Last month, we got our first real look at Amazon’s adaptation of The Wheel of Time—but that was only a teaser. The real trailer is here, and it’s so much more. The full trailer introduces the Aes Sedai, Moiraine’s quest, the importance of the people she finds in Two Rivers—and the evil they’re all facing.
Here’s a non-spoiler summary for the series:
Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, the story follows Moiraine, a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.
After the first teaser, showrunner Rafe Judkins and star Rosamund Pike (Moiraine) took to Twitter to answer questions about the first season, which will apparently cover a lot of ground: all of book one, The Eye of the World, with a few elements from books two and three (The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn). But a few things from the first book won’t appear until season two. (They love to be vague!)
Even before the first season was finished filming, season two was confirmed, so we’ll definitely be seeing more of Moiraine, al’Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney), Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski); Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoë Robins), Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford), Egwene al’Vere (Madeleine Madden), and the rest of the show’s sprawling cast. But for season two, there will be a new Mat: between seasons, Barney Harris was replaced with Dónal Finn (The Witcher).
The Wheel of Time premieres on Amazon on November 19th, 2021.
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The Eye of the World: Book One of The Wheel of Time
Looks real good :) I am very looking forward to seeing it already.
And was that Narg?!
I still cannot believe this is happening. There’s so much attention to detail, and I see glimpses of scenes that take my breath away. One month to go!
Is anyone else having a terrible time with the video quality? This “360 degree” nonsense makes it look terrible at 1080, which they are calling 1080s for some reason, and so when I bump it up to 4k, it runs at half frame rate even on my obscenely overpowered computer after I let the entire trailer buffer. I can edit 4 uncompressed 4k streams at once in real time on this thing…something is wrong in YouTube land. Is there a non “spherical” version of the trailer anywhere?
This feels about 5000 times better than the first one – this is the first one where I felt I really recognized the world and some of its more unique elements. (even if the third oath is actually a tad longer than that, since I have to be that guy).
That bit of Aiel action. Burn me!
@3 watch the trailer in the IGN youtube channel, it’s a normal video.
Interesting. They seem to be making the Dragon Reborn gender neutral. Any chance they might pull an epic plot twist on us?
@7 – I assume that’s 1) to be more inclusive and 2) try and keep folks new to the story guessing.
@7,8 Except that it makes absolutely no sense, since if a woman was the Dragon, nobody would be all that worried about her…
@7,8,9 – That’s almost certainly just Moiraine being vague and Aes Sedai-ey with her answers, probably as an excuse to bring Eg & Nyn along on the road trip.
@10, I always thought from the books that although Moiraine was looking for the Dragon that she also knew the people around him were important as well. She couldn’t have left Two Rivers with just Rand even if she wanted to; the Wheel would have forced the others along as well.
The trailer and marketing definitely want to keep open that Egwene could be the Dragon…but I think this “five” business in the new trailer is a red herring…the other marketing materials released this week said four. I think that dialog is referring to something else, and includes Nyaneve. But Nynaeve IS older, and they’ve confirmed in the other marketing material that the Dragon was reborn twenty years ago…which means they didn’t actually age up the boys at all, only Egwene. But Nynaeve is almost certainly supposed to be older than Egwene from what we’ve seen.
And yes, it doesn’t really make sense with what we know (male channelers) for people to fear a female Dragon…but many false Dragons were non-channelers in the books, so perhaps its not as explicit as we assume that the Dragon will be a channeler.
@9 – Right. They would have to come up with a narrative reason why the world would fear a female Dragon Reborn. Or maybe they are being trans-inclusive and running with Robert Jordan’s own notion that the soul is gendered. Maybe the “male” Dragon Reborn soul can sometimes be reborn into a female body.
Excellent Trailer.
The last two releases promoting the Show have gone from strength to strength narratively, making the stakes & scope of the story clearer.
Lots of specific changes I’m disappointed by with regards to how the story may unfold on the Show, but given what I’ve seen overall from the last two releases, I hope at least, the deliberately vague gender neutral appropriation is more of a promotional magnet, that’s just strategic chicanery to give the contemporary zeitgeist more to talk about… and that it will then be conveniently jettisoned once the full scope of the narrative is revealed, as our Heroes find their feet in the Wider WoT World.
Before the Moiraine’s Quest Teaser, I was having real doubts this would end up being anything other than a hatewatching exercise for me… But these 2 most recent releases have been exhilarating enough in tone, scope & execution to banish whatever disappointment I have over many of the artistic & narrative choices being made.
This is going to be an exciting last month of 2021!
Underwhelming at best.
I’ve seen the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition several times and I just saw Dune, so the non-crappy parts of WoT have already been covered.
@15 – you said it.
To me it overall seems to lack the majesty (and sometimes the restraint) that LOTR and GoT mostly got right. It’s like the SFX lead kept saying “LONGER fangs! BRIGHTER illuminated tendrils!” etc.
I’ll give it a go, but this show may not be for me… at least by the looks of it.
@17 @15
i tend to agree.
My biggest issue thus far is that nothing is recognizable. It plays like some epic generic based fantasy.
Tell me truly, without the narration, would you even know its a WoT trailer??
Im trying to reserve judgement, but its getting harder to not feel its going to be a disappointment.
Trailer looks great! The trollocs are already iconic. Can not wait.
It’s the same story told a different way. I’m fine with it. This second trailer is berry nice indeed. I like the Whitecloaks circling Perrin and Egwene, because you know in about two seconds Hopper is gonna POUNCE. Also Aram got KTFO apparently. Remember the show is, BASED ON the novels. It ain’t and never will be the same. I just want some awesome TV, and this should deliver. I’ve read the first five books 4 times, books 6 thru 11 three times, and books 12-14 twice. I started the series in late 1990 when I pulled tEotW and tGH out of a USO donation box in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. I then had to wait patiently for every release for the next 20 years to get my ending. Now this TV show. I actually want it to be a bit different. I have my thirty year old head canon, and that ain’t going anywhere. I want to see what they can do with $10m an episode. I want to see Rafe’s 8 season vision come to life.
@18 I think the Sitters and the Hall are pretty distinctive. If I saw some random fantasy trailer with a council of women in groups dressed in green, brown, white, blue, yellow, grey, and red then I’d think they ripped of WoT. It is WoT when you include a cloaked pale creepy guy, animal headed orcs, desert warriors with spears, an ouroboros, and gratuitous flipping of long braids.
The show is a new format for a new audience, not fan service for the book readers and there are parts that will change. The trailer is generic. They’re not telegraphing any major character development, there are no plot points that are recognizable without some significant knowledge of the books. I don’t think the word “dragon” is heard in either of the trailers.
This is a very long, lived-in story. There are parts where the characters and readers are all frustrated that everything is moving slowly. A lot of us learned patience waiting for these books. Then things move too fast. I want to see this played out all the way. I want to see the characters slowly grow and change. And then I want to see the ending.
I loved the trailer! I was trying not to have big expectations for the show but this looks amazing. There a lot of little details that all book readers will immediately recognize and appreciate. I guess there will be a lot of differences as well, but if they are in line with the overall tone and feel of the story and that will be enough for me.
I think that non book readers will also be engaged by the trailer – it has an epic movie quality to it. I really loved how scary and unique the trollocs are and the bit with Nyn’s braid (who knew you get excited by a braid!). I am really curiuos about the fight scene with the Illianner and the Aiel.
I grew up with the books and reread them to this day and most of all I am just happy that after all this time we can experience a new turning of the wheel.
Sorry in advance for all the negativity to come below.
Where do I even begin?
I guess I’ll start with the good, the trollocs look really cool. Well that does it for the good.
The more I see of this the more worried I become that it is going to be a train wreck.
Moraine swears on the oath rod that she will not use the one power as a weapon (and nothing more) and then starts throwing fireballs at the trollocs? I know this is just a trailer and they will probably have the whole oath in the show but it just comes off as sloppy. People new to this thing just heard her say she won’t lie and she won’t use the one power as a weapon and then she goes and does just that. So did she lie? She just said she won’t lie. So does that mean that she can lie? See what I mean?
Moiraine says she didn’t choose this path? Really? She literally chose this path as an accepted, before she even became an Aes Sedai!
I am super skeptical about making Moiraine the show’s protagonist, after all in the books she’s the Gandolf character. And I also don’t like that they are putting so much emphasis on the Aes Sedai. It really comes off as the show runners being total Aes Sedai fanboys/fangirls.
Look, I hope I’m wrong. I really want to like this show, I really do.
@@@@@ 7
Gods I hope not. If they make anyone other than Rand the Dragon Reborn this show is dead.
One thing I am kind of curious about is the image of what looks like a woman (an Aes Sedai?) being burned at the stake. Now, I know there are certain areas (such as Tear and Amadacia, obviously) where Aes Sedai are more scorned or outright outlawed, but where they ever burned at the stake or persecuted to that extent, in such a visible way? The Whitecloaks were a threat, for sure, I just don’t remember if they were going around executing Aes Sedai in such a bold way. (I could be misremembering, though).
In some ways it seems to be leaning into our own world’s thoughts of ‘women with power’ as opposed to the way it manifests in Wheel of Time where men are by and large the gender that is mistrusted. Obviously there IS some mistrust of Aes Sedai, and the Power itself (in the case of the Whitecloaks) but it’s a little different than simple misogyny.
@23 Those were my biggest concerns as well, and they didn’t even need the *whole* third oath, “except against shadowspawn” would have covered it, and that’s like 2-3 extra seconds, tops, which in turn makes me worry that they really are truncating it.
I think it’s more likely that they’re big, flashy, special effects fanboys, but I doubt that’s better.
Lisamarie @@@@@ 24
The scene with the woman being burned at the stake had Whitecloaks in it. At the very least it was showing them being evil scum in general, or it was a woman being burned having been accussed as a channeler/AS. An obvious allegory with RL witchcraft persecution and burnings etc. I think.
This is what I keep coming back to: Every time there’s an adaptation like this, during the lead up to release, there are tons of people claiming that it can still be great even if it doesn’t follow the books, I’ll graciously call them “optimists”. The thing I’ve noticed is, that almost never happens *after* the adaptation in question releases. I’m struggling to think of a single example where an epic fantasy adaptation radically departed from it’s source and was still really good. (Specifically book series, things like comics already depart from their own cannons so much that they have a lot more freedom in adaptation).
It’s still totally possible that this series will be the exception, or even that it doesn’t deviate nearly as much as I fear it does, but historically speaking, the skeptics are right far more often then the optimists with things like this.
Not that Moiraine’s quest isn’t interesting, I’ve always wondered what led her to Two Rivers, but the series is about the Dragon Reborn isn’t it?
It’s not that only certain women are allowed to channel but that only some can. Though admittedly the White Tower does it’s best to monopolize such women.
I’m really curious when/if Leigh is going to weigh in on this whole thing, haven’t seen anything from her in a while now.
IGN has a trailer breakdown video with Rafe Judkins explaining it shot-by-shot if anyone would be interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjq7iHhuTG0
I am SO excited, the trailer was awesome! I know we want to pick it apart, but I am guessing the series will focus more on Rand as it goes along, they are trying to keep some mystery for the new fans.
Honestly the only part of the trailer I can’t stand is Mat’s facial hair!
I have had high hopes for WoT for many years and fears that it would be awful (Like Sword of Truth adaptation became). Lots of good thoughts above…here are just a couple of mine:
1-I am a bit bothered by a tall woman (Rosamund Pike) playing little Moiraine (who is even short for a Cairheinin)…but Catriona Balfe, in Outlander, is far taller than in the books and has nailed the part.
2-If Moiraine is to be the primary character/POV for the series, what do you do when, in the books, she is either presumed dead or of little consequence for half the time?
I have read the WoT books a half dozen times even the prequel of how Lan and Moraine met, and as with anything, Hollywood they change everything. An example of this is Robert Jordan specifically describes Physical Characteristics and culture of each nation and the Protagonist from that Nation. 2. They have made Rand and Perrin the same height? Perrin should be 5’11 and 280 he is a black smith and Rand Leaner 6’4(which person playing character is close to) Cinematography Can make me leave a series quick. an example is Terry Goodkind’s award winning Sword of Truth series. Which led to Legend of the seeker. 2008-2010. and it was horrible!!! Some of the trailers I have seen for WoT give me that same cheap feeling. I also believe the Show forgets that it is Only Rand, Perrin and Mat who are the main protagonist everyone else supports them or wishes to kill them so they may arrive at Tarmon Gai’don as the 3 are interconnected if one dies they all die, that cannot be said of any of the characters. The Aes Sedai, are not nice they are corrupted!! I do not know if I can watch, when Hollywood does not follow books as closely as they should, you get a story completely unlike the books. Which irritates me. I just have a feeling they will change the characters to much for me to see them as I did in the book. Just a question what is the description of Lan Mandrogan in the book. Lan is often described as having a face of stone and chilling blue eyes. He is very tall with shoulder-length hair graying at the temples. Well that one does not match, in books descriptions of characters matter, it is so you can close your eyes and enjoy your world of fantasy. Will the series ruin what I hold tight. Saldaeans have bold, prominent noses and slightly upturned, almond-shaped eyes. The dialect of Illian is distinct in that Illianers use the emphatic tense of nearly every verb, shun the progressive tense, and use “no” in place of “not.”Cairhienin are usually short in stature and of rather pale complexion, usually with dark hair, and Moraine is Cairhienen. I like Rosamund Pike very much but she is 5’9, 3 inches shorter than Lan in the series.
To quote @23:
“@7 Gods I hope not. If they make anyone other than Rand the Dragon Reborn this show is dead.”
They can change a lot, if they want, but Rand’s status as the Dragon Reborn is cemented, almost from Pg 1, in the EotW.
There are a few other deal-breakers for me, but, so far, nothing terrible has been presented in the trailers that will dissuade me.
@23. You nailed my biggest fear: that this will be the Moiraine show. One can only hope the trailers are intentionally misleading.
Agreed, truncating the 3rd Oath is sloppy and confusing.
I’m not at all optimistic but hope to be proven wrong.
Everyone knows the real Dragon Reborn is Bela.
Regarding the three oaths, they likely cut down the third oath for the trailer and I expect it to be said in full during the show itself. By showing Moiraine swear to not lie and not use the Power as a weapon, then show her using the Power as a weapon, the trailer has given new viewers the expectation that Aes Sedai are not to be trusted through the use of “show don’t tell” in a trailer that is already exposition heavy.
I consider this to be a good and intelligent choice.
@33, I get it, you don’t like the series because the producers didn’t slavishly adhere to the character descriptions. Perhaps you could suggest an actress who is 5’2″ dark-haired and fair who could actually hold up her end of the acting? And maybe suggest a young actor who is 5’11” and 280 lbs to play Perrin.
The real world gets involved in casting decisions all the time.
@37 – Exactly. Marketing is not the same as the actual plot of the show.
I think it’s a masterstroke to make it seem like Moiraine is the main character. It serves so many purposes: 1) you have the biggest star in the cast, with first billing and most screen time in the marketing, 2) it makes you think the story is going in one direction only for the rug to be pulled out from under you come The Docks, 3) it avoids having the obvious focus on Rand which preserves a major mystery that will propel interest in the show for the whole first season. And none of those purposes necessarily mean that the plot is being substantially changed.
Rosamund Pike is the star of TWoT the same way that Sean Bean was the star of GoT.
@39, hah you beat me to it! I totally agree: it seems blatantly obvious the show is setting up Moiraine as the supposed main character so they can present her disappearance as a shocking plot twist for non book readers. Amazon are not making this show just for long term fans…
@27, on adaptations being nothing like their source material and still good: IMO the TV version of The Magicians qualifies.
WTF with people suggesting Rand won’t be the Dragon Reborn in the show? Of course he will, again the show is creating uncertainty about who the “chosen one” is for intrigue and dramatic effect.
And as for actors playing characters taller/shorter… Are we seriously still having this debate? Nothing about height is crucial to the story of the Wheel of Time. If the actors can do the characters justice that is what matters.
I’m intrigued by the inclusion of Logain so early in the story. At a guess, I’d say this is a way to show not tell the world’s attitude to male channellers and/or the legend of the Dragon, plus the role of Aes Sedai, Red Ajah in particular.
If I remember correctly from the books, a lot of this was conveyed in random bits of exposition and dialogue that accumulated through EOTW, Thom’s story of his nephew (I think?) in particular. Would be difficult for this to work the same way in TV format.
Overall I’m cautiously optimistic. After 2 1/2 decades of WOT fandom there will always be a temptation to obsess on details, but I’m going to do my best to enjoy the show as it’s own thing
@38 – I, for one, don’t care about the character/casting discrepancies, but Robert Jordan spent a lot of words describing outfits, items, and locations and it appears that very little of that is being adhered to. That’s what is disconcerting to me. I understand that story changes must be made in adaptations and so I was prepared for all of that (even when I am disgruntled with some of the ways they’re making those changes). Despite what Rafe says about loving the series, it just seems like the people making it don’t actually care very much about what makes The Wheel of Time so special.
@36 – Bela is a Darkfriend
They missed the most important things: braid-pulling and skirt-smoothing!
This discussion has progressed in perplexing directions.
Firstly, lamenting casting compromises is about as useful as pouring water into a sieve and expecting it to stay full.
The only important factors in casting for me are chemistry; consistency and a consistent internal logic that will allow the performers to embody their characters in spirit, even if they aren’t facsimiles of what is described.
From what we’ve seen so far Rand is discernibly Rand. Even if he is not as comparatively taller than everyone else, he IS TALL, fresh faced, earnest, determined, and so on.
After seeing early shots of Marcus Rutherford after he was cast, I was sceptical he could fill Perrin’s character physically, but from what we’ve seen so far, the actor has embodied the character magnificently and his performance projects everything I could have hoped for.
Nynaeve & Egwene are opportunistic departures in Appearance that have been astutely utilised by Producers to reflect evolving contemporary real world paradigms, without compromising the nature of the Show.
Certain specifics of Rand & Perrin’s physical appearance had to be adhered to, because they are intrinsic to the nature of the character. Nynaeve and Egwene have intrinsic demands as well, but they are all performance based… And both actresses seem well capable of delivering.
Where I struggle with the blinkered, Heedless positivity and apologism on Threads like these, is when it becomes slavishly catechismic.
‘Another Turning of The Wheel.’
If I wanted catechism, I’d attend Sunday School.
While i understand changes necessitated by the different medium, and normally relish anticipating what the filmmaker’s creativity will utilise to bridge the gap, between what is on the page and what is possible on the screen… I do that in the spirit of expectation that the spirit of what is on the page will not be lost.
We’ve even gone so far as to compare making Moiraine the Star and focus of the Show to Sean Bean as Ned Stark on Game of Thrones?!
This comparison begins and ends in the fact that Rosamund Pike & Sean Bean respectively, are the biggest Name Actors on their particular Show.
That’s it.
I’m insisting because there is no other comparison.
Ned Stark on the TV Show was conceived and presented in a manner totally internally consistent with what was in the books. And this is what ultimately allowed the TV Show to thrive and grow in popularity. It was always and ever unapologetically true to itself, instead of being worried about how best to incorporate contemporary concerns in a wholly Fantastic Setting with whole cloth invention & appropriation.
And this is where I fear The Wheel of Time will stop turning for me.
All these unnecessary changes and diversions are examples to me of someone who doesn’t know when to stop, and is misusing such a brilliant opportunity to make a faithful adaptation, in some sort of misguided belief that it is a better flex of their creative ambition.
Unlike others here, I want to see as much as is practicable from the page be delivered on screen, not a glossy veneer that will eventually completely corrupt what has been written, in the noble but misguided belief that slavishly reflecting our evolving contemporary zeitgeist, somehow meshes best in attracting the widest possible audience. Or, when the rug is pulled from under non-book readers with the course correction, completely alienate viewers who have bought into the confected changes.
And I use ‘confected’ to emphasise that, unlike GoT, the basis of the so called ‘Twist’ being touted, has no basis in established Story. It’s just candy that could ultimately decay both goodwill and support.
To me, taking these risks is either an error in thinking at both ends of the Adaptation spectrum, or just misplaced confidence in the insertion of contemporary norms.
Instead of understanding that a faithful adaptation of the Books, actually would have been full of organic resonance, for those who know what should be coming AND for those who have no idea, that a TV Show wedded practically to the established creative bedrock of the books – as GoT proved – can link and thus expand interest in both mediums, I was worried that the way Producers don’t seem to care where they stop in their quest for change, would turn the TV SHOW into a hatewatching exercise.
Thankfully, the last 2 Trailers have overall, made me much less worried and much more EXCITED!
The only problem I have with including the women as the potential Dragon Reborn is how all of the prophecies are written. But I guess they can change the prophecies for the show, too.
Woah! An Aes Sedai that cries?
That’s just too far from the books for me. :)
No seriously, all the people complaining about not following the books closely enough really ought to give it a break. This is a streaming TV series. It will not, should not and cannot be a carbon copy of the story in the books. If that’s what you’re looking for, you might as well not even bother watching because you WILL be disappointed.
I liked the books too, BUT Robert Jordan definitely needed a good editor. The story could have been told in half as many books, twice as well just by insisting he cut out all the needless and repetitive descriptions of who wore what when. A little here, a little there? That adds interest. Writing page after page after page of fashion comments? That’s just boring… and don’t get me started on all the annoying braid pulling. They should have hacked that girl’s braids off in the first book.
The trailer looks great. I can’t wait to sed this show. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. I don’t understand how people are already bashing the show without having seen it first.
Very Excited!
@48
I remember after Crown of Swords came out, enthusiastically raving to a friend of mine about how [highlight for spoiler] Nynaeve and Lan finally get together…
He didn’t understand why I was so excited about it until I explained that Jordan tied off a plot thread!! Until then, I hadn’t entirely believed he could do it.
Can I just say it would be nice if designers used the descriptions in the books as a starting point? Granted the wonder of Ogier architecture would be hard to portray.
Stating that RJ could have significantly condensed the series by eliminating excessive descriptions of clothing and the like does not then become a valid justification for deviating from book canon to the point that the spirit of the books is lost. There’s a big difference between editing and changing. And as @46. explained so eloquently, comparing Moiraine and Ned Stark is apples and oranges at best.
@53 Exactly!
Even though I have no actual insight into the order of conception with respect to Costuming, if we take a logical order of precedence into account, it might well be that given how the colour palette and design of Aes Sedai ‘Expedition Wear’ was conceived (imo successfully so) they’ve extrapolated that pretty heinously in their interpretation of Whitecloak Costumery.
I hope in the wider unfolding of the series I get proven well wrong, but the pattern seems to me to be something along the lines of, ‘Well that worked well, let’s flog the idea until we end up with a dead horse. Then we Ride that horse down the stretch!’
And while the mind’s eye Majesty of Ogier Civic Works would have been difficult to both replicate & satisfy everyone’s expectations, surely we have some justification in being disappointed with such a generic Cityscape and what appears to me to be a snide commentary on the geography of the Island itself, with the design of the White Tower.
I’m obviously reading WAY TOO MUCH into things… Well I certainly hope so, but having the pinnacle Ogier built Wonder of The White Tower come up looking like Darth Phallus and his testicular droids isn’t, imo, a prime example of a successfully concluded thought process so much as a thought bubble, that somehow solidified into a fossilized, echoing cocoon.
@53: My thought is that they still need to take visual medium into account. The costuming for me is the biggest standout. If we want them to be called Whitecloaks, then it’s fine for the book version to have a big-ass sunburst on the chest. But on film, we aren’t calling them Whitecloaks several times in prose text every time they are on screen. A giant sunburst would draw the eye and dominate the costume. So instead they have a plain white top that gives the appearance of a large white cloak that’s been wrapped around the upper torso.
@41 I share your opinion in general.
I read almost identical spiteful comments about the Witcher. The Witcher TV show is perfectly fine. The TV show is not the Games, and the Games are not the Books. They all have their own feel. When you can accept that, you have a far better chance to enjoy the NEW presentation.
Life’s too short to be miserable…
@38 I still disagree with you there are 5’2 actresses just google it.. There are plenty who can play that character. As far as Perrin the same, but they are lazy in their casting and you think it is ok? If you take out character descriptions, well then it is not the same, when you close your eyes you know what the character looks like from the book? Yes? I know Hollywood says BASED on, that is how they get away with not following story lines from the books or characters from the book. I will watch to see if I like, but as I also said it will be the cinematography that will be the deciding factor. I Think if you watch episodes from Legend of the Seeker, you will see what I mean, actors OK but the cinematography made it unbearable to me.