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Re: Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Here are a few of my own: Cannoli Send a noteboard - 20/12/2021 05:43:44 PM

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I guess I'm already somewhat on record about what I thought of the cold open. Its just silly to have a full-term pregnant woman be that powerful in combat against several trained enemies. My wife is an outstanding athlete. At full term pregnancy she couldn't outrun a toddler, and she carried her pregnancies much like they portrayed Shaiel in the sense that she was not bloated aside from where she was carrying the baby. They really go over the top on the girl power stuff sometimes. Even ITB it felt like a real stretch that the Aiel would actually let a 9-months pregnant woman anywhere near combat. If I recall correctly, ITB there is just some hand waving that Janduin couldn't deny her anything, as though the actual warrior society of the Maidens of the Spear wouldn't have something to say about it, or even the Wise Ones.

I think this is one of the issues where the Aiel get caught flat-footed because they cannot conceive of someone failing to act appropriately and fulfil their toh. The way they are constantly being surprised by Couladin or Sevanna's perfidy. No Aiel woman would refuse to do what must be done to protect her unborn child, so there is no enforcement plan or even policy. They say "So, Shaiel, you must put aside the spear so long as you carry a child." Shaiel says "No," and they're like "what now?" The Maidens might intervene, or they might not, recalling the various times Rand clashes with them over the issue of personal responsibility and how people cannot dictate how others act. All the comments and arguments that would have shamed a born Aiel Maiden into compliance would roll off Shaiel, because ji'e'toh is just something she picked up a few years ago, rather than take in with her mother's milk. And overall, maybe this is a thing for the battle-leader, but the combination of his infatuation with Shaiel and the general notion in the setting that men's opinions on women's matters are not welcome, thank you very much, mean that nothing gets done, because when you get right down to it, pregnancy is a problem with an inherently limited shelf-life. Just like I'd bet that at least some people were willing to let her try to join the Maidens because they expected her failure to be inevitable, I'd guess that some people figured Shaiel would crap out eventually, and the rigors of her condition would mandate her taking a reduced role, and then once there was an actual baby in hand, of course she'll see reason.
But I digress, the wheel wanted her to give birth on Dragon Mount so it was going to happen, unlikely or not. On a positive note, I maintain that the acting is the strongest aspect of the show so far, and the actress portraying Shaiel was no exception IMO.
Hardly looks like she's related to a guy as drop-dead gorgeous as Galad is supposed to be, or a man whom three 10s are will to settle for a partial share of.

I realize Brandon Sanderson is not a popular guy here for obvious reasons, but he has put out some interesting comments about his review of the scripts and his interaction with Rafe. Apparently he is not a fan of much of what Rafe has done. One of the things he butted heads with Rafe about is that Rafe makes everyone an asshole, beyond what the books do. He didn't go into specifics other than that even the Tinkers are needlessly hostile-seeming when they first encounter Perrin and Egwene.

I saw that. He also had an issue of Nynaeve leading with her knife, pointing out that there are lots of women in the series who would do that, so what separates Nynaeve from Egwene or Aviendha? And he also noted that Healing is Nynaeve's central aspect, not violence.
I thought the way they revealed Rand's past channeling was a bit ham-fisted. The way Rand broke down the door with Dana the darkfriend was initially well done. The way Rand channeled in the Ways was also initially well done. When Rand goes to talk to Moiraine to say he thinks he is the Dragon, she could tell him that she knew it wasn't Egwene that had channeled in the Ways. Then it could have been a cool thing for fans to go back and slow-mo the scene in the Ways to see that indeed it was Rand that had channeled, rather than showing the scene again with plain indication that Rand was channeling. Well, whatever.
Good idea.



Apologizing when you are not wrong generally does not promote a healthy relationship.

They've never exactly had that. It could survive in a limited environment like Emond's Field, where the proper way to do things or handle whatever situations that come up is pretty clear-cut. But they have a fight over the first thing that comes up out of the ordinary, namely her sudden career aspirations. Egwene initiated the relationship without consulting him, going over his head to get the establishment to sanction it and protect her relationship position, without any indication of concern or respect for his feelings on the matter. And that's all the time with him. She cares about him, but in an unbalanced or uneven way, not as a partner in anything. You can see one of them being in charge in a relationship or on an issue, but you can't image them being partners or a team.
Here is my prediction for episode 8: Rand and Moiraine encounter Ishy at the Eye. Ishy is about to overwhelm them when the cavalry shows up and Nynaeve and Egwene save the day. I don't expect them to give Rand any kind of moment of solo awesomeness without diminishing it and adding in girl power to save the day. I think that Siuan was deceived about the Eye.
If all this is the case, the official position of the show will be "not Siuan's fault and this is absolutely no reason for anyone to doubt her on anything going forward, and Nynaeve is being a stubborn, contrarian bitch for questioning her."

Another possibility going forward is that Mat somehow follows Fain via dagger connections or whatever, and saves them from him. Or he gets dragged back to the Tower by the Reds and his Book 3 plot will take off from there.


I think the meaning of Min's viewing about the Amyrlin being Moiraine's downfall is that Liandrin will depose Siuan and become the Amyrlin and that Liandrin as Amyrlin will bring down Moiraine. It seems they are rolling Liandrin and Elaida into one character.
In the books, I have to ask, where does Moiraine ever even HAVE a downfall? The closest you could come would be her swearing to Rand or going to the Finns, but those were entirely her own actions and choices that brought her there. No ally, superior or enemy did it to her. So we're talking major plot rearrangements ahead.
Cannoli
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
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Very good episode! But I assume no Forsaken in E8? - 19/12/2021 04:07:09 AM 218 Views
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Here are a few of my own: - 19/12/2021 10:19:17 PM 240 Views
Good stuff. BTW, did I missed something about Fain? - 20/12/2021 01:16:12 AM 237 Views
Yes, you did miss something... - 20/12/2021 08:37:23 AM 216 Views
Got it, thanks! - 21/12/2021 06:53:15 PM 180 Views
Re: Got it, thanks! - 23/12/2021 12:31:00 AM 230 Views
Re: Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Here are a few of my own: - 20/12/2021 05:43:44 PM 337 Views

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