The Wheel of Time episodes 1-3 review: A rocky start, but it gets better
Our Verdict
The Cycle of Fourth dimension kicks things off to a bit of a rocky start, only it quickly recovers from the outset episode's pacing issues. The casting and acting are fantastic, the costume blueprint feels right, and the scenery and set blueprint are excellent. This prove has a lot of promise to evangelize on, just it'southward heading in the right management.
For
- Beautiful gear up blueprint
- Spot-on casting
- Great costuming
- Excellent soundtrack
Against
- Kickoff episode has pacing issues
- Await changes from the book
Tom'southward Guide Verdict
The Bicycle of Time kicks things off to a bit of a rocky offset, but it speedily recovers from the outset episode'due south pacing issues. The casting and acting are fantastic, the costume blueprint feels right, and the scenery and set design are excellent. This prove has a lot of hope to deliver on, but it's heading in the right direction.
Pros
- +
Beautiful prepare design
- +
Spot-on casting
- +
Great costuming
- +
Excellent soundtrack
Cons
- -
Get-go episode has pacing issues
- -
Expect changes from the book
Adapted from the late Robert Hashemite kingdom of jordan's massive 14-book fantasy epic, Amazon's The Cycle of Time tells a story huge in scope with an ensemble cast of characters. Fans of the books know that Hashemite kingdom of jordan had a proclivity for a lot of different points-of-view and the show looks like it might follow in that regard.
The Cycle of Time serial has magic and politics, plus excellent worldbuilding and a ton of dissimilar cultural representations. Amazon'southward adaptation has thus far captured some of the first volume'due south amuse, though non without fault. There are changes made from the start novel, The Eye of the World, and book fans might find themselves ambivalent about the differences as a whole. I'm certainly of two minds about some of them.
For those of y'all who oasis't read the books, there's still plenty to dearest here. The prove has a fantastic ensemble cast, beautiful sets and scenery, powerful sound pattern, and an intriguing story that doesn't let upwards in one case it gets going.
And when you're done here, check out my The Wheel of Fourth dimension episode v recap and review!
The Wheel of Time review: Episode 1
The Bicycle of Time kicks things off with a cold open that establishes that men who can utilize the One Power, the series' magic system, are destined to go mad. Only women, called Aes Sedai, can aqueduct magic safely and some accept dedicated themselves to finding men who can channel and making certain that they pose no threat. Narratively, this opening is fine, but information technology struggles to obsess me similar a airplane pilot'due south showtime moments should.
In this offset episode, the show focuses on Moiraine (played by Rosamund Pike), an Aes Sedai who'south searching for the Dragon Reborn. The Dragon is prophesied to be the savior of the world, or to be ane who destroys everything. Moiraine and her companion Lan (Daniel Henney) decide to caput for the Two Rivers, an idyllic rural community deep in the mountains.
Episode 1 is a ho-hum burn down for the start one-half or so. In that location are vii primary characters and the episode does its best to introduce them all in their village called Emond's Field. Nynaeve (Zoe Robbins) is the Wisdom, a healer and sort of leader; Egwene (Madeleine Madden) is a young woman who is considering condign Nynaeve'due south amateur; Rand (Josha Stadowski) is a farm boy in a relationship with Egwene; Mat (Barney Harris) is a mischievous fellow from a cleaved habitation; and Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) is a blacksmith in a strained union.
Moiraine and Lan eventually arrive in Emond'southward Field on their search, with Moiraine convinced that the Dragon is Rand, Mat, Perrin, or Egwene.
The at-home life shatters on Winternight as horrific monsters attack the hamlet. Things rapidly plow into a slaughter every bit the monsters — huge, beastial creatures chosen Trollocs — tear their mode through the townsfolk. If not for Moiraine and Lan stepping in to help, no i would take survived. Nynaeve is carried off and presumed dead, and in the aftermath, Egwene does what she can to help care for the wounded. Mat brings his little sisters back later he fled with them, Rand comes into town with his injured father, and Perrin carries the corpse of his wife (that he accidentally killed) to lay among the dead.
The first episode's pacing is the worst part, equally things outset off slow, plough of a sudden violent so end with Moiraine telling Egwene, Mat, Rand and Perrin that they need to leave Emond's Field with her. More Trollocs are on their style and she says that if 4 of them go out, the monsters will follow considering the principal bad guy, referred to as the Dark I, as well thinks that 1 of them is the Dragon Reborn. The episode ends with the six of them leaving with no goodbyes or anything of the sort shown on screen. Information technology feels a bit like whiplash.
I'g pretty sure that the airplane pilot was originally written to exist longer. The pacing problem reeks of executives enforcing a single i-hour episode limit, despite it needing at least another half-hr. Even with this, however, I actually enjoyed the kickoff episode, both every bit a critic and a Wheel of Time fan. The casting is absolutely spot-on — these actors sell the characters to me nigh completely, especially Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, Barney Harris as Mat and Zoe Robbins every bit Nynaeve.
The costumes just look right to me. The Wheel of Fourth dimension is technically a post-apocalyptic fantasy, so I remember the clothing looking a bit more mod than medieval makes a lot of sense. The scenery stunned me with its beauty and gives an first-class fantastical vibe. The village set looks a scrap besides clean, simply that's a nitpick. It's a solid episode that left me excited to hit play on episode 2. Overall, I'd requite this one a three.5 out of v — the testify looks right, it's well-acted and sets things upwardly well.
The Wheel of Fourth dimension review: Episode 2
Unlike the weak beginning to episode one, episode 2 has a bone-chillingly practiced opening. The testify introduces the Whitecloaks — the series' paramilitary religious zealots — and Eamon Valda in particular. He sits watching a captured Aes Sedai burn to decease, pocketing her band amidst his drove. This scene made me extremely uncomfortable in the best fashion.
The rest of the episode focuses on Moiraine and Lan taking Rand, Mat, Perrin and Egwene east towards the White Tower, the Aes Sedai seat of power. Along the style we get excellent character development, including some backstory on the history of the Two Rivers. Moiraine as well proves she'south willing to practice whatever she needs to do to keep the Dark One'due south forces from capturing the Dragon Reborn, even if the Emond'south Fielders put up a stubborn resistance to her plans.
As the episode closes, Moiraine'southward wound from the offset episode's boxing has gotten worse and she eventually passes out from the infection. Desperate, Lan leads the party into the abandoned city of Shadar Logoth, where the Trollocs chasing them decline to become. In the city — which is beautiful and eerie — the party tries to rest, but some creeping blackness horror attacks them and splits them up.
Episode 2 is by the far the strongest of the first three. Information technology fixes the pacing issues that the start episode had while having plenty of downtime for character development along with activity and dread. The end with the party split upwardly from each other actually has a lot of weight to information technology.
Once again, the interim is spot-on with Rosamund Pike highlighting it all. She perfectly portrayed Moiraine's slow, subtle degradation as the Aes Sedai got sicker and weaker. This was a change from the book, but I'm all for it. I loved how everything played out from beginning to end and, even though I knew what was going to happen, I was on border during the activity sequences.
The episode does a good task of instilling terror in Shadar Logoth without overly explaining things. It ends with you genuinely wondering how these characters are going to leave of the mess they're in. This episode is a solid four.v out of 5 for me.
The Wheel of Fourth dimension: Episode iii
The political party is in dire straits after the disaster at Shadar Logoth in the last episode, which ended with Nynaeve of a sudden appearing alive. She tracked the group from the Two Rivers and finds Lan equally he'southward caring for Moiraine. The 3rd episode opens with showing how she had survived, excellently capturing Nynaeve'southward strength of character and will, hinting at why book fans honey her.
The third episode splits the characters into three parties: Rand and Mat, Perrin and Egwene and Lan, Moiraine and Nynaeve. Of all iii, Rand and Mat'south story is the strongest. Through it, we meet Thom Merrilin, some other fan favorite character. His introduction here differs from the volume, but I think information technology's for the all-time considering it matches his character in the later books. (In the get-go book, Thom arrives in Emond's Field before the Trollocs attack and leaves the village with Moiraine et al.) He kicks things off with a sorrowful song before taking a liking to Rand and Mat. He saves them from a Darkfriend — a person who has sworn their soul and allegiance to the Nighttime One — and encourages them to come with him to avert further trouble.
Perrin and Egwene decide to head e in the hopes of finding their friends. They cross a freezing tundra while wolves hunt them. This plotline certainly weighed heaviest for how dour things look for these characters. Perrin is withal traumatized from killing his wife and Egwene's attempts to comfort him don't seem to help. But then they stumble upon wagon tracks and eventually come across the friendly gypsy-like Tinkers, who offer them nutrient, warmth and shelter. I like this plotline, but most of its arc in this second episode bored me.
With Moiraine incapacitated, Lan managed to convince Nynaeve to apply her herbal healing skills to the Aes Sedai. The tension between Nynaeve and Lan is definitely palpable and it's wonderfully executed by the actors. Book fans know where this all goes, but the episode does a dandy job of setting up an interpersonal relationship between the two characters. Nynaeve'due south remedy helps Moiraine a footling, enough for the Aes Sedai to wake up. Their plotline in this episode ends with them meeting more Aes Sedai, who accept captured a human being calling himself the Dragon Reborn.
While not as strong as the second episode, episode 3 definitely captures the hopeless tone for the characters. Things are actually bad for everyone, and the episode closes with you lot genuinely wondering how they're going to get out of this. We book fans know what'southward up for the nearly office, only that hasn't stopped me from really wanting to come across how anybody is going to avoid the Dark One's forces, peculiarly if they take to fence with Darkfriends along their journey. I give this episode a strong 4 out of v, so the 3 episodes boilerplate out to four out of 5 overall.
The Bike of Time review: Outlook
The beginning Wheel of Fourth dimension episode has issues, notably with pacing, but it picks up towards the stop. Episode 2 is the best so far, offering stronger character evolution and higher stakes for the party'southward flight from the Dark One's servants. Episode 3 is good, likewise, though the show's trio of plots isn't compatible in quality, with Rand and Mat's plot continuing out as the clear best.
Equally a big fan of The Wheel of Time books, it's a picayune tough to cease that fandom from informing how I scout the show. It seems that some other book fans face up the same struggle. The testify is non a i-to-one carbon copy of The Eye of the World — adaptation requires changes for the new medium.
Those with a purist-level dedication to the book — out at that place maxim things similar "It's non my Bicycle of Time" so on — aren't helping anything. It'due south okay to dislike the changes (I certainly don't love them all) and it's okay to level effective criticism based on our knowledge of later events.
Ignore the critics out there lazily comparing The Cycle of Time to Game of Thrones. Using Game of Thrones as your sole lens to view the series shows an innate misunderstanding of what'due south on screen. While Robert Jordan and George Martin were friends, the ii stories are vastly different.
It stands to reason that the shows would also exist different. For those of you reading this that know video games, this comparison is akin to games journalists likening every hard game to Dark Souls.
The Bicycle of Time's first three episodes are certainly above average and show a lot of promise, despite a somewhat weak first. Episode iv releases on November 26 and I tin't wait to run across it.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/wheel-of-time-season-1
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