Yeah, that entire episode was as different as you can get from the source material and still say it was adapted from the source material, ha.
Shortlist of differences:
summary
- The whole group goes to the Eye
- 2 foresaken are defeated (they’re not even introduced in the series)
- Rand uses the pure saidin at the Eye to both defeat his immediate adversaries and also win the battle at the gap against the trollocs by himself (so the king and his sister don’t die).
- The Horn of Valere is recovered at the Eye
- Padan Fain is actually captured
- Loial doesn’t “die” (we don’t actually know the extent of his wounds)
- The Green Man was cut entirely (makes sense I guess; non major character)
- Moraine isn’t stilled…reading up on this the series writers basically determined they needed to give her something to do in season 2 because she doesn’t do anything in book 2, so this relates to some new story arc for her
…and more, but this is what I can piece together at the moment.
Agree completely. Even with the story changes, I raised an eyebrow at how dumb it was for them to just peace out. Maybe season 2 opens with Perrin chasing after them or something. No idea at this point.
I thought it looked like Morraine had a shield placed around her and tied off, not that she was stilled
Could be. She has dialogue saying she “cant touch the power” or something like that but she doesn’t actually use the word ‘stilled’. Either way, not a thing in the book.
Also just adding more info: the fact that Rand’s ‘fight’ was purely psychological and he didn’t actually do anything badass was a big letdown. The whole point is that he’s now powerful AF and doesn’t know how to control it. They didn’t show this well. Seems like both Egewene and Nynaeve are stronger than he is. They helped defeat the trollocs, and didn’t need the sa’angreal to do it.
I was very confused by the ending. Is the dark one dead or was that like an ambassador to the dark one?
Also very unclear what exactly happened when Rand channeled into the figurine… This was very confusing.
Yes it was the dark one in some form. Basically, he has been gaining strength but isn’t free of his ‘cell’. So, he tried to win over Rand with manipulation since he can’t outright fight him. The conversation b/t Moraine and Lan about the white stone material covering the cell was sorta important here. It’s supposed to be indestructible. The fact that it cracked means the dark one’s cell is weakening, so he is poised to escape into a more concrete form. Think Voldemort trying to regain his own body in HP or Sauron having influence but no physical body from LOTR. Sorta similar vibe.
In the book, they do actually fight 2 of the Foresaken, like the dark one’s immediate subordinates, but that’s not in there. In fact they’re barely mentioned in the series at all.
Is that “e” supposed to be there?
Not sure if it’s a typo or some special title specific to the book
So he can’t outright fight him but he can take away Moiraine’s powers? Couldn’t he do the same thing to Rand? So that means they didn’t defeat him just got them stop bothering them.
What was the point in going to the eye? What did it accomplish?
nah just me typing too fast
Yeah…series-induced plothole here imo.
He had the sa’angreal (little statue thing) that would make him more powerful, so theoretically no? But, Rand doesn’t know wtf he’s doing, so again, agree plothole.
Yeah basically. Moraine had hopes that he could actually go ahead and be defeated while still weak and not fully broken out. She was wrong. Slowed him down, took out some baddies in the books at least, Rand learned some stuff, and at least felt the power to some degree of significance. So…didn’t accomplish what they wanted, but some character development occurs.
Also thinking out loud…wonder if they did what they did with the horn because the actor for Matt wasn’t around.
What I have determined is that liked the small screen adaptation of book about as much as I enjoyed the book itself. That is to say I think I just don’t like Jordan’s writing style and like the book series I think I’ll be checking out of the TV series after the first installment. I realize there are a lot of folks who really like the series, that’s just not me.
Isn’t it Ishamael they fight at the eye who was only half trapped in the prison, but called himself Ba’alzamon? Not the dark one himself. Assuming I’m remembering the book right.
The x-ray did call him Ishmael “the man” iirc.
Its been too long since I read the books, and I don’t recognize most inconsistencies. That seems to work for me. It is The same actors and world that I know but I don’t recognize different actions or motivations.
Off the top of my head I remember 2 of the forsaken showing up at the eye itself. I don’t remember which ones immediately. (After googling, the Green Man and Balthamel slay each other, and Rand defeats Aginor directly…they were both freed somehow when everybody showed up…none of these 3 are in the show thus far).
Ba’alzamon is the name given to the fiery face dude in their dreams, who Rand also fights in the finale battle at the eye, who everyone obviously believes to be the dark one (it is believed to be trolloc tongue for ‘the dark one’ per Moiraine). I believe it is unclear if this is actually the dark one or Ishmael at this point storywise.
It’s made clear later in the books that Ba’alzamon = Ishamael
See also: Ishamael | A Wheel of Time Wiki | Fandom (caution: spoilers).
Trailer for Season 2 has been posted on YouTube:
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It’s been so dang long, I hardly remember season 1 and I will definitely have to go back and rewatch to remember what was happening.
One of the characters was recast because the original actor (one of the young group, not the women sorceresses) wigged out or something? Maybe he refused a covid vaccine? I am not sure what was ever explained there, but it was strange that he basically dropped out of the last 2 episodes and then was recast for season 2 which comes 2 years later.
And within the magic community, the women are split up into Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherine, and Griffendor different colors of uniforms to self-identify with their magical talent specialization. What are the colors again?
ETA: I forgot that all references to “magic” should instead be referencing T1P.