The WFR TV series. Discussion for Sword of Truth readers.

[Omeganian]

Well, first Goodkind gave his consent for mini series, now there are full TV series promised. I would like to know what the people on this forum are thinking about the entire idea.

[Axiomatic]

I only find the image of Raimi reading the series with his family, as he claims to do regularly, most amusing. I can just picture the faces on the little children as their father lovingly recounts how Richard slaughters unarmed peace protesters.

[Omeganian]

The trailer has arrived.

http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/

[fgalkin]

I only find the image of Raimi reading the series with his family, as he claims to do regularly, most amusing. I can just picture the faces on the little children as their father lovingly recounts how Richard slaughters unarmed peace protesters.

But...but...but....it's GOOD and KIND!

Oh and that trailer looked like Generic Fantasy #234. If I didn't know what it was, I'd have thought it was Eragon or something like that. And like every fantasy movie since LotR it has the exact same New Zeland mountain in the background.

Definitely needs more atrocities before I'd even consider watching.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Setzer]

But if they show all the atrocities, they don't have time for Richard's speeches about how good freedom and self determination are. Right before he slaughters anyone who dares disagree with him, of course.

[Ted C]

Goodkind's characters are such blatant examples of "informed attributes" that I can't stand them. He keeps telling us over-and-over that Richard and Kahlan are really smart, yet the continuously engage in abject stupidity. I don't think I'd be able to stand that in a TV series.

I'd try, but I probably wouldn't last any longer than I did with Voyager and Enterprise (about one season each).

[Ted C]

The trailer has arrived.

http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/

Well, that was certainly underwhelming.

[Ted C]

They cast Bruce Spence as Zed? Ouch. He never struck me as the wizardly father figure type.

[mr friendly guy]

Oh and that trailer looked like Generic Fantasy #234. If I didn't know what it was, I'd have thought it was Eragon or something like that. And like every fantasy movie since LotR it has the exact same New Zeland mountain in the background.

Considering it says from the guys who brought us Hercules and Xena, they no doubt found the same NZ mountain to film.

I might see it, depending on how far they deviate from Goodkind's script. If they manage to keep the good bits without Goodkind's preaching stretching things, it might be worth watching.

[Crom]

I only find the image of Raimi reading the series with his family, as he claims to do regularly, most amusing. I can just picture the faces on the little children as their father lovingly recounts how Richard slaughters unarmed peace protesters.

When does Richard Cypher slaughter unarmed peace protesters? I remember him killing fifty men just so he could level up, but that's the closest thing I think of in that series.

What other atrocities does he commit?

[Netko]

Well, Hercules and Xena were unevenly fun, but fun non the less, in the turn-brain-off kind of way, and the cinematography has a few very nice scenes, and with CGI dirt cheap (comparatively) these days we may actually get some good fantasy elements to show some visual splendor, which is apparently what they're going for going by the trailer.

Overall, I'm willing to give it a chance, especially since I didn't read the books this is based on so there will be no raping of fond memories by Xenification.

[Ted C]

Overall, I'm willing to give it a chance, especially since I didn't read the books this is based on so there will be no raping of fond memories by Xenification.

Raping? A good screenwriter could easily make this story far better.

[Eleas]

I only find the image of Raimi reading the series with his family, as he claims to do regularly, most amusing. I can just picture the faces on the little children as their father lovingly recounts how Richard slaughters unarmed peace protesters.

When does Richard Cypher slaughter unarmed peace protesters? I remember him killing fifty men just so he could level up, but that's the closest thing I think of in that series.

What other atrocities does he commit?

Well, let's open the floodgates just a tiny dribble...

A plump, curly-haired woman took a step out from the others. Her round face was red with anger as she screamed. "Stop the hate! No war! Stop the hate! No war!"
"Move or die!" Richard yelled as he picked up speed.
The red-faced woman shook her fleshy fist at Richard and his men, leading an angry chant. "Murderers! Murderers! Murderers!"
On his way past her, gritting his teeth as he screamed with the fury of the attack begun, Richard took a powerful swing, lopping off the woman's head and upraised arm. Strings of blood and gore splashed across the faces behind her even as some still chanted their empty words. The head and loose arm tumbled through the crowd. A man mad the mistake of reaching for Richard's weapon, and took the full weight of a charging thrust.
Men behind Richard hit the line of evil's guardians with unrestrained violence. People armed only with their hatred for moral clarity fell bloodied, terribly injured, and dead. The line of people collapsed before the merciless charge. Some of the people, screaming their contempt, used their fists to attack Richard's men. They were met with swift and deadly steel.

...or when he kicks a little girl in the face, breaking it and causing her to bite off her tongue...

...or this...

“We must fight the war our way. We must fight it for what it really is—not armies on a field of battle acting as surrogates for ideas, but a war for the future of mankind.
“As such, it is a war in which the Old World is totally committed, in which everyone on their side has dedicated themselves to the struggle. They are passionate about their cause. They believe in what they are doing. They think they have right on their side, that they are acting morally, that they are fulfilling the Creator’s wishes, and so they are justified in murdering whoever they wish in order to define how mankind will live.
“All the people who believe in the ways of the Order, who contribute, who encourage, who support, who pray for their soldiers to crush us, are part of their war effort. Each of those people adds something to their cause. As such, they are just as much the enemy as the soldiers swinging the swords for them. They are the ones who feed their blades with a supply of young men and everything they need to come after us, from food to moral support and encouragement.”
Richard pointed south. “In fact, those people who make this war possible are perhaps even more of an enemy because each one is a silent enabler who wishes us harm from afar, who hates by choice, who believes that there is no consequence for them forcing their will on us.
[…] He drew his hands into fists. “We must bring this war home to the people who support and encourage it. It must not simply be the lives of our friends, our families, our loved ones who are thrown into the bloody cauldron these people of the Old World stoke. It must now be their lives as well.
“They see this as a struggle for the future of mankind. I intend to see that it is. I want them to fully understand that if they set out to murder and subjugate us-for whatever reason-then there will be consequences.
“From this day forward, we will fight a real war, a total war, a war without mercy. We will not impose pointless rules on ourselves about what is ‘fair.’ Our only mandate is to win. That is the only way we, our loved ones, our freedom will survive. Our victory is all that is moral. I want any supporter of the Order to pay the price for their aggression. I want them to pay with their fortunes, their future, their very lives.
“The time has come to go after these people with nothing but cold black rage in our hearts.”
Richard lifted a fist. “Crush their bones to blood and dust!”
There was a moment of silence as everyone took a collective breath, and then a thunderous cheer erupted, as if they had all secretly known that they had no chance to succeed and that they were doomed to face only death and failure in the end, but now they had been shown that there was a way. There was, at last, a real chance to save their homes and loved ones, to save the future.
[…] “The army of the Order has the support of the people of their homeland. The soldiers of the Order each know that their families, friends, and neighbors support them. The men of the Order need to hear from those back in the Old World. What I want the men of the Order to hear are wails of agony. I want them to know that their homes are being gutted, their cities and towns leveled, their businesses and crops destroyed, and their loved ones left with nothing.
[…] We must deny them those supplies they need to survive here in such numbers. We must cut that vital link. If the Imperial Order’s soldiers starve to death they are just as dead. […]
“Also, the recruits coming up from the south will be much more vulnerable since they will not yet have joined up with experienced men, or be in massive numbers. They are poorly trained and little more than young thugs going off to rape and pillage. Slaughter them before they go north and have the chance….Seeing the bodies of these young heroes-to-be rotting on their doorsteps will help us crush the spirit of the people of the Old World.”
[…] One of the men toward the back cleared his throat, then spoke up. “Lord Rahl, innocent people down there are going to die. These aren’t soldiers we will be attacking. A lot of children are going to die in this kind of thing.”
“Yes, that is unfortunately true, but don’t let your mind be clouded or your determination turned aside by such a spurious and irrelevant charge. The Order is responsible for conducting a war of aggression against innocent people who have done them no harm-including women and children. We seek only to end the aggression as swiftly as possible.
“It’s true that innocent people-including children-will be hurt or killed. What is the alternative? Continuing to sacrifice good people out of fear of harming someone innocent? We are all innocent. Our children are all innocent. They are being harmed, now. The Order’s rule will eventually harm everyone, including all those children in the Old World. The Order will turn many of them into monsters. Many more people will die in the end if the Order wins.
“Moreover, the lives of the people in the Old World are not our responsibility, they are the Order’s responsibility. We did not start this war and attack them-they attacked us. Our only proper course of action is to end the war as swiftly as possible. This is the only way to do that. In the end, this is the most humane thing wed can do because in the end this will mean the least loss of life.

...or this...

Captian Zimmer stood tall. "Thank you, Lord Rahl, for allowing me and my men to rid the world of those who preach this poison."
"There's one other thing I'd like you and your men to do for me."
"Yes, Lord Rahl?"
"Bring me their ears."
Captain Zimmer smiled as he put a fist to his heart. "There will be no escape or mercy for them, Lord Rahl. I will bring you proof."

...or,.. fuck it, although there's probably hundreds of quotes like it, I trust the point is already made.

[Ericxihn]

don't forget the chicken that was not a chicken

issing, hackles lifting, the chicken's head rose.

Kahlan pulled back.

Its claws digging into stiff dead flesh, the chicken slowly turned to face her. It cocked its head, making its comb flop, its wattles sway.

"Shoo," Kahlan heard herself whisper.

There wasn't enough light, and besides, the side of its beak was covered with gore, so she couldn't tell if it had the dark spot. But she didn't need to see it.

"Dear spirits, help me," she prayed under her breath.

The bird let out a slow chicken cackle. It sounded like a chicken, but in her heart she knew it wasn't. In that instant, she completely understood the concept of a chicken that was not a chicken. This looked like a chicken, like most of the Mud People's chickens. But this was no chicken.

This was evil manifest.

[Crom]

don't forget the chicken that was not a chicken

[snip]

Did Richard kill the chicken that was not a chicken?

[Crom]

Well, let's open the floodgates just a tiny dribble...

snip

Richard leads an assault on unarmed civilians and the author describes them as evil's guardians. What a weird scene.

...or when he kicks a little girl in the face, breaking it and causing her to bite off her tongue...

I remember when he used his Force powers to blow a kid's head up, I don't remember the kicking thing. Both are pretty messed up in retrospect, I guess I never paid much attention while reading those books when I was younger.

snip

By declaring war on every man, woman and child in the Order, did Richard just graduate to a super-villain terrorist?

snip (removing people's ears)

You know, this is something I would have assumed Richard's father would have done. I find it strange that Richard sounds as bad as his father.

I imagine that the television show will have to gloss over a lot of this and have villains that are ridiculously over the top to justify the things Richard does. What a strange series to read to your family.

[MadSorcerer]

...or when he kicks a little girl in the face, breaking it and causing her to bite off her tongue...

So you don't think the the fact that Violet had just finished torturing him and threatened to do the same to Kahlan makes Richard at all justified in hitting her?

[Crom]

So you don't think the the fact that Violet had just finished torturing him and threatened to do the same to Kahlan makes Richard at all justified in hitting her?

So it was in self-defense, or the defense of Kahlan?

[Eleas]

...or when he kicks a little girl in the face, breaking it and causing her to bite off her tongue...

So you don't think the the fact that Violet had just finished torturing him and threatened to do the same to Kahlan makes Richard at all justified in hitting her?

It had nothing to do with that, and everything to do with Richard's thing. Which rose up in him.

[Ford Prefect]

...or when he kicks a little girl in the face, breaking it and causing her to bite off her tongue...

So you don't think the the fact that Violet had just finished torturing him and threatened to do the same to Kahlan makes Richard at all justified in hitting her?

While I have no doubt I would have booted the girl in the face as well, I'm not supposed to be defender of 'peace' and guardian of 'moral clarity'. Though Rahl clearly makes his own ethics. And quite frankly, the description of her jaw breaking was like something out of Rambo.

[Jade Falcon]

Dont forget as well Kahlans asault on the Order camp, including her idea that they should kill everyone including people like camp followers. It never seems to enter her mind that some of these camp followers might not have had a hell of a lot of choice in the matter of accompanying them.

[Companion Cube]

The only way this series can be redeemed is if they have someone narrating the action scenes with passages from the book:

Men behind Richard hit the line of evil's guardians with unrestrained violence. People armed only with their hatred for moral clarity fell bloodied, terribly injured, and dead.

[Battlehymn Republic]

They also laugh a lot at the end of certain scenes so it's clearly a comedy series.