Exactly, ddd. He is such a nothingy character, I'm bored just thinking about him taking center stage. I still hope they have envisioned finishing this in 5-6 seasons.
It‘s very much an ensemble series starting with the second book, don‘t worry. But personally I like Rand and his story the most even though he has been overshadowed in the series by others so far.
Okay so ummmmm?? The finale was a bit of a ride but I’m not entirely sure what the hell was happening? Did they defeat the Dark One or not? Am I meant to gather from the opening scene that society was essentially super modern ie flying cars etc before the breaking? And that before the breaking men could channel and it wasn no big deal? Did the breaking cause the men who channel to slowly turn mad? Also if they’ve really severed Moiraine from the one power for good and we no longer get Rosamund serving camp armography I’ll be fuming. The tease in the very final scene was a bit of a gag tho! Wonder who they were?
Ok, I was slightly gagged by that lil flashback. Spoiler Men really did a number on the world to send it back to the medieval times.
Yes to all of that. They tried to seal the dark one into a prison but in doing so he touched their part of the power so now men get mad when they channel which in turn caused the breaking of the world. I‘m a bit lukewarm on the finale because of all the fake-out deaths, at least one of which kind of breaks the lore. But ready for season 2.
Okay this makes sense, thank you for the explanation! I still haven’t got round to reading the books but from a few bits of discussion I’ve seen on social media it seems the finale has deviated a fair bit from the the books so I’m now more inclined to start reading (that and I’m stuck in self isolation)
Good lord it's like Rosamund was acting with a brick wall in that finale, made all the difference when Daniel Henny finally appeared and had that touching moment with her. I miss episode 6 when the ENTIRE episode was her sashaying around The White Tower being a nuisance to everyone. More of that please.
Spoiler: Spoilers from the books The defeat of the apparent Dark One was meant to be ambiguous. A plotline in the first three books plays with his real identity. About Moiraine's "stilling", that was an invention by the show. I've read speculation that she may have only been temporarily blocked from reaching the Power. About the final scene, those people are called the Seanchan. They are descended from an ancient army from the same land as the Aes Sedai who went exploring the continent to the west. Now they're coming back to Randland to reclaim what was theirs. Spoiler: Spoiler about the "Dark One" Who Rand fought in the Eye of the World is not the real Dark One. He is one of the main Forsaken who is kind of posing to be the Dark One. The real Dark One is far more powerful than that man.
The finale was a bit obtuse, characters acting dumb and everything was a bit confusing in a frustrating way. I get how it might work story-wise for a book, but it did not make for great tv. I am scared not many will tune in for season 2. Rand is a wet cardboard. The whole heteronormative fantasy was a snooze. Thank the light for the girls lightning. A show. And oh my god I believed every trite word Henney told Nynaeve. The presence that man has.
It's been a while since I read the books but I'm pretty sure like 99% of what was in the finale didn't happen... I know there are a lot of criticisms on Rand's personality, but to be fair a lot of his plot lines got severely condensed or cut out, which meant we never got to see much of his character development. Ditto with Perrin. That's what was really frustrating for book readers like me. I get that the show had to shorten the story somehow to adapt it to TV, yet it used the time to focus on inconsequential minor characters and plots (e.g. the whole Warder episode), when it could've been spent on the development of the main characters. That said, I'm not sure the actors playing Rand and Perrin were strong enough either, which didn't help.
They need to reinstate Moiraine’s access to the One Power ASAP cause I can’t be deprived of her armography for much more than a few episodes tibbers.
The guy who plays Perrin is unbearable. Even against the backdrop of Stradowski/Madden, he still sticks out as particularly terrible. Probably not helped by how little the script gives him to work with, but the show would genuinely be at least 30% better without him in it. On a positive note, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney and Zoe Robins are a joy to watch and carry the entire thing on their shoulders.
This is what worries me, if focus will now be more on Rand or Perrin, for example. They are terribly uninteresting so far, and the actors are not much better. Nynaeve and Egwene are compelling enough on their own, so I hope they take center stage from the younger cast. I hope they sort out Moiraine's magic within the first two episodes of season 2, ending with a ridiculous self indulgent light show where she saves the day. By the way, can Warders marry or have relationships? Lan seemed to imply not.
With all the money put in to this show, I just can't fathom why they didn't do 10 episodes instead of 8. Almost all ingredients for a great show are present, except for good visuals of the Dark One and the dark creatures, and some time for the audience to get to know our main characters. The only character that feels fully fledged is Moraine, and that's more to do with Rosamund Pike than the actual script. I will absolutely watch season 2 because, overall, this has been a good season, but I hope that season 1 has been them finding their feet with the show and books.
I’m so glad I gave this a shot. You guys are right, it’s not great… yet, but I can see it getting there easily. There are a few weak links - script, the younger male cast, some of the plot/staging choices. But, the actresses kick ass. The diversity also feels natural. I, for one, believe this series deserves a huge audience and am rooting for its popularity to grow.
It is worth checking out the Origins mini-episodes (there's about 8 of them, each 2/3 minutes long) which explain a bit more of the mythology/history etc.
