#no idea whats going on in the amazon tv series but book rand sucks a bit. hopefully this will change

[memecatwings]

im reading the first book in the wheel of time series and rand kind of sucks ngl

[lol-jackles]

Reinventing the Wheel (of Time)

While I have not read Wheel of Time books, I've known people who were great fans of the books and put their enthusiasm on blast whenever we hang out.  Here is what I remember:  Only women can use magic, this has been true ever since three thousand years earlier the Dragon broke the world fighting the Dark One and ended up (in the finale's plot twist) throwing a modern world with flying cars back to the middle-ages.  Why?  Because men who use magic goes insane.  Women who use magic do not go insane so for three thousand years they stop the crazy male magicians from ruining everything as they rebuild the world after it broke.

So from my understanding, the entire point of the Dragon Reborn is a male magic user will emerge who will either go insane and break the world again (and probably throw the world back to the stone ages) or avoid madness and heal the world by defeating the Dark One.  Women aren’t the Dragon Reborn because they are not at risk of going insane using magic. Like Dune’s Bene Gesserit, the female group Aes Sedai have a monopoly on magic but someday, according to prophecy, a powerful male magic user will emerge to bring balance to the universe.  Instead of a Kwisatz Haderach, this person will be the Dragon Reborn.

See, the women in Wheel of Time have a great deal of power, both magically and politically, and some of them really suck: selfish, egotistical, and bigoted.  When the women refuse to listen to the men, it creates a subplots of male characters trying to do things behind their backs when they need to get tasks done.  Hence the need for balance by having the Dragon Reborn be male. If this was what made the book series fascinating to read, then I think the TV adaptation kind of fails in showing the characters trying to find gender balance and equality.  Making it possible that the Dragon Reborn could be a woman was a bad idea and it make the story less clear, it did nothing to improve the story.   Call it the Butterfly Effect, when you change one important thing then it effects almost everything else in both small and big meanings.  We are given zero depth into the story, characters, or universe, meaning that all of the “big” events have zero impact or emotional toll.

Even if I had not known much about the books, I would still have problems with  Amazon’s Wheel of Time because none of the 5 main characters changed by the season's finale, they were the same people as they were at the start of the season, with a minor exception to Rand.  Missing too is the humor, that only arrived with the Ogre's introduction but he was killed off two episodes later.  As flawed as the first season of The Witcher was, Geralt had a strong arc from start to finish and he was a different person by the season finale, and the humor sprinkled throughout the season gave it an edge over the second season.

On the other hand, revealing the identity of the true Dragon Reborn was very well done.  For example, the misdirection in The Ways when Rand channel his power. I like that Rand put together all the events that reveal his powers and therefore his identity as the Dragon Reborn i.e. he had channeled in episode 3 when arguing with Dana, but he didn’t realize what that was. He remembered his memory of the mountain before he entered Tar Valon.  Most importantly, he thought about his odd conversation with Tam when he was trying to get him healed by Nynaeve.  Everything was believable.  We didn't get some big dramatic “Oh My God” moment. Rand figured it out.  He didn't t freak out or run to his friends. He went straight to Moiraine, ready to give his life for his friends and the world.  

In conclusion, I enjoyed watching Wheel of Time, the mystery of which of the 4 main characters is the Dragon Reborn kept my interest and in each episodes we learn more about each characters. The world building was fantastic and I wanted to learn more about this new world and where and how and what is the magic/One Source.  The cast was good too and they had very good chemistry with each other.  So it was good entertainment, and that’s just it.  Ultimately I was not interested in the individual characters as the show seemed more interested in reinventing the wheel of fantasy tropes.

Two River village = the Shire Trollocs = Orcs + Wraiths who can't cross deep river Moiraine = Gandalf Rand = Frodo Lan = Strider

[cannoli-reader]

Shohreh Aghdashloo might be coming to WoT as Cadsuane.

On the one hand, I want to be happy, because she's excellent and another (vastly superior) Amazon adaptation of a genre series demonstrated just how good she can be when asked to play something deeper or more interesting than "Middle-eastern character's wife/mother."

On the one hand, there is some commonality between her two Amazon characters.  Both are older women, sharp, intelligent, formidable forces in their worlds and very direct, at times, off-puttingly so to the main characters.  

On the other hand, Crisjen Avrasarala on "The Expanse" is rather foul-mouthed.  This serves her characterization well, because her character lives on Earth, albeit some centuries in the future, but as a UN official, who wears elaborate & elegant South Asian garb, her profanity is a jarring contrast to the clean, well-lit settings in which she moves, and the elitist ruling class of the solar system who are generally the people she speaks to. It conveys a sense of authenticity to her character, as well as the impression that she is a wildcard who doesn’t play by the rules and is sufficiently imposing that even powerful people have to swallow her discourtesy.  But to a shallow viewer, the most important thing about Avrasarala is how funny it is that she drops f-bombs in diplomatic conferences and cabinet meetings.

And I have a sinking feeling that is exactly what That Show is going to be doing with her.  Cadsuane is going to be all "I'm the goddam best at hunting male fucking channelers!" and "That fucking Elaida has ruined the boy's chances of trusting us!" or "No more bullshit! Eat your fucking dinner off the fucking floor, Semirhage, you fucking bitch!"  

And yes, the idea of this show going the 12 seasons needed to get to that last scene in book-pacing, is pretty appalling, but I don't trust Judkins and co to leave that stuff in their proper place.  The producers are clearly Aes Sedai fans, and could not bear to wait until season 2, when they actually showed up in the books, to introduce their faves.  Just the fact that they are talking about casting Cadsuane when only season 3 has been approved is just another sign of their impatience, as she showed up for the first time in book 7.  (Chronologically, of course, her first appearance was “New Spring” which is even worse, from a meta perspective, because it is from that book we got Kerene and her time-sucking tragic warder, Steppin)

This is just another example of the TV adapters thinking as long as they show an event, they can check a plot point off the list, and are doing the story justice.  The timing of Cadsuane's appearance on the scene was important, because it comes on the heels of the main characters all riding high.  Rand is not only the leader of a multinational quasi empire with unmatched military power, he has founded his channeling organization and defeated the White Tower in a confrontation, holding Aes Sedai as captives and sworn servants, as well as being an object of religious veneration for some.  The female characters have all achieved Aes Sedai status and it has been revealed that the rules of the Tower place them above every other Aes Sedai in rank and status.  Cadsuane is there to illustrate to the leads that their power has limits and all of it won't do much good if they don't use it properly. She is the sword in the titular crown that jabs the wearer's head.  She is the slave riding beside a triumphant Roman general whispering in his ear, "Remember you are mortal."  She is there to prepare the readers for the characters' struggles to come, which seem inconceivable to those who can only see the power and potential for success accumulating around the leads.  

So what is the point of putting her in season 3?  Are they all going to be riding so high that it's already time for their thematic stumbles? Judkins has stated that Book 4 is his favorite, in a context suggesting he's going to compress "The Great Hunt" and "The Dragon Reborn" into one season to rush to his favorite story.  A theme of "The Shadow Rising" is revelation, including the exposure of the true quality of the good guys (and some less good).  It's also where we get our first real look at White Tower politics, almost as if the White Tower split and attempted coup is a revelation of the institution's true character and quality, the same way that Nynaeve defeating Moghedian, Elayne rescuing the Panarch of Tarabon, Rand outwitting Lanfear, out-strategizing Moiraine & capturing Asmodean or Perrin saving the Two Rivers reveals the truth about them.  And it's all built on what comes before.  

This book is so beloved, because the characters with whom the readers identify come away with such impressive wins.  We had three books of them struggling as the underdogs, as fugitives and as subordinates, and now suddenly showing that just maybe they CAN pull off saving the world. This feeling was earned by their struggles, and made clear by the books doing a lot of groundwork to make it clear how difficult these feats are, and what they mean in the context of the setting.  After after book 1, we had a good idea that the Aiel were scary and becoming their leader was impressive. Rand wiping out the Trollocs was with the aid of a resource that is used up in the act, in a context redolent with miraculous implications.  The Trollocs remain scary because we don't have another Eye of the World, and the BIG VOICE has never returned, so it is a game-changer when Rand wipes them out in the Stone, and Perrin's defending the village, and preserving a place from the threat that previously always caused the heroes to leave (even in Tear, the protagonists left the Stone right after the attack, regardless of the fact of their win), was an unprecedented accomplishment for the kids.  Does a show WoTcher have any idea who or what the Forsaken are, to give context to Nynaeve winning a duel with one?  Because in book 1 we what happened the first time she went up against one.  On the show, the Trollocs are wiped out by five women, led by a dropout.  Admittedly, most of them died, but Egwene & Nynaeve had no idea what they were doing and one of them Healed the other, possibly from death.  So why should anyone be afraid of Trollocs showing up again, once they have a little training?

No matter how I look at it, I have no confidence that the showrunners know both what they are doing and anything about Wheel of Time.