Byron Holmes

I am remiss to even give it three. As far as shows go, it's okay on its own. If you are someone who has read books or grew up with them, then it'll leave you with a funky taste. I've seen a few people try to reason out why: the graphic violence, race of certain characters, etc. None of which are why. So I'll just express my misgivings with the show. SPOILER ALERT: I grew up reading the books. The first thing that bothered me was the whole idea that "any of them" could be the Dragon Reborn. Flat out, nope. The Dragon was who he was and did what he did because he was a man. The Dragon and his Companions sealed the Dark One back into his prison. In a last act of revenge, the Dark One tainted the male half of the Source. This made male channelers go crazy. So imagine a bunch of really strong magic users going insane. What might they do? Well, they destroyed the world. It's called the Breaking. They wrecked the world and had to be killed so that they couldn't kill everyone. The whole premise of the story is central to this. That is the fear of the Dragon Reborn. A male channeler that will be "reincarnated" to fight the DO when the time is proper. A man like those who destroyed the world. None of the women could be the Dragon Reborn because they didn't channel the male half of the Source. They posed zero risk of going insane and lashing out with the Power. If that could be the way, the White Tower could've fought the Last Battle without any men and without the Dragon. Rand was done alright overall. Perrin, while I initially was confused by the alteration, I think they did fine. Matt, they just screwed. He wasn't what they depicted him to be, his father wasn't a pos, etc. Matt was a trickster, a playful character who always got himself into trouble from that nature. In the show, they depict his family as trash and him as just this broody crap guy. Fast forward. What the hell was that battle? Didn't even make sense in the storyline. The way the women acted? It was like they tried to make them look really powerful but made them look like imbeciles instead. Anyone who knows the story knows that women don't need help to be powerful. There are plenty of very strong women in the storyline. The healing of death? Hell no. Not possible. It's reiterated throughout the story. Death could not be healed even in the glory times at the height of all channelers. EVER. My issue is that they took the story, altered it, and ran with it while claiming to stick to the storyline. No, they made a story with the clothing of the original story, but it's still a different person wearing it. The story didn't need help to be great. Yes, I know some things need to be changed for the screen. I expected that. The changes I'm talking about, and the others in my mind, were not necessary for putting it on the screen. Parts of it are okay. If you take it on its own, ignoring the books, it's not a bad show. It isn't the Wheel of Time, though. I wish it were. I was excited to see one of my favorite book series on the screen, something I'd been hoping for for years. Oh, well. It is what it is. Still got my books and imagination.