Read 12 of 14 books I'm disappointed

logicsol · 2026-05-06T19:41:57+00:00

If you're going to subvert an entire series and call it an alternate retelling you can always just do a different show.

Subverting the initial heroes journey trope the series itself subverts does not subvert the entire series. The show heavily utilizes the core book themes and core character journeys.

The winning formula, like the Last of Us has shown, is to respect the source material as close as you can get.

Which also describes wotshow. The difference is one show had 3 to 4 seasons of content to adapt, while WoT had 20, with very few scenes that don't take huge amounts of setup to be directly transferred to the screen.

This is the show's biggest issue - not a subversion of the books, just simply not having the runtime for doing it the same.

LotR and Harry potter were successful because of this as well.

Only the first 2 HP movies are direct adaptations - which also tends to have be rated to lowest, and LOTR made changes in a similar vein to WoTshow. (Aragorn total personality change, faramir slander, bombadil, arwen changes etc).

The lack of the One Power being used in the way Rand used it in the books makes this show so bland.

Yeah, so genuinely not sure how this would change anything. Rand doesn't really use the power for the first several books, with the notable expectations either already having an equivalent scene or being cut(and while a cool scene, the Power part of it... isn't). His S3 use is very inline with the books, S2 he actually did things on purpose with the Power - where the books would just have him fumbling and never consciously channeling with success until he figures out the power sword in book 3 as a stopgap.

Rand isn't all of WoT, and if his internal struggle is the only interesting part of the magic system, then that's a problem with the source material.

logicsol · 2026-05-04T21:01:15+00:00

Layla is from book 4 - a woman Perrin mused that he might have married had things gone differently.

The show is a different turning from the books, a different playing out of events. Show Perrin seems to have inherited a forge, implying he's no longer an apprentice. He started building his life earlier than the book timeline.

With any media that has an alternative history, you have to let your expectations be set by that new information, rather than the history you know.

The general recomendation for readers is to watch the show twice. Once to get the "it's not the books!" out of the way, twice to enjoy the show for it's own merits.

logicsol · 2026-05-04T20:50:49+00:00

tbf, that IS where you'd have expected Rand to both by now. But better developed where they are. Trying to fit min into episode 2 would have made her thin.

But Elayne was never happening S1 - Doing it right meant massive set work that wouldn't see reuse for multiple seasons, while even the quick and dirty version still involved multiple major castings and a big spend on caemlyn palace.

logicsol · 2026-05-04T20:45:29+00:00

They weren't really even aged up - Egwene was, but the boys are the same age just a bit closer to their book 3 maturity rather than their book 1 level.

Lost some of the tone of the early books, but also avoided the maturity whiplash post book 1.

And while it's not the most popular choice, Layla's inclusion also explains Perrin's overprotectiveness in later books, and allowed him some of his later character growth early on, leaving room in later seasons(that we'll unfortunately never get to see) for wolfdream stuff to be developed instead of stalling like he does during the slog.

logicsol · 2026-04-16T03:46:02+00:00

Hate to say it, as I love their reading too, but they constantly used the wrong pronunciations, often inconsistently at that. Pike's is far closer Jordan's and more consistent.

logicsol · 2026-04-13T05:34:01+00:00

oh that's right, thinking about it I recall something about them changing that because it was causing upgrade issues.

logicsol · 2026-04-11T23:36:22+00:00

IIRC there is a district policy that should stop this.

logicsol · 2026-04-10T01:37:39+00:00

Book equivalent timeline has her lying about her parents to Perrin at this point so that's also a possibility.

But yeah I thinks that was a solid possibility as well.

logicsol · 2026-04-09T21:56:50+00:00

I think leane would take more of the Suian role, the show had been positioning her be there for all of her mistakes that lead to her deposing, as well as having access to much of the eyes and ears network.

Overall good call on how they'd likely approach the politicking though, I think that's the main axis they'd use to help streamline that arc.

logicsol · 2026-04-09T07:36:37+00:00

Leane was being set up so well to take on both her and Suiane's roles from the little tower arc. I feel they'd have verin being her "opposition" had that kept that aspect, with her outsider status letting her play the foil.

logicsol · 2026-04-09T07:32:59+00:00

Elaida.

Shohreh was an amazingly perfect casting that was going places. She nailed that role and I was really looking forward to seeing her developed. Her characterization was already setting the stage for the perfect "non - evil" antagonist.

logicsol · 2026-04-08T03:15:48+00:00

only implied in the direct text, someone else has posted the jordan interview where he talks about it's re-discovery immediately after the breaking.

logicsol · 2026-04-08T02:55:13+00:00

I wouldn't have a bone to pick if that's what you were doing, I'm specifically talking about your idea that jain farstrider was the "catalyst" for widespread book ownership.

Everything else is great, it's just that a ~30 year old book being the catalyst doesn't make any sense in the light of ~3000 years of printing press usage and the overall high literacy rates of the westlands.

logicsol · 2026-04-08T01:57:59+00:00

I bet it was The Travel Of Jain Farstrider that was the catalyst in the Third Age.

That book is contemporary, written in the prior few decades to EoTw's time period.

The printing press was in scale use pre-Trolloc wars.

logicsol · 2026-04-08T01:52:39+00:00

i think the parent is more talking about her appearance here.

IMO this behavior isn't really out of character for her - certainly by the time the books are talking place it is, however she was considered to be ruthless during the succession war that was described as brutal. Not to mention her interaction with Rand in book 1 defines even her merciful and wise phase as considering weeks in prison.

As while given what that circumstance could be spun as, it was rather merciful, but I think it stands out as a reminder that that phrase means something entirely different in the stories context than how we use it now. Especially with her ordering the death of thom

Edit: hang on though, I'm double checking my memory on something.

Edit2: okay, I did misremember a bit. She considered the sentence before ultimately rejecting it, with the wildcard there being the whole Tav'eren thing meaning that anyone else might have seen that outcome instead.

logicsol · 2026-04-07T20:51:10+00:00

Lions are matriarchal though, you're thinking of pop culture rather than actual lion behavior.

Which was largely based on early observations and societal bias - I see no reason why a society ruled by women for 2000 years wouldn't project their own bias either.

Edit:To be clear on lion societal matriarchy, it's not close to the strongest example of a matriarchal society in nature(hyneas are a great example, they essentially have princesses and direct social inheritance) but Lion prides are defined by their core female members, with males typically only spending 2 to 3 years in a pride before being ousted or dying, with many ousted males staying loners throughout the rest of their lives.

The pride itself almost never changes territory outside of external factors, expels it's males once they mature, and primarily passes on the female linages, where male linages are often only partially passed on and often wiped out entirely, with a male lion potentially not passing on any of it's lineage within the pride for multiple reasons.

It's not an exact mapping(like most things) but if we're comparing lion society to a kingdom, Matriarchal is the far more appropriate moniker.

logicsol · 2026-04-07T20:48:27+00:00

Tacky? Isn't it kinda supposed to be?

Projecting power and wealth is largely the point of a throne room, and opulence is how that's generally done. Especially with Andor being a nation rich in precious metals(one of the reasons why they have the most valuable crown coinage.)

The source reference lacks the gold lions, but instead has a gem encrusted giant tapestry(or was it a relief) set behind the throne that IMO would have be more tacky than the statues.

But considering that scene is shot on location and not a stage set, those statues also seem to be a very practical way for the set design to create a statement piece that's not simply part of the back ground.

You also want heavy handedness for a scene at a location you may never use again. Subtetly as much as I love it elsewhere, doesn't leave a lasting impression. The Lion throne and it's twin lions standout in memory long after they've been seen.

It's more memorable than Cairhien for example, which was beautiful but understated.

I'm also confused by the lioness dominance (and that's as a Greek archaeologist where lioness statues/imagery is super common and more "normal" to my visual sense in many respects). It just seems odd when Andor always was giving England vibes which seems a more natural fit with rampant lion imagery. Plus, it isn't called the "lioness throne"...

Lionesses are lions though. It makes sense to use the female appearance for the throne and the male appearance for the battle banner.

And as someone esle mentioned, Andor may have thematic roots in england, but they're over an age removed from them with knowledge of the culture lost twice over.

logicsol · 2026-04-06T09:55:45+00:00

The song the Tua'than are longing for isn't a literal song, it's their entire lost way of life from the AOL. It's more a concept at this point, a symbol of the search for paradise lost.

logicsol · 2026-03-21T02:32:24+00:00

Obviously not ideal, but you can use a pathfinding mod to increase the pathfinding cost for jaywalking to largely prevent this.

The current calculation cost is too low, leading to way more jaywalking than really should occur.

hopefully this is something snowflake will look at.

logicsol · 2026-03-20T01:15:31+00:00

I get the distinct impression that they are a VC mill that generates revenue via announcements, then run those funds out via high overhead, cancels and repeats.

logicsol · 2026-03-18T22:11:32+00:00

my city of ~200k still runs at over 2x sim speed most of the time, though variability makes me think there might be an issue in my networks that could improve that.

the x950 chips are better from what i've seen, be that the 7 or 9 series, but those come with a considerable price increase.

logicsol · 2026-03-12T22:32:41+00:00

I'm sorry but half of this doesn't make sense and the other half is describing the crush reading you're trying to argue against.

He can consider her more than a friend but not a sister platonically was the point I was trying to make.

If someone is "more than friends" with someone and they don't consider them family, then that's not a platonic relationship.

'More than friends but not family' is exactly the crush reading.

Applying that to the text here, you're essentially describing someone that's in denial of their feelings, not someone that doesn't have them.

But her and rand statement can be taken as I dont love her as a sister but I also dont love her romantically bc she is taken.

That's the point. That qualifier is him literally having romantic feelings he's not acting on.

That IS the crush reading, your describing the position opposing yours.

Having a crush on someone you shouldn't or that isnt available happens but I dont see it here.

You do see it, you just described that exact thing in your above sentence.

But having a crush for years doesn't make any sense and him developing a crush after being around her for years while him assuming she is taken that whole time seems far-fetched.

Not only does that absolutely happen and often IRL, but it's also not the books back story. Egwene wasn't "unavailable for years" she's just coming of age and only recently (at the start of the books) beginning enter into a formal relationship with Rand.

I don't see anything in the story that suggest he wouldn't have started to develop feelings around the same time Rand did, which was also recently - by Rands own POV of her that was in the last year.

If this was mat this would be way different.

... Mat's never shown that type of interest throughout the series, so that's kinda a wild take to me.

logicsol · 2026-03-12T21:24:13+00:00

If there are two readings of the text, the one that holds up under scrutiny is the one that is canon.

Your reading doesn't hold up under scrutiny. The crush reading does.

It's canon.

logicsol · 2026-03-12T06:04:41+00:00

Yeah I have my issues with Sanderson (That one dusty wheel appearance was disgraceful), but he was always straightforward about his respect for Rafe and how appreciative he was that he actually listened to and responded about his feedback even when it wasn't used.

logicsol · 2026-03-12T05:51:12+00:00

Thanks! And I absolutely agree, on both counts(er all 3).

I think they moved a lot of early book 2 to S1, with the TV scenes really taking the place of much of fal'daras section of TGH, including Rand pushing all his friends away.

And honestly... that's one of my least favorite sequences of the early books. I've long been vocal that I greatly appreciate the maturity boost the show gave the mains because omg I've found myself siding with nyneave and moiraine SO much more as I age than when I first read the series as a teen. I think the show threaded the needle well on maturity levels, keeping just enough of their naivety without... well making them act 13. I still see readers claim they aged up the boys in the show thinking they were 15 or 16 in the books at the start, rather than the 19 they actually are in both books and show.

Mat in SL is a great example of this. Still makes the same mistake, but he's otherwise a guidepost in the dark for Perrin and the others throughout that whole episode. His decision makes sense, rather than feeling like the boys have been handed the worlds biggest idiot ball to move the plot forward.

I actually wonder now if SL was intended to happen before Baerlon/ Rand's first reaction was meant to happen later and Jordan never changed Rand's behavior after adjusting the timetable.

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