The Wheel of Time Season 2

[Kankurette]

Finale's out! I'll repost what I posted on Tumblr. The book purists will be shitting themselves. The Nynaeve fan in me is a bit upset about how they handled her, but the Mat fan in me is happy about how they handled him, so swings and roundabouts. I've added explanations of who's who in brackets.

Spoiler alert

Good points:
- Egwene was an absolute stone cold badass, not just for spitting her muzzle out and for telling Renna the sul'dam to go fuck herself, but also because she figured out herself that Renna was capable of channelling. After seeing Renna torture Egwene, cut her hair and threaten to cut her tongue out, Egwene beating the shit out of her was cathartic.
- THE HEROES OF THE HORN! And Uno (sweary eyepatch guy) got to be one as well, that was a nice touch. The only ones I recognised were Artur Hawkwing (lead guy with beard) and Birgitte Silverbow (blonde archer), and I love Birgitte so I'm looking forward to seeing more of her.
- Aviendha, Bain and Chiad (Aviendha's Aiel girl posse) are love. I'm looking forward to her meeting Elayne and I hope they're as gay for each other in the series as they are in the books.
- Mat's improvised spear. Totally IC for him. Up yours, Padan Fain.
- Hopper sacrificing himself to protect Perrin. Such a good boy. And I see they found a way to work in Bornhald (the hot young Whitecloak)'s vendetta against Perrin, though I don't think Perrin offed his dad in the books. It's going to come back to bite him horribly when they get to The Shadow Rising.
 - Loial is also love. I hope we get to see him sing at more trees in future.
- Moiraine and Lan reunion!
- Oh hay thar Moghedien (the creepy woman in the white shirt who likes spiders) and your ASMR voice.

Bad points:
- I wish they hadn't left out the plot about Ingtar (the Shienaran in the guyliner who gets speared while buying time) being a Darkfriend and realising Rand deserves the Horn more than him. It made his sacrifice way more meaningful in the book.
- I wish Nynaeve and Elayne had been there when Egwene got her big revenge moment. Seeing Nynaeve having to hold Egwene back from murdering Renna in the book, not least because finding out she's one of those awful channellers is punishment enough for her, was cathartic but I feel like Nynaeve was really nerfed. It was cool when she got to torture Seta (the sul'dam she and Elayne nabbed) but she didn't even get to rescue Egwene, Egwene did it all herself and Nynaeve just looked redundant.
- As much as I hate Renna, I wish Egwene hadn't killed her, not just because in the book Nynaeve made a point of NOT killing her because it would have made them as bad as the Seanchan, but also because having an a'dam shoved on her and being humiliated was such a great punishment. I know she dies in the books, but that's much later on.
- Turok (the black Seanchan guy with the long nails)'s death was a bit anticlimactic.
- I really don't want Domon (the ship captain/merchant) to be a Darkfriend. He wasn't in the books.

[close]

I'm hoping we get to go to Caemlyn (the place where Elayne's from) next season. Aes Sedai wine mum Elaida's been cast, so she's definitely showing up. Hoping this means we'll see Morgase (Elayne's mum), and her brothers Galad and knobhead Gawyn as well. The lack of Thom continues to piss me off.

[king_tubby]

Well that was fucking ACE.

[Kankurette]

I think we've got 8 Forsaken instead of 12. Wonder which ones they've cut. Hopefully not Asmodean, because 1) he's so hilariously pathetic and 2) he's a pretty major character in the next 3 books.

[VelourSpirit]

I haven't been this exhilarated by a TV series in years, what a fantastic finale!

[VelourSpirit]

Finale's out! I'll repost what I posted on Tumblr. The book purists will be shitting themselves. The Nynaeve fan in me is a bit upset about how they handled her, but the Mat fan in me is happy about how they handled him, so swings and roundabouts. I've added explanations of who's who in brackets.

Spoiler alert

I got teary at Moiraine/Lan rebonding and Hopper's spirit hopping away
The Heroes of the Horn appearing is something I've heard a lot about and I imagined it as both ridiculous and awe-inspiring.. and that's exactly what it was, I adored that scene
Instantly loved Moghedien, the Bjork vibes are inspired
I assumed Domon was just being tricked by Lanfear, since he just knows her as Lady Selene. Otherwise he might have been less surprised to see her in Falme
Thom's apparently back next season! They really need to capitalise on him, he's so cool in the show, could be a breakout character, they should be releasing his songs as singles etc

[close]

[Kankurette]

Thom reminds me of Chris Rea a bit. I wish he'd kept his gleeman's coat but it's a minor quibble.

Spoiler alert

I hope we get lots of Wolf Dream moments with Hopper.

[close]

[Kankurette]

Fucking HELL WOT purists on Tumblr who watch the show just to whine about it are annoying. Especially that one tradcath cunt who hates Egwene so much he wrote a long and boring series of posts about why she's evil.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Well, for starters, she's a woman.
And she's a Mary Sue who becomes the focal point in the season finale, because Amazon decided to be woke and undermine the white cis straight hero, who was supposed to be at the center of the action.
I have evidence on my YouTube channel, where I also reveal why Kathleen Kennedy is about to be fired from Lucasfilm.

[Kankurette]

I take it you're a Nynaeve fan as well? Her getting nerfed in the finale was one of the low points. She's much more proactive in the book.

Spoiler alert

In The Great Hunt, Nynaeve and Elayne go into Egwene's cell and rescue her, along with Min, who's in Falme rather than hanging out with Mat (she goes with Liandrin and the other girls when they leave the White Tower, and the Seanchan capture her and make her work as a servant). Nynaeve and Seta do the clothes swap and Nynaeve puts the collar on Seta and tortures her, like she does in the show, but Min shows them how to get to the kennels. They go into Egwene's kennel and Nynaeve channels and takes the a'dam off her. Renna comes in and gets mad at Egwene, or Tuli as she now calls her, and Egwene goes mental, puts the a'dam on Renna, beats the shit out of her and has to be stopped from killing her by Nynaeve. They put the bracelets on the peg and leave Renna and Seta collared, because they know both the sul'dam are going to be in for a world of hurt when the Seanchan find out the a'dam works on them. Egwene figures that out in the book as well.

[close]

Rand does get to stab Ishamael tbf, not to mention the whole being the Dragon thing. And he singlehandedly kills Turok and his minions without even reaching for his sword. It's not like he doesn't do anything.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

I was kidding, and channelling the discourse of alt-righters who dabble with pop culture to push rancid theories.

I assumed that I had gone over the top with the last sentence, as the YouTuber who claims to have scoops on everything related to Marvel, Disney, Star Wars or Star Trek makes a video every other week to explain that Kathleen Kennedy is getting fired due to the terrible way she handles Lucasfilm (this time, it's about Ahsoka sucking, which is quite ironic because the same people who want her demoted were explaining three years ago that Dave Filoni should be put in charge. Ahsoka is fully his baby.)

The showrunner to WoT explains in the extras why he split the main group during season two, which wasn't apparently the case in the novels. It was a way to learn much more about each individual character than if they were together. And their reunion shows that, even if Rand is clearly bound to be the hero/the requisite "chosen one", his friends will be highly important as they'll do much more than just support him.

[king_tubby]

I've have started a re-read, and this time I'm going to remember what happens.

[Kankurette]

I was kidding, and channelling the discourse of alt-righters who dabble with pop culture to push rancid theories.

I assumed that I had gone over the top with the last sentence, as the YouTuber who claims to have scoops on everything related to Marvel, Disney, Star Wars or Star Trek makes a video every other week to explain that Kathleen Kennedy is getting fired due to the terrible way she handles Lucasfilm (this time, it's about Ahsoka sucking, which is quite ironic because the same people who want her demoted were explaining three years ago that Dave Filoni should be put in charge. Ahsoka is fully his baby.)

The showrunner to WoT explains in the extras why he split the main group during season two, which wasn't apparently the case in the novels. It was a way to learn much more about each individual character than if they were together. And their reunion shows that, even if Rand is clearly bound to be the hero/the requisite "chosen one", his friends will be highly important as they'll do much more than just support him.

I did wonder if you were doing a bit. I can't always tell.

Book purists don't seem to realise that the TV series can't show everything in the books because the books are LONG. And they don't have enough time. So naturally some things are going to get cut. The Egwene hater made an enormous list of things that got cut from The Eye of the World. Well, no shit. What did you expect? I have no idea what he watches it for, he hates the TV series and anything Aes Sedai. I agree with him about Nynaeve, but that's it.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

From what I have gathered (I haven't read the books but it's more or less the consensus), Jordan had somewhat lost the plot in the middle of the series, and a few books tended to sag, with a ton of descriptions and side stories while the main plot would suffer. Then he started to be focused again with Knife of Dreams... and he died a few months later.

It's obvious that many elements from a series that's 10,000-page-long need condensation to keep regular people interested. The show will be allowed at most six or seven seasons to tell its story, and even this is not entirely granted.

[Kankurette]

And let's face it, Crossroads of Twilight does not need adapting. Except for a couple of bits.

I started with A Crown of Swords and there's a subplot with Nynaeve, Mat and Elayne in Ebou Dar, the party city, that just drags and drags. Same with Faile, Perrin's future wife who hasn't appeared yet, getting kidnapped by bad Aiel. I'd be happy if they ditched that arc.

I had to laugh at the Egwene hater insisting Jordan wasn't a perv, unlike those filthy shippers who wrote fanfic about Elayne and Aviendha. Mate, the guy had a spanking/femdom fetish that could be seen from space. I always wondered if he was writing the damane scenes with one hand down his pants. Funny how men almost never get spanked or sexually humiliated in Randland, Mat in A Crown of Swords aside, the way women do.

[earl_sleek]

A Crown of Swords is where I'm up to but I've put it off for ages cos I feel I'm getting to the slump. I enjoyed Lord of Chaos but it took them the whole fucking book just to get to Ebou Dar so I already had a strong feeling they'll be fartarsing around there not achieving much.

[Kankurette]

A Crown of Swords does have one very cool moment with Nynaeve, and it's also the first book where Cadsuane - one of my faves - appears. She's a very grumpy old Aes Sedai who's out of fucks to give.

[Kankurette]

I'm catching up with the earlier S2 episodes and absolutely loving it.
 

Just in case

- Nynaeve's test was horrible enough in the book but the show just HAD to go and make it even more depressing and have everyone think she dead. It is nice to see Egwene and Nynaeve have thoughts about the Emond's Field boys that aren't 'stupid woolhead', though.
 - Instead of 'aargh scary Black Ajah you must get out of the Tower before they get you', Liandrin just tells Nynaeve about Perrin instead, because she knows Nynaeve will run off to save him. (Who did she mean when she said 'you are a complication'? Elayne? I know in the book she was going to give Nynaeve and Egwene to the Seanchan originally, but then Min and Elayne came too and Liandrin went 'oh sod it, why not'.)
 - I do wonder why she handed Nynaeve over to the Seanchan only to break her bonds, though. Was she hoping to give Nynaeve a fighting chance at escaping, or was she just trying to wind Suroth up?
 - I love it when Perrin gets his wolf on. I hope we get more wolf dream moments next season.
 - Cadsuane's been mentioned twice so I wonder if she'll show up if they get up to A Crown of Swords.
 - Dang Ingtar is hot in guyliner
 - The answer to 'what's in Cairhien?' is 'short people and women with stupid hair who are obsessed with rich family politics'. Anvaere forcing Moiraine to have tea with her before she'll tell her where Rand is is pretty in character for a Cairhenin, if you've read the books.
 - Moiraine does some impressive cockblocking. "Sorry to interrupt your kinky sex session, Rand, but that fit bird I just stabbed is one of the Forsaken, and also she can regenerate so we need to get the fuck out of here RIGHT NOW."

[close]

[Mr Trumpet]

Just caught up with the show. Last episode was a cracker. Actors who play Mat and Egwene do a good job of making them sympathetic.

I didn't like how the first series ended with the stupid trope of the hero going off to do the big thing on his own, and I like how that was inverted here with all his pals coming to save him.

Spoiler alert

And Alan plucking an arrow out of the air was shit hot, I laughed out loud at that.

[close]

[purlieu]

I've have started a re-read, and this time I'm going to remember what happens.

Be honest, you won't.

I really can't be arsed with people who get really worked up by changes in screen adaptations. Do they honestly expect it's going to be a word-for-word adaptation? You'd need about 20 25 episode seasons to do it any justice at all, and let's be honest, nobody's watching that other than the book fans. I get the disappointment when one of your favourite bits gets changed or removed, but expecting a TV series to be anything other than pacy and a product of its social and commercial circumstances is daft.

[Kankurette]

It's almost like TV and books are different mediums. Also, I'm re-reading The Great Hunt and it makes me so glad the show didn't go with the books' 'lol men so stoopid' 'lol women so crazy' bollocks. Egwene is nicer too. She's still a hothead but she's not as irritating as the book version.

The last series was shot during a pandemic and the original Mat left. No shit they're going to have to change things! I'm glad they're pruning the Forsaken as well.

[Mr Trumpet]

Spoiler alert

- I really don't want Domon (the ship captain/merchant) to be a Darkfriend. He wasn't in the books.

[close]

I don't think he was? He seemed to have a profit motive rather than any more sinister agenda. I don't think he knew who his client really was.

[Kankurette]

Yeah, I discussed it elsewhere and the consensus was he didn't know who she really was, she was just some rich woman.

[king_tubby]

Rewatching the last episode and fuck me it's good.

Also onto the fifth book on the re-read and dude, enough with the low cut dresses stuff, c'mon.

[Kankurette]

Jordan loves his dress descriptions. Book 5 is when his spanking fetish starts to become obvious as well. I'm re-reading The Dragon Reborn and hoping Juilin Sandar (the Tairen thief taker with the fez) doesn't get cut out the series, he's boss. Especially when he hangs out with Thom.

Nynaeve getting nerfed aside, I did love the final episode.

[king_tubby]

I'm up to Crossroads of Twilight now and I can't think of a single major female character who hasn't been either stripped naked and/or beaten with sticks.

[Kankurette]

The Wheel of Time is so incredibly weird about women. Killing them is horrible and Rand won't kill Lanfear, even when she's threatening his life, because she's a woman but beating, raping, spanking, enslaving and torturing them is OK. The older books aren't too bad for it other than Egwene being made a damane, but it starts getting skeevy in The Fires of Heaven and gets worse from Lords of Chaos onwards. In hindsight, A Crown of Swords (the first WOT book I read) isn't a good one to start with because the main characters are all obnoxious in it (except Egwene) and there's so much dodgy gender stuff. And that fucking Mat and Tylin plot. Ugh.

Crossroads of Twilight is meant to be the worst book in the series. Not read it though. I know it's got that horrible Faile being kidnapped by the Shaido Aiel subplot.

Love how the female Forsaken get punished for screwing up by rape (Moghedien gets it in A Crown of Swords), while the male ones just get killed. Ugh.