Thoughts on Season 2 of Wheel of Time TV series?
Thoughts on Season 2 of Wheel of Time TV series?
I haven't seen all the shows. And I'm not a purist, the show script doesn't have to follow the books as scripts are creations of the show writers. I just enjoy seeing it come to life on screen. I enjoyed season 1 with all the faults and all. have mixed feelings about season 2 so far. I just want to hear what others' thoughts are on it.
I am really loving S2; every episode has been amazing.
Same here! I generally enjoyed season 1, though the last episodes were a bit of a letdown (due to Covid). Season 2 has been stellar and improved upon almost everything.
I've read the books, and to my own surprise, I'm okay with the changes they've made. I might get some criticism for this, but I think the show is doing some things better than the books. They've kept the spirit of the books alive, even with all the major changes they've introduced, IMO.
I agree. I'm actually really glad that the show is different, because now I get to experience this story that I love for the first time - a second time!
Yea I'm reading the books now and am still behind the show (though not by much now, finished book 1 a couple of days ago). And so far my experience comparing them with the show has been surprisingly favourable to the show's adaptation choices. From the negative responses I figured there'd be obvious mistakes all over the place. But so far I feel like they're doing a nice job, especially given the time constraints they're under.
spoilers for book 1 and early book 2
Small examples ... introducing Liandrin and the relationship between Moraine and the Amyrlin early makes a lot of sense.
I've been enjoying season 2 more than season 1. Season 1 had some visible clunkiness, while season 2 feels tighter and more certain of itself.
Generally though, I think the show is suffering, as many shows are IME, from a lack of breathing room. 8 episodes can be rather constrictive and I suspect the show would benefit a lot from having 10 or 12 episode seasons. Something like Andor (star wars) being a good exemplar of what can be done with 12 episodes. Star Trek SNW has recently come up against this with the show runners openly calling out for having longer seasons. Generally, there seems to be a growing awareness that pushing too far into a Movie-like approach to run times can damage a TV show, and at 8 episodes, adapting source material like WoT, I suspect some damage is or is about to be done.
For me, every episode has been better than the one before it this season, and only 1 or 2 episodes from season 1 are actually on par with the average for season 2. The new character introductions have been on point, especially Aviendha today, and the Forsaken are WAY more intriguing and scary in the show than they were in the books.
The problems I have involve too little screen time for Mat (I want book 3 Mat ASAP), and not enough swordplay for Rand and Lan. But other than that, I am loving the show.
Totally agree on the Forsaken, looks like they've cut out and/or merged together all of the incompetent clowns so the remaining ones can get down to business
Yeah Lan talks way too much compared to the books LOL but that's fine. If he's going to be a character he has to talk. And yes Mat's role is where my beef is I guess. They are slowly re-integrating him back into the story line. Characters are not the same as in the books anymore. They've changed them to suit a TV show.
I've only finished EP3. I thought forsaken were pretty scary in the book too with supernatural abilities?
Characters are not the same as in the books anymore
I kinda disagree. A lot of people have said this, but I think what we're missing out is just the Chibi/Tolkien coloring of characters early on. If we readers saw any of these actors/characters dropped into another fantasy setting, our knee-jerk would be "wait, why the hell did they steal Mat from Wheel of Time for this show?"
Some of the growth curves were smoothed. They opened us with dark Mat, and they used the actor change to expedite us through that phase into the "Dovie'andi se tovya sagain" Mat we get for 5-6 books or so.
Heck, even Lan. I'd say he has a similar number of lines per scene as in the book. We just don't get nonstop internal monologue from characters saying "he's stony-faced and he never talks".
I’ve only finished EP3. I thought forsaken were pretty scary in the book too with supernatural abilities?
Why does everyone who criticizes the show "being different from the books" end up having a weak grasp of the books? Yes, the Forsaken are terrifying. They don't really have "supernatural abilities" beyond the One Power. They have a smattering of Talents (Semhirage is a scary-good healer, but we never really see her heal anyone... Lanfear and Moghedian are next-level Dreamwalkers, and Ishy has reasonable talent in that field, Rahvin and Graendal have Talent-level skill in Compulsion), but not much of anything else. They have access to the True Power, which has similarities with the One Power after a fashion, but can do some things the One Power cannot at a massive price.
There's quite a bit of exposition. And where the heck did Mat stuff those bricks?
Other than that, I think season two is fantastic. It's finally coming to it's own with characters, world building and establishing (if a slightly different) some magic rules. I'm having a blast. The casting is so blood and bloody ashes well done.
I have no knowledge of books. I just thought it was quite enjoyable to watch. Acting wasn't the best but I'm sure it will improve
This season is much better than the first. I have also changed my mindset when viewing it. When the first season was airing I kept noticing lots of inconsistencies with how the books are presented, and would get annoyed. This season I have approached it not as a direct adaptation, but as a show inspired by the books. This has made my viewing much more pleasurable, I find myself thinking "oh interesting, that's how they are depicting it!" A lot of depictions are absolutely not how I imagined it reading the books, but it is still fun to see someone else's interpretation of the material, and I am really enjoying the ride.
I enjoying it well enough to keep watching. I’ve found it a slight improvement over the first season, but I’ll reserve judgment til it’s finished airing. I don’t mind most of the changes made to the story so far, or at least the ones that have stood out enough from my hazy recollection of the book for me to notice, but a few have been unnecessary and have the characters acting out of character. I find rand and perrin irritating, but the other characters are fine. I agree that it is fun seeing this world brought to life and visualized. That’s been the most enjoyable part of the show for me so far.
I chafe at some of the changes from the books, but when trying to take it as its own thing I really enjoyed the second season. There are some changes that I look at and think "yeah, for the sake of making an adaptation to screen I can see why you would do that, nice." But then there are so, so many that just don't sit well with me. But putting those aside, the show is really engaging and well-made, I think.
I finished it and quite liked season 2. It made me up my rating on IMDB. But season one was understandable with all the trouble they had. I hope the show gets stronger and stronger.
S1 was garbage, and I refuse to watch S2.