The Flame of Tar Valon Recap

With everyone converging on Tar Valon, Moiraine is working to keep her plans in order. Not only that but the Amyrlin seat is returning from Caemlyn to Tar Valon, and Moiraine, Alanna and Liandrin are going to need to face her for what they did to Logain in gentling him without a trial. All the while, Moiraine is finding that the others have made it to Tar Valon as well. But separately and she must bring the group together again and figure out what the next steps are which may include the Ogier Loial.

What Didn’t Work

This episode was 60 minutes, I don’t mind have 60 minute episodes of The Wheel of Time. In fact, if more were that long, I’d be happy. But as rushed as the first episode was, this one was too slow. Now, not to say that important things didn’t happen, very important things did. But more that the pacing was too slow. There needed to be another story element to what was going on.

As you can tell from my recap it is very Moiraine focused, and she’s a good character to focus on. But it did seem to leave some of the other stories generally hanging. I want to see more struggles of Nyneave not liking the Aes Sedai which we get hints of. or Egwene’s eagerness to start training. Or Mat not trusting them, Perrin not trusting himself, or anything with Rand at this point because they haven’t done much with his character.

What Did Work

I think that Sophie Okonedo as Siuan Sanche was good. Going from being quite formal in the halls of the White Tower, but then is much more relaxed and slips into her rough upbringing as the daughter of a fishing family. There’s some interesting stuff that they do with her and Moiraine’s relationship, though not in a way that affects the overall story. Is it a change from the books, sure, does it really matter that they changed it, not at all.

The Flame of Tar Valon episode also sets up and gives some reason for Moiraine to continue traveling. That’s one of the things in the book is that she is never there. Liandrin has been trying to get Moiraine to return. Her own Aja, the blue aja, wants her to stay in the tower more. So I think a change that was made so she can travel more easily and more with those from the Two Rivers makes a lot of sense.

The Flame of Tar Valon Final Thoughts

This was a good episode but not a great episode. I thought that there was some good story progression, and also reason for them to progress in a specific direction that the books go. If the episode hadn’t ended up the way it did, it really would have started to diverge even more heavily from the books.

As an adaptation of the books, I think that the Wheel of Time is doing fine. And this episode is one of the weaker in terms of a direct adaptation. But in terms of the story, I do think that they are doing a solid job with it. It feels like The Wheel of Time even if it doesn’t match up perfectly with the books.

With that said, this episode is kind of like the first, it gets a lower score around a 6.5-7 out of 10 range. Do important things happen, yes. Does it matter massively for the plot, yes. But it just felt a little bit lacking in what it did. Like I said in my negatives, the episode needed tighter editing. There is a difference between deliberate pacing and slow pacing. This fell on the slow side of things where it could have be deliberate pacing with the same thoughtfulness and just less shown.

What did you think of The Flame of Tar Valon?

Spoilers

The jumping off point to talk about I think it would be Moiraine’s romantic relationship with Siuan. I think that for some people this is going to be something that bugs them. And I’m just looking at it from the perspective of it not being part of the books. But when I look at it from a plot, it doesn’t matter. It kind of makes sense in some ways, I know there are book things that might contradict that, but not major plot points.

Then at the very end, as they go into the Ways, Mat seemingly doesn’t come with them. Now, this is again, a does it matter change? Mat seemingly has already been healed from his connection with the dagger, that doesn’t happen until later. He also doesn’t trust Aes Sedai or want to be there. In the show he really doesn’t want to be there because he’s worried about his family. So I don’t know that there is a major importance for him being on this journey.

Overall, I get the changes they are making from the books, and I’ll keep on coming back to this. I think that they are doing the story justice and keeping the tone right. Would I love to have seen more of Shadar Logoth and other characters and places, most certainly. But it’s more about the tone of the show for me. And this is the first time that I thought it’d been too slow, generally they have paced it well.

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As always, spoilers for the previous Episodes which you can read the non-spoiler reviews of them here.

Blood Calls Blood

Mat and Rand work on completing their journey. But Mat continues to fade with the taint of Shadar Logoth on the dagger that he has. Meanwhile, Lan, Moiraine, and Nyneave work their way towards Tar Valon with the other Aes Sedai. And Stepin struggles with the loss of his Aes Sedai and the pain of that bond breaking. Finally, Egwene and Perrin travel with the tinkerers, trying to decide what to do next when they come across an old face, but not a friendly one.

What Doesn’t Work?

I don’t have a problem with anything, really, in this episode. I think that they do a solid job of creating a story that feels like what I’d expect from the books. Where everyone meets up might be confusing to some people, the characters don’t all get there for a long time. But I think that it works pretty well. It makes sense, though, some of the parts of the book that are more fun are missed because of locations that have been skipped over.

What Works?

Mat and Rand manage to meet up again with one of the more iconic book characters. I won’t spoil who, now, but I will later. And while I think that the look of the character might not be quite right, I do think that they were able to pull off the character well. The mannerisms are great, and the voice work is perfect on this character.

I also think that the stuff with Stepin, the majority of this episode works well. In the book we get conversations of Moiraine and Lan about the connection between a Warder and an Aes Sedai. We know that when an Aes Sedai passes, it’s like part of the Warder passes with them. I’m not sure they nail it perfectly of showing that with Stepin, but they get it very close. And it works as well as it can for the show because in the book it’s conversations, which don’t provide much action.

Final group, I think that Perrin and Egwene’s story works as well. Now, they meet up with an antagonistic group, and not the people they do in the book, but it helps set-up some things. And it shows who the Tinkerers really are, I think the Tinkerers have been portrayed very well. And this is the first real time we get to see some things hinted at from Perrin before.

Final Thoughts on Blood Calls Blood

This feels like The Wheel of Time to me. Yes, there are massive changes that get highlighted in this episode. But I don’t think they weaken the story much. I still have some characters I like a lot that I want to see when they show up. But I feel like we are getting close to seeing some of them, and I’m excited for that.

What I really want to know is how the scenes with Stepin play out for non-book readers? To me, it’s like a lot of the Perrin set-up, I can get why they do it and it makes sense. In this case, it feels much less heavy handed than the Perrin storyline, because the story is given a lot of room to breath throughout the episode. And I like that Nyneave is there to witness it because she’s kind of the audience, not knowing everything.

Like I said, this is probably my favorite episode. I’d give it a 9 out of 10. Did the story need to slow down after a lot of action, I think so. While The Wheel of Time has action in it, and considerable amounts at times, it is a story that builds slowly to action and then slows, and builds again. This feels like one of those building moments as we get to know more of how the world works.

Spoilers

We get to meet Loial. And I was a bit concerned when we did. Now, they nail the setting for Rand and him meeting. And I liked Rand’s reaction Loial. The look is a little bit off, but the mannerisms are just amazing. And the voice is perfect, it is going that slowly and just that thought that is put into everything, and Loial is a hasty Ogier.

I also think, and I couldn’t talk about this too much in the negatives. that they are trying to play the shell game too much with who is the Dragon still. The whole Logain looking as if he was staring down Mat instead of Rand, conversations with Nyneave from the other Aes Sedai. It’s a bit too obvious who they aren’t suggesting might be the Dragon out of the whole group.

And let’s talk a little bit about everyone meeting in Tar Valon instead of Caemlyn. It’s an interesting choice, but I get it. They are trying to limit the massive locations that we need to know right away. And I think it kind of works in that we get to meet Loial, seeing them take Logain there makes sense. For me, it’s a bummer, though, because I love the scenes of Rand trying to see Logain in Caemlyn and just what that leads to. It’s such a great introduction of a few characters. And we miss out on that, though, with the characters being older, I get some of that change in terms of tone.

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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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