The Dark Along the Ways
- Episode aired Dec 17, 2021
- TV-14
- 1h
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
7.3K
YOUR RATING
Moiraine and her charges are diverted from their path by an unexpected encounter, this diversion reveals many things .Moiraine and her charges are diverted from their path by an unexpected encounter, this diversion reveals many things .Moiraine and her charges are diverted from their path by an unexpected encounter, this diversion reveals many things .
Storyline
Did you know
- Quotes
Lan Mandragoran: [to Moiraine] Before you, I had nothing to live for... and nothing to die for. You... have given me both.
Featured review
Some imperfections, but a very good episode nevertheless!
-Acting: 7/10. As usual, Nynaeve, Moiraine and Lan were perfect. Very good acting for the others (damn, does Marcus feel... Perrin!), except for Egwene and Rand: let me explain. They were both good, yet there is something in Egwene that makes her feel... fake? She will, I am sure, fit the character (episode 5 gave me a wonderful proof of her fitting this role), but I think I saw her acting the same way for 7 episodes: maybe she didn't have the right chance yet. Rand... it is another type of problem: Josha was very good in this, expecially while talking to Min (Min is like I imagined her to behave while reading the books. And I can already see their chemistry), but his character seems so anonymus, because of how poorly he was hidden during 6 episodes. Rand, which is, in my opinion, one of the best, if not the best, character ever created by human hand, is anonymus here: Sure, he MUST grow (up) before becoming the complex and beloved character that I grew up with... but until now he did nothing, there is no scene of Rand worth remembering (there are very few until now, but still, this is only season one), and in episodes like 5 and 6 he only had 2 or 3 scenes. So, if I didn't know how gorgeous he'll become, I'd be bored by show Rand, and I'd be very pissed of by the big reveal. So not Josha's fault, but showrunners. If he fits the role, he will have plenty of occasions to prove himself: Rand becomes so complex that only a genius will be able to represent him;
-Score: well, we have the OST in the old tongue. I guess it's a 9/10;
-Changes: 1) Min. The only change is her home town. And her first vision. We'll talk about this one later. 2) Moiraine explains why it's better that Mat didn't make it into the Ways. For me fixes episode 6, because it actually makes sense that, if Mat were to be the Dragon, with his head being so messed up, he should be at 100 miles from the Dark One. 3) Red Ajah hunting down Mat? We'll see in season 2. I can see were they are going.
-Pacing: good. Not excellent, still some minor issues, but for the first time after Dragon Reborn I felt that almost everyone had its screentime (Rand got more than 2 frames this one, so good!);
-Filler? No, damn it. We get to know about Lan's past, Rand's past, we see relationships develop, a foreshadowing of the plot, the revelation of the Dragon Reborn. How can this be filler? I can see hoever people's complaint with the Egwene x Perrin x Rand. We'll talk about that later but yes, this was filler and almost broke immersion for me;
1) If I didn't read the books, Rand's reveal would seem quite unexpected. That's because they managed his character poorly (as long as hiding him) until now, so it will be like... WTF?
2) The big revelation was good. Not perfect, I pictured it in other ways in my mind so I will just say good (with the whole ko'di stuff makes sense that Rand hits the targets once he embreces the revelation). Though, when Machin Shin tells for the second time "you are the dragon reborn", we have a shot at Rand's face. It's too close, his nose seems so big, and he almost fades to the corner. Well, I ain't no director, but I think there were more efficient ways to deliever that; 3) The Perrin x Egwene x Rand. Now, having read the italian version, I can tell you there was no hint to that. But several abroad friends told me that in english Jordan wrote some subtle words to hint to that. Surely, in the series we got a lot of hints to this. Subtle, but they were there. So the problem is that this thing felt rushed, and pretty unnecessary: the time they spent on this could have been used in many more efficent ways for exploring Fal Dara...
-Setting: Fal Dara is marvelous. The Ways too, but both of them are too quick. We'll see more about Fal Dara in season 2; the Blight is terrigìfying, but there is one problem: were did the soldiers at Tarwin's Pass go when Moiraine and Rand walk towards the Blight? Bah. 9/10 as setting!
Mistake? 1): Min telling everything Tam has done since he got Rand. Well, Min sees images, not the whole life! So it felt kinda strange to me that she knew where and how Rand was raised. This is also different from the books;
2) Nynaeve having sex with Lan so easily? It isn't like her. Yet, it is a pro for me: their relationship in the books was slowed down even by Myrelle's filler subplot, so their relationship already feels strong: so definitely a PRO for me! Even though, at this point, I would have expected that all those subplots were already established: now we MUST talk about what's important: the Dragon and the Eye. So, not a bad scene or whatsoever, just the wrong episode imho;
-Fixes: yes. Moiraine's speech about Mat makes sense, and now I can see that the logic of Mat non going to the Eye is superior to the books. Still worried about season 2 plot for Mat.
All in all, it would be an 8.5, but I gave it an 8 for many reasons: camera work still ain't great; where did Loial go? I expected the revelation to be more badass; the bad work they've done with hiding Rand upsetted some people. IGN gave the first episode a 9 and said this was the weakest of the series because of changes. IGN doesn't know crap about WoT books and of course episode 1 is crap in comperison to any other, especially to this one, but they were right on the fact that Egwene X Perrin X Rand was unnecessary, and Rand's revelation was arbitrary, because that's how it felt. Besides, still some minor pacing problems, Egwene's actress didn't do a top notch performance as she did in ep 5; and the soldiers at tarwin pass make no sense since they randomly disappear. All in all: there is still something wrong about this show. Yes, EoTW is not a masterpiece, a good novel s full of cliché and crap, so it felt like this, but then we have Great hunt which is gorgeous. Maybe it's the fact that I'll have to wait one year to see the mistakes being corrected from showrunners... Don't know. That's why a gave an 8 instead of a 9.
Just deliever a good finale and fix what was wrong in the next season. This episode is good, but very hardly my score of the season will be higher than 7. I need a masterpiece as a final episode!
P. S imho the 1-4 scores are as fake as 10 scores. Even if you didn't like the episode, you have to reward score, pacing, acting and setting. And, even though you loved the episode, there are some mistakes one has to aknowledge. I feel this is the kind of show who gets underserved 10s (no episode was like a Mr Robot or Breaking Bad one in terms of quality) and undeserved 1-4 scores. It will have a complicated life. I hope showrunners will fix their mistakes.
-Score: well, we have the OST in the old tongue. I guess it's a 9/10;
-Changes: 1) Min. The only change is her home town. And her first vision. We'll talk about this one later. 2) Moiraine explains why it's better that Mat didn't make it into the Ways. For me fixes episode 6, because it actually makes sense that, if Mat were to be the Dragon, with his head being so messed up, he should be at 100 miles from the Dark One. 3) Red Ajah hunting down Mat? We'll see in season 2. I can see were they are going.
-Pacing: good. Not excellent, still some minor issues, but for the first time after Dragon Reborn I felt that almost everyone had its screentime (Rand got more than 2 frames this one, so good!);
-Filler? No, damn it. We get to know about Lan's past, Rand's past, we see relationships develop, a foreshadowing of the plot, the revelation of the Dragon Reborn. How can this be filler? I can see hoever people's complaint with the Egwene x Perrin x Rand. We'll talk about that later but yes, this was filler and almost broke immersion for me;
- Cons?: sure.
1) If I didn't read the books, Rand's reveal would seem quite unexpected. That's because they managed his character poorly (as long as hiding him) until now, so it will be like... WTF?
2) The big revelation was good. Not perfect, I pictured it in other ways in my mind so I will just say good (with the whole ko'di stuff makes sense that Rand hits the targets once he embreces the revelation). Though, when Machin Shin tells for the second time "you are the dragon reborn", we have a shot at Rand's face. It's too close, his nose seems so big, and he almost fades to the corner. Well, I ain't no director, but I think there were more efficient ways to deliever that; 3) The Perrin x Egwene x Rand. Now, having read the italian version, I can tell you there was no hint to that. But several abroad friends told me that in english Jordan wrote some subtle words to hint to that. Surely, in the series we got a lot of hints to this. Subtle, but they were there. So the problem is that this thing felt rushed, and pretty unnecessary: the time they spent on this could have been used in many more efficent ways for exploring Fal Dara...
-Setting: Fal Dara is marvelous. The Ways too, but both of them are too quick. We'll see more about Fal Dara in season 2; the Blight is terrigìfying, but there is one problem: were did the soldiers at Tarwin's Pass go when Moiraine and Rand walk towards the Blight? Bah. 9/10 as setting!
Mistake? 1): Min telling everything Tam has done since he got Rand. Well, Min sees images, not the whole life! So it felt kinda strange to me that she knew where and how Rand was raised. This is also different from the books;
2) Nynaeve having sex with Lan so easily? It isn't like her. Yet, it is a pro for me: their relationship in the books was slowed down even by Myrelle's filler subplot, so their relationship already feels strong: so definitely a PRO for me! Even though, at this point, I would have expected that all those subplots were already established: now we MUST talk about what's important: the Dragon and the Eye. So, not a bad scene or whatsoever, just the wrong episode imho;
-Fixes: yes. Moiraine's speech about Mat makes sense, and now I can see that the logic of Mat non going to the Eye is superior to the books. Still worried about season 2 plot for Mat.
All in all, it would be an 8.5, but I gave it an 8 for many reasons: camera work still ain't great; where did Loial go? I expected the revelation to be more badass; the bad work they've done with hiding Rand upsetted some people. IGN gave the first episode a 9 and said this was the weakest of the series because of changes. IGN doesn't know crap about WoT books and of course episode 1 is crap in comperison to any other, especially to this one, but they were right on the fact that Egwene X Perrin X Rand was unnecessary, and Rand's revelation was arbitrary, because that's how it felt. Besides, still some minor pacing problems, Egwene's actress didn't do a top notch performance as she did in ep 5; and the soldiers at tarwin pass make no sense since they randomly disappear. All in all: there is still something wrong about this show. Yes, EoTW is not a masterpiece, a good novel s full of cliché and crap, so it felt like this, but then we have Great hunt which is gorgeous. Maybe it's the fact that I'll have to wait one year to see the mistakes being corrected from showrunners... Don't know. That's why a gave an 8 instead of a 9.
Just deliever a good finale and fix what was wrong in the next season. This episode is good, but very hardly my score of the season will be higher than 7. I need a masterpiece as a final episode!
P. S imho the 1-4 scores are as fake as 10 scores. Even if you didn't like the episode, you have to reward score, pacing, acting and setting. And, even though you loved the episode, there are some mistakes one has to aknowledge. I feel this is the kind of show who gets underserved 10s (no episode was like a Mr Robot or Breaking Bad one in terms of quality) and undeserved 1-4 scores. It will have a complicated life. I hope showrunners will fix their mistakes.
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- Lory10_01
- Dec 17, 2021
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