What a trash-ass show. It’s a damned shame too, because I loved the books. I read the entire series and was very excited for a show or movie. When I heard Amazon got the rights to it I was apprehensive, but cautiously hopeful. Unfortunately my caution was fully warranted. Rafe is a hack, as is the writing staff. The hubris of that team to completely ignore Sanderson’s advice and re-write a beloved classic, to make such an awful show is unbelievable.

No one is talking about the critical change they made to the magic system. In the books, the problem with The Dragon is he can use magic, but the magic men can access has been tainted and blah blah blah. The takeaway is that women can still safely use magic, and keep on restraining men who can so they don’t destroy the world.

This could have been done in such a way that would not only have opened the possibility for a woman to be the Dragon, but would have made it just as hard to determine not just who the Dragon was, but would bring in a test to determine if every magic user had the potential to be the Dragon, both men and women, let alone trans magic users. But instead, they insist that maybe this woman could be the Dragon, then portray everything else like it was in the book, leading to the likely conclusion that the Dragon will still be a man. And if the Dragon is still going to be a man, for very consistent in-world reasons which would also make sense for the characters, why pretend it was going to be anything different? If you have a problem with The Dragon having to be a man, wouldn’t it be more frustrating for the Dragon to not have to be a man and it ends up being a man, anyway?

I have a number of other criticisms - oddly weakening characters, distorting their motivations for no obvious reasons, etc. - but this is the only one I saw as actually world-breaking.

I lost all interest early on in season 1 but watched through the train wreck out of morbid curiosity. I have no interest in watching further.

As a fan of the books, flaws and all, the show writers have ignored or flat out contradicted key plot elements and missed fundamental world building beats.

Lan having a big fit crying and screaming at a funeral is such a stark contrast to his novel character that it cannot be reconciled.

This is like making Aragorn a misogynist, or having him bully the hobbits for being so short. Just a complete backflip.

I enjoyed season 1 outside of a handful of sequences that felt forced or meh. Looking forward to season 2

I had to put away my interpretations of the books and let the TV series stand on its own. Once I did that, I thought it was pretty cool. Looking forward to season two!

If a ‘Wheel of Time diehard’ includes someone in the middle of their 6th reread, then I guess I contradict your assumption. I thoroughly enjoyed the 1st season, even with its minor flaws, and predict the 2nd season will be even better. I generally enjoyed the plot deviations and saw them as improvements.

If anything, a WoT fan that is honest with themselves should a) be able to overlook minor flaws, since the books have plenty, especially book 1 and b) realize that plot deviations are a must because an at most 8 season series cannot follow all of Jordan’s arcs and details faithfully - combine, rearrange, and cut is absolutely required.

To me, the heart of the story is there, the characters are well-acted, and the music is great. Sets and writing were good in season 1 with some room for improvement, IMO.

I am actually pleased that you think the world-building “borrowed bits and pieces of different Earth cultures and threw them in a blender.” That’s completely intentional and follows from the metaphysics and history (e.g., the Age of Legends and subsequent breaking of the world) in the books. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea though, sure.

Finally, with a small sample size of friends and family I am having a much easier time getting them into WoT than I did GoT (the last fantasy show I really got into). Reasons (I am paraphrasing their words) include:

More accessible color pallette and atmosphere

Less gratuitous violence (especially towards women)

More magic and “fantasy” feel

Refreshingly not a standard medieval setting

Being able to share it with more people in my circle has obviously enhanced my enjoyment. They are all super pumped after seeing the season 2 trailer.