Are they roughly following the books? And if so, whereabouts are they?
I ask because I seem to remember some drama about that in the intartubes back when.
I believe this season comprises the events of the 4th and 5th book. I'm actually reading the series right now and from my perspective the show is...fine. I don't love everything they've done but I like most of their casting choices and it hits most of the high notes.
The Wheel of Time deviated significantly (like a lot, a lot) from the books in the first season.
Are they roughly following the books? And if so, whereabouts are they?
I ask because I seem to remember some drama about that in the intartubes back when.
VERY roughly, season 1 covers the first book, and season 2 covers the second and part of the third (and it seems like the parts it didn't cover might wind up largely skipped).
The show hits a lot of the same big plot and character beats from the books, but the connective tissue between those beats is often vastly different, in a way that can make them feel unearned when they do come. It's been a troubled production in a lot of ways, between the pandemic and a major cast member leaving without warning toward the end of the first season and them having to scramble to write around his absence. And even then, there are baffling adaptation decisions that can't be blamed on external factors.
I say all that as someone who really kinda likes the show. It's got a kind of scrappy underdog quality to it, and I'm always rooting for it to embrace its best impulses and become the best possible version of itself, even if it never quite seems to get there.
The people who hate it are mostly not wrong to do so, because it's got a lot of pretty egregious flaws. You either enjoy it despite those flaws, or you don't; you're not wrong either way.
If you approach the deviations from the books as the show being an entirely different turning of the Wheel, it's much more enjoyable.
If you approach the deviations from the books as the show being an entirely different turning of the Wheel, it's much more enjoyable.
I haven't read any of the books or seen any of the show, but a friend of mine is a fan of the series. Before the show started he told me that the TV show was explicitly going to be a different turning of the Wheel. He made it sound like that was the official word from the author.
Stengah wrote:If you approach the deviations from the books as the show being an entirely different turning of the Wheel, it's much more enjoyable.
I haven't read any of the books or seen any of the show, but a friend of mine is a fan of the series. Before the show started he told me that the TV show was explicitly going to be a different turning of the Wheel. He made it sound like that was the official word from the author.
Well, the author died years ago, before the book series was even finished, so he couldn't have possibly made an official statement about this show specifically, but part of the lore in his books was that the story being told was just one telling of a story that has happened over and over before, and will happen over and over again, so the WOT universe has a built-in explanation for differences between retellings.
Maybe it was the show runner then.
Or said friend could have been talking out of his ass. He frequently does; I just had no cause to think he might have been that time.
Official or no, it sounds like a good approach for any media adaptation.
Stengah wrote:If you approach the deviations from the books as the show being an entirely different turning of the Wheel, it's much more enjoyable.
I haven't read any of the books or seen any of the show, but a friend of mine is a fan of the series. Before the show started he told me that the TV show was explicitly going to be a different turning of the Wheel. He made it sound like that was the official word from the author.
Brandon Sanderson, the author picked to finish the last three books in the series after Jordan's death, has stated that he views the TV show as another turning of the wheel. So, not an official direction or intent of the show, but helps provide a useful lens for viewing,
I thought the second season was markedly better than the first (which was plagued with the most production challenges) and in both seasons there have been great individual scenes from the books, but not enough time to let the characters and world breath and develop while getting to those scenes.
I'm not alone in wishing that Amazon had given the show 10 episodes a season, and or, they had invested more of their money in WoT, rather than Rings of Power. I believe that the watch numbers are better for WoT, and the critical response, while understandably uneven, is way more positive than that of Rings.
At this point I figure Rings of Power is just being made for an audience of Jeff Bezos.
I believe that the watch numbers are better for WoT, and the critical response, while understandably uneven, is way more positive than that of Rings.
Not according to Hollywood Reporter.
The first season of The Rings of Power remains Prime Video’s biggest TV premiere, while the second season is the streamer’s most watched returning season by number of hours watched. Amazon says 170 million viewers worldwide have checked out the show and it’s been one of the strongest drivers for new Prime membership signups.
Badferret wrote:I believe that the watch numbers are better for WoT, and the critical response, while understandably uneven, is way more positive than that of Rings.
Not according to Hollywood Reporter.
The first season of The Rings of Power remains Prime Video’s biggest TV premiere, while the second season is the streamer’s most watched returning season by number of hours watched. Amazon says 170 million viewers worldwide have checked out the show and it’s been one of the strongest drivers for new Prime membership signups.
It's surprising hard to find accurate numbers. I found one list with Rings at 1.7 billion minutes, The Boys at 1.4 and WoT at 1.1; but who knows how accurate that is.
My girls and I really enjoy Rings of Power.
I love Rings of Power.
We watched the first two episodes back when it dropped but my wife really wasn’t feeling it for some reason despite normally being into fantasy. I’ve meant to continue on my own but just haven’t gotten around to it.
She does really love Wheel of Time, tho.
I wasn't talking about viewership numbers. I was talking about their criteria for deciding whether or not to make more.
I wasn't talking about viewership numbers. I was talking about their criteria for deciding whether or not to make more.
The costuming work, the actual design, construction, sewing, and materials of the things the actors are wearing, is insanely better in WoT than in Rings of Power. It's a small detail, probably not that relevant to most people, but I notice it.
It's a detail that I think reflects a difference in the level of care and commitment by the showrunners on the two shows.
Count me as loving Rings of Power though I've only watched S01. I will watch the second season soon, but life is kickin' me in the balls and I don't have the spoons to invest.
I’m interested in how many people who like Rings of Power are invested in Middle Earth. I say that not to gatekeep or anything, I think it’s an interesting point to consider.
I’m no fanatic, but I’ve been reading the Hobbit (still my favourite book), LotR and the Silmarillion since I was in my pre-teens. My issues with Rings of Power isn’t in what they’ve changed regarding times lines, or made up from stuff Tolkien barely gives a sentence too, it’s in the depiction of both the Elves (who come across as incompetent morons, apart from Elrond and possibly Galadriel) and Sauron (a second rate Machiavelli with a bad line in Elven Cosplay - he’s no Lord Ventinari) rather than anything else. The menace Sauron should be is missing entirely. I don’t blame the actor there, it’s the script. But I love all the Moria stuff, and the wizard’s diversion to ‘The East’ isn’t bad. Unnecessary, but not actively bad.
As for Wheel of Time - I read the first three books and gave them up for the turgid dross I felt there were. The TV is a perfectly fine diversion for me, it’s not great but not bad.
Edit: I’m becoming aware at the moment that when I’m being negative I tend not to filter too much. If you’re enjoying Rings of Power then please carry on enjoying it - ditto for Wheel of Time. It would be a very boring world if we all liked the same thing all the time!
I’m interested in how many people who like Rings of Power are invested in Middle Earth. I say that not to gatekeep or anything, I think it’s an interesting point to consider.
I’m no fanatic, but I’ve been reading the Hobbit (still my favourite book), LotR and the Silmarillion since I was in my pre-teens. My issues with Rings of Power isn’t in what they’ve changed regarding times lines, or made up from stuff Tolkien barely gives a sentence too, it’s in the depiction of both the Elves (who come across as incompetent morons, apart from Elrond and possibly Galadriel) and Sauron (a second rate Machiavelli with a bad line in Elven Cosplay - he’s no Lord Ventinari) rather than anything else. The menace Sauron should be is missing entirely. I don’t blame the actor there, it’s the script. But I love all the Moria stuff, and the wizard’s diversion to ‘The East’ isn’t bad. Unnecessary, but not actively bad.
As for Wheel of Time - I read the first three books and gave them up for the turgid dross I felt there were. The TV is a perfectly fine diversion for me, it’s not great but not bad.
Edit: I’m becoming aware at the moment that when I’m being negative I tend not to filter too much. If you’re enjoying Rings of Power then please carry on enjoying it - ditto for Wheel of Time. It would be a very boring world if we all liked the same thing all the time!
By the same token that we're free to like things, we also have to be free to dislike things. The first two episodes of Rings of Power were as far as I could get. I found them both profoundly dumb and utterly boring. One or the other I can sometimes hang with. Both at once is a death sentence for my interest.
I've read both book series a lot and love both shows. Rings of Power doesn't have the built-in explanation for differences from the books, but it's still an entertaining story. I just view it as fan-fic rather than canon.
And Vargen is right about how it is being made specifially for Bezos. He's said that Tolkein is a personal passion for him, like space travel. That doesn't mean they make the show the way they think he'd like it, but that he'll continue to fund it as long as he enjoys it, regardless of if other people like it.
Didn’t Bezos step down from Amazon a couple of years back? I thought he was concentrating on whatever his spaceship company is?
The first season of RoP had some promise, but, while one of the character arcs in season 2 was truly excellent, overall I wouldn’t miss it if it was canceled. On the other hand, WoT had a shaky end to the first season (due to issues somewhat out of the creators’ hands I gather), then really picked up with season 2. It’s absolutely not a one to one adaptation of the books but, as a fan of the books, I think that’s for the best.
Didn’t Bezos step down from Amazon a couple of years back? I thought he was concentrating on whatever his spaceship company is?
He is still chairman of the board and owns the most stock.
Sorbicol wrote:Didn’t Bezos step down from Amazon a couple of years back? I thought he was concentrating on whatever his spaceship company is?
He is still chairman of the board and owns the most stock.
Yeah, he stepped down as CEO, but that doesn't mean the company isn't still under his control.
Babylon 5 is still on Prime
for the next 12 days as of this post. Going to hyperspace through the series now!
Nevin73 wrote:One character's arc makes no sense but whatever.
Spoiler:Talia Winters
The actor decided to leave the show.
And they killed the character off to make sure the actor had zero chance of returning whatsoever. But I will see that character arc's lack of sense and raise y'all:
Season 2's main cast member Lt. Warren Keffer who only existed to grab 10 seconds of footage of a Shadow vessel in hyperspace before dying.
Yeah, but he only existed because the suits wanted
an ace pilot
character, and was added under duress.
I loved his use in the somewhat sketchy episode Gropos. But yes, he was a waste.
This season's cold open.
Black Ajah!
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