S1E8, The Eye of the World, with book spoilers

Leo Kian

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I didn't like the Blight. I don't remember it being described in that way but happy to be proven wrong. It seemed those plant things were all consuming which I like the idea of. But how did the Trollocs get through when Moiraine and Rand struggled?
 

Veluene al'Myr

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I was a bit late to watching the episode due to xmas holidays, and whilst I have loved the rest of the episodes I admit this one was the biggest let down. I felt the pacing, emotional connection and content was just a bit off and would call it the weakest of the series. Do not get me wrong, I loved the series overall and am excited about Season 2, I simply do not think it was a strong season finale. I felt like the spent too much time on Lord Agelmar and his sister when in the end they both die and it didn't feel impactful anyway, the blight was not what I had imagined, Perrin was annoying and honestly during parts of it I was simply bored. Also I dislike when they pretend to kill characters when we all know Nynaeve and Loial will be back.

I will mention however that I loved the little speech Lan gave Nynaeve and the Ishamael casting was perfect! I will rewatch some time over the coming days and see if my opinion changes like it did with episode 1 when I did a rewatch. Fingers crossed!
 

Lyndo Shiranui

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Uh, I loved Ishamael's voice and accent.
 

Leala ni al'Dareis t'al'Caleum

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Jumping in without reading the thread, because it took a while for us to watch the episode.

One thing that stood out to me was the character Latra. I'm not sure how I like her being the Watcher of the Seals (I'm going to wait to see how they handle that), but I really like that 1) they're adding more Age of Legends characters, and 2) they're adding more WOMEN Age of Legends characters that AREN'T the Forsaken/Chosen and/or Ilyena. :P
 

Delara Morellin

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I don't know whether the subtitles have been updated since the episode first came out but they definitely say Watcher of the Flame now. I'm sure they said Seals the first time around though :scratch
 

Leala ni al'Dareis t'al'Caleum

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Oh! I must have missed that. :laugh: That makes more sense.
 
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Weak areas of the finale, in my opinion:
-Pacing was rushed, could have used two episodes
-Mixed messages with the Blight: don't touch anything, but we can sleep on the ground?
-Confusing visuals with Nynaeve's healing. I don't at all think she was dead or burned out, but the visuals were too close to what happened to the other women to see the distinct difference.
-The Horn of Valere as a hidden treasure of Fal Dara feels like it lessens its mythic stature.
-I'm open to Seanchan gags for the damane for the horror level, but there has to be leashes. It's literally in the name! And they're not going to gag Egwene for a whole episode or more.

Strong areas of the finale:
-That cold open, WOW! Perfect representation of the AoL. And Sho-wings! I was in awe.
-Ishamael. I love that his outfit is closer to a modern suit than anything we see in the Third Age. It almost subconsciously makes him uncanny in that environment. I also loved that his channeling was so far above Moiraine's that it's not even a contest, and he channels with minimal movements in a skilled way with one hand.
-I personally really like the new final showdown. Having a more down-to-earth one-on-one showdown here provides room for Rand to advance to the more abstract, god-level fights in later seasons. I also like focusing on one recurring villain than two people we've never seen before and won't see again.
-Love the contrast between untrained Power-users and trained Aes Sedai. We hear so much about this in the books but this shows it in a much more immediate way.

So this episode was mixed, but on balance I respect most of the choices they're making. There were stronger episodes in the season (favorites are 4 and 7), but I'm pumped for S2. And praying for 10 episodes or more next time.
 
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Clearly not ALL your friends. ;) I liked it. I actually really liked that the physical fight between Rand and Ishamael was minimized. We should (hopefully) see a much more physical duel between them with swords at the end of the Great Hunt plotline, and this one was definitely a psychological battle between them, a battle for Rand's soul right at the beginning. Changing up the format of the fight will keep it from feeling repetitive. I don't want it to be like Harry Potter where Rand just fights Voldemort at the end of every season. :p

I wish they could've done a longer episode for the finale. That I definitely do agree with, it all felt kind of rushed, but I know that wasn't really up to the show makers and there was SO much to show.

One concern I have with the sword fighting piece in the future is Rand going off on his own. Lan teaches him ALOT about the sword.
 

Jocasta Braithe

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I agree... I'm hoping they'll pick that back up later. Rand should be a blademaster in his own right by the end of book 2.
 

Eveanyn al'Grace

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I agree completely. Just because he strikes off on his own doesn’t mean he remains that way. There’s a lot of room for them to get back to TGH’s storyline in a short time.
 
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