# Legend of Earthsea on Sci FI Channel \[Warning: unboxed Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725 "2004-12-14T04:03:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/41 "2004-12-15T19:58:12Z")
> [@Hustle](#): > > Oh right, the fembot. I forgot about her. She stopped glowing but remains annoying throughout the series in a trying-to-be-sexy-but-just-isn’t kind of way, and she’s fairly integral to the plotlines so you can’t just close your eyes and pretend it’s a commercial break every time she’s on screen. But _apart_ from her, it’s a good show. It definitely deserves a chance. Why don’t you make a new thread for BG talk 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/42 "2004-12-15T20:17:24Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Why don’t you make a new thread for BG talk 😃 Smile when you say that, pardner! 🙂 (Whisley Tango Foxtrot is “BG”?) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/43 "2004-12-15T20:19:59Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > My wife and I are friends with Ursula LeGuin’s daughter. Wow. So ask her if “dark skinned” is Polynesian or African in Earthsea. I never noticed untill I saw it in a thread on the SDMB. And offer my apologies that some dummy did that to her Mother’s books, please. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/44 "2004-12-15T21:02:14Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Smile when you say that, pardner! > 🙂 > > (Whisley Tango Foxtrot is “BG”?) Battlestar Galactica of course 😉 I thought that would be evident from context. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/45 "2004-12-15T21:05:53Z")
Thank you, **gonzoron** , for that run-down on the mini-series. It sounds even more ghastly than I had imagined. I am very, very thankful I didn’t watch more than 30 minutes of it. But I think the worst think I’ve heard is that Vetch was treated as a comic relief sidekick. Please, those of you who haven’t read the books, don’t believe that. I love Vetch, who is, in the books, a kind, brave, intelligent and competent man. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/46 "2004-12-15T21:29:04Z")
> [@Jess](#): > > But I think the worst think I’ve heard is that Vetch was treated as a comic relief sidekick. Please, those of you who haven’t read the books, don’t believe that. I love Vetch, who is, in the books, a kind, brave, intelligent and competent man. Well, he wasn’t Jar Jar Binks. But he was much more of a wise cracker than in the books. His kindness, bravery, and competence were there, especially in his saving Ged from the mob on Iffish (renamed to Vemish for the same lack of reason as the Ged/Sparrowhawk switch), and his dialogue to Yarrow about deciding to go with Ged. But also added was the “fat guy who loves food” cliche and the “wiseass sidekick” cliche. :rolleyes: Ah! Terrenon! That’s the name I couldn’t remember. The Terrenon plot was removed, that’s the one I was aluding to above. And the eunich was Manan, not Manon. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/47 "2004-12-16T00:20:23Z")
Now that it has been shown UKL gives here reaction: [http://trashotron.com/agony/columns/2004/12-15-04.htm](http://trashotron.com/agony/columns/2004/12-15-04.htm) Brian ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/48 "2004-12-16T01:35:43Z")
I’ll go ahead and ask it here, even though it isn’t strictly on topic – have any of you read the latest Earthsea books – Tales of Earthsea and The Other Wind? I read Tehanu when it first came out and wasn’t mad about it – it was too far from my long-held vision of how Ged ended. And so I never re-read it, and never read the two new books. But now I’m thinking of giving Tehanu a second try, and reading the new ones as well. Are they recommended? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/49 "2004-12-16T01:43:36Z")
> [@Jess](#): > > it was too far from my long-held vision of how Ged ended. Dammit. I’m beginning to remember why I didn’t read it… ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/50 "2004-12-16T08:55:33Z")
> [@Jess](#): > > I’ll go ahead and ask it here, even though it isn’t strictly on topic – have any of you read the latest Earthsea books – Tales of Earthsea and The Other Wind? I read Tehanu when it first came out and wasn’t mad about it – it was too far from my long-held vision of how Ged ended. And so I never re-read it, and never read the two new books. But now I’m thinking of giving Tehanu a second try, and reading the new ones as well. Are they recommended? They aren’t as bad as **Tehanu** , which I thoroughly hated - **Tales Of Earthsea** contains a few short stories and a novella, which is in a similar vein to **Tehanu** : of the short stories, one features Ged in his maging days, another is about how Ogion and his master stilled the earthquake. Interesting, but not essential. **The Other Wind** pretty much carries on as **Tehanu** left off, with the links between humans and dragons explained: Ged is less useless than he was in **Tehanu** , but not being a wizard any more, doesn’t have much to do. It’s OK, and well enough written, but for me the original trilogy stands so well on its own that the sequels only cheapened it. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/51 "2004-12-16T15:16:24Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Now that it has been shown UKL gives here reaction: > [Re-Direct](http://trashotron.com/agony/columns/2004/12-15-04.htm) > > Brian [Slate.com](http://Slate.com) also has a [similar article from UKL](http://slate.msn.com/id/2111107/). ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/52 "2004-12-16T15:17:06Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Now that it has been shown UKL gives here reaction: > [Re-Direct](http://trashotron.com/agony/columns/2004/12-15-04.htm) > > Brian Part of this was published on MSN slate today. Just an FYI for anyone interested. And latecomer, ironically, beats me by mere seconds. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/53 "2004-12-16T15:41:53Z")
I wonder what her reaction would be if (other than race) the miniseries was reasonably faithful to the plot/characters of the books. Or if the miniseries was set in the Earthsea “universe” but involved stories and charaters not in the books (and meaking it clear that was the case) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725/54 "2004-12-16T21:19:26Z")
I think “McMagic” probably sums up her idea of the plot. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legend-of-earthsea-on-sci-fi-channel-warning-unboxed-spoilers/279725.md?page=2)