Are there any Wheel of Time fans here on Hive? Are you out there, or am I here in this void alone?
Let me know in the comments if you're a WoT fan, if you've read the books and would like to discuss the series further in more detail. I'd be interested in doing a series of in depth WoT posts in order to create discussion if there is interest out there.
In the meantime this post is my high level review of the WoT TV series produced by Amazon. All images are from the show unless otherwise mentioned. There will be spoilers along the way.
The Wheel of Time
Wheel of Time is a massive fantasy book series written by the now deceased author Robert Jordan. With 14 books making up the main story and one prequel for history, it's needless to say that its quite the undertaking to read. I started reading it late in 2019 and I'm currently on book eight.
Amazon Prime recently bought the rights to the story as well and have produced an eight episode TV series with Rafe Judkins as the showrunner. The show has a massive budget for their first season too, a whopping 91 million USD for only eight episodes. To put that into perspective, HBO had nearly half of that when it created season one of Game of Thrones, only 50-60 million for 10 episodes. In my opinion a budget like that should almost guaranteed an amazing product.
As such, I originally had very high expectations for WoT going in. Unfortunately though, I realized pretty quickly that my expectations were way too high and immediately lowered them after episode one. By the end of episode eight I had all but thrown them out the window.
I went in knowing that the TV series could not follow the books exactly and that liberties would need to be taken. As such, I treated the show as it's own separate thing and tried not to get lost or too upset with any deviations from the original source material. I did have issues with some of the showrunners choices but overall most of my gripes are about the writing and the filming of it. There were some seriously poor choices made which ultimately ruined the show for me.
My personal opinion is that even though Rafe Judkins is a self acclaimed fan of The Wheel of Time, he may not be the right man for the job and I know that others online agree. After I watched the final episode I checked the Rafe Judkins Wikipedia page to read up on his background and saw that someone had actually edited the page to say that he is
"best known for being the showrunner that ruined the WoT series."
Lmao 🤣. I wish I would have taken a screen shot because it has since been removed and reverted back to what you see in the photo below.
All that aside though, let's get on with my review of what was so bad about the show.
Bad CGI
Well for starters, the CGI was absolutly horrendous. The trolloc attack in episode 8 is so terrible and fake looking that it reminded me of a low budget film from the late 90's or early 2000s. Massadar in Shadar Logoth was also underwhelming, the one power was super campy and tacky looking and the "dark one" looked ridiculous.
I don't understand how the CGI could be that bad with such a massive budget and when so many other shows and movies have done it right under similar circumstances. Ultimately though, the poor CGI makes the entire series feel like a low budget film.
Poor Pacing
Many people online had issues with the pacing and character development of the show and I definitely agree. It's terrible, both from a per episode standpoint and for the series overall. Remember how bad season 7 and 8 were of Game of Thrones when the Showrunners got bored with the project and decided to whip through the last two seasons so they could move on to other things? Yeah it's kind of like that. Episode 8 is the best example of this. If you had the option of telling one story really well or three very poorly, which would you choose? Its a "no brainer" to choose option one but episode 8 of WoT actually chose the latter. They tried to tell multiple stories simultaneously as well as set up the next season, all within a single episode. The result was that all of the stories were told poorly and the viewer ultimately didn't care about any of them. The show probably needed two more episodes to do the episode and series properly.
Bad Acting, Poor Script Writing and Goofy Costumes
Another issue was with the acting, which was quite bad in many of the scenes. This was likely due to bad script writing opposed to the actors themselves. I basically cringed any time the women channeled. I tried to ignore the awkward little dances they made before doing magic but I about died in episode 8 when the five linked channelers were standing there with their arms out in the air, shaking their body's like they were being electrocuted or something.
Lmao 🤣. It was just so ridiculous looking. Idiotic really. A poorly written script made for acting that was forced, unnatural looking and ultimately unbelievable.
Some of the costumes were just downright goofy as well. I hope to God they fix the look of the Seanchan before airing season 2.
Inclusivity for Inclusivity's Sake
Another thing that was ripe within the series was inclusivity for inclusivity sake, or to quote a pal of mine, some "forced woke bullshit." These moments were sprinkled throughout the show and to me they just came across as contrived and in some cases, mere silly nonsense.
An example would be suggesting that the women could be the Dragon Reborn (DR), a nonsensical plot line that served no beneficial purpose to the story. It really just comes across as contrived inclusivity.
The Dragon Reborn being a man is vital to the WoT story and mythos and the characters within the world, especially the Aes Sedai, know that the DR is supposed to be a male. In fact, if the DR was a female then there wouldn't be a story to tell.
Rafe Judkins wrote that the decision was made in order to create mystery for viewers who hadn't read the books but the DR wasn't explained well in season one anyway so the benefit of that mystery was miniscule and cost could be great for continuity of the story and the mythos set out in the WoT universe. The explanation of the cycle of Heros of Legend has to be explained in a different way now and it calls into question many of the worlds prophecies about the DR. Ultimately, it was a poor choice to alter the original story with very little pay off.
There were all kinds of flat out nonsense thrown in as well. One example would be in episode 8 when Nynaeve tells Lan how to track Moraine. Here we are to believe that a warder from the borderlands needs a woman to teach him how to track Morraine, who happens to be traveling with a 6+ foot tall sheep herder who appears on film to just be tromping through the mud, moss and thick vines of the blight. What could she possibly have said in that conversation that was so ground breaking? "Follow the footprints and broken branches Lan." 🙄
Since Lan and Nynaeve could have had their confession of love conversation without that nonsensical tidbit, it really just comes across as more needless woke bullshit.
Terribly Executed False Death and Magic without Borders
In Episode 8 they literally killed off a main character and then brought them back to life instantaneously in one of the most poorly executed false death scenes that I've ever witnessed on film. A "false death" is a film trope that's meant to have an emotional impact on the viewer. This only works though if the viewer is invested in the character and feels a strong emotional attachment to them. The viewer also needs time for the moment to sink in, to mourn the loss so to speak, or at the very least to question whether or not the character is really dead or not. In the case of WoT the character was killed and then revived with mere seconds which makes the gesture, unemotional, unimpactful and ultimately meaningless. It also calls into the question the rules of magic within the WoT universe and opens the door for a sort of magic without borders scenario. If characters can be brought back to life at anytime and under any circumstances then viewers will undoubtedly question and crisisize any future death within the series. It also makes things like Morraine being "stilled" completely meaningless. If magic can bring people back to life, if it can heal a person who was "burnt out," then fixing a person who was stilled should be easy, no?
Bonus Nonsense
It seems that Rafe Judkins threw in some bonus nonsense to get you excited for season 2 as well. In the final episode the Seanchan arrive and send a 200 foot tidal wave into the shores of a nearly empty island beach. Why? To kill 1 child? To destroy a city on the other side of the mountain and then rebuild it and enslave the dead?
Will that wave bounce off the mountains and cliffs of the island and come right back at the Seanchan ships? Then what? They'll use more magic to counter their own mistake?
Obviously the Seanchan are being portrayed much differently than the books here. It seems that they are taking a pre-emptive, destroy everyone approach to conquering a land and its people. But seriously, what's the point of nonsense like that? My guess is that nothing related to that scene will be explained in the next season, it's just bonus nonsense to get the viewer excited for season 2. If that is the case though then it means that there is no thought going into the script writing and that things are being done simply to look "cool." Bad decisions are the theme here.
Conclusion
Despite my harsh criticisms above, there were many parts throughout the series that I did enjoy and I think that some of the alterations to the story (not mentioned in this article) were smart and did make sense. I think overall for me the show comes across as cheap and campy and decisions are being made by the showrunner that are poor and in some cases completely idiotic.
I have heard that Amazon has increased the budget for season 2 and I sincerely hope that they correct some of the bad decisions made in season 1 and think about what they are doing in future episodes.
I've been a huge wheel of time fan for years, I discovered the series when I was still at school, having just finished the lord of the rings series hidden in my textbooks every dull biology class.
When I heard that Amazon was going to turn it into a series, I was pumped. I imagined they would give it the same treatment as the first few seasons of GOT. Excited was an understatement. It's a series that gets very little said about it when compared with other high fantasy sagas. It had issues to be sure, but at the heart of all the skirt ruffling and silly love triangles, there is an incredible fantasy epic.
I was Disappointed...
I agree with every statement you have made.
The most infuriating was the lack of time to develop the characters, how rushed this whole season was. Each episode was a wtf why are we already here moment.
You mentioned Lan and Nynaeves relationship. Now, it's been a while since I've read those books, but I am almost certain I remember that building through a good long while of will they won't they moments, and being so excited when both stubborn ass characters finally admitted their feelings to one another in a touching and sentimental way, not just a quick booty call in the white tower, where omg the are both suddenly in love? When did that happen?
So yes I am disappointed at the adaptation. I will still watch it as a bit of fantasy fluff, and suspend association to the books, much like Eragon. Remember that terrible book adaptation? Or worse yet dungeons and dragons a long time back now.
Now if you want good high fantasy on TV, watch the Witcher season 2. They've canned the time hopping of the first season, and the story as a whole flows much better. Plus Henry Cavil is hot as hell as Geralt, and Ciri is shaping up to be an awesome heroine.
Yeah I think a lot of people are upset with the lack of character development and the general whipping through the story. You're right about Nynaeve and Lans relationship taking some time to develop.
I'm hoping that S2 is better. I'll go in with low expectations though lol.
I actually haven't finished the series yet. I'm only on book 8 so I still have some ways to go.
I've heard good things about The Witcher S2 but haven't started it yet. I didn't know the story before the show came out so I have no preconceived notions going in. I'll check it out some time soon.
I'm going to take my time to read this, hold my camomile
There are spoilers if you haven't watched the show or read the books. Be warned lol
I nope'd out of the first episode about 20 minutes in. Then I started over with no expectations and saw all of it, this is about nothing like the books.
I don't get how they managed to fuck this up so bad.
Probably should have stopped watch within the first scene, it did not really get any better.
Your experience sounds very similar to mine. I had huge expectations going in and when I saw their budget I was thinking it would be amazing. I even separated myself from the books early on and knew that the story would be different. My heart sank right away after E1 though. I wanted to like it so bad I basically tried to kid myself and pretend it was good. After the train wreck of E8 the flood gates opened and all the crap I tried to ignore poured out lol. It's super disappointing for fans especially.
I actually agreed with some of the changes made for the TV series. But the stuff I mentioned in this article and some other stuff as well was unforgivable.
I was already worried before the drop, I saw the scene introducing Moiraine to the 2 Rivers folk, I should probably have quit at that point such a terrible scene.
No LTT as a prologue as another clear sign that this is not going to be a good adaptation.
I hated the show from the monologue Moiraine gave in the first episode. I broke in the middle of the first episode, to then try again with no expectations.
What did you think was a good change, I struggle to find one I even thought was okay.
Yeah I'm with you on that.
I actually liked that they made the Aes Sedai wear their colors. I thought that it was smart to give them distinction so that the viewer can recognize the ajahs right away instead of it having to be explained in the dialog. I think that Liandrin's character will be combined with Elaida's which I think is smart to reduce the story lines and to develop that character rather than half assing it with two different characters. Skipping the Camelon and not introducing Elayne was smart because again, it would be too much for such a short season and they were clearly already struggling to develop the characters they had.
Sorry if I butchered the spelling of names of characters there. I can't remember how to spell names from the WoT series hahaha
I completely disagree with all these points.
Having Aes Sedai wear there colors does not allow the Aes Sedai to act covertly, or hide from Whitecloaks and leaves them a little bit less defensive than there were in the books, it might make sense to have the Aes Sedai wear there colors in the white tower, but they already do this, at least the shawl. So this is in fact a non point for the show.
Combining Elaida with Liandrin seems fairly dumb oh and I will spoil stuff, so in case somebody has not read the books be aware that I will spoil some stuff now.
Elaida is actually not a black ajah she is simply self-obsessed and easily manipulated, Liandrin is in fact fairly smart and black ajah, she also lures out Elayne Eggwene and Nynaeve on a mission except they end up getting captured by the seanchan instead. I feel this is just stupid writing.
Skipping Caemlyn was a big slap in the face, especially after having seen episode 5 with a unimportant character (Stepin) spend almost a full episode committing suicide, this was fluff that was not necessary, we already saw his reaction to his Aes Sedai getting killed in the previous episode. Wasting this whole episode on a unimportant character and removing important characters seems a bad direction.
Cutting Elayne from the first season removes a large bit of Rand's character arc, and it eliminates a familiarity from Elayne and Eggwene and Nyneave when they meet in the white tower.
The fact that they struggle to develop characters only shows the complete lack of competence the writers have. If they simply took the books and did minimal changes to bring it to screen they would be very likely to not have these problems.
Very interesting points.
I see what you're saying with the A.S. colors and hiding from White cloaks and agree. I think that is a very important point in the books for sure. For S1 of the show though the colors may have helped progress the story forward for new viewers without excessive explanation... but we may see more covert attire in later seasons? Hopefully.
I agree that Liandrin and Elaida are very different characters in the book for sure. The WoT has so many characters and story lines though I don't think that a show could do all of them properly so I assume more characters and storyline will be dropped in future seasons. But, it would be nice if they were able to tell all of them.
I agree with everything you're saying about E5 and the warder. No disagreement there.
Regarding introducing Elayne in S1: They were worried about hiring an actress for a brief appearance in one episode of S1 and then not being able to get the same actress back for later seasons if she moved on to another project while waiting for her big role in the series. My understanding is that she will be introduced in S2 or S3 when they can lock someone down long term. I don't know if that changes your opinion or not but I think it was smart to temporarily remove a storyline if it means that character inconsistencies may be an issue. I hear that Matt Cauthorns character is leaving the show for unknown reasons. So already we are going to be seeing casting issues.
I agree that the writers should stick to the book as much as possible though.
I for one think that having Elayne in season one would be preferable, even if a different actress were going to portray the character at a later point.
I don't actually care enough about this mess to watch season 2, they already went so far away from the books all arcs are so different at this point.
One point that had me completely loose any respect for this show was the scene where Eggwene "healed" Nynaeve back from the death, this outright breaks a core law in the books, you cannot heal anybody back from the death.
Then there is another point where they are incredibly wobbly on whether Saidar and Saidin are different or the same.
There is honestly way to many points to list here.
I won't lie, I didn't see it, but I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year!~
Haha no worries at all.
Thank you. Happy new year to you as well 😁
Thank you!
so it is shit then and I can stick to decent stuff?
It's not complete shit if you're into the fantasy genre but it definitely did some things very poorly. People who haven't read the books and who go in with low expectations, may be more forgiving?
It has a distinct campy feel about it, which is unfortunate. I was hoping for early season, Game of Thrones level filmography, but it's not that.
agh! think I will pass on that then cheers
I don't know about wheel Of time, so I can't really judge until I read the original, all I can say is that director did Agents of SHIELDS which is pure schlock, campy af. So I can't imagine what sort of kitsch he can do with an unlimited budget, and now I am curious and also want to watch it to make fun of it. That's actually what I mostly do nowadays, watching something in sarcastic, ironical way.
I might do the book, because channeling, and all that jazz is totally down my alley. Nice post, and I truly enjoy seeing you doing something different, so huge respect! Your post was truly enjoyable and well written, I am now liable to what I said about woke bs, until it's not allowed to say it, and then I'll delete everything that I said about it hahaha.
Yeah the showrunner also did the show "Chuck" which was also campy af so its not completely surprising how this turned out.
The show is worth a watch if you're able to. It's not all bad but when I saw their massive budget I was expecting GoT season 1-5 quality. I had super high hopes and was pretty disappointed overall. It might be better for people who haven't read the books though 🤷♂️
The books series is quite good from what I've ready so far if it's something you are interested in. It's a massive undertaking though and it could do with some editing to shorten it if I'm being honest. Book one has major LOTR vibes but becomes It's own thing after the first book. The books get better as the series goes - at least until you reach book 7. It slows down at that point a bit.
Are you okay with me quoting you? I can delete that no problem I you would rather not be linked to that saying lol.
I just received my first downvote! It was after you tagged me!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
No!? Are you serious!?
I'm going to remove your tag from it. I wasn't meaning to divert attention from me to you lol.
I think that a lot of people can agree that the things we have come to associate with "wokeness" do have a place in cinema, media and society in general, especially if it creates a more fair and realistic portrayal of the diversity found in society - race, sexuality, sex and gender...etc. However when these concepts are unnaturally forced into something, it tends to cheapen the message and the product itself and moves into the realm of contrived bullshit. That's how I personally interpreted your quote - that the forced messaging was poorly executed and cheapened the product. I would have thought that others understood it to mean that as well - perhaps not though?
"Forced woke bullshit." I personally love that line and would have stolen it outright and claimed it as my own, but I wanted to avoid a "Hey that Fucker stole my line!" Scenario Hahaha 😆
Ye dude we are exactly on the same page, I am all for inclusiveness, when it's done tastefully like in the first Matrix for example noone talked about it because it's real and seamless, but when its just obvious propaganda, it's just hard to take it seriously, or even relate. The world is obviously evolving, but the way things are moving, I don't have to buy in the force-fed ideologies, it's borderline insanity.
Yes, I totally agree.
In the WoT it's particularly annoying to me because the female characters are extremely strong in many ways in the books so the extra nonsensical additions in the show were unnecessary and cheapen it. In the show they also turned a female character into a lesbian, which wasn't in the books. I guess they did that for diversity purposes. Some people online felt that this was another example but I was completely fine with that move because the change could be easily adapted and doesn't mess with the mechanics and myths of the WoT world. The only issue I had with it revolved around the bad acting when it came time to show that they were lovers. I can't really blame two straight actors for looking awkward when they are forced to kiss each other, but at a bare minimum I expect a director to re-shoot a scene until it looks natural and believable lol.
Hahaha what you said about 2 straight actors doing an awkward kiss scene is hilarious and so true!
I found something you're gonna enjoy, it says lots of what we said in our conversation, if you have 2 hours to kill, I just finished it.
A fan of Wheel of TIme explained to me the whole story yesterday and why it wouldn't work if you change what's in the book, so you were dead on.
To every man their own woke bs hahahah 😁 Nah keep it, I don't care.
Plus you've been quite respectful in your review, I think it was brilliant to divert the attention on me hahaha, so you ain't responsible for any backlash!!!
Looks so interesting
I have to start watchin it at New Year's Eve
Feel free to come back and share your thoughts on the show after you watch it 😁
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