S1E1 "Leavetaking" -- w/ Book Spoilers

[Aratouial Delafeld]

I have been BURSTING to talk about this with anyone since Monday, and my #WoTchParty isn't until tomorrow so I'm putting it here!

• oooooo I already HATE Liandrin, it's perfect. I'm wondering if the show will highlight that Liandrin's continuation of "The Vileness" isn't how they're supposed to be doing things, since they show Logain being shielded in the clips we've seen?
• THOSE SKYSCRAPERS THO
• I know they couldn't show the Fade on the road if they're trying to keep the Dragon Reborn a secret, so I kinda wished they would've skipped the Quarry Road? Might've helped with the pacing.

(coming back to add more later, husband wants to watch it!!!!)

 

[Aratouial Delafeld]

...

 

[Anika Forsyn]

Spoiler

ok, but married Perrin? I'm not feeling it :\

 

[Catt Heckathorne]

I copied my reaction post from Facebook.

Spoiler

OMG WOT!! (Spoiler heavy)

Episode 1 general reactions:

1. I'm glad we see more of life in the Two Rivers.
2. Remembrance lanterns as part of Bel Tine? .....ok, but that's more Shaoman/Samhain tbh.
3. I thought the Aes Sedai/Warder relationship was purely platonic, Lan!
4. OH CRAP THE TROLLOCS.
5. Y'all straight up stole that scene from LOTR.
6. Y'all got the al'Thor farm perfect!!
7. Bel Tine in live action is about on the same level as the Goa'uld battles in SG1's pilot. Either way it's exactly as the books imo.
8. FOUR ta'veren?! Whatever happened to the classic trifecta??
9. Oh, no, Perrin. :cry
10. Random Blue in Tower chat: Oh, I do hope that was Alspet Luhan taking out the Trolloc! Me: Nope, Daise Congar. Blue: Dammit. (Aka. ...they missed a Samwise + frying pan moment.)

Someone please tell me I wasn't the only one impatient for the Trollocs and then oh craps.

 

[Jocasta Braithe]

I copied my reaction post from Facebook.

Spoiler

OMG WOT!! (Spoiler heavy)

Episode 1 general reactions:

1. I'm glad we see more of life in the Two Rivers.
2. Remembrance lanterns as part of Bel Tine? .....ok, but that's more Shaoman/Samhain tbh.
3. I thought the Aes Sedai/Warder relationship was purely platonic, Lan!
4. OH CRAP THE TROLLOCS.
5. Y'all straight up stole that scene from LOTR.
6. Y'all got the al'Thor farm perfect!!
7. Bel Tine in live action is about on the same level as the Goa'uld battles in SG1's pilot. Either way it's exactly as the books imo.
8. FOUR ta'veren?! Whatever happened to the classic trifecta??
9. Oh, no, Perrin.
10. Random Blue in Tower chat: Oh, I do hope that was Alspet Luhan taking out the Trolloc! Me: Nope, Daise Congar. Blue: Dammit. (Aka. ...they missed a Samwise + frying pan moment.)

Someone please tell me I wasn't the only one impatient for the Trollocs and then oh craps.

I cried when

Spoiler

Daise led the women's circle to take out a trolloc with their pitchforks. It was the Two Riversest thing I'd ever seen.

On a lighter note, I've always expected those braids would be good handles.

 

[Morgana Arakos]

So many feelings!! tl;dr I loved it. More specific thoughts:

Spoiler

• They really made me fall in love with The Two Rivers more than ever. The Two Rivers is chill as hell. I want to go to a party there. I want to live there. How do I move to The Two Rivers?!
• I thought the Winternight celebration was beautiful--it made me cry. Little details like Nynaeve putting her lantern down away from other people and wiping her tears before anyone could see. It was done with such care.
• Then, just as I was ready to settle in to a Two Rivers show for the next eight seasons, BOOM, trollocs. Even though I knew they were coming, I was surprised. And the trollocs were actually scary!!
• I was really impressed by the fighting scenes, especially how Moiraine and Lan moved together.
• I thought I'd be bothered by the fridging, but in context I actually feel like it felt like it made a lot of sense. I think it will make Perrin's arc stronger, and it felt like something very likely to happen amidst so much violence and chaos, rather than something that stood out as only being about Perrin's character development.
• Nynaeve was so so so brave. My heart.
• Rand and Egwene :waggle I never cared about their relationship in the books but now I'm fully invested. Rand being upset but also accepting of her ambitions in a complex way was really great to see, too.
• I felt like they did a great job of giving the characters more development and motivation than they had at this point in the books, and I'm excited to see how all their arcs play out.

 

[Cahalan Sothron]

That was me wanting some Alsbet Luhhan action

Also, I thought the bath was very platonic. They're very comfortable together, as one would expect, but I didn't catch hints sexual tension at all.

 

[Alyria Ess]

Also, I thought the bath was very platonic. They're very comfortable together, as one would expect, but I didn't catch hints sexual tension at all.

Agreed. And I liked how women were celebrating just as much as the men.

 

[Jocasta Braithe]

2. Remembrance lanterns as part of Bel Tine? .....ok, but that's more Shaoman/Samhain tbh.

We don't see Shaoman on screen. Plus I think it gave them a way to introduce the concept of the Wheel spinning people back out, at the beginning of the series. I really liked the way it was worked into the episode. Also "Winternight" seems like as good a time as any for a remembrance ceremony.

 

[Catt Heckathorne]

Ooooh, that is a really good point.

This is going to require several re-binges to catch everything and understand how they did what they did why they did.

 

[Elania al'Manir]

I did notice some world-building and foundation-laying in the dialogue, especially in episode 1, and especially regarding the Wheel of Time. It continues to be a theme through the next couple of episodes as well. I don't think we heard about the Pattern yet though, right?

 

[Catt Heckathorne]

We have as part of the credits intro but that's about it.

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

I loved the whole first episode

And I especially loved it when Moiraine was "loading" so to speak, and she just naturally ducks as Lan jumps over her, killing another Trolloc

Not sure what I think of changing Mat's family, and I don't think I will mind at all that that actor will be replaced. He only seems to be able to do one facial expression...

 

[Catt Heckathorne]

I noticed he wears that smirk a lot. A bit of "WFT did I do this time Why I am dealing with this". Which kinda makes sense the way they wrote this telling of him.

 

[Dravid ter'Mand]

I copied my reaction post from Facebook.

Spoiler

5. Y'all straight up stole that scene from LOTR.

They did this several times during the episodes. I thought it was amazing. RJ paralleled LotR so many times, it was good to see Rafe parallel Jackson's Lord of the Rings.

 

[Aintza Bisera]

They did this several times during the episodes. I thought it was amazing. RJ paralleled LotR so many times, it was good to see Rafe parallel Jackson's Lord of the Rings.

Yes. Yes. YES. My two formative series combining. Hype overload.

 

[Nadezhda al'Lanahrin]

I loved the first episode so much, I’m glad I get to write the library article for it. I know some people didn’t like it, but I’m not sure why.

 

[Morrighan Daghdera]

Edit: wrong thread

 

[Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak]

So much to love! The change to Perrin's story is one that makes a ton of sense to his later character. I'm not liking the Mat story changes though. He comes across as desperate rather than reckless, and depressed/angry rather than fun-loving (which autos happen only after the dagger). But otherwise take really good!

"It could be warmer." One of my favorite scenes.

 

[Vealdan Annalin]

I am so surprised how freely they are speaking about "the Dragon". I mean in the books even mentioning it makes people uneasy. And here Moiraine directly told them that one of them would be "the Dragon". If I was them, I'd think she is crazy and be in flat denial. Especially the men. I guess women being a dragon is not a big deal (no fear of going crazy).