Robert Jordan’s fantasy epic The Wheel of Time coming to TV

I am a hardcore fan of the books, my signature on this forum has been there for about a decade. I am enjoying the TV show for what it is, an interpretation of the source material and I fully expect changes. Some things just don't translate well from writing to screen.

Here is an AMA from the showrunner that is worth reading through: https://www.reddit.com/r/television...fe_judkins_showrunner_and_executive_producer/

It gives me confidence in the show and (hopefully) future seasons.
 
Distracted said:
I’ve picked this up again and I just can’t take it seriously.

Everything looks so clean and unused.

In my first viewing I was watching it and I literally couldn’t suspend my disbelief to enjoy the story. Costumes and fake magic or fights etc are all part and parcel of this genre, but TWOT makes no effort to appear lived in. When I watch it I don’t see the characters, I see actors in costumes. I don’t see a village, I see a set.

Contrast this with something like GOT, LOTR, or TWD even, and they all make efforts to make the world look as if it is being lived in. All decent shows do. It looks like the clothes and props have been used and not just been put on after being dry cleaned. I can believe that the story I am seeing could be real, I can suspend my disbelief because I know that realistically, in the situations shown there would be muck and grime and creases and tears in clothing.

When the world and the props and the clothes look like they are being used by the characters, then it is much easier to sit back and immerse myself and fully enjoy (or not) the story.

I cannot do this with TWOT because I just don’t believe what I am seeing. It looks fake and so everything that comes after, the performances, the story, is all tainted by that fakeness being front and centre in nearly every scene.

That’s why this doesn’t work for me.

And I cannot understand how this wasn’t addressed.

I should also say that I cannot pinpoint one specific thing that makes me feel this way. It is more a combination of all the issues.

All these issues also have the side effect of making this show look like there wasn’t any money spent on it. It just looks low budget. This is absolutely not the case, so I cannot fathom how it has been made to look this way and no one thought to question it.
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Well said, and I totally agree. The scene with the White Cloaks is perhaps the best example of this : pristine costumes with nary a crease or mud stain. Totally unbelievable.
 
JBod said:
I am a hardcore fan of the books, my signature on this forum has been there for about a decade. I am enjoying the TV show for what it is, an interpretation of the source material and I fully expect changes. Some things just don't translate well from writing to screen.

Here is an AMA from the showrunner that is worth reading through: https://www.reddit.com/r/television...fe_judkins_showrunner_and_executive_producer/

It gives me confidence in the show and (hopefully) future seasons.
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See I totally disagree, that ama if anything tells me that the show runner just doesn't understand the source material one iota.
 
Whilst it advanced the plot somewhat, I must admit I didn't think that was a particularly good episode.

The had the chance to build upon the big ending in episode four but it was a pretty average showing. Given they only have 8 episodes this season, I don't think you have the luxury to waste even a minute.
 
If the first episode was GoT, you would have seen two Trollocs. One would have knocked Rand unconscious, and then the show would cut to him waking up after the battle. But at least the costumes would be appropriately worn :p

With all the VFX and action sequences (some of which are more necessary than others...) I don't think WoT has the budget for GoT level of detail. The first season budgets aren't hugely different; $80m for WoT vs $72m for GoT (adjusted for inflation).

I think they're doing alright with what they've got. It won't top the early seasons of Game of Thrones. But it's far removed from disasters like The Shannara Chronicles...

If the rumours are true about the LOTR show having twice WoT's budget, it'll be interesting to see how that turns out.
 
So im still enjoying the shows and Ive read through the entire book series several times. While Perrins "mistake" in the first episode made little to no sense, it at least started to make more sense with his acceptance of his punishment with the whitecloaks (due to them missing the entire stedding arc from the books). Gutted they missed out Camelyn but again time/budget might have forced that omission.
 
If adding complete new events in ep 4 wasn't bad enough, ep 5 had me dying inside at what they had done. Loial is just so wrong, hes basically meant to be a teenager not what they protrayed him as.

Perrin with the white cloaks just made no sense.

I am losing faith in this and may not make it to the end of season 1.
 
I'm not hating it, though I'm not invested in the source material as I barely remember the books. Some bits aren't good but overall I find it very watchable.

Bit disappointing they've just not bothered with some of the nuances involved in the world/character building which give more significance to some aspects but as far as TV shows go I think it is doing alright so far.
 
Rroff said:
I'm not hating it, though I'm not invested in the source material as I barely remember the books. Some bits aren't good but overall I find it very watchable.

Bit disappointing they've just not bothered with some of the nuances involved in the world/character building which give more significance to some aspects but as far as TV shows go I think it is doing alright so far.
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Yeah thats my main issue with it really. They are missing so many stories and backgrounds from the first two books that you miss how epic the story really is. I had hopes since they were doing it as a season.

GOT showed you didnt have to have action through the whole 10 episodes and it was more about nuances and stuff. Which was why the shocks worked so well when Ned got his head chopped off or the red Wedding. We were invested in the characters.

I am currently halfway through book 2 again and the slow meanancing build up from the start is really turning it into a page turner.
 
Wow Rafe really doesn’t give a sweet F about the source material.

I can’t get my head round why they decided Morriane and Siuan had to be gay lovers.
 
LiE said:
Wow Rafe really doesn’t give a sweet F about the source material.

I can’t get my head round why they decided Morriane and Siuan had to be gay lovers.
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well it was alluded to that they were 'pillow-friends' in their younger years from memory, but that had stopped long before the books started, before they were raised to Aes Sedai.
As to why currently in the tv show, you know exactly why. Its the same reason why the majority of the cast are ethnic 'minorities'. Bow down to the cult and don't question.
 
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