The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 6 “The Flame of Tar Valon” 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.

The Flame of Tar Valon

I have a lot to think about after watching this episode.

First, Siuan Sanche’s background origin story was beautifully done. Having Berden get humanized so early on was a wonderful way to do it, and I admit as he sent Siuan off I had tears welling in my eyes. I also appreciate having representation of people with disabilities that aren’t automatically evil, which happens far too often in pop culture (see, for example, the countless examples of motivations for “evil scientist” type villains being driven by trying to “fix” disabilities). Overall, this scene was one of the strongest in the show so far.

I also was a huge fan of how they handled the Siuan/Moiraine perceived rivalry and then turning it into being love. The two are hinted at as pillow friends, if I recall correctly, in the books, and this just makes it much more explicit.

Moiraine and Loial’s brief interactions were also highlights of the episode. I loved how Moiraine approached Loial and sort of skipped ahead of all of his objections in their conversations. Truly, the casting in the show across the board is excellent, and there are several highlights of dialogue throughout already.

The continued hints at layers upon layers of intrigue in the Tower are necessary and certainly well done, especially in light of what readers of the books know is going on. I also think that the many set pieces we’ve seen are beautiful. I loved the Amyrlin Seat, and on reflection I enjoyed how they showed the shawl of the Amyrlin as well. It’s much more subtle than I expected, but from what I understand, it’s a nod to the many fan depictions that have shown it with similar themes.

One downside is that the series continues to clip along at a frenetic pace, which is the main thing that has taken me out of the show so far. The Wheel of Time books are very clearly not oriented towards being quick reads or fast-paced action-fests. Due to the format of the show–only 8 episodes this season!–the creators are cramming each episode so full of events that it starts to feel like whiplash at times. Even when characters do try to slow things down, we move so quickly past the events that it seems we don’t get to reflect on the events. For example, Moiraine’s exile goes from her discussion with Siuan ahead of time to a meeting of the Aes Sedai to Siuan saying she’s banished and then immediately pulling out the Oath Rod (!!!) to make Moraine swear to abide by the ruling and then leaving. I was surprised to see there was no pause anywhere in this chain of events.

Full Book SPOILERS section and theorizing

Speaking of the Oath Rod–I was taken aback to see them decide to use it that way. The problem with a major piece like the Oath Rod is that if you use it too frequently, it becomes a prop more than an epic artifact. Indeed, one of the insidious things about the Broken Tower in the books is when the White Tower tries to use the Oath Rod to force people to swear fealty to the Amyrlin Seat. Weirdly, the scene in this episode skirts right along that border to the point that it felt kind of “yucky” as a fan of the books.

On the flip side, I can see the decision-making process for the showrunners, because featuring the Oath Rod prominently early on allows them to make a big deal about other revelations related to it later, such as the Black Ajah and others. Thus, I’m kind of torn on that scene.

I appreciated how they depicted the drawing of the darkness from the dagger out of Mat. While we viewers could see the weaves, Rand makes it clear all he could see was a bit of the darkness, which gives viewers the hint that others can’t see the weaving other than its effects.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I was a fan of this episode, apart from the caveats I mentioned. The series continues to offer a strong epic fantasy look at the Wheel of Time world, and the flavors it has from the book series make it feel much more unique than some of the other epic fantasy series out there. I am eagerly anticipating the rest of the season.

Links

Fantasy Hub– I have a post collecting all of my fantasy-related posts into one place!

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

Fantasy Hub

Links to my fantasy-related content as well as other major hubs may be found here. Let me know what you think!

Fantasy Book Reviews

The Wheel of Time

“The Wheel of Time” Episodes 1-3 “Leavetaking,” “Shadows Waiting,” and “A Place of Safety”– I review the first three episodes of The Wheel of Time.

The Wheel of Time Episode 4 “The Dragon Reborn”– The best episode yet has a ton of changes from the books, but I talk about why so many of these make sense and why the episode was so enjoyable.

The Wheel of Time Episode 5 “Blood Calls Blood”– We meet Loial!

The Wheel of Time Hub– On my theology blog, I have a great deal of posts analyzing The Wheel of Time books and TV show from a Christian worldview perspective.

Hugo Awards

These posts are a series in which I read through and review every single Hugo Award Winner and Nominee. I also pick my own winner out of the batch, which doesn’t always align. 

1953– There’s only one book, so is it a surprise that I picked it for my winner?

1954- No winner for Best Novel.

1955– This year’s winner is widely considered the worst book to ever win a Hugo. 

1956– Red scare of the best kind.

1957- No Winner for Best Novel.

1958– Only once choice again, but this one was great.

1959– A few contenders, but I picked one that got me thinking.

1960– How could anyone have picked anything but space pirates? I mean really.

1961– The voters got it right on a fantastic novel this year.

1962– The rise of Heinlein. Also, Plato’s Cave.

1963– I dusted off a classic here. (Sorry.)

1964– Easy to pick a winner this go-round.

1965– The voters were perhaps most wrong this year of all the years so far. My goodness, they voted for a yawner over an intense, wild classic.

1966– It’s not fair that these other books had to compete against Dune, because there were some good’ns. 

1967– I cried a lot over my choice of winner here.

1968– Space poetry written by Zelazny. 

1969– I get hooked on Lafferty.

1970– Not the strongest year, but it does feature an all-time classic.

1971– A strong demonstration of why I choose to read lists, as I discover a mostly-forgotten classic!

1972– Yet another year Silverberg should have won the Hugo.

1973– Guess who should have won this year? Yep, and this may have been the biggest miss on SIlverberg so far. 

1974– Honestly I thought this year was a pretty mediocre year. My winner didn’t even break into the “A” grade range.

1975– One of the most singular, fantastic science fiction books of all time won this year’s award. It’s a strong batch, overall.

1976– A weaker year, but I had one fun, hilarious read stand out from the pack.

2020– A fantastic mix of genres and authors, and the first year I’m officially a Hugo voter!

Vintage Fantasy

Other Hubs

Horus Heresy and Warhammer/40K Hub– All my reviews related to Warhammer/40K/Horus Heresy fiction can be found here. Read grimdark to your heart’s content!

Babylon 5 Hub– My links to all my reviews related to the world of Babylon 5. I started with the television show and plan to work through all the novels and comics as well. 

Star Wars Hub– Reviews of many Star Wars: Expanded Universe novels are here, along with a few reviews of the new “canon” novels.

Star Trek posts (I have not yet created a Hub for Star Trek)- I’ve reviewed many episodes of Star Trek TNG and DS9, and this link will let you explore those.

The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC) Hub– Want more indie sci-fi? Check out my hub for this exciting contest collecting all my posts related to these self-published science fiction books.

The Wheel of Time Hub– On my theology blog, I have a great deal of posts analyzing The Wheel of Time books and TV show from a Christian worldview perspective.

The Wheel of Time, Season 1 Episode 4: “The Dragon Reborn” 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.

“The Dragon Reborn”

I cannot get over how epic this episode was. From end-to-end it was absolutely packed with meaningful character moments, powerful action scenes, and thoughtful conversations. It’s a near-perfect piece of television, and as a huge fan of the series of books, I have to say I’m 100% bought in at this point.

First, I love the additional background being given to Logain. I think it makes huge sense for a number of reasons (some of which are from the books and I won’t get into more here). For one, it makes all the other scenes and character development surrounding scenes that he’s in have that much more weight. For another, it makes the shot of him being Stilled that much more powerful for viewers. It’s also good to see how other false Dragons have come and they may even be quite powerful while still being nothing compared to the true Dragon.

I absolutely adored every single scene with the Tinkers. They’ve nailed the feel of them, and the explanation of the Way of the Leaf–a leaf falls to the ground, dies, is absorbed as nutrients and then reborn again–was just beautiful. Each one of these scenes with the Tinkers was absolutely compelling, and we certainly got a look into Perrin’s soul with the line Ila asked him about whether he was happier or not having picked up an axe for battle.

Mat’s conversation with the little girl was another great scene, especially when she asked him where his sisters were. “Safe at home,” Mat replied. “With your mama and papa?” she asked. And then he just looks at her with dead eyes as we, like him, think about his household situation and how his parents basically just left his sisters to the Trollocs. Ouch. Thom has a series of good scenes here, including a great one-liner about “Nothing is more dangerous than a man who knows the past.” How true does that feel in our own time, as people clamor to outlaw things like critical race theory from our schools for fear of their children hearing about the awful civil rights history of the United States

The scenes with Nynaeve, Lan, and Moiraine at the Aes Sedai camp were all hugely important. Each was filled with tension, character-building, or just fun scenes. I loved Nynaeve listening to Liandrin Sedai and then promptly telling Lan “That woman is a snake” as she walks away. I adored seeing the several different warders and how they interacted in different ways, including the true-to-the-books notions of the Green Ajah and their… preference for several partners. The battle scenes here were awesome, and the closing with Nynaeve healing Lan, and Logain looking on clearly seeing how super powerful she is is just an epic moment.

As someone who’s read the books, I appreciate the effort going into throwing the scent off of who the Dragon may be. The feel of the show has captured the Wheel of Time quite well, in my opinion. I think more can be done with it, but we’re getting a sense of the bigness of the world delivered in small doses while also getting the sense of big political machinations, great characterization, and unique magic and social systems that Robert Jordan made up. I love it so much, and this episode was the best yet.

Links

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.

“The Wheel of Time” – Episodes 1-3 “Leavetaking,” “Shadow’s Waiting,” and “A Place of Safety” reviews

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 and apologetics site for my look at the show from a Christian perspective.

“Leavetaking,” “Shadow’s Waiting,” and, “A Place of Safety”

I’m lumping these episodes together because I just sat and watched them all together, and separating them in my head would be tough now. I suspect many others did the same! Obviously, SPOILERS follow.

Let’s get this out of the way first, yes, they changed things! I need to make this clear: I have been a fan of the series, as I said, for decades. I also have a fairly high tolerance for liberations being taken even with things that are beloved for me. I just like having adaptations, and while I’ll complain if I think something totally throws off the tone, feel, or intent, I largely just absorb the changes and move on. Two Rivers, for example, seemed a bit too big to me, and possibly had too many features that took away from its fairly idyllic setting in the books. Some characters I have quibbles about–like what happened with Perrin and his wife (!!!???). Overall, though, I do love the show so far. Here’s why:

There are several scenes that do fully capture the “feel” of The Wheel of Time. The strongest example, in my opinion, was when Moiraine was interrogated by a Questioner of the Children of the Light. She spoke words that were all true, but deflected his questions with answers that diverted his suspicion. She’s going to meet a “sister,” but all Aes Sedai are sisters; she came from a ferry town, which she did… after she left Two Rivers; and so on. It absolutely, in one single scene, showed how Aes Sedai can be masters of manipulation even within unbreakable vows. I just… loved it so much.

Another great scene was our group singing about Manetheren. It had that haunting feeling that I just loved, and Moiraine monologuing a history of Manetheren was just icing on the cake. Great worldbuilding, and it made it seem much deeper than it otherwise may have. Thom was wonderful, though maybe a bit more roguelike and less flamboyant than I expected. I think they cast him well, though, and his actor stole every scene he was in. I am definitely looking forward to more Thom, and it may just be that I don’t fully remember how Thom was earlier in the series.

I am also hugely anticipating more scenes with the Tinkers, Perrin, Egwene, and the wolves. I thought these scenes could be kind of a drag in the books, so I’m hoping they continue to spur the action and on and skip some of the lengthy exposition that happens in the books. Yes, I love the books, but let’s be honest–they can drag. I even thought the third episode here dragged a little bit in the middle with the long scenes of just running around a grassy field for… everyone.

The Children of the Light also seem more dynamic already, which I love. A friend of mine pointed out how they made at least one Child more empathetic than most of them were in the books, and that could be an interesting direction to take them. I enjoyed Mat’s casting and a deeper background. Instead of him being a kind of happy-go-lucky guy, he has more strength of character than he does in the books at first. I’m surprised to read that they re-cast him for the upcoming second season, because I thought he’s doing a great job in these first 3 episodes. Basically the whole cast is great. The Trollocs are suitably varied and terrifying, but perhaps not quite varied enough.

Yes, there are things I didn’t enjoy. Like the implied sex between Egwene and Rand–it just felt super out-of-place for what’s supposed to be a very pastoral, quaint setting in Two Rivers. Going along with that, the characters from Two Rivers just seem overall more worldly wise than they ought to be. I don’t know if this is on purpose, or if it will be forestalled later, but for now it just does seem to take some of the way the early books developed from us. That may be intentional–skipping all the “country bumpkins ogling at small villages because to them they are huge cities” scenes makes obvious sense for a TV show. On the flip side, Rand and Mat walking into a mining town with nary a blink of an eye was just a bit off to me.

Overall, though, I thought this was a great 3 episode introduction to the series. I am over the moon that they have adapted this series of books, and now I honestly feel some trepidation: with what is a pretty solid start, are they going to finish this all? It’s a monumental task, obviously, so I truly hope they get it done. This is one that it’ll hurt if they don’t finish it. Big ouch. So go watch it, share it on social media, and talk it up! Let’s make sure the show keeps going!

Links

The Wheel of Time – check out my posts on my theology blog in which I evaluate the books and show from a Christian perspective.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.