‘The Wheel of Time’, Episode Eight – ‘The Eye of the World’

And that's that for 'The Wheel of Time'; well, for this Season anyway ;o) You've probably guessed this already but I've actually enjoyed this show a lot more than I thought I would. In a world that's pretty dark already, it's been really nice to have a show that doesn't shy away from the dark moments but doesn't base its whole identity around being grimdark. It's been a long time since I've read the books but I still came away with the feeling that even though some liberties have been taken with the story (and that's the way TV goes, I'm cool with it), it is still taking place in Robert Jordan's world.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Season 2 plays out now but we'll get more into that in a minute. Right now though, and for the last time this Season, it's that time of the post where I say that I'm not going to recap the plot and if you're after that, click Here for the Tor.com post. Honestly, their recaps are so thorough. I'm more than likely going to get a little spoilery though so just bear that in mind... And if you're still here, lets go.

I actually had to watch 'The Eye of the World' twice today, just to get my head round everything that happened, and while I'm sure that Amazon won't mind the extra viewing, it's a sign for me that the episode perhaps had a little too much to do in only an hour. Having said that though, if they were going for a 'high stakes, everything happening at once while everything hangs on Rand' approach then it totally worked. I could feel the nervous energy crackling like Aes Sedai lightening and it was very easy to get caught up and go along for the ride. Would an extra episode have helped though...? I think it might well have done but 'The Eye of the World' did hang together well enough to get us to the end and that's the main thing, isn't it? The battle at Fal Dara was awesome although I can't help but wonder if the show runners aren't confident enough, yet, to let the Trollocs be seen in daylight? Watching the lightening come down made up for it though and we get to see what happens if someone inexperienced takes on too much of the power. Poor Amalisa got to finally feel what it was like, but only for a short while. And if they had lightening to call on, why didn't they use it to collapse the pass?

'The Eye of the World' gives us a little closure but definitely has it's eye on setting things up for Season 2. Rand's confrontation, at the Eye, goes pretty much as you'd expect but it's what happens after that, and Moraine's inability to react, that intrigued me and has me all interested in what happens next. Perrin is the really interesting character for me though as his conversation with Padan Fain (who I love) really brings out that inner struggle in Perrin, I think we're going to see a lot more of that next Season and I'm there for it.

It feels weird not to have a lot to say about Egwene and Nynaeve but to be honest, I haven't really... It is good to see Egwene's ability to channel grow stronger and not as a result of outside influences. Nynaeve though... She's still all about getting her friends safely home and, apart from some potential with Lan, that's not leaving her a lot of room to be much else, not in this episode anyway.

And that's it, Season over. Well apart from the arrival of the Seanchan who use the One Power to crash an absolutely massive tidal wave over a little girl who just happened to be at the beach at the wrong time. Well, the implication is there and that feels like an odd way to round things off but there you go.

And that really is it :o) 'The Eye of the World' tries to do a little too much, with not a lot of time to do it in, but it all comes together in a pleasing finale that sets things up for Season 2. Well played 'Wheel of Time', well played ;o)

You can read all my other 'Wheel of Time' posts over Here.