by Chelsea House, GGR Chief Media Correspondent

**Warning: Spoilers**

Okay, I wanted to be super on top of the game by writing a review by the 19th. The series was early released November 18th and I had been waiting anxiously for it. As soon as I put the kids down in bed, I settled on the couch with some tea and a snack, snuggled under a nice blanket, and was ready to let my eyes feast on what I had cautiously hoped would be a great visual and storytelling experience. After the first episode, however, I would instead spend a lot of time processing what the heck I just saw. So, without further ado – let’s process.

For those who are unaware, the Amazon Wheel of Time series is based off Robert Jordan’s 14 book series (yes, 14 books) called – drumroll please - The Wheel of Time. They were first released in 1990 and have since become a vastly popular must reads. I read the first seven but was not able to power through the others. Mad respect to those fans who did. The first book introduces our main characters – Rand (Josha Stradowski, Just Friends), Mat (Barney Harris, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk), Perrin (Marcus Rutherford, County LInes), Egwene (Madeleine Madden, Dora and the Lost City of Gold), Moiraine (Rosamund Pike, Gone GIrl), Lan (Daniel Henney, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Nynaeve (Zoe Robins, Black Christmas), and Tom Merrilin (Alexandre Willaume, The Last Kingdom), as well as the main plot of the story, and this is where the first three episodes begin.

There is A LOT of lore, back stories, and just long-winded explanations that the books use to help you better understand the world of Wheel of Time a little better - but I am going to simply skip over those for the sake of word count. As of right now all you need to know is that there are magic wielding women called “Aes Sedai” (Eyes Suhdie). They are tapped into what is called the “One power” and they are untainted when using it. There are also men who can wield the One power, however the original Dragon, a male, tainted it when he originally fought the Dark One and caused “The Breaking of the World.” Now when men touch the power, it drives them mad. Thus, the Aes Sedai have made it a point to find and “gentle” them (take away their powers) before they cause mass chaos. The Dragon Reborn can only be a man – so for this reason, Moiraine – an Aes Seda- is looking for him so she can take him to the tower and they can use him to destroy the Dark One who has reawakened, as well as help groom him so he doesn’t cause another Breaking of the World or spiral into madness. This is the beginning of some complicated gender issues in the Wheel of Time book series. I’ll explain.

On the surface it seems like Robert Jordan has this respect for women. I mean after all, the main story line is based on men being unable to wield the power while the women can. However, further reading shows how little he really understands women. I can expand on this in later reviews, but the main points are the way he describes women. There’s almost an objectification when he explains their clothes – sheer and see through, cleavages exposed, the way they sway their hips, etc. This guy is super heavy into the idea that a valuable woman is an incredibly beautiful one. Sure, this is a theme in a lot of fantasy novels, but he even takes it a step further by making them seem a lot more one dimensional than their male counterparts. Another large aspect is the fact that the Aes Sedai are powerful women – but they’re hated and feared, not really respected – for it. Not to mention that their quest to “gentle” all the male power wielders is looked at as a bad thing when they are just trying to keep the world from spiraling into chaos again. They’re looked at as manipulative, dishonest, and nuisances by the majority. Another theme I noticed when reading the 7 books I was able to – is that women who are comfortable with their sexuality – or comfortable with being more forward with men – are considered yuck. That’s a good toddler word for you. One example would be the green ajah and how they’re described or talked about in the books by other women. Again – I'll expand more in other reviews – but I say all of this to say that the show, so far, has seemed to curb a lot of these issues. It is one of the things that I’m excited to see as the show progresses further. Perhaps we’ll be able to see strong women in a healthy light. Perhaps we’ll be able to see women supporting each other a little more. Perhaps there will be character development. Only time will tell.

After watching the first three released episodes, I really, really wanted to love this series. I had already determined in my mind that creative liberties would be taken, that things were not going to look and feel like the books, that characters may feel a little less whimsical at first as you grow to appreciate their designated actors/actresses, etc.. Yet somehow, after the first episode, I sat on the couch looking at my husband with a huge “what the literal hell?” on my face. I even reached out to friends I knew had read the books to make sure I wasn’t crazy. I’m going to pause here to also insert that as a book reader, I am probably going to sound super biased as opposed to those who have not read the books. I will also say that I don’t hate the series. I’m just disconcerted by what I’ve seen so far.

With the above being said - when you’re creating a live action series from a book, especially in the fantasy realm, I am completely fine with the fact that not all the magic – literal and figurative- will be there. A lot of things just don’t translate well from book to show. When each book is around 1,000 pages, it is also understood that things may move faster and even jump around time wise. I really didn’t expect much as far as those went and I don’t think you should either. However, I will argue that a lot of the changes they’ve made so far are just odd, even from a creative standpoint. Some will add a lot confusion later in the series if it continues to follow the books main storyline and some were just cringey to watch.

As a reader, watching Rand and Egwene have a more intimate relationship than in the books felt uncomfortable. I just don’t get the purpose of creating that bond when Rand is already rich in romances by book three. I appreciated the friendship that Egwene had with Rand more, and even if you are just trying to create a romance to appeal to that crowd, I’m just not sure this is the one. You could have easily fixed this with the entrance of Min by the time episode three rolled around, but she hasn’t even appeared in the story yet. She’s kind of a big deal in the story though, as one of Rand’s lovers as well having her visions. I know she was cast – but I’m not sure where or how she will be introduced now or what kind of tension will be created when that happens.

The Lan and Moiraine bath tub scene felt straight out of The Witcher. I fully expected Geralt to walk in and ask to join with a patented Geralt grunt. The scene won’t really affect anything storyline-wise, I just wondered the purpose other than to allow us the chance to see Daniel Henney’s derrière. Two other storyline changes that are slightly confusing for me are the background story for Mat and the introduction to Perrin being married. Both seem misplaced. Mat’s father was a part of the council in the books and was in no way this womanizing scumbag. I always liked to compare the beginning of Mat to Pippin and Merry when reading, and although I don’t mind this broody side – it just doesn’t give a lot of space for his character to develop into what he eventually becomes. I guess I’m not the only one who felt this way because Barney Harris has already been recast by Donal Finn for season 2. Perrin’s marriage probably bothered me more than anything else, perhaps because I love his later relationship. Or maybe it’s because he’s supposed to be this awkward and quiet teenager. It could also be because he also kills his wife and that’s just very jolting to see because he’s so gentle of a character? I did some reading up on why Rafe Judkins decided to go this route. The two main reasons are that he wanted to age the characters up so the show wouldn’t feel YA and the other was that Perrin is a super internal character, so this change helps to show a little more of what’s going on in his brain and why. To me, it feels like lazy writing. Again – this book series is 14 books long, so this series has an opportunity to span on for many seasons. With that in mind, even with Perrin being so internal there’s a lot of space to let him grow and create a connection with the audience.

Let’s break here to talk about some things that I really enjoy about the series so far. The cinematography has been absolutely breathtaking. The camera angles and lighting have been amazing to watch so far. The series was filmed mainly in the Czech Republic, and the scenes have been magnificent. The opening sequence showing the weaving of the tapestry is clever and a perfect nod to the whole “the wheel weaves as the wheel wills” theme of the stories. It’s beautiful to watch and listen to. I also have enjoyed the look of the cast. The characters look close to what I would have imagined them while reading, also providing lots of diversity. I especially love Daniel Henney as Lan and his interpretation of the character. His fighting scenes are well choreographed and he has that perfect amount of steel look to him. The score, composed by Lorne Balfe (Black Widow, Marcella), is interesting and marries well with the overall look and feel of the series. I’m always a sucker for unique sounding compositions, and Balfe did an incredible job here. The words are all in the Old Tongue specific to the series and Balfe states “The universe of The Wheel of Time is truly unique. Inspired by oral traditions in storytelling, each theme’s voices tell the story of the character, place, or idea in Old Tongue, a language unique to the universe of The Wheel of Time.” You truly get that feel when listening to the tracks which helps you feel a little more a part of the world. I also appreciate the pomp and staunch of the White Cloaks. It seems very fitting. In all honesty, they’ve had more of an effect on my emotions in the show than they ever did in the books. The first introduction scene with Eamon Valda eating is enough to let you see exactly what direction Rafe was wanting to take with this extremist factor – and I’m for it. The Fades are perfect on the creep meter. They are just enough to make you feel uneasy as well as offset the trollocks. Which brings me to my next point.

The first episode left me reeling with the initial shock of all of the changes. And piggy backing on all those changes, it didn’t help that the trollocks looked like something from the original Star Wars trilogy (no bash on them – we just have way better technologies now). Sure, they’re animalistic, violent, and seemingly brainless which is all a perfect combo for a main enemy. Their movements just seem clumsy and I think the overall fear factor just isn’t there. In the Lord of the Rings, every time you saw an orc, there was a definite cringe and intensity to them. I was hoping the trollocks would be a little more on par with this. I will say that making animal and human hybrids has never been an easy thing for movies or shows to do – I'm just saying that even The Chronicles of Narnia did this better. With the budget they had, I would think I’d be giggling a little less and cringing a little more. Continuing with trollocks and fighting scenes, Rosamund’s interpretation of how the power was used looked like something straight out of Team America. It was just a hot mess. In the second episode she feels a little more natural using it, but in the scene where she gets to not only introduce us to the power, but also to why Moiraine is a force to be reckoned with – she just takes it way over the top with the flinging herself around. For the rest of the series – hopefully she sticks with her episode 2 interpretation.

Another big change seen in the second episode was that Moredeth didn’t show up in Shadar Logoth, which means that the series completely missed the opportunity to explain why Mat taking the ruby hilted dagger was not a great idea. Without reading the books, you’re left with the impression that it wasn’t the best thing to do, but with no real reason why other than Lan just saying not to touch anything. I’m hoping this is explained at some point since it’s a fairly big “You done messed up A-Aron" moment and has a huge part in Mat’s character development.

I also want to take a minute to talk about Nynaeve. I haven’t minded Zoe in the role. She has the fire, bite, and posture that Nynaeve has. One thing that bothers me is that they haven’t explored her use of the power yet. She was a “wildling” and could only use it when she was angry. We were introduced to this pretty early in the books and again, this is big piece of who she is and her character development. It makes you appreciate her hard work when she starts training. She has had every opportunity to heal Moiraine with the power and just hasn’t? I’m just confused… as it doesn’t make sense other than to push the team to the White Tower, but again feels like the show is missing an opportunity to let a character be who and what they are for the sake of story. I’m also irrationally bothered by the fact that she has not tugged her braid. Not once! With her being my favorite character in the book series – I was at least hoping for one of those feisty tugs.

I mentioned above that the original source material written by Robert Jordan had some really sexist ideas of how magic worked. I wanted to touch on that briefly. On the surface, when reading the books, it may seem that Mr. Jordan has really high esteem of women. But the more you read the more you feel like women are really one dimensional to him and are almost always portrayed as something in the way. Additionally, the way magic is set up is rather outdated. For example, men must seize control of their power. They must dominate and control it, wield it like a weapon. Women must submit to their power, providing gentle guidance. The series thus far has curbed this concept thankfully, but I’m continuing to hope this is something that is updated for sure.

My last thought- Game of Thrones made creative changes when the books were adapted to the show, and some of those changes were frustrating, but you still fell in love with the characters and were heavily invested in the storyline. The Witcher made some creative changes when adapting from books to games, and then books to show, and some of those changes frustrated readers, but you still fell in love with the characters and felt invested in the storyline. Wheel of Time has made some really hefty changes so far, and my overall thought is that you had someone, Rafe Judkins, who felt a deep love for the series, but when adapting it, tried too hard to be like the other shows and really lost the overall glitter of Wheel of Time, at least so far. Wheel of Time stood on its own two feet even in the midst of Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and other heavy hitting fantasy novels. I don’t doubt it could do it now as a show. I’m sure the weight is staggering to create something that holds up as well as Game of Thrones did – but Wheel of Time isn’t Game of Thrones. I know not everyone will feel the same way I do about the series thus far, and that’s fine. I’m also really hoping that through the next five episodes, the story will have a chance to fall more into place, and I’ll be proven very wrong in a lot of my thoughts and concerns. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Let me appeal to those who haven’t read the books. I think you should watch the show. I’m not going to award it as something you absolutely can’t miss, but I do believe it’s something you could enjoy. As I said before, it’s visually very stimulating and you’ll have fresh eyes to appreciate the creative liberties without really caring if it’s going to affect the main story or not. If you have read the books – I still think you should watch the show. Seeing loved characters come to life as well as a beautiful world, that’s still such a special moment even with all of the changes. All in all, even with my complaints, it’s still a nice experience and as I said before, I’m hopeful to how it will all tie up. Until next episode.

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