The Wheel of Time

Phoenix

I’m the hostess of the dinner
Pronouns
He/Him
Joined
Apr 9, 2005
Messages
32,278
The Wheel of Time turns and ages come and pass leaving memories that become legend :disco:



Looks friggin amazing. The colors are so saturated and beautiful and Rosamund sounds so cool. I love the books and this trailers makes it look good.
 
it's weird how it's almost impossible to see any fantasy television now without immediately noticing everything it borrows from Game of Thrones. which in itself was maybe not original, but is definitely the reference point for every fantasy series made since.

anyway this looks like silly high budget fun and Rosamund is obviously in high serve mode :disco:
 
That does look very pretty and potentially quite exciting.

Amazon going all in on the fantasy with this and LotR.
 
Disappointed as I thought this was a topic about a new game show. As much as I love Rosamund Pike, this is 100% not for me :(

Don’t be a dark friend Ellie :(
 
Quite a long piece on this:

https://www.gq.com/story/inside-amazons-wheel-of-time

Interesting to read that one of the leads was mysteriously recast between seasons one and two.
the replacement and the OG

the_wheel_of_time.jpg


casting nailed it! :D
 
I do like that they modeled the look of the White Cloaks on Richard Spencer and his ilk of Proud Boys



The mustaches :D
 
it looks very... YA.

The books are not and this seems pretty faithful in terms of tone. They’re not GoT dark (and this trailer is trying hard to show you that this is more colorful livelier world) but they’re not that simple.
 
I wasn't wild about the first episode in the village, but by the third things had bedded in quite a bit.

Some of the lines that Rosamund has to deliver though, especially in that opening episode... :D
 
Yeah the first episode was a bit rushed but it slowly grew that by the third episode I thought they hit their stride.

I’m enjoying the cast, they’re all pretty good and as someone who read the books I can tell who these people are.

I can’t wait to meet more Aes Sedai. Liandrin is hamming it up to the max.
 
I've never heard of these books but I will definitely give this a go. It looks great.

Have Amazon actually had a proper Netflix-level hit yet? When you think of all the money they've put into original programming, they haven't exactly captured the zeitgeist yet have they?

I suppose Transparent was a bit of a phenomenon for a couple of years, but more for critics than a massive audience.

I'm sure LOTR will be massive, but it would be nice to see them win with something less obvious.
 
They kinda claimed Fleabag.

The Boys is definitely their biggest hit along with Maisel. Invincible was buzzy for an animated show. They don’t even do the viewing numbers like Netflix and Disney+ so I don’t get their strategy other than it’s the service everyone has because they use prime.
 
I forgot about The Boys. I've never watched that but it feels a bit more like a cult following than a huge breakout. I keep meaning to watch it, it feels like one of those minor HBO shows that everyone who watches it loves it.
 
I’d say The Boys is quite big, they even managed to get a Best Drama nomination at the Emmys for it.
 
Didn't that drama about standup comedy with Rachel Brosnahan do really well for Amazon?

I think in general though Prime is just uncool and more used by shoppers who are subscribing for free delivery, so I don't see it having a big cultural watershed moment. but could be wrong.

I guess the big litmus test will be the Lord of the Rings series next year. it will be the most expensive show ever I believe?
 
I have prime but barely use it in comparison to Netflix. I liked American Gods but not enough to finish the second season.
 
I think Prime’s movie collection is better than Netflix. I use prime all the time but as I’m thinking about it, it’s almost all movies, the good series on there are usually acquisitions that I’ve missed on other channels the first time round.

I think their algorithms are better than Netflix too. I use their “movies we think you’ll like” thread a lot. They do tend to be less picky than Netflix, they still have a lot of that b movie shite that Netflix is more likely to reject these days. But their catalogue of old movies is better I think.
 
finally started this. tried watching with friends a week ago and it didn't go well - no one was paying attention and it looked awful on those big hd tvs so we stopped it halfway through.

i still don't like the look of it (neither the costumes, nor the style overall) and i don't like the young cast (i can't even say which one of them i find most unappealing) but i'm very much into the story as well as pike and her bodyguard - she had some cool moments with her powers and she is just overall such a slab of ham i live
 
Something is definitely off with it. Unfortunately the bar is set so high in this genre with LOTR and GoT that even Amazon’s billions can’t guarantee a win. You can compare every character and every scene with something you’ve seen before and it usually pales in comparison.

I’d almost go so far to say that there’s not enough plot exposition. GoT took heat early on for being very detail heavy and complex, but this one is just full of open ended plot details, suggestive comments and hints galore. Just fucking connect the dots already.

And I can’t take the kids seriously, which is worrying because apparently they are the core characters long term. The guy who killed his gf is good, the comedy relief guy is Ok, but the two leads are annoying and the girl is a terrible actress. It all feels very drama school with them and not great when you’re trying to create another world and atmosphere.

Obviously I’m sticking with it regardless. I’m only 3 episodes in.
 
agreed on every count.

i just finished episode 3 as well. it's very slight most of the time. the acting (apart from pike and henney), the writing, the impact - it's just not quite there.
 
The Sophie Okonedo episode ended up being easily the best I think, probably because it was light on the dreary youths. Egwene is especially grating.

Going to start on the second season of The Witcher now, from what I remember it was a bit better than this.
 
I was also ready to come in here and have a proper moan but I watched episode 6 today (the Sophie episode) and I’ve warmed to it finally, largely because of QoL Sophie, the first truly likeable character, and by association Moraine who is now so more likeable following the secret lesbian scandal reveal. That whole sequence was great, including all the White Tower politics between the reds and greens and what nots.

So of course as soon that gets interesting they LEAVE the White Tower and we’re back with the awful kids again who really are all terrible.

There’s also too much magic and not enough earthy storytelling.

Sticking with it!
 
Yes the tower politics stuff was great. More of that and less of the channelling with the endless swooshy effects.
 
I thought the finale was decent but also a bit confusing. The first book is not the strongest and it has a very messy ending so they pruned it as much but also made some weird choices (the did not know what to do with Perrin and the Mat actor leaving did not help).

However, the flashbacks at the beginning of each episode were great (especially 7) and I find the cast to be uniformly good. The young ones are meant to be dumb so we watch them grow.

Also that closing shot :disco: The Seanchen (the boat people) looked pretty cool.
 
I have a lot of spoiler-y thoughts about what’s to come but I’m here for all the things they planted this season to pay off.
 
Let me finish the last two episodes and you can FILL ME IN :ken: I've never read the books so I know nothing and happy to engage in speculation.
 
the stuff in the tower was definitely my favourite as well as the (ridiculous) opening scene with pouty ginger's mom labouriously :basil: fighting off a dozen men.

still hate the kids, nynaeve leading a very strong pack of unlikeableness. petulant and contrary and surface. hope we never see matt again :)

ps, google is telling me this is the actress that plays nynaeve a few years ago

2018-nickelodeon-kids-choice-awards-held-at-the-forum-in-inglewood-california-featuring-zoe-robins-where-inglewood-california-united-states-when-24-mar-2018-credit-nicky-nelsonwenncom-MFM5J6.jpg


did she have a face/race transplant?
 
Also I couldn't help but snigger internally at every mention of the trollocs, trolloc wars etc.
 
The LOTR references at the start were ridiculous also. It’s less influence more tribute but in the shows case it borders on troll(oc)ing at times - four young village folk have a secret that exposes them to a dark force, their village is under attack so they are rescued by a magical elder and they flee and head to the city, but first they have to cross the river on a boat to avoid the monsters and they end up resting at a nearby inn.

:eyes:
 
Yeah the first book is very much a LotR inspired road trip. The show adapts the book so :side-eye:
 
What I meant was it probably seems more blatant side by side when watching the show (I haven’t read the books but often the drawn out detail can mask any blatant references, harder to do when a show has to focus on the main plot points)
 
Nope it pretty clear in the book as well. It’s not a several POV book with different regions like GoT. You’re mostly in the Dragon Reborn’s pov, with a sprinkling of the others once they split (none from Moiraine).

So the show has actually done a lot to make this an ensemble from the beginning.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom