The Eye of the World Recap

Moiraine and Rand have headed off into the blight to go to the Eye of the World. Leaving the rest of them behind in Fal Dara, where there are troubles of their own. There are dark friends in the city which is an issue because Tarwin’s Gap, the land between the blight and the rest of the world is having trollocs and fades amass in front of it. So Egewene, Perrin, Nyneave, and Loial all need to help make a stand. But will it be enough to keep the trollocs from coming out of the blight.

What Didn’t Work?

Keeping the group split was an odd choice for me in this episode. Some of that is because they weren’t in the book. Having Moiraine and Rand head off on their own works, but it’d have worked better to then have them all meet up again. There was some decent dialog that would have be missed had they not, but that could easily have been added in at a later time. But it also would have changed, in my opinion, a good change that they made from the book.

I also think that the Aes Sedai aspect, or the use of the power, that part was not needed. I’m not sure what the payoff from that scene was in the episode. I won’t spoil what happens in it, but for me, that was a scene that didn’t develop characters anymore. I don’t think it set-up anything that was going to be useful going forward in the story, maybe a minor thing, but it could have been done without that being a part of it.

Finally, there is a change with Moiraine during the episode. This is not something that happens in the book at this time. I need to see what happens with it going forward. I don’t believe it’ll be a massive deal breaker for the story, because of some changes already made. But it is an odd choice to make. Something that is added in for drama but I don’t see how it’ll be added in for plot as well.

What Worked?

I think the Eye of the World, itself, worked out pretty well. The whole confrontation that we head into, in the finale, it works. And how they play it, I think is more interesting than how it is in the book. Now, not maybe, everything leading up to it. But the introduction of the Dark One, I think is well done. And his interaction with the characters, is also well done. It makes a convincing villain who is clearly bad, but not moustache twirling type of villain.

I also think, while there was an odd change with Loial, that the part with Perrin and Loial, that worked well. Loial is almost taking over the role of Elias from the books. Kind of that mentor figure to Perrin, and it works. At least to some extent.

And I like that they moved a key piece from the Eye of the Eye of the World. Because we were introduced to the Aes Sedai before Fal Dara, not at Fal Dara, like in the book, we don’t need to spend the time getting to know them. That is a chunk of the second book, at Fal Dara with the Aes Sedai and Suian Sanche. So the big plot point from there can instead by added into what is going on in Fal Dara now, and it worked for me. It tightens up the story, which I don’t always want them to do. But it does so in a good way.

The Eye of the World Final Thoughts

I liked this episode, generally. I do have some complaints, but I think the biggest one is around Moiraine’s change. It is a change that needs to be explained for plot reasons and we don’t get that in this season. I need to see more of what their plan is for it in the second season really.

But, I think that they get the Dark One right. You will never get the feeling that the Dark One is good, but like I said, he isn’t so obviously bad that you don’t like him. He’s creepy and twisted but not coming across as evil for the sake of being evil.

I don’t think this is the strongest episode in the series. But it is a good finale. And it makes me want more. Is it the biggest cliffhanger, not really, but it leaves a lot of things open ended. Plus it leaves you wondering where some of the characters are going and who might be changed in season two. I’d probably give this a 8 out of 10.

Did you like the finale, The Eye of the World?

Spoilers

Alright, let’s talk about Moiraine a little bit more. She isn’t stilled in the books. Things happen to her, but she isn’t stilled. So I don’t know what their plan is with her losing her powers. It isn’t something that makes that much sense to me because it feels out of place. Does she really need her powers to do a lot of what she does, well, sometimes yes, but generally know. She more directs things, but still, it’s an odd choice.

Also, Loial, is he going to be dead? It is certainly possible, but I hope not. We didn’t get to know his character that much in the first season, and i really like him in the books. He most definitely does not die in the books. So I don’t see him dying here, but they certainly seemed to imply that Padan Fain killed him. I think that’ll be a reveal to start season two is that he is severely injured but not killed.

Let’s talk about two changes that I do like though. First, the Horn of Valare being at Fal Dara, that works well. Like I said in the non-spoiler section, it tightens up a chunk of the story. While it is interesting and a good introduction to the Aes Sedai as Rand, and the group, in the books, go back to Fal Dara after the eye of the world, it isn’t needed here. And it is time where not much actually happens. Low action but good character development. I think that is being moved around, instead, which is okay.

The other thing changed, or really the other thing removed, was the whole idea of the Green Man protecting the Eye of the World in the middle of the blight or on the far side of it. To me this is a Tom Bombadil type thing from Lord of the Rings. It isn’t needed. Now, I forget if there is any future payoff for that character, but from what I remember of the books, he isn’t that important. I feel like it is more of an interesting idea that isn’t paid off on well. Now, it isn’t done poorly, but not that interesting either.

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Just a quick reminder, I am going to talk about the episode in broader strokes, there might be some spoilers, but I don’t want to get too far into detail. I’ll have a spoiler section at the bottom. There will be spoilers for previous episodes in what I talk about though.

A Place of Safety Recap

After having been split up at Shadar Logoth, Egwene and Perrin need to set out on their own, not really knowing where they are going, or where in the wilderness is safe. Lan needs to find a way to work with Nyneave in order to help Moiraine who is still suffering from the affects of their quick travels and the wound she look from the trollocs in Emond’s Field. Meanwhile Rand and Mat struggle between wanting to go home and fear of the trollocs following them. And when they find a town to stay at for a little bit, they find two interesting characters there.

What Didn’t Work

I thought that this was another strong episode in that it gave me what I wanted. Again, it jumped around some in the story and we’re still waiting on certain characters to show up that have already in the book. We get one of them here, one of the two interesting characters. And I think that they do a solid job with the character, but they are a bit more rough around the edges seeming than they are in the book. They still have the charisma that I’d expect though, and another very solid casting.

I also want more time with Egwene and Perrin, this is where a character is really missing, and honestly, I like Egwene and Perrin’s characters a lot. So I’d not complain about seeing them spend more time on their character. I also think that Perrin’s character needs to be fleshed out more. While him killing his wife in the first episode, on accident, does give him some of his drive to hate a weapon, they could have done more with it. And the introduction of the wolves is great, they do matter, but I want to see what they are going to do with them.

So really it’s less of two things that didn’t work, it’s more things that I want more of. So probably the one thing that didn’t work as well for me was the pacing in the episode. It felt rushed at times and while they did a good job of dwelling on Mat and Rand, a slight slowdown in the Egwene and Perrin storyline would make it feel like we know them more as characters.

What Worked

The Mat and Rand storyline worked. It works for multiple reasons. The first being they show how Mat’s personality is shifting. We know in the show that Shadar Logoth is a bad place, but we’re starting to see what that might mean. And I like the character development for Rand, again with the dagger but also the depth that they’ve given him about being a gambler, a risk taker, and a bit shady, but really doing that for the sake of his sisters and his concern for them.

I think that change for Mat is needed from the books and this is comes from the characters being older. In the book he is very care free and free wheeling at the beginning. Life is a big adventure and that’s all he cares about. He’s older in the show, so I don’t think he’d have kept that feeling as much. Mat is still the most care free of the group but now there’s a bit of motivation for some of his darker side besides the ruby hilted dagger.

We also meet two interesting characters, I kind of talked about it already, how it’s not when that character is introduced, but they do a good job with the character. Want to know more about him, spoiler section.

A Place of Safety – Final Thoughts

This was another good episode, I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t so sure while I was watching it though. Pacing on the episodes, like I said, is a bit off. I want more time with Egwene and Perrin, but I will admit that what they are doing now isn’t the most interesting. Instead they focused on Mat and Rand, and that is probably the right spot to focus right now.

Is this better than Shadow’s Waiting, I’m hard pressed to say that, but some of why I like Shadow’s Waiting is that it feels better paced, and better choices in it compared to Leavetaking. This one, I think, arguably has some more interesting story moments for Rand and Mat as well as Lan, Moiraine, and Nyneave. I didn’t mention this but for Lan, Moiraine and Nyneave, the story is diverging in characters introduced. Needed drama, I don’t know, but I don’t dislike it.

If I were to grade this one, and let’s be fair, I am going to do, I’d say it’s an 8 to 8.5. It is very similar to what the previous episode was, but a new character I really like helps it.

What did you think of A Place of Safety?

Spoilers

So, we finally get to meet Thom Merrlin, and it’s another very good casting. I will say that Alexandre Willaume plays Thom maybe a bit more rough around the edges than he seems in the book, but the charisma is still there. A friend on Twitter says that Thom is what everyone wants to be as a Bard in Dungeons and Dragons, and I think that’s pretty accurate. He captivates the room and can stab you in the back.

I also like that they begin to form a tenuous connection between him, Rand, and Mat. He protects them from the dark friend in the town. But he also spends time with Mat, and you get to see his more caring side. I am assuming now that he’s killed a dark friend in the town, and the town killed an Aiel for possibly stealing or some possible crime, they won’t want him around even for his songs and stories.

The dark friend also worked in the show. I do think they maybe needed Moiraine to tell them not to trust anyone and more about dark friends in the previous episode, so we’d know what they are. But for me, I did, it makes Rand and Mat’s position on their own seem more perilous. And I want to be suspecting everyone as a potential dark friend when it comes to those two characters. Especially Mat with his ruby dagger and the taint of Shadar Logoth should be extremely suspicious now.

I also thought it was interesting they introduced Liandrin Sedai already. She is introduced in the first book but not this soon. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to bring her in early though. She is an important character, same with Alanna Sedai. We’ll see how they are used in the show, but two interesting characters to bring in at this point. Even in my spoilers, I’m not going to say how they are and why they matter. But to see them with Logain, specially Liandrin as part of the Red Ajah makes sense.

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