The Wheel of Time, Season 1 Episode 5 “Blood Calls Blood” Review

The Wheel of Time is one of the biggest fantasy blockbusters of all time, and I have read and loved the fantasy novels for decades. I was beyond thrilled to see that an adaptation was coming to Prime TV, and now that it’s here, it’s time to offer weekly reviews! Be sure to also check out my theology site for my look at the show and books from a Christian perspective.

“Blood Calls Blood”

Wow, there’s a lot to unpack in this one.

First, Loial. Loial was trending on Twitter after the episode dropped, and for good reason. The personality, the casting, the voice–it’s basically all perfect. I was surprised a little at the way they made him look, but the acting sold me and I’m all in on this Loial.

Second, the interactions between Warders continue to be a major highlight. I also love the juxtaposition of the Way of the Leaf with the distorted Way of Light. The Children of Light are clearly developing into major antagonists here, and it makes them feel quite serious as enemies.

Perrin finally revealed his accidental killing of his wife to Egwene, and it was a beautiful scene in which Egwene turned it around and tried to offer him forgiveness. I was curious about the wolves–wondering how that’s going to play out and what we’ll see soon!

Tar Valon is beautiful to behold, but I’d really like to see more of it. We did, though, get a sense very briefly of Mat and Rand seeing the place for the first time and being in wonder. Again, though, I worried they moved past that too quickly. That’s kind of something I felt this whole episode–most everything moved too quickly for my taste. We did get to settle in with the Warder plotline a bit, but everything else moved so swiftly. For example, Nynaeve is out of her room; then she’s told about the gardens; then Loial is busting her in to visit Mat and Rand in the very next segment; then she’s back standing with the Warders as they mourn. It’s just a surprisingly swift turn to each scene, and it’s clear there’s much going on off-camera. I’ve read the books, but it makes me wonder how those who haven’t are dealing with the speed of the plot.

Discussion for Fans who have Read the Books (Read: SPOILERS)

My wild speculating self was going off on a tangeant about how they skipped Caemlyn so does this mean we just won’t have Elaine at all when a friend of mine pointed out Elaine has been cast already. So that seems… unlikely.

I love the way they’ve played up the relationships between Warders and Aes Sedai at an early stage. It makes it feel very genuine, and possibly moreso than in the books because we basically get told that rather than having it happen dynamically in the books. It’s surprising to me, though, that they’ve spent so much time on this–to the exception of plot that’s actually covered in the books. I wonder if this is to make sense of some of the much later scenes with Lan, Moiraine, and others. Or, if it’s just untapped character development they decided made sense for the show.

Episode 5 is clearly the biggest divergence from the books so far, in how much was skipped over before showing up at Tar Valon. I wasn’t too upset by anything, though, as a fan of the books. Definitely looking forward to more.

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SDG.