Adam’s Review
They say name-dropping is bullshit, and if that is indeed true then this episode would have to be considered just that. Gawyn, Tel’Aran’Rhiod, Graendal, Moghedien, “the Boys”, Ji’e’toh. The writers couldn’t throw out enough source material this episode, a stark contrast from essentially every other episode we’ve had. But you know what… it worked. For me, at least. If you’re a non-book reader, this was alot to take in.
Let me be clear, I really enjoyed this episode. Seeing these characters start to introduce themselves to bigger pieces of the narrative was thrilling. These are major building blocks of this world that give it depth and make it feel original and rich. That is something this show desperately needs, especially with the sets looking like they salvaged the leftovers from another fantasy series but could only get their hands on the small town ones.
Pacing is the shows biggest problem. This information spread out through the season instead of getting stuck on horrible changes or stories going nowhere would have been a much better way to not dump all of this onto viewers. At least what is getting dumped on us is good though, but only book readers are aware.
Rating: On a scale of the one to ten, this was a solid 8. Yes, I did a real scale because it feels like we finally got a real episode.
Garrett’s Review
I really enjoyed it! Gave us some books stuff we’ve been craving and what an introduction to our beloved Aviendha! Also Lanfear is scary… T1000 scary….
Rating: On scale of flaccid to dick-hit-the-wall, I felt some exciting movement
Fei’s Review
Thanks for taking my previous review into consideration, showrunners, and only focusing on some of the characters this time around! Also, thank you for the fan service. This episode is packed with name drops and plot moving elements, which I had hoped would be the case the entire season.
Oh well, I suppose it’s nice to have some movement now that we are five episodes in. We get so many names of Forsaken to come! And we also get introduced to the world of dreams for realsies this time. Most of all, I am loving our baddies, Lanfear and Ishamael, as well as the Seanchan, who have captured Egwene.
Am I rooting for the bad guys?
No.
Ok kind of. They are so far the most interesting parts of the show at the moment. By far, though, this is much better compared to the previous episode.
Rating: On a scale of baby books, this is The Rainbow Fish