochansingh620]

Jordan is the reason why ASOIAF isn't finished yet. In an interview George mentioned how Jordan encouraged him to expand his world as much as he wanted, he took the advise seriously.

[@Niall001]

Do you have a ref for this?

[@danieln6700]

That's not Jordan's fault George couldn't do it lol

[@alanpennie8013]

​@@danieln6700 It sounds like it is partially. Though I have no problem with the fans finishing the series. It brings a new meaning to *Death of The Author*.

[@syedshahrukhraza2923]

Man, Preston is not afraid to push buttons. He literally invites an expert on one of the most well respected fantasy series of all time.... only to spend a decent chunk of time bashing the author and the series as a whole.. I know he means well but his blunt nature is really just..... very confrontational at times. I applaud Amber for being so calm and understanding that Preston isn't looking for a fight. Never change Preston! Never change!

[@ltbraca470]

It's basically CW writer's doing a series loosely based in the world of TWoT.

[@robbygood3458]

Your giving it too much credit

[@hollin220]

Loved the bit of dialogue about Rand’s sexually, “Does he have sex?” “Yea in an Igloo.” Hahahaha forgot that happened in the books. Great episode. I am really enjoying the pacing as it is much faster than novels. It was wise of the screenwriters to combine book 2 & 3.

[@conormacthiarnan4491]

Read the books. The second book gets so much better with more political intrigue and aes sedai drama which is done so differently and better in the books

[@amykipgen721]

The last book isn't a battle, it's a war, there are many battles over several weeks/months. I read it shortly after GOT finished and thought that this is what I was expecting the long night to be.

[@kocunar1]

Half of the last book is the last battle chapter though, like 500 pages

[@ViriuZ7]

@@kocunar1 Now that's what we call an exaggeration

[@kocunar1]

@@ViriuZ7 maybe, will have to check exactly but it certainly felt that way

[@harsh_1910]

@@ViriuZ7 tbf the last third is a battle, and most of remaining memory of light is a set of battles to set up this one

[@BigToyGun]

Ive finished the whole discussion. Thank you for not sh1tting on the series unlike some other purest youtube channel reviewing the episodes. I loved your views about the dynamic of the cast and your commentaries on the plot. I would love to hear more. ❤

[@nickmozzetti327]

Always excited to see preston branching out to more interviews then just Carmine constantly.

[@h0vv]

Lol I thought Amber was making a joke when she said (paraphrasing) "Can you imagine if George's story got completely out of control?" at the end there.

[@alanpennie8013]

I don't know whether Preston didn't pick that up or whether he was deadpanning. It was hard to read.

[@liberTvalance]

Why does amazon pay for rights to books if they are going to make something completely different? They could change the names of people and cities and you wouldn't even know this is WOT.

[@fleshbhones]

Then they would get even fewer people watching than they have now

[@gilian2587]

@@fleshbhones Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings attempted to be quite a faithful rendition of the books and it worked out pretty well for him. Are you going to tell me that you believe that Robert Jordan's books have no value to a broader audience and that a faithless adaptation has a better shot at success?

[@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506]

They need the name because of the Money. Netflix did the same

[@gilian2587]

@@fleshbhones PJ's Lord of the Rings was a pretty faithful adaptation and it did pretty well.

[@gogozeppeli9267]

Preston just read the books man 🔥

[@tarlochansingh620]

I don't think he has enough years for getting deep into anything else now sadly. He has devoted his life to Ice and Fire.

[@MrSquigglies]

Listen to the audiobooks

[@Zahnpuppy]

While I appreciated the fighting style of the Faceless (described as snake like) the fact that they didn't keep fighting once their heads were cut off was stupid. It is explicitly stated that they don't know when they are dead and keep fighting.

[@SomethingImpromptu]

I was very skeptical of WoT (the adaptation) when it first released (& relived that feeling in the first moments of season 2), because it has a pretty generic fantasy aesthetic… But in both seasons, especially this one, I’ve ended up pretty impressed. I don’t know how much writing/dialogue is taken directly from the text, because I’ve never read it, but I think the nuance & complexity of the character writing & interactions really carries it a long way, obviously Jordan’s interesting magic system & worldbuilding also helps… All the location scouting/set design, aerial photography, & even the CG cityscapes & castles & such really help make up for what’s somewhat lacking in unique aesthetic flair or costuming, & a couple characters not grabbing me. Overall I’m enjoying the new season more than the last, I think. If I was to rank the recent fantasy media I’ve been consuming, it would probably go (& granted, as long as the effort is there & it’s mostly solid, I’m not knit-picking & tearing minor continuity issues apart & stuff if I’m watching fiction that’s purely for entertainment): 1. Baldur’s Gate III (amazing, top tier), followed by 2. The Witcher (Loved the books, loved The Witcher III, & I am fully into the show despite some of its shortcomings- the newest season was a blast IMO) & House of The Dragon (was I generous in evaluating it, coming off the contrast of the wack ass ending of GoT? Probably. But it enjoyed it greatly). 3. Wheel of Time, though this season was pretty close to the 2nd tier- on a bigger budget where they could go all out on talent & materials & everything it’d probably be on the same level as those. 4. That weird Lord of the Rings show, which really kind of sucked. It is kind of confusing keeping some aspects straight in my head, because you have elves rebelling against emperors & shit in more than one (more than two?) of these series. But the others execute it all much better than the LotR one. Then again, I also just like the Witcher, ASOIAF, & Wheel of Time worlds & authors better than LotR, so they would’ve had to wow me to hold my attention. As a fantasy world it just comes off as vanilla, cartoonishly morally black & white, & a bit Christianity-influenced for my taste… A little more dated than these others. If we were to include sci-fi, I’m loving Foundation, loved The Expanse, loved Raised By Wolves- those would all rank very highly compared to most of these shows. But it’s hard to compare between genres. If you haven’t played Baldur’s Gate III though, you should. Very true to D’n’D, & would probably make for a fun livestream series if you haven’t already.

[@MrBlk4]

Lan and Morriane are like brother and sister. Sexual tension between them sounds weird. But i get it. Lol. Please keep covering the show. Best fantasy novel series ever.

[@db7213]

I *don't* get it. Morraine: Lan: Somebody *else*: Preston: man, Morraine and Lan are really showing some sexual tension, there. They must want to bang, despite the story specifically saying that the both are interested in other people.

[@MrBlk4]

@@db7213 I get that people who haven't read the books see sexual tension. I do not at all. That's Hollywood. Especially since she's the main actor vehicle or whatever. So there has to be sexual tension between her and her warder cause Hollywood writers don't understand their dynamic. Or want to change it to "sell" more. The whole "shipping" community and all that crap.

[@db7213]

@@MrBlk4I haven't red the books, and I didn't see any sexual tension at all in the bath and training scenes. It makes zero sense to infer that there is sexual tension between characters when they aren't even in the same room. (Also, she failed to magically heat the water, and cold water doesn't seem all that sexually appealing, but maybe that's just me.) The fact that Hollywood wants to add sexual tension in other shows has no bearing on what these scenes are depicting.

[@MrBlk4]

@@db7213 that not what I'm hearing. But I agree I see no sexual tension. And I'll always talk shit about shitty Hollywood cliches. You do do. Cheers.

[@KingOfMadCows]

Robert Jordan made a very obvious statement about gender. The One Power is strongest when both male and female channelers are working together. The male half of the One Power was tainted because the female channelers didn't agree with the Dragon's plan to seal the prison to the Dark One so the Dragon decided to do it with only male channelers.

[@harsh_1910]

I don't want to get into spoilers but even that wouldn't have worked and would've left the world with twice as many mad channeller and no one to protect normal people

[@Niall001]

Jordan comes across as a "both sides" horseshoe theory kind of guy. My impression is that he thinks that saying "we need balance", "both sides have good points", "both sides have flaws" and "cooperation is important", is profound.

[@harsh_1910]

@@Niall001 I do agree with your assessment but I think calling the concepts profound is a stretch

[@jayjee735]

Have you read all the wheel of time books Preston, or just the first one?

[@NoFoCuS]

Love the books. Love asoiaf as well, not sure how ive missed this channel. Was definitely lukewarm on the first season, but I've found this one to be a huge step up. This is a funny conversation to listen to as a first time viewer. Overly condescending tone at times in my opinion...and im not sure how you got sexual tension between moiraine and lan, but still a fun conversation.

[@thatgamingfreak]

I didnt love the fake out in episode 3, but all in all I was very happy with the start to the season. Im excited to see where they go from here.

[@jaysemitchells497]

Wheel of time is something I think you can only get once you get past book 6, I think Preston would love it. So much of Ice & Fire is in WOT, free-will vs determinism, interrugnum world, RJ is a master of subtle worldbuilding and thematic resonances, he also has important things to say. I think Amber should've stuck up for the series more! Rand isn't really such a dominant main character in every book, they're all ensembles from the start, even in book 1 it strays from Rand a lot. There's also so much with real world theology and names and stuff, I think Preston would find it as deep and insightful as ASOIAF if he gave it a deeper chance

[@cvs_en]

The WoT wiki has a statistical analysis of the pov chapters and wordcount per character. Rand is 79% of the first book and in the second his word count drops to 53%. With book 3 being a whopping 2.4%. He does bounce back.

[@georgevelis4651]

1:06:15 idk why Amber is agreeing with him here... Knife of Dreams is when the big payoffs started happening in WoT. That was Jordan's last book, and its pretty much entirely about tying up all teh slog plotlines, not introducing new ones. The GoT/ASOIAF analogy i would make to that book is GoT season 6. The story wasn't still expanding and dragging on, it was at the exact point when it finally started to close up and focus again.

[@vinaydusi9566]

Always fun to watch your reviews🔥

[@artos607]

Knowing Preston, he would like The Great Hunt way more than Eye of the World. Its waaay more out there in terms of fantasy concepts than the first book.

[@thedanielhicks]

Doesn't Preston hate fantasy? He's always going on about how ASOIAF is really sci-fi and there is no fantasy in it

[@artos607]

​@@thedanielhicksHis assertion that ASOIAF is post-apocalyptic is not because he dislikes fantasy. He runs a fantasy channel

[@thewingedserpent5823]

Preston branching out into other fantasy series? Sign me the fuck up.

[@MrSquigglies]

Season 1 was god-awful and I'm not talking about costumes or sets or effects.

[@andrayellowpenguin]

OMG the first books at least... i was 22 or 23 when i read them and i was constantly thinking "OMG stupid kids!!!" 😅

[@JakobStrasser]

I just wish they would do night scenes with better lighting.

[@andrayellowpenguin]

In the books, i wish we'd had more about what Logain did with his life after the war 😄

[@andrayellowpenguin]

I think why Mat didn't talk to Egwein it was because of Leandrin reading him their letters and omitting the passages that refered to him. So he thought they'd given up on him. I am a bit confused that they seem to have scrapped Elaida. I mean, if they just use Leandrin that's gonna lose a lot i think... Also i wonder how they'll meet Elaine's brothers now... I like they introduced Verin so early. I loved her character. Mat was my fav in the books (well, the later books at least), so i hope they do a good job with him!

[@tarlochansingh620]

Amber is so fun!

[@stefiz]

This makes me so happy!

[@jimjamsam3482]

i dont know whete you are in Taiwan, but hope you and your family are sfe out there. god bless

[@bshaddo]

So Fares Fares is supposed to be Sauron’s right-hand man, and we him at the left hand of the Quaithe lady during the subjugation ceremony. He’s out of place, and doesn’t seem to be contributing anything, and I think Perrin’s the only one there who can see him.

[@fernandogarcia3957]

The strong point of WoT books is the worldbuilding. Not necessarily related to our world, although there are connections, nods and homages. Magic system and the society of Aes Sedai and cultures are the most enjoyable features for me. (Apart from Mat)

[@nasiknosik]

Thanks for the video, wouldn’t have known the second season was out. Watched it before coming back to the video, haven’t read the books. Was a bit surprised about the comment of it being a bit too serious (not sure if Preston used that word, but something similar mb), because it definitely felt the opposite to me. Campy and goofy, yes. Felt like something from the early 10s I used to watch as a teenager just because I wanted some fantasy media. Really feels as if it’s a teenage fan fiction a lot of the times, with out of the place sexual moments and comments for the sake of it, and with the tropes. Not that it makes the series bad, but with all that it fails to get to that elevated place of a “good” and “serious” show. If used right, it could be a very fun part of the piece of media (one example I can think of is metal gear series, can’t think of the show rn, but you get the idea), and for now it’s not the case for this show. But it’s good, I’ll keep watching it. Still curious about the plot, and the setting looks cool. Thank you both for the video again 🥰

[@profoundpronoun4712]

Love ya guys!!! ❤

[@rubiademoraes]

Thanks for this ❤

[@MrSquigglies]

A lot of the problems you seem to have with the show is the showrunners completely misinterpreting the meaning and the message behind the books. One of the biggest themes in the book is cooperation and harmony between men and women. Because if you think about it, this is written called the tail end of second wave feminism and going into third wave feminism which is basically a lot of man-hating and girl bossing.

[@gilian2587]

Nah -- Rafe Judkin's is doing to the Wheel of Time what Paul Verhoeven did with Starship Troopers. Paul Verhoeven read Heinlein's Starship Troopers, disagreed with the source material and filmed Starship Troopers as a parody of the books.

[@MrSquigglies]

@@gilian2587 so you're trying to say the showrunner didn't like the idea of people coming together so now they're going to do a show. Making fun of that? And at least the starship troopers movie was legitimately good and actually inadvertently made fascism look great. Even though the government isn't really even fashionist, it's a strict meritocracy. If anything, I took it as a scathing rebuke of the modern state-run educational system

[@gilian2587]

@@MrSquigglies There aren't many apologists for the show left, based on what I've seen. The showrunners will either pull themselves back up from their bootstraps or they won't. I'm not planning on watching the Wheel of Time season 2 for at least another 5-6 weeks -- and that will only be after I see positive reviews of the show from youtube reviewers that I trust. (I assume that any youtubers who were invited to the prescreenings of Season 2 are automatically biased; hopefully this should be sufficient to bypass the showrunner's astroturfing mechanisms)

[@thatgamingfreak]

To be fair to the showrunners, that theme of harmony is shown via obnoxious aggressive clashing and not working together about 100 times in a row, before they finally work together to solve the issue.

[@jonahdav9589]

@@gilian2587 Rafe hates Jordan. He was the wrong pick as a showrunner.

[@anthastoned]

Would love a spoilers included stream 30:13

[@thedanielhicks]

@Amber SPOILERS: I think the line where Moraine says she and Lan were never equals, she was lying. Couldn't she lie since she was cut off from the source? I think she was lying to get Lan to leave her.

[@BuddyGrizzard]

Watch the s1 breakdown by Man Carrying Thing it's great

[@conordempsey8854]

Preston, dude. You say you've only read the first wheel of time book but you say it's not as deep as ice and fire? Seriously. Read the rest of the series before you judge it.

[@Jetpackguyy]

Wow 😍

[@SomaSong]

someone is a keyboard aficionado

[@leanderthal1138]

Lol calling her Naive

[@fredchung9300]

Season 1 was horrible. I hope season 2 is indeed better. I felt the first season relationships were not believable. I didn’t like many of the character

[@narcissus9732]

is amber one of orphan black's clones

[@MelGibsonFan]

Can’t watch it, it’s so polished and soap opera like. Not to mention the changes from book to series.

[@drizlam5827]

Potential spoilers: The acting is uneven and the writing amateurish. The main cast performances are “constipated”. Lol too much strange blinking, confused and stiff acting. A couple of minor characters played by experienced actors are vastly better ( Roose B. Is great in his little cameo and lady A is also great in great.

[@jonahdav9589]

Rafe continues the trend to both think he knows better then Jordan and to actually not even use the source material. Can anyone say at this point that Rafe does not hate Jordan?

[@MrBellsa61]

The show's writing and editing are much improved over s01, if still very amateurish. They rushed into filming s02 so fast that they didn't get a chance to get feedback and only resolved issues that they themselves identified. While the show is getting better I dont see it lasting the full run, itll probably get cancelled after s03.

[@defectiveindustries]

Imagine spending an hour talking about derivative garbage

[@umbraunuivis]

I found it boring apart from the twist at the finale of Ep3. The show is all over the place. It's reminiscent more of the Witcher than the GoT, but without a Geralt and 6 Ciri.

[@joe05061993]

Not overly impressed with Amber’s WoT book knowledge.

[@travisslade6860]

Really? What makes you say that? She didn’t really say anything that would have or should have required any great knowledge iirc.

[@MusicFillsTheQuiet]

13:00 yes, a lot of the names have very clear references to biblical and extra-biblical judeo Christian characters. Robert Jordan was a -Mormon- religious and it shows and his character names

[@kevinadams5592]

That's less to do with his religion and more to do with him making the names intentionally similar to our real world legends. For example Thom Merrilin is Merlin for us, he's a wizard vs a gleeman who does magic tricks. Perrins hammer's name is connected directly with Thors hammer and many many more. They released a book earlier this year outlining all the names and their real world references

[@wyssmaster]

You're confusing Sanderson and Jordan; Jordan was an episcopalian

[@MusicFillsTheQuiet]

@@wyssmaster looks like you're right, my bad.

[@alanpennie8013]

​@@MusicFillsTheQuiet The story has a very Judaeo - Christian apocalyptic vibe. So Bible names are at least honest.

[@wilfstepto2406]

Is WoT feminist? It's an easy question to answer. The difficult part is that you have to draw lines on what "feminist" is. Edit: Ngl, I might watch the 2nd episode just for the Liandrin's son scene. Tbh, still have no intention to watch the whole series.

[@stephencopeland3413]

Show is lame

[@alexebogdan6075]

Preston we know you are reading the WoT books. Please give us reviews and theory videos, since the series is finished it will be a lot of fun to see if your theories are true.

[@thewingedserpent5823]

I want the same but for malazan. That could be interesting

[@TheAleph08]

God, I wish I was there to talk about WOT with Preston to make him understand the subtle similarities between Jordan and Martin...

[@MelGibsonFan]

Jordan > Martin because he can actually finish a series even when he’s dead.

[@gilian2587]

Jordan and Martin are two completely different authors. This is a comparison of apples and oranges.

[@wizarddragon]

@@MelGibsonFan That's actually not a fair point. You don't think Martin has notes written down somewhere for someone to finish his story if something happens to him? But I totally get what you are saying. lol

[@jaysemitchells497]

Hot take, if Jordan was still alive we wouldn't have AMOL finished@@MelGibsonFan

[@TheAleph08]

You're right, and Martin is a far superior writer than Jordan. But the similarities are in the story and in the development of the saga... @@gilian2587

[@tomatotamale4546]

Sweetrobin is the new Brandon Sanderson?

[@csarmii]

I've seen absolutely no sexual chemistry between Lan and Moiraine. Like, zero. So much so, that it's a point how well they made it that they never feel that way.

[@jonathanc.8424]

Because of this video I found out the second season had come out, and I'm so glad for it, what a change. It's like an entirely different show. The first season was pretty much garbage except for the scenes with Rosamund Pike in them. It's like everyone else learned how to act all of the sudden, and the writers and directors learned how to do their job. It had a Witcher feeling to it but with better pacing. Out of the blue the main cast is now likeable instead of extremely annoying. They did a great job with the extreme changes.

[@shesokayiguess]

Covid really screwed them over (not to mention losing a main cast member) - can't imagine how much better the first season could have been without all the restrictions they had to deal with

[@peterg9729]

So you enjoyed the racist casting and total destruction of the actual story?

[@alanpennie8013]

​@@shesokayiguess Definitely encouraging to learn that season 2 is a lot better.

[@jimdgrousedogs]

I can deal with massive changes from the books to the screen as far as scenes and even some plot points, but where it gets tough for me is when I feel the character's personality is changed. The way the show is treating Mat is the most difficult part of the show for me. I like how Mat mimicked the door locking and foot steps of Liandrin, but showing him see Egwene having a tough time and then just walking away doesn't feel like Mat from the books. I could see him complain and hem and haw before approaching her, but I do think Mat from the book would have said something to her.

[@harsh_1910]

I mean he literally did, ignore rand for like a third of the TGH

[@jimdgrousedogs]

@@harsh_1910 That was after Rand went off on Mat and Perrin. Also Mat is more protective of Egwene than he is of Rand.

[@harsh_1910]

@@jimdgrousedogs well not really, it was really stupid of mat to be annoyed at rand, and the reason mat is more protecetive of egwene is benevolent sexism which I don't think the show mat will have, so it's more or less the same

[@saraberthold]

Fares Fares is a Swedish actor you guys!

[@db7213]

That explains why he was so familiar!

[@mongezimaepa]

My favorite character is powerful Logaine because at least he had a drive trying to conquer a kingdom in S1. I need political intrigue and boundless ambition. The characters need to be unique and interesting. So far characters are just unclear and confusing.

[@csarmii]

Saying that Wheel of Time isn't nearly as deep as Song of Ice and Fire. Like I'm sorry, they're not even close, and not in that direction.

[@AvazeGorgha]

The free lunch comment kills me, so true!! Reminds me of every single one of my bros...

[@chriskopins]

Season one was garbage and so far season two is hot garbage. Completely craps on the books and no one is likable

[@jonahdav9589]

Every character is the anti version of their book characters. This is not a retelling another spin of the wheel. Psych ward Rand...all the build up of Asmodean to get training scrapped and morphed into Logain. All the fake out deaths, poor writing, leaving the plot of the actual books, too much a hate you letter by Rafe to Jordan.

[@jimjamsam3482]

so good to see fresh faces with you preston

[@aldan7812]

This, was cool - subbed.

[@SHARKVADERS]

PJ IS BACK FOMOS

[@tarlochansingh620]

On episode 2 and I'm liking it a quite so far.

[@gregburton5451]

Just finished all three episodes, they are just two average and one above average TV episodes. Nothing terrible, nothing amazing. The Moraine/Lan storyline is giving off Season 7 Game of Thrones sansa and arya vibes

[@xyr3s]

I think they are doing in season 2 what moiraine did when she fell through the door which was around book 5 I think.

[@gregburton5451]

@@xyr3s I think you are spot on there, they are. The nynaeve episode 3 story reminded me of that too.

[@shutit8949]

@@xyr3syour probably right. I have no idea why they’re rushing the story like this. With the amount of aiel in the trailers I’m starting to think we may even see the fall of the stone of tear this season.