Seems that most book-to-show projects either aim to please the readers or the new watchers...and that is generally ok. If the aim is the readers, stay true to the material to bring it to life. If the aim is the watchers, use devices to thoroughly explain the plot and make it easy to follow. I feel like they missed the mark here. This is not aimed at readers because its missing a lot, changes elements, and does not have the same feel as the books. Its not aimed at the watchers because its moving to fast for newcomers to understand and in a seemingly boring fashion.
For readers: You may be wondering - Where is Minn? Why did Perrin have a girlfriend? Where is the wonder in the Two Rivers group demeanor where even running from Trollocs and Fades they still were in wonderment of the the outside world and speaking all the time about how the old stories matched against what they have seen so far. Why are they at Tar Valon without first going to Camelyn? Where is Elayne? Who are these other warders that had no role in the books but are taking up a lot of screen time? Why is the show saying the Dragon could be a woman when the Dragon must be a man who touches the male half of the one power (saidar)? Why did they meet Thom at White Bridge when Thom should have been with them since Two Rivers to act as a plot device to teach them about the outside world? Why did White Bridge have a little wooden bridge, it should have been a massive White Bridge built by Aes Sedai. Why is Moraine and Suanne in a relationship? Why have we only seen Matt gamble in passing at the very beginning when that is literally his favorite thing in the world and the core of his future. Where was the wandering guy that teaches Perrin about the wolves?
For the watches: You may be wondering and should know more about - What is the one power and what are the differences in the male and female parts of the one power? Who is Lews Therin? Who are the Forsaken? Who is the Dark One? Are Rand, Matt, and Perrin mainly weaklings compared to Nynaeve? What role do those 3 play since as of yet they have not really done anything except fumble around (except the subtle introduction to Perrin and wolves and Rand's 2 minute "I am the dragon" reveal). Why did they show the Heron mark on Rand's sword, that used to be his father's sword, and then never say anything about it. Understand this world is super rich with history and has a lot more character development than this show is offering.
It is ok, but it could be so much better. I feel like I did when I watched Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth adaption or Terry Brook's Shannara adaption. Both adaptations were like budget version of the stories they meant to tell and suffered greatly because of it. Seems like Wheel of Time is likely to go the same way. A few of these things are touched on in the last few episodes like Minn, The Heron Marked sword, Lews Therin, but these are done in poor order and glossed over like small details that are actually important to the later story. But come on, we see Seanchan or whatever at the end and we still have not met Elayne?
For readers: You may be wondering - Where is Minn? Why did Perrin have a girlfriend? Where is the wonder in the Two Rivers group demeanor where even running from Trollocs and Fades they still were in wonderment of the the outside world and speaking all the time about how the old stories matched against what they have seen so far. Why are they at Tar Valon without first going to Camelyn? Where is Elayne? Who are these other warders that had no role in the books but are taking up a lot of screen time? Why is the show saying the Dragon could be a woman when the Dragon must be a man who touches the male half of the one power (saidar)? Why did they meet Thom at White Bridge when Thom should have been with them since Two Rivers to act as a plot device to teach them about the outside world? Why did White Bridge have a little wooden bridge, it should have been a massive White Bridge built by Aes Sedai. Why is Moraine and Suanne in a relationship? Why have we only seen Matt gamble in passing at the very beginning when that is literally his favorite thing in the world and the core of his future. Where was the wandering guy that teaches Perrin about the wolves?
For the watches: You may be wondering and should know more about - What is the one power and what are the differences in the male and female parts of the one power? Who is Lews Therin? Who are the Forsaken? Who is the Dark One? Are Rand, Matt, and Perrin mainly weaklings compared to Nynaeve? What role do those 3 play since as of yet they have not really done anything except fumble around (except the subtle introduction to Perrin and wolves and Rand's 2 minute "I am the dragon" reveal). Why did they show the Heron mark on Rand's sword, that used to be his father's sword, and then never say anything about it. Understand this world is super rich with history and has a lot more character development than this show is offering.
It is ok, but it could be so much better. I feel like I did when I watched Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth adaption or Terry Brook's Shannara adaption. Both adaptations were like budget version of the stories they meant to tell and suffered greatly because of it. Seems like Wheel of Time is likely to go the same way. A few of these things are touched on in the last few episodes like Minn, The Heron Marked sword, Lews Therin, but these are done in poor order and glossed over like small details that are actually important to the later story. But come on, we see Seanchan or whatever at the end and we still have not met Elayne?