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The show literally destroys the lore of the books in the very opening, when Moiraine tells the watcher that men thought that they could cage the Dark One and led directly to the Breaking and the taint of the One Power for men. The opening claims it was the arrogance of men and by even trying to cage the dark one, the breaking happened. The way the show frames it, the darkness is partially released and must be. It is only by trying to cage it that things went wrong. Then what is the Dragon Reborn supposed to do in defeating the dark one? Is that not arrogance?
This is a departure from the books as the breaking happened because of the madness that consumed men for trying to save the world from the release of the Dark One. It was in fact a woman who believed she discovered a new power that led to men and women boring into the Dark One's prison, and both men and women needed to fix the bore that was created and cage the Dark One again. Both men and women had a plan, but only the men went through with it. They were successful but the Dark One had a counter attack that tainted Saidin. The taint drove the male Aes Sedai mad, and caused the breaking.
The opening also mentions that it is unknown whether the Dragon Reborn will be a man or a woman. It is setting the watcher up for a surprise.
This could be a monumental change from the books, and one that would alienate pretty much the entire book fanbase I would think. The books are very clear through the lore and prophecy that the Dragon Reborn would be a man that could channel. And because of this, he would break and remake the world while saving it. The added tension and danger around the Dragon Reborn is because of this fact. If the Dragon Reborn were a woman, then she would not have the risk of going insane and it would mean that the souls of men could be changed to women.
Next we see Aes Sedai chase down a man that can channel and appears to be going mad from use of the One Power. This seems to be someone claiming to be the Dragon Reborn and is not Logain, but listed as Young Man. The scene shows Liandrin and the other Aes Sedai and when they use the One Power on him, he starts to scream. Are they torturing him or Gentling him? If they are torturing him, that is a large departure in how the Aes Sedai operate, even if they are trying to show Liandrin as evil right out of the gate. If they are Gentling him, then spoiler, this would be the first of two men that she Gentles without a trial.
Gentling in the books requires thirteen Aes Sedai and it is mentioned multiple times that male channelers are nervous or scared when they are around thirteen Aes Sedai because of the potential to Gentle them. If Liandrin is Gentling the man in the opening scene, that is a departure from the books. Spoiler, Gentling is later performed with less than thirteen Aes Sedai.
During this scene, Liandrin has a line where she claims when men touch the One Power they make it filthy.She also claims that the One Power was not meant for men.
This seems to indicate a large departure from the book if it is the case. In the books, the One Power is separated into two halves, Saidar and Saidin. Women can touch Saidar, but not Saidin, and vice versa for men. Saidin is tainted, but it is the male half itself that is tainted and it is by touching it that men are exposed to the taint and go mad. Men do not make the One Power filthy by touching it, and even if they did, it would only be Saidin, not Saidar. Also, because the One Power is separated into male and female halves, the One Power was clearly meant for men. Men used it in the Age of Legends without issue. Liandrin's line seems to indicate a possible change where there is only one power that both men and women touch, and it is men that are cursed by the Dark One by a taint that makes them go mad when they channel. Now, this can be explained away by Liandrin simply hating men. But there are other indicators throughout the show that support the theory that this change was made. And if the change was made, why was it made?
Moiraine then says that this man was not the Dragon Reborn and that they are headed to the Two Rivers next because of rumors of four ta'veren there. Rumors from whom? At this point, what have the four main characters, who we have yet to meet, done to indicate that they are ta'veren? They live humbly in a backwater town doing small town things like tend to sheep and work at their father's inn. Who is spreading these rumors? The peddlers that go through this town? Do they even know what a ta'veren is? Was the man that was just gentled rumored to be ta'veren too? Or does she just follow the Red sisters around to any man that can channel, which would make little sense since we know the Dragon Reborn could be a woman.
In the books, Moiraine and Lan go to the two rivers because she is hunting young men who were born on Dragon Mount around 20 years previously. There are three boys that live in the Two Rivers that are born around the right time and she needs to ask around to see if any of them could have been born outside of the area. Egwene is not even considered a ta'veren, and Moiraine doesn't even know that they are ta'veren until Loial points it out in Caemlyn. She doesn't know anything this early other than Myrdrall and Trollocs are after them and they are the right age.
Another call out here about how things are different from the book. The book opens with a scene of Lews Therin interracting with Ishmael. He is so insane from the taint on Saidin, that he does not realize he has murdered everyone he cares about. Ishmael gives him a moment of clarity and he realizes what he has done. He is so grief stricken that he teleports to an open area and uses the one power to create Dragon Mount, killing himself in the process. This scene makes the reader aware that the Dragon is a super powerful male channeler who is incredibly dangerous, and driven insane by the taint on Saidin. It sets up lore of who the Dragon was and why people throughout the world are so fearful both of male channelers in general, and of the Dragon Reborn especially. We also understand why only women use the one power. Instead we get a scene of women Gentling a man that can channel and one of them saying that the power is not meant for men, and they make it filthy.
The next scene is totally made up as well. We see Egwene and Nynaeve engaged in a ceremony of Egwene getting her braid. Nynaeve welcomes Egwene to the Women's Circle and then Egwene must jump off a cliff into a river and survive.
Getting the braid was a coming of age ritual in the source material, but there was never a ceremony tied to it.The ceremony is oddly symbolic of how women think of channeling the One Power, letting it flow through them like a river. Also, Egwene did not join the Women's Circle. That was something that women joined to help make decisions and lead the village. It was similar to the Village Coucil, which was made up of men that were leaders in the town. This whole scene is material that was not in the source material and portays things that were never even mentioned in the books, other than Egwene getting the braid.
The first scene that is even somewhat from the book is Rand and Tam walking down the road to Emond's Field. All this scene does is show some dialogue that establishes Rand loves Egwene and done things for her since they were children. The only indication that anything is out of sorts is a line from Tam stating that something is driving the wolves down from higher up in the mountains.
In the books, this scene has Rand seeing a Myrdraal, which to him is just an ominous dark rider that makes him feel scared. Tam does not see the rider as it is mysteriously gone by the time Tam truns to see it. This is an immediate indication that something is wrong and sets up events to come once they reach Emond's Field.
We get our first look at the town of Emond's Field. Perrin has a line in here where he seems to indicate that people pass through heading south to the war. Because of the geography of the Two Rivers, this would be a change from the books, and means the area gets more through traffic.
A small note on diversity shown here: It does not make sense here. In the books the Two Rivers was a very secluded region that saw a few peddlers every so often, and not much else. There were three, four towns that people sort of intermingled with, but even there they did not trust people from nearby towns and made jokes about them. In the books, this area used to be a small, but mighty kingdom called Manetheren which was destroyed in the Trolloc Wars. This is even brought up in the show. The people are described as having brown hair and skin that is tanned from working out in the sun. In the show we see many different enthicities living together. If this area were so secluded, and we take it as a given that Manetheren was in fact a cosmopolitan kingdom with people from many different regions, then over time they would have intermingled and become homogenous so they all seem rather similar in appearance. Because this is not shown, one must assume that the Two Rivers has more traffic through it than in the books. And if that is the case, plot points later in the books, like where refugees come in and bring their foreign cultures and clothing, would not seem so odd to the people living there. Again, I do not mind the diversity in itself and it is nice to see diversity in a show, but this is a change from the source material and does not make sense in the setting we see.
We have a scene where everyone is in the Winespring Inn. Mat is shown as a straight out gambler and loses all of his money. Egwene enters and gets a standing ovation for surviving the ceremony and getting her braid. Moiraine enters with everyone staring at her and immediately flashes her ring, letting everyone know she is an Aes Sedai. This scene is awkward as she just walks up in front of the hearth and looks at everyone.
In the books, she does not reveal who she really is or her intention. She is already there when Rand shows up and has been asking around the village about boys that were born around a certain time and possibly outside of the Two Rivers. Because this is such a secluded town, and not everyone in this world loves Aes Sedai because of the One Power, she keeps that hidden until she has to use the One Power to save the town. And then,the people of Emond's Field, women and men, want her gone. In the show, the people look intimidated by her and accept that she is there and they better do what she asks and tread lightly.
We then get a scene where Rand sleeps with Egwene. Whether they actually have sex or not, it doesn't matter. The scene does not make sense for the world that it is set it. In such a small village, two people that are not married would not likely be sleeping together. Also, we see Egwene wrapped in nothing but a blanket, sitting in the common room of the inn late at night. Now, while everyone is asleep, she is in a common area where anyone could walk in. Why would a woman walk around virtually naked where anyone could approach her. Since this inn is owned by her father, why would Rand and she sleep together under her parent's roof and she be in an area where her father and mother could walk in on her? This is used as an intimate scene with Rand and Egwene to further their relationship.
It is also implied that Mat, who desperately needs money, sleeps with a woman in the village and steals her bracelet to later sell to Padan Fain the next day. This makes Mat a man who is promiscuous from the beginning, predatory, and a thief. The only thing redeeming him at all is that he is supposedly doing this to have money to buy laterns for his sisters because his family has no money. It begs the question, in such a small town, how would the theft go unnoticed? Better yet, why does Mat not have a job at his age in the show? This is a small town and everyone would know his family is struggling. Why would they not look out for them and why would he not be doing something productive instead of stealing?
We have a brief scene where the Myrdraal walks right into Emond's Field with no one around, so we can see the dark cloaked rider. This is not better than having Rand see him and having the other boys see him also. No one sees him, but there is a scene later where Nynaeve and Egwene sense some evil on the wind.
It is important to note that in the books, Rand and Tam did not stay even one night. Padan Fain was already there, a gleeman, Thom Merrilin, was already there, and this first day was literally the night before Bel Tine. Because Rand, Mat, Perrin, and several other boys in the village had seen the same dark rider, the Village Council was worried and Tam decided they would spend the night back on their farm. Moiraine had already given Rand, Mat, and Perrin a tracking coin.
I would also like to note that Thom Merrilin is not in the show this early. This is a huge change from the book and while I will get to the character change later, Thom not being in the show at this point eliminates some of the early bonding that he forms with the young Emond's Fielders. How would Egwene or Perrin ever know who this guy is when they seem him later?
We get a scene the next day where Nynaeve is scrubbing rocks in a sacred pool. Moiraine comes up to her and has an awkward conversation. Nynaeve makes it clear that she does not like Aes Sedai because the Wisdom that taught her tried to become one and was turned away, not because she was not strong enough, but because she was too poor and ragged looking. Because she was too country. Now, in a later episode, they show that Siuan Sanche, the Amyrlin Seat, was a super poor fisherman's daughter and was sent to travel to the tower alone. She would have been ragged too, and very country, but the Tower accepted her. So Nynaeve's Wisdom had to be turned away for another reason, being too old, too weak with the One Power, or this story is complete nonsense. Nynaeve also states that it took the former Wisdom months to walk to Tar Valon, though in the show, spoiler, it takes about a month and maybe a week. While some of characters were riding horses for part of the time, Rand and Mat never were. They did ride a boat, but Perrin and Egwene seemed to be moving slowly with the Tinkers. So the only thing I can assume is they covered a lot of ground when running from Trollocs prior to Shadar Logoth.
The source material never mentioned anything about some sacred pool, so why is this even here? This scene is about Moiraine trying to determine if Nynaeve could be one of the ta'veren, but even mentions that she is too old. And it cannot be because Moiraine could sense Nynaeve can channel, because we see later in the series that Moiraine did not know. So why is she focusing on Nynaeve, who is too old? She did hear that Nynaeve might have been born in a different place and brought to the Two Rivers, but that is it. And Nyneave being born in another place and brought to the Two Rivers when she was young is a change from the character in the books. One point in the books is that the old blood of Manatheren runs strong in the Two Rivers, and later in the series, Aes Sedai have gone there to recruit women because two of the strongest channelers in centuries came from there. Nyneave no longer being from there makes this a little less true.
For some reason, Bel Tine is turned into a solumn affair where they honor ancestors. That was never mentioned in the books, but we get scenes of them sending laterns off into water. Lan also tells Moiraine that there are signs of Trollocs; however, they don't alert anyone to this danger. We do later get scenes of people dancing and celebrating as they mention wanting to give their ancestors a celebration worth returning for. While everyone is dancing, that is when the Trollocs attack. The attack has the Trollocs going after everyone. We get some really great scenes of the Emond's Fielders fighting back. We get to see Perrin kill a Trolloc, and then he kills his wife, thinking she was a Trolloc. We get some really great scenes of Moiraine channeling and destroying all of the Trollocs attacking, and a lot of the town. We see Mat trying to save his sisters as his mother and father hide. We get Rand and Tam fighting off Trollocs at their farm and Tam gets injured. Nynaeve also gets hauled off by a Trolloc and we see Lan defending Moiraine while she is channeling. The scenes are all pretty cool.
Largely, I do not have a specific problem with the scene here. It is good for television, and while wildly different from the book, it showcases channeling and Lan's fighting ability. It also is a good showcase for Trollocs. I do find it terrible of Moiraine and Lan to not have warned the villagers that Trollocs and a Myrdraal were in the area. In the books, they do not know and the attack happens later in the night. It is targeted on just certain places, the forge, Perrin's home, Mat's farm, and Rand's farm. While there was other damage and other people hurt, it was clear there were only certain places they were after. Because this attack was more generalized, that is not as clear.
We never get to see men doing much of anything to defend the town, and mostly we are focused on Lan and Moiraine, Nyneave and Egwene saving people, Mat saving his sisters, and we see women literally in a circle trying to take down a Trolloc. Are the men all hiding? Further, Tam al'Thor, a blade master, is unable to take down a single Trolloc and requires Rand to take it down, while getting injured in the process. In the books he takes down several Trollocs while telling Rand to run. He then exits the house on his own, injured and finds Rand. Rand then has to go back into the house and kills a lone Trolloc, almost by accident. Lan looks great though, protecting Moiraine and taking down Trollocs. And Moiraine looks great channeling, though the strange movements she does with her body are overly dramatic given how channeling worked in the book. She is also missing her staff.
After Rand and Tam fight off the Trollocs, we catch Rand the next morning, walking Tam into town on the back of a horse. Who knows if it is Bella because the horses are not named or important in the show. Don't get me wrong though, while that was a fun thread throughout the book, it does not take away from the story itself. Tam is healed by Moiraine right there in the street.
Rather than the entire scene where Rand is laboring through the woods, trying to hide from Trollocs and a Myrdraal on the way into the village and dragging his father on a makeshift litter, we just get them wandering in with Tam on a horse. I prefer the book because we see the struggle it was and get the first hint that Tam is not Rand's real father and we see him struggle with this throughout the book, but I can get into that more with the character analysis. Because Nynaeve was dragged off, so she is not around, showing her strength in healing the town's people after that attack. We will instead have a scene where she kills a Trolloc by stabbing it with a knife. It is shown that healing in the show is not nearly as impactful as in the books. In the books, Tam is almost completely out of it by the time Moiraine heals him. After the healing, he is still asleep and Rand needs to nap near him and talks to a still recovering Tam. Moiraine also needs rest after healing many of the villagers and battling the night before. We also then got a scene where the Emond's Fielders feel Moiraine is a witch and want her gone. After everything that they all have gone through in the night, they all need some rest and leave that night. Not immediately with a Trolloc army immediately bearing down on the town from the mountains.
After healing Tam, Moiraine stands up and tells all four of the Emond's Fielders that the Trollocs were after them because the Dragon has been Reborn, and it is one of them. They do not react in the way one would think if they understood the gravity of it.
In the books, Moiraine only knows that that Trollocs are specifically after the boys because of the targeted attack. She does not know for sure that one of them is the Dragon Reborn. The Emond's Fielders should have a crazy reaction to what Moiraine says in the show. However, Moiraine would not have even told them her suspicions so early on. Moiraine is able to use the evidence of the targeted attacks to justify that they were after the boys and convince them to leave. In the show, they just show another army coming down from the mountains in the distance to spur everyone to leave with Moiraine.
Back to TopEpisode 2 opens with an entirely made up scene with the White Cloaks. Questioner Valda is taunting an Aes Sedai who is burning at the stake. The scene establishes that not all Aes Sedai can channel without their hands, as the Aes Sedai in this scene has had her hands chopped off and does not channel to get out of the situation. I am not entirely upset that she does not channel here as it would be awfully hard to concentrate on channeling if you are in pain from having your hands chooped off and are tied to a stake, about to burn. But that Valda comments on how she cannot channel without her hands... Valda looks particularly terrible in this scene.
As I have stated, this scene is wholy made up. It is also a very different introduction to the White Cloaks, and makes them look far more evil than initially portrayed in the books. In the books, we see them in Baerlon, but they just look like jerks. The outfits are horrible. In the books, they are described wearing mail with a tabard over it; I tend to think Crusader/Templar look. And they wear white cloaks, hense the name. In the show, it is some ridiculous fantasy outfit with just a pauldron over one shoulder. The scene is here to establish that the White Cloaks kill Aes Sedai so when our main characters meet them later, the audience understands the danger, but this could have been done closer to how it was in the books with equal effect and without showing the more sadistic nature of some of the White Cloaks so early on.
The Emond's Fielders, Moiraine and Lan are running from the Trolloc army and get to the Taren Ferry. They pay off the ferryman to take them across immediately. The Trollocs and Myrdraal show up at the ferry right after they are halfway across. The boys help the ferry man get the ferry across. Once across, Moiraine uses the one power to sink the ferry. The ferryman is worried about his son showing up and being killed, jumps in against warnings from Moiraine, and gets killed. Moiraine does nothing to stop it. I have an issue here, and it is not necessarily related to how it is different from the book, though I will get to that. Moiraine has the ability to save this guy, but she does not. She let's him die. Further, the ferryman should not have been so dumb as to try to jump in and get back to the other side when you have a Myrdraal and an army of trollocs on the other side. What was he hoping he could do even if he went back to warn his son? They would have killed him and then killed his son. She is also not hiding the fact that she is using the One Power to sink it. If she is not hiding it, then why waste the energy to make a whirl pool? Why not just blast it and go. Then the man wouldn't even sink into the whirl pool.
This scene is very different in the books and I think would have been better if they had followed it. One, the Trollocs are not hot on the party's heels. The ferryman has two other people with him and carries them across. Moiraine has caused fog to cover their tracks in either direction down the river to throw off the Myrdrall and Dra'kar. When they do cross, Moiraine sinks the ferry and gives the ferryman his money. She does not murder the person through omission of saving him. The scene in the show really makes Moiraine's morals questionable. Also, this scene is used in the books as the first instance of when the Emond Fielder's realize that not everyone in the world is trustworthy. Lan has the boys show their weapons so they appear more menacing in an effort to disuade the ferryman and his henchmen from trying anything. We lose that in the show.
After the group gets away from Taren Ferry, they stop for a break and there is a conversation among the Emond's Fielders about what they have heard about the Dragon Reborn. Rand says it is said that the Dragon Reborn would save the world after the last one broke it. Mat says he heard that the Dragon Reborn would have wings. Moiraine steps in and tells them all to forget everything that they have heard about the Dragon Reborn.
This entire scene is made up. While the group did talk when they took breaks and camped, having a discussion about the Dragon Reborn never happened at this point because Moiraine never revealed anything about the Dragon Reborn at this point. Moiraine is essentially telling the audience to forget everything they know about the Dragon Reborn, because changes have been made to the story. Additionally, the reaction that the Emond's Fielders have at one of them being the Dragon Reborn continues to be muted compared to what it should be.
That night, Moiraine shows Egwene that she can channel, and talks to her about channeling and the Three Oaths. This scene is decent and is probably one of the closest to the books that I can recall from the series. This is also where we see the first dream sequence, where Rand dreams about throwing up a bat, and wakes to find a bunch of bats on the ground. He approaches Moiraine in a threatening manner. Moiraine and Lan decide to head off without the Emond's Fielders, but after some discussion, they follow.
The scene with Moiraine and Egwene is one of the closest scenes that the show has to what happened in the books. While in the books, the scene incorporates Rand overhearing the conversation and this does not, it is still very close and actually pretty good. Amazing how great things can be when the book is followed. The dream sequence itself if highly different from what we had in the books, but is similar enough in that it involved a rodent dying and then Rand waking up to find many of the same rodent actually dead. The arguement that happened afterward is more of a departure from the books, and while the boys are meant to come off as unreasonable because they are blaming Moiraine and do not want to go with her, up until now, Egwene was the only one that heard Moiraine's explanation on how she did nto directly kill the ferryman with the One Power. From their perspective, she as good as murdered the man and yet they are supposed to follow her. Of course, Egwene, who did hear the explanation the night before, is all for going with Moiraine.
Next is the meeting with the White Cloaks, which happens randomly in the woods. Why Lan was not scouting ahead and alerting them so they could avoid the encounter as he did in the books with anything he felt they should avoid, who knows. The meeting is fine, and we actually see a more honorable side with Bornhald. Moiraine doesn't lie, but stretches the truth Aes Sedai style in this scene. Valda questions her and, despite knowing about the Three Oaths, does not ask the obvious question if Moiraine is an Aes Sedai. I also think that she could have handled such a small group of White Cloaks had she wanted to, though she was weakened from the injury.
Given the amount of completely made up scenes and content, I do not understand why this encounter could not have happened in Baerlon and that entire section from the source material not been included. This scene is used to further make Valda and the White Cloaks look terrible when Valda places his hands all over Moiraine and is designed to make women watching the show loathe the White Cloaks. Again, had Moiraine already been holding the One Power, she could have easily handled what appeared to be a relatively small band of White Cloaks, as she did in the books by appearing to grow gigantic. It is a poor adaptation of a similar scene in the books, but the intent of this scene is different.
There is an excellent scene where the group is all riding together and the Emond's Fielders start singing a song about Manetheren. Moiraine then tells them the story of Manetheren and how it was destroyed. Rosamund does such a great job with this, that I really liked it. There was a scene in the books where she does explain the history of Manetheren and I think, while this was different, it was pretty good. We also see Perrin off in the woods alone, tending to an injury and a wolf comes and licks his wound. Wolves are coming in earlier in the show than in the books.
Running from the Trolloc horde, Moiraine very injured from the wound that she got in Emond's Field, Lan takes them into Shadar Logoth. Shadar Logoth looks good. In this scene, it is Egwene and Rand that wander off from the building they are taking refuge in so they can talk and hold hands. Mat does wander off too, and finds the dagger. Moiraine remains barely there because of her worsening injury. Eventually, Mashadar does appear and the group needs to flee. The look of Mashadar is cool. Everyone escapes, and the group is separated. The episode ends with Nynaeve getting the jump on Lan and holding a knife to his neck.
While I generally think that the Shadar Logoth part of the show is good, it is very different from the books and missing some critical pieces. First, Moiraine being injured is a problem. It is a problem because even within the show, an injury from a Trolloc blade took Tam out in a night. Moiraine has been traveling with this for several days and only slowly getting worse, without healing. Aes Sedai are not more imune to the effects of the blade than regular people, so she should not be withstanding the effect so well. With her being injured, there are important things she tells the group in the book, that she cannot do here. They also had to cut some of the cooler channeling spots Moiraine showed in the first book, like exploding the ground and the wall of fire. It is that channeling that makes her tired and needing to rest when they are in Shadar Logoth.
Going to Shadar Logoth is a mutual decision of necessity in the books, and not Lan's sole decision. Because of the change in the show, this decision now rests with Lan and Moiraine blames Lan for bringing them into Shadar Logoth and condeming them all to death.
When in Shadar Logoth, Mat, Rand and Perrin all go off on their own and meet Mordeth. It is Mordeth's treasure where Mat obtains the dagger and he is a character that is important to later developments. Because the boys were gone for so long, Lan went out looking for them by the time that they came back and when he returns, he announces that Trollocs and Myrdraal have entered into Shadar Logoth. In addition, Mashadar appears and is more a mist than the weird black thing. I am fine with the look of it in the show, but there are a lot of other changes that make this entire scene very different from the books. The end effect is the same, everyone has to make a hasty exit from the city, but then the Trollocs all seem to be gone and we will not see them again until the end of the show, and in a different context. Additionally, Moiraine had put up wards in the book that would have protected them for the night in the books. The only reason that the wards did not work is because the Trollocs were coming right for their location and they had to leave the protection of the wards. This is not the case in the show, because Moiraine is too injured.
Finally, Nyneave getting the jump on Lan at the end and holding a knife to his throat is ridiculous. This is a complete change from the books on where Nyneave finds the group, and how she finds them. And it is not for the better and does not make any sense with how it is explained later in the show. I will jump ahead since the show has been out for so long already. One, if Nyneave was tracking Moiraine using this tell, how did that happen during the period of Moiraine being on a horse and being so near death? Two, how was Nyneave able to track them so closely to know that they entered Shadar Logoth with an army of trollocs right outside the same place the group went into the city through?
Back to TopWe start with a flashback showing how Nynaeve was able to get away from the Trolloc that was dragging her away from Emond's Field. She runs to the sacred pool, hides in the pool and then stabs the Trolloc to death. She then decides to travel after Moiraine, Lan, and the Emond's Fielders. It was cool that the blood from the Trolloc forms a dragon fang in the sacred pool. Interesting that the dragon fang is being used as a symbol of evil for the Trolloc, even though it is an ancient symbol for male Aes Sedai.
Here is a first aside. This episode starts out with an entire scene that is made up. It is hard for me to accept the idea that Rafe Judkins and the people making this show had to cut out so much of the source material when there are so many scenes that are completely made up. In the books, Nynaeve met up with the group at Baerlon. She never killed a Trolloc with a dagger. She was with the group in Shadar Logoth and helping Moiraine with energizing teas. She was not sneaking up on Lan in the woods. In looking at the scenes that were added to the show versus the stuff that was dropped, it does not seem like the changes were needed to abreviate the story, but were conscious changes to tell a different story.
Perrin is trying to light a fire and Egwene tries to channel and light a fire.
While this is different from the books, it is similar. Perrin does see her trying to channel and asks that she stop. In the show, Perrin is more ok with it than in the books. I also have an issue with Egwene just channeling fire. It is not that she cannot instinctively channel the correct way to start a fire, but generally speaking, in the books, people need to train to learn to channel. She is trying this in the books, so I can accept this, though she was not successful, where she seems to be here.
Nynaeve is collecting a flower and helping Moiraine with the injury. The interraction between Lan and Nynaeve is good here, but this is more made up content that never happened. There is a good explanation of the Warder bond in this scene, and that is honestly the most that is needed for that, but there will be a lot more attention paid to this. Mixed in here is Lan and Nynaeve talking about how she tracked them.
Wolves are snarling at Egwene and Perrin, but seemingly guiding them? This is odd as they appear viscious, but are making a connection with Perrin.
Rand and Mat finally arrive in a town. This is some mining town that seems to be entirely made up. They arrive on a ferry boat, so I think that was supposed to be Bayle Domon from the books, but we lost a lot there. The town seems kinda run down and has an Aiel dead in a cage. Rand and Mat go to the inn. This is where we meet Thom Merrilin. He steals Mat's money in the middle of the inn's common room, in front of everyone, and gets away with it. He is portayed more like a cowboy, playing a guitar, and singing a sad song that makes everyone sad and upset. Mat and Rand offer to work to earn a room and food. Rand ends up working and chopping firewood. Mat refuses to do that and just serves drinks. Mat mentions he will steal if he has to in order to get back to Emond's Field and his sisters, and the bar maid tells him he will end up in a cage if he did.
Let's talk about Thom. I will go into more when I discuss the characters, but the only way to describe the treatment of Thom is butchered. He does not have the cloak, that was turned into a duster with patches on the inside. He is singing sad songs and playing a guitar. He steals Mat's money right in front of everyone and is not punished. In the book, he is more flamboyant, with a brightly colored, patchwork cloak, and an air of showmanship. People want him to play songs and tell stories. He plays a flute and a harp. He is able to juggle and tumble. Thom acts as a teacher to Mat and Rand. By this time in the books, Thom has been with them since Emond's field. They have a connection to him and he has been teaching them things like playing the flute. But Thom is only with them when until the get to White Bridge, and fights off the Myrdraal while Mat and Rand run. This town seems to resemble events after White Bridge; however Thom is introduced here.
Perrin and Egwene finally meet up with the tinkers. Without Elyas to handle the introductions, the meeting starts more awkwardly with Aram filling in and telling them how to respond. The wife appears to be a little more the leader of the group, but maybe this was done because the actress playing her was better at acting than the man playing the Seeker of the Song.
We get another scene where Lan is going off to search for some Aes Sedai. Not something that was in the book because Moiraine was not severely injured.
Next we get a scene where it is now night time and Mat has returned to the Aiel in the cage to steal the jewel he saw hanging off of the Aiel's belt. Thom approaches and asks what Mat is doing and says he came here to bury the guy. Mat admits that he was going to steal from the man and Thom says he understands and will look the other way. Thom tells Mat that the people of the town killed the person because he was an Aiel and they feared him, but he wasn't vieled. Mat takes what he wants and then they bury the Aiel. Mat also gets his money back.
This scene is terrible in so many ways. Besides the fact that this is a completely made up scene that makes Mat look like a really scummy and pathetic thief that is willing to risk jail time to steal from the dead, it does not make sense in the world that it is set in. Let's start with the Aiel. The Aiel do not leave the waste unless they need to. Why is this person here? Aiel are also very good about not being seen unless they want to be seen and are keenly aware of their surroundings. Did this Aiel want to be seen by the villagers, or did the Aiel just walk right into town? This would have been a large talking point alone, but is just ignored while Thom seems more focused on how bad some of the villagers are because they just killed the guy for being Aiel. Now, Thom just sang to these people, drank with these people, and was laughing it up with these same people. If Thom is so offended by the actions of the people from this little mining village, why is he playing music for them? Why is he still there? Did he stay for one evening just so he could bury the body of an Aiel? Since Thom is a traveling bard, why is he not going to be in major trouble for pulling the guy out of the cage and burying him? This is not his town. Whose shovel did he use and does he have permission to dig a hole on property that is not his? Did he ask some mayor or something? This scene makes absolutely no sense.
Let me summarize the damage this scene has done. It makes Mat look terrible for being the kind of man that would rob a corpse and being so low. It makes the villagers look like racists who fear the Aiel and murder them because of that fear. It makes Thom look worse than he already does because he is the kind of guy who will sing for a town of racist murders, take their money, and then stand by while Mat loots the man's corpse. And the Aiel don't seem to live up to their name as this Aiel seemed to have left the Waste on his own, got caught by villagers and killed by them. Great job Rafe... and this is all completely made up and not from the books at all. But I guess we couldn't fit in any of the towns or the boat from the book because there is too much content and not enough time in the show.
There is a scene where Rand and the bar maid are talking. Rand seems like he wants to leave to find Mat but the bar maid reveals herself a dark friend. She gets a hold of Rand's sword and holds it out towards him. She tells him that the door is super reinforced and he will never be able to break out. Rand, she is holding a sword and there are plenty of things in the room that you can use to throw at her. When she looks out the window to see if Mat is coming, throw something at her. She is not holding a gun. Rand tries desperately to break through the door, and despite the door being super reinforced, he is able to get through and run away. Rand trying so desperately to get away from this woman is a little sad. Was this inn built with the door reinforced? Did she have it reinforced? Was this a dark friend inn or did she get it done when she took over? Does she use this room frequently or was it built expressly for the purpose of trapping the potential Dragon Reborn? Is she regularly trapping and trafficking people? It is like she read the script and knew she needed a reinforced room.
This scene is supposed to replace the three different times where Rand and Mat encounter dark friends, after they separate from Thom. In the book they meet a creep in Four Kings, which is the town this seems most like. They then meet some guy in another town and frighten him off by standing up to him and threatening to tell everyone in the town that he is a dark friend right there on the spot. And then they meet a woman who attempts to kill them, but instead they tie her up and leave. Since this town is closer to Four Kings and it is where Rand supposedly channels for the first time, I will consider it a replacement for that scene in the book. But the channeling in the show is him breaking down a door so he can run from a woman with his sword. In the books there are several men trying to break into the room they are staying at. There is a storm going on outside and Rand channels lightning to strike the room, killing the men trying to get through the door and giving Rand and Mat a different way to get out of the situation and run.
What I think this set in the town did do is help show what Mat and Rand were going through while they were off on their own. They struggle, have to work for their meals and rooms, and run into Dark Friends along the way. They are frequently running. It is trying to take different elements from different parts of their adventure and combine them all into one. This has elements from Four kings, the woman dark friend, and Thom teaching Mat life lessons. It also is trying to take some of the instances when they have to work for their food and shelter, it just does far more damage to the characters and the lore of the world than it helps move the story along.
There is a chase through the streets of this town at night, with Rand and Mat meeting as they run away from the woman, and the woman giving chase. No one in the town seems to think it is worth their time to see what is going on, so eventually the woman corners Mat and Rand in a back alley. She tells them about how they should join the Dark One so he can stop the turning of the wheel and people continuing to be reborn. She tells them she called a Myrdraal to come, and then gets a knife thrown through her neck by Thom. Thom then tells Rand and Mat that they need to go immediately because of the Myrdraal. Never mind that he just killed someone from the village, but who from the town really cares, because no one bothered to come back and see what all the comotion was all about. No one was even close enough, like right on the other side of the building, to hear this woman talking all about the Dark One. And one small nitpick here, she should have been calling him The Great Lord of the Dark, and not Dark One.
Lan, Nynaeve, and Moiraine finally happen upon the Aes Sedai camp Lan had been looking for. When they approach, there are Aes Sedai up on some cliffs above the entrance to the camp. Lan tells Nynaeve that the need Moiraine now.
This is more completely made up content and makes almost no sense. Why would Lan need to wake up Moiraine to deal with a camp full of other Aes Sedai? They should recognize him and Moiraine and rush to help. Instead, you have to wake up an dying woman so she can talk to the Aes Sedai and convince them to let the three of them in and heal her? It is established that these women know her, they should surely know Lan. Hell, in the next episode Lan and Steppin are good friends, such good friends that Lan later screams in sorrow over Stepin's loss. Why are Aes Sedai pulling guard duty up on cliffs? Couldn't the Warders do that? If Lan had already found them, why didn't he approach them first, tell them what was going on, and then ride quickly back with one of the Aes Sedai so they could heal Moiraine on the spot? This scene is just terrible because it makes no sense, never mind that it is completely made up. Moiraine, Lan, and Nynaeve were focused on finding Perrin, Mat, and Rand, and never met up with the Aes Sedai that had captured Logain. We did see Logain and those sisters briefly while in Caemlyn, the city they were initially trying to meet up in, but was cut from the show because there was not enough time to fit in all of the book material.
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