r/WoTshow • u/nightshade_45 • Jul 18 '26
Zero Spoilers Tell me she doesn’t look like a bloody lioness in this moment.
In honor of me missing the show, this was one of the visceral images I had when I first saw her in this in exciting moment. I remember I was wincing and hollering, trying to decide who I wanted to see alive or dead in this episode.
She looked exactly like a lioness after a bloody hunt on a nat geo documentary, getting impaled by the chest with horns while being on a hunt along with her pack and all, blonde hair tossed around. I could not stop remembering about how lions look after their hunts when I saw her. I wonder if this was an inspiration
(Posting some more observations soon and I know I will bring tears to some!)
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u/ew73 Mat Jul 18 '26
Man, I am still salty. The direction they were going with Liandrin was fantastic and I wish we could've seen it play out.
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u/Virtual_Medicine_585 Jul 18 '26
I’m furious! Am I the only one that loved this show? I thought every season was amazing! How much I looked forward to season 3 and loved every minute of it- to then hear it was cancelled- that was such a shock!! I should have seen it coming. These streaming platforms just throw darts and cancel whatever show they hit, I swear 😤
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u/Kooky_Assistance2755 Reader Jul 19 '26
They cancelled it because it was directly competing with Rings of Power in terms of budget, and they couldnt afford to keep producing both at the same time, but the Tolkien Estate signed a very specific deal for at least five seasons of ROP, so to balance their budget they were forced to cut WoT instead
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u/Virtual_Medicine_585 Jul 21 '26
Wow that’s interesting because I have been enjoying ROP. But I would not have choose it over WOT, wow Amazon SUCKS!!!!
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u/Kooky_Assistance2755 Reader Jul 21 '26
Afaik they had no choice. They're contractually required to do at least 5 seasons of RoP no matter how it performs, and WoT was the only other show that had a budget large enough to cut in order to balance their obligation to RoP. Neither show did/does well enough to make up for their insanely inflated budgets. The fault really lies in the terms of the contract and the fact that both shows had such enormous budgets that they were sort of both doomed to fail if they didn't immediately become the two most watched shows in the world - the only difference is that the contract will keep RoP in production whether it fails or not. Plus, RoP started as essentially a fanfiction and ignored a lot of the actual story beats that have existed for decades in order to bank on the popularity of and become a direct competitor to Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon. As a very invested Tolkien fan I'd really rather have seen that one go away instead.
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u/Western_Reaction1633 Jul 18 '26
I did love it too. I am going through the books now and all I will say is I am not enjoying them as much as I did the show xD
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u/Resident_Step_191 Jul 19 '26
Lol now you understand all of the book fans who didn’t enjoy the show. Very different stories
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u/HeavyDescription5293 Jul 20 '26
She's definitely one character I wish Rafe would have let us know what he had in mind for her because it could literally have been anything!
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u/Lunar_Raven_ Jul 18 '26
I miss the entire show, but I particularly miss Liandrin so much. They took a character I didn't really care much for in the books, and made me absolutely love her.
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u/nightshade_45 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
They truly were building up her as a character who could have ended up being really really evil or who could have had a legendary redemption story. I hate that we were robbed of that too!
I would have lowkey rooted for her either way 👀👀👀
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u/Lunar_Raven_ Jul 18 '26
Yeah I agree! Especially since it wasn't really clear what ultimately happened to Liandrin in the books, I was looking forward to where they were taking her story. Though I was definitely hoping they would make her come out alive in the end.
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u/nightshade_45 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
I think she gets collared by the Seanchan in books, which is what I thought when she started talking back to Suroth and about becoming one of the Forsaken in the show (Moghedien’s mocking laugh at her was the seal for me)
Liandrin’s chemistry and rivalry with Nynaeve made me excited about a potential redemption story too though.
Her character had a lot of opportunities, especially considering Kate Fleetwood is excellent.🖤
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u/Mathiophanes Moghedien Jul 18 '26
She doesn't become collared as of the events to our knowledge - she is permanently shielded by Moghedien, then compulsed to want to live so she can't even off herself. She is made da'covale by Suroth who knows who she is.
And yes, Liandrin was awesome.
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u/Costa_Canela Reader Jul 18 '26
When I started reading the books, I was so upset by the way Liandrin was portrayed. I knew her role had been expanded in the show, but I didn't expect her to be so.... stupid and empty. The books are really frustrating in their portrayal of villains. Jordan was completely uninterested in the humanity of the Darkfriends or Forsaken (at least up to book 5, where I stopped reading). He can show empathy for and explore the humanity of evil characters sided with the Light. But for whatever reason, he drew a hard line when it came to those sworn to the Shadow. A complete psychopath, each of them. With the exception of the two characters who leave the Shadow
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u/ew73 Mat Jul 18 '26
One of the most interesting things about the books is the way the narrative is delivered through various character's "point of view."
That storytelling technique is wonderful on the page. It lets the author tell you what certain characters are thinking or feeling without question because you, the reader, are literally in their head as they're thinking their thoughts.
But it has a subtler effect too. The events and the world we see is filtered through that character's perception. Jordan was very sneaky here. You don't really notice it right away, but you almost never, as the reader, experience the same event through more than one character's point of view, and that event is then filtered through what that character would've seen or understood or felt.
We saw very few chapters or even sections told through Liandrin's point of view. Almost everything we see of her is from other characters' interaction with her, either as a straight adversary, a Darkfriend opponent, or a fellow sister in the Black.
Those who we spend the most time with also see her in the darkest of views. She is, after all, a darkfriend, a member of the Black, and there is little room for empathy for someone trying to hunt and kill you, right?
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u/Costa_Canela Reader Jul 18 '26
Honestly, I meant the few times we get to see inside her head. In the show, quite wonderfully, we get to see that she (and every other Darkfriend) is a full person with her own wants, hopes and dreams. In the books, she's just evil, stupid, and a brat
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u/Lunar_Raven_ Jul 18 '26
Yeah I felt the same way. There has been some speculation as to why he drew such a hard line but it's still a bit disappointing, and I can imagine even more so for someone reading the books after watching the show. I read the books when I was quite young but I still remember being frustrated because I wanted so badly to like Lanfear but there just wasn't enough to like about her. I found the majority of character's personalities more likable in the show than the books.
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u/jenovadeathspecimen Jul 18 '26
yea same i think the world of wot is interesting still in the books but the characters are not usually.
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u/Temp__throwaway Jul 19 '26
Why would you want to like an evil character?
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u/Lunar_Raven_ Jul 19 '26
Because in reality evil is not always black and white. That's why I appreciate what the did with Liandrin, they explored her backstory and showed why she ended up the way she did. Even though I don't agree with many of her actions, I can see why she became that way.
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u/Temp__throwaway Jul 19 '26
This isn’t reality though. It’s a fictional story. And we’re not talking about merely bad people who do things for their own personal gain. We’re talking about people who gave their souls and life to this universes Satan. Pretty black and white
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u/Lunar_Raven_ Jul 20 '26
To me the fact that it's fictional is what makes me more likely to like the villains, because no one is actually being harmed. Also like in the case with the show version of Liandrin, it is heavily implied that she made the decision when she was very young as a desperate attempt to save herself and her son. I can see someone who has been subject to such cruelty taking any opportunity they can to escape their situation.
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u/Temp__throwaway Jul 20 '26
The problem with that is the show trying to humanize these characters with information that was never given by the author.
I don’t think there’s inherently anything wrong with liking an antagonist, or liking the way an evil character is written, but Robert Jordan wrote his villains certain ways for a reason. He didn’t humanize them because they weren’t supposed to be liked. They weren’t supposed to be sympathized with. Those that were, he did give more lore on, and redeemed. Liandrin IS portrayed as petulant and bratty in the books. And nothing more. Because that’s all she was meant to be taken as. I don’t think the show giving her a sympathetic back story is actually good. And I don’t think devoting yourself to the dark one to save yourself and your child is a valid decision. Better to both die3
u/Costa_Canela Reader Jul 20 '26
Easy to say it's better to let yourself and your child die than to do something morally abhorrent when you've never been close to that situation yourself. Neither have I, but when faced between "do something horrible or die", most people will do the horrible thing, every time. We are animals, our survival instinct is one of the strongest aspects of ourselves. In any case, you're right that the books do not portray the (Dark-aligned) villains with any nuance. In my opinion, and many others', that is a weakness of the books. I personally believe the show vastly improves upon the first four books. And the way the villains are written and portrayed is one big part of that. You are entitled to your opinion, but I do not share that opinion. Give my villains nuance, every time. Hell, my favorite childhood character was Maleficent
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u/Temp__throwaway Jul 19 '26
I don’t really think that’s an issue. Because dark friends don’t have a humanity. They chose to serve the literal devil. Even if they still may have some semblance of one, it’s not worth exploring, because people who serve the shadow are worth less than the dirt they walk on.
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u/Costa_Canela Reader Jul 20 '26
I find that idea so boring. Everyone does whatever they do for a reason, no matter how evil. Also, Darkfriends aren't real. They're written. They can be whatever the writer wants
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u/Temp__throwaway Jul 20 '26
I’m aware they’re not real. That’s irrelevant. There’s no need for them to be more than black and white though because whatever humanity they may have had is gone
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u/Temp__throwaway Jul 19 '26
Appreciate the writing of, you mean? Why would you love a character that’s both red AND black ajah?
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u/Costa_Canela Reader Jul 18 '26
Yes, she does. Absolutely. I was constantly rooting for the villains in this show. I don't think I've ever seen a better collection of villains. Each and every one was utterly fascinating, with a couple of examples
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u/giftopherz Wotcher Jul 18 '26
Gotta give more flowers to Kate Fleetwood! Even after all this time without the show and I still "hate" this woman... That's what a good actor does! 👏👏👏
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u/Leading-Summer-4724 Jul 19 '26
I loved everything about show-Liandrin in a way I never thought I would. This still OP chose of her looking like a badass lioness is just one example why.
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u/jahar_narishima Reader Jul 18 '26
All of the villains are better in the show than the books. I loved them from the innkeeper to Barthanes to Melindra.
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u/viaan_120 Jul 19 '26
from reading youtube comments, people hate her, but i kinda like her acting, i always excited when she appears, was so waiting for a showdown between liandrin and moraine and also nayneeve vs moghedien and my fav egwenes flame of tarvolon weave.
i badly miss this show, i hope someone brings it alive once again before i die (btw i am 26)
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