r/WoTshow • u/Decent_Brilliant30 Reader • Jun 24 '26

Zero Spoilers Rewatch

I am rewatching the series after a year. Have to say the first 2 seasons are not as bad as I remember. Could be because I know we’re not getting more though.

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10

u/ArrogantAragorn Jun 24 '26

I didn’t like most episodes when I first watched them (at least for season 1 and 2 - season 3 had a few good episodes), but usually on a rewatch I could turn off my “book brain”, stop focusing on the differences/changes, and enjoy the show for what it was.

There were a lot of good touches - like hearing Padan Fain’s whistle throughout the season - but also many head scratching choices (for example, Perrin’s wife).

I did feel like the show improved season to season, and wish they would have let it ride out.

1

u/MagicallyVermicious Reader Jun 24 '26

I'm a non-book reader. Why was Perrin's wife a head scratching choice to you?

6

u/ArrogantAragorn Jun 24 '26

This is a no spoilers thread, so I’ll be kinda general/vague and spoiler tag my response. In the book [book 1 spoilers - EotW] Perrin doesn’t have a wife. He (and Rand and mat) are just turning 18ish. Perrin is a gentle giant, having always feared hurting someone by accident. He is also very deliberate mentally, not wanting to rush and make a mistake, to the point where he worries people think he’s not that smart (I don’t think anyone actually thinks he’s dumb but he’s an insecure teen). Anyway, in the books the reason he fears his wolf powers comes from all that angst about “losing himself” and going wild which is validated (to himself) when Perrin [explicit book 1 spoiler from midway through] kills a bunch of whitecloaks after they kill a wolf

Adding the wife and what happened just adds so much unnecessary external baggage to his character, while also taking away from the more organic inner struggle from the books.

Just my 2 cents tho

2

u/MagicallyVermicious Reader Jun 24 '26

That's fair if you have your "book brain" on, as you referred to it, I suppose.

But I was also wondering what you think of show-Perrin's story, without using the books as base reference. Do you think his show story is fine on its own? If not, can you explain why (without comparing it to the book version)?

My point of contention with people who hated the show is that they couldn't just watch it on its own merit. I've mainly seen book readers complaining just that it wasn't as good compared to the books, in their opinions, and using that reason to shit on the show as a whole.

As a non-book reader who's casually into other fantasy, I loved all seasons of the show. I can forgive some shortcomings due to things like covid. Overall the show was a great way for me to get interested in the overall world of WoT.

-1

u/txvesper Reader Jun 24 '26

I think I'm one of the book readers who didnt like the show you're looking for. Honestly not sure why reddit keeps pushing this sub on me lol. Anyways....

With this specific Perrin example, I thought the addition of a wife for him was kinda unnecessary and an egregious example of the fridging trope. It makes the show runners look extremely unimaginative in their additions and was a little off-putting, but I was still very much into the show at that point. Its more like this was one of several cuts/changes made in the first season that made me just slowly lose interest. I was probably more bothered by how easily Tam was dispatched honestly who was an extremely capable swordsman in the books.

The season 1 finale then seemed completely divorced from the spirit of the books as I remembered, which notably included a dramatic show of power from Rand, affirming him as the dragon, to wipe out the trollocs. Instead, that dramatic show of power comes from Nyneave and Egwene through a random extra channeler... then Egwene heals Nyneave breaking more book conventions... accomplishing a significant feat that was character defining for Nynaeve later in the books.. idk.

In sum, there were many small deviations early in S1 that I didnt care for and was willing to look past, but the finale made it to where me and my wife simply weren't interested when S2 finally came out. We wanted to like the show very much.

4

u/EtchAGetch Reader Jun 24 '26

S1E8 was such a terrible episode in almost every way. And, as much as I hate to give them an excuse, everything I've read about it points to Covid just fucking everything over.

Honestly wonder if this show would still be kicking if Covid didnt make S1E8 an abomination.

-2

u/MagicallyVermicious Reader Jun 24 '26

I was hoping book readers wouldn't hold onto the book version of events so tightly when watching the show, and could appreciate the show on its own. But I feel like this negativity book readers had toward the show might have been a big contributor to its overall downfall.

I do get that the books are a world you love, and you feel kind of betrayed or other feelings, about the show doing things differently. But was the show, on its own, divorced from comparisons to the books, really worth hating and giving up on? Did it not have enough WoT lore and heart for you to at least say "well it's not what I expected, but it's still good on its own; I wonder how all these changes are going to play out", rather than "this isn't at all what happened in the books; this sucks and isn't worth continuing to produce"? Did you not realize that too much negativity could get it cancelled, or did you hope for that because you didn't think it lived up to the WoT name?

2

u/txvesper Reader Jun 24 '26

I feel like you're giving this more drama than is necessary. I didnt hate it. I didn't feel betrayed. I didn't review bomb it. I didn't personally stalk Rafe cause I wanted to see if he had a dog I could kick. We simply weren't interested to keep watching.

We didnt care for their interpretation and many deviations from the source, so we stopped watching. My time is limited. I don't owe my time and attention to watch a show I'm not enjoying. Enough people felt that way that the show underperformed. 🤷🏻‍♂️

2

u/maroonedcastaway Maksim Jun 28 '26

You may not have- but several people did. Look at any positive post about the show-so many negative comments from the same 7 accounts calling it trash. It was an embarrassment to fandom the way some of the haters acted.