Prime Video’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series has some definite changes from its source material. One thing that showrunner Rafe Judkins made sure was in the show, however, was the four-minute “Weep for Manetheren” scene in episode two, where Mat (Barney Harris) starts a singalong about Manetheren, and Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) tells the young folks from Two Rivers the story of how the ancient city stood up to Trollocs many years ago.
The scene is a beloved one by fans of Jordan’s books, and Judkins—a fan of the books himself—fought to include the scene in the television series.
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The Eye of the World: Book One of The Wheel of Time
“It was an uphill battle from day one to put that in the show because it is crazy to have your lead actor sit in a horse for an entire day and for four minutes of screentime doing a monologue about a city that doesn’t exist inside of the show,” Judkins told Decider. “So, it was flagged by the other writers in the room, the studio, and the network. Every single person who encountered it throughout the process asked me to pull it. But I never pulled it.”
When asked why he fought so hard for the scene, Judkins shared that he thought the sequence was one of the ineffable things about The Wheel of Time books that have made them so popular. “There’s something intangible about this Manetheren speech that makes you fall in love with this world,” he said. “I just fought for it every step of the way, through script and shooting and the cutting process because I felt that it was something that was part of the heart of Wheel Of Time.”
Pike was initially hesitant about the scene as well. “I worried about it,” she told Decider. “Even when we had all the cast and crew, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, is anyone going [to watch]? Is that where Amazon’s going to have everyone switching off?’”
Pike, however, has turned around on the scene and also sees it as a strong moment for the characters. “Moiraine is also, she’s struggling at that point,” she said. “She’s also not knowing how long she’s going to last because she’s taken this terrible wound at the end of Episode 1, and she’s struggling. And I think she needs these young people on the journey to step up.”
The first four episodes of The Wheel of Time are currently on Prime Video, with new episodes dropping on Fridays.
Is it crazy to have a character provide worldbuilding details in an organic fashion?
Maybe it is “crazy” in a more normal drama, but it seems to me that viewers who are going to be turned off by that kind of background material are not going to be watching an epic fantasy series to begin with, and the ones who will are hoping for such scenes provided they are not clunky.
This was the best scene is ep.4 bar none.
I don’t understand why execs/Hollywood types seem to think viewers hate exposition or background or quiet character development moments. Everybody I know loves that scene, and the non-book readers I know that are watching want MORE scenes like that. (And yes, of course exposition can be done in a clunky/boring way, but that’s not it)
I mean, yeah, I get that in a Michael Bay movie or something that’s not why you are watching, but typically this kind of thing is a feature, not a bug, in the epic Fantasy genre, and it just goes to show how out of touch some of these people are.
To pull from another example, at least for me, one of the things that makes Star Wars absolutely magical, and not just a generic movie about space wizards is that even in the first movie (which is not something I was interested in and why I didn’t even want to watch it as a kid), the movie takes about 30-60 seconds for its main character to just stare at a sunset while one of the most gorgeous pieces of cinematic music ever plays. It’s stuff like that which makes me come back to a series or movie and elevates it beyond the typical. (Likewise, I’ve even seen people who will decry the prequels talk about the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise – which is literally just a scene of two people talking – as one of the very good moments in the prequels for what it adds to both the lore and the characters’ motivations. The ‘weep for Manetheren’ scene is very much like that.
I LOVED this scene! I haven’t read the books in some time bur I grew up reading and re-reading them; Moiraine telling the story to the Two Rivers gang was like sitting with old friends and reminiscing. It just pulled me right back into the world and certainly made my eyes sting a little- it’s one of the “small” things they could easily have cut, but it speaks volumes that it was fought for because it shows that the source material is truly cared for!
I thing that the thing that really makes the scene work is that it isn’t just the story, but the characters’ reactions that make it effective. Moiraine looks like she is reveling in the telling and everyone else takes it in differently. Egwene is learning about the danger of the power that is calling to her. Perrin is focusing on the brutality of it all. And Rand is uncomfortable, dealing with his father’s fever rambling and focused on the fact that these aren’t actually his ancestors that Moiraine is talking about.
The scene was amazing, and it illustrates the power of a great actor. It could easily have been clunky or boring, but Rosamund Pike nails the delivery. Truly a highlight among the first four episodes.
@2 – This was in episode 2.
From my sense of a lifetime of watching and reading fantasy, people love worldbuilding and it’s history. I think one of the reasons why A Song of Ice and Fire series and its TV show Game of Thrones became so popular is because of the history that was baked into the world setting. People want to know about the Dance of Dragons. They want to know Targaryen history. The Moiraine speech in the book was the first big hook that made readers sit up. There’s just something…epic about past heroic deeds and last stands.
Haven’t read the books, that scene is the best of the whole show so far
I agree 100%. This scene was great. More please.
I’m shocked Rafe fought to keep that scene as he seems to fight to keep anything remotely similar to the books out of the show.
I was happy that the scene was included in some form, but I was really looking forward to this scene as it was in the books. It doesn’t have the same impact that it did on just the main characters instead of the whole town. I guess the theatrics involved would have required some flashbacks that would have been pretty costly, but it was still a disappointment. There’s been a lot of changes so far, and this is one of the few I wish they’d not made.
This scene is one of the first in the books that illustrates just how truly sprawling, magical, and full of life Robert Jordan’s world was going to be. I was so surprised that they left it in the show, but so happy that they did.
It’s the type of scene that would be left out of The Witcher and that made earlier scenes of GoT great.
It’s a shame that he had to fight for this. First, it’s the best scene so far. The show is weaker because it doesn’t have more of these “exposition” scenes.
Definitely one of the best and most memorable scenes in the series so far.
He had to fight to keep this one in?! It explains so much… I hope the good reaction reaches these people and “corrects” their views on what fans appreciate in the genre.
I started reading the series in 1993. The only reason I decided to keep giving this TV series a chance was that scene. Gave me goose bumps, just like the first time I read the scene in the Eye of the World. Can we please get rid of the suits? They wouldn’t recognize the magic of a real story if it wrote them a check.
I like non action slow moments. u have to have them or its just boring. I’ve watched some things where slow and fast are balanced; but i’ve also liked things that are almost wholely world building and slow and info feeding and suspense. two of my favorite things in the past were memento and only lovers left alive which is a vampire movie where the two mains seem to be annoyed that any action at all takes place anywhere in it. i’m almost annoyed that any did as well. It was nice to just relax and listen to the two of them talk to each other the whole movie.
That was my favorite scene.
Not only what everyone said, this scene also sets up Shadar Logoth. Now the city has more gravitas because they know the history of how this city failed their ancestors. The viewer is now invested in the weight of wrongness of the Shadar Logoth. It made perfect sense to me to have this scene intro a future event. Studio execs have shown me they have no clue how to tell a story. So many times we have “studio execs make ‘insert dumb suggestion here’ to a show.
Thank goodness that he fought for this scene. Everyone I know who watches the show absolutely loves it. No matter if they’ve read the books or not (just like Thoms song :) ).
Kudos to him. It’s a beautiful scene, and a great way to get background without infodumps.
Fantastic decision to preserve this scene. It works even better on screen than in the books, and gives the world building some real emotional heft.
Never read the books, but I can appreciate this scene on a few functional levels: the first provides us with a little color of Two Rivers culture. The second provides us with more lore in a way that makes the world seem so much deeper – I love how this is one of the few fantasy worlds where I already feel that if I were to suddenly wander away from the main action there would be a different people with their own story going on and that these places don’t just cease to exist because we’re done with them. And third: it’s the first time the Two Rivers kids see Moiraine as more than some dubious woman whose intentions aren’t quite clear, and also how she links them with the Manetheren and that they are all equally as strong as the people of that lost city as so, because she holds so much love and admiration for those people, that the kids can in turn trust her and that she will be at their side unlike the “allies” in the song.
From a showrunner’s point of view it boils down to what does this aside do that warrants cutting out or condensing four other pages from that episode’s script. Yes, it sets up Shadar Logoth, but could that have happened as part of a different scene so they wouldn’t have spent a day filming this one? These are actual valid concerns that of course everyone else is going to flag because keeping that scene in means not having other things that would more overtly impact the story.
I mean, the scene is what pretty much led me to watch another episode. It reassured me that storyline resembles the books. It really was a turning point for me. Another Thom Merillin
I’m partway through reading the Wheel of Time book series and I was worried when the TV show didn’t introduce the Maretheren thread right away (because the book scene for it had to altered for the show). I LOVED the way it got included!
It is really good that he fought to keep the song in the show, it is the only moving part in the otherwise rather bland series.
I loved that they included this. I’ve read the books twice but my wife hasn’t. She completely new also loves this show! Please don’t stray to far away from the books.
They gave a rather clever glimpse of someone’s grand finale.