Season 1 Episode 6 “The Flame of Tar Valon” with book spoilers

Lyndo Shiranui

Aes Sedai
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
6,129
Age
28
Location
Istanbul, Turkey
Pronouns
  1. He - Him
Discord
Gildor Inglorion#6104
In this episode, I think we finally see Moiraine starting to lose her normal serenity.

The problem is, we always see her crying or sad, we haven't witnessed the Aes Sedai calmness yet that much, not even from other Aes Sedai even, except Kerene Nagashi. I hated to see Siuan and Moiraine wanted to keep the relationship secret but they literally cried at the Hall of the Tower, in front of all those Sitters... I wonder how they kept that secret for that long if they were really bad at keeping it a secret.
 

Morgana Arakos

Aes Sedai
Moderator
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
3,516
Age
34
Location
NC
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
I think the tearing up in the Hall was meant for the TV audience, not the other sitters. Like the whispering. It's almost an "aside" to us, rather than something you'd expect the rest of the people there to see. I'm okay with Aes Sedai serenity being pulled back a bit, because we can't see what people are thinking in the show. It would be really boring to watch a bunch of stone faced people emoting nothing for hours!
 

Morgana Arakos

Aes Sedai
Moderator
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
3,516
Age
34
Location
NC
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Also... as much as Aes Sedai are supposed to be serene in the books, I think we see many examples of them losing their cool and not being serene at all. :look: So perhaps it's not a completely departure anyway.
 

Lyndo Shiranui

Aes Sedai
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
6,129
Age
28
Location
Istanbul, Turkey
Pronouns
  1. He - Him
Discord
Gildor Inglorion#6104
I agree, but,

I think the tearing up in the Hall was meant for the TV audience, not the other sitters. Like the whispering. It's almost an "aside" to us, rather than something you'd expect the rest of the people there to see.

it seems that they really 'nerfed' Aes Sedai in the series. I mean, they are Aes Sedai, if Siuan and Moiraine were to look each other's eyes more than one second than it's necessary, others would understand something was going on, you know. :laugh:
 

Leala ni al'Dareis t'al'Caleum

Anime Sensei
Aes Sedai
Mayor
Joined
Nov 21, 2012
Messages
35,439
Age
37
Location
Lost in the zemai
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
To be 100% honest here, after a decade of working on my emotions for my own mental health, I completely support the show not championing suppressing emotions. :look:
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Messages
5,080
Location
Ohio
Pronouns
  1. He - Him
So my biggest issue with this episode (and I know it has already been discussed) is Matt getting healed of the dagger. I feel like they are missing a huge part of the story, especially Padan Fain. The fact that there was no encounter with Mordeth and then the dagger being separate so easily just kind of makes the whole Padan Fain/Ordeith story kind of blah. I think there was such a huge opportunity for character development with this. I think there are ways they could incorporate it, but who knows.
 

Arella Mathara

Aes Sedai
Head of the Brown Ajah
Social Media Manager
Joined
Aug 23, 2019
Messages
8,777
Location
Norway
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
To be 100% honest here, after a decade of working on my emotions for my own mental health, I completely support the show not championing suppressing emotions. :look:
+1

The scene is also emotional because Moiraine is getting exiled from her home and her Sisters, so they would expect her to loose her serenity imo
 

Elania al'Manir

Aes Sedai
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Messages
10,238
Location
Missouri
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Regarding Mat's healing, I heard someone else point out that Moiraine does partially heal Mat in the books without everything being completely healed (TEotW ch. 41-42), and that tracks with what we saw on screen. She does mention something along the lines of him still being in danger (I can't check for the exact wording because I'm at work). We haven't seen the resolution of what Fain was doing in Tar Valon, so I'm going to guess we still get the dagger-chasing story line or something similar.

As for Moiraine and Siuan's get-together, my original theory was that the matching portraits were ter'angreal that led to a mirror/alternate reality similar to what we see with the tests for Accepted and Aes Sedai, only with the control resting with the people inside the ter'angreal. It seems strange to me that they've made them doorways with specific Traveling instead. As Axis pointed out, the extra info listed on the show's webpage Explore timeline says, "Moiraine utilized the ter'angreal in her room to open a gateway to a riverside hut in the Fingers of the Dragon Delta, where she met with Siuan Sanche, the Amyrlin Seat." And then in the artifacts section on ter'angreal, "Others can act as doorways between places".

My questions then become: Are they keyed to that very specific location? If so, wow, what a coincidence! If not, why are they not keyed to more important places?
 

Nadezhda al'Lanahrin

Nadie
Aes Sedai
Joined
Jul 13, 2021
Messages
3,667
Location
Huntsville, Alabama
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Discord
Josi#9711
I just think they’re a dreamshard type thing.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2010
Messages
4,315
Age
35
Location
Sweden
My thoughts:
  • While I enjoyed the scenes with Siuan & Moiraine, I really hope that the relationship fizzles out so that there is time for Thom to get on the scene and build something with Moiraine in later seasons, fingers crossed.

I have to say, that's one romance that they can just do away with entirely. I could never buy it in the books, since we never got to see anything about it until we saw that letter.

No, the whole point of the oaths on the rod is that they are unbreakable. Aes Sedai CANNOT lie. Even if they want to. That's why Verin saying Egwene's dress was green was such a HUGE deal.

In the books there's a scene where they are hunting for the black Ajah, and one sister swears to obey another, and then when she's being questioned, the sister she swore to tells her "admit you're a darkfriend", but she's not, but she's still bound by the oath to not lie, but also to obey, and the conflicting oaths nearly kills her.

Ah sorry, I might've misinterpreted - I thought the comment I replied to was about whether a normal, non-Oath Rod oath would've been just as binding. I blame the dozens of Reddit discussions I've seen about


And if the reason is that the actor left they changed the story line. Then that’s a terrible decision. You can’t let out of show stuff influence a script like that to that degree.

I agree that it's not a very good situation, but I honestly can't blame them. If it is true that he left between episodes 6 and 7, and was already long gone to the point that he couldn't help them do a better change to the storyline, I think it would be even more jarring to have some random stunt double there for 2 episodes that does nothing and says nothing. That would be even more out of character.

As things are now, they could blame it in some post-dagger trauma. Moiraine could say that she wishes he'd had more time to recover after it, that it left deep mental scars, or maybe worry that she didn't heal him sufficiently.
 

Merena Orithana

Aes Sedai
Joined
May 19, 2021
Messages
4,252
Location
Illinois
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
So my biggest issue with this episode (and I know it has already been discussed) is Matt getting healed of the dagger. I feel like they are missing a huge part of the story, especially Padan Fain. The fact that there was no encounter with Mordeth and then the dagger being separate so easily just kind of makes the whole Padan Fain/Ordeith story kind of blah. I think there was such a huge opportunity for character development with this. I think there are ways they could incorporate it, but who knows.

I agree - they should have had Padan Fain show up in the episode a bit more, at least.
However, I could totally see them cutting out the whole Mordeth/Ordeith plot line - that kinda went nowhere.
 

Jocasta Braithe

Aes Sedai
Joined
Apr 4, 2019
Messages
8,189
Location
Maine
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Did anyone else see this quote? Can we have a pause to appreciate Daniel Henney, who may in fact be the most wholesome human being alive?

How he got into the frame of mind to express grief:
I remember thinking a lot about… It’s still kind of cheesy, but I had just recently lost my golden retriever. She was 15, and she passed away right in my arms. So I kind of used that memory to help catapult me. Her name was Mango. I’m always thankful to Mango for giving me all these gifts. And I thought, “To this day, she’s still helping me.” So she did help me that day.

Source: https://nerdist.com/article/the-wheel-of-time-daniel-henney-lan-interview/
 

Alora Sionn

Mama Wolf
Gaidin
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
44,900
:cry yup def one of my favorite actors
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2013
Messages
16,243
Age
46
Location
Tennessee
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Discord
Maibella#7994
Everything I've seen with Daniel Henney is amazing. On one interview, Matt Hatch told him that some fans wanted to change from calling it Randland to Lanland, and Daniel LOVED that - he said every word that could be replaced with Lan, should be. :laugh: He also said he totally loves dad jokes. <3
 

Alora Sionn

Mama Wolf
Gaidin
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
44,900

Rhyin al'Hut

Gaidin
Joined
Sep 16, 2021
Messages
1,497
Location
New Jersey
Pronouns
  1. He - Him
Discord
treehousebrewing
Having only read the first four books and pausing the episode during the opening fight scene, I was a little sad to be spoiled on who the identity of a certain pregnant Aiel warrior was, as we have only heard the name thus far through four books.
 

Lyndo Shiranui

Aes Sedai
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
6,129
Age
28
Location
Istanbul, Turkey
Pronouns
  1. He - Him
Discord
Gildor Inglorion#6104
UnIGodx.jpg
 

Ilissa al'Nari

Scribe of the Glitterati
Aes Sedai
Joined
Dec 15, 2004
Messages
4,833
Age
44
Location
Norway
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
One thing I didn't really like is how young Siuan is in that first scene. Isn't she and Moiraine supposed to be like 16 years old when they enter the Tower? That child looks more like...8. Found out the actress is 7, so, yeah.
 

Elania al'Manir

Aes Sedai
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Messages
10,238
Location
Missouri
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
What practical impact does it have on the story, though? In the books, novices aren't accepted (usually) once they're too old because they're too independent by that point. Letting novices start younger, especially if they've already started channeling, could fit in with that dogma.
 
Top