S02.E02: Strangers and Friends

[AnimeMania]

The Two Rivers youths forge new relationships, while Lan tries to mend an old one.

Premiere date: September 1, 2023    Prime Video      

Edited September 2, 2023 by AnimeMania

[thuganomics85]

Hmm, looks like they changed the title of this episode to "Strangers and Friends:" at least that is what it is saying on IMDB.

So, it looks like Rand has been spending his time working at this show's version of a psych ward, while trying to hide his Dragon powers/rage.  So far, the results have been mixed at best, although it's hard to shed many tears for that orderly that got his ass handed to him.  Also, it sounds like that was always part of the plan, because now Rand has been moved to more wealthier section, where he gets to meet none other than Logain.  He's also in a relationship, but it is clear that it's only a casual one or as the woman basically put it "She's with him to remember someone else, while he is with her to forget another."  Not the healthiest but at least they're honest about it?

Nynaeve and Egwene are starting to splinter, as the former is continuing to be the pet project of Liandrin and the rest, which is starting to get to Egwene.  And she herself has made a new friend with Elayne: the actual daughter heir!  That might be kind of fun.  Thought the actress did a great job.

Liked seeing Min again and her working alongside Mat has potential.  But it looks like one of her visions has shown her that Mat is destined to stab Rand at some point.  Uh oh!

Ferrin and the gang have now been captured by The Dark One and this masked lady who might actually be the true main villain?

Moiraine is now off on her own and does the classic "Push those closer to her away by being mean" act by basically saying Lan is a failure (due to not protecting her) and they aren't equal.  And even though they can't lie, you can tell by her face that she doesn't completely believe all of it.  Hopefully those two crazy kids will work it out soon!

[paigow]

Rand is quite the chameleon... looks like Anakin & Michael Scofield

[SueB]

Wow.  A lot to process.

 
Rand: Shaved head DOES look good on Rand. But sleeping with Selene so soon!  He’s being pretty naughty. 
Perrin’s plot was good. And I like that Elyas and he are connected.  Those Seanchan are freaking scary!   
Mat & Min were fun.  Min is all kinds of adorable.  NOT happy with that vision of Mat stabbing Rand.  
Egwene & Elayne were perfect.  I love that Elayne took the punishment to protect her source.  Shows character.  
Liandrin - a touch of sympathy from me with her trying to heal what is undoubtedly her own son (which brings home the agelessness of the Aes Sedei
Nynaeve - more courage than sense sometimes.  But I think she found her calling (healing). She is NOT ready. 
Moraine & Lan: I’m Team Lan.  Moraine, you’re riding my nerves with this attitude. The exposition was excellent but her mad insistence on going alone is pissing me off.  *sigh*.  Lan deserves better. 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by SueB

[quarks]

Yes! Another episode with Verin, bringing a much needed touch of levity (with the help of Adeleas and Tomas) and demonstrating that Moraine isn't quite as mysterious and difficult to read as all that. That was all delightfully fun.

And speaking of book characters I was glad to see - hello, Elayne Trakand! Who seems to have salvaged a potential friendship with Egwene despite that unpromising beginning. Glad to see her doing what she needed to do to protect her source. 

Those Mat/Min scenes were also highly entertaining, right up until that vision of Matt stabbing Rand.  

Rand and Selene are in this show.

But once again, the characters who really impressed me? Nynaeve and - to my genuine surprise, Liandrin, someone I couldn't stand in the books but who is doing great work here; I think probably because of Kate Fleetwood, who is bringing a lot more to this character than I was expecting. Not to the point where I am exactly cheering Liandrin on, but to the point where I'm eager to see if the show can get me to that point. 

Probably not, after that little reveal that a novice died under Liandrin's training, but we'll see.

And they've brought Nynaeve to the arches! Which means I have to get to the next episode!!!!

Edited September 2, 2023 by quarks

[Danny Franks]

First things first - I love Min's casting. Not because I think she's perfect for the character or anything, but because Min is the waifu character of the absolute worst elements of the WoT fandom and their fantasies of a hot, barely-legal-looking tomboy putting her life to one side just to look after them have been completely dashed by the show casting a woman who looks to be in her thirties and has a slightly butch energy.

Glad to get more of Rand in this one. Though not as much of him as Selene is getting. They're pretty hot together. He's a porter in a mental hospital now? Or pretending to be. And he's getting to learn about Aiel, and possibly about swordfighting. The hints that he fears going mad as well.

Moiraine being a dick to Lan is annoying, but I guess she's doing that 'push them away before they can be be hurt even more' thing.

Perrin's weird new abilities are intriguing. He's seeing the past, in some way, but it's lucky that he's got Elyas to teach him how to use it.

The dead Fade was creepy as fuck, and the practical effects on it were very solid.

Finally, Nynaeve realises there are good uses of the One Power, and perhaps a reason to become Aes Sedai - you can heal better with weaves than with herbs. Kate Fleetwood is absolutely killing it with her patient, earnest yet completely manipulative mentoring of Nynaeve.

I'm intrigued by her secret. She's clearly older than she looks.

I'm glad Mat isn't completely cowed. His Andy Dufresne act paid off quickly. Instead of finding a sewer pipe, he found a rogue Min. Their scene together was fun, and did a lot to establish two character's we need to know better.

Aah! Elayne! And she's also perfect. Posh, entitled, oblivious and genuinely sweet. Man, I love her already. 

[staphdude]

This needs more Rand and a move towards humbling the Aes Sedai.

[Blue Plastic]

I don't understand why Liandrin wouldn't get a Yellow to heal her son. If that was explained, I missed it. Not sure why she got so angry at Nynaeve, who was just trying to help and does have knowledge of how herbs work.

[quarks]

3 minutes ago, Blue Plastic said:

I don't understand why Liandrin wouldn't get a Yellow to heal her son. If that was explained, I missed it. Not sure why she got so angry at Nynaeve, who was just trying to help and does have knowledge of how herbs work.

For some unknown reason, Liandrin is keeping her son secret from everyone - well, mostly everyone. Moraine found out about him, and threatened to tell others.

Possibly a Red Ajah thing - they don't have Warders and don't seem to be particularly enthusiastic about men, so they may not have been overly eager to throw Liandrin a baby shower back in the day.  Or, if she had the kid before coming to the White Tower, eager to welcome her to their ranks if they'd known about the kid?

But that's just me speculating.

 

[Blue Plastic]

10 minutes ago, quarks said:

For some unknown reason, Liandrin is keeping her son secret from everyone - well, mostly everyone. Moraine found out about him, and threatened to tell others.

Possibly a Red Ajah thing - they don't have Warders and don't seem to be particularly enthusiastic about men, so they may not have been overly eager to throw Liandrin a baby shower back in the day.  Or, if she had the kid before coming to the White Tower, eager to welcome her to their ranks if they'd known about the kid?

But that's just me speculating.

 

That's the only thing that makes any sense, but she seemed to love her son, and you'd think that would overwhelm any embarrassment she might feel over a past relationship and resultant "child." IMO that's a weak point in the story. Surely she could have gotten help for him some way. But oh well, this show is crazy!

[Danny Franks]

4 hours ago, Blue Plastic said:

I don't understand why Liandrin wouldn't get a Yellow to heal her son. If that was explained, I missed it. Not sure why she got so angry at Nynaeve, who was just trying to help and does have knowledge of how herbs work.

This was presumably the secret "man you meet" that Moiraine threatened her with in season one. Moiraine said she'd reveal it to Liandrin's Red sisters, and Liandrin looked completely shook.

I don't know if Moiraine knew who the man was, or just assumed he was Liandrin's secret lover, but the idea of it being revealed to the Red Ajah clearly terrified Liandrin.

So if she asked a Yellow sister to help out, the secret wouldn't be safe, and now that Nynaeve knows, the secret may not be safe.

[quarks]

11 hours ago, Blue Plastic said:

That's the only thing that makes any sense, but she seemed to love her son, and you'd think that would overwhelm any embarrassment she might feel over a past relationship and resultant "child." IMO that's a weak point in the story. Surely she could have gotten help for him some way. But oh well, this show is crazy!

Again, purely me speculating - this wasn't mentioned in the show - but maybe Liandrin thinks that she'd be kicked out of the Red Ajah or even out of the Aes Sedai completely if someone finds out about this?

Because based on her reactions to both Moraine and Nynaeve, this is a lot more than just embarrassment. I think she believes there could be actual consequences.

We did see Siuan Sanche exile Moraine last season - and although that was mostly to ensure that Moraine wouldn't be stuck in the Tower having to follow [pauses to check IMDB; look, this show has a lot of characters, ok?] Maigan's orders, and Maigan seemed to think that Moraine had been spending too much time outside the Tower anyway, the ostensible reason was that Moraine had disobeyed Tower rules by helping to gentle Logain outside of the Tower walls, and although this got some shocked looks, nobody stood up and said, hey, you can't do that. So it seems that the Tower has the ability to hand out very heavy consequences, even if these consequences aren't entirely justified or approved by other Aes Sedai.

Edited September 3, 2023 by quarks

[DoctorAtomic]

I think the speculation about the son is correct here. If we think of Jedi, you couldn't have any attachments. While Alanna is in her thruple, it's internal to the Tower. And it's not a spoiler that the Red aren't fans of the men as it is. Reds alone could kick her out. Ajahs are hands off on internal matters. 

She may also be hiding her age, and I think I know why which I'll say in the book thread. 

[Ottis]

I had to come back 3 times to finish this ep, seemed really slow. The Fades were nicely done, especially the “weight” of the dead one on the door.

[meep.meep]

Sitric!  and the Professor!

[tennisgurl]

Thank God we got Verin and friends for some much needed comedic relief at the fabulous villa of exile, because Moiraine is seriously bumming me out. I get that she's dealing with something horrible and now feels all adrift, but that's no reason to treat poor Lan so poorly. She has to know he's suffering too and he is at least trying to help them, there isn't any reason to say all of those awful things to him and then go off alone. I know that she doesn't actually mean any of that (and Lan probably does too) and she's just doing the old "make someone angry to push them away for their own good" trick or just letting her depression get the better of her, but it still really sucks. 

Now that he's gotten a bit more time to shine, I like the new guy playing Mat even if he doesn't look anything like the first actor. He and Min were a lot of fun together, I really like her and they had a lot of fun banter, but that vision of Mat stabbing Rand really put a damper on their dungeon party. I wonder if its a literal vision of Mat stabbing Rand or its more metaphorical? 

I really like Elayne, she's rather privileged and spoiled but also a good person with a strong moral center. She and Egwene had fun gal pals energy, I hope that we see more of them having their wine nights. 

Unfortunately Nynaeve happened to walk right to the door as she was complaining about being in the shadow of her best friend the star pupil in classic sitcom style right as she's starting to really struggle. Liandrin is still pretty awful but I did feel sympathy for her when Nynaeve found her with who is presumably her elderly son. Are Aes Sedai allowed to have children and families outside of the tower? I can imagine that her faction in particular, who are pretty anti men, would not be thrilled that she not only has a son but is still caring for him. Nice bit of minor foreshadowing when she mentioned how they can use their power to live for hundreds of years and then show her elderly son who looks older than her. 

Rand appears again, looking pretty good with his shaved head, and now apparently working at their version of a mental hospital. I know that him using his powers to attack people is bad and can only makes things worse, but that asshole orderly really had it coming. Now that he's working with the false dragon, things are certainly going to get interesting. 

[Tachi Rocinante]

More horribly dark cinematography.

Don't these directors watch dailies??

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 9/7/2023 at 6:11 PM, Tachi Rocinante said:

More horribly dark cinematography.

Don't these directors watch dailies??

I don't like this philosophy in filming television nowadays. More than half the scenes in Buffy and Angel took place at night, but you could always see what was happening.

[chaifan]

One thing that bugged me about this episode...  Sheraim Sedai's planned punishment of the maid for being in Elayne's room - 3 months of lashings - made no sense.  That maid would have had no choice - whatever she was doing was at the request (meaning order) of the heir-daughter.  She wasn't in a position to refuse, even if she wanted to.  The punishment should have automatically gone to Elayne.  I would have hoped that the Aes Sedai would have a greater understanding of power imbalance, especially upon servant women.  I would have rather seen Sheraim question Elayne, but tell her the punishment would have always been hers to bear, not just because she was protecting the maid. 

But I did like the "before or after breakfast" bit.  I like seeing that novices can push back a bit against the Aes Sedai.  I still wonder if anyone other than the heir-daughter could get away with it, though.

Oh, wait... another thing bugged me...  What was Mat thinking about pushing a brick out?  First, for all he knew, that next room could have been the guard's break room, or the cell of a psychopathic killer.  But even if not, even if it was a hallway to freedom, how would he have retrieved the brick to continue without anyone noticing?  Just sort of a stupid escape plan, all the way around. 

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I would have hoped that the Aes Sedai would have a greater understanding of power imbalance, especially upon servant women.  I would have rather seen Sheraim question Elayne, but tell her the punishment would have always been hers to bear, not just because she was protecting the maid.

I think it might have been a test to see how Elayne would respond. 

[HappyHanna]

On 9/2/2023 at 10:12 PM, Blue Plastic said:

I don't understand why Liandrin wouldn't get a Yellow to heal her son. If that was explained, I missed it. Not sure why she got so angry at Nynaeve, who was just trying to help and does have knowledge of how herbs work.

I assumed that there was no healing to be done,  he was just really old (I thought I read somewhere 90s?). There's no indication I have seen that normal people have anything but usual (to us) length lives.  So she had driven a bargain with the dark to keep him alive,  but it wasn't (as noted later) really a good life.  At best yellow ajah or a wisdom could have relieved some suffering, but he was on borrowed (or traded) time. 

[Affogato]

On 9/11/2023 at 10:20 PM, Noneofyourbusiness said:

I don't like this philosophy in filming television nowadays. More than half the scenes in Buffy and Angel took place at night, but you could always see what was happening.

In angel the clean, brightly lit sewers always seemed distracting. 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

21 hours ago, Affogato said:

In angel the clean, brightly lit sewers always seemed distracting. 

Not to me. And they didn't seem clean.

Also, if this is a world where the sewers are bigger and wider than in real life so that people can move through them conveniently, it makes sense they're better lit. Clearly, they were designed in-universe with people in mind.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Noneofyourbusiness

[LilJen]

Moraine is an idiot.

Lan, I’d be more than happy to take you.

[Absurda]

On 9/12/2023 at 8:02 AM, chaifan said:

One thing that bugged me about this episode...  Sheraim Sedai's planned punishment of the maid for being in Elayne's room - 3 months of lashings - made no sense.  That maid would have had no choice - whatever she was doing was at the request (meaning order) of the heir-daughter.  She wasn't in a position to refuse, even if she wanted to.  The punishment should have automatically gone to Elayne.  I would have hoped that the Aes Sedai would have a greater understanding of power imbalance, especially upon servant women.  I would have rather seen Sheraim question Elayne, but tell her the punishment would have always been hers to bear, not just because she was protecting the maid. 

I don't think she was planning to punish the maid; she wouldn't need the maid's name for that since she was right there.  I think she wanted the name of whatever sister or staff member said the maid and all the stuff in her room was okay or helped get it all in the White Tower.

[akiss]

Wow, this season looks amazing and I'm loving the new characters so far. 

A little late to the party, but fortunately I managed to be unspoilt, and since I haven't read the books, I have no idea what is going to happen!

[Noneofyourbusiness]

40 minutes ago, akiss said:

Wow, this season looks amazing and I'm loving the new characters so far. 

A little late to the party, but fortunately I managed to be unspoilt, and since I haven't read the books, I have no idea what is going to happen!

Welcome aboard!