The Wheel of Time

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Arachnid1
http://io9.com/the-real-story-about-that-wheel-of-time-pilot-that-aire-1684773094

So the pilot for this aired last night. I haven't gotten around to reading the books, but I've got them all on my kindle. I've heard some high praise for this series. Any fans here?

Robtard
Oh shit, didn't know about this, will def check it out. I loved those books way back in the day, even though I never finished the series and left off somewhere on book 9

Thanks

Arachnid1
Originally posted by Robtard
Oh shit, didn't know about this, will def check it out. I loved those books way back in the day, even though I never finished the series and left off somewhere on book 9

Thanks No problem, just don't expect much. From what I hear, this was pumped out randomly by Universal late last night in an effort to keep the rights from reverting back to the dead authors estate. Jordans wife and company are apparently pretty pissed, since the rights were supposed to revert back tomorrow (Feb 11).

Let me know what you think when you watch it.

Robtard
Yeah, read that. Looks like an ashcan copy

Do wish some company like HBO, Showtime or Netflix would buy the rights and produce a high production value series

Arachnid1
http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/04/29/the-wheel-of-time-will-be-adapted-as-a-tv-series

Looks like a legit show is in the works

Dreampanther
The books start out pretty decent but then turn into a tedious, mind-numbing mess full of whiny, self-pitying characters interacting with total bitches. I heard Brandon Sanderson did a pretty good job bringing the series to a close after Robert Jordan died but by then I'd long since lost interest. Pity, because just like The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind it had a lot of potential before it was absolutely ruined. Hopefully they do a better job adapting it than they did with The Sword of Truth or The Shannara Chronicles (another series I couldn't be bothered to finish).

There is only one adaptation I am looking forward to because I think it's going to be effing brilliant: The Dark Tower by Stephen King.

Mindset
Originally posted by Dreampanther
The books start out pretty decent but then turn into a tedious, mind-numbing mess full of whiny, self-pitying characters interacting with total bitches. I heard Brandon Sanderson did a pretty good job bringing the series to a close after Robert Jordan died but by then I'd long since lost interest. Pity, because just like The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind it had a lot of potential before it was absolutely ruined. Hopefully they do a better job adapting it than they did with The Sword of Truth or The Shannara Chronicles (another series I couldn't be bothered to finish).

There is only one adaptation I am looking forward to because I think it's going to be effing brilliant: The Dark Tower by Stephen King. I stopped at book 4 or 5.

Dreampanther
Originally posted by Mindset
I stopped at book 4 or 5.

I think I made it to 6 or 7 out of a growing horrified fascination, like watching gangrene slowly spread up your leg towards your groin and realising you either amputate your leg or lose something a lot more important to you.

Robtard
Originally posted by Arachnid1
http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/04/29/the-wheel-of-time-will-be-adapted-as-a-tv-series

Looks like a legit show is in the works

Great, looking forward to see what they do with it.

Arachnid1
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/04/20/wheel-of-time-tv-series-sets-showrunner-production-studio

Looks like this is getting serious

Surtur
I remember having to really do a lot of searching just to find the PC game for this. Which is pretty cool IMO, came out in the late 90s and is a FPS type game. You get magic and weapons and stuff.

Robtard
Originally posted by Arachnid1
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/04/20/wheel-of-time-tv-series-sets-showrunner-production-studio

Looks like this is getting serious

Awesome and not surprising this is going forward, considering how huge the Game of Thrones tv series has become I imagine studios are looking for epic fantasy series to produce shows off of.

Now they only need not **** it up, capture all the good from the books while cutting out the shit.

ares834
Can't see this working out to well as a live action television series. GoT works because the fantasy aspects of the series are usually kept to a minimum so they don't have to spend massive amounts of money on effects. But WoT is all about the flashy magic.

Robtard
Will be airing November 19, 2021 on Amazon Prime.

https://collider.com/the-wheel-of-time-amazon-series-trailer-release-date-cast-filming-details-plot-episodes/

I'm also skeptical how the 'flashy magic' will come off.

Jmanghan
The video game was amazing, dunno what to make of this though.

Patient_Leech
Originally posted by Robtard
Will be airing November 19, 2021 on Amazon Prime.

https://collider.com/the-wheel-of-time-amazon-series-trailer-release-date-cast-filming-details-plot-episodes/

I'm also skeptical how the 'flashy magic' will come off.

Did I see/hear Charles Dance in the trailer, or was I mistaken? 🤔

Robtard
Not sure if Dance is in this, hope so, he's great.

ares834
No. Dance isn't in it as far as I'm aware. Maybe you mistook Roose Bolton's actor for him. He's in the show and is playing the main character's dad.

Here's the trailer BTW:

3Fus4Xb_TLg

Looks legitimately awful and very cheap. Like something I'd expect to see on the CW.

ares834
BdrqHNoY9tg

"We don't know... if he (the Dragon) was reborn as a girl or a boy."

Clearly the showrunners have no clue what they are doing nor do they have even a basic understanding of the series. This is major change to the very foundation of the books. Yes, it's all but certain that the Dragon will remain the same character as in the series. But the mere fact that Moiraine thinks the Dragon could be a girl is a huge issue. Not only does it contradict the cosmology of the series, but the reason people are scared shitless of the Dragon Reborn, the prophesized chosen one, is because he will be a male channeler and all the issues that come with that. Heck, many people even think the Dragon Reborn will be a villain because of it. Even the main characters at the beginning of the series joke that the evil being hunting them may be the dragon. Like this is a core aspect of the series and now it's gone...

Robtard
Yeah, that's a very stupid change/comment even when the final outcome is the same as the books. The Dragon being a male and therefore already tainted is a driving point of the story, as you mentioned.

They probably put that line in to try and soften the blow because the Male Rights Activists who know nothing of the books this series is based on are about to go full blown "REEEeeeeee!!!!" when they hear about a show where women are in control and men who show magic potential (ie Chads) are effectively neutered by the matriarchy.

Personally, I wouldn't have done it if it were my show. I would have kept it like the books.

ares834
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ecf9ZMKWoAAef64.jpg

It was bad. Not merely from an adaption perspective (though it was horrific there) but from a merely television perspective. The acting is poor, the pacing is horribly rushed, and the CGI is downright terrible at times. I've no clue where the budget all went? As despite apparently having a budget of 10 million an episode is looks very cheap. This feels far more like the Shannara Chronicles or Legend of the Seeker than either GoT or LotR...

I'll probably continue watching since I love fantasy and WoT was a favorite series of mine when I was younger but it's just a shame to see what they've done with it.

BruceSkywalker
watched the first 2 episodes


it was horrid to watch... who are these people,,, hopefully starting with episode 3efus improves but i highly doubt it

Old Man Whirly!
Originally posted by ares834
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ecf9ZMKWoAAef64.jpg

It was bad. Not merely from an adaption perspective (though it was horrific there) but from a merely television perspective. The acting is poor, the pacing is horribly rushed, and the CGI is downright terrible at times. I've no clue where the budget all went? As despite apparently having a budget of 10 million an episode is looks very cheap. This feels far more like the Shannara Chronicles or Legend of the Seeker than either GoT or LotR...

I'll probably continue watching since I love fantasy and WoT was a favorite series of mine when I was younger but it's just a shame to see what they've done with it. Does not feel like legend of the Seeker to me when watching, I see no fit birds with Dildo shock sticks and corsets running round.

Robtard
Yeah, first two were a hard pill to swallow. Third is better, but still not very good. Going to try four and go from their due to the book nostalgia. But really have no idea how an Amazon backed show that was supposed to be on GoT level f**ked up this bad.

The CGI alone is low rent, which makes no sense. They could at least get that right as all that needs is gobs of money thrown at it.

cdtm
Originally posted by Robtard
Yeah, first two were a hard pill to swallow. Third is better, but still not very good. Going to try four and go from their due to the book nostalgia. But really have no idea how an Amazon backed show that was supposed to be on GoT level f**ked up this bad.

The CGI alone is low rent, which makes no sense. They could at least get that right as all that needs is gobs of money thrown at it.


Yeah, just look at Arcane, it's spectacular CGI. Wheel of Time is a far bigger brand than League of Legends, bizarre they'd go cheap on it.

TheVaultDweller
Originally posted by cdtm
Yeah, just look at Arcane, it's spectacular CGI. Wheel of Time is a far bigger brand than League of Legends, bizarre they'd go cheap on it.

LoL is pretty big. It has like 180 million odd players and host international championships with a lot of money involved.

On topic though, yeah, I couldn't even make it through episode one of this. Tried twice, got bored both times and gave up. Even Cowboy Bebop, which is not great, kept me interested enough to finish the first episode, though I haven't continued with that yet.

Old Man Whirly!
Boring show

ares834
Absolutely awful.

It's nothing like the books either. The last two episodes were pretty much entirely new content. But I have to admit I've found it pretty entertaining seeing some of the so-called "fans" defend these changes.

Robtard
There was only a few things that seemed familiar to me, was not sure if it's due different writing or my memory of the books has really faded as I read them back in the 90's.

samhain
This show is really pretentious, trying too hard to be Game Of Thrones IMO.

Todd1700
I read the first three books in this series and found them a rather tedious slog. I also could clearly see by the end of the third book that the author was needlessly stretching the story and fully intended to pump out books in this series until he dropped dead. And that is precisely what he did. Not because the story warrented it but just because he was riding his one and only cash cow for every cent it would make him. If Jordan were still alive book 21 would be coming out this year with still no end in sight. The people who made it through all the books in this series should win some kind of prize like a coupon for free soup for life at the deli of their choice. For this reason I had little hope for the TV series. I watched the first two episodes and even with low expectations I was still underwhelmed. The acting is Xena Warrior Princess level and the special effects don't look any better than some of the crap you used to see on TV in the 80's. If this series has a 10 million per episode budget as someone said earlier in this thread then I echo their wonder at where the hell that money is going. For comparison go watch the Dragon/Dothraki attack on the Lannister wagon train in season 7 of GOT. Now that's what the special effects should look like in a TV series spending 10 million per episode.

Robtard
Originally posted by samhain
This show is really pretentious, trying too hard to be Game Of Thrones IMO.

TBF, the WoT books predate GoT.

GoT is just much better, both in books and TV show. Even the shit seasons of GoT are better than this thus far.

Patient_Leech
Is this show good for someone who is completely uninitiated?

I know nothing of the books.

Robtard
I only kinda like it because of the book nostalgia.

The first two eps are really bland, but it improves a bit after that. Still not a good show.

You should be fine without the book knowledge, it explains things fairly well enough and the story isn't complex.

BackFire
Originally posted by Robtard
TBF, the WoT books predate GoT.

GoT is just much better, both in books and TV show. Even the shit seasons of GoT are better than this thus far.

To be fair though, at least the wheel of time books have an ending. GoT never will.

samhain
Originally posted by Robtard
TBF, the WoT books predate GoT.

GoT is just much better, both in books and TV show. Even the shit seasons of GoT are better than this thus far.


I was specifically referring to the show. Probably gonna ditch this soon, don't know why TV shows are hell-bent on creating unlikable characters for people to root for. Might take a few days to think about if this problem lies with me but as of right now I see the problem as being too much content and not enough talented, educated writers to go around and we end up with arrogant, entitled protagonists having shouting matches with an incompetent villain who never comes close to posing a threat to the hero.

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