Willow Wraith Press

The Wheel of Time based on Robert Jordan’s classic fantasy series on Amazon Prime

Synopsis: (spoiler-freeish but full of snark)

After the events at the Eye of the World, the heroes are all split up and the forces of the Dark One are rising (one might call it the shadow rising…ahem book four title ahem). Rand is off in Cairhien doing Dragon Reborn things. Egwene and Nynaeve are at the White Tower breaking a lot of rules. Perrin is hunting for the Horn of Valere without an axe, while Mat is being held hostage in a cell next to Min like the Count of Monte Cristo. Forsaken Ishamael awakens Lanfear to scheme in slick garments, while the Seanchan have conquered Falme wearing creepy masks. Moiraine is cut off from the One Power and Lan is peeing on trees…I mean hanging out with other warders and brooding extensively. Falme is the place to be, so after a disjointed battle between all these characters (minus Min, who smartly ran away), Rand is proclaimed the Dragon Reborn in front of the 12 survivors of the city who are all standing in one courtyard for some reason. Yay, the Dragon’s back!

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I’m going to do this in two parts, the first will be solely on the show’s merits as a piece of visual entertainment. I won’t touch on the books much in this part, because the second part will be full book spoilers. I wanted to do it this way so I can partition my thoughts without letting my book fan bias bleed into the review. So this will be a looooooong review, fair warning, gentle friends.

Soooooo, on the whole, I think the second season is a major step up from the first season on pretty much every single thing possible: acting (seems like some actors took classes), writing (could also explain the better acting), costume design (give me more Lanfear in the dream world vibe, so outlandish it was fantastic), set design (more practical sets and less CGI), visuals (how ’bout that dragon, y’all?), etc. That’s not to say everything is peachy keen, because it’s not. S1 had so many rough patches, it’s not hard to clear that bar.

For me to enjoy a movie or show, I need 3 things: 1. A steady, progressive plot. 2. Engaging characters with agency & growth. 3. Consistency of the world in which both reside. The books had each in spades, the show….eh…

Let’s start with the plot, or more appropriately for this season, a string of subplots ducktaped together to make a janky attempt at a plot.

As a viewer, the biggest pitfall is the rushed storytelling/pacing and editing, and that’s because the decision to split the main group of characters at the end of S1 made it nigh on impossible to not rush headlong through each subplot as each character needs an arc to get them to the finale. Some arcs are better than others, but the main gripe I have is that no single character gets a chance to breathe in a scene (aside from Egwene) before we are whisked away to another character’s subplot. Editing, man, this killed me (more on that below).

Here’s a great example: Rand meeting the Amyrlin Seat in ep7.

This scene is set-up nicely due to a great precursor exchange between Rand and Lan about how Rand needs to take whatever is about to happen like a man. This meeting between the Amyrlin Seat and Rand is meant to be tense because the last male channeler to meet Siuan Sanche was gentled (albeit prior to meeting her). We could feel the tension as soon as he enters the room because he has no idea which way will this go. She’s the most powerful (politically speaking) person in the world, so she carries with her a certain clout our poor little farmboy hasn’t seen before. Will she have him gentled like the False Dragon, or will she allow him to be the Dragon Reborn? We have an excellent interaction to start this scene, but 1 minute later we break to Mat, nothing accomplished besides pleasantries. We go through 5 more subplot scene jumps before coming back to Rand. The tension of this meeting is gone, so now more tension has to be drummed up, and here comes Siuan shielding him in an effort to show him he is vastly inexperienced (a very cool scene that lasts only 2.5 minutes or so) BUT THEN we cut away for 5 more subplot scenes before we get the conclusion of the Rand/Siuan meet-and-greet when Moiraine enters the shot, which lasts only a few more minutes. One of the most important scenes built up throughout the season, and what, it lasts no more than 6 minutes of a 60 minute show? WHY CAN’T WE JUST SEE THIS ALL PLAY OUT WITHOUT SCENE JUMPING??? Literally all the tension that was created by the set-up is instantly torn away by the constant scene jumping.

I get it, there are a lot of plots to juggle, but come on, this can be better realized. This is why I have a hard time enjoying this show because by not sticking with scenes for more than a 1-2 minutes at a time, we lose out on character growth, especially the small ticks made by the actors who are inhabiting these roles. We could have witnessed Rand trying to fight against the shield more, only to realize he can’t or since the show has broken a few book rules on the magic, maybe showing Rand subtly hampering Siuan’s shield could go a long way to showing how incredibly powerful Rand actually is (think Steve Rogers slightly moving Thor’s hammer in Avengers: Age of Ultron).

Take the entire finale episode. Many things were excellently presented as subplots reached their crescendo, but the pacing and arrangement of the scenes are quite baffling. We essentially have all these subplots happening during a battle scene: The Whitecloaks began a siege on Falme, attempting to throw the Seanchan back to wence they came. But then we break to a Mat scene (a talking scene nonetheless, eviscerating the tension). Then Rand is sneaking in and sees Egwene (we at least get the battle in the background so there’s that). Followed by Perrin and the Aiel meet-up with Loial and Ingtar (as well a the Horn being deus ex machina-ed (that was disappointing)). Next is a really engaging (and meanful mending) scene between Moiraine and Lan (but nowhere near this battle, thus feeling well and truly out of place). Then Egwene scythes through some Whitecloaks all hellbent on revenge. Some actual fighting in the battle between Whitecloaks/Aiel/Perrin/and poor Hopper. Only to go to another slow Moiraine scene where she describes some truths about the Forsaken and the Dragon Lews Therrin Telamon. The order of scenes is perplexing, why not just put both Moiraine scenes before the Whitecloaks begin their attack? Same with the Mat/Padan Fain scene. They are much needed pillars of each subplot but the break of narrative tension bothered me greatly.

And that has happened throughout the entire season.

I love this book series specifically for all the characters and the plot arcs, but I truly believe the show is hurting itself by having too many subplots with only 8 episodes to tell it. Juggling all these subplots makes an editor’s job more difficult because you don’t want to skimp on characters for too long, so that means we need to add all these little scene jumps just so characters and their subplots aren’t forgotten about. Sure, they’ve added depth to multiple book characters that were more one dimensional, but at the detriment of the pace and of the plot as a whole. Ultimately, it seems like characters are kinda sitting in place for long swathes of the episodes. I would rather spend longer scenes with the main cast than to be jumping back and forth.

Now for the compelling characters need.

I have to be blunt, I honestly don’t care for engineered drama in a show or movie that hinders the overarching plot, and the first episode of this season introduced us to the soap opera As Moiraine Turns. I joke, but everything about her arc this season prior to ep7 was just mediocre drama added to have drama ensue. Her and Lan bickering felt so false and wrong. I’ll touch on the book stuff down below, but the bond (not The Bond) between Moiraine and Lan presented in S1 makes Moiraine’s pushing him away seem childish and so out of character. I get it, she lost her ability to channel, that would make any person emotional/brash/angry, but the Moiraine of S1 had no hint of this type of 180 in her, so it felt wrong. Then they double down with the fake drama by making her mean to her sister in Cairhien and family. Finally, we get to her and Siuan, which S1 painted as a really healthy (albeit sparingly) relationship with respect and love. That was torn to shreds at the end of ep7. Yes, Rosamund Pike is your A-list actor, but they didn’t have to make her so dramatic to push Moiraine into new territory without her being able to access the One Power. It’s nothing more than added drivel to a very well-put-together compelling character.

Which leads me to Lan’s arc. Aside from the book stuff I’ll mention later, his entire Alanna/Warders storyline went on way too long. Again, Daniel Henney is the star (and he is killing it as Lan, love his take on the character) but him spending multiple episodes brooding and not moving the plot forward just irked the crap out of me. We could have gotten everything he did the first two thirds of the season in a handful of scenes, thus giving more screen time to other Emond’s Field characters (you know, the ones the show SHOULD be focusing on). His subplot just bogged episodes down every time we jumped to him and the plot just stopped.

But how about some bloody agency for Rand???

The show is really not making me care about Rand as the Dragon Reborn. I hated the DR mystery in S1 and Rand is still not getting the love by the show in S2. I think Josha Stradowski is a great Rand, but we don’t know his character too well other than he’s told constantly how important he is. Sure, this show is about the entire cast, but Rand is billed as the ‘spoke upon which the wheel turns’ (one amazing line said during the aforementioned Rand/Siuan scene) and yet, he’s sidelined for most of the show, not just the season. He spends most of his early scenes banging Selene/Lanfear. We get it, he’s taken in by her, later to learn it was by her Forsaken magnetism. But instead of 4 scenes of them essentially saying a few words about their respective pasts before going to pound town, why don’t we get more scenes of him learning the sword with the PTSD guy? Why don’t we get more scenes with him and Logain discussing saidin and its taint? Why isn’t he touching the Source more? Then after learning who Selene/Lanfear is, why is he just so willing to go with her? Just because she’s willing to keep Ishamael out of his dreams??? It’s these things that show a complete lack of growth that irritates me about a character like him. Give us more of Rand trying to actively move his agency forward instead of him always being the pawn of every other character. That’s not a compelling character for me. Even the ending, he has to be saved by the power of friendship (Egwene’s massively overpowered wall of saidar and Perrin coming in all Captain America with his shield) before he finally gets to shine, even though he isn’t all that much of a badass.

The only Rand scene that filled me with pure joy as a viewer was when Rand and Mat saw each other, there was more character growth for both characters in that one small scene than most of the season, and that’s a problem.

Buuuuuut, some characters really did draw me into their storylines.

Nynaeve is my favorite book character, and her arc in the Tower, in the arches, with Liandrin, with her block has been so engaging for me. I love Zoë Robins’ interpretation of Nynaeve, and it’s especially due to her non-speaking acting. When Elayne takes control of the situation in Falme, Nynaeve’s facial reactions are spectacular. This is what I wish we got more of with Rand and Perrin! She is such a compelling character.

Conversely, I don’t care much for Egwene’s book character but hot dayum, Madeleine Madden is killing every scene she is in! Her arc in this season was great and follows very closely to her book arc, which has excellent character growth. Again, since most of her scenes after being made damane by the Seanchan are non-vocal due to her golden baby pacifier, we learn so much about her as a character, her strength, her conviction just through her eyes. I live for this as a viewer!

I also really enjoyed the depth we get with Ishamael and Lanfear. All too often in shows we get 1-note villains who twirl their mustache while monloguing their plans. Not with Ishy and Lanfear. They have great depth, great competing machinations, great banter. You can also throw Liandrin in the mix too, giving her a son was excellent character building that didn’t exist in the books. Kate Fleetwood is knocking Liandrin out of the proverbial park. I was actually convinced the son was not real and that was all part of her manipulating Nynaeve by use of sympathy. By having your antagonists be fully fleshed out, your plot becomes more fascinating.

Consistency of the world’s sandbox.

This is hard for me because of my book bias, but if I turn off all knowledge of this world, I would be confused at many points. Namely in the magic system. We really don’t know much about it, especially WHY the male half is tainted. I won’t rehash my long-winded detailing of why the DR has to be male from my S1 review, but it hasn’t been expounded upon in S2, still leaving this world feeling barren.

Then with all the meandering subplots, the world feels brushed over. We are getting more style over substance and to me, that’s a no no.

From a technical standpoint, the costuming and set design was a hella upgrade this season. It was great to see characters wearing more than one outfit. Cairhein felt distinctly different from Falme, which is important when this world is so big. I also really liked The Forsaken’s clothing from the Age of Legends. It’s just really slick and stylish.

Lastly, the action scenes were less choppy than the previous season. When Aviendha takes out those Whitecloaks, wow! The return of the Heroes of the Horn was majestic (even if a tad cheesy). Even just Rand and Moiraine running through the woods after Moiraine absolutely and brutally gutted Lanfear was miles ahead of any action scene outside of pregnant Tigraine destroying the soldiers on the slope of Dragonmount in S1 before birthing baby DR. The weaves of the One Power looked great, loved how each character has their own spin on how to channel. Very good stuff.

Rating: 3 out of 5

On the whole, I enjoyed the show. Seeing many things come alive from an adored book series keeps me entertained. There are issues still to iron out in S3, but I’ll still be tuning in!

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Alrighty then, on to the book changes and my thoughts on how well the show is adapting them. Turn away now if you don’t want to know. You have been warned.

Seriously, full spoilers ahead in

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Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Can I just start there? Honestly, I’ve tried to be in the mindset of book v show adaptation, and it has worked for the most part, but there are just some book changes I cannot stand.

Let’s start with the positive ones first!

Hopper! He is the bestest boy and Iove that he wasn’t a grizzled, scarred wolf. I like that he is more playful, but most of all, I liked his relationship with Perrin. His death was even cooler in the show because I like that Geofram Bornhald was the one to kill him, thus making Perrin go bananas and kill Bornhald in front of Dain Bornhald, setting up the Two Rivers plotline. Also, please let Perrin keep that axe!!! (For non-book readers, Hopper was killed by a random Whitecloak in book 1 helping Perrin escape after killing a couple of Whitecloaks. Geofram dies in the battle at Falme, not around Perrin at all, but Dain sees Perrin and blames him anyway)

I really dug Ishamael only bringing Lanfear out of their prisons before the other Forsaken. I think that was really smart (as well as cutting down the Forsaken to 8 instead of 13) because it allowed Lanfear and Ishamael to grow as characters but also to streamline the story so far. Lanfear was awesome this season and I like that she gets to be more herself from later books than just Selene the whole time with Rand. She’s also more openly vicious with the One Power and I liked that. But it was interesting to see her want to drown the seals before raising the others. That was a cool added layer. (Lanfear is the ultimate schemer of the Forsaken, and truly only wants the Dragon, willing to side with him if it gets her the power she craves)

Oh, I can say the new actor playing Mat is more like book Mat, so that’s a plus in my book! Donal Finn has that vibe of being a ne’r-do-well who truly cares about his friends really down pat. And I actually enjoyed the early season team-up with Min. I always enjoyed their interactions.

Elayne and Nynaeve battling for control over the planning of Egwene’s rescue was spot-on, really enjoyed that. I actually really like the casting of Ceara Coveney because she is how I envisioned Elayne. I thought the yellow sister and her warder fighting the Seanchan was amazing, and watching Nynaeve want to jump in but Elayne stopping her was book accurate. Also, seeing the yellow sister use the converse of healing to crush that soldier was amazeballs!

I liked every Logain scene. Not only is Álvaro Morte now Logain in my head cannon, but potentially replacing Asmodean with Logain can really deepen not only Logain’s character arc when he eventually gets healed of his gentling, but also the bond between him and Rand when creating the Asha’man. (Asmodean is probably the weakest Forsaken, especially the male ones. Rand captures him in a fight in the climax of book 4, forcing him to teach Rand how to channel since women can’t teach men and vice versa (see, a bit of worldbuilding left out of the show). The Asha’man are male channelers Rand brings together when he creates the Black Tower, and Logain becomes one of his main generals)

Verin!!!! I love this character and I won’t spoil a big Verin book moment but there was an excellent set-up for it. Squee!!!!!

Ok, that’s about it for the positives…

Good lordt, the show people hate Rand, Mat, and Perrin don’t they? Or at least don’t care about them as much as Egwene and Nynaeve.

I’ll start with Mat since this can be somewhat understandable due to the recast. Liandrin keeping him in prison was whatever but the whole Ishamael tea thing? Really??? First off, I hate how Natti and Abell Cauthon have been bastardized. Then Mat makes a spear with the ruby-hilted dagger??? This better not replace the ashandarei from later books because 1. that’s stupid, but 2. messes up Padan Fain even further. And then Mat is the reason for Rand’s unhealing side wound? WTF?!? That was so lame. Also, are we not going to get Mat totally walloping Galad and Gawyn with his quarterstaff? That would be a shame. (Mat starts book 2 with both Perrin and Rand on the hunt of the Horn, but also to find the ruby-hilted dagger so he can be healed. Mat does lean more toward the shadow than any other character but that’s because he wants nothing to do with the whole ta’veren thing. His parents are kind folk who play a big role in the saving of the Two Rivers in Perrin’s arc. After sounding the Horn and finding the dagger, he returns to the White Tower to be healed, there he meets Elayne’s siblings. Fain tracks Mat and steals the dagger back, creating a cat-and-mouse arc all the way to the Last Battle. In book 4, Mat gets the ashandarei weapon and carries it until the end of the series)

Perrin, my dude, he is just so wrong. Him wielding a sword is wrong wrong wrong. At least he finally had an axe in the finale and did Big D damage with it like he’s supposed to. While it was great to see him with Elyas (who looked like Captain Jack Sparrow for some reason) and finally seeing Perrin use his wolfbrother gift for more than a weird werewolf screech was great, but he basically did nothing this whole season except awkwardly walk through landscapes being our proxy lore-dumping character. Perrin is my favorite character behind Nynaeve and he is so far from book Perrin, it’s not funny. I also didn’t care for the replacement of Gaul with Aviendha. Him rescuing Gaul is a character relationship that I love from the books, one of the purest friendships, we probably won’t have that now. (Perrin is very internal character, always at odds with his strength, hence his hatred for the axe he made. The axe represents a tool and a weapon and Perrin has this conflict within throughout the entire series until he makes this baller hammer. Perrin, via his wolfbrother gift, can enter the world of dreams, there Hopper shows him how to do things. Most of Perrin’s conflicts take place in the dream world. He rescues Gaul in a similar manner, the two becoming close friends as they go back to save the Two Rivers from the Whitecloaks)

I just can’t with this version of Rand. Yes, early book Rand gets manipulated a lot but for us to not even see him learn anything is sooooo frustrating. By taking Rand away from the group at the onset of the season, we lose all growth by Rand. The sword training by Lan is one of the best scenes in the first few books because it becomes a core personality trait of Rand’s, he is always working the forms. It even helps him when it comes to learning about the One Power. But the whole heron-mark sword concept has been reduced to a stray comment in the finale, like what was the point of Rand carrying that sword if he is not trained to use it. Rand killing Turak with the One Power like Indiana Jones shooting that sword-wielding dude instead of with the sword was not a good change. Then him not fighting Ishamael also sucked. At least he got the brand, but non-book readers won’t know what that means since apparently its an anathema for any character to mention anything in the actual prophecy of the Dragon Reborn. I wish they could have somehow added Alura and the Illuminator’s Guild, but more importantly re-introduced Thom Merrilin while in Cairhien. I just feel that show Rand is so flat in comparison to book Rand. (There are multiple ways in which the Dragon is proclaimed in the Karaethon Cycle prophecy, not just the banner in the sky, which should have been Rand fighting Ishamael. One of them is both palms being branded by a heron. When Rand is separated from Perrin and the others during the hunt for the Horn, he meets Selene and takes her to Cairhien, here he sees that Thom is still alive after the myrddraal fight. He also saves Alura, who gives him firesticks aka matches. Alura plays a decent role in the Last Battle)

Further with Rand, the whole meeting of Elayne here is stupid (and incredibly cheesy how it was framed) because now his love subplot will be more rushed with Elayne if S3 is going to cover Tear and Rhuidean. (Yes, Rand meets Elayne in bk1 and she tends to his wound, so that matches, but before she gets to the White Tower, she already is thinking of him, and asks Egwene if she knows him. Most of the first 3 books has her thinking about him and he her. Rand ends up loving Elayne, Aviendha, and Min. He bonds with all three. Sister wives is a common thing in Aiel culture)

I hate hate hate the added plots of Moiraine and Lan. Moiraine would never treat Lan like this. 20 years they’ve been bonded, to act like a child makes no sense. Why couldn’t she just allow him to help her uncover stuff about the Forsaken? With her shielded, all of the drama could have been about her trying to accept it, with his help. Man, what a missed opportunity to show these friends who truly know one another. But worse, they had Lan figure out she was shielded? Yeah, okay. But the entire Lan with Alanna stuff sets up a potential book arc, so that wasn’t bad, but I don’t think it worked well at all. Good gravy, the rift between Moiraine and Siuan was a weak narrative choice. I get it from a drama standpoint (and the hurt in Moiraine’s eyes at the end of ep7 was great acting) but it doesn’t add anything of value to the story. I guess maybe we will still get the Gareth Byrne plot for Siuan??? (Moiraine and Lan explicitly trust one another, even when Moiraine says she is going to transfer Lan’s bond to Myrelle (not Alanna) after she dies. Yes, in bk2 they have a little tiff, but nothing so dramatic. Moiraine and Siuan are not openly in a relationship in the book, though they were confirmed pillow friends as novices. After Siuan is stilled by Elaida, she goes to work for Gareth Byrne, the former general of Elayne’s mother. They fall in love and he becomes her warder after Nynaeve learns how to heal her stilling)

I have to say it, I really dislike how the show is breaking the magic system’s rules, especially in regards to Egwene. I’m glad they never mentioned her bringing back a burnt-out Nynaeve (what a gaffe that was), but for her to stand up to Ishamael. Just no. I’m sorry but 1. Nynaeve is the more powerful female channeler so she should have filled that role if they wanted it (her protecting her people is cause for her to overcome her block) and 2. Ishamael is only below Rand and Rahvin in power. Also, are we never going to return to the fact that Nynaeve returned from the arches???

One offs:

• Holy hell, when the myrddraal shadow-walked in the fight with Moiraine and Lan, ohhhh that was sooooo cool.
• Padan Fain nailing a myrddraal to the wall was so creepy book accurate, glad they kept that!

• Uno as a Hero of the Horn? Didn’t pay off because he barely had any role beside getting brutally killed. Maybe he will replace Gaidal Cain? (Uno survives the Last Battle and has a large role in Nynaeve’s/Elayne’s subplots. Nynaeve constantly chastises him about his swearing and topknot. Cain was an ugly man who was a destined lover of Brigitte Strongbow)

• Seeing Brigitte was baller! (Brigitte helps Nynaeve capture Moghedien in the dream world, but she is spit out, released from the wheel. She becomes Elayne’s warder and close confidant)

• Moghedien’s scene was neat, loved the spiderweb use of the power. (Her nickname by the other Forsaken is the Spider)

• So is Intgar a darkfriend or not? He kind of alludes to it but I really loved the scene in the book when he admits it

• Why does Bayle Domon have hair above his lip??? (it’s repeatedly described about his beard with no lip hair, a recurring joke)