Nynaeve’s accepted test was good TV but it broke a rule from the books. I get the TV series can’t be 100% true to the books but still…
Article below is a spoiler:
But I agree overall. Season 2 seems much better. I’m enjoying it. I double-agree Elayne is right on the money and Liandrin is an interesting menace. Love both characters. Well done.
I will say I am missing Siuan Sanche (played by Sophie Okonedo) as the Amyrlin Seat. She was a standout last season.
I kinda thought they’d get Rand to the Aiel before now. The Selene thing seems…different (I read the books 20 years ago so addled mind).
Regarding Selene:
We saw one Forsaken released in Season 1 (Ishmael)…when did Lanfear get out?
That article is pretty darn wrong, imho. In the books, the arches appear for Nynaeve, then vanish, then reappear. It doesn’t play out at all the same, as it’s just a few minutes later, not years of experienced time. But she basically channels and wills them to reappear, and they do.
Bayle Domon mentioned that some “calendar wheel” or something in Cairhien had recently broken. Combining that with what we saw of the Eye, it seems logical that in the show, each Forsaken is locked in their own Cuendillar prison, and escapes when it breaks. So Lanfear broke out of a prison near Cairhien, and then ensnared Rand.
Definitely pretty dissimilar from the books, but I have no problem with it. Rand meeting Selene in the portal stone world and being so trusting of her was always pretty ridiculous, and I don’t think would have played well on screen at all.
Which makes one wonder how she knew to go after Rand? I’m finding a timeline hard to follow here. Is she in contact with Ishmael and updated on current affairs and given marching orders?
Although, I get she has a thing for Lews Therin Telamon so…maybe moth to a flame? While we know the Forsaken work for the same boss they do not all have the same goals (or even like each other).
(Although something I always was curious about in the book series was how precisely the Forsaken were given their assignments. And of course they had to learn the current tongue, etc. I’ve always had a weird mental image of a three-day seminar at a Ramada in where they’re attending a series of talks about current day culture, language, map, etc., sniping at each other, eating donuts, etc.)
This reminds me of an episode of the TV show “Supernatural” where the guys stumble upon a convention of older, has-been gods at a motel. Hijinks ensue.
Tel’aran’rhiod? I mean, I dunno. Seems a good place. Better than a Ramada (probably).
It seems better than season one. If for no other reason that I couldn’t remember any major details about season one. I recognized the actors but couldn’t remember any of their names or what their deals were.
Yes, they fired him right when they broke for a Covid break in filming in season 1. They ran into a warp point that would allow them to cross great distances and he got left behind. I told my wife at the time that it was clear they re-wrote that so they could get rid of the actor.
Next we saw him, that one lady had him capture in a cell.
He was in the cell because he had been tainted by the knife from Shadar Logoth (the city). Moiraine is afraid he will turn to the dark side so she had the Red Ajah capture him. Padan Fain now has the knife which makes him even worse.
I’m liking it a lot more than season 1. I just hope Amazon gives them enough seasons, and doesn’t cancel it after season 3.
Even though they’ve changed a lot of things, I feel like the story and characters are within the spirit of the original, which is not something I thought was true of season 1.
I mostly agree, although I thought there were spots in season 1 where it nailed the feeling. Season 2 is succeeding at what season 1 aimed for, but only fitfully achieved, imho.
It’s definitely a departure from the source material. That said, as she “came back”, you could see black dots in her eyes, which are the sign of using the True Power. A fairly reasonable argument I’ve seen made on reddit is that in the books, if you kill a forsaken, they stay dead, until the DO puts their soul in a new body. So they’re unkillable without balefire… but this just cuts out the middleman, and reduces the confusion of having new actors show up, yada yada yada
Overall, I think the Lan subplot (despite the actor’s best efforts) is dragging things down, but I’m really enjoying everything else.
It has been a long, long time since I read the books so, big grain of salt with this. Also, the spoiler below is from the book so may be a BIG BIG spoiler to those here watching the show (cuz it hasn’t happened yet).
IIRC, Moiraine was stilled in the books (although it was different from the show…I think). So, the show is kind of following what happens from the source material.
I will say, the show seems to be giving a light touch to what it means to be stilled (cut off from the source). In the books it is a death sentence. People who have been still lose the will to live and will usually try to kill themselves. Not immediately…but within a few weeks or so. If prevented, severe depression ensues and they waste away. So far, Moiraine and Logain are kinda doing better than they should (and is why Moiraine tempts Logain to help teach Rand how to channel by offering him a dagger which he would use to kill himself…and he goes for the offer.
WARNING…MAYBE BIG SPOILER (from books, not in the show yet): Nynaeve, who is excellent at healing when she can get her shit together, reverses Moiraine being stilled…something thought impossible.
That doesn’t change that I hate the trope itself. It just means I’d hate it there, too. Although it doesn’t happen in the books, from what I can tell from online commentary (I only read The Eye of the World but it didn’t happen there)