THE WHEEL OF TIME TV Show: The braid tugs, as the writing wills [BOOK SPOILERS]

[Corvinus85]

21 minutes ago, Risto said:

I have to agree with @Werthead with regard to popularity of WoT. In Serbia, it is one of the best selling fantasy series and fandom is well-established. ASOIAF, before GoT, and other works such as Malazan, Sword of Truth or Sanderson's Cosmere can't compare to WoT's popularity.

I was thinking about some glorious moments down the line. And the one I am really looking forward is cleansing of saidin. That scene in the books is amazing. It's so rhythmical, so dynamic, with short POV moments. Truly amazing ending to what was a tiresome tome.

And of course, the great meeting at Fields of Merillor, was it? I am now imagining Rosamund Pike doing that speech about Rand... Epic!!!

Then Egwene v Elaida in White Tower... Jesus, one forgets how many great moments series of 14+ books has,

Then there's the slaughter at Dumai's Wells.

[Mladen]

4 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

Then there's the slaughter at Dumai's Wells.

For me, that one really became epic on the second read... I was truly impressed by my ability to miss it the first time

 

[fionwe1987]

Yeah WoT has some very cinematic moments. And some quieter ones that'll be great character moments. I can't wait to see Egwene and Silviana's interactions on screen. There's some really good chemistry that develops between them in the books, and I'm excited to see them pic a great character actress to play Silviana.

But one quiet moment that I'm looking forward to the most? "Your dress is green, by the way". One of the most powerful single lines I've ever read, I'd say. Just the way it made my head buzz reevaluating 11 books of material in a moment. Its gonna be a great moment that gets a lot of water cooler discussion if the show ever gets to that point. I hope they pick an excellent Verin. She's one of my favorite characters. 

[Mladen]

1 hour ago, fionwe1987 said:

Yeah WoT has some very cinematic moments. And some quieter ones that'll be great character moments. I can't wait to see Egwene and Silviana's interactions on screen. There's some really good chemistry that develops between them in the books, and I'm excited to see them pic a great character actress to play Silviana.

But one quiet moment that I'm looking forward to the most? "Your dress is green, by the way". One of the most powerful single lines I've ever read, I'd say. Just the way it made my head buzz reevaluating 11 books of material in a moment. Its gonna be a great moment that gets a lot of water cooler discussion if the show ever gets to that point. I hope they pick an excellent Verin. She's one of my favorite characters. 

Oh, yeah... Strangely, I have read ASOIAF in English first so I always had very good idea of how some scenes would go vocally. I have read WoT only in Serbian and I always get confused with some things.

@Ran had an AMAZING idea of having Olivia Colman playing Verin. And yeah, that moment immediately brought hours and hours of discussion regarding "The Great Hunt" and the infamous Verin's lie about being sent by Moiraine.

Egwene's last scene would also be EPIC. I always imagined it as some sort of shinnier, glittier, far less creepy version of Minas Morgul light from ROTK movie.

As for another silent moment, I can't wait to see Cadsuane breaking Semhirage. The entire process of Cadsuane thinking about it and understanding how to break her was amazing train of thought.

So many moments...

 

[fionwe1987]

50 minutes ago, Risto said:

Oh, yeah... Strangely, I have read ASOIAF in English first so I always had very good idea of how some scenes would go vocally. I have read WoT only in Serbian and I always get confused with some things.

@Ran had an AMAZING idea of having Olivia Colman playing Verin. And yeah, that moment immediately brought hours and hours of discussion regarding "The Great Hunt" and the infamous Verin's lie about being sent by Moiraine.

Egwene's last scene would also be EPIC. I always imagined it as some sort of shinnier, glittier, far less creepy version of Minas Morgul light from ROTK movie.

As for another silent moment, I can't wait to see Cadsuane breaking Semhirage. The entire process of Cadsuane thinking about it and understanding how to break her was amazing train of thought.

So many moments...

 

Olivia Colman would be an excellent Verin. But I'm guessing the Oscar will make her too expensive to hire? Kathy Bates would be great as Verin too. But my secret hope is they somehow snag Melissa McCarthy. Something about the way she prattles sometimes is very Verin, to me. Yet she's shown she can totally play serious roles too. A somewhat comic character who ends up being a major reason the Light wins... I dunno, I think she'd own that role. Certainly way out of budget, too, I'm afraid.

I do hope we get a deep bench of female actors who see the chance to do somewhat new roles and take it. 

As for Egwene's death.. I expect it will be suitably epic. I've been encouraged to see she's Rafe Judkin's favorite character. I'm always afraid of someone taking on RJ's work who doesn't quite get Egwene. Like Sanderson, though he kinda got it by the end, I think. Just read what you have of RJ's notes in the Companion, or that single chapter from her PoV in Knife of Dreams, and its kinda obvious he cared deeply to make this character stand out. 

[Slurktan]

13 hours ago, fionwe1987 said:

Rand at Maradon is one of those Sanderson things that just doesn't fit WoT. Not that such a thing is impossible, but it's just not internally consistent if Rand does it without a powerful sa'angreal boosting him. Having him do that, then in the next book, be unable to face a circle led by Taim... It doesn't make sense.

I'm not quite sure why you are hung up on that.  A circle can beat any one person no matter how powerful.

[fionwe1987]

42 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

I'm not quite sure why you are hung up on that.  A circle can beat any one person no matter how powerful.

Nope. I mean, it'd be one thing if Brandon kept that consistent, but he doesn't. Graendal beats circles left and right, at Shayol Ghul. As does Egwene, with her sa'angreal, which makes more sense and is precisely what would make sense.

Now, take that Maradon scene had give Rand a sa'angreal, and it makes sense. Without, its just overkill which doesn't track with the rest of the books. It took Rand, with Lews Therin taking over and using all his skill and speed, as well as 40 odd Aes Sedai and Asha'man to stop a horde of about 100-200k Trollocs. Yet Rand alone, with just an angreal, beats back about a million odd Trollocs? Yeah, no.

[Inkdaub]

20 hours ago, fionwe1987 said:

Rand at Maradon is one of those Sanderson things that just doesn't fit WoT. Not that such a thing is impossible, but it's just not internally consistent if Rand does it without a powerful sa'angreal boosting him. Having him do that, then in the next book, be unable to face a circle led by Taim... It doesn't make sense.

Oh I agree it's totally over the top.  It just works for me.  I feel it wouldn't work if Rand didn't become significantly greater than he was before Dragonmount.  Not to be too dramatic but it's like Rand al'Thor went to Dragonmount and The Dragon Reborn returned.  I don't know, it feels like a natural progression that, while very overt, was in line with who and what Rand is and is meant to do.  In spirit anyway.   

[fionwe1987]

43 minutes ago, Inkdaub said:

Oh I agree it's totally over the top.  It just works for me.  I feel it wouldn't work if Rand didn't become significantly greater than he was before Dragonmount.  Not to be too dramatic but it's like Rand al'Thor went to Dragonmount and The Dragon Reborn returned.  I don't know, it feels like a natural progression that, while very overt, was in line with who and what Rand is and is meant to do.  In spirit anyway.   

I never felt very god-y vibes to the way RJ wrote the Heroes of the Horn or the Dragon. 

And Sanderson didn't keep it consistent, honestly. Perhaps realizing an overpowered Rand who can do so much unaided utterly destroys all tension, he scaled back. Which makes Maradon stick out like a sore thumb.

Lews Therin seemed restricted to 12 weaves at once..which is an amazingly high number matched or exceeded only by Lanfear and Egwene. Nothing Rand did in Dragonmount should suddenly make him able to create hundreds at once, just for once in the entire series, then go back to being a regular, strong, skilled but by no means unbeatable channeler.

I rather hope they scale back in the show.

[Darth Richard II]

Yeah I think, somewhat ironically, the last 3 books needed a better editor.

[fionwe1987]

50 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

Yeah I think, somewhat ironically, the last 3 books needed a better editor.

Yeah. I think, based on my reading of some hints left by those involved, the decision to go to 3 books instead of 2 was forced after Brandon had already started planning a 2 book finale. Which led, contrary to how people view things, with what certainly seems like filler in all three books (I cannot imagine why else Gawyn suddenly gets so many more PoV chapters, for instance), as well as a rush job on some editing.

In a way, I'm amazed at how good a job they did, given all they had going against them. And I think a random that survived, and even celebrated the move from RJ to Sanderson is going to be just fine with the changes the show makes to fit the story of the books into the new medium.

[fionwe1987]

I just had an idea for how they could show weaves from the PoV of channelers. When they channel, their senses become more acute. Smells are sharper. Sounds are clearer. And texture and color are perceived better. 

So everytime the channeler in a scene is the PoV, and is actively channeling, you both show the glow around them and up the saturation and sharpness of everything in the scene.

Kind of like the opposite of when Frodo puts on the Ring and everything becomes murky but he sees things others can't.

In scenes like Nynaeve fighting Moghedien, then entire scene can have that effect, since it's two channelers only. Other times, you can slip in and out of it, depending on PoV.

I think having the weaves go with a hyper-realistic visual would both distinguish the "channeler view" of a scene, as well as explain why channelers are addicted to it.

For the men, they could do the hyper-realistic view, but add on a shadowy darkness. Add in some menacing music to go with it, and some janky camera work to convey the sense of vertigo and sickness the men feel, and it'll be visually distinct from saidar. Then take away the menace and jankiness once saidin is cleansed.

Thoughts?

[Vels]

On 8/30/2019 at 10:21 PM, fionwe1987 said:

And Sanderson didn't keep it consistent, honestly. Perhaps realizing an overpowered Rand who can do so much unaided utterly destroys all tension, he scaled back. Which makes Maradon stick out like a sore thumb.

Rand had the fat-man angrael at Maradon. There was a throwaway paragraph where Rand recalled going back to Dumai's Wells to find it. But still, the power showed felt more in line with a sa'angrael rather than just a simple angrael.

[fionwe1987]

14 hours ago, Vels said:

Rand had the fat-man angrael at Maradon. There was a throwaway paragraph where Rand recalled going back to Dumai's Wells to find it. But still, the power showed felt more in line with a sa'angrael rather than just a simple angrael.

Yup. The fat man isn't weak, but it isn't a sa'angreal by any stretch. Now, if they had Rand find a sa'angreal, or use Callandor, this scene suddenly makes a lot more sense.

[A True Kaniggit]

1 hour ago, fionwe1987 said:

Yup. The fat man isn't weak, but it isn't a sa'angreal by any stretch. Now, if they had Rand find a sa'angreal, or use Callandor, this scene suddenly makes a lot more sense.

Yeah. It might’ve been better story wise if the fat man was described as a sa’angreal from the get go. From the moment Rand used it to move all those people to Rhuidean .

Though the difference between angreal and sa’angreal was always ridiculous.

They were the exact same thing, but at a certain power increase it was decided they should have different names. 

Edit :(Or does the “Sa’ “ mean super/greater/something along those lines? If that’s the case I guess it doesn’t really matter)

[SpaceChampion]

Or like, his ta'ver'en-ness uncovers a long lost sa'angreal in a blast crater in the middle of the battle.  He has to pick it up or risk the Shadow taking it, and then all the rest of Maradon battle happens -- and then the new sa'angreal burns out / melts down in the process.
 

I don't remember, but wasn't he still resisting taking on too much power at that point?  It was post-Dragonmount, but he's still wary of channeling too much, iirc.

[A True Kaniggit]

31 minutes ago, SpaceChampion said:

 

I don't remember, but wasn't he still resisting taking on too much power at that point?  It was post-Dragonmount, but he's still wary of channeling too much, iirc.

No. I just finished a reread.

And that wasn’t a thing.

 

Though I suppose in the last book he was cautious of wearing himself out so much that he’d be easy meat. 

Edit: And no one else having any luck on a new thread title? Nothing grand is coming to me either. I wouldn't want to be stuck with something only Luc warm.

[Corvinus85]

 

[David Selig]

Young Lan was extremely handsome IIRC.