Wheel of Time Discussion - Spoilers(with book spoilers)

[Maxperson]

I also don't like little changes like Loial not opening the Ways, or no mention of the word "ta'veren" (although that may still be coming).

They've mentioned Ta'veren several times in the show, starting in episode 1.

One could argue that, given the cyclical nature of tie, Lews Therin was also a Dragon Reborn, but that the "Dragon" is reborn at the end of each Age.

They didn't know that, though. In the age of legends, nobody remembered any prior Dragon, so Lews Therin was the Dragon, not the Dragon Reborn.

 

[Mercurius]

One element of the series that I find a bit awkward from a world-building sense, is the hodge-podge multiculturalism. I have no issue with the showrunners making it (far) more multicultural than in the books, but as a world-builder, the lack of any internal consistency is annoying.

The only vaguely consistent element that I've seen is that Borderlanders seem to be Asian. This could be developed in an interesting way, if it was implied that they migrated from Shara at some point in the past. But starting at the beginning, the Two Rivers looked more like contemporary Brooklyn than it did an isolated mountain region set in any part of the world. Meaning, it isn't that it didn't look like Scotland; it didn't look like the Andes or Papua New Guinea, either.

I mean, I suppose one could argue that in the future that is Randland, all ethnicities would have mixed (just as some say, eventually we'll all look like Brazilians...which isn't a bad thing). But even so, I would think homogeneity would make more sense, so maybe everyone looks like Aram (if not everyone being that annoyingly handsome).

And before you get into a tither about what may seem--on a shallow reading--me complaining about the prevalence of POC, that is not at all what I am saying, so please don't go there. I am talking about world-building aesthetics and integrity, and the rather important tenets of verisimilitude and internal consistency. In that regard, Wheel of Time is an absolute mess.

What I think they should have done is decide on different regions of the continent having more specific ethnic characteristics, modeling them after real-world types, if only for the sake of drawing upon pools of actors. They could still have Nynaeve be played by the same actress given her origin as coming from somewhere other than the Two Rivers, although Egwene and Perrin would make less sense, or at least require a bit of alteration to their backstories. Again, they only really did this with the Borderlands, and maybe Siuan Sanche and the folks of the south (Tear, I believe).

And don't get me started on Rand's mom looking like a Scotswoman....a pale-skinned desert people? Hmm...

 

[Mercurius]

They've mentioned Ta'veren several times in the show, starting in episode 1.

Oh, I missed that.

They didn't know that, though. In the age of legends, nobody remembered any prior Dragon, so Lews Therin was the Dragon, not the Dragon Reborn.

Yeah, but it is implied in their knowledge of time. Everyone seems to know that people are reborn, again and again, so why wouldn't the Dragon be reborn again and again?

Meaning, I think it is an easy adjustment or clarification to the lore.

 

[Parmandur]

And don't get me started on Rand's mom looking like a Scotswoman....a pale-skinned desert people? Hmm...

That, at least is straight from the book.

The fact of the matter is that ethnographic accuracy is not really a thing for TV and movies.

 

[Maxperson]

And don't get me started on Rand's mom looking like a Scotswoman....a pale-skinned desert people? Hmm...

There's a good reason for her to look like that.

 

[Maxperson]

Oh, I missed that.

No worries. We all miss things.

Yeah, but it is implied in their knowledge of time. Everyone seems to know that people are reborn, again and again, so why wouldn't the Dragon be reborn again and again?

Yes, but they don't name their kids, "Lew Therin Telamon Reborn" or "Mierin Reborn." I mean, everyone is reborn, so it literally goes without saying.

Lews Therin Telamon earned the appellation Dragon at some point during the War of Power. He wasn't born with it, so they wouldn't have added "reborn" to that in any case.

 

[MarkB]

No worries. We all miss things.

Yes, but they don't name their kids, "Lew Therin Telamon Reborn" or "Mierin Reborn." I mean, everyone is reborn, so it literally goes without saying.

Lews Therin Telamon earned the appellation Dragon at some point during the War of Power. He wasn't born with it, so they wouldn't have added "reborn" to that in any case.

As a non-book-reader, calling him the Dragon Reborn did a better job of tying in that scene and character with what Rand was going through.

The one thing that didn't really work for me was the sudden introduction of the little statuette McGuffin-thing that Rand would have to channel through in order to win. It serves an okay purpose in clueing Moiraine in to his true intentions at the end, but for viewers it basically comes out of nowhere, to the extent that I half-expected it to be some kind of trick to misdirect Rand's power, perhaps let Moiraine capture it for her own use.

 

[Maxperson]

As a non-book-reader, calling him the Dragon Reborn did a better job of tying in that scene and character with what Rand was going through.

If I hadn't read the books, I don't think I would have had difficulty tying in a scene naming the man who is going to fight the Dark One, Dragon, to the future Dragon Reborn. Especially since he was going to be doing in a way that would corrupt the One Power, clearly indicating this was a scene set in the past. They've talked over and over again about people being reborn.

The one thing that didn't really work for me was the sudden introduction of the little statuette McGuffin-thing that Rand would have to channel through in order to win. It serves an okay purpose in clueing Moiraine in to his true intentions at the end, but for viewers it basically comes out of nowhere, to the extent that I half-expected it to be some kind of trick to misdirect Rand's power, perhaps let Moiraine capture it for her own use.

Yeah. Add that to the list of things that I didn't like. Rand gets that little statue in a different way and it represents(in the books at least) more than just what Moiraine told him. He didn't get it until after the Eye of the World encounter.

 

[Mercurius]

There's a good reason for her to look like that.

Well, I don't remember if the Aiel were pale in the books - it has been 25 years since I ready any of them other than Eye. It doesn't make sense, though, from a purely anatomical sense, unless she was from the northern wastes.

 

[Mercurius]

No worries. We all miss things.

Yes, but they don't name their kids, "Lew Therin Telamon Reborn" or "Mierin Reborn." I mean, everyone is reborn, so it literally goes without saying.

Lews Therin Telamon earned the appellation Dragon at some point during the War of Power. He wasn't born with it, so they wouldn't have added "reborn" to that in any case.

Yeah, I still think it makes sense - especially coming from the Amyrlin Seat. It is acknowledging that he's not the "first Dragon," with the assumption being that a singular soul is reborn every age to fulfill a certain role.