Online Series: The Wheel of Time (Prime Video, Nov 22)

[TheAngryHank]

We did have the scenes in GOT where the army of the dead and the Night King wouldn’t chase John across the water and then the ice.

The dead were already dead so kind of didn’t make sense if you think about it - at least the trollocs are alive and using some common sense.

I can’t remember GOT very beginning, but I kind of recall the first things we saw were the Night King and those guys running away.

But I guess you meant the main characters being under attack from the threat?

The opening of GoT was nightwatch guys finding dead bodies and a glimpse of the Night King I believe ,then we were in the dark left with a mystery.the lanisters were in the north and made jokes about numskins and snarks. We weren't introduced to the real army till like haard home.
WoT had the GoT lake scene twice in the first 3 episodes. I hope they can develop characters soon or it's just a long action movie.

 

[Osprey]

Amazon is hedging their bets with two shows here trying to find there own 'Game of Thrones'. The comparison inevitably becomes silly, as what the business side really wants to replicate is the success of GoT but these aren't the creative minds and an existing property that is equal to Martin's ASoIF doesn't exist. So what the business does is buy up the rights to a different big fantasy series and say 'we're making a new GoT!'. Now these are all amazing series in their own right but LotR/WoT are apples and ASoIF is an orange.

That's my thought, too, that they're hedging their bets by having two epic fantasy shows that have the potential of GoT success. It won't surprise me if they eventually drop the least successful one and pump some of its money into making the other even better, kind of like how they dropped The Expanse but are now trying to use the money to make a Mass Effect series that could be more successful. I imagine that LotR will be the winner and WoT, like The Expanse, will have to find a new streaming service after Season 3 or 4, but we'll see.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

The opening of GoT was nightwatch guys finding dead bodies and a glimpse of the Night King I believe ,then we were in the dark left with a mystery.the lanisters were in the north and made jokes about numskins and snarks. We weren't introduced to the real army till like haard home.
WoT had the GoT lake scene twice in the first 3 episodes. I hope they can develop characters soon or it's just a long action movie.

I rewatched the GOT beginning on YT and we see a blue eyed dead girl and they run from her, then some shadowy figure cuts one of their heads off.

So we kind of see them, a tease basically.

There is definitely a reward in building up to a menacing enemy.

Sort of like in 13th Warrior, except it was a big let down when they were human.

 

[TheAngryHank]

I rewatched the GOT beginning on YT and we see a blue eyed dead girl and they run from her, then some shadowy figure cuts one of their heads off.

So we kind of see them, a tease basically.

There is definitely a reward in building up to a menacing enemy.

Sort of like in 13th Warrior, except it was a big let down when they were human.

Yes ,
Last night I watched the first 3 episodes of GOT ..so much better than the first 3 of WoT.
That's not really a knock ,imo GoT is my personal gold standard.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Yes ,
Last night I watched the first 3 episodes of GOT ..so much better than the first 3 of WoT.
That's not really a knock ,imo GoT is my personal gold standard.

I float between GOT, Vikings, and Last Kingdom as my three favorite series in that genre.

We’ll see how Last Kingdom ends, but the former two were incredible the first several seasons, then lost their steam down the stretch IMHO.

I’ll give WOT plenty of time to flesh out its story/characters, but it has to be truly awful for me not to enjoy fantasy medieval epics.

 

[beowulf]

So if i understand what I just read online episode 4 will be available at 7pm tonight in the eastern time zone or midnight November 26th GMT. Can't wait to see where it goes.

 

[peate]

I float between GOT, Vikings, and Last Kingdom as my three favorite series in that genre.

We’ll see how Last Kingdom ends, but the former two were incredible the first several seasons, then lost their steam down the stretch IMHO.

I’ll give WOT plenty of time to flesh out its story/characters, but it has to be truly awful for me not to enjoy fantasy medieval epics.

I'll be checking out WoT soon. GoT is the best really, up 'till season 5. It was still good later, but the writing really took a dive. The best episode in season 7 was the one with the most dialogue between Tyrion, Varis and, I forgot his name. Vikings died with Ragnar. Last Kingdom was OK as a side dish.

You can't hide bad writing with fancy special effects and noise, (ST Discovery anyone?)

 

[beowulf]

I'll be checking out WoT soon. GoT is the best really, up 'till season 5. It was still good later, but the writing really took a dive. The best episode in season 7 was the one with the most dialogue between Tyrion, Varis and, I forgot his name. Vikings died with Ragnar. Last Kingdom was OK as a side dish.

You can't hide bad writing with fancy special effects and noise, (ST Discovery anyone?)

I personally can't wait for the next season of The Last Kingdom. It will be the last season and then a few months after they will close the series with a full length movie

 

[RandV]

I float between GOT, Vikings, and Last Kingdom as my three favorite series in that genre.

We’ll see how Last Kingdom ends, but the former two were incredible the first several seasons, then lost their steam down the stretch IMHO.

I’ll give WOT plenty of time to flesh out its story/characters, but it has to be truly awful for me not to enjoy fantasy medieval epics.

I should get myself caught up on non-GoT historical shows. From my history podcasting one that I think would make an amazing HBO/GoT style show is Hernando Cortes' conquest of the Aztecs. The real historical account doesn't require glorifying on either side as both were assholes, as Cortes was able to find plenty of local indigenous allies to help take down the hated Aztecs. It's an amazing story all around and a fresh setting from the usual European sphere of influence.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I'll be checking out WoT soon. GoT is the best really, up 'till season 5. It was still good later, but the writing really took a dive. The best episode in season 7 was the one with the most dialogue between Tyrion, Varis and, I forgot his name. Vikings died with Ragnar. Last Kingdom was OK as a side dish.

You can't hide bad writing with fancy special effects and noise, (ST Discovery anyone?)

Vikings was way less enjoyable without Ragnar. I still liked it, but it was never the same without him.

The last half of the final season was pretty lame and rushed… and they happen to find Floki? Cmon.

I should get myself caught up on non-GoT historical shows. From my history podcasting one that I think would make an amazing HBO/GoT style show is Hernando Cortes' conquest of the Aztecs. The real historical account doesn't require glorifying on either side as both were assholes, as Cortes was able to find plenty of local indigenous allies to help take down the hated Aztecs. It's an amazing story all around and a fresh setting from the usual European sphere of influence.

I was always fascinated by the Aztecs and Mayans, really loved Apacolypto, so I’d enjoy something like that.

 

[Osprey]

I should get myself caught up on non-GoT historical shows. From my history podcasting one that I think would make an amazing HBO/GoT style show is Hernando Cortes' conquest of the Aztecs. The real historical account doesn't require glorifying on either side as both were assholes, as Cortes was able to find plenty of local indigenous allies to help take down the hated Aztecs. It's an amazing story all around and a fresh setting from the usual European sphere of influence.

I'd be down for that, but some people frown on commemorating even peaceful Puritans celebrating their first harvest with their indigenous friends, so I'm not sure how well a series about someone who actually conquered a whole "new world" civilization would go over.

 

[Osprey]

Through the first third episodes, it really does feel Tolkien inspired. The Two Rivers is the Shire, Moiraine is Gandalf, Lan is Legolas, Rand is Frodo, Mat is Samwise, Thom is Strider/Aragorn, the Trollocs are the Orcs, the Fade are the Nazgul and there are wolves, a roadside tavern, songs of lore, a river ferry escape and even a White Tower. There are also a few things seemingly inspired by Dune: the Aes Sedai are the Bene Gesserit and the "Dragon reborn" is the Kwisatz Haderach.

 

[BillDineen]

Dialogue has been cringe-worthy so far. Losing me a bit.

Tents in episode 4 look modern and bought at target with modern attachment. For the high budget CGI, one would hope basic details wouldn't be overlooked.

 

[Nizdizzle]

I thought episode 4 was excellent. I think the show is finding its legs after stumbling out of the gate with episode 1.

A bit worries that tracking multiple viewpoints with only 8 episodes that things are going to get congested a bit. Really wondering where they'll end season one at.

Episode 4 felt like we barely got to touch on Rand/Mat although what happened with them was fairly significant.

 

[NyQuil]

A bit worries that tracking multiple viewpoints with only 8 episodes that things are going to get congested a bit. Really wondering where they'll end season one at.

Well, there's a bit of a hint given that certain key characters have just been cast for Season 2.

Spoiler

Elayne - meaning that they don't get to Caemlyn in Season 1

 

[RandV]

I'd be down for that, but some people frown on commemorating even peaceful Puritans celebrating their first harvest with their indigenous friends, so I'm not sure how well a series about someone who actually conquered a whole "new world" civilization would go over.

I don't want to derail the thread so let me just make one more post on this. While most of the colonization of the America's was a one sided tragedy I think this story has a few things going for it that works.

1. Cortes was a bastard, but he wasn't a genocidal lunatic like Columbus ended up being. His campaign was ambitious, audacious, technically illegal, and very likely to succeed. His eventual goal after discovering the Aztecs was to subvert them and deliver their capital and people intact as the crown jewel in the Spanish empire. A great GoT style character, kind of a combination of Bronn and Tyrion.
2. Rather than just being a bunch of tribal people it shows the Aztecs off as a peak Bronze-Age era type civilization. Their capital in particular, Tenochtitlán, kind of a lake version of Venice was a true wonder of the world and put any city in Europe at the time to shame.
3. For another great GoT style character, the improbably MVP of Cortes campaign was an indigenous slave girl later known as La Malinche. One of a group of 20 enslaved women gifted to Cortes as tribute after a scrap with the Mayans, with every reason to hate the Aztecs she stepped up when the opportunity presented itself and probably the truest "chaos is a ladder" character. With the GoT comparisons, probably a mix of Missandei and Littlefinger.

So overall I think an accurate historical account can be respectful to everyone involved, hit a lot of the notes you'd want in a 'GoT' style series, and do it in a new & original (at least to TV) setting.

 

[Jussi]

Wow. What an ending to episode 4. I did not expect to see that. Really liking this show so far. And it's nice to see Peter Franzen again. Of course his weapons are axes...

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Yeah I feel like this is getting better and better with every episode.

I especially thought tonight's did a phenomenal job at adding more flesh and bones to the characters. The first 3 episodes I didn't think took a lot of time to really stop and flesh out some of the details and emotions of the maim characters. This episode did just that.

 

[I am not exposed]

Vikings was way less enjoyable without Ragnar. I still liked it, but it was never the same without him.

The last half of the final season was pretty lame and rushed… and they happen to find Floki? Cmon.



I was always fascinated by the Aztecs and Mayans, really loved Apacolypto, so I’d enjoy something like that.

Vikings went downhill for me when Athelstan got killed off in season 3! I think I got bored half way through season 4 and gave up.

Last Kingdom is great. Enjoyed every season so far and looking forward to the next one. It has been the most consistent out of the three. Prefer it more than Vikings.

GOT was incredible first 4 seasons, but then took a massive nosedive. Still watchable but also so many roll your eye moments. At it's peak it was the best out of these three.


I watched the first 3 episodes of the Wheel of Time. Seems watchable but nothing special. Seems focused for teens/young adults, which is fine. But I do feel a bit old watching it!

 

[RandV]

Finally got the 1st episode finished, think it looks great so far. Could easily binge it on my own but that's how I watched GoT, and I'm trying to make this part of our TV-dinner time schedule so I have to hold off as we alternate between my shows and her shows, and I'm already trying to insert Cowboy Bebop and Arcane into there.

For all the comments about it looking teens/young adult focused... maybe it won't shake that but this really isn't the attention. That's kind of like saying Dune is a YA/teen story because Paul Atreides and Chani start out young. Though I suppose the WoT confusion is because there's 3 Paul's and expecting there to be a whole bunch of Chani's

 

[HanSolo]

Episodes 1-3 had me intrigued. Episode 4 has me totally buying in. The effects of the Aes Sedai light stream power still needs work but this episode succeeded at crafting a hard hitting fantasy action sequence where the pilot was really sloppy. And to have all that with a much better world/character building episode than the past 3. Really good stuff. Also it's a small note but the way the characters are presented as beat up and worn down, scrapes, cuts, dirty clothes, sweat, etc all felt more authentic in this one. It's a tough thing to describe but that lived in and gritty presentation in the last episode felt too obviously like the work of a television production, where in this one it felt natural and real.

I don't know, I was impressed with the whole episode. I went from casually interested to looking forward to the next episode.

 

[beowulf]

The 4th episode was also great and I finally started the prequel book this weekend.

 

[The Macho King]

Amazon is hedging their bets with two shows here trying to find there own 'Game of Thrones'. The comparison inevitably becomes silly, as what the business side really wants to replicate is the success of GoT but these aren't the creative minds and an existing property that is equal to Martin's ASoIF doesn't exist. So what the business does is buy up the rights to a different big fantasy series and say 'we're making a new GoT!'. Now these are all amazing series in their own right but LotR/WoT are apples and ASoIF is an orange.

Kind of reminds me of the 90's when parents/adults would refer to every video game as a "Nintendo".

Acting like Malazan: Book of the Fallen isn't a thing.

 

[The Macho King]

Through the first third episodes, it really does feel Tolkien inspired. The Two Rivers is the Shire, Moiraine is Gandalf, Lan is Legolas, Rand is Frodo, Mat is Samwise, Thom is Strider/Aragorn, the Trollocs are the Orcs, the Fade are the Nazgul and there are wolves, a roadside tavern, songs of lore, a river ferry escape and even a White Tower. There are also a few things seemingly inspired by Dune: the Aes Sedai are the Bene Gesserit and the "Dragon reborn" is the Kwisatz Haderach.

WoT, especially the first couple of books, are pretty big ripoffs of Tolkien and Fisst's Magician series. But tbf most fantasy around this time was a blatant ripoff of Tolkien in one way or the other.

 

[RandV]

Acting like Malazan: Book of the Fallen isn't a thing.

Oh I love Malazan, but it's kind of bonkers. It's inspired by GRRM to be more dark and gritty, but rather than grounded feudalism it's very high fantasy. I mean while it's a side plot at this point aren't there roaming armies of zombie raptors with sword arms right in the first book?

I haven't read much of the Black Company yet, but other than that I'd say the closest to Martin is Joe Abercombrie starting with the First Law trilogy. Here though it's lacking the grander scale of ASoIF, basically a barbarian, a dandy, and a crippled inquisitor walk into a bar. Which might actually be great for television because they can just plan for 3 seasons and that's it. The massive challenge taking on something like The Wheel of Time is you know you have to probably go at least 8 seasons to get it done, and that's a very hard commitment.