music-thestrongestformofmagic:

Man, just. The Wheel Of Time. THIS SHOW, MAN.

I’m about to go on a small ramble over episode 5 (’Blood Calls For Blood’) and there will be both show and book spoilers so be aware

But man. This show’s writers, directors, actors, crew, etc, they get it. They just GET IT. One might be a little dissatisfied that they’re coming up with too many scenes of their own, but I really can’t, because they GET IT.

The decision to change the Kerene and Stepin story, for example, in order to show the depth and implications of an Aes Sedai + Warder bond. In the books, we’re told many times that it’s profound, and well, it’s valid, it does its job, we get the memo. But here, we get a whole arc, and a heart-wrenching one at that, to demonstrate it. We’re drawn to these very likeable characters, get to care about them, and are slapped across the face with a brick with a tragedy.

In the books we barely know about those two, we just know Kerene was killed by Black Ajah and assume Stepin also was (it matters so little we don’t even actually know). So the show decided instead to pick that relationship and death and make it important, not only to show the power of Logain’s army and raise stakes, but to convey crucial information. And we book readers know this will have huge implications later on, especially with Moiraine explicitly considering undoing the bond with Lan. The tragedy gives a whole other weight to what’s going to happen later.

[Also, a brief mention of the funeral scenes because !!!!!!!! I think I haven’t seen them in the books, neither Aes Sedai or Warder ones, at least not yet (currently on book 10, Crossroads Of Twilight), and it was a *chef’s kiss* addition. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted, just bloody beautiful all over!]

But besides that. The whole thing with the rings. The ritual of melting and reuniting them with the rings of other fallen Aes Sedai. It’s just SO ON BLOODY THEMATIC POINT. The idea of the wheel, of nothing ending or beginning, of returning… Those are all themes and motifs so prevalent and important in the books, so crucial, and I was almost like “Wait what?! This sounds so fitting?! Are we sure Robert didn’t write that himself?!” but no. It was the show crew themselves, and with that explicit reasoning in mind:

[Image description: Tweet by ‘WoTonPrime’s Book Nerd’ @sarahenakamuraI, show consultant: “I really loved this idea of bringing a fallen sisters ring back to the Tower, so that it could be melted in the Flame and reunited with the gold of the rings of all Aes Sedai from the past.“

‘PerrinGoldeneyes’ @WoTPerrinGolden: “And new ones made from it?”

WoTonPrime’s Book Nerd @sarahenakamura: “That’s the idea!!”]

Which just. Absolutely magnificent. It creates a physical unbroken link between the current living Aes Sedai and their predecessors and their future sisters as well.

And it even makes Valda and his collection of rings of Aes Sedai he killed even more heinous. He’s hindering with a group’s funeral rites, an almost holy rite of passage, something we’ve been shown to be very important (like, with Stepin utterly broken and gaunt, hanging on from the skin of his teeth, relapsing into drinking, barely holding himself together, but pushing himself to bring the rings back; and also with the absolute horrified reactions of the Tar Valon civilians seeing the return of the rings; just. GODS. THIS SHOW). By impeding the rings’ return, Valda interrupts a cycle of rebirth, he removes them from their source, from the Tower, from the fallen’s sisters.

Just. Man. I just have no words. These people just GET IT. They UNDERSTAND Robert Jordan’s series. They KNOW The Wheel Of Time. They know the themes, they know what the author intended and meant, and they’re not afraid neither of furthering the progressiveness Robert aimed for nor of adding upon the material.

THAT is how you make adaptations. A 1-1 reproduction of the original story scene by scene is way less important than a thorough understanding of the story’s goals, of what those scenes are actually supposed to mean and say, and of quality writing to introduce and show those concepts in a way that makes the consumer engage and invest emotionally in the plot.