[the broken]

Episode 4:

Spoiler

I lost my mental bet, I thought Mat would be headed to either Toman Head or Tear, but apparently he will end up in Cairhien? Huh. Was not expecting that.

Everyone knows Rand has red hair even though he keeps it shaved specifically to conceal that.

Moiraine and Lan's plot is quite strange.

Moiraine is either severed or shielded, severing would be more in character for Ishy, he doesn't really have a reason to be merciful. So she has lost the power, which is a big deal, fine. She's doing the protagonist thing of 'I don't want my friends close where they can get hurt, but Lan is in the process of essentially dying of depression, and she goes out of her way to make him even more miserable. Huh? And they're dwelling on her family issues and not how she reacted to realising she inadvertently unleashed Ishamael on the world. That's kind of a big deal.

Season 1 establishes what happens to Warder whose bond is broken, but they don't acknowledge that until Episode 4. Up until then, everyone is treating him as though he's being petulant or something, but...as far as they know, he's dying? Alanna and her warders are much more caring, but it's too late. Lan is just...floundering around, doing nothing.

I think Selene's plot is a step up from the books, there's a good shot where with Rand facing away she stops pretending to be afraid of the Fade. Not keen on the ending, really, but...when your lead is tied up and in bed with Lanfear, there's not really any good way out of that situation. Might have been helpful to have someone around who is good at sneaking around and stabbing people.

Liandrin is good.

I'm in a weird place. It's not necessarily bad in itself, but I'm watching trying to work out what's going on rather than being fully engaged.

[worry]

I’m watching episode 4 now and the bird’s eye view shot of two characters kissing was a real choice.

[worry]

Glad to see the prosthetics artists behind the Coneheads are still getting work.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

the broken, on 09 September 2023 - 10:50 PM, said:

Episode 4:

Spoiler

I lost my mental bet, I thought Mat would be headed to either Toman Head or Tear, but apparently he will end up in Cairhien? Huh. Was not expecting that.

Everyone knows Rand has red hair even though he keeps it shaved specifically to conceal that.

Moiraine and Lan's plot is quite strange.

Moiraine is either severed or shielded, severing would be more in character for Ishy, he doesn't really have a reason to be merciful. So she has lost the power, which is a big deal, fine. She's doing the protagonist thing of 'I don't want my friends close where they can get hurt, but Lan is in the process of essentially dying of depression, and she goes out of her way to make him even more miserable. Huh? And they're dwelling on her family issues and not how she reacted to realising she inadvertently unleashed Ishamael on the world. That's kind of a big deal.

Season 1 establishes what happens to Warder whose bond is broken, but they don't acknowledge that until Episode 4. Up until then, everyone is treating him as though he's being petulant or something, but...as far as they know, he's dying? Alanna and her warders are much more caring, but it's too late. Lan is just...floundering around, doing nothing.

I think Selene's plot is a step up from the books, there's a good shot where with Rand facing away she stops pretending to be afraid of the Fade. Not keen on the ending, really, but...when your lead is tied up and in bed with Lanfear, there's not really any good way out of that situation. Might have been helpful to have someone around who is good at sneaking around and stabbing people.

Liandrin is good.

I'm in a weird place. It's not necessarily bad in itself, but I'm watching trying to work out what's going on rather than being fully engaged.

They already established that

Spoiler

no-magic Moiraine is good at sneaking and stabbing people---well, technically, sneaking and slashing Fades, anyway, since iirc she snuck up on a Fade and cut its throat very quickly. Possibly other examples.

Show's pacing has remained good IMO, though some might feel like the twists are coming too fast. Too bad it might have lost a lot of viewers with the slow pace of the first episode.

Yet more fight scenes in the dark where it's hard to see what's happening... which again could be good if done well---but so far they haven't been... maybe it's a mix of the color contrast and the choreography? Since I can't tell what it's going on, these parts actually do tend to end up being slightly boring when they drag on too long. Especially since I assume the main characters have plot armor +

Spoiler

super-powerful magical healing---I'd guess some viewers not familiar with the books probably thought they'd gone GoT on Moiraine and Lan earlier, since they looked pretty mortally wounded, but nope...

.

[Cause]

Spoiler

Egwene and the Suldam were a good part of the episode. True the books and my expectations and setting up the horror of the Seanchan quite well. Somewhat undercut by the idea that they make the Shienarans and Loail into slaves simply by putting them in white robes. As if regular slaves wouldn't have to be broken too but this is a case of a strange and unnecessary change from the books so they are really just trying to speed things along to a point further down the line.

The change of Moraine being shielded/stilled and the weirdness with Lan is strangest of all. Especially in this episode where we see Lan reveal the existence of the Dragon Reborn to an Aes Sedai he shouldnt have complete trust in and from the brief trailer for next episode it shows Lan essentailly forcing Rand to go before the Amyrlin. This scene is in the books but in the books Lan secretly supports Rand so he looks like a wolfhounf and not a pup. Its a small but important piece of showing Rand and Lans connection and Lans general connection Nynaeve and fighting the Dark over blind loyalty to the Aes Sedai. Maybe what I see next episode will change this but for now the entire Lan and Moraine story is a weird change.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Episode 6... I feel like Amazon's Wheel of Time arrived. Easily the best episode of the whole thing so far.

Perfect? No, there was one thread I still feel is letting the others down - but there was so much to like if not love about it that I can easily put it aside.

Spoiler

Let's get that one thread out of the way:

I do not love what they're doing with Lan. I don't get it, and it's reminiscent of some of the clunkier bits of the back half of series one.

Anyway:

1. Madeleine Madden and Xelia Mendes-Jones were an absolute phenomenon in the exploration of the relationship between suldam and damane, and the extent of the abuse with which damane are broken. It's such a fine line to walk with this sort of thing - if you make light of it, that doesn't serve the story, but if you go the Game of Thrones Theon Greyjoy route then it starts to feel like needless torture porn and the story is just as undercut in a different way. For me, they nailed this perfectly. It's the right mix of revolting and heartbreaking, and both actors do so incredibly well with every moment of it. IMO if they aren't nominated for awards, then there's no faith to be had in the award system.

2. Following on from the above, that final ending scene with Maighan in the next cell just about broke me. The way she says "You lasted longer than me child, and I was a Sitter of the Blue Ajah" was so genuinely emotional.

3. Donal Finn got to be Mat, and it was wonderful. His interaction with Rand was great.

4. Natasha O'Keefe's Lanfear is fast becoming my favourite new addition to the cast. She can do so much with the quirk of an eyebrow or a twitch of her expression. Chef's kiss for all of it.

5. Stop making me feel stuff for Liandrin, Kate Fleetwood, you glorious actress. I want to hate Liandrin uncomplicatedly and you've made it impossible.

6. Ryma, Basan and the other two wonder girls. Ah, the emotions. To say we spent so little time with Ryma and Basan their death and capture were quite emotional for me - and the way Ryma's fight and capture were intercut with Egwene breaking down was a superb choice.

Roll on episode 7!

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 26 September 2023 - 12:26 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 25 September 2023 - 03:40 PM, said:

Episode 6... I feel like Amazon's Wheel of Time arrived. Easily the best episode of the whole thing so far.

Perfect? No, there was one thread I still feel is letting the others down - but there was so much to like if not love about it that I can easily put it aside.

Spoiler

Let's get that one thread out of the way:

I do not love what they're doing with Lan. I don't get it, and it's reminiscent of some of the clunkier bits of the back half of series one.

Anyway:

1. Madeleine Madden and Xenia Mendes-Jones were an absolute phenomenon in the exploration of the relationship between suldam and damane, and the extent of the abuse with which damane are broken. It's such a fine line to walk with this sort of thing - if you make light of it, that doesn't serve the story, but if you go the Game of Thrones Theon Greyjoy route then it starts to feel like needless torture porn and the story is just as undercut in a different way. For me, they nailed this perfectly. It's the right mix of revolting and heartbreaking, and both actors do so incredibly well with every moment of it. IMO if they aren't nominated for awards, then there's no faith to be had in the award system.

2. Following on from the above, that final ending scene with Maighan in the next cell just about broke me. The way she says "You lasted longer than me child, and I was a Sitter of the Blue Ajah" was so genuinely emotional.

3. Donal Finn got to be Mat, and it was wonderful. His interaction with Rand was great.

4. Natasha O'Keefe's Lanfear is fast becoming my favourite new addition to the cast. She can do so much with the quirk of an eyebrow or a twitch of her expression. Chef's kiss for all of it.

5. Stop making me feel stuff for Liandrin, Kate Fleetwood, you glorious actress. I want to hate Liandrin uncomplicatedly and you've made it impossible.

6. Ryma, Basan and the other two wonder girls. Ah, the emotions. To say we spent so little time with Ryma and Basan their death and capture were quite emotional for me - and the way Ryma's fight and capture were intercut with Egwene breaking down was a superb choice.

Roll on episode 7!

Madeleine Madden was great, but IMO Xenia Mendes-Jones only almost nailed it. Xenia's vocal delivery was slightly off in places. But overall it's probably the best episode so far. I'd say it's less like 'Amazon's Wheel of Time'---because that made me think of 'Rings of Power'---and more like HBO's Wheel of Time....

[Edit: correction, I accidentally referred to Xenia as 'her', but the actor is nonbinary.]

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 25 September 2023 - 04:12 PM

[the broken]

Spoiler

Egwene's plot is easily the strongest.

Lan's plot is very weird, because his bond is broken, he should be basically dying, as established by Steppin in Season 1, but no one seems to be treating that with the seriousness it merits.

Most of the other stories have potential, but we're almost done with the Season and they haven't progressed very far. The Horn of Valereis almost an afterthought, Ishamael casually gives it away and the only person who seems to care about it is Ingtar. There's been some very good writing and some very big misfires.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Azath Vitr (D, on 25 September 2023 - 04:11 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 25 September 2023 - 03:40 PM, said:

Episode 6... I feel like Amazon's Wheel of Time arrived. Easily the best episode of the whole thing so far.

Perfect? No, there was one thread I still feel is letting the others down - but there was so much to like if not love about it that I can easily put it aside.

Spoiler

Let's get that one thread out of the way:

I do not love what they're doing with Lan. I don't get it, and it's reminiscent of some of the clunkier bits of the back half of series one.

Anyway:

1. Madeleine Madden and Xenia Mendes-Jones were an absolute phenomenon in the exploration of the relationship between suldam and damane, and the extent of the abuse with which damane are broken. It's such a fine line to walk with this sort of thing - if you make light of it, that doesn't serve the story, but if you go the Game of Thrones Theon Greyjoy route then it starts to feel like needless torture porn and the story is just as undercut in a different way. For me, they nailed this perfectly. It's the right mix of revolting and heartbreaking, and both actors do so incredibly well with every moment of it. IMO if they aren't nominated for awards, then there's no faith to be had in the award system.

2. Following on from the above, that final ending scene with Maighan in the next cell just about broke me. The way she says "You lasted longer than me child, and I was a Sitter of the Blue Ajah" was so genuinely emotional.

3. Donal Finn got to be Mat, and it was wonderful. His interaction with Rand was great.

4. Natasha O'Keefe's Lanfear is fast becoming my favourite new addition to the cast. She can do so much with the quirk of an eyebrow or a twitch of her expression. Chef's kiss for all of it.

5. Stop making me feel stuff for Liandrin, Kate Fleetwood, you glorious actress. I want to hate Liandrin uncomplicatedly and you've made it impossible.

6. Ryma, Basan and the other two wonder girls. Ah, the emotions. To say we spent so little time with Ryma and Basan their death and capture were quite emotional for me - and the way Ryma's fight and capture were intercut with Egwene breaking down was a superb choice.

Roll on episode 7!

Madeleine Madden was great, but IMO Xenia Mendes-Jones only almost nailed it. Xenia's vocal delivery was slightly off in places. But overall it's probably the best episode so far. I'd say it's less like 'Amazon's Wheel of Time'---because that made me think of 'Rings of Power'---and more like HBO's Wheel of Time....

[Edit: correction, I accidentally referred to Xenia as 'her', but the actor is nonbinary.]

Correction to my correction: Xelia's pronouns are 'he, they, she'. (... And the name is Xelia, not Xenia. No relation to Xena....)

Xelia (@xeliamj) • Instagram photos and videos

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Azath Vitr (D, on 26 September 2023 - 12:01 PM, said:

Azath Vitr (D, on 25 September 2023 - 04:11 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 25 September 2023 - 03:40 PM, said:

Episode 6... I feel like Amazon's Wheel of Time arrived. Easily the best episode of the whole thing so far.

Perfect? No, there was one thread I still feel is letting the others down - but there was so much to like if not love about it that I can easily put it aside.

Spoiler

Let's get that one thread out of the way:

I do not love what they're doing with Lan. I don't get it, and it's reminiscent of some of the clunkier bits of the back half of series one.

Anyway:

1. Madeleine Madden and Xenia Mendes-Jones were an absolute phenomenon in the exploration of the relationship between suldam and damane, and the extent of the abuse with which damane are broken. It's such a fine line to walk with this sort of thing - if you make light of it, that doesn't serve the story, but if you go the Game of Thrones Theon Greyjoy route then it starts to feel like needless torture porn and the story is just as undercut in a different way. For me, they nailed this perfectly. It's the right mix of revolting and heartbreaking, and both actors do so incredibly well with every moment of it. IMO if they aren't nominated for awards, then there's no faith to be had in the award system.

2. Following on from the above, that final ending scene with Maighan in the next cell just about broke me. The way she says "You lasted longer than me child, and I was a Sitter of the Blue Ajah" was so genuinely emotional.

3. Donal Finn got to be Mat, and it was wonderful. His interaction with Rand was great.

4. Natasha O'Keefe's Lanfear is fast becoming my favourite new addition to the cast. She can do so much with the quirk of an eyebrow or a twitch of her expression. Chef's kiss for all of it.

5. Stop making me feel stuff for Liandrin, Kate Fleetwood, you glorious actress. I want to hate Liandrin uncomplicatedly and you've made it impossible.

6. Ryma, Basan and the other two wonder girls. Ah, the emotions. To say we spent so little time with Ryma and Basan their death and capture were quite emotional for me - and the way Ryma's fight and capture were intercut with Egwene breaking down was a superb choice.

Roll on episode 7!

Madeleine Madden was great, but IMO Xenia Mendes-Jones only almost nailed it. Xenia's vocal delivery was slightly off in places. But overall it's probably the best episode so far. I'd say it's less like 'Amazon's Wheel of Time'---because that made me think of 'Rings of Power'---and more like HBO's Wheel of Time....

[Edit: correction, I accidentally referred to Xenia as 'her', but the actor is nonbinary.]

Correction to my correction: Xelia's pronouns are 'he, they, she'. (... And the name is Xelia, not Xenia. No relation to Xena....)

Xelia (@xeliamj) • Instagram photos and videos

Ah thanks - completely missed I'd mispelled it!

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Apologies for the double post.

Episode 7

Spoiler

It's been said before but I really think we need ten episode seasons, this one was back to feeling a bit rushed.

However, it is solid and it did its job to set up the finale and get everyone to Falme, so I can forgive it being back to a bit of clunkyness.

1. Lanfear is still just wonderful. Natasha O'Keefe is fantastic, the overwhelming arrogance is just a joy to watch.

2. Balthanes being revealed... we didn't get long enough to sit with it but the actors do a good job. I know she isn't a major character and we may not see that much more of her, but Lindsay Duncan has done a great job as Anvaere.

3. I still really like the casting of Aviendha but I'm hoping she and Perrin get a bit more to do in the finale, they feel a little tacked on at the moment. I am enjoying how uncomfortable she makes Perrin with personal questions. "Bain will be disappointed. Chiad will not care" - ha!

4. Moiraine wasn't stilled, as expected. I still don't love how the show has handled Lan this season but hopefully again, he'll get more to do in the finale. The breaking between Moiraine and the Amyrlin was well done - Moiraine trusted Siuan enough to swear the oath of obedience to her name personally rather than her position, and Siuan really violated that trust by using it to command her to do something. Especially given all the chatter about Moiraine not trusting anyone in this episode.

5. VERIN. Played to absolute perfection.

6. Mat and Ishamael's interaction was interesting, there were some nice nods in Mat's vision although I'm not entirely sure where it's going. Maybe he'll get a big moment to throw off Ishy.

Stuff I was less thrilled with.

1. Please break Logain out already and give him something to do. You're wasting him. I was sure he was going to end up in the Asmodean role but they seem to have dithered with him this series so perhaps not.

2. Elayne and Nynaeve's interaction with Loial felt rushed, I'd have liked a longer scene. However, Nynaeve being all "don't encourage her" and "His name sings in your ears lets get on with it" made me chuckle.

3. Renna and Egwene felt a little tacked on, although I did enjoy the showcase that Egwene is nowhere near fully broken and boy is the girl going to rain some vengeance down on folks later.

[Cause]

Some of these story changes are just bizarre.

I mean I assume someone read the books.

[Chance]

Cause, on 29 September 2023 - 03:47 PM, said:

Some of these story changes are just bizarre.

I mean I assume someone read the books.

Is the second season any good?

Asking as someone who finished the last season with a fairly great determination not to watch anymore mostly because it was obvious that the writing team did not read the books or didn't like what they read in them.

This post has been edited by Chance: 29 September 2023 - 08:54 PM

[the broken]

It's a big step up from Season 1, but at this point they are following the books only very very loosely. I don't even know how to explain it. The characters are heading to Falme, but how and why they get there as mostly different. Some of it works, some of it doesn't. Egwene's plot is mostly the same as the books, Moiraine, Lan, and Mat have almost entirely new ones, Nynaeve's plot is somewhat new, Rand's plot is mostly new, Perrin's plot has elements of book 1 and Book 3 put together with some of book 2, and some new things. It's complicated to explain.

Latest Ep:

Spoiler

Good grief, they spent an entire season on Lan and Moiraine dealing with the fallout from being stilled, and it was a fakeout. Neither of them were actually at risk of dying of depression, they were just massive drama queens. That' creates a huge problem going forward,because any time a character faces an irreversible consequence, we now have to wonder 'is it real, or are the writers lying to us again?'; So much time wasted that could have been done on other things.

The other big problem going forward is that Moiraine is bringing Rand to a place with no idea what to do there because prophecy. Last time she did that, she was making a catastrophic error and accidentally unleashed Ishamael., why does she think it will be different this time?

Lanfear and Ishamael are well done. I do like Lanfear just burning her way through Cairhien. She doesn't need to do that, she just felt like it.

[Cause]

Spoiler

Assuming they still want to hit some of the story beats I would think that Moraines fight with Lanfear will be moved up to next epsidode and they will end up lost in the ways rather tahn with the elfin. Strange given that she just got healed. However, them travelling with lanfear is the msot bizarre story change imaginable. One of her primary missions is to keep rand from turning to the dark one and know they are travelling to Falme with Magical female Hitler. Truly incredible. Lanfear could lose it over Rand trying to save Egwene rather than thinking he slept with some random darkfriend. However Rands madness in the from of being compeltly unable to harma women isnt present.

Also I feel that they have done a very poor job of foreshadowing Rand and how the next episode is suppsoed to or potentailly supposed to go. He has spoken to a blademaster with PTSD but we havent ever seen him practice or wield his sword against anyone. He spoke to Logain and has touched the source at will. I was going to say he has never channeled delibratly but he killed the fade with Fire I now recall. In contrast in the books it was rand who blasted all the trollocs at the end of book 1, in book 2 he trains with Lan, channels using portal stones twice and kills grolm and crosses blades with trollocs and earns the name shadowkiller.

Rand potentially doing battle with Turak and defeating him, the feat of a blademaster will seem to be a huge leap at this point. Siun Sanches words that it has been 6 months and he hasnt grown seems an attack on the writers more than Rand.

[Cause]

Maybe they read the chapter summaries on wotepdia.

Having characters say some lines from the great hunt word for word but miss out on so many important story beats is just bizarre. Looking at you Ingtar!

Spoiler

It’s kind of odd that Mat and Perrin are nobodies in the books. Just two random souls who form a tripod of necessary elements for the light to triumph. Here they just made Mat a hero of the horn. Not necessarily a terrible change but also unnecessary. Is Uno Gaidal? Is Perrin a hero? He didn’t blow the horn but he doesn’t remember either. I guess Matt remembering is more important in regards to his battle knowledge. I honestly thought that was going to be the point of the tea though.

Everyone seems to think it’s very important for Rand to get the horn, it’s seems very rushed and I think they needed an extra episode. Except for a throw away line we don’t even see team light steal the horn. I actually spent a moment wondering if I had missed it somewhere.

Moghedien steals the show in her 60 seconds. I liked her.

Where is Min? Underused.

So Rand isn’t a blade master yet. In the books killing Turak, the first human he kills is a big moment. Here he kills ten min in a blink of eye and keeps walking. This was more impressive than when he kills Ishamael by casually walking into him. That scene was ridiculous. He gets a heron. I was surprised they didn’t give Rand his first heron when Ishamael invaded his dream. We are now one behind schedule. Heron 2 from Callandor killing Ishamael end of season 3 again? Doesn’t seem like we are going that route yet.

Egwene rescued herself. She is currently more of a badass than Rand. We can foreshadow super Egwene of the later books better this way. Her going toe to toe with Ishamael alone seems a bad choice. If one untrained novice, with a month of Damane battle training can nearly defeat the strongest forsaken maybe we should just end this war tomorrow and call it a day.

moraine was remarkable calm after lanfear separates her from Rand. What was Lanfears plan here. She was going to remove the other forsaken, betray Ishamael. Is this her plot of wanting to get Rand and overthrow the dark one and creator both.

The fact that the fight between Rand and Ishamael was done the way it was as opposed to the books means that first no one even knows he fought the dark one/forsaken. They think he just fought Seanchan. No one saw his face, no one saw the heroes of the horn fight for him either. The dragon banner was cool but as it’s just channeling it could have been done by any false dragon. Rand literally fighting Ishamael (who at the time had a head of fire) in the sky where everyone can see is what made it so world shattering.

Edit- moraine broke the three oaths. She was never stilled so she should still be bound. She attacked a boat of people she acknowledged may be innocent with the one power.

This post has been edited by Cause: 06 October 2023 - 05:43 PM

[the broken]

I don't know how to think about this. It's such a mix of brilliant and awful. It's just baffling.

Spoiler

Nowhere near enough focus on what the horn is and why it's important.

Moiraine and Lan's plot - ginormous waste of time. How did she attack that ship without breaking the Three Oaths?


The dagger being a lightsabre is stupid.

Whitecloaks were good, Lanfear and Ishamael well acted. Egwene also good.

Rand decides to attack Turak with the power but Ishamael with a sword? Why did that work?

Overall reaction summary -whuh?

I'm just... confused.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Final two hours: most of it was pretty good, but in some places it was overly cheesy, incoherent, insufficiently set up, or badly done... including several pivotal moments.

Spoiler

Perrin being rescued by the wolf---just as it looks like the guy on top of him is finally forcing the blade right into his throat, cut to a long shot of the wolf running for several seconds to rescue him... by which point his throat would have already been slit.

Ishamael was blasting away at Egwin's shield with (basically) fireballs---and then Rand, with no apparent shield, just walks over and stabs him without getting blasted? Ishamael's just like 'oh well, guess I die (for a while)'? Also didn't like the way the show suggested he might be dead permanently now with that I'm so happy I see nothing bit (IDK if that was in the books).

Seanchan Lady's attempt at an American accent sounded really off when she declaimed that pivotal line marshalling the boats or whatever. While it had been a bit weird and over-exaggerated before, this time it just sounded bad, 'fake', and grating. Would it have killed them to do a few more takes to get it to not suck? (Assuming that wasn't already the ten thousandth take....)

The Heroes of the Horn---I don't think that was set up much if at all? I don't remember much from the books, so it was just a WTF for me. And that eyepatch guy leaping down to save Matt and being like, 'What, are you surprised that I'm a bloody hero of the horn?' was maybe a bit too cheesy. It was almost like a moment from some cheesy incoherent children's movie getting inserted into Game of Thrones....

The pacing was pretty good though, as was most of the acting.

Amazon sent me a marketing email it for saying 'Watch how it ends' which made me wonder if it was actually going to return for a third season, but apparently it's already been renewed. Hopefully it will continue to improve....

[worry]

Haven't caught up on the thread for eps 7 and 8, but personally I thought they were the best episodes of the show so far. There's a lower ceiling for how good the show can be, perhaps, given the source material, but those were both pretty entertaining and actually felt like a climax to the season that came before them.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

worry, on 08 October 2023 - 06:05 AM, said:

There's a lower ceiling for how good the show can be, perhaps, given the source material, but those were both pretty entertaining and actually felt like a climax to the season that came before them.

Perhaps (they could always add quality material (maybe hire GRRM? it's not like he's in any rush to finish ASoIaF... obvs decided the show writing was good enough for all eternity), and they haven't been shy about changing the plot, etc.), but a lot of the cheesy/corny/crappy and/or incoherent parts weren't even in the books... still, they were entertaining. And frustratingly close to being high quality throughout... except at some very important parts.

Some other things that disappointed me in episodes 7-8:

Spoiler

Matt's shit-eating grin and attitude as he goes about like a six-year old who's just been given a new toy lightsaber....

The actress playing Egwene has been excellent this season, so I was expecting a bit more from her when Egwene is watching Madame Dominatrix choke to death and experiencing everything she experiences... her performance wasn't bad---stoic, okay---and it's a very complicated ask for an actor, but it could have been a lot better---seemed lacking in even in subtle nuance. If she'd nailed it she might have been a shoo-in for at least an Emmy nomination... now IDK. But apparently she'd be the first Aboriginal Australian person to even be nominated for an Emmy, so that may help her:

List of Indigenous Academy Award winners and nominees - Wikipedia