|
Anyway I kept being impressed and kind of shocked at how they’ve somehow yanked all the plot threads back together until they’re almost spot-on aligned with the book all of a sudden.
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 04:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 21:10 |
|
|
nine-gear crow posted:Also who were the other Forsaken that Lanfear namedropped? I'll have to go back and watch the scene myself later but I think I heard Moghedien and Graendal, and "the boys", which is like... Honey, do you have ANY idea how little that narrows it down? Demandred, Sammael, Rahvin all feel possible, no point in Aginor or Balthamel, and Belal is so hysterically useless. Asmo might be replaced by Logain.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 04:34
|
|
|
CainFortea posted:iirc from season 1 they changed it. It's always "The Dragon Reborn" because they seem to recognize the cyclic nature of souls. So there is no first dragon. In the book there is always a hero of the Light, but it seems like it was only in the second age when he was given the moniker of The Dragon. I imagine that there's been a lot of names that he's gone by through the ages. Totally get why they'd simplify it for the show, though. I do wish Lews would be mentioned by name more often but they seem to be doing their best to limit the number of proper nouns being thrown around and that's fine.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 04:41
|
|
|
The show is gonna turn into the Forsaken happy hour since they’re the only actors who know what kind of show they’re in.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 04:41
|
|
|
Barthanes is such a dweeb, I kind of love him. Are we to assume that him becoming a Darkfriend is actually what turned the fortunes of House Damodred around? No idea how much they're going to get into Cairhienin politics but that would be a fun wrinkle
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 04:45
|
|
|
Invalid Validation posted:The show is gonna turn into the Forsaken happy hour since they’re the only actors who know what kind of show they’re in. Fares Fares and Natasha O'Keefe understood the assignment of "you're a pair of shithead mini bosses in a JRPG, act accordingly."
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 04:59
|
|
|
Jeez it's almost like the writers of this high-profile TV show are good at writing TV shows.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 05:12
|
|
|
It’s upsetting how I went into this season for a hatewatch because of how much I disliked the first season and they went ahead and made a good show instead. I don’t know how to reconcile these feelings.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 05:21
|
|
|
I suddenly remember the reason I made my AOL password lanfear for a while in high school. Very good episode dinged only by no Mat and Min. I don't miss Lan, though.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 05:30
|
|
|
Dr. Clockwork posted:It’s upsetting how I went into this season for a hatewatch because of how much I disliked the first season and they went ahead and made a good show instead. I don’t know how to reconcile these feelings. I'm in largely the same position, though I still think some things in S02 are dumb changes. This ep was pretty good but I think the collaring looked hella stupid and dumb, with the silver lining that it hopefully implies they won't be afraid to show "past ages" sci-fi poo poo. Give us the Mercedes logo and the pulse rifles. The Forsaken are good, and as much as everyone was happy we weren't gonna get the "Lanfear was just pretending to be younger and not as hot" she basically gets that hotgrrl transformation every time she shows up in TAR. I like how they made Dane Bornhold a pretty cool guy at first who just gets forced to do his duty when Perrin won't leave a prisoner alone. Assuming he follows the same trajectory as the books, it'll make it a much more engaging arc.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 05:34
|
|
|
Remember when they announced Natasha O'Keefe and nerds decided she wasn't hot enough to play Lanfear lol Moghedian in the books is a lot of things but I wouldn't describe her as insane. I doubt that's just Lanfear being catty
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 05:39
|
|
|
drat, they really knocked that episode out of the park. They have really fixed most of the issues from season 1 and the expanded cast of villains is helping so much. I would be sad if Semirhage gets cut, she was the worst and I need her to be horrible and chew on scenery. Also, the wolves are a bit puny, but Hopper is the cutest drat wolf
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 05:45
|
|
|
Hopper is a Good Boy.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 05:46
|
|
|
Nihilarian posted:
I do think there's a bit of that (Moghedien and Lanfear did have a rivalry/talked poo poo about the other's skill in Tel'aran'rhiod), but could just as easily be a combination of some of the other's personalities I guess. I would be a little sad if we don't get the literally an investment banker forsaken background though lol. Watching a second time I think the only thing I'd have liked to see a little bit more of is Nynaeve fighting back when Egwene gets captured, kinda an "aw man" moment that Elayne is the only one to toss a lightning bolt back at them. I super appreciated the shot of Lanfear riding off towards Tar Valon, and then the immediate cut to a dark hooded rider entering the city.... But it's Verin. A+ teasing.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 05:54
|
|
|
The actress playing Lanfear is carrying the season IMO.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 05:55
|
|
|
FLIPADELPHIA posted:The actress playing Lanfear is carrying the season IMO. I wasn’t sold on Fares Fares at the end of season 1, but I get excited every time he shows up on screen now. Ishamael > Lanfear for me. The head decorations the Seanchan have—with Turak’s standing out a lot—are an interesting choice. Was that mentioned in the books, or is that new for the show?
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 06:03
|
|
|
oh poo poo it's tonight tonight. not looking at a post. blows my mind how it's not plastered all over my Prime "homepage" to Continue Watching more or less stream of consciousness: not sure why i was wondering about mask of mirrors -- would've fallen as she died briefly?? but I love "out" Lando moiraine continuing to do hard poo poo. definitely in the contract lmao at Lanny just popping homeboy's freaking dome. that's acceptable foresaken power to me im a randtarded fan boy, I keep saying "hop-per" softly when hopper on screen aviendha introducing herself YEAH I KNOW!!! I KNOW WHO YOU AREEEE I KNOW YOUR SEPT, ET CETERA Matrix Mouth? okay more layers to the dain thing Rand looks properly "early books Rand" here upon Barthanes meeting are we going to see a grey man??? it could be so cool haha when analyzing the handwriting I said "Compulsion????" then my girl V hops upon the biscuit the escape from the seanchan...not really different than having bumbling soldiers shoot just behind them. This is making me think SG1, not so much Vancouver though big LOL at the smoothness of Liandrin's Plot ishamael explaining how he's the only one who believes in the Dark, found all this clunky. But maybe that's cause I already know all the things they are trying to get across. And I do enjoy seeing the Forsaken interact. "Born Mine"? the way the collar worked, man I don't know! I did not picture it like that other Forsaken mentioned! I was hoping she might rattle all of them off fun ending, good to see that preview shot in context. *pointing* that's the wheel! Brolander fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Sep 15, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 06:11
|
|
|
Nihilarian posted:I doubt that's just Lanfear being catty Really? She is loving cat woman. Of course it's entirely possible she's being catty. Also maybe they're making Mogs like some kind of neurotic mess or something. Gwaihir posted:
Update for the new times. The Benz symbol should be a tesla symbol. And Mogs should be a crypto bro. She bursts from the seals going "WHERE ARE MY APES?!"
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 06:17
|
|
|
I fully expect Semirhage to be in. There are 4 female forsaken statues and only 5 female forsaken in the books. Moghedian and Graendal are confirmed in. That leaves Mesaana or Semirhage and Mesaana's appearance overlaps with Lanfear and Moghedian more.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 06:30
|
|
|
I took the comment to mean that Moggy and Graendal were the only other women, but I could be convinced that Lanfear thinks so little of Mesaana to not even mention her
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 06:40
|
|
|
Awesome episode. Verin is joining Ishamael as my joint favorites so far. Aviendha and Dain got great introductions, though I hope Gaul shows up later. I wonder if we'll actually see the older Bornhald again, or if we'll just get a scene of someone informing Dain that his dad died at Falme. The change to why the Aes Sedai have the three oaths seems like it causes a bunch of logical problems, and I'm not sure what they gain adaptation-wise from changing it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 09:04
|
|
|
Episode owns, I will take no questions.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 09:05
|
|
|
This was such a great episode. Verin being sneaky rules, Liandrin is fascinatingly complex (I actually hope she gets a redemption wtf), Hopper steals every scene he's in, Perrin and Dain bonding was a great start to their story, Aviendha might just be my new fave character, we got our first Forsaken Coffee Hour and Lanfear went full leather mommy. 10/10, no notes.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 09:22
|
|
|
Grundulum posted:I wasn’t sold on Fares Fares at the end of season 1, but I get excited every time he shows up on screen now. Ishamael > Lanfear for me. I remember them being described as "insectiod", in particular when discussing the soldier sorts more than the blood. I sort of pictured it more like a sort of samurai/lamellar armor with something more bug like for the oni mask. I've been happy with it so far in the show!
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 09:46
|
|
|
Nion posted:Awesome episode. Verin is joining Ishamael as my joint favorites so far. Aviendha and Dain got great introductions, though I hope Gaul shows up later. I wonder if we'll actually see the older Bornhald again, or if we'll just get a scene of someone informing Dain that his dad died at Falme. How is it a change? My recollection is that Hawkwing’s siege of the Tower was the impetus in the books, too. Edit: cursory research indicates that this may be true of two of the oaths, but the oath about weapons may be older? Either way, the discovery that the Oath rods weren’t like “good” and were actually a tool for binding criminals was a storyline in the books VanillaGorilla fucked around with this message at 11:51 on Sep 15, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 11:44
|
|
|
I know they're not gonna use actual wolves but I laugh every time they show Hopper and he's a knee-high dog. He still owns, don't get me wrong.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 12:59
|
|
|
Liandrin's framing of the oaths is good, and I think it's a good change to put more weight on the side of the oaths being stupid, because it was always a dumb thing in the books that Egwene was so incredibly married to them in spite of Nynaeve's arguments about how swearing to only tell the truth just made people go "....wait what, you gotta be putting one over on me somehow then"
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:02
|
|
|
Arrinien posted:I know they're not gonna use actual wolves but I laugh every time they show Hopper and he's a knee-high dog. He still owns, don't get me wrong. They are 28% wolf(dogs), so there some truth in them at least. https://www.wotseries.com/2020/06/16/meet-the-wheel-of-time-wolves/
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:02
|
|
|
They are Good Boys and that's all I need to know 
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:18
|
|
|
I liked that the episode boiled things down neatly about Egwene and Nynaeve that "one of them craves power, and the other fears it". I don't know if the book ever put it so glibly, but it worked well for the medium Since the show omits all the inner narratives and POV thoughts that take up so many untold hundreds of pages of book space, the way it tackles these kinds of interpersonal dynamics has to be both more show-don't-tell and also more explicit so you're sure to get the point of what is happening in a scene. Speaking of, I'm sure it speaks poorly of me and my TV watching skillz or whatever but I find it particularly challenging in this show to do the following exercise: - Scene changes; get my bearings as to where we are and what's going on and who the characters are - Parse all the dialogue and understand what's being said at the "what are the actual words they're saying" level - Scene comes to an end; now think about what was just said and what the scene actually accomplished re: the plot That third step takes a lot of effort for some reason. Whether it's something like - "Suroth wants to be more proactive and not pissfart around attacking small villages; Ishamael wants to take it slow and pulls rank" - "Anvaere tells Moiraine that Rand can defend himself and she realizes she's right and they should change tactics/set a trap" - "Aviendha owes Perrin for saving her life and will follow him to Falme if that's where he's going" - "Ishamael and Lanfear both think ... (can't remember exactly) about Rand but they're both contemptuous of all the other Forsaken, and Ishamael is contemptuous of Lanfear too in subtext because he thinks he's the only one who really understands and believes in the breaking of the Wheel, thinks Lanfear is wasting her time on a doomed romantic pursuit, I think" Stuff like that. Often a scene will end and I'll find myself going "OK, I understood all that. Wait... what the gently caress actually just happened" and rewinding to watch it again. A lot of text and subtext goes by in a given scene, and it's not that the dialogue or the character dynamics are difficult to understand or anything, but remembering all the context of each character's arc and motivations and previous scenes and the way they all fit together is exactly as challenging as the book is... which I guess is kind of an accomplishment lol
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:19
|
|
|
Turn on the subtitles and watch the show again in a few days to refresh yourself. Do you have any distractions going on while you watch?
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:32
|
|
|
Are the special effects just generally stronger this season, or is it in my head? Things like colored weaves for the elements, or that the ways look properly multilayered now. It makes me wonder if post production CGI was another aspect of the show affected by the pandemic.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:34
|
|
|
pik_d posted:Turn on the subtitles and watch the show again in a few days to refresh yourself. Do you have any distractions going on while you watch? I always have subtitles on. And no, I am insanely obsessive about keeping distractions away. Often in fact I feel like I'm paying too much attention, like I'm focusing so hard on making sure I didn't miss a single name or sound effect or lore detail or acting quirk or weird grunt that I miss the overall narrative thrust of the scene and I have to pause it and try to grind my way through it mentally like above before I can process what was actually being conveyed
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:38
|
|
|
Grundulum posted:Are the special effects just generally stronger this season, or is it in my head? Things like colored weaves for the elements, or that the ways look properly multilayered now. It makes me wonder if post production CGI was another aspect of the show affected by the pandemic. It was, more stuff had to be done with CGI, like the Trollocs attacking the circle of women in episode 8 so the budget was stretched thinner. The overall budget is higher now, I believe, so the quality of everything in the show has gone up.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:41
|
|
|
Data Graham posted:I always have subtitles on. And no, I am insanely obsessive about keeping distractions away. Maybe just watch it the first time by letting it wash over you and then watch it a second time later to pick up anything you missed? That way if you miss something the first time you can tell yourself that's what the rewatch is for.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:44
|
|
|
Grundulum posted:Are the special effects just generally stronger this season, or is it in my head? Things like colored weaves for the elements, or that the ways look properly multilayered now. It makes me wonder if post production CGI was another aspect of the show affected by the pandemic. It's definitely not in your head. One of the hardest hit factors from the covid disruption was VFX, there was a huge crunch and lack of capacity industry wide, everything was more expensive if it was possible at all. E: it's kinda also still a thing, VFX as an industry is in a similar rough state to games development in terms of abused constantly crunching staff, contractor instead of full time employee shenanigans, and lack of union protection. VFX demands from TV and movies continue to grow but the VFX companies continue to try and squeeze more blood from a stone. It's not good! Gwaihir fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Sep 15, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:47
|
|
|
One thing that really stood out to me this episode was the interaction between Verin and Sheriam. I can't really make it line up with Sheriam being Black Ajah and Verin knowing she's Black Ajah so I wonder if they're changing something about Verin's whole deal
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:58
|
|
|
Rarity posted:One thing that really stood out to me this episode was the interaction between Verin and Sheriam. I can't really make it line up with Sheriam being Black Ajah and Verin knowing she's Black Ajah so I wonder if they're changing something about Verin's whole deal She might not have managed to learn every single one of them yet. Came out of retirement just to do that, perhaps.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 13:59
|
|
|
I think it's pretty likely Verin knows about Sheriam, but the reverse isn't true. It read to me like Verin was somewhat playing with Sheriam or just confirming her suspicions. Outside of character motivations, it was a good chance to introduce us the audience to compulsion, and the idea of the black ajah being suspected but not really believed to exist, important stuff to have out there going forward.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 14:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 21:10 |
|
|
pik_d posted:Maybe just watch it the first time by letting it wash over you and then watch it a second time later to pick up anything you missed? That way if you miss something the first time you can tell yourself that's what the rewatch is for. Yeah, it's a tricky tactic. There's so much stuff out there I'm trying to blitz through (and specifically for the purpose of being able to absorb context and minute details from everything everyone else knows about, so it's a fool's errand) that I don't have time to rewatch anything
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 14:10
|
|