If you need a refresher on what the show has already shown, you can catch up on it here. But let’s hop into this story more to see what this episode was about and what worked and didn’t. As always, spoilers for the previous episodes. But for this episode, I’ll have a spoiler section at the bottom.

The Dragon Reborn Recap

Mat and Rand are on the run with Thom Merrlin headed towards Tar Valon. They are suspicious that now any town might have dark friends in it, and why Thom is keen on helping him. Meanwhile Perrin and Egwene actually find a moment of piece. The tinkerers, not what they expected, let them forget their worries for a moment. Or at least for Egwene, Perrin still is weighed down by the death that he caused.

Moiraine, on the other hand is confronted by her sisters and the captured man claiming to be the dragon, Logain. Is what Moiraine set out on not the truth? Did she lead herself and Lan the wrong direction? And what is Lan going to do about their new companion, Nyneave. Is Nyneave worth having around, and is there more trouble brewing that he’ll have to protect her and Moiraine from?

What Doesn’t Work

There is a shell game played in this episode. It basically is asking who the Dragon is going to be. Who is the person who might save the world from the Dark One or who might cause the world to break again. This doesn’t happen in the books. I won’t say who it is because the goal of this shell game is to create that suspense. Unfortunately, for me, it’s not that effective. When one of six characters at points in time could be the Dragon, I don’t care.

I’m going to do a book comparison here, no spoilers, but in the book the character knows that it’s likely them from the start. And the first few books are them struggling with the fact they might be the Dragon. And then them trying to deny that fact. That provides good character depth and tension. This, on the other hand, feels like it weakens the character of the Dragon. Just tell me who the Dragon is, if anyone could be the dragon.

I get what they are going for. The mystery of who it is going to be is likely to be the end of season one reveal. And then we get that internal struggle for the character. But don’t sleep on characters not knowing. It’s more interesting to figure out when the character comes to believe it. And when the other characters figure it out and watching that process, in my opinion anyways.

What Worked

The relationship building was strong again in this episode. I mentioned the pairings that are set-up, and we got to see growth in all of them. When this show slows down a little bit, mainly the first episode was too fast, it does a good job of building up characters. I still think that Mat is one of the best characters in terms of changes they’ve made. Him being more mature than he is in the book, or at least older, gives him the chance to have more depth of character. And the character misdirect is really good.

I also think, that while they haven’t always gotten Nyneave “right” it was fun to see her character more developed. I might get into this more with spoilers. But she’s supposed to be a fiery character who stands up to everyone. She’s got some of that, but she should be more. And she gets a moment to shine most definitely in this episode.

I also think that they did a decent job of introducing the Aes Sedai. In a little bit of dialog and showing some of what they can do, we got an idea about the different Ajah. And the tension within the Aes Sedai, Tar Valon (seat of the Aes Sedai) and the different Ajah. This is a situation where they did a good job of starting to explain without delving into everything. But they feed us enough to know what is going on.

The Dragon Reborn Final Thoughts

This was an interesting episode. Like I said, I didn’t love the shell game that they played with “who is the dragon”. That storyline isn’t that interesting to me. But for the most part this episode has slowed down and really shows character development and story development.

And I do get it. There is so much story development that needs to happen that you couldn’t have to show start out too slow. But I think now that they are spending more time on character and world building, the show is a lot better. Talking with Kristen, my wife, after watching the episode, I came to the realization that the first episode feels like a pilot.

What do I mean by that? I think it feels like th at episode that gets filmed to pitch the show to a bunch of television stations and streaming services. Then once it gets picked up six months later, they go back and film the rest. But now they have budget, That isn’t the case with this show, but that is what it feels like to me.

But back to The Dragon Reborn, I would give this episode a solid 8.5 out of 10. I think it’s up there for the best episodes of the series. Yes, there is a quibble, but it’s fairly minor. Especially now that we are getting to know the characters more.

What did you think of Episode 4: The Dragon Reborn?

Spoilers

This is going to be a lighter section, but I do want to talk about Perrin. I’ve complained and complained in the first episode about the changes made the Perrin. I get what they are going for in that a lot of his growth is through internal dialog. However, it was changed to be done in a very heavy handed way. However, with the tinkerers, we’re starting to see the payoff.

Him sitting there and listening to what they are saying. And this idea that violence, something Perrin doesn’t inherently like, isn’t the answer, is so tempting to him. And it’ll be interesting to see how they have Perrin reconcile what he’s done, what he’s going to need to do to protect Egwene and others going forward. The line about how peace is the biggest “revenge” to violence is amazingly well delivered and said. They really are giving the show depth.

And, I know I saw this on a forum I was reading, where someone was questioning if they were implying, when Rand, Mat, and Thom meet the farmer, if Mat was going to channel the power. When we see the shot of him with his hand down at his side. I can get why the person thought that, but no, that is the dagger. He is implied to be ready to draw his dagger and start a fight before Rand steps in. That is supposed to then plant the seed in our head that when we see the family dead, it was Mat.

They are, seemingly, though imply that Nyneave might be Ta’veren as well. I kind of want to knock this, I think the show is trying to make all the main five more equal. Probably to keep up the who is the Dragon mystery. But it’s more interesting that there are some who are Ta’veren and some who aren’t. Ta’veren are people so “strong” in their pull that the wheel weaves around them and changes to fit them in.

So, I get that they want everyone to be important. But being Ta’veren, and we see this in the book, there is a deeper question of whether or not they have their own will. And how much freedom of will the people around them have. It creates a more interesting struggle as character push away from being Ta’veren, and others try not to get wrapped up in everything. And how much free will the characters can have.

The show is using it to show that characters are more powerful and important. It doesn’t really mean that so much in the book. It means more that your story is almost more tied to everything. You have a destiny that you need to fulfill or the weave of the wheel of time breaks. Like I said, you almost lose some choice. So I hope that the show doesn’t use it just to symbolize power but delves into the other side as well.

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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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A little bit of groundwork on how this is going to work, I am going to talk about stuff generally, plot, what worked, what didn’t work and some final thoughts. Then I am going to jump into spoilers. I will say that this is a show that I’m enjoying. It’s not perfect to completely true to the book, but that is okay, it’s worked well for television thus far.

Leavetaking

Things in Emond’s Field are not great this year, it’s been a tough winter, but winter ends when Bel Tine comes around. Rand and his father, Tam, come into town to bring mead and drinks for the celebration. They aren’t the only exciting things coming for Bel Tine. Moiraine Sedai and her warder Lan, and along with them a peddler, Paden Fain. Everyone is ready for a night of celebration when creatures of the dark one attack Emond’s Field.

Moiraine and Lan manage to drive back the Trollocks, but are not able to save everyone in the town. They have an idea as to why the Trollocks and dark ones might be attacking, but that requires that some of the Emond’s Field young adults need to go with them. This includes, Rand, Perrin Aybara, Mat Cauthon, and Egwene Al’Vere.

What Didn’t Work

This is an interesting episode, and I’ll talk about a few more thigns that didn’t work in the spoiler section, because somewhat by necessity they needed to change a bit of it because of how long the book series is. They can’t do everything in this series that the books do. On the flip side, some of the changes were a little bit rough.

All the main kids are older, and I won’t say that didn’t work, but they made some interesting choices with the level of relationship with Rand and Egwene and an interesting choice with Perrin. I can get both of them, though, the one with Rand and Egwene gave it more of a Game of Thrones feel, and I know it’s a fantasy book series so it’s going to get compared to Game of Thrones, but Wheel of Time should not be Game of Thrones, and while I don’t think it’ll try completely, they will give nods to that style I’m sure.

I do think they rushed some of the story. Now, I get that they are doing a 9 episode season which I’m guessing is all of the first book. But this is Amazon. 12 episodes and the pacing would have been amazing. 15 episodes and it probably would have been perfect. This is an epic fantasy series, don’t rush it too much. To go back to Game of Thrones, we know what happened when they rushed the end. I think just a few more episodes could have made this first episode better.

What Did Work

First off, the tone of the show is very good. Emond’s Field felt like Emond’s Field. The Aes Sedai feel like Aes Sedai from what we see of them. They set-up some important things early on for how the magic of Aes Sedai works and how the male side is tainted.

But to go along with the tone, the casting on this is amazing. I am not going to list off everyone because, well, everyone is great from Tam, Rand, Mat, Egwene, Perrin, Lan, Moiraine, and Paden Fain. Honestly, all the main cast are good. I think that we didn’t see enough of Nyneave to know if that casting is great, but the rest of them are very good. And I think as we get to see more of Nyneave her character will be more interesting. I don’t think I can overstate this enough, the casting might be the best I’ve seen for a show period.

Leave Taking Final Thoughts

I have some issues with this episode. Now, I don’t have major issues with this episode because it sets the right tone, it sets up the world well, and there is clear strength in the casting. My issues come from the pacing. This episode felt rushed. They packed too much into it, they packed some extra things into it, and it just wasn’t needed at times.

That said, this is going to be different from the books. Any adaptation of any book is going to be different because it’s a different person interpreting it than the writer or the reader. So this has the right feel and the right actors, if they can keep close enough to the story line it is going to be very good.

Overall, this is a series, and honestly most series are this way, give yourself three episodes with it. This first one sets the town correctly, but isn’t amazing. The second one I liked better, but I’ll talk about it tomorrow.

Have you watched the show, what do you think of it? Is it one you’ll continue watching the new episodes when they come out?

SPOILERS

Now, let’s get into a few small gripes, why they don’t matter that much, or maybe why they didn’t work for me. Spoiler, obviously ahead, let me repeat that, spoilers, obviously, ahead.

In the show they age the main characters up. This is not actually a big deal to me. However, they use it to make one interesting choice and one heavy handed choice. With Rand and Egwene hooking up, that felt too Game of Thrones, granted the characters are older, but it’s a bit odd to add into the story. Does it add drama, yes, is that drama really needed, no.

The second thing was Perrin being married. Again, this makes sense if they are older, and if any of them were to be married it’d 100% be Perrin. He’s the most responsible of the three boys. And I get what they did, I just don’t like it. Perrin killing his wife rushes along the storyline of how Perrin doesn’t like his axe. He wants to throw it away because he doesn’t like killing. He gets talked out of it and is told to throw it away if he ever doesn’t hate it and if he is ever not hesitant to use it. Him killing his wife is just too heavy handed for my taste.

And finally this isn’t a negative or a positive at this point, but Thom Merrlin isn’t in the story yet. He’s one of my favorite characters from the books. He is there in the books for Bel Tine and the Trollock attacks. And he joins with the group for a reason, now I’m sure that reason will still exist, I’m just going to be curious to see how they tie it in. The attack at Bel Tine was a good kicking off point for their friendship.

With the exception of the Perrin thing, the rest are nitpicks. I think that Egwene and Rand thing is fine. I get it, it’s a bit of Game of Thrones and a bit of them being older. The Perrin one is what stands out to me as I wish they had more time to build it out or taken that time. Though, it’s Perrin, so it’s harder to explain since a lot of it was in his head.

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What Is The Wheel of Time

The Wheel of Time is a series that was written by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson from 1990 to 2013. Robert Jordan passed away before he could finish writing the series. Knowing that he wasn’t likely to, he took notes and planned it out so someone else could. Brandon Sanderson, writer of things like the Stormlight Archives and The Reckoners was tasked to do that.

The Wheel of Time is an epic fantasy series following a main group of characters, that grows and changes as the series goes. It mainly focuses on a group of kids/young adults from Emond’s Field in the Two Rivers, and their adventures as they go out into the larger world after they fall under the eyes of the dark one. And their lives are spun into the Wheel of Time.

That’s very general idea of the plot. Without going too deep into it, there is magic, there is darkness, there is romance, back stabbing, and wolves. There’s high adventure, legends coming to live, and a very involved world which you’d expect from a series with 14 books or 15 if you count the prequel. There is even a character sent on a mission that never comes back because there are so many characters.

What is the Show?

So the show is going to be an adaptation on this series. Thankfully the series takes place over quite a long period of time in the world. That means that as the show spans years and actors get older it is going to work. This is almost a bigger scope, I’d say, than something like Game of Thrones, but it’s generally going to be on that scale. This is going to be more of an epic adventure with political intrigue kind of in a backdrop.

Key Wheel of Time Players

Rand al’Thor

From the Two Rivers and Emond’s Field, Rand grew up on the farm with his father. His mother is an outlander and Rand stands out a bit from everyone. He’s one of the characters who the Dark Lord takes note of. The story and the Wheel of Time spin around him more than most of the other characters, though they all have their moments to shine.

Perrin Aybara

Perrin also comes from Emond’s Field. The blacksmiths apprentice, he is slow to speak but very quite smart, just not ready to rush in. He has some interesting times as he meets up with some wolves that influence and change his life. His path leads him back to Emond’s Field more often, but still travels and explores the world.

Matrim Cauthon

The final of the boys from Emond’s Field. Mat is the light hearted one. He plays jokes, he is impulsive, and that often gets him into trouble. It really changes him early on in the series when he comes cross something as they leave Emond’s Field to escape the Dark Lord.

Moiraine Damodred

Moiraine is an Ais Sedai from Tar Valon. They are the magic users, the female half of the one power, which has not been tainted by the dark one. She comes to Emond’s Field, drawn by the weaving of the wheel of time and the hope for saving the world from the Dark Lord. She is the one who helps the boys on the run with her warder Lan

Lan

Moiraine’s Warder. He is very stoic and while a caring man, he doesn’t show emotions. As a Warder he is connected with Moiraine and when she dies, he will die, not immediately, but soon. He helps train and protect the boys and the others from Emond’s Field.

Egwene el’Vara

Egwene is the daughter of the Mayor. She’s head strong and loves adventure. When the boys are slipping out of Emond’s Field, she follows them and joins their adventure. While she is not as tightly wound into the wheel of time, she plays an important role in helping them complete their missions and it wouldn’t be possible without her. She never loses that sense of adventure but does mature throughout the series.

Nyneave al’Meara

Nyneave is the wisdom of Emond’s Field. The wisdom is basically a herbalist and healer of the town. They are considered to be wise in those arts and generally considered to be a stable force in the town. Generally they lead or are an important part of the women’s circle. Nyneave is young and a bit hot headed to be a normal wisdom. She doesn’t join the group immediately but is a major player.

Now, there are many more players in the Wheel of Time. In fact, there are too many to really talk about, because like I said, it’s 14 books. Not all 2782 of them are throughout the whole story though. These characters are all important, through most of the story if not all of it. But like Game of Thrones, Wheel of Time is not always shy about killing off characters.

What Are My Thoughts on the Books?

I am not going to do any spoilers here. I could, but I think it’s more useful to have an idea of the feel of the series and my thoughts on that. The series is interesting, I am not going to call it great, and I am not going to call it bad. It does a few things that are fairly standard for a lot of these epic fantasy stories coming from that time. And the story is very long.

I think the audiobooks, not counting the prequel story are going to take about 400 hours, which is very long. Needless to say with me listening to it now, I’ll maybe be on book two or three when the series starts. I think that the show is going to be quite good. There is a ton of information and story to use in the show. I hope they cut it down a long ways, and I think they will. The first book with everything that happens could be feature length movies and probably five of them.

Normally I want a story to stay true to the story. And with Wheel of Time I do want it to stay close. But I want it to tighten up the story. The story is epic, the characters are interesting. A few things need to change because it gets too long and too repetitive. Now that I have all of it on Audible audiobook, I can imagine that I will come back to these books often.

Have You Read The Wheel Of Time Series?

Let me know your thoughts on the series? Do you think this will be a good show? What do you think of the trailer?

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