Wheel of Time in the Media

[DoctorAtomic]

I forgot Rand was actually good with the bow. 

[SVNBob]

Well, he is a Two Rivers man.

[AnimeMania]

New Short Video Clip of Moiraine getting dressed. 👀

https://www.instagram.com/p/CV0aeusjZ1o/

[AnimeMania]

The Wheel of Time: Exclusive Trailer Breakdown with Showrunner Rafe Judkins - IGN First

[AnimeMania]

Rosamund Pike as Moiraine

Josha Stradowski as Rand al'Thor

Marcus Rutherford as Perrin Aybara

Zoë Robins as Nynaeve al'Meara

Barney Harris as Matrim Cauthon

Madeleine Madden as Egwene al'Vere

Daniel Henney as Lan Mandragoran

Álvaro Morte as Dragon Reborn, Logain

[AnimeMania]

The Wheel of Time soundtrack "The Wheel of Time: The First Turn" is a 14-track album from Milan Records set to be released on November 12th. This album is the first of four more soundtrack albums released for Season 1.

A sample of "Al’Naito (The Flame)"

was released last month and two new track samples entitled "Mashiara (Lost Love)"

 

and "Caisen’shar (Old Blood)"

 

are also available. The vocal tracks are performed in Old Tongue, a language created for the Wheel of Time universe. Instead of going for big orchestras, as per traditional for epic films and TV series, the songs – as well as the full soundtrack – used a more modern musical approach.

Composer Lorne Balfe says of the musical score: “The universe of The Wheel of Time is truly unique. Inspired by oral traditions in storytelling, each theme's voices tell the story of the character, place, or idea in Old Tongue, a language unique to the universe of The Wheel of Time. The score to this series is a re-imagination of fantasy music, doing away with the genre's reliance on large, traditional orchestras in favor of more modern colors while retaining the strong melodies and bold harmonies that fans can expect from such an epic. It was my honor collaborating with showrunner Rafe Judkins along with our 14th Street Music team and musicians to share The First Turn album with you.”

[DoctorAtomic]

Is the soundtrack going to be on amazon music? (given the streaming platform). 

[Danny Franks]

I'm not sold on the music that's been released so far. A lot of it sounds too contemporary to me, in terms of production and the instruments used. There's an over-produced, sound-layering quality that I just don't think seems right for a fantasy show.

I guess I feel like any of these songs should be performable by Thom Merrilin, in an inn with his harp (sorry, guitar).

But that's a fairly minor quibble, now the show is so close to being released. Man, I hope it succeeds because this could be so good.

Robert Jordan gets a lot of shit from people who've only read snippets of the series, or who focus on his men vs women theme, but this is a fantasy series that was started in the 1980s that has truly equal, powerful and unapologetic women as major parts of it.

I was reading an interview with Madeleine Madden where she talks about Egwene being strong and liberated, and it never really occurred to me just how true that is. There's no one in the Wheel of Time who ever tells her, or the other women, 'you can't do this, you're a woman. Let me, a man, take responsibility.' 

The only characters in the series who have that view, really, are the three main boys - who all say they'd die before letting a woman be hurt - but at every turn their attitude is shown as wrong-headed and stupid, if noble. I'm sure Sulin says something to the effect of 'if you're stabbed with a spear, does it hurt less if a woman did it?'

It's actually an interesting exploration of Robert Jordan's own attitudes to women being killed, from his experiences as a helicopter gunner in Vietnam. It fucked him up, and that trauma is put on the shoulders of certain characters in this series - particularly Rand who finds so many of his actions being influenced by the trauma of his past life.

[Danny Franks]

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

One thing I find interesting on social media at least, is even hardcore book readers have all been like 'oh yeah, you're going have to edit the books way hard to make a tv show'. There's not really been any 'purists' snipping about 'their childhood being ruined' or whatever. 

I'm not a purist. I do want the show to do well. I really hope they can sell how 'oh shit, Rand can channel *and* really be the Dragon.' That's really key to buying in casual viewers. 

There are some purists, who have found various hills to die on. Reddit has a sub called r/whitecloaks where people who hate the show before it's even come out congregate. It seems to be made up of a few passionate book fans, a bunch of people who took up the cause because they've seen an opportunity to use the show's casting for their political stance and some just seem like whiners who want to complain about everything, and twist each piece of news into its most negative context.

I knew that they'd have to make serious changes, but even I've been surprised by how fine I am with everything that's been announced. I haven't found anything that's lore-breaking or indefensible, so far. However, the one thing that does bother me is the image of the Aiel woman killing with her face bare. It's just such a big, distinct part of their culture that I really don't want to see it scrapped.

[Black Knight]

5 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

However, the one thing that does bother me is the image of the Aiel woman killing with her face bare. It's just such a big, distinct part of their culture that I really don't want to see it scrapped.

It's the kind of thing that works fine in a book but not in a visual medium in which viewers need to be able to distinguish one character from another. If Aviendha were the only Aiel who mattered, they could just stick her in a distinctive veil while everybody else wears nondescript ones, but Rand spends a lot of time with the Aiel and there are quite a few who matter. It's just utterly impracticable. Asking viewers to remember which veil goes with which character is like making them do homework. Most viewers don't want to do that. Getting rid of the veils would have been among the first decisions made about how to bring the Aiel to screen.

[DoctorAtomic]

There's still the shocker of their past and why they use spears that's still unique and should be a good reveal imo. 

[AnimeMania]

‘The Wheel Of Time’ Boss Says Dónal Finn Taking Over As Mat Cauthon Will Be “Seamless”, Sees Series Going Eight Seasons

Rafe Judkins, in the midst of shooting the second season, declined comment on the reason for the recasting of the core character Mat Cauthon from Barney Harris to Dónal Finn in Season 2. Barney Harris is so great in the first season; Dónal Finn is amazing in the second season.

One thing we’re trying to hide from the audience is who the Dragon Reborn is, it’s the mystery of the show as we start to unravel this story. Rafe Judkins understands fans were hoping Season 1 would focus more on the Dragon Reborn storyline, but he’s hoping fans will understand his plans to keep that a mystery, but he does promise the answer will be revealed before the first season ends.

Rafe Judkins believes the books will work better as a TV series, that he imagines could run for about eight seasons, than it would as a Movie. People who know that books know it’s just a story about the characters and the journeys each of them is on. The amount you’d have to compress it to turn it into a series of movies is too much. It would take away the heart of what’s good about it.

[DoctorAtomic]

7 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

Rafe Judkins understands fans were hoping Season 1 would focus more on the Dragon Reborn storyline, but he’s hoping fans will understand his plans to keep that a mystery, but he does promise the answer will be revealed before the first season ends.

Rand isn't technically the Dragon until he yanks Callendor out of the air in Tear. Until then, he was a male channeler who seems like he's going to be strong in the power. I assumed the season would end at the Eye. 

Though I guess if Moiraine is saying, 'I came here because one of you is the Dragon', and then Rand ends up channeling, then yes. I guess I don't recall he being so sure of that in the book. I mean, I guess for tv you kind of want to not drag that out. 

I just really liked the scene where Ish is taunting Rand and then Rand grabs the sword and Ish is all, 'oh shit', and Rand got the drop on him. I suppose if Ish is a background character, he could be talking with the dark one saying, they all think he's the Dragon, but there's only one way to know for sure, to build up to that. That's really the moment when Shit Gets Real. 

 

[AnimeMania]

Each episode of "The Wheel of Time" will have an accompanying animated Prequel story accessible from the X-Ray Menu. To get an idea of what this will be like and how to access it, view the following video.

 

[Black Knight]

Hmm, interesting. I paused and the animated prequels are as follows:

Ep 1: The Breaking of the World

Ep 2: The Fall of Manetheren

Ep 3: The Greatest Warder

Ep 4: Saidin, Saidar, Stone

Ep 5: The White Tower

(cuts off there, so can't see the last three)

[DoctorAtomic]

Who is the guy with the beard?

[Danny Franks]

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Who is the guy with the beard?

I think it's Aemon al Caar, the last king of Manetheren. 

These look very cool, and a really smart way of deepening the lore of the show for anyone who is interested, as well as reassuring all those naysayers who claim that the writers are discarding so many of the things Jordan wrote.

The most recent panic was over the possibility that they were dumping the Saidin/Saidar differentiation. Well, we can see now that they aren't.

[DoctorAtomic]

21 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

I think it's Aemon al Caar, the last king of Manetheren. 

Thanks, Farstrider.

[nokat]

The first episode is so close. Is anyone going to be watching with someone who didn't read the books. I've already said, please don't ask me questions, just watch the show. It's been a while since I read the books, and I didn't read the last four books.

[Danny Franks]

6 hours ago, nokat said:

The first episode is so close. Is anyone going to be watching with someone who didn't read the books. I've already said, please don't ask me questions, just watch the show. It's been a while since I read the books, and I didn't read the last four books.

I'm in a bit of a tough spot. I've convinced my girlfriend to watch the show with me (it didn't take much, she's a pretty avid viewer of 'prestige' TV shows, and she knows how much this series means to me), but her parents are coming to stay with us for a few days on Thursday, and I just know that her dad will ask constant questions if we watch it with them.

So I might try to find time to sneakily watch the first three episodes on my own, before watching it with them.

[nokat]

38 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

So I might try to find time to sneakily watch the first three episodes on my own, before watching it with them.

Good strategy. You'll be less annoyed by the questions (they will come) and can enjoy the second watch.

[Atlanta]

Rosamund Pike at the WoT premier. Not digging the weird hat.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10205031/Rosamund-Pike-showcases-svelte-waist-translucent-white-toga-Wheel-Time-premiere.html

[Anduin]

46 minutes ago, Atlanta said:

Rosamund Pike at the WoT premier. Not digging the weird hat.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10205031/Rosamund-Pike-showcases-svelte-waist-translucent-white-toga-Wheel-Time-premiere.html

Pike's Hood sounds like it belongs somewhere in the Malazan universe. It has the same snap as Despot's Barbican and Reaper's Gale.

[Black Knight]

It puts me in mind of Handmaid's Tale or the Puritans or Amish. Maybe it looks better in motion. I commend her for trying to do something fantastical but I would've chosen to go with something like a coronet instead. She's enough of a name that I'm sure she'd be loaned jewelry on request.

[SVNBob]

I think she was trying to evoke Moiraine's introduction scene as seen in one of the trailers; where she walks in to the tavern wearing a cloak with the hood up, then takes it down to reveal her ageless face.

[Atlanta]

Zoe Robins at the premier.

https://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2021/11/16/zoe-robins-wore-valentino-to-the-wheel-of-time-london-premiere/

 

[Black Knight]

EW has put up a review of the first six episodes (the last two weren't made available).

The reviewer is clearly not familiar with the source material nor has read any spoilers about it, and it's interesting to read the review with that in mind. A couple of the complaints - any reader will know exactly which ones I'm talking about - are actually a sign of how faithful the adaptation is to the books, and if the reviewer knew what readers know, wouldn't list these as complaints. And neither complaint sounds like something that will put off non-readers, so it's okay that they won't know until the time comes for those plot developments.

[Danny Franks]

I'm inclined to ignore any negative reviews that focus on Amazon, Bezos and the cost of the show, as well as any from writers who clearly don't like fantasy as a genre.

The reviewers who are clear genre fans seem mostly really happy with what they've seen and so do the Wheel of Time fans who gave seen the first two episodes.

Suffice to say, sourpusses like Sepinwall aren't dampening my enthusiasm, but I am a little concerned they might put some people off before the show has had a chance.

[Black Knight]

I haven't seen Sepinwall's review. But this particular reviewer likes the genre and doesn't talk about Bezos or Amazon or cost. I'm inclined to give it some weight because the weakness he identifies is the same weak spot of the books, characterization. I can see very easily how if the writing and/or the acting is not there, the TV characters will come off flat. If that is the case, it's not going to bother readers so much, but it is a potential problem for getting non-readers, especially those who don't follow fantasy much, to really invest in the show. And I don't think Judkins is getting eight seasons if he can't expand the audience beyond readers and genre fans, just like GoT did.

[rove4]

Confession: I'm not a superfan of the books.  I only started the series last year, read the first two books, started the third, got about to the halfway mark before setting it down and never picking it up again.  It still sits there on my desk, mocking me.  I think if I had read them when I was in my twenties (or younger) and they had been one of my earliest introductions to the genre I probably would have loved them.  That didn't happen.  I came to the series after years and years of reading other books in the genre so even though I know that Jordan and WoT came first and inspired many of these later books, what I've read of WoT so far just seems rather tame.  I don't feel any investment in the characters even though I'm a few thousand pages in.

I'm still looking forward to the show and am hoping that it will be great and thus inspire me to continue on with the series.  I'm taking all overly positive or negative reviews with a grain of salt.  Reviews from superfans, especially ones who have WoT specific blogs/Youtube channels, etc might be affected by the reality that the continued popularity of their blog/YT channel will be tied to the fate of the show.  And non-genre fans often miss the whole point.  So I'll watch and make up my own mind but I do also have some concerns because none of the trailers have overly wowed me.  

Edited November 18, 2021 by rove4

[Black Knight]

FYI, spoiler and book talk will be allowed in this thread because the media links generally include spoiler/book references.

However, this is still a media thread - long, in-depth discussions of such (especially since they usually quickly spiral outwards from the original tidbit of information into broader speculation and so forth) should be taken to the Book to Show thread.

[Danny Franks]

This is really cool - Amazon Prime's Youtube channel is doing an Inside the Wheel of Time show for each episode. Here's the one for Leavetaking:

Some interesting stuff from Marcus Rutherford and lots of insight from Wheel of Time Youtubers.

Note - this video has spoilers for the first three episodes of the show, and some allusions to things that have been changed from the books.

[Humbugged]

Zoe doing the 2nd one

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Humbugged

[Danny Franks]

Zoe Robins seems so lovely and such a calm presence. I love the way she talks about Nynaeve with such affection, even while recognising how difficult she can be a lot of the time. That's exactly how most people felt about her when they read the books.

One thing I really hope comes across in this adaptation, as we go along, is just how conservative and insular Nynaeve is. How she hates travelling, hates experiencing new things and new cultures, yet keeps finding herself having to go off on adventures. Her and Elayne on the road were like a comedy double act, because they were such different people, with such different attitudes to the world.

[Atlanta]

2 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Zoe Robins seems so lovely and such a calm presence. I love the way she talks about Nynaeve with such affection, even while recognising how difficult she can be a lot of the time. That's exactly how most people felt about her when they read the books.

One thing I really hope comes across in this adaptation, as we go along, is just how conservative and insular Nynaeve is. How she hates travelling, hates experiencing new things and new cultures, yet keeps finding herself having to go off on adventures. Her and Elayne on the road were like a comedy double act, because they were such different people, with such different attitudes to the world.

I loved the Elayne and Ny road show. Wasn't Thom also with them?

[DoctorAtomic]

No, I think Thom was with Rand and Mat. He taught them how to juggle and sing. 

[Atlanta]

8 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

No, I think Thom was with Rand and Mat. He taught them how to juggle and sing. 

I'm thinking in a later book when they join the circus and Elayne dyes her hair black and Ny is a redhead.

[Danny Franks]

Yeah, Thom goes with them to Tanchico, and Juilin goes as well. A couple of books later they all go to Ebou Dar together.

Nynaeve's entire arc is set against having to go to all these different, exotic cities that she just doesn't want to be in and it's hilarious.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Danny Franks

[AnimeMania]

‘The Wheel Of Time’ Rounds Out Season 2 Recurring Cast With Guy Roberts, Arnas Fedaravicius & Gregg Chillingirian

(L-R)   Guy Roberts,   Arnas Fedaravicius,     Gregg Chillingirian

 

Guy Roberts plays Uno Nomeshta, a gruff one-eyed soldier and tracker who serves Lord Agelmar.

Arnas Fedaravicius plays Mesema, a quiet and intense warrior who serves Lord Agelmar.

Gregg Chillingirian portrays Ingtar Shinowa, a lord and soldier from war-ravaged lands.

[Humbugged]

From 1.00 -10 mins

[Humbugged]

 

[Anduin]

Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells discuss the show so far, and touch on details further on. What Brandon has done for the show, book vs show vs fans, and other things. You don't need to watch, chuck it on in the background while doing something else. Someone has put timestamps in the comments.

I really respect them both, especially Brandon. Just wish I actually liked their stuff.

[DearEvette]

On 12/11/2021 at 3:10 AM, Anduin said:

I really respect them both, especially Brandon. Just wish I actually liked their stuff.

Awww.  I love Sanderson's work.  I think he has a Guy Gavriel Kay like ability to write the heck out of a charismatic protagonist.  Also his magic systems feel very inventive to me.

[Boadicea]

I don’t think this has been posted here as yet. Amazon posted this on YouTube today:

Episode 7 official trailer 

It’s spoiler-y; you are warned. 😉

 

[DearEvette]

So this is fun.  This twitter thread called 'Bree's mostly impartial guide to HOT WOT'.  The author of thread Bree is a romance novelist, but I enjoyed her irreverent character outlines.

 

 

[Humbugged]

 

[AnimeMania]

TV Ratings: ‘The Wheel of Time’ Is Amazon’s Most-Watched Original Series Since ‘Hunters’

“The Wheel of Time,” clocked 1.16 billion viewing minutes during its debut week, making it the streamer’s most watched original series since 2020’s “Hunters.”

That weird, I thought "The Boys" or "The Expanse" would be up there as one of Amazon's most popular shows, "Hunters" was a steaming pile of "crap".

[Black Knight]

23 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

That weird, I thought "The Boys" or "The Expanse" would be up there as one of Amazon's most popular shows, "Hunters" was a steaming pile of "crap".

Well, the wording is weird. "most watched original series since 2020's Hunters" - like, what does that mean, exactly?

Both The Expanse and The Boys began running on Amazon in 2019, so if you read the wording of that phrase a certain way, they're automatically disqualified.

I don't doubt WoT has racked up a considerable audience. But it's not at audience levels yet where they don't have to release these statements with, well, weird wording, where if you read carefully you can see it might not be as great as it sounds. I think it's silly, though; yes, the media wants to compare to GoT, but it's not like GoT had incredible numbers out of the gate either, so it's unfair to do that to WoT. The one thing GoT had that boded really well for the future was that it held steady from the premiere week to the second episode, but you can't do an apples-to-apples comparison with WoT because there are differences: WoT is on a wholly streaming platform, while HBO wasn't available to non-subscribers except through piracy when GoT started airing; WoT released three episodes to start whereas GoT released one. But in any case, GoT built as the seasons went on; WoT is still in its first season, so there's no reason to fault it for not pulling in GoT final-season numbers.

[DoctorAtomic]

Kind of a weird article about climate change. 

[MissLucas]

For those of you into cosplay* thinking of recreating Moiraine's White Tower gown: Bernadette Banner has you covered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PHQgJj4kBc

Provided you already have supreme skills that go considerably beyond sewing on buttons and simple hemming that is. But it's very cool to see the process of (re-)constructing such an intricate garment from scratch - an additional bonus is watching Miss Banner geeking out in the most charming manner about the series.

Edited January 8, 2022 by MissLucas