Wheel of Time: Daughter of the Night Show Only

September 8, 2023 7:17 PM - Season 2, Episode 4

Non-spoiling plot description: WHOA BABY the plots thicken. While twisting wildly.

Synopsis according to Amazon: Moiraine searches for Rand while Nynaeve mourns her losses.

posted by Coaticass (15 comments total)

So does the plot twist about Selene justify her and Rand's complete lack of chemistry or is that a coincidence? Because I was definitely not buying their relationship, such as it was.

Loved all of Lan, Alannah and her warders' interactions. Finally someone got my memo about being nice to Lan! (Thanks show.)

Moraine and her sister! Wow. I wondered how such a doyenne of British acting as Lindsay Duncan wound up in an apparently minor role... that explains it. Though one could say similar about many of the cast.
posted by Coaticass at 11:53 PM on September 8, 2023 [5 favorites]

Was there nothing they could have done to Lanfear's body while it was just lying there? Like fine somehow she would come back to life but say if they had decapitated her and took her head with them would she be able to channel without use of her hands or do anything really as a disembodied head?
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:28 AM on September 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

I am really not capable of commenting on any specifics show-only because the books are my frame of reference, but I will say that I am super enjoying this season and this episode in particular.

I actually bought the relationship between Rand and Selene in part because their chemistry feels so forced. Rand is extremely not over Egwene, and having a hot woman who is super into him for no obvious reason seems like a very reasonable next step, especially as she keeps telling him she's in the same boat. She is a bridge to help him get over his childhood love.
posted by restless_nomad at 7:11 AM on September 9, 2023 [6 favorites]

Nynaeve's room!
If I ever end up transported to this world, I will 100% aim for being a carpenter in Tar Valon.

Moiraine continues to be stone cold.

This show is way better than I hoped it would be!
posted by Acari at 11:55 AM on September 9, 2023

Would you say season two is better than season one? I really wanted to like the show (I'm a fantasy nerd), and some parts of it I did like. But season one felt really meandering, characters shuffling through the same hallways over and over, and drama from characters I didn't care as much about. The whole funeral for the defender guy (season one) episode was filler with world building, but it didn't take the story anywhere. Some parts looked like big budget beautiful film making, and other parts looked like cheap 1980s BBC stuff. Loial (I think that was his name, not sure of the spelling) looked like a guy out of Zoobilee Zoo. We made through the penultimate episode in season one and then... just forgot to watch the last one. I ran out of enthusiasm. Maybe I'll pick it up again?
posted by SoberHighland at 2:31 PM on September 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yes, so far and it's getting better as it goes. But I liked the first season well enough, including the warder's funeral and all the world building. The last few of episodes of Season One were badly affected by Covid lock-downs during production, losing a cast-member, and I read somewhere they did not get the same level of script revisions etc. Can't find the reference now sorry. (Maybe a comment on a blog-post somewhere?)
posted by Coaticass at 3:00 PM on September 9, 2023

I am definitely enjoying this season more than the first, even if I do find myself reaching for a phone to Google "what and or who the hell is that and what is its deal" a little too often, and only because I know that questions the show's left unanswered have answers in the books. My only complaint is that, like a lot of shows, I can't watch it during the day because it's too damn dark and if there's any daylight coming in, I have no idea what's happening during any nighttime scene.
posted by wakannai at 7:59 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

I really like season 2 so far, but not necessarily better than season one, it's just... the second season is going to be different. Less setup, more payoff. But still a fair bit of setup because this is structured as, what, seven seasons of story? Eight? Can't remember what the director said. It definitely has some more narrative momentum, because we have a better idea of what the stakes are, but it's still four-five interlinked plotlines so it's not exactly a cannonball pace.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:28 AM on September 10, 2023

The series has apparently been renewed for a season 3 already so I think it's safe to predict that:

A: This season will end on another cliffhanger.

B: Most of the non-book reading audience won't actually get many answers (I am a viewer who hasn't read the books)

C: If the entire main cast does end up in the same location at any point this season, then everyone is going to Super Pissed at Moraine when they realize Rand didn't die in the forest-of-dark (sorry can't look up name right now)
posted by Faintdreams at 3:28 PM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

Poor memory meant that the Selene-Lanfear surprise was...a surprise!

I've been enjoying this season though I feel like I enjoyed the first one better, if only maybe I really appreciated the world building in season one. Now it's part of some hurry up and wait while I can't wait to see more of the world unfold on the screen.

One thing that left me a little lost was the appearance of the Seanchan. It felt a little underwhelming with the pomposity and what seemed like a small fishing village. Their channelers were 100% freaky and scary, which is a success.
posted by Atreides at 8:59 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

I figured Selene was Lanfear when I first saw her but I'd forgotten almost everything else about her, including if that was how she was introduced in the books. I'm pretty sure the book reveal didn't happen that way though!
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:56 PM on September 11, 2023

I'd forgotten Lanfear existed. I'm having such problems following this, and keeping it straight from the similar shows I'm watching. This might be more of a me problem than a show problem.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:51 AM on September 21, 2023

No, I've definitely gotten some Rings of Power mixed up with this, so it isn't just you but at the same time I don't think it's a show problem either.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:59 AM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

I think it’s hard to tell for me if Rand is just acting his lack of chemistry with any woman or if he’s just not great at romantic acting. So I’ll reserve judgment until we get to places where it’s obvious the chemistry is supposed to work.
posted by corb at 9:05 PM on October 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

I think it’s hard to tell for me if Rand is just acting his lack of chemistry with any woman or if he’s just not great at romantic acting. So I’ll reserve judgment until we get to places where it’s obvious the chemistry is supposed to work.

Big hint in the finale. But I agree with your assessment.
posted by Atreides at 12:44 PM on October 10, 2023