It was a fairly bad execution of some good ideas - Edit 2
Before modification by DomA at 31/01/2013 05:09:28 PM
It was a badly indulging story arc. It centered the whole BT resolution on this character that was "given" to Brandon to do wish as he pleased.
He turned him into a main secondary player, robbing the real secondary cast way too much of their screen time. Alviarin was our main BA villain, and she's barely had a role in Brandon's version of the finale (TGS/TOM included). He killed her whole arc doing this.. she'll be very boring to follow in re read, knowing it peters out to absolutely nothing shortly before the BA hunt reach its conclusion.
And that's only one example of an important secondary player vanishing to make place for the likes of Naeff, Androl, more directly at the expanse of Logain/Gabrelle and Teslyn, Flinn, Narishma.
Many of the ideas behind the BT story line were great, but they were very badly written. Way too many "epîsodes", way too much silliness in what was Jordan's most gruesome/vile story line. It should have continued in the chilling tone set by the KOD epilogue with the Pevara/Taim scene. Instead, it became a bloated excuse to build up a big background for Androl, was out of place in TOM when the early arc belonged in TGS, and rife with Brandon's trademark and always badly timed "comic relief", as badly timed as Jar-Jar Binks'. Slapstick, overused running gags with that Domani and his tall tales, the whole "inn" stuff.., the whole "whoops.. we bonded each other and now it's inconvient... and a good source for some more "you're in my head, beware what you think" jokes. It totally ruined the ominous tone of the story arc, made it way too "light hearted" and silly, when RJ was heading straight for a Nazi death camp atmosphere by KOD. Logain entered the arc much too late, this all belonged in TGS and pre-Merrilor. Brandon wrote the whole thing way too much with a step-by-step approach, and before the end the only surprise was Perrin-Lanfear, as you had seen all the rest coming by then. Then Brandon went and deprived us of the pay-off... showing nothing at all of the reconquest of the BT... to preserve the surprise of Logain's... sorry...ANDROL's arrival in Cairhien.
Then, Androl and Pevra outshined every Asha'man stuff in the LB and took way, way too much place, trivializing Logain's role. He was the one with the interesting arc, his struggle with his near turning, mirroring Rand's descent into darkness. It was barely developed, to leave room for bloody Androl to shine.
So yeah, there was interesting stuff in that storyline, and it offered good resolution to the Reds vs. male channelers theme. But it was for the most part annoying because overused, overdeveloped at the expanse of more important things, with way too many scenes to preserve suspense, and badly resolved, without the pay-off. Then it became ridiculous, with Androl becoming the real leader and doing all the important stuff in TG, often very Brandonish stuff that would fit well in his books, but not so well in WOT... and the worse is that they turned into "one time tricks". If you can destroy an army with lava, why not do it again, or drown them etc.? Why wasn't Androl given the lead of a huge circle to "do his thing"?
In TGS, Brandon had done something similar by making Naeff all of a sudden the go-to Asha'man Rand trusted most. Bloody Naeff was everywhere! It had left a bad impression that Brandon was too lazy to research exissting minor players like Flinn, Narishma, Logain to continue their arcs, or that he didn't like them, and instead created "his Asha'man" to steal RJ's thunder.
But yeah, Pevara/Androl had their moments through it. It wasn't 100% bad, and in another context or series could have been good.
I didn't like much his Pevara, though. Brandon can't write old characters. They read like a 14 y.o.'s vision of old people. Nearly all his Aes Sedai sucked. Pevara was another character altogether than Jordan's, but at times she was good.
He turned him into a main secondary player, robbing the real secondary cast way too much of their screen time. Alviarin was our main BA villain, and she's barely had a role in Brandon's version of the finale (TGS/TOM included). He killed her whole arc doing this.. she'll be very boring to follow in re read, knowing it peters out to absolutely nothing shortly before the BA hunt reach its conclusion.
And that's only one example of an important secondary player vanishing to make place for the likes of Naeff, Androl, more directly at the expanse of Logain/Gabrelle and Teslyn, Flinn, Narishma.
Many of the ideas behind the BT story line were great, but they were very badly written. Way too many "epîsodes", way too much silliness in what was Jordan's most gruesome/vile story line. It should have continued in the chilling tone set by the KOD epilogue with the Pevara/Taim scene. Instead, it became a bloated excuse to build up a big background for Androl, was out of place in TOM when the early arc belonged in TGS, and rife with Brandon's trademark and always badly timed "comic relief", as badly timed as Jar-Jar Binks'. Slapstick, overused running gags with that Domani and his tall tales, the whole "inn" stuff.., the whole "whoops.. we bonded each other and now it's inconvient... and a good source for some more "you're in my head, beware what you think" jokes. It totally ruined the ominous tone of the story arc, made it way too "light hearted" and silly, when RJ was heading straight for a Nazi death camp atmosphere by KOD. Logain entered the arc much too late, this all belonged in TGS and pre-Merrilor. Brandon wrote the whole thing way too much with a step-by-step approach, and before the end the only surprise was Perrin-Lanfear, as you had seen all the rest coming by then. Then Brandon went and deprived us of the pay-off... showing nothing at all of the reconquest of the BT... to preserve the surprise of Logain's... sorry...ANDROL's arrival in Cairhien.
Then, Androl and Pevra outshined every Asha'man stuff in the LB and took way, way too much place, trivializing Logain's role. He was the one with the interesting arc, his struggle with his near turning, mirroring Rand's descent into darkness. It was barely developed, to leave room for bloody Androl to shine.
So yeah, there was interesting stuff in that storyline, and it offered good resolution to the Reds vs. male channelers theme. But it was for the most part annoying because overused, overdeveloped at the expanse of more important things, with way too many scenes to preserve suspense, and badly resolved, without the pay-off. Then it became ridiculous, with Androl becoming the real leader and doing all the important stuff in TG, often very Brandonish stuff that would fit well in his books, but not so well in WOT... and the worse is that they turned into "one time tricks". If you can destroy an army with lava, why not do it again, or drown them etc.? Why wasn't Androl given the lead of a huge circle to "do his thing"?
In TGS, Brandon had done something similar by making Naeff all of a sudden the go-to Asha'man Rand trusted most. Bloody Naeff was everywhere! It had left a bad impression that Brandon was too lazy to research exissting minor players like Flinn, Narishma, Logain to continue their arcs, or that he didn't like them, and instead created "his Asha'man" to steal RJ's thunder.
But yeah, Pevara/Androl had their moments through it. It wasn't 100% bad, and in another context or series could have been good.
I didn't like much his Pevara, though. Brandon can't write old characters. They read like a 14 y.o.'s vision of old people. Nearly all his Aes Sedai sucked. Pevara was another character altogether than Jordan's, but at times she was good.