Josha Stradowski, Actor

[deleted14203911]

The show was pretty cool, far from LOTR or GOT (first seasons), but it was ok! People said they changed many things from the book...

 

[dmos]

Yeah, the ending of the first book is borderline incomprehensible and pretty much breaks the metaphysics established later in the other books. Even the author said that in hindsight it doesn't really make sense. It's one of the few things that even the most hardcore book purists agreed needed to be changed for adaptation.

Back on topic: Josha really made the redhead look work for him as Rand. Gorgeous!

 

[blayz08]

Here’s to hoping he shows a bit more skin in season 2

 

[hanzosword]

That finale was awful lol, but Josha and all the actors did a fantastic job with what they were given. The showrunner basically shit on the author's grave. I'll keep watching just to see that sexy Josha and Daniel Henney too lol.

 

[Mattm19]

Love Josha, but not gonna lie, I sort of hated WOT. There were some good scenes, but the special effects were poorly done and I didn’t care for any of the characters besides Moraine. Hopefully season 2 is better and Josha gets naked

 

[eas12397]

That finale was awful lol, but Josha and all the actors did a fantastic job with what they were given. The showrunner basically shit on the author's grave. I'll keep watching just to see that sexy Josha and Daniel Henney too lol.

Someone else pointed out that the author didn't like the original ending of his own book.

 

[hanzosword]

Someone else pointed out that the author didn't like the original ending of his own book.

Yeah the end of book 1 didn't make a lot of sense but it was a million times better than what they did with the show. It still had a good climax at the end. Rand channeled consciously for the first time at the end of book 1 and he kicked a whole bunch of ass. He just went to sleep on the show lol. There's 14 books and a prequel book. I'm on number 13 so I take all the bad changes very personally lol.

 

[eas12397]

I'm guessing with the amount budget and episodes they had, they must of decided to build that stuff up for future seasons

 

[Pugg]

View attachment 46426341

He is drop dead gorgeous

 

[Tondelaya]

I don’t understand the confusion about the end of the first book?

 

[eas12397]

I don’t understand the confusion about the end of the first book?

You'd have to ask someone who read it, but from what I'm reading there's no confusion. The ending in the first book goes against what he establishes later in the series

 

[Pugg]

I for one liked the Serie you talking about, it's the producer propagative to do with it as he likes.

The Movie however is Outstanding.
I think we've seen it 10 times, almost al the dialogue is in our heads.
Hiss relation with his Nan is heart warming.

 

[Ferdawoon]

I don’t understand the confusion about the end of the first book?

Do you mean The Wheel of Time?

I'd say their issue is twofold (maybe threefold) and I tend to ramble on about these things so Wall of Text inc. I dont think it is Spoilers but.. Just to be nice and save space I'm adding Spoiler-tag.

First there's SO MUCH INFO and character development that they need to cram into the show.
What are the Aes Sedai, what are the Forsaken, what is a Warder, how does Aes Sedai-Warder bond work, what weaves can an Aes Sedai do, etc etc. For us who have read the books we draw info from the whole series and wish for it to be shown and explained early so that new people are not confused. In the books they could do just an exposition-dump where two characters talk about things they should know about but they say it to tell us readers and I guess the bonus animations were ment to help with that but.. They did not really go with it. So us fanboys feel like we want the whole glory of Wheel of Time and we forget that they cannot do everything.
Inner monologues just don't really work, Aes Sedai looking Ageless would mean CGI every frame with Moraine (which is a LOT of them so badly used money. Aes Sedai are also ment to be very stoic and stoneface and not show emotions, something they do frequently in the show.A writer can show us what a characte really feels and thinks but for a visual medum it makes a lot more sense to have your actors actually act and show their emotions.
The books also takes time for character development which they have not had much time for in the show. In the books Mat and Rand visit a lot of towns on their way to Tar Valon, while in the show it is just that one. There is no real "need" for more but it also means we dont get to know those characters as much. Also small things like Mat not being "cured" until 2-3 books later, and it is a full set of Yellow Sisters who had to do research that cure him, while Moiraine could apparently just do it on her own. Small things like that.
Supposedly the Shorunner, Rafe Judkins, asked for 2 more episodes but got a Negative on that which was really sad..

Secondly we have Covid and Barney Harris vanishing.
They did episode 1-6, then Covid restrictions hit and they went home and started their editing and VFX (apparently the VFX-team got hit bad by Covid as well so that got delayed and they had to prio where to put their efforts). Then when restrictions lifted, or at least regulations had been established, the team was allowed back but not to the positions they had planned to use and had a lot fewer people. This is why there were bad CGI-trollocks in the last episode and cool costumes in the first episode, and why there were so few outdoor scenes in the last episode, with the scenes of the women being a big greenscreen.
Also Barney Harris, who played Mat, just went dark apparently and was not with them. Mat was ment to follow the team going North through the Ways but they then had to re-work the script to try to work around Mat not being there (Padan Fain was probably ment to interact with Mat instead of Perrin, considering Mat and Fain got a history since episode 1, while Perrin had never spoken to the man on camera). That's also why the ending of episode 6 as they enter the Ways looked so wierd. They had to take whatever shots they had of Barney and try to make it work.

Add to that stupid things like why they kept the female channelers at the back, instead of sending them out on the wall, massacre as many Trollocks as they could before they even reached the wall with the male soldiers, making it easier for them. Same with how the Trollocks for some wierd reason decided to attack the first wall during daylight and then wait at the wall to attack during nighttime.. Lord Agelmar is supposed to be a military genious and well trained, yet he just sends the men there and gets spiked after a few minutes..
Not to mention the worst issue of them all, that it seems like Egwene is resurrecting Nynaeve at the end! Death is a path of no return in Wheel of Time and being burnt out is not something people can heal either. It could have been solved ny Nynaeve stabbing Lady Amalisa to drop the link instead, but nope.. Now a lot of show-viewers think someone like Egwene can heal someone back from the dead..

So yes, in the grand scheme of things it is not the end of the world (pun intended I guess), and it makes sense that things had to be changed a lot because of Covid and a main actor suddenly go AWOL so they had to rework the sscript a LOT. But still..

 

[Ferdawoon]

Owh, and...

In the books it is Rand who wipes out the Trollocks, so people are annoyed that Lady Amalisa, who is an untrained channeler and not strong enough to become a full Aes Sedai, and four untrained channelers can wipe out a whole army of Trollocks like that. Some people are crying SJW and that they had to make the women seem really strong because men cannot have all the glory etc..
There was also supposed to be two Forsaken, which we have been hearing about from Stepin before he off'd himself. But none of that happened.

Now, I like the books and I like the show. My problem is that I know too much of the books and can fill in the gaps where there's missing information and I can skip info on the show that goes against what's in the books. But for people who only watch the show there are some basic things (like how it seems Egwene resurrecting Nynaeve) that should have been clarified further or avoided in the first place to not confuse viewers.

 

[mlp369]

Do you mean The Wheel of Time?

I'd say their issue is twofold (maybe threefold) and I tend to ramble on about these things so Wall of Text inc. I dont think it is Spoilers but.. Just to be nice and save space I'm adding Spoiler-tag.

First there's SO MUCH INFO and character development that they need to cram into the show.
What are the Aes Sedai, what are the Forsaken, what is a Warder, how does Aes Sedai-Warder bond work, what weaves can an Aes Sedai do, etc etc. For us who have read the books we draw info from the whole series and wish for it to be shown and explained early so that new people are not confused. In the books they could do just an exposition-dump where two characters talk about things they should know about but they say it to tell us readers and I guess the bonus animations were ment to help with that but.. They did not really go with it. So us fanboys feel like we want the whole glory of Wheel of Time and we forget that they cannot do everything.
Inner monologues just don't really work, Aes Sedai looking Ageless would mean CGI every frame with Moraine (which is a LOT of them so badly used money. Aes Sedai are also ment to be very stoic and stoneface and not show emotions, something they do frequently in the show.A writer can show us what a characte really feels and thinks but for a visual medum it makes a lot more sense to have your actors actually act and show their emotions.
The books also takes time for character development which they have not had much time for in the show. In the books Mat and Rand visit a lot of towns on their way to Tar Valon, while in the show it is just that one. There is no real "need" for more but it also means we dont get to know those characters as much. Also small things like Mat not being "cured" until 2-3 books later, and it is a full set of Yellow Sisters who had to do research that cure him, while Moiraine could apparently just do it on her own. Small things like that.
Supposedly the Shorunner, Rafe Judkins, asked for 2 more episodes but got a Negative on that which was really sad..

Secondly we have Covid and Barney Harris vanishing.
They did episode 1-6, then Covid restrictions hit and they went home and started their editing and VFX (apparently the VFX-team got hit bad by Covid as well so that got delayed and they had to prio where to put their efforts). Then when restrictions lifted, or at least regulations had been established, the team was allowed back but not to the positions they had planned to use and had a lot fewer people. This is why there were bad CGI-trollocks in the last episode and cool costumes in the first episode, and why there were so few outdoor scenes in the last episode, with the scenes of the women being a big greenscreen.
Also Barney Harris, who played Mat, just went dark apparently and was not with them. Mat was ment to follow the team going North through the Ways but they then had to re-work the script to try to work around Mat not being there (Padan Fain was probably ment to interact with Mat instead of Perrin, considering Mat and Fain got a history since episode 1, while Perrin had never spoken to the man on camera). That's also why the ending of episode 6 as they enter the Ways looked so wierd. They had to take whatever shots they had of Barney and try to make it work.

Add to that stupid things like why they kept the female channelers at the back, instead of sending them out on the wall, massacre as many Trollocks as they could before they even reached the wall with the male soldiers, making it easier for them. Same with how the Trollocks for some wierd reason decided to attack the first wall during daylight and then wait at the wall to attack during nighttime.. Lord Agelmar is supposed to be a military genious and well trained, yet he just sends the men there and gets spiked after a few minutes..
Not to mention the worst issue of them all, that it seems like Egwene is resurrecting Nynaeve at the end! Death is a path of no return in Wheel of Time and being burnt out is not something people can heal either. It could have been solved ny Nynaeve stabbing Lady Amalisa to drop the link instead, but nope.. Now a lot of show-viewers think someone like Egwene can heal someone back from the dead..

So yes, in the grand scheme of things it is not the end of the world (pun intended I guess), and it makes sense that things had to be changed a lot because of Covid and a main actor suddenly go AWOL so they had to rework the sscript a LOT. But still..

i do wonder what happened to barney, he seemed like such good casting for mat

 

[Ferdawoon]

i do wonder what happened to barney, he seemed like such good casting for mat

Yeh wish I knew as well!

What I heard was that he'd gone completly dark. Shut down all Social media.
There's been plenty of speculation about it, like he had other projects, something personal or a family emergency, all the way to him refusing vaccine and was not allowed back into Prague where they recorded. I mean could been anything, maybe he got caught with some weed (dunno if that's illegal in Prague or not but..).

No clue what is true but yeh, he was really embodying the Mat-character. Based on various reaction videos he really seemed to be a liked character (him saving his sisters in ep1 really sold him to a lot of viewers). Sad to see him go. Donal will have some big shoes to fill..

 

[hanzosword]

Owh, and...

In the books it is Rand who wipes out the Trollocks, so people are annoyed that Lady Amalisa, who is an untrained channeler and not strong enough to become a full Aes Sedai, and four untrained channelers can wipe out a whole army of Trollocks like that. Some people are crying SJW and that they had to make the women seem really strong because men cannot have all the glory etc..
There was also supposed to be two Forsaken, which we have been hearing about from Stepin before he off'd himself. But none of that happened.

Now, I like the books and I like the show. My problem is that I know too much of the books and can fill in the gaps where there's missing information and I can skip info on the show that goes against what's in the books. But for people who only watch the show there are some basic things (like how it seems Egwene resurrecting Nynaeve) that should have been clarified further or avoided in the first place to not confuse viewers.

You nailed it all! Rafe did what all show runners and writers do with amazing fantasy stories. They butcher it. They try to create a whole new story that doesn't work. The actual books are so damn good. There was no way possible to mess it up but Amazon is to blame too. Hollywood only cares about deadlines. They don't care how bad the product is they just want it done when they need it done. The show is so bad that I cannot recommend it to anyone and I'm such a nerd for the books.

They failed to explain so many basic things like the Five Powers, which is what the One Power is made up of, fire, spirit, water, air and earth. They never mentioned how Aes Sedai live for hundreds of years while barely aging. They took away all the adventures they had after they left their village. They took away the training Moiraine gave Egwene and Nynaeve, teaching them to channel. They made their magic style look so stupid with the slow hand movements just like Dr. Strange. I was hoping to see them embrace the Source and show it from a channeler's perspective what it looks like. They had so much book material to work with but they spent so much time on meaningless things like that one Warder in the first few episodes who added nothing to the story. Did you see how they implied that Moiraine could teach Rand to channel after he asked her? That is nonsense lol! That finale upset me so damn much that it ruined my whole night lol. With all of that said I really do love the actors and I feel bad for them.

I had a bad feeling about the show ever since I saw how they mispronounced Moiraine's name. That was very telling about what was to come. If you don't care enough to pronounce the names the right way then the disrespect to the books has no limits. I mispronounce a lot of the names but I'm just a book fan reading at home lol. They had a responsibility to get that right. I say fire Rafe and start all over again.

 

[eas12397]

No book is easily adapted to screen, with several things always needing to be cut or changed (for various reasons). That being said they spent a lot money for 10 episodes, had they included everything being asked it wouldn't of been finical possible. Because they wouldn't see a return. It also doesn't help that they usually don't go into merchandising things (I would love funko pops of some of their characters) but still your asking for a lot.

 

[hanzosword]

No book is easily adapted to screen, with several things always needing to be cut or changed (for various reasons). That being said they spent a lot money for 10 episodes, had they included everything being asked it wouldn't of been finical possible. Because they wouldn't see a return. It also doesn't help that they usually don't go into merchandising things (I would love funko pops of some of their characters) but still your asking for a lot.

Everyone always says that but has anyone ever really tried? Of course things need to be cut but you can't cut out the very foundation of the story. The Wheel of Time has tons of characters, tons of countries, tons of different cultures, tons of creatures and tons of magic. They knew what they were trying to adapt so they should have left it alone if it couldn't be done well. They gave that one warder from the first episode or 2 more lines than anyone else. They barely mention his name in the books. I'm pretty certain if they told the story well it would bring a much bigger return because the non book readers would understand what's going on and they would be excited to see more.

It's a good thing they have some good eye candy. I'll watch a bad show for some good eye candy like Josha any day lol.

 

[eas12397]

Considering reviews are mainly positive (according to both imdb and Rotten), and the fact that it has a large audience. It looks like it's doing just fine.