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The Wheel of Woke - Episode 1 - Opening scene


Part 1 - SPOILERS

Now that I have listened to all fourteen of the audiobooks in ' The Wheel of Time ' series and have watched a lot of criticism about this TV Show on Youtube I have more to say about it.


Here is the first 4:20 of Episode 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bspJ_5xsFq4

It starts off with a monologue by Moiraine, an Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah:

The world is broken. Many, many years ago men who were born with great power believed they could cage darkness itself. The arrogance ! When they failed the seas boiled, mountains were swallowed up, cities burned, and the women of the Aes Sedai were left to pick up the pieces. These women remembered one thing above all else, the man who brought the breaking of the world. And him they named Dragon.


So the show starts with a Woke Declaration. Men broke the world, men are arrogant, men are destroyers. And the women were left to pick up the pieces. Women are good, women are responsible, women are healers.

And for the record the male Aes Sedai didn't fail. They sealed the Dark One away from the world ( although not permanently as the seals eventually began to fail ) which was their objective. But there was a heavy price that was paid as a result of the Dark Ones counterstroke. Also for the record the female Aes Sedai didn't name Lews Therin the Dragon. That name was given to him by men when he was the General in command of the forces of the Light fighting against the forces of the Dark One.

But where is the full context for these terrible events from the books ? Did men really break the world because of their arrogance ?

Well actually no it was nothing like that. Lews Therin the Dragon from 3,000 years before asked the female Aes Sedai to join him and his one hundred male Aes Sedai to try to seal the Dark One off from the world. Because using Saidin ( the male side of the Power ) and Saidar ( the female side of the Power ) together was much more effective and powerful than just using either one on its own ( do you see what Robert Jordan the author of The Wheel of Time did there ? ).

But the female Aes Sedai thought it was a dangerous plan and refused to help even after their own plan couldn't be carried out. So the men decided to confront the Dark One on their own. They did their best and managed to seal the Dark One off from the world ( although not permanently ) and the Dark One at the last moment put a taint on Saidin which drove the male Aes Sedai mad. Then these mad male Aes Sedai went berserk and unleashed Saidin on the world.

And you might ask who made the bore into the Dark Ones lair in the first place ? Arrogant men !? Well no it was a team led by Mierin Sedai ( Lanfear ) who later became one of the female Forsaken ( the highest level of servants of the Dark One ).

So were the male Aes Sedai arrogant ? No they weren't, not at all. They came up with a plan and they took it to the female Aes Sedai who refused to help so the men went ahead with it anyway. Doing nothing wasn't an option. And the plan succeeded in containing the Dark One but at a terrible cost. The female Aes Sedai should have accepted their share of the blame for what happened because it was one of them ( Lanfear ) who created the problem in the first place. But they refused to help and walked away. But in watching the opening scene of Episode One you wouldn't know any of that !

Context is everything but if you leave it out then you can give the story your own Woke spin. And that spin was nothing less than a sneaky and lying Woke hatchet job on men.

And it's worth asking the question what ( 3,000 years later ) is Moiraine's plan to battle the Dark One again in the knowledge of what happened last time ? Well it turns out she wants to help Rand seal the Dark One off like Lews Therin did. So apparently in Moiraine's mind it's not arrogant or a deal breakingly bad plan when she proposes doing it, but it was when Lews Therin proposed doing it ! Which shows how blatantly self contradictory and just plain stupid the writing can be for this show.




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Part 2 - SPOILERS

Episode 1

Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah are chasing down a false dragon ( a man who can channel Saidin and declares himself to be the Dragon Reborn ) when they catch him and Liandrin says to him

" This power, it's meant for women and women alone. And when you touch it you make it filthy."

From the books there are female ( Saidar ) and male ( Saidin ) sides of the power. Saidin was tainted by the Dark One so he made it "filthy" not men. Saidar was unaffected and so is still "clean". And yet the way Liandrin seems to be personally disgusted you would think she was having to put up with "filthy" Saidar and it was men's fault.

The Red Aes Sedai proceed to "gentle" the false dragon ( strip him of the ability to channel ) while he grovels on his knees, trembling and abjectly pleading for mercy throughout.

Women are strong and noble, men are evil, weak and contemptible. Lovely. Talk about striking a blow against the Patriarchy !

This scene is not in the books but was made up and dropped in.




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Part 3 - SPOILERS

Episode 1

In this scene the women of Emond's Field are gathered together for the initiation of Egwene into the Women's Circle. There is a lot of love and mutual support on show as Nynaeve ( the village Wisdom ) explains how the women always support each other and then pushes Egwene off a rock into a fast flowing mountain stream some thirty feet below. God knows why but it looked cool I guess.

In the book the Women's Circle at Emond's Field was the female counterpart to the Men's council where the business of the village was discussed and ordered. It comprised of a small number of prominent women who didn't always see eye to eye. It wasn't a female one-in-all-in Freemason's equivalent.

The purpose of this scene seems to be to advocate for women's solidarity. Women joined together are strong !

And again this scene is not in the books but was made up and dropped in.




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Part 4 - SPOILERS

Episode 1

So we finally get to the opening scene of the book ( apart from prologues ) where Rand Al 'Thor ( you know the Dragon Reborn and the hero of the story ) and his father Tam are taking produce in a cart to Emond's Field from their farm. In the books this scene includes Rand's first encounter with a Fade ( a higher ranking and powerful servant of the Dark One ). But here in the TV show Rand is simply introduced as a good natured farm boy who used to collect berries for Egwene when he was little. He walks along with his Dad and nothing of significance happens.

So the writer deliberately down-played Rand in his first scene. All we know from it is that Rand is a love interest for Egwene.




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Part 5 - SPOILERS

Episode 1

Rand and Tam arrive at the Emond's Field village and we see that the place is a mini United Nations. As multi-cultural as a large city in the West today. But in the books and in the TV show we are told that the old blood runs deep in the Two Rivers. This combined with the fact that Emond's Field is out back of beyond means that the place has been isolated and left on its own for thousands of years. Such a place would be expected to be racially homogeneous, meaning all the people apart from the odd outsider would be from the same racial grouping.

Why does this matter ? Because Rand stands out among the Emond's Field people who are white but with dark hair and brown eyes. Rand is noticeably taller than any of them and he has grey eyes and red hair. This is a clue about Rand's identity. Also the Two Rivers turns out to be a little gold mine having produced three Ta'veren and two very powerful female channellers. The old blood runs deep !

Making Emond's Field racially diverse ticks the Woke "Diversity is our strength" box but it is absolute nonsense in the context of the story.




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Part 6 - SPOILERS

Episode 1

Mat is introduced to us in the Village Inn and we find out he is a gambler and a thief who steals from his fellow villagers ! Mat was neither of these things in the early books. He became a gambler later on but that was because of his phenomenal Ta'veren luck. And he was never a thief. Mat in the books was a fellow who loved to play practical jokes on people so not everyone liked him. He also grumbled a lot as though he was put upon but he always did his share of the chores.

Later on in the first episode we see that Mat's father is a womaniser and his mother is a bitter drunk. She even tells Mat that he is a prick just like his father ! They are neglectful parents and Mat is left to look out for his two much younger sisters. None of this was in the books. Mat came from a good family, his sisters were not much younger than him and apart from being a prankster and a grumbler Mat was a good lad.

So why make the changes ? Could it be that the writer, not satisfied with down-playing Rand, has also undermined Mat's character ? The problems in Mat's family could be assumed to have originated with his philandering father who drove his poor wife to bitterness and drink. The evil taint of the Patriarchy at work once again !




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Part 7 - SPOILERS

Episode 1

Egwene arrives and stands framed in the light of the doorway of the Inn while she graciously receives a rapturous standing ovation from the crowd. Presumably for successfully floating down a stream. Women are just the best ! Woo woo !!

Then her father steps up to her almost wringing his hands and with worry etched all over his face, " My girl, I was worried duh..." he says, unable to go on as a tumult of emotion crashes over him. Yes I know but he is just a feeble male after all and this is his ultra super precious female child !




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Part 8 - SPOILERS

Episode 1

And now we come to probably the most bizarre plot inclusion in the first episode. Nynaeve chides Perrin ( not in so many words ) for enjoying himself at the Inn while his wife Laila (!?) is slaving away at the forge. In the books Perrin was not married. But here not only does he have a wife but it appears that she is the blacksmith !

Later on in the episode the pair are again in the forge when a Trolloc ( a big mean beastie ) crashes in. A fight ensues and it is a near thing taking both Perrin and Laila to fight the beast. Perrin seems to go into a killing frenzy and is feverishly hacking the Trolloc to bits when he hears a noise behind him and automatically swings around with the axe and half chops his wife in two. Oops ! One dead wifey.

So hereafter Perrin is consumed by guilt and walks around in a half dead PTSD haze. Talk about doing a character in. How is Perrin supposed to recover from this and become anything other than that poor wretch who accidentally killed his wife ?

Some people have suggested that this scenario was thrown in to bolster yet another addition to the TV show that wasn't in the books. Namely a love triangle between Rand, Egwene and Perrin. To be fair Rand and Egwene were sort of an item in the books as well. Their families had expected them to marry one day and so had they but unlike in the TV show they had never consummated their relationship. It's not the big deal in the books that they turn it into in the TV show.

I don't buy that explanation. Destroy one of the main characters for a tedious soap opera style love triangle ? I don't think so. That would mean the writer was a total hack. I wonder if the real reason was simply to show that a woman can be a blacksmith too ! Girl Power !!!

As well as showing that men are ferocious beasts who can't control their animalistic instincts even at the cost of those who should be most precious to them. Bastards !





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Good job on the analysis. In my prior post pasted below, I complained about the opening narration and the gentling of the false dragon scene. The showrunner mentioned in interviews that he wanted to give women a greater voice in high fantasy so that impacted the overall tone of the show. There aren't many high fantasy options so I decided to watch it. I enjoyed it overall and I tried to ignore the woke moments.

https://moviechat.org/tt7462410/The-Wheel-of-Time/6197e71119ffb106fbdbafb8/The-initial-narration-and-opening-scene-were-too-negative-towards-men

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Thanks ! Yes I read your piece and groaned over the usual Woketard responses. It wasn't until I listened to all the books and watched some of the criticism on Youtube ( particularly from Amy Stewart who had some very insightful things to say ) that I became quite angry about the Woke hatchet job these people have done on Robert Jordan's story.

Rafe Judkins is a lying bastard. He didn't need to alter the Wheel of Time story at all because women already had a "greater voice" in it. The female Aes Sedai were running the world ffs ! He has shamelessly used Wheel of Time as a propaganda piece for Wokism while he comes up with one false excuse after another to throw people off what he has really and deliberately done. I hope he never gets another job again.


Here is one of the show writers Celine Song. She wrote episode five Blood Calls Blood which I thought was appalling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dNCSO_bFhc

Surprise, surprise she is Woke and Anti-Patriarchy.




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