WoT season 2 episodes 1-3 SPOILERS

[Thalia]

Here be spoilers...






















Actually, I've only seen the first episode, but I pretty much loved everything about it so far. Felt a lot more subtle and character driven. SO many feels already! Loved the glimpse into Tower life. Adeleas! Both her scenes made me laugh out loud (and swapping out Vandene for Verin makes so much sense). Channeling looks amazing. Still adore the soundtrack. The elapsed time between seasons 1 and 2 works great.

[Thalia]

Holy smokes! Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 eps.















The spaces are in case this post pops up on Nox's discord.

New Mat definitely got the assignment, he's great, feels more like the lovable rogue book-Mat. Loved Elayne's intro. She actually IS Elayne, ha.

omfg Liandrin! 

The Seanchan! 

The Arches!

The Cairhien politicking!

I really like the changes they've made this time around. And also, I feel like although we already "know" who is 'good' and 'bad' (I'm not 100% convinced they won't make some adjustments there too) everyone is so nuanced and likeable. Some great foreshadowing and book nods (plus things I wonder if they have specifically included after fan-reaction, like the gleeman's cloak). The characters feel much more real and the world around them definitely does.

I hope it gets the credit it deserves.

So one question I have is can Moiraine lie right now? Or did Ishy's shield break both the 3 oaths and her banishment from the WT? Because ouch man.

[Ascendancy]

Episode 1

I felt like 20 years of RP’ing various wheel of time forums were validated in the scenes inside the white tower. It felt like a nod to the superfans to follow Egwene through her day. I was so happy to glimpse new views of outside and inside the Tower. It really is a beautiful set and feels like a combination of a holy temple/shrine and austere, grand government building. And the moments of character that were infused were fun, such as the novices leaning over the rail watching the training warders spar and Alanna having a romp with her two warders in the bedroom much to Egwene’s shock!

The lesson with Alanna and the novices was like something I’ve written a hundred times. haha. She even tried the flower bud exercise. A non-book reader wouldn’t understand what she was doing, but it was really nice reference.

To be honest, the Great Hunt was kind of a boring book for me. Most of it was eaten up by the road with the boys hunting Padan Fain. It’s like a fantasy-novel road chase scene for me, which I usually skip through in movies. I’m pretty glad that they condensed that to a few pointed scenes and skipped several months. I was glad that amazon prime ‘extras’ tell you where the characters are. I couldn’t tell that Perrin and the Shienarans were in Arad Doman until I saw the trivia. I love seeing what people visualize as the geography, flora/fauna of the different countries. I always pictured Arad Doman as pretty tropical, and maybe it is along the coast, but the dry, shrubby landscape was a neat visualization.

I dont have a strong opinion either way about merging Elyas with the tracker that was used in the books. I thought it was a clever way to reduce the outrageous number of characters in the books and fluff up some supernatural powers that Perrin will eventually get. I loved Elyas’ look, too. His eyes were actually golden yellow in a way that makes you uncomfortable to look at them, which was how I always thought the wolfkin eyes should be. Maybe its because he just doesn’t blink very much? not sure what the otherness is.

Then there are little worldbuilding mythos looped in with the show, like the Shienarans whispering “Sheltered in the palm of the creator” when they come upon the corpses. Like its a neat nod to the culture of the WoT that doesn’t impact the show storyline at all, yet brings in the mythos.

Bayle Doman was cast really well, imo. when his accent spilled out and he said “be” in his speech, I fist-pumped the air. You all know I don’t care if they change storylines or move characters around, so the plot with Moiraine researching prophecies all by herself was a nice way to give her something to do when she basically did next to nothing in book 2. Doman brought her a piece of Cuendillar, which he said was from an old ‘moon dial’ that shattered last spring. My money is that it’s from the seal that Ishy breaks that releases what we presume is Lanfear, which looks like will be shown in episode 4 according to the episode preview. it seems the ‘poem’ he brought her was the same that Ishy chants when he grips the bloody hand in the episode 4 preview.

I loved the chat between Lan and Tomas. Lots of character being shown there. That’s something I noticed a lot more this season: loooots of character. For instance, Maksim correcting Nyn saying “Alanna…” with “Alanna Sedai, to you.” I smiled at that, him defending her. Another one is when Egwene visits Alanna in her room, and wow what a GREEN Alanna is, but Egwene kind of props herself on the cushion mimicking how poised and enchanting Alanna is naturally. Such a great moment of character for both of them. I also love how Alanna is always snacking! She’s like the Brad Pitt of WOT.

Okay Liandrin and Nyn: Can i comment on the wicked cool blade of Air that Liandrin conjured up then immediately dismissed it for how futile it is compared to what else she can do? WOW. The channeling is so beautiful this season.

Side note, Liandrin said after she shielded Nyn in her little demo in the kitchens: “you can still feel it but you can’t touch it, can you.” - and that is straight out of the mechanics of how shielding works. Which is almost exactly how Ishy spoke to Moiraine at the Eye. Saying it must be an awful feeling to still feel the source at the end of your fingertips but can’t touch it. Technically, if you are stilled or gentled, you’re suppose to not be able to even sense the source. Therefore, I take that as evidence that Moiraine is shielded. Coupled with the golden threads in Ishy’s palm, I think he knotted it/tied off the shield after he shielded her.

Which leads me to think that Moiraine is still bound by the 3 oaths. She even told Rand when he asked her to say that he died that she could not lie, but then he says she’ll work out a way. She does, she says “he’s gone” sadly, when if she was severed and the oaths gone, she could have said he died.

So I think she’s just max-shielded and cannot lie. It remains to be seen if the show will follow those same rules. but that’s my guess.

GLORY TO NEW MAT

I can’t say enough how much I love love love new Mat. I don’t think it’s just the absence of the darkness from the dagger. It’s Donal. I read an interview from him explaining his process for taking on Mat, how he analyzed Mat in the books as a character and as a member of the encore of characters, and he is a true Mat fan. Side note, Manflesh’s new favorite character is new Mat. (Previously, it was Lan - and he’s still a fan, but new Mat has taken over). And Liandrin psychologically torturing him was so mean. The sympathy meter is off the charts.

THE FADE ATTACKS

I gasped when the Fade moved into the shadow behind Moiraine. I was SOOOO happy to see them being the badass monsters they are. It was a huge payoff from season 1 when they were this sort of tangential threat. I loved how they followed the books, that they writhed on the ground dying but don’t actually die for a while. (technically its not till sunup). The behind the scenes talked about how the stuntment that did the Fades fought with this sort of supernatural style that really translated well. The sword fighting with Lan and the fades was chilling. CHILLING it was so cool. I thought it was wicked cool that 2 of them beat Lan. It shows that they are real threats and real dangers. and the little moment when Verin channels and Moiraine thinks it was her before she realizes it’s not, was very sad.  AND hello sword of fire! that was so cool. One behind the scenes mentioned that the Fade attacks are an homage to the draghkar attack on Moiraine, which I was satisfied with. This was way cooler.

[Ascendancy]

Episode 2

Are the whispers when Rand is walking down the hall of the sanatarium the first whispers of LTT? Or was it just strange voiceover? I was trying to decide if the voice sounds like the LTT actor’s voice and there’s no credit for the voice. Closed caption just says [man] as the source of the voice. there are more whispers when he attacks that other guy in the alley, so I assume its madness, but not sure about if its LTT.

I was really amused that Lan and Moiraine were weak after their healing. Happy nod to the books/mechanics of healing.

Poor Errol. The sword form mentions. How kind Rand was to him. I saw Josha say that it was his idea that Rand gave some coins to a poor boy on the street because after studying Rand’s goodness, his instinct to help protect people, it was a small thing that portrayed character. <3

The Yellow house of healing was so beautiful. I didn’t even think about the Yellows having houses in the city for people to come to them for help. Crimsonthorne made me think of Thal’s thread! Especially the part about it killing you, but if you dilute it, it helps with pain. And OMG the Accepted’s dress rainbow sleeve was sooooo beautiful. I just stared at it.

Mat and the sweetcakes were hilarious, and him with Liandrin, their quips back and forth, gosh I was soooo entertained. “My heart flutters at the thought…” Liandrin is knocking it out of the park. The chemistry with her and Mat, man. Great stuff.

Elayne’s princess room was sooooo funny. I really enjoyed her ability to balance this sort of entitled arrogance with sweetness. “You’re.. my subject.” haha

Verin’s so great. Her mentioning how oaths have loopholes… name dropping all the prophecies. I wonder if we’ll actually get to see the battle in the sky at Falme?! Sheriam is black ajah at this point, and i noticed that all her clothes are generally very dark blue, sometimes they look black.

Rand + Selene - wow, hawtness level is a 10 between them. Dang.

The other surprising chemistry of the series is Mat + Min. They were hilarious together. <3

Atuan’s mill battle was really well done. The quality of the fighting felt like a battle out of game of thrones. I liked how they condensed the chaos of the battle down to basically following Perrin as an anchor then would take some shots to follow the other characters for a bit. I was thrilled to see the Shienarans kick ass and hold their own until they were just overwhelmed by numbers. And holy cow, shirtless Masema was ripppped. Greatly approve.  And dont get me started on the seanchan army's costumes. So. cool. Manflesh was kind of jaw dropped over it. Had never seen anything like that before. 

Then we get the payoff and seeing Rand and Logain meet. Poor Logain.

[Ascendancy]

Episode 3

Holy Arches! Rafe said in an interview it was a huge break from pattern to spend 20 whole minutes of the episode on just that one scene but how important it was to the books. Holy cow the emotion. I had tears streaming down my face at the end of the 1st arch. I even loved the little pot with the aes sedai symbol on it. The ceremony of it all, though, was chilling. Like word for word. And can i take a moment to acknowledge how DOMANI Leane is! Wow, her dress. Her look. She is amazing.

The seanchan taking the girls who can channel was horrifying. I guess that answers our question about whether the female channelers in the show can sense one another!

The Cairhienin party was so much fun to glimpse. I loved the nods to the game, and poor naive Rand. The costumes, though. Gosh they were beautiful. And poor Logain. *sniff sniff*

So Ishy in the wagon with Perrin is one of my favorite scenes this episode. He is just KNOCKING it out of the park as Ishy. Gosh. The little “they’re heeere” — ooh just i can’t even. Spine tingling.

So at the end of the episode, when Selene and Rand are getting it on (in the red coat), was that a dream? TAR? It kind of had that sense of it and then it cuts to Rand waking up in bed semi-channeling, which starts the fire.

[Thalia]

Ep 1

Totally agreed about Elyas’s eyes. He is disconcerting for sure!

I didn’t read the prime extras and had no idea Perrin and co were in Arad Doman! I wonder why they didn’t tag the location like they did with the Foregate.

I also got excited for Domon and his accent, haha (and for Alwhin’s drawl later on, whichever ep that was). That whole bargaining scene was fab. Oh good catch on the moon dial being part of Lanfear’s seal! Literally MOON dial too. That passed me by lol. In the snippet we’ve seen, Ishy mentioned Lanfear by name amidst the Old Tongue prophecy. It hadn’t occurred to me that the poem Moiraine bought is the “blood calls blood” prophecy, but gosh that makes sense – and explains Moiraine’s rush to get to Cairhien.

I wonder if Ishy’s shield (agree it’s a shield) is more than a regular shield given its effect on the bond. Unless the fact it was muted when she was shielded is the problem, which would also make sense.

It also seems the 13 channelers needed to still has been reduced to 8, which is another suggestion she has definitely not been stilled.

The reason I wondered about the Oaths was two-fold; one, because of her telling Lan they were never equals (ouch), and two because of Verin’s assumption that Moiraine would go to the Tower yet also says she knows Moiraine was banished -- if M was bound by an oath on the oath rod, why would Verin assume she *could* return?

Ep 2

Whispers - I took it as being LTT, but I couldn’t tell if it sounded like the LTT actor.

I LOVED Errol. And Logain is just fabulously portrayed. All the little twitches.

It also tickled me that they used the crimsonthorn so much, given Malaika’s current predicament lol

Ep 3

Oh my gosh, Ishy sells the Shadow to me every time he’s on the screen haha. I like that he’s continuing to push the wedge between Perrin and the wolves. "Show me the monster" gave me chills. He's so seductive!

I had the same question about the Selene + Rand red coat sex scene. The costume change threw me a bit (since he was back in his sanatorium uniform when he gave Logain the wine). I presumed it was a dream because of the fire but it was very unclear.

[Jaxen Marveet]

I'm not keen on some of the changes in story, but not enough to really bother me. Costumes, fight scenes, weapons, effects and sets are all solid. Two thumbs up. 

RIP Uno.