Wheel of Time Episode SEVEN Deep Dive (HE'S HERE!)

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

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[@claudemartin7785]

Best one for emotions, best fight scene. Don't know if its that how i saw the Blight. You can't travel more then a mile or 2 a day in it... Loved it. Still feels rushed (the story, not the quality of the show)

[@angelavm84]

@@claudemartin7785 Agree with the rushed feeling: they need 10 episodes. I do think they should have included more of the 5 in episode 5 & 6. That said, I loved episode 7. Best for me at the moment: 7, 3/4, 1 (come on, Winternight was awesome!), 2, 6 & 5.

[@JARHuygebaert]

Euh... Daniel? I think this show is quite bad, there were a LOT of cringy moments in this episode. Why are you so positive? I can't believe you are genuinly liking most of it. The Dusty Wheel, too. They are delusional.

[@geospina]

9/10

[@justin-md4xm]

10/10, loved the characters getting laid, loved the aiel fight, loved the Dragon reveal. The look of Fal Dara and all the extra characters. Was wondering about Agelmar and his hostility and he might be a darkfriend. (I don't remember if he was in the books). Maybe one complaint is that Min is aged up and probably won't get with Rand.

[@d.rock2224]

Also Loial's Machin Shin whispers definitely would have been: "Your mother was always right, you weren't ready to leave the Stedding... She is going to find you a wife and force you to settle down."

[@Drikonn]

"You're too young to have a beard! Haman would be very disappointed in you!"

[@t20sgrunt36]

More like "People love your hair Loial."

[@zgeist2861]

"You've put a long handle on your axe, Loial. Always so hasty, too hasty."

[@JesusIzAPunkRocker]

"The world is no place for an Ogier. Also books are lame, nerd."

[@d.rock2224]

@@t20sgrunt36 hahah "the jheri curl was the right choice, Loial."

[@yomvanhaver]

i've got one big problem with this whole episode : Loial seems to have disappeared entirely in Fal Dara and nobody cares ?!

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

I assume the guy is out observing the people.

[@danielbrown4017]

I was wondering that the entire time! HAHA Where did he go?!?!?!

[@yomvanhaver]

@@DanielGreeneReviews or The library 📚 🤓

[@sploosh6433]

@@yomvanhaver i was thinking the actor might have done a Mat.. but it was jarring...its basic story telling mess up

[@d.rock2224]

Loial's only purpose going with them in the show was to guide them through the Ways (theoretically). Moiraine didn't need Min to view him so she didn't bring him to see her and he isn't a "potential" Dragon so she didn't need him there for the discussion on going to the Eye of the World.

[@GnarledStaff]

That line Rand said when Egwene found him was freaking gold. Something like "I've learned through painfully hard won experience that when you are ready to talk, you'll find me". That's such a great callback to their relationship in the book, where she was much more obnoxious.

[@HaroldGuy121]

Having a Platonic caring relationship between Perrin and Egwene was great to see for the first few episodes... Why would they ruin that

[@20storiesunder]

It ain't ruined. People get crushes constantly, especially with people they care about.

[@quietmousse]

Yes, it was terrible. Made Perrin look like a skeevy friend to Rand too, and a horrible person for (potentially) marrying someone he didn't even love then killing her. I don't believe any of that but the thought itself is awful enough for me to greatly dislike it

[@ChristmasLore]

Well, Egwene did seem flirty, but that's probably down to the actress. She seems pretty close to Perrin's actor on all their IG posts... It's like, we're supposed to buy the whole platonic warder/Aes Sedai between Moiraine and Lan, but because actors are human beings still, you can literally feel the sexual tension in every shot between them two in the show...

[@20storiesunder]

@@ChristmasLore I for one completely get a platonic vibe between Moraine and Lan. Not sure where you get tension from.

[@quaroftheka1008]

@@20storiesunder He literally just murdered someone he was supposed to be in love with. Wtf is wrong with you

[@thermidor5975]

Loial: "I'll ask for your patience". Rand (whispers to Perrin): "If *HE'S* asking for patience, we're all gonna die". 🤣 _ My favourite lines in the whole episode.

[@micah7492]

Lol! Is that what he said? I just heard "hes asking for patience" still got a laugh from me

[@TequilaToothpick]

You know that would have been a Mat line originally lol

[@slydog75]

I completely missed this!

[@Springheel01]

Except that, like so much in this show, it's TELLING rather than showing. They keep talking about how slow that Loial is, yet we've never seen any sign of him actually being slow.

[@jackthornber8794]

Just a thought: Min never said that Siuan Sanche was to going to be Moiraine’s downfall, she said the Amyrlin Seat (I actually think Mom’s line ‘and she’s wearing full regalia” is another sign that we’re talking about the position and not the person).

[@definitelynotobama6851]

Great point. I didn't catch that!

[@sgettys]

This just calls out moraines change in the previous episode to the oath she swore. Makes me think maybe Elaida won’t be a part of the show and perhaps Liandrin will become Amyrlin afte Suian is deposed

[@Magnums_Chronicles]

I totally agree. Initially I thought it may have meant that when Suan is diposed, stilled, and word of her “execution” reaches Moraine, that is what will motivate her to go beserk and attack Lanfear, in addition to the Finn’s saying she will.

[@arashi_hime]

@@Magnums_Chronicles I hope this is not a spoiler.. Brain, remove this please 😭 (stupid me reading comments even if I haven't yet read the books).

[@jackmathers738]

@@sgettys I am thinking the same thing. I think they are going to combine Liandrin and Elaida. Which is pretty gross as they both serve very different functions in the narrative.

[@SRosenberg203]

15:50 I loved and hated that line from Lan, because it was half perfect, and half garbage. It's true that he had nothing to live for before meeting Moiraine, but he DID have something to die for: Malkier. The entire essence of Lan's character, until meeting Nynaeve, is that the only thing keeping him from immediately going off to the Blight to die for Malkier is his bond to Moiraine and his commitment to her quest. Honestly that line was kind of a great embodiment of this first season overall. So close to perfect, but also so frustratingly far away at the same time.

[@rd6416]

Agreed. All Lan has is a sword that cannot not break and war he cannot win ..... until Rafe comes along and rewrites him. 🙄

[@Gammagreen]

I didn't like the Stark contrast between the landscape of the blight. In the books the blight was a poisoning of the land so the land transitioned into the blight. This just left me a question of how did the narled trees grow. Also another aspect that is a lot more horrifying in the book. Some trees look as normal as other trees and yet will grab you and eat you.

[@erickalfaro8389]

Agreed, and I really wanted to see the worms.

[@nyxicide]

I agree that I think I liked the book version better, but I'm not entirely sure how it would have ended up looking on screen, especially if they didn't have time to get into the land like, attacking them and such etc

[@Gammagreen]

@@nyxicide but instead we have a landscape that is impossible not to touch and a line that says don't touch anything. We could have spaced the trees out a little more and had a few of them quiver and shake would have increased the ominous feel to the blight. It shouldn't have been much to add a few more insects and other creepy crawly things that would have made the blight even more blight like.

[@nyxicide]

@@Gammagreen yeah that's also true. The don't touch anything/how can you even do that incongruity is what took away from it the most in my opinion. She could have told him not to touch specific things, or just to not get like _scratched_ or something. Or even nothing would have been better than the direct difference between telling us one thing and showing another

[@JasonArcherPhoto]

Machin Shin, The Moderately Insulting Wind.

[@chrisgregory3063]

Fear the mild self doubt!

[@mrweasel]

🤣

[@Shadowkey392]

It was pretty much the same thing in the books. Except it was literally wind, not a swarm.

[@nyxicide]

Yeah shfbs, I'm not gonna lie it was cooler in my head, mostly because they whole ways weren't very creepy, or not as creepy as I expected. Didn't care _that_ much though

[@CheesyChez421]

Machin Shin is basically a 12 year old internet troll.

[@Colaman112]

My mom, non-reader: "I told you it was gonna be him!" Me: "You also told me it was going to be Nynaeve, Egwene and Perrin." Mom: "Yeah, but I said it was going to be him first."

[@RRSmurf]

My daughter, non-reader, when they mentioned Rand... "Who's Rand?"

[@richardhockey8442]

@@RRSmurf 'the other guy'

[@asarishepard8171]

your moms awesome :P

[@emilyk244]

My mom tooooo! hahahaha

[@anasigreja]

When he said "yeet the Dragon at the Dark One", I just thought of Moiraine going up to the Dark One, yeeting a pokeball at him and going " Rand! I choose you!"

[@mancingtom]

"Rand is confused!" "Rand hurt itself in its confusion!"

[@justpassingthruskdjb]

IM WHEEZING

[@IchibanOjousama]

@@mancingtom most accurate description of Rand books 1-5

[@chuckmclaughlin]

Regarding the Fan Theory about Trollocs in the Ways: This is exactly when we find out about it in the books. They don't encounter a Trolloc, but Loial and Moiraine discover Trolloc script on several of the guidings, Moiraine realizes that's how they got Trollocs to Duopotamia, and in the book they do, indeed, insist that Lord Agelmar guard the Mafal Dadaranelle Waygate before they head off to the Eye. So, for all the gloating, I'm not sure it's a particularly surprising twist to discover Trollocs in the Ways at exactly the same point in the plot.

[@cbob213]

I was thinking this too, like I just reread it and while they don’t fight a Trolloc in there, they absolutely do state that’s how they made it to the two rivers etc without being detected.

[@linusohlsson7914]

Didn't they find dead trollocs? Like turned to stone?

[@coreynoble5673]

@@linusohlsson7914 Yeah they found petrified Trollocs with pitted marks just like the stone of the ways.. pretty sure at least. Unless that was in a later book.

[@seanpeters6251]

I really liked the slight nod to Perrin's eyesight when he spots the guiding stone from far away. Felt like a hint taken right out of the books.

[@jordanmurphy4156]

why is it only a hint though? he should have yellow eyes all the time. Contacts are not that expensive xD

[@tom4115]

why are they hinting? is he perrin goldeneyes or not?

[@marksaunders7920]

@@jordanmurphy4156 Probably the same reason GOT didn't give Daenaerys purple eyes: she couldn't wear contacts. Most likely the actor can't wear them.

[@jordanmurphy4156]

@@marksaunders7920 But he wears them for certain scenes so why not others? Man they wanted perrin to talk to bears instead of wolves before brandon sanderson interjected. It's just badly done and they are messing up the characters

[@RussianSmacker]

@@jordanmurphy4156 where did you get that from? I think he was joking about it in podcast with Dan Wells

[@insertnamehere3937]

I was honestly really impressed with how much this episode was able to make Mats decision and absence natural and integrate reasons why Mat didn't come through the way gate with the difficulties with Barney Harris departing. I though we would just have a throwaway scene at the beginning of the episode but no we felt his lost presence throughout the whole episode, even contributing to the conflicts of conversations and tensions between our Edmond's fielders.. This helped this feel all the more natural. Kudos to the writers on that.

[@nathanhall9345]

They seriously rewrote large swathes of this episode, and I respect that.

[@luthien7294]

Please, that argument is completely illogical. Why did she bring Mat to the gate if she thinked that he was not the Dragon or she wanted to keep him away from the dark one?

[@Sam-jx8tv]

Yeah I don't understand why they did what they did. Could have just had him stay at the tower because he was to sick and moved on. That said I did like that they didn't just gloss over that he left them and stayed behind.

[@sebastianmitderaxt203]

@@Sam-jx8tv MY guess is because they shot the sixth episode already and probably he went with them into the ways in the first cut. (probably moved the entire production already to the new locations, The ways is obviously a sound stage, but the borderlands are a completely different set location and they most likely were on the mnove between locatons already) Then the actor disappereard, and they could not reshoot scenes with him deciding that in the city. (or they would have done so by other chars talking) They obviously used stock footage from the outside shooting where mat looked concerned and inserted it the wqy they did in the end of EP 6

[@DeeDub02]

I'm confused. Did the actor just leave? What happened?

[@Jagar_Tharn]

The Blight is too sudden, though, it was supposed to be a gradual transition. Here it looks like a zone in an MMO, not a real landscape.

[@cdsmithus]

Not even that. It looks like tens of thousands of copies of the exact same tree. No MMORPG would contain a zone that's so boring as that.

[@Jagar_Tharn]

@@cdsmithus I was referring to the transition, i.e. the blight has a clear border here, where it should not. Ashenvale is green, Felwood is brown, and there is no transition between them. As for "no MMORPG", clearly you are blessed to play only modern MMOs :D Shimmering Flats, anyone?

[@ShionTheHollow]

A zone in an MMO 😭

[@EmethMatthew]

I had the same initial reaction to Moiraine sending the message to the Red Ajah, but the more I thought about it the more I think they might turn it into a calculated decision: 1. If Mat can't channel because she has the Dragon Reborn with her, then the Red Ajah wouldn't be able to still him anyway 2. If Mat can channel and is succumbing to the Darkness, then him being away from Moiraine and in Tarvalan is incredibly dangerous and needs to be dealt with right away, and surely after the Reds were just chastised for Logain they wouldn't push things too far and would take him to Siuan right away since they're so close this time, right? 3. Which of her sisters would be the most motivated to find this random person she's managed to lose when in the show she is a newly outcast exile from the tower? All the others would have their own priorities and would have far more questions about why they should do it, so the simplest and most efficient answer is to go with the Reds who are already motivated on this task. I think it's naive given the black spoilers we know from the books, but so far show-Moiraine has shown no knowledge of that undercurrent in the White Tower. But perhaps I'm not familiar enough with the totality if the series.

[@JCbeMe]

Did anyone else see the absolute bind the writers put themselves into with the Ways? 1) Now channeling is required to enter the Ways. 2) Cannot use channeling within the Ways unless you want to call the Black Wind. 3) Must channel to exit the Ways. Soooo basically the black wind in always unavoidable, and when you exit the Ways EVERYONE best be leaving unless you want to die. And then Padan Fain strolls out of the gate by himself..... So can he channel now!? Or did someone channel to let him out but stayed in the Ways to face certain death? The only reasonable solution is the Black Wind is now controllable by the Dark Ones forces, but I'm just not feeling it at all. But maybe I'm missing something.

[@ChristmasLore]

Mhm. The Avendesorah leaf in the Prime Trivia material. Still doesn't add up, anyway.

[@e443productions9]

I feel like they’re mixing it with the portal stones that require channeling

[@Skysoldier505]

Given that they already have an actor for LTT I'm guessing the next cold open will be the Eye of the World prologue. I really hope it is.

[@ZlothZloth]

That would be a very good idea!

[@NicolasClark7732]

I kinda still really wish that the cold opening for the show was EotW prologue. I found it to be a really interesting start, after all.

[@nopenopenopington]

Fuck man that would be amazing

[@versatilevizions5109]

Great idea, lets see.

[@RussiasSufferingInUkraine]

No, it's going to be about the Aes Sedai during the War Of The Shadow.

[@CorMan426]

my favorite part of the episode was when Loial asked for patience in reading the damaged guiding stone and Rand whispers, “if he’s asking for patience that means we’re gonna die” 😭😭 literally busted out laughing when I heard that

[@yodhanhunter]

Can we just say that, the first time we see Rand shooting the bow, he is giving Two Rivers a bad name? At that range, he should be making Robin Hood look like a chump.

[@keaavilez932]

The Flame and the Void eluded him.

[@HeckLameNah92]

You could see the strain on his face. Machin Shin clearly got to him. 😅

[@plumberboy]

He was struggling emotionally, which affected his performance.

[@alcovitch]

@@keaavilez932 Would have been a good flashback to Tam helping him practice for Bel Tine archery competition and mentioning the Void and the Flame. Sadly this show doesn't care about these kind of details.

[@leobena08]

I loved that Perrin was the one to notice the guiding stone first in the Ways, establishing his improving senses.

[@timfm33]

Perrin was also the one to recognize paden Fein when no one else did

[@ToxDrawace]

I was instinctively like "why did they pick the character all the way in the back of the group to be the one to point out what's ahead? Oh wait. Nevermind."

[@aggietrombonist]

@@ToxDrawace My husband did the same. He’s about 2/3 of the way through the first book. He was like, “How did…ohhhhh.”

[@Highbrowser]

@@aggietrombonist That's one thing I love about the way they write the scenes. They have a knack for intuitive signifiers of meaning.

[@anson42]

That did show his emerging abilities very well. I am disappointed though that... [book spoiler] ... his eyes aren't yellow all the time. Part of his book character is him being super self conscious about his eyes. Hopefully they will will evolve that way over time on the show.

[@grais4856]

one of the little details in the cold open I loved was the fact that the armor of the soldiers the aiel fought had the Golden Bees of Illian on them to signify they were The Companions.

[@FiremanDuval]

LOVE!!!

[@benjaminjohnclamano]

I really love that scene. I was watching with my friends. When saw Golden Bees of Illian, I almost shouted that the Aiel is Rand's mother. Fortunately I was able to hold back and not spoil the whole episode.

[@OtherTheDave]

It did? Was it part of the cape? I noticed the capes…

[@tomhadow]

@@OtherTheDave on the breast plate 9 bees of illian

[@OtherTheDave]

@@tomhadow Thanks, I’ll keep an eye out for that when I watch it again with my GF.

[@lettersofmusic7476]

As a non-reader of the books. I knew that Rand was the dragon reborn. He just have this air about him. But the writers of this show really made me doubt it especially when the rest of the group started having powers. When Nynaeve use her powers I was like "Please don't make her the dragon reborn or Egwene". Don't get me wrong I like them but I also love to see how a Male Dragon reborn's gonna ve accepted in this world. So happy for this episode.

[@brianjacobs1283]

Rand is the Dragon as far as powers and channeling, but the Dragon really should have 5 heads!! If you take away any of the Emond's 5(including Egwene even though she sucks so bad) from the equation they have no shot and would fail vs Shai'tan.

[@MrKlarc19]

@@brianjacobs1283 🙄

[@jaryd123456]

@@brianjacobs1283 jesus spoilers.

[@brianjacobs1283]

@@jaryd123456 don't look at online discussions of a completed book series that has a massive fan base with no moderators if you don't want spoilers. I should say you need to common sense. There's a reason I avoided the internet with Spider-Man info until I actually watched the movie.

[@jaryd123456]

@@brianjacobs1283 you need to flag it. Just because there's no moderators does not mean you can't show any decency.

[@hoi-polloi1863]

A change I liked: Rand and Moiraine going solo to the Blight. Wanting to protect his friends is a straight-up Rand move. A change I disliked: Replacing the book-Min's Perky Spice vibe with the bitter cynic. Show is supposed to be "true to the heart and soul" of books, so they can get away with a lot, but changing character personalities is really bumping up against that promise.

[@feral_orc]

Most people I've talked to thought Min was perfect for the aged up version of her, she's not 19/20 anymore

[@josephgoettsch9369]

I agree, I honestly didn’t like Min at all, really disappointed.

[@classicdad2.063]

Min was way too old. Her and Rand hooking up seems kinda creepy with the age difference.

[@20storiesunder]

Aye everyone is a bit more bitter.

[@captainminnow]

@@classicdad2.063 My guess is that Rafe doesn’t even write her as a romantic interest. It’ll be a love triangle and he’ll make Rand choose one in the end.

[@zoe8880]

The Aiel's veil was up at the beginning of the scene--she only took it down when she thought she was alone and safe to give birth. Then she got surprised and didn't have a chance to replace it. She wasn't intending to kill them, but they got between her and her baby. (edit) Thank you to everyone who has replied. It is always interesting to open a conversation! I do want to add--the creators of the show clearly kept the bit of Aiel culture in the show by 1) having Thom explain the veil and 2) Having the Aiel have her mask up at the beginning of the scene. However, they chose to have the actress leave it down for the rest of the scene, most likely so we could enjoy her wonderful acting. How could we have gotten the heart stopping look on her face when she is stabbed in the side without that note? And they provided us with a perfectly good head-cannon excuse: She's in labor, experiencing the most painful and emotional experience of her life and is surprised. She doesn't take the second to replace the veil because she wants to get the hell on with birthing her child and these annoying bees won't stop hassling her. She's probably also having a hell of a time breathing. Think of all the folks complaining about wearing masks nowadays and add in GIVING BIRTH. Those who read the books also know more reasons why she might not be as quick with a veil as normal, and can make the choice to head-cannon those in. Those who remain unhappy with this--hey, that is your choice too. With every aspect of the show, every change, and every nod, we watchers have the choice weather to accept the reasons the show gives us, come up with our own head-cannon explanations for this Turning of the Wheel, or to stay staunchly by the books and be unhappy with the show. That is art. We get to appreciate and dislike what we appreciate and dislike according to our own personal preferences and differences. Personally, I choose to put explanations that will allow me to continue to enjoy the show in my head cannon. I shared my thoughts just in case others are looking for that too. But regardless of your opinion on this point or others, I respect and appreciate all of your opinions and thank you for sharing them. I know that all of your happiness and all of your anger comes from a genuine love for this story, whatever medium it is in, and I am so happy to be part of a community that holds the Wheel of Time close to its heart. Cheers, all!

[@trevvonhiggle1980]

Thing is, even this would be unacceptable to an Aiel, they would die trying to veil rather than killing unveiled. There were also quite a few moments, even between kills, where she could have veiled

[@PBOD]

Trev but she was still giving birth 😆

[@dp9629]

@@PBOD but this is fantasy not reality bro. We don't expect it to be realistic.

[@crashstarr6531]

There are also spoilers for much later in the series that might answer why this particular Maiden might not have perfect discipline on every aspect of their culture

[@alastorcorvus]

@@trevvonhiggle1980 the thing is, Rand's mom wasn't a traditional Aiel, and even without that piece of info... think about it, in that specific situation makes way more sense she'd care more about protecting her baby than covering herself for religious/cultural reasons.

[@themasterchefnz]

I'm still absolutely gutted Barney had to leave. Mat quickly became my favourite character because if his acting and I really hope he's ok and everything is going well in his life.

[@makemeajmod]

i agree he fit the role too well imo sad he wont be returning.

[@Jorgy411]

What happened to Barney?

[@black_sheep_nation]

My only issue with his work (versatile, and difficult to navigate) is he always sounded like he had a stuffed nose from the flu.🤧

[@kajsan760]

@@black_sheep_nation Did he even before he took the dagger? I thought of that as a sign of the dagger infestation.

[@dereklocke18]

Really? I thought the opposite. I always pictured Mat being a lot more.... upbeat? Barney's portrayal is just so dour all the time. I know a lot of that was the dagger at work, but still. Even before that point I thought he was just off on his interpretation.

[@aliceheilige2690]

When I heard from Min the whole 'Amyrlin will be your downfall' I just immediately assumed for some reason that she's not talking about the CURRENT Amyrlin, if you know what I mean (trying to keep this spoiler free). But your theory makes a lot of sense too, I was kinda 'huh it didn't even occur to me'. Look forward to see what they actually do plot-wise with this.

[@joshsargent9599]

I didn’t get what he was saying about that theory? Didn’t understand? Could you explain it for me please 😅 might just be how it was phrased

[@tpninja3929]

My first thought was Elaida

[@cbob213]

That’s why the oath was you will be banished until the Amyrlin calls you back. Not the current one, just the one that’s currently in power.

[@janconstantin7691]

Same.

[@kellydulli4866]

Yes I also assumed Elaida

[@AGGStream]

Prediction time: I think Min lied to Moraine about what she saw for Rand(the whole baby thing). Possibly because of what she really did see, being her ties to him and all that as well, she felt the need to protect him in some capacity.

[@alcovitch]

The show isn't that clever.

[@mally6101]

I do feel like Amazon and Netflix have been doing their own shows a HUGE disservice with the low episode count per season. A show as vast as WoT NEEDS at least 15 episodes per season, otherwise it's going to be rushed and unnecessary sacrifices in plot have to be made. It's the reason SO many new fantasy shows don't do as well as some older ones (GoT, Outlander, Vikings etc). Because they aren't given the run time to really allow the audience to get invested in the characters and plot. Everything is rushed and it's honestly such a shame. The knowledge of what could have been if only Amazon had been more realistic and willing to take a chance on a larger ep count haunts me, truly.

[@emilyk244]

Honestly, even as a newbie (halfway through book 2) I totally agree. There's so much they trying to stuff in such a small amount of time. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood today but especially this episode felt SO rushed, and really made everything they could have spent more time on in previous episodes stand out.

[@jasonwrathorn9281]

I would have agreed with you at the onset. At this point the show is so full of woke messaging, and development that undercuts the setting that I'm grateful Amazon didn't give them any more time to screw up the story.

[@emilyk244]

@@jasonwrathorn9281 Woke messaging???

[@Anthony_Cika]

@@emilyk244 Ignore him.

[@ozmanoshe]

To be fair, the whole burial and warder bit and wailing while somewhat useful in understanding how the bond works was something that could have been compressed significantly. Some of the Amyrlin stuff could have also been squished down to make a bit more time for the main cast. The whole reunification in Tar Valon of the EF5 was incredibly ham fisted and poorly written.

[@berenaltorin]

Moiraine just needs Mat contained, and the reds are the ones most used to finding men who don't want to be found. Also, she needs them to beat him within an inch of his life so that even after he's healed he'll have a new face for season 2...

[@monicaenns9967]

I don't know the book politics, but would the red act in a contrary way because a blue is pointing them at Matt? A red would've just hunted him and then gentled him. But now maybe they'd follow him, to see why Moraine was interested in him?

[@what._._._]

@@monicaenns9967 I was thinking something along those lines as well. A blue WOULD NEVER trust a red with some man that couldn't channel, but why would they trust a red with any man at all? Whichever red gets this "request" from Moraine is gonna be wondering what the hell is going on, and the mind games will ensue. [or they should, at least] So i agree, they'd probably follow him and try to figure out why a blue would ask a red to find someone for her. I'm very interested to see how that will play out.

[@cmike123]

This is just another stupid change. They have set the Reds up as an ajah that hates men. Moraine used that change to blackmail Liandrin an episode or 2 ago. In this series, those Reds would probably murder Mat, honestly. It's an unnecessary change that is going to cause a massive problem later in the story.

[@ericmm996]

@@cmike123 Or maybe she's just pissed at Liandrin and figures making her have to deal with Matt is a fitting punishment! J/K but we're already off the beaten path so why not?

[@cmike123]

@@ericmm996 yep. Fuck it.

[@grey3318]

I wasn't a book reader, but even during the first episode I had pinned rand as the dragon; all the intrigue around it felt a bit over done for me. Hell, the first book in this series came out in the 90s, and Rand is a conventionally handsome straight white dude that uses a sword. It was never going to be anyone different.

[@sophiehugli2752]

Plus the red hair ^^

[@Occidentally]

I didn't find the Blight believable unless Moiraine deliberately picked a "jungle" part to trek through as a more direct route to EotW. How the hell do Trollocs do their thousands-strong raids if they have to pick through that tangle. Trollocs are known to be dumb and easily distracted in the books. Them using the ways is established as a new thing. I think a better aesthetic would be a less dense version of what was shown, with other hazards thrown in like pools of bubbling sludge and scary looking jagged rock formations.

[@rudos4577]

Watch put when you say "jungle" otherwise you might get The Rock appearing through the trees 😂

[@connordutton674]

True but you forget they can open gateways something that's been lost to the White Tower for hundreds or thousands of years.

[@spankotheclow]

@@connordutton674 Shadow spawn can't survive gateways. Its well established canon.

[@Animalace3]

@@spankotheclow Was about to say that lol. Only one type of Darkspawn can go through Gateways, and even the Forsaken fear that one type. And that one type most certainly isn't a Trolloc.

[@kelby_wayne]

As a non-reader, this episode was a banger. The opening fight sequence was head and shoulders above the earlier ones imo. Rand having his realization along with us, the audience, that he's definitely the dragon was exciting. And the blight they're heading towards looks menacing af. Solid penta-ultimate episode that pulled up the series as a whole. 9/10

[@Mike_Scarn]

Penultimate*

[@ozmanoshe]

Yes was the best action so far, except when she jumped past and grabbed the cape, that looked a bit clumsy. I have to admit having just had a baby I was laughing my ass off at how movies treat labour, it rode the line very closely as coming off comical. I guess they don't make women like they used to ;p

[@djmingia0981]

@@ozmanoshe have you read the books?

[@abigailslade3824]

The blight was well off its meant to be rotting with plants bulging and bursting with pus

[@psykedude]

Perhaps it was autocorrect but just so you know penta means five, as someone pointed out pen is the proper prefix, meaning something like "the thing just before"

[@badmotherfucker6328]

İ think the Aiel having her mask off was meant to show that she wasn't looking for a fight. She was looking for a safe place to give birth and she fought because she was being attacked.

[@Shrilaraune]

Yeah, I agree with this

[@adambennett6595]

After listening through the audiobooks it'd be amazing to hear Michael Kramer reading the excerpt of the karethon cycle leading into the credits.

[@hayleywegman6799]

I feel like loial and Rand are not done to much justice this season.

[@trusttheuniverse9589]

I think upon re-watch now its been revealed, some of those character development moments for Rand I think were hidden by the fact we didn't get to see it cause of the mystery. For exampled, I started reading the books because I am inpatient, googled the answer and read some of Rands arch, was hooked and had to get the books. I now own all 14 and have read up to 5 lol. However, once I knew who the dragon was, I started paying more attention to him and there are little hints throughout the season other than what we get in the flash back that I picked up on that hint at his internal struggle and acceptance. so for example his outburst in episode 2 makes more sense and that's what made me feel like he knew. His little moment when he was watching Egwene being woken up by Moraine, his expression when he was watching them leave the cave. Him going to sleep away from the others, his outburst and then being distant from them a little, like he walked away from them in Logoth. Obviously him Channelling the door and then he jumped on the idea it was Matt, didn't question it because I think he kinda hoped it WAS matt, the pact they made and the actor kinda played that amazingly. His expressions when they were making the pact and then his... not disappointment exactly but something felt off about how he reacted when it was revealed that matt was only sick because of the Dagger. I also think there's more there with the Egwene and Perrin and Rand stuff, Rand, especially in book 2 and beyond has a bad habit of pushing people away that he thinks he is trying to protect. If you re-look at the scene as Rand knowing who he is especially after the way situation, you can kind of see that here. he is being a jerk to them on purpose, trying to push them away. At least that how I took it and it fits with Rands characters in the book. I think Perrin has feelings for her, but I dont know if they are love love feelings... idk, I do think this was more of a Rand kinda lashing out at people and using that as a trigger.

[@macielrodriguez6697]

Great interpretation! I read the books a long time ago so I have forgotten a lot of things but you are right. If you know from the start who is the Dragon, you start noticing all the little hints around Rand. The poor guy was like, pushing all those hints to the back of his mind, trying not to think about them. Even denying strongly that he was not Aiel when Loial pointed out his red hair. He seemed very upset there and together with everything, it makes a lot of sense because he already knew that he was adopted, he was not who he thought he was. You can see, like you said, that he was even hopping that Mat was the channeler and not him (even though he kind of knew he was the one who had channeled). But he still promised to not leave him to his fate (which was precious and sad because is like, secretly, he was asking Mat for a merciful death too if it was him).

[@maxdelpo5578]

good call indeed. Unfortunatelly all this are too subtle for non book readers

[@macielrodriguez6697]

@@maxdelpo5578 Perhaps, but I hope they notice all of this after re-watching the show. The screenwriters did a good job in this particular aspect.

[@Meldon44]

@@maxdelpo5578 And honestly it's too little even for book readers. I've read the first several books 2-3 times (multiple reattempts to get through the series at various points leading up to and during college..... and never quite making it, LoL). And I've read them very recently to my wife. She and I both lamented just how LAME the show adaptation of him was, all in the name of the mystery. He has been woefully underdeveloped and deemphasized into oblivion, to the point that it's hard to even care about him as a show character. Again, this is coming from readers who know just how important he is and know what hints to look for. He was just.... empty. I'm hoping that after this episode his development really starts to catch up.

[@rebekkahdavi8493]

Knowing that Rand had learned that he was adopted and knowing all the things he was wrestling with during this journey, it explains why he was so adamant with Loial that he was not an Aielman.

[@Gunleaver]

Lan's arc in "New Spring" was the exact opposite of what Daniel says! He has never lacked for a purpose, his problem is that his purpose was determined for him as a child, and he has always been used by others as a tool (including, I should add, Moiraine). This is why it's so important that Lan suddenly speaks up unprompted in WH during the debate about what to do with the captured damane. This is why he helps Rand prepare for his audience with Siuan in tGH or why he defends Rand from Moiraine's rebuke or refrains from reprimanding him for being rude to her in tGS. Lan's whole life has been to be treated as a tool to be used by others, like a sul'dam and as is happening to Rand. Lan has nothing BUT purpose, and not one of his choice. He does not see that he has any choices of his own, and that is a change that Nynaeve begins to work in him. Through her he begins to see himself as a person in his own right, who deserves choices and agency. That's why she reacts so strongly when he insists that the sisters & Kinswomen free the damane who want to be released - because he is giving voice to a principle that he has never recognized as applying to himself. He is finally caring about the idea of choice and agency, which means he will be less likely to see his own life as a coin to be spent for someone else's goals. Lan did not bond with Moiraine to get a purpose, but as a way out of all the purposes chosen for him. Before they met, his intention was to commit suicide by Blight in order to prevent any more ideas of a crusade to recover Malkier or setting up a Malkieri kingdom in exile, because those ideas would only get people killed, and weaken the Borderlands, which violated his sworn duty to fight the Shadow. Moiraine offered him a way to fight the Shadow without dragging anyone else into his war, and at the same time, removing him from the political scene in the Borderlands. People understand that the Tower is supreme and Lan can't do anything if an Aes Sedai has bound him to her service and that no matter what kind of coalition they assemble, they cannot act in his name, because it will be intruding into an affair where the White Tower has put in a claim and no one from the Borderlands will risk the wrath the Tower, which they need desperately against the Blight. That, by the way, is why Agelmar's behavior is so uncharacteristic and wrong on the show, and incidentally, why Moiraine's response to him was stupid as well. Agelmar would gratefully accept any help given by the Tower, even if it came with strings. Moiraine or any other minimally competent sister would not tell an important lord and leader "Hey you handle your problems, we're not going to tell you how to do it" with the implication that he sucks if he needs their help. Instead, an Aes Sedai would reassure Agelmar that he has the Tower's full confidence and she is not here to judge or punish him, nor take control of his command. Because doing that implies that the White Tower or an Aes Sedai COULD do those things if they wanted to, because the Tower and the Aes Sedai are supreme.

[@herz5159]

When Moiraine bonded him he was about to go into the blight to kill himself so I would say Show Lan is not too out of character at all. This is too nit picky imo

[@Gunleaver]

@@herz5159 Oh, sure, just the exact opposite reason, motivation and backstory, but the action is the same, who cares, what's the big deal?

[@herz5159]

he said too sentences about it that are in line with the whole thing, but you filled in things to be mad about for no reason actually. He didn't want Malkier in New Spring and his pseudo family just died so he didn't have anything. She gave him the mission and a new purpose. All in line of the show @@Gunleaver

[@Gunleaver]

@@herz5159 He DID want Malkier, he loved Malkier, and his life was governed by his duty to Malkier. But he wanted what was BEST for Malkier, which was for her people to go on with their lives and to help their new homelands fight the Shadow. Malkier's people were in danger of being consumed by revenge and plots to try to restore their old kingdom and as long as Lan lived, his duty would force him to be used in these plans. He was NOT planning to die because he lost his pseudo family, he was planning to die from the moment he returned to the Borderlands, when they were still alive. He was going to die in the Blight as an example to the other Malkieri to keep up the struggle and never turn their back on the Blight, while at the same time, removing himself from the gameboard, so that no one else like Edeyn Arrel could use him in their schemes to gain power, so that one else could call a crusade to retake the Seven Towers in his name. Lan believes that Malkier is an idea, a mindset to fight the Shadow no matter what, to never give up. He tells Nynaeve that Malkier lives as long as one man wears the headband or one woman wears the dot on her forehead, both of which are pledges to that commitment. But for most people, a nation is a place and a bunch of symbols, and a government. And as long as they had Lan, way too many people were going to be all about getting back that place, and putting that king back on his throne in the royal palace, with the Golden Crane flying overhead. And he knows that any effort to retake Malkier is doomed to fail, and will cost the lives of many soldiers, who are needed to guard the Blightborder, not be wasted in a futile effort. THAT is why Lan is going to die! It is a MAJOR difference. It's the difference between a whiny selfish loser, and a man dedicated to his duty at the cost of his own glory, power or life. The show gives us the former (and they gave him a family, too, so he's a piece of shit who thinks he had nothing without Moiraine, totally discounting the people who raised and loved him) despite the books giving us the latter.

[@stevegillan]

I'm still not sure that Liandrin is the one helping with the ways, if the mechanic is that you need to open it by channelling, then yes I can see this being an intro for Black Ajah or Foresaken as the ones to enable the shadowspawn to access them. However, there was that scene in episode 7 where Padan Fain exited the ways and was holding a leaf like item, which is more in line with how it was shown to activate the waygates in the books. I can't explain why our heroes or Loial didn't just do that, but I did question during the episode "how did he get out?". It might be been something that they will explain as "lost knowledge" or something later on? My best guess.

[@Xunre]

In both the books and the series a waygate can be opened by moving a key shaped like an avendesora leaf or by channeling. The key may have been missing at the Tar Valon waygate or Moirane may not have wanted Mat to know how to use the ways. SeriesMat, at least at this stage, is darker than BookMat.

[@dinierto]

@@Xunre this is what I was thinking, perhaps some of they keys had been stolen and channeling needed to be used

[@nathanhall9345]

Moiraine siccing the Red on Mat--I think as of her healing him, she's pretty sure he can't channel. So in her mind, she's both securing Mat somewhere safe (if somewhere he'll be annoyed and talked down to, win/win), and also sending the Reds on a wild goose chase. Remember Elyas talking about them trying to gentle him when he first showed signs of the Wolfbrother thing? "Yeah, they kept trying and trying, and it didn't do anything but annoy me."

[@definitelynotobama6851]

I think that the show has also not been able to establish a motivation for Mat's extreme mistrust of Aes Sedai as he had in the books. Clearly, the show's version of this world is significantly less fearful of Aes Sedai than in the books. But almost everything Mat does from the end of book 1 onward is mainly motivated by not trusting Aes Sedai/ the One Power. Siccing the Red Ajah on him is a good way from a writer's perspective to break any trust he had in Aes Sedai and Moiraine specifically.

[@TheScodia]

I'm hoping that the reason getting the reds involved is because they will grab him and hold him at Tar Valon. She's hoping Siuan will be able to protect him and likely will bring him with her when she goes to Fal Dara Liandrin in tow as well as the dagger.

[@davidgregory7564]

Nice theory!

[@damp2269]

the wild goose chase angle doesn't work. too much risk of Mat yelling out "I'm not the dragon reborn" and just like that Liandrin and the rest of the red ajah would be hunting moraine to the ends of the earth.

[@PBOD]

I think you’re bang on point. They are practiced at finding men, this is their purpose and Matt needs finding. You don’t call an ambulance if you car breaks down ya know!? The blues may not like the reds too much but they’re all on the same side (well most of them)

[@zoe8880]

On reflection, I was thinking that maybe Rand's lashing out over the group abandoning Mat was really anticipation of them rejecting him once they discover that *he* is the Dragon Reborn. If they can just let Mat go like that when he is troubled and needs them the most, will Rand be abandoned too?

[@bidossessi]

That would have worked if the hatred and fright for men that channel, and the cultural impact of the DR, had been better developed. As it is, the E5 take so much in stride that it lacks gravitas.

[@Highbrowser]

@@bidossessi Episode 1 cold open, episode 4 in general.

[@BLemonTea]

These last 7 weeks have been really enjoyable, because I have gotten into a routine. Saturday morning I watch the latest episode then I come over here to watch your review and read the comments from such a wonderful group of goblins. I have read some of the books and am slowly making my way through when available, so hearing your full knowledge of the series as well as first time watchers reactions has been so much fun. Thanks for making these! I am going to be a bit sad when the season is over next week, but I look forward to when the next season starts and this starts up again!

[@dardell2001]

Another thing that really bothers me is how fast Mat recovered. Matt beating Gawyn and Galad while being barely able to stand. That really set up Mat's fighting skill later on

[@makemeajmod]

shhhh dont tell people the REAL story... theyll never belive that narrative.. im just thanking the light that kate reading and micael kramer could give us an amazing experience of this world at a fraction of the cost than one of these episodes at $10million.

[@Charlieandp]

maybe just wait and see. You've not watched the entire show before have you?

[@brianjacobs1283]

@@makemeajmod I wish I could upvote this x100. Rafe is fucking butchering this series. I usually don't use that type language, but that's how terrible I think he's doing. How can Rafe mess the pronunciations of places and names up that badly when there's audiobooks??? Mat is far and away the absolute best character in the series and Rafe had just slapped that vision of him right in the face. This show is depressing. I never would've thought the Witcher would've been leagues better than whatever this shit is we've been watching.

[@andscifi]

My best theory for why they added the Perrin/Egwene subplot is that they're either going to remove or dramatically reduce Berelain's presence but they didn't want to remove the jealousy aspect of Faile entirely.

[@TheRacoonGhost]

or they'll remove the 2 most hated loveinterest's and get them together

[@damp2269]

i hope that is really not the case. Berelain is a great character.

[@mattinpjs]

I like this a lot, I never really felt Faile had strong enough reason to be jealous over Berelain and that always kinda annoyed me. Being jealous of the childhood crush your husband has makes more sense

[@chrisdalby]

There’s zero reason to have Berelain in the show to be honest. I love her but she’s definitely getting cut. Same could be done with, or at least dramatically cut down on, Gawyn, Bayle, Morgase, Masema, Elyas, half the Forsaken.

[@mattinpjs]

@@chrisdalby I completely agree, 2k characters is impossible to fit into 8 seasons, there needs to be some fat trimming

[@MrGowface]

The reveal of Rand as the dragon reborn was done so well. From him struggling with his emotions, unable to find the void at target practice, then to taking on the burden of his immense responsibility head on. I can imagine him picturing driving those arrows into the dark one's proverbial heart as they all hit the target later in the episode, and I teared up a bit. Highlighting his heron marked sword reminded me of the bond he has with his father - wish the show had made some more time for that, but recalling memories from the book made it really powerful.

[@cdsmithus]

I'm really just amazed at your reaction to the Blight. For me, that was maybe the last straw where I'm just accepting that the series is garbage. How could they take something that should be a whole unique region of the world with diversity and character, and turn it into essentially 30,000 copies of the exact same gnarled tree? It looks so terrible, they've just stopped even trying at this point. How is a whole episode supposed to take place in such a dull and bland setting?

[@Brainwave20241]

I thought the same thing! The blight was so intense and scary. The intensity of how fast they had to get through it and the things they experience. How badass rand is in the end. It was so underwhelming and bad. Nothing like the books at all

[@Hi-Hi1990]

Money

[@jadeprincepk]

You guys need to understand that building sets costs a lot of money that Amazon probably wasn’t giving

[@Brainwave20241]

@@jadeprincepk everyone does understand that and that's why they are annoyed. Amazon could've made this as good and they wanted but chose not to. It's a bad adaptation, dragon ball evolution bad.

[@alexhess1163]

I actually didn't have a problem with it visually. I thought it looked like a cool idea. The problem for me was that the Dark One is supposed to be the god of death, coldness, the grave, etc. But his evil wetlands forest seemed to contain more life than any of the neighboring desert borderland kingdoms combined.

[@MrSoccerboy5411]

Having never read the books, I "knew" Rand was going to be the dragon from episode 1, based purely on how often the show cut to his story. Ep 1 and 2 focused a lot on Rand compared to the other 3/4.

[@RazvanCosti]

That is one reason this show is all-around nice but by no means groundbreaking or genius. It’s for the most part easily digestible YA generic stuff

[@leonel91]

in the books it's pretty obvious too that Rand is the protagonist, I don't know why the show tried to make such a big mystery out of it

[@connordutton674]

@@leonel91 because some I would day don't read or look too deeply, and so to everyone else it was a mystery which is intriguing and makes people come back.

[@Rand0081]

@@leonel91 So it seems 10 years ago I had either a really bad English or an attention disorder or both. I spent the entire book thinking that the Dragon was just some scary lore behind men who could channel, not realizing Moraine was actively searching for him. The ending of EoTW hit me as the biggest surprise in life, even bigger than "Luke, I'm your father".

[@Rasputinttrpg]

Ya it was pretty obvious at episode one

[@whitney2548]

Man, as someone who is currently eight months pregnant and has been through labor three times before, that opener really stabbed me in the feels. I actually got pretty emotional, but that could have been the hormones talking.

[@merc9nine]

I heard it's just s clump of cells...Like everyone

[@andreasvox8068]

8th month? So how is your combat training going?

[@whitney2548]

@@andreasvox8068 sub par

[@ccn6558]

@@whitney2548 My daughter is 8 mo pregnant as well. I told her to prepare herself for the cold open on episode 7. We are both really enjoying the show - neither of us had read the books, but I am reading book 1 at the moment.

[@cbpd89]

Oooh, yeah. I accidentally watched an episode of House that had sick babies in it when I had a newborn. You gotta avoid watching maternity/baby peril in media when you're living it 😂

[@kinnykiran]

"If he's asking for our patience, then we are truly dead." said Rand in The Ways about Loial.

[@snerdterguson]

I don’t really get that line. It was meant to be comical I guess, but it doesn’t make sense. If it were reversed, one of them saying to Loial that they wanted him to be patient, it would work with the known character traits. Loial is always patient, and always wishes others were as well. So him asking them all to be patient is just him being him. Maybe I’m reading it wrong, but when I heard the line it didn’t even make me think at all. It was just a character saying something totally in line with their character.

[@yonatanyonatano1192]

@@snerdterguson the joke is that normally Loial will go into a long explanation and never ask for anyone’s patience because he thinks he’s speaking the proper amount in both length and volume. If he’s asking for patience, that means it’ll be a long time even for ogiers. Rand is joking that if it’s a long time for even ogiers, then they’ll be dead of old age by the time he finishes

[@snerdterguson]

@@yonatanyonatano1192 ok, hadn’t thought of that. Makes sense. Thank you for the explanation. Been about 10 years or so since I read them so my memories of it aren’t necessarily correct.

[@jaromir_kovar]

Machin Shin was, regardless of the main story, the most mysterious and terifying entity in all of books for me. I hoped they will do a bit more with such a great source material. Shame how it turned out. But I guess, in the books by that time we already know a great deal of lore. Lore being the biggest drive for me in the books, is painfully missing for me in the show. I thought they gonna do at least a small info dump when the women reached Tar Valon but alas, no. It's a pitty. Also, they were hearing "one of you is the Dragon Reborn" but none was interested in what does it mean.

[@cerberusaoe]

I agree. Machin Shin was really disappointing, I felt. In the books, Machin Shin literally consumes/eats people alive after driving them completely insane. In the movies...it says mean things to you... (shrug) Not that scary.

[@jeffreytroublefield4265]

They turned the black wind into a therapist that tells you vague mean truths. Was really disappointed. Even tho she told them before going in, don't believe what the wind says.

[@ethanhandel1001]

I haven't read the books yet but I thought it was interesting that Moraine tells them the Manchin Shin will lie to them... and then the show immediately follows that with the wind effectively being a mean girl while saying objectively true things that feeds into each characters insecurities. They even suggest it helped convince Rand he was the Dragon Reborn.

[@WalkenDead]

In the books I was a fan of Min from the first time she appears. It took her second scene alone with Rand for me in the series. There are things that Min knows that she isn't telling any of them, and in that second scene especially, there is a hint of that in her face. So for the ones who don't want spoilers, wait a few seasons and go back and watch the scenes with Min here and maybe you'll see what I and probably/hopefully other book readers picked up on

[@Topher0523]

Everyone brought their A game to this episode. The two rivers gang argument could have devolved into like CW levels of angst if they weren’t careful but each of them brought such nuance to their anger and fear to the scene that you felt for them. You understood the pain they are in after losing a friend and still not knowing what is ahead of them except for more pain and loss.

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

The delivery of “I’ve only ever loved my wife” hurt on a few levels.

[@danielbrown4017]

My viewing group and I felt like it did go into CW levels of angst including a random love triangle that's pointless. (I've read the books, they haven't) lol they were like why is this here? Literal quote from my friend, "Does every show have to have a love triangle? More witches less teenagers!" haha

[@KalCraig]

I also wonder if Rand was acting a bit over the top and jealous because he had just channeled earlier in the day, and so the madness had time to catch up with him for a bit like it does in Baerlon in the book. And Machin Chin certainly didn't help.

[@manst8079]

Also you know, the fact that they had just been assaulted by an evil wind that emotionally scarred them all. I mean, did you see their faces when they're just out of the ways? They look awful lol

[@Cyax0k]

@@KalCraig It's not so much madness from the taint though as it is the natural channeling sickness that happens with all channelers, male or female, when they channel unaided for the first time.

[@ryankeith2712]

Can we all just agree the most ridiculous thing is how somehow Lan teleports behind Nyaneave while she was watching him through a window?

[@emilyk244]

RIGHT

[@phil817]

Yeah that was weirdly done.

[@matthewparsons6496]

Almost as ridiculous as the acrobatic fighting display put on by a pregnant woman in the middle of child birth. I mean, come on, that was the jump the shark moment.

[@TequilaToothpick]

@@matthewparsons6496 What?! That was the best scene so far I'm the show. Fantastic fight.

[@djmingia0981]

@@matthewparsons6496 you mean one of the best scenes of the series? Come on guy

[@benmckinlay1902]

Omg until you mentioned it I absolutely assumed the Rand recognising Dragonmount thing was just a dumb baby memory thing as an excuse to drop a hint that Rand was more than he seems - but the other thing makes much more sense!

[@mhauze4all]

What am I missing? How could Rand remember it? It can’t be a LTT memory…it was created as a result of an event that would cease his memory-making ability, and wasn’t even done forming until after his complete destruction. So, ruling out baby memory and LTT memory, what is left? Did I miss a dream sequence?

[@CerebrumMortum]

I can't believe you missed out on the best 1 liner this show has yet to have. "I like her. The wisdom" Which packed SO MUCH emotional content into one bundle. Her bond with Lan, her approval of him having emotions, her approval of the target of said emotions, the unique friendship they have her growing fondness of Nayneve despite her being an arse. It's so good.

[@scottfree6479]

It was terrible. Lan processes emotions differently in the books. Turning him into a crying sop is absolutely the worst decision they could have made. It shows they do not understand the character. This show is the worst adaptation I've seen in years.

[@foxesofautumn]

It made no sense. Nynaeve has treated Moraine like hot garbage since they met. I get her dismissing it as childish nonsense and not acting against Nynaeve, I don't get anyone in that situation going "I like this person who only tears me down." Unless Moraine is an arch masochist and I missed it.

[@feanaro2712]

In terms of the veil being down, I've seen the suggestion that she did it intentionally - signalling that she doesn't *want* to fight and her enemies are just not taking the hint. I also really liked the in-universe explanation Moiraine gave for why she was willing to leave him behind; that she believes if he is the Dragon and was offered power by the Dark One, he would take it.

[@markwalker3499]

Yes that makes sense because it was up when the scene opens. And I agree about the comment re Mat, but I don't remember now if that was in the books or not. She implied that Mat was corrupted, and we can believe it had something to do with the dagger, or that it was something already inside him before his picking it up.

[@kylejde]

about the veil being down....those who read the books and know her identitiy know she wasnt born an Aile, and had only lived with them for a few years (not sure about the book timeline, but it cant be more then 5 considering the Aiel war lasted 3 and her disapperance what the cause of the Daes Deamar stunt that was the cause of the Aiel war

[@JoshTruff]

I just don't see why she writes him off just seems like poor writing trying to bandaid some problem. What darkness in him? I guess we will have to find out but I am willing to bet that its nothing and we never hear of it again. Same with Egwene writing Matt off why? What makes her the dragon expert. Everyones reactions don't make logical sense to me.

[@erenbecomesdovecrying6016]

That's some medical grade copium

[@aurigarvel727]

@@JoshTruff Genuinely curious, what in-universe plot would've worked to cover for the actor leaving as unexpectedly as he did? Also, I don't think Egwene was judging from a "Dragon Expert" perspective so much as a "Mat Expert" one -- which, as someone who has been around Mat for such a long time she can certainly qualify for. It may not fair to Mat, obviously, as Rand says; but, Egwene doesn't know Mat like Rand does -- which Rand does bring up as a counter-argument.

[@akshaybajpai9206]

I liked how Shaiel was stabbed in her side foreshadowing a certain **cough** eternal wound in someone's side.

[@davidgregory7564]

Yes! Noticed that also. Such great details in the show.

[@psionic111]

Yeah, her stabbing wound in the side is an allusion within an allusion. Not only was Rand as the savior of the Pattern stabbed in the side, but RJ probably also meant to allude Rand's wound to the spear stab that the Roman soldiers did to the crucified Christ savior figure...

[@mycenaeangal9312]

Oh shit. I always pictured that still on the side but being more frontal but I guess that would also work.

[@lillithsummers8817]

@@psionic111 within yet another allusion. Rand is written as part allegory to the Fisher King, (though the Fisher King had an eternal wound in the leg or groin) The Fisher King has many re-iterations but his health and well being are always tied to the well being of the land. As the Fisher King suffers and degrades so does the land. In the books he is later identified as the Fisher piece in either the game Stones or sha’ra (forget which) Edit: It’s Sha’ra.

[@jakecarter9920]

My thoughts: *Complaints* 1. They did Aglemar dirty in this episode. The man was a soldier and a diplomat but never a politician in the books. He DEEPLY respected Moraine as a specific person and an Aes Sedai in general. 2. The Blight looked absolutely absurd. They could have spent less money and made it look BETTER by simply going with how it was described in the books: mostly barren with the occasional unhealthy or rotting tree or brambles, not that Maleficiant inspired brambles thing that looks like CGI from 1995 a bare 100 yards past the outer wall of Fal Dara. 3. The Rand/Egwene/Perrin love triangle is ridiculous and totally unneeded in the story. Especially since it was resolved two minutes later. *Praises* 1. We finally see the show giving the Aiel a moment of respect (and if it is Tigraine I can forgive the face-covering given her background) 2. Having the characters choose to go to the Eye gives shows their integrity and is something that Moraine frankly should have done in the books if she ever wanted anyone to even remotely trust her. *Ongoing concerns* 1. The show STILL has never once bothered to explain what a Ta'veren is to the viewers (or why having multiple Ta'veren at the Eye might be a good thing) despite having Moraine use the phrase in Episode 1 as her WHOLE REASON for going to the Two Rivers to look for the Dragon.

[@linusohlsson7914]

I agree with you 100% my good sir!

[@intrinsical]

I feel Rand's characterization is sufficient. At this point, he is the shy one who wishes to avoid conflict but it eventually builds to a boil and he lashes out in desperation. The interesting thing about Rand is him facing the fact that he is the Dragon and what he is going to do with the fate of the world in his hands while slowly being driven to madness. That will come over the next few seasons.

[@alcovitch]

If the show lasts that long.

[@Mike_Scarn]

Having never read the books, Rand just seemed like the only character that the show wasn’t actively “hyping up” to potentially be the Dragon Reborn. When he broke down the door notwithstanding, it seemed like the show was trying much harder to keep our focus on the other four characters and their newfound abilities. Nynaeve’s unparalleled healing abilities, Eqwene’s seemingly natural ability to channel, Mat with the dagger, and Perrin with his yellow eyes and the wolves, were all explicitly shown or spoken about several times to heavily imply he/she might be the Dragon. While Rand had one, blink and you miss it, moment that gave us any explicit evidence. So it just seemed like the show was misleading us and keeping Rand a secret. Just my 2 cents.

[@tom4115]

The show completely ignored the main character because hurr durr you'll never expect him to be the dragon now.

[@emilyk244]

As a new reader that hasn't finished the series, I felt they tried way too hard to make it a "ha, gotcha!" moment when they revealed it, but spending so little time with him in earlier episodes

[@chrism6315]

There are subtle hints to Rand in the previous episodes, but honestly some of them are hard to pick up on I think if you arent a book reader, though I think loail telling he's aiel was the most obvious 'he's not what he appears' moment.

[@chrism6315]

@@tom4115 no, they made moraine the main charachter for the first season and this is a natural consequence of that. It's totally fine to complain that they did that, but once that's what was done having who the dragon is be a mystery makes sense.

[@maxdelpo5578]

I can confirm. There was other hints, but only a book reader was aware

[@Porthector88]

I didn't think of it as Moiraine being overwhelmed, I thought she was trying to open the Waygate, which meant she couldn't channel to protect everyone. But I'd need to rewatch to be sure.

[@t3hsilarn]

Yes, this was how I read the scene. She was focused on opening the waygate and was pretty stoic even as we heard the whispers in her mind. Nynaeve merely helped push it back to protect everyone a little longer while Moiraine finished opening the gate.

[@MarielaQue]

That is how I saw the scene, after watching it few times.

[@kyleellis9177]

that's what overwhelmed means. All 3 of you are just artfully describing overwhelmed.

[@zyonhenderson67]

@@kyleellis9177 Book essay's amiright?

[@t3hsilarn]

@@kyleellis9177 At no point does it show Moiraine stop channeling to open the gate. If anything the rest of them were nearly overwhelmed, but not Moiraine. She just kind of glances back and acknowledges what's happening. Or are you trying to say she should be opening the Waygate and simultaneously holding back Machin Shin?

[@joshuakuruvilla]

Minus the 'love triangle', I absolutely LOVED this episode. One of the best cold opens ever. Consistent quality throughout. Mats sudden change was surprisingly well handled.

[@plumberboy]

The love triangle is stupid. Its like they want to give WOT YA drama that's nor necessary.

[@brianjacobs1283]

They awkward drawn out Nynaeve/Lan scene was awful.

[@dachurchofeppie850]

It's too early for Nynaeve and Lan to get together. No sexual tension, no growth for Ny, no pain and redemption after the death of the spoiler warning...

[@foxesofautumn]

Do they work in the books? Because they don’t here. Nynaeve isn’t even very likeable and she takes jabs at Moiraine. Why Lan is into this I don’t know.

[@warriorworkouts5397]

Each episode leaves me feeling exactly the same: Generally pleased with the acting, neither too upset or ecstatic about plot/storyline changes, and highly displeased with the rushed pacing. Given that there’s so much extra material, and whole books in the middle of the series that would make much more sense to condense it just really bothers me that they can’t take the time at the beginning here to allow characters and directions to develop.

[@munchiekins]

I feel theres a pressure to "sell" the show, thus all the love triangle and romance stuff. Theyre trying to hook an audience and not trusting completely the source material and it shows.

[@makemeajmod]

EXACTLY yet shows like the big band theory and the walking dead can have 20 episodes a season and have 10+ seasons... all we are asking is for some proper pacing.. i mean ffs the sopranos and Dexter had a lot of down time for dialog and plot pacing.. this whole atrocious act amazon is pulling with its untaxed billions is the act of the dark one himself..

[@Merlin1908]

Amazon's fault; Rafe wanted 10 episodes including a 2 hour pilot, which would probably have solved the pacing issues for me.

[@free22]

@@makemeajmod Sopranos. Dexter. GOT. They were all cable shows. Not streaming services like Netflix or Amazon. Different animal altogether. Netflix or Amazon tend to be more data driven, stingier with episodes, and more willing to end shows prematurely. Imagine trying to write with an axe over your head.

[@TheGraemi]

@@free22 You mean, "with a Trolloc behind you."

[@Munez7]

Fun Fact: The ways kinda look exactly like the hall of echoes in divinity 2. Except the lighting. Gave me the impression that someone on the visuals team probably played that game and that's cool

[@freddymeisner]

I thought the same thing! I didn’t love it for the ways but that game is one of the best ever

[@mindartis4081]

Yes I knew I had seen this somewhere!

[@MsWubwub]

Such an underrated game!!

[@mnthys]

wow I thought the same thing aswell

[@nunyabizz3357]

THAT'S where i saw that before! thank you! that was killing me

[@TitaniamGaming]

I did honestly used to enjoy your content, and when you started reviewing One Piece I thought it was a god send. But I just had to pause the video and stop when you said Min’s portrayal in this show is book accurate. They have butchered so many things that are so core to the wheel of time, and the fact that you either don’t see it, or just refuse to acknowledge it means that either your interpretation of the books differs so wildly so mine that we may as well have been reading different series, or you’re being incredibly dishonest. If it’s the former then I don’t get how I haven’t seen it before, but I don’t think that I can watch your videos anymore, if our base interpretations of such great material can differ so wildly. If it’s the latter then I do not want anything to do with your channel ever again. These books are such a gift to humanity, and seeing them be given such a disservice boils my blood, yet to see a fellow fan of he series praising it, not talking about its multitudes of failings and the sacrilege it performs... I hope that I’m mistaken and that you just have a vastly different take on the series than I thought you did. But either way, I’m unsubscribing and am going to give your channel a break. Maybe in a few years when the forced hype for this series has died down you will see it for the abomination that it is, but until then, goodbye Daniel.

[@JOFelony23]

The idea that Moiraine would take the Dragon straight to Shayol Ghul in the Eye of the World is ridiculous.

[@HardTea]

The cold open alone made this the best episode. The amount of emotion, desperation, ominous sounds from dragonmount and the sheer bada$$ness of not only one person without armor against many armored up folks but the one person was a woman moments from giving birth yet still handled business! Then the blade master depiction of Tam in that he respected the wielder and not the weapon so he held his blade against her until he knew she would not fight him. I had chills each of the three times I watched the cold open.

[@nathanmorgan3647]

Yeah, that broke verisimilitude for me and took me out of the story. I don't care if you're 5 Aiel all in one body, a 9 month pregnant woman is not taking on fully armored, experienced veteran soldiers, some of them blademasters. Hells bells even Lan can't do that even without the pregnancy complication. There are ways to show her being badass without making it cartoonish.

[@justin-md4xm]

@@nathanmorgan3647 technically true but still it was cool

[@jeleeson]

^^This! My boyfriend has never read the books. He looked at me and said "wait, she's doing all this while she's in labor?" Yep. That's why the Aiel are the undisputed badasses of the WOT.

[@Kylora2112]

@@nathanmorgan3647 She took off her veil to stop fighting and give birth; she never had a chance to put it back on. I can live with this. And that fight scene was ridiculous for all the right reasons. And the same reason I hope the Fedaykin are cartoonishly over the top fighters in Dune Part II. They need to convey just how powerful the Aiel are as fighters.

[@Kylora2112]

@@jeleeson Yup. They need to establish how incredible Aiel soldiers are, so "I'm in labor and still taking out half a dozen soldiers" is ridiculous in the al the right ways.

[@jaybarasch5655]

With regard to Moiraine siccing the Red Ajah on Mat... I don't think she was actually betraying Mat, she was just manipulating the Red Ajah. Think about it. What will the red ajah do when they catch Mat? They'll try to gentle him, which will do nothing since he cannot channel. But Moiraine knows that she needs Mat found, and the Red Ajah is the most experienced group at tracking down individuals in Tar Valon. Looked at in that light, I don't think that it was out of character for Moiraine to do at all, just Aes Sedai manipulation and White Tower politics, which she is quite adept at

[@bradencosier80]

My thoughts exactly. What better way to ensure Mat is taken somewhere he can be watched carefully than to make him a target of the Red Ajah?

[@brokenphysics6146]

The problem is Liandrin. She has beef with moiraine personally, so she'll try to get at her through Mat. Otherwise, I'd agree, the red would be the obvious choice.

[@Aprilpixie]

I just posted nearly the exact same comment 😊. Great Minds!

[@RobynAnnL]

That was my thought exactly! Just using them to get Mat found and secured.

[@richvanasse4401]

At that point in the story, Moiraine didn't know who the DR was, so I believe it was the safest move to sic the Red on Mat (who she admitted she'd rather see dead than aligned with the DO).

[@delphiniumreads3063]

The interaction between Min and Rand had me screaming the entire time. I absolutely loved it.

[@richb1016]

Matt theory … they have to bring in a new actor, Moraine “saw the darkness” inside him. She tasked the Red Ajah because they can track men. Her thought… When the Red realizes the darkness in him is not saidin, they will either eliminate him, or hand him to the Yellows to heal. This upholds her truth of killing any that left. For show purposes, he will be healed and with the darkness gone, take on a new look as he takes on other traits from the book (which I will not mention for spoilers)

[@DaringDan]

Not a book reader. I found the love triangle odd. If Perrin was written all the way thru season 1 as being interested in Egwene, they'd have had him react to Aram's advances toward her. Hopefully they never touch on it again. It feels like they scrambled to write something after the actor that played Mat bounced. Came off has pretty amateurish. I'm interested in where the show goes though. You can't do a series like this in 8 episode chunks though. Just not tenable.

[@definitelynotobama6851]

Reading the first book, you can tell that the author played with the idea, decided it wouldn't work, and just never wrote another draft of that portion of the book. He does a lot of this same heavy implication that Perrin loved Egwene and then did absolutely nothing with it and tried to play it off as brotherly love in later books.

[@Mansplainer2099-jy8ps]

They did touch on it in ep 1 like his wife is jealous of Egwene for some reason. I guess they'll explain it in later seasons but I don't think it's just "Perrin has romantic feelings for Egwene".

[@CyberXShinobi]

So we just gonna over look the fact that in "this turning of the wheel" Moraine knew about Min, where she was, and that she might be able to have a vision that could indicate who the dragon is.....but the plan was to head straight to the Eye of the World and just roll the dice?! Smh

[@JP-zb3yb]

No? Thats why she stopped by Min, to see if they could avoid "rolling the dice". Min failed to give any conclusive information.

[@CyberXShinobi]

@@JP-zb3yb False, Machin Shin forced her hand to take a pit stop in Fal Dara.

[@JP-zb3yb]

@@CyberXShinobi oh true. Didnt think of that

[@Psycrow11]

@@JP-zb3yb sadly neither did the writers.

[@Chabooki]

Yikes. . . Sloppy Also, why are they changing what the eye of the world is anyways? They already have a second season and it feels like they are playing it safe and trying to wrap things up here. Is that stupid or am I stupid? What?

[@TheNordhammer]

Are you sure you've read the books and are not just pandering to the "woke" crowd? 'Causeyour "spoiler"about Moiriane... She does NOT die in the books,she gets a happily ever after ending with Thom. Egwene is the one who dies a heroic death in the end.

[@thecornerkid402]

My biggest “Really?” moment was when nynaeve apologized to egwene. At this point in her arc, nynaeve would never apologize to anyone. Which is one of the factors I’m why I hate her. I haven’t finished the series yet, and I’ve been told her arc is fantastic, but right now, I hate her.

[@victorbrayley7151]

I think Moiraine was actually being clever with sicing the Red Ajah on Matt, because they would be the fastest to find him and once they realized he couldn't channel they would just let him go in Tar Valon so he would be safe. Also it would distract the Reds with some pointless chase. Who knows, maybe Moiraine is just being super smart. It could also just be bad character writing. :P

[@timfm33]

I think that Matt and Moraine planned it especially when he said is it too late to change my mind

[@tomjg6095]

I agree. I just tossed it up to her not wanting to give away who her closest allies in Tar Valon are on a meaningless capture and return task. Also it doesn't highlight the importance of Mat as anything special if she can rely on the Reds.

[@nathanmorgan3647]

I'm not sure why the reds would be fastest to find him. They look for signs of channeling, of which there would not be any. It's the blues who are supposed to have the widest and best-trained intelligence apparatus in the world. But maybe you're right. After her own eyes and ears failed so abysmally finding Matt and Rand in their own freaking city, maybe Moiraine gave up in disgust and now outsources everything.

[@ICircuit64]

It also deflected Min's question as it would suggest that she tracks male channelers as well.

[@isamumizuta9226]

@@nathanmorgan3647 the red Ajah specializes in finding people period. Women can’t sense Saidin and if they hear reports of strange things happening around men, they find the man. Also, eyes and ears are not hands to grab someone. If it’s known that the person is involved with Aes Sedai, that contact is not going to be useful anymore since people will be on their guard around them.

[@stevo19991]

It's fantasy I get it, but for the millionth time, Armor is not made of butter, that's not how armor works.

[@gabnel1000]

😂maybe the kind of forgot that fact

[@ikaemos]

But... they deliberately avoided that trope. The Aiel pointedly kills three people by stabbing them in the neck, and one by aiming at the gap where the armor segments join in the front. As far as armor-realism goes, a more egregious (but understandable, as far as costuming is concerned) affront is that their "loricae" are made of leather. Soft leather, mind you, not boiled. Which is just... clothing.

[@jimmers123]

This is a problem with nearly all shows that use armor. Game of Thrones was worse at it. May as well have been wearing papier-mâché for all the good it did.

[@Carabas72]

Armour is also not an imprenetable force-field and has weaknesses that can be exploited. Spears are supposedly fairly decent weapons for that sort of thing. And against nearly superhuman badasses that can comfortably fight three against one while in labour, armour might as well be a wet t-shirt.

[@justinalbin7272]

"nearly superhuman"? While going through labor pains she leapt several feet into the air and yanked a much larger and armored man airborne with her, without losing momentum, turning in mid air and sticking the landing with cat like grace. If you think that's at all within the realm of reality you watch WAY too many action movies.

[@LeafStickbranch]

I wonder if the Perrin/Egwene drama was added post Barney leaving. I get the feeling 7 was going to be a very Matt fueled episode, especially with Fain, so they needed a new source of drama and decided to sprinkle in an extra crush. This could also explain why the crush has been done so subtly up until this point: a few glances can be accomplished by a change in editing rather than having to reshoot everything.

[@feral_orc]

Good point but I think unless you ever get a chance to ask Rafe directly we might never know. Shame

[@eliezeraltshul8550]

I have to says this. While watching this episode, my mom commented that Perrin always looks and acts like he just pissed himself. I cannot unsee it. I dont know what to do.

[@the_well-known_stranger2275]

The whole love triangle fight was very poorly written and just felt like CW level garbage.

[@LuckAndStarfish]

My big gripe with this whole season so far has been character development. Of course, I recognize that taking such a big book and whittling it down to eight episodes will require cuts, but I feel like their decision to make the whole series into a mystery cut down the development even further. Instead of Rand’s identity crisis unraveling slowly, it was cut down to a few moments? Instead of experiencing it, we’re just kinda told that it was happening in the background??? Also, I do take issue with Lan and Nynaeve happening so directly this early. In the books, they’re both so emotionally constipated and stubborn that it takes them forever to recognize that they like each other. They respect each other early on, but it’s much more of a slow burn in the books. I feel like this, among other things, have been way too rushed. Instead of letting things take time, they’re going for a weird instant gratification feeling, and I feel like that misses the point. There’s a reason there’s fifteen books.

[@lbds9555]

Honestly, eight hours is actually PLENTY of time to cover The Eye of the World, and I'm really confused about why people think otherwise. The first two EXTENDED The Lord of the Rings films cover 944 pages in eight hours compared to TEotW's 816 pages, and a LOT more happens in the first two LOTR books combined too. I feel like we're trying way, way, wayyy too hard to be lenient, make poor excuses, and let things slide, when in reality the show has simply done a terrible job with time management and cutting major book moments for unnecessary filler. I've seen so many fans easily break down how the first book could have been fit into eight episodes with minimal cuts. It's almost as silly as how people are trying to cut the show some slack for "budget constraints" even though it has an absolutely enormous budget (literally TWICE the budget GoT had per episode for its first season) and is being produced by the biggest company on the planet.

[@LuckAndStarfish]

@@lbds9555 I’ll have to look at some of those breakdowns of the book. My internal assumption was that things would have to be cut to fit, but it’d be nice to know I’m wrong there. And, yeah, part of me wants to make excuses because the books meant so much to me. I can see reasons why they made changes when I look at them on the micro level, looking only at the single change. But every time I look at the season and the series on a macro level, I am absolutely lost. I want so badly for this to be the series I’ve always dreamed it could be, but it just isn’t.

[@lbds9555]

@@LuckAndStarfish Honestly, I'm with you! I'm not a MEGA fan of the books, but I like what I've read so far, and I was really rooting for this show to be good too! I just think it's important that we don't get caught up in praising it for the show we want it to be, or making poor excuses for its many downfalls, when the reality is that this is simply a bad show made by people who aren't remotely doing Robert Jordan's work the justice it deserves.

[@kyleellis9177]

@@lbds9555 And I think it's important we have more than good/bad as a rating. The show isn't amazing like GoT's first 4 seasons or the LotR trilogy, but it's season 5 quality/hobbit movies quality. The show is fine as long as you let you expectations drop. I've never heard of Rafe before this and for a relative unknown, he's done a pretty good job. Yeah it could be better, but it could also be a bad show instead of mediocre (with good and bad moments).

[@lbds9555]

@@kyleellis9177 "The show is fine as long as you let your expectations drop." I mean, that in itself is a pretty damning statement, and it essentially proves my point. Even with lowered standards, it's just... fine. The lighting, editing, effects, pacing, and writing are all extremely subpar. We shouldn't be asking viewers to drop their expectations just to make all these glaring flaws bearable. We should be fairly criticising the creators for completely dropping the ball in so many departments to begin with.

[@robertgarrett8215]

This is actually my favorite episode so far because it captures the regret and pain Rand feels on becoming aware that is the Dragon Reborn. And she's Tigraine for a reason!!

[@crimsonraen]

Yaaaaaaas Daniel! This episode was absolutely the best yet! Rand's mom's battle scene was AMAZING! Also, she did have her veil on, but took it off because, ya know, giving birth while climbing a mountain. She also thought she was in the clear maybe? I don't think she had time to put it back on. Anyways, I love it! I do agree though, Moraine pointing the red at Matt was a big WTF moment for me too. I can't wait to see how they do next episode!

[@minerva9843]

I think they had her veil down so we can get a flashback with the actress later. That and I think it shows that she was trained to be a maiden more than born one.

[@RichFreeman]

The thing I didn't get was the hair color. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be red.

[@fy4b230]

I haven’t rewatched but didn’t she have her veil up for the beginning of it? When I watched it I thought she did then put it down because she was going into labor and fending off attackers.

[@hunterkat]

@@fy4b230 that’s right, she pulled it down when she thought she was safe

[@markvargus6519]

Which matches the books since Rand's mother was actually a noblewomen who ran away to join the Aiel.

[@EonaLieksCheese]

@@RichFreeman i think the red hair is just to drive home that it is Rand's mom

[@noahm8216]

I thought it was a nice touch that everytime Rand channeled there was a flame in frame with him. Subtle hint at how Rand visualizes touching the True Source which is most likely subconscious at this point.

[@emilyk244]

Didn't even notice this! Good eye

[@TheJadedJames]

As someone who has only read Eye of the World, I couldn’t help but become a little preoccupied with house differently the romance scenes went down in the book. Most people are going to talk about Perrin’s crush on Egwene. But I couldn’t help but recall that in the books, it is Egwene who is like “If I become an Aes Sedai, you’ll be my Warder, right?” and Rand says yes, even he still has doubts about their relationship. Also, there was a whole scene of Lan rejecting Nyaneve that we experience in Rand’s POV, as they are on the way to the Blight and Rand is basically pretending to be asleep nearby and Nyaneve is confessing her love for Lan and he’s like “You are awesome. But it is not going to work”

[@firstnamesecondfirstname1409]

Daniel mocking the Midwestern accent in a vaguely related way to Wheel of Time is the content I am here for

[@blackbenetavo7715]

23:45 My read on Moiraine setting the Red on Mat is that she's hedging her bets. If Mat is the Dragon Reborn, then all of them, Moiraine included, are probably about to die. In which case, a Dark-aligned (from Moiraine's perspective) Dragon Reborn loose in the world, with no one else really knowing about the danger until it's too late... that absolutely makes sense that Moiraine would give a heads up to the Red. Plus, if it turns out he's not the Dragon Reborn, and thus not able to channel, the Red aren't going to kill a man like that. It won't be pleasant for him, and he might get roughed up a bit, but once they verify he can't channel, they'd turn him loose.

[@lillithsummers8817]

Excellent catch.

[@SoullessOO1]

Additionally it makes the Red spend a lot of resources dealing with a man she thinks cannot channel. Hedging her bets and wasting the time of the reds? Pure Moiraine.

[@jacobyrassilon]

Meh, Matt should have been here, so this shouldn't have even happened, but maybe it's because the actor bolted, so I guess they had to come up with something.

[@aurigarvel727]

@@jacobyrassilon It really is likely due to the unfortunate timing of Barney Harris' unexpected departure. Given that he has deleted all his social media and doesn't have any acting projects elsewhere and just seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth, I would wish him well and hope for the best for him.

[@kirstencorby8465]

Or rather, hold him until Moiraine comes to get him. From which Mat could probably escape.

[@jessicacolgrave4082]

First! Yesssss my husband at the end of the episode with Rands scenes he’s like “yup called it” 😂 missed Barney and I could tell they did their best writing around it

[@jessicacolgrave4082]

Also adding this series has only added to the pride my son is a ginger lol

[@OUD4444]

Dude youre killin it with these videos , thank you. i always watch the previous weeks video the day i watch the next episode to get pumped for the ep . Thanks for taking the time to create the content.

[@AngelCakes1997]

I couldn’t stop laughing when they pregnant woman actively giving birth was fighting all those, apparently, blademasters. It was so stupid and funny. Nyneave outing Perrin as a simp had me and my boyfriend AND our friends after we grabbed them to show them it rolling on the floor. And this wonderful part with Nyneave and Lan was heartwarming... but the part where Lan actually teleports had us back on the floor. To be clear, my friend’s exact reaction to Lan “Nothing Personnel, Kid’ing” Nyneave was “Awh!... wat?!” The show is physically falling apart before our eyes and it’s so bloody funny. I can’t wait for more.

[@normacenva8411]

Not a book reader (am in the beginning of book 1 at the moment) but I think the veil-down situation actually flows well with what was established as dialogue-mentioned lore in the TV show - when the veil is down the Aiel is not a threat. I actually though it was a good call-back to the lore in previous episodes (with the dead guy in the cage) and where she maybe was trying to signal - I am not a threat, and still got attacked? Even more heartbreaking due to this. This was my take away from it anyway.

[@mycenaeangal9312]

Without spoiling anything, In the books, the veils have almost religious significance to the Aiel so it still feels a bit awkward seeing her kill without one but I definitely don’t think it’s the end of the world and It worked better for the scene.

[@ryantoth676]

@@mycenaeangal9312 Given that specific Aiel's situation...I can forgive it

[@TheHomicidalTendency]

Aiel culture spoiler. I actually watched it as a book reader and the veil down didn't bother me. Too much else going on that was interesting. Also just thinking from a pure physics standpoint all the fighting Aiel do keeping that veil up 100% in battle isn't realistic. Nor is letting yourself die because it fell down. However most of the Aiel of the books would rather die than kill with their face uncovered, however she was pregnant and probably would to defend her unborn child. However she may seek penance for doing so had she survived. Any time they've violated their honor they seek penance. Aiel are hard to understand does protecting the child wash away the "sin" of killing maskless? I have no idea how they would react. (it has it's own name, not sin but this is easier to understand) And finally, It's not so much a religion as a system based on their honor that's a core aspect of their culture. No gods involved at all.

[@markloeffler85]

@@TheHomicidalTendency If it's a strong enough belief system then religion could still apply. "The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods" Is only one of the dictionary definitions of religion. In fact, I think you're disqualifying some of the bigger eastern religions if you use that one. That being said, I haven't read the books so I couldn't tell you if what the Aiel practice is a strong enough belief system to apply.

[@andrewl5272]

Brilliant

[@spankotheclow]

Am I the only one who was furious that they made Agelmar Jagad, a great captain and sheinarin badarse into a grumpy rude and disrespectful ruler? The guy who was basically like, "oh thank god you showed up, I hoped there would be more sisters, we need your help in Tarwins gap" in the book? Also the whole sheinarin/borderlander ingrained respect for Aes sedai totally gone? Also, changing the maps enough so that his family had been guarding tarwins gap for a thousand years and ignoring Malkiers relatively recent fall and geographic position turning sheinar into a true borderland?

[@leshtricity]

why not? they're completely butchering all the characters and the overall tone that Jordan conveys. I'm embarrassed that so many fans are supporting this absolute abortion of a show.

[@Nitaka12]

The opener of this episode was FABULOUS. The studio should do a spin off about whoever she is.

[@DialE4Eggs]

I’m really curious to see how they re-introduce Matt later on

[@claudemartin7785]

In tar valon sick from the blade, ready to be permantly healed... Or they will cross path on the "hunt"

[@jimzimmer2048]

@@claudemartin7785 they might just forget all about the hunt, or only make it a few episodes

[@marcos-ll2yr]

in season 2

[@thamor4746]

I am like 95% certain we will meet Mat again in Tar Valon and we begin with him meeting Padan Fain and the stealing of Horn + dagger. Which will lead to the chase to Falme and our encounters with Seanchan. Will that be full season 2 don't know, will depend is it again 8 episode season or if we get more we might do book 3 to end in Tear.

[@markvargus6519]

I'm hoping they bring Mat and Thom back together. it would fit with Thom's dislike of the red ajah after what happened to his nephew, and would establish the close friendship that Mat and Thom had in the books. Its a solid way to start that plot thread.

[@ThePathOfEudaimonia]

They completely ruined my boy Perrin. :'(

[@lies7253]

My brother is still not sure if Rand is in fact the dragon, and I can't blame him for it. He is so confused with how Min said essentially that he's not going to survive it, and he's like "but he's the hero, how can he die?" But yes he and my mom are very excited for the last episode and I'm so happy for it!

[@timspence1469]

As someone who struggled with the books, there was a point in this episode where I thought to myself "ok, now I get it". Which is what an adaptation is supposed to do.