Wheel of Time Discussion - Spoilers(with book spoilers)

[Parmandur]

Good episode. It's really rocketing along.

They haven't explained the heron-marked blade yet. Am I misremembering, or by this point in the story hadn't that gotten Rand into trouble a couple of times already? It makes his father's backstory very interesting and deep -- might have made the reveal in this episode stronger.

Yhat really kicks into gear with book 2, I believe, when he actually knows how to use it enough to get into trouble.

 

[MarkB]

Where's Loial? Why is he even on this trip? If they didn't need him to open to the ways why is he along?

I'm starting to think that maybe they had a logistical problem during production, like maybe Loial's actor wasn't available during some of the shooting schedule. We had what felt like a missing scene a couple of episodes ago, where we should have seen him meet Nynaeve in the Tower before bringing her to see Rand and Mat, and now in this episode he's prominent in the whole Ways sequence and then absent for almost the entire time they're inside the city.

 

[Mordhau]

Thom specifically mentioned the veiling when they buried the dead Aiel a few episodes ago. So it's been mentioned, but for some reason some people aren't cutting this episode's Aiel any slack for, you know, being in the middle of childbirth...

It didn't really bother me but it seemed odd that they interpreted the veil as being something like a mask that stops you breathing properly and therefore she takes it off.

The problem with this is that a group of badass warriors who wear masks that inhibit their breathing is silly.

Mind you, I'm not sure, if it's really possible to have the veil and not have it inhibit breath, so maybe it's the basic concept that is flawed (but if so it's probably not the best idea to draw attention to it).

 

[Parmandur]

It didn't really bother me but it seemed odd that they interpreted the veil as being something like a mask that stops you breathing properly and therefore she takes it off.

The problem with this is that a group of badass warriors who wear masks that inhibit their breathing is silly.

Mind you, I'm not sure, if it's really possible to have the veil and not have it inhibit breath, so maybe it's the basic concept that is flawed (but if so it's probably not the best idea to draw attention to it).

I mean, childbirth is extenuating circumstances, and the environment of Tar Valon is very different from the Wastes.

 

[Mordhau]

I mean, childbirth is extenuating circumstances, and the environment of Tar Valon is very different from the Wastes.

And fighting for your life generally would not be?

Medieval Knights had helmets that inhibited their breathing, but they at least got massive protection from it (and even then they may have often fought with their visors open).

A custom that makes it harder to breathe would not last very long for a culture of warriors.

 

[Parmandur]

And fighting for your life generally would not be?

Medieval Knights had helmets that inhibited their breathing, but they at least got massive protection from it (and even then they may have often fought with their visors open).

A custom that makes it harder to breathe would not last very long for a culture of warriors.

It's a custom that preserves body moisture and protects from sunburn.

 

[Mordhau]

It's a custom that preserves body moisture and protects from sunburn.

But the series suggests inhibits breathing.

So you take if off when you start fighting. Rather than the opposite.

 

[Parmandur]

So, I'm about 7 hours into the Rosamund Pike audio book now, which brings me up to about episode 2 in terms of the shows plot.

There is an incredible amount of information in these early chapters that sets up events from 13 books latter very intentionally. This is one of the greatest fests of literary planning, except for the pacing (the original outline called for a trilogy, and the first planned book actually was supposed to end with what became the the climax of book 3...).

I am also struck that, perhaps more than ever Tolkien, this would be unfilmable in q strict one to one fashion: almost everything written is Rand's internal POV cut with information that he misses due to his cognitive biases.

 

[Parmandur]

But the series suggests inhibits breathing.

So you take if off when you start fighting. Rather than the opposite.

A true badass will fight with one hand tied behind their back. Another point is to minimize broadcasting information to an opponent.

 

[Zardnaar]

A true badass will fight with one hand tied behind their back. Another point is to minimize broadcasting information to an opponent.

It looked badass on camera.
That's all you need.