Wheel of Time - Amazon Season 2

[d-dave]

I didn't realize until last week that it was back!  

The first season was a little rocky.   A bit of a hard change from the books, but as the Wheel turns, right?  I think when you put it into that context, things get quite interesting.

I'm here, watching the 2nd season playing catch up, and enjoying the heck out of it!  Yes, there are A LOT of differences, and I'm here for them.  The books are too long and wordy.  Look, I do love a good story mixed with some politics and stuff, but Jordan spent WAY too much time on boring stuff that didn't help or move the plot forward.

The show on the other hand is really moving forward and I love it! I'm here for it!  Season 2 is fun and engaging!  Anyone else watching?  Anyone else have opinions?

[PanthersATL]

have heard lots of good things about S2.  will get to it eventually

[d-dave]

1 hour ago, PanthersATL said:

have heard lots of good things about S2.  will get to it eventually

Yes!  I didn't even realize it was back.  It maintains the same story of Rand becoming and accepting the role as the Dragon; it's so different and fun.  I just enjoyed the heck out of it!  Some really great performances.

[Arroz con Panther]

I'm on the last episode of season 2 right now. Season 2 is soooo much better. I stopped reading about midway through book 6. May pick it up again some day, but I don't read that much and I've heard it becomes a slog. I really don't have any qualms with the show because I like the world and magic. Adaptations don't have to be 100% accurate IMO.

[Arroz con Panther]

Also, the actress who plays Lanfear has done an amazing job.

[d-dave]

I picked it back up at book 9, and I'm working my way through 10.  The key is 90% of what happens isn't terribly important.  Again, why didn't the editor fight Jordan more?  I skim until  I see something interesting.

But the TV show really hits so hard!  I feel MUCH more invested in the characters.  I know Season 1 got messed up in production and had a LOT of issues in the writing, but season 2 really just flows so well.  Wait until you see the Indian Jones moment.  It made me laugh so hard!

[Arroz con Panther]

@d-daveFinished episode 8 today. What's the Indiana Jones moment? Honestly, it wasn't the best finale. They're really writing Rand out of being the Dragon, in my opinion. Still entertaining, but I needed a bit more from the finale. Like, I really wanted Rand and Ishamael to duel in the sky....

[d-dave]

10 hours ago, Arroz con Panther said:

@d-daveFinished episode 8 today. What's the Indiana Jones moment? Honestly, it wasn't the best finale. They're really writing Rand out of being the Dragon, in my opinion. Still entertaining, but I needed a bit more from the finale. Like, I really wanted Rand and Ishamael to duel in the sky....

Remember when Indy ran into the sword guy in Temple of Doom?  How he solved it with his revolver?  when Rand ran into Turoth, instead of the sword masters' duel from the books, there he just ended them all.

Why do you think that they are writing Rand out of being the dragon?   I don't see that, what am I missing?  I can understand not having them fight in the sky because the Ishamael from the books is quite different from the show.  I have no idea what they are doing with the rest of the Foresaken.

I guess I'm so excited because it's telling a great story in a way that works (for me) in an episodic format.  I'm just digging it.

[Arroz con Panther]

5 hours ago, d-dave said:

Remember when Indy ran into the sword guy in Temple of Doom?  How he solved it with his revolver?  when Rand ran into Turoth, instead of the sword masters' duel from the books, there he just ended them all.

Why do you think that they are writing Rand out of being the dragon?   I don't see that, what am I missing?  I can understand not having them fight in the sky because the Ishamael from the books is quite different from the show.  I have no idea what they are doing with the rest of the Foresaken.

I guess I'm so excited because it's telling a great story in a way that works (for me) in an episodic format.  I'm just digging it.

Gotcha on the Indiana Jones reference now! It just seems like Rand hasn't really done anything "dragon-like" yet. It's been Egwene or some other character coming to his rescue. I guess I was just disappointed that all Rand did was walk up and stab him. Don't get me wrong, I'm digging it as well. I'm not the type of person who thinks an adaptation has to be 1 to 1. It's probably why I also enjoyed Rings of Power.

[d-dave]

16 hours ago, Arroz con Panther said:

Gotcha on the Indiana Jones reference now! It just seems like Rand hasn't really done anything "dragon-like" yet. It's been Egwene or some other character coming to his rescue. I guess I was just disappointed that all Rand did was walk up and stab him. Don't get me wrong, I'm digging it as well. I'm not the type of person who thinks an adaptation has to be 1 to 1. It's probably why I also enjoyed Rings of Power.

Thinking about how the use the Saidar/Saidin in the novels; this is WAY smaller scale.  Season 1, everything was pretty low budget, and this year they had a little more cash to play with when folks channeled.  From what I see of Rand in the show - he doesn't really know very well how to channel intentionally.  Looking at the combat  -it seems that most of the other characters were trained but Rand's sword training was very light.  It makes some sense because it was kind of odd that Rand became a sword master after a few weeks training with Lan...

I agree whole heartedly that adaptations should put their own twist on a story  - especially since The Wheel of Time is FAR TOO CUMBERSOME!!!  Why didn't an editor tell Jordan to cut the crap...???  Rings of Power was flawed, but fun.  Hopefully it makes a jump for the second season similar to Wheel of Time.

[d-dave]

https://dragonmount.com/forums/topic/118626-brandon-sanderson-s2-finale-reaction-video/

I saw this pop up in a news feed (Google Discover) and I thought it was interesting as he was consulting pretty heavily on the show.  

TL/DW - He's not a fan of how the show is changing characters and plots.  Though I do agree that the sword aspect with Rand is not  really done up in the show at all.  In the books, Rand's father's sword is integral to his identity and figuring out how to become the dragon.

I don't really disagree with that, but I still enjoyed the series.

Here's a better link discussing the reaction:

https://winteriscoming.net/2023/10/18/brandon-sanderson-harsh-criticism-the-wheel-of-time-season-2-finale/

Edited October 20, 2023 by d-dave

[TLGPanthersFan]

What a garbage series.