Finally a quality episode, this is the best one yet.
The story continues to be different from the books, I still do not like some aspects of the changes like the Mat storyline and the needless YA-style love triangle. But it is starting to feel like the show runners are getting into a rhythm and telling a compelling story. Perhaps I am finally aligning to Sanderson's view that this TV series is a different turning of the wheel, and starting to enjoy the TV series on its own merit. In this Episode I felt like they finally got the pacing right, there were no awkward continuity issues. Whoever directed this Episode knows what they were doing, give him/her some more episodes please.
The cold open was by far the best one yet, what an awesome intro to the Aiel for the non book audience. Glad we got to see blood snow! The ways were done nicely, even though Machin Shin was very different to how I imagined it. The Blight looked cool, again different from the books but such visual liberties are understandable. The dragon reveal was done neatly, it made sense within the TV story so far. I liked the subtlety in the script instead of over explaining everything - eg, Moiraine gently pushing Lan towards Nynaeve, giving herself the opportunity to mask the bond without raising his suspicions. While this was not in the books, "book Moiraine" would have done exactly the same if she believed she was going towards a certain death.
The book readers finally got the Tam-Rand scene missing from Episode 1, and also the Avendesora leaf for the way gate which caused such overreaction in the last episode (see bonus stuff). Seriously book fans who continue to give 1/10 ratings need to get a life. I am giving a 10/10 to counter those idiots, but IMO this was a solid 8/10.
All in all, a great episode. Finally getting a feeling that this is an epic. Can't wait for the final episode. For the first time, I have a good feeling about this.
The story continues to be different from the books, I still do not like some aspects of the changes like the Mat storyline and the needless YA-style love triangle. But it is starting to feel like the show runners are getting into a rhythm and telling a compelling story. Perhaps I am finally aligning to Sanderson's view that this TV series is a different turning of the wheel, and starting to enjoy the TV series on its own merit. In this Episode I felt like they finally got the pacing right, there were no awkward continuity issues. Whoever directed this Episode knows what they were doing, give him/her some more episodes please.
The cold open was by far the best one yet, what an awesome intro to the Aiel for the non book audience. Glad we got to see blood snow! The ways were done nicely, even though Machin Shin was very different to how I imagined it. The Blight looked cool, again different from the books but such visual liberties are understandable. The dragon reveal was done neatly, it made sense within the TV story so far. I liked the subtlety in the script instead of over explaining everything - eg, Moiraine gently pushing Lan towards Nynaeve, giving herself the opportunity to mask the bond without raising his suspicions. While this was not in the books, "book Moiraine" would have done exactly the same if she believed she was going towards a certain death.
The book readers finally got the Tam-Rand scene missing from Episode 1, and also the Avendesora leaf for the way gate which caused such overreaction in the last episode (see bonus stuff). Seriously book fans who continue to give 1/10 ratings need to get a life. I am giving a 10/10 to counter those idiots, but IMO this was a solid 8/10.
All in all, a great episode. Finally getting a feeling that this is an epic. Can't wait for the final episode. For the first time, I have a good feeling about this.