re: The Wheel of Time -- Season 2 coming in September -- Wise Ones Thread (Book Spoilers)

Another Q/A from him that had some very interesting points:

Question:
One thing I thought you might have an answer to – do you know why Rafe and the writers decided to adapt so few of the book scenes? Episode 1 covers roughly Chapters 1-10 of Eye of the World, but almost nothing from the book makes it into the show. (I think there's the attack on the Al'Thor farmhouse, and a couple of moments with Rand, and that's about it.) Obviously you have to make cuts somewhere, but this feels less like "cutting" and more like "completely replacing".

Answer:
So, I have fought hard (but amicably) with Rafe on this very issue multiple times. I have several times said, "There is a perfectly serviceable scene from the books that happens here. Why not use that one?"

The explanations I get involve two primary themes. First theme is that of casting issues and the ensemble nature Rafe is shooting for. Things that are easy in a book are sometimes very difficult in a film, for real world reasons that are annoying. Logistics, casting realities, etc. This requires some changes.

An example of this is that the Wheel of Time eventually becomes a huge ensemble piece. The first book, though, is very Rand-centric. Rafe wanted to accelerate this ensemble feel; it's one of his visions for the story. This, however, requires many new manufactured scenes (some of which are suggested by the books.)

The other big reason he's doing this is for acceleration reasons. He has eight episodes. That's going to require a lot of acceleration. He's got to rewrite scenes in order to accomplish this, because simply doing the same scenes faster leads to disaster. (Watch the Golden Compass film to see why. You end up with people just walking up, spouting dialogue from the books in a non-dymanic way--then cutting to the next one. It's super dull.) Rafe's philosophy seems to be that he needs to construct new scenes that work to accomplish the same things as in the book, but are developed specifically for this type of narrative.

I say seems in that line because I don't want to speak for him. I'm not part of the writer's room; I wasn't there when they brainstormed these changes. I read the scripts in an early state, and offered feedback.

However, you can watch the first three Harry Potter movies to see why sometimes adaptation like this is needed. The first two are very faithful, and are also boring, because the pacing of a book is so different from a film or TV show. The third is much more heavily adapted, and is in my opinion the best of the films.

Game of thrones early seasons show you can adapt more straight across and be successful--but George worked in television, and his scripts are perhaps more naturally matched to that format.

Either way, I had your complaints, but this is one of the things that Rafe persuaded me on. I think this might be the only way he could do Wheel of Time in eight episodes in a way that works. And it's why I've said, for months now, I view this as a new turning of the wheel. It's not an adaptation of the books to me; it's an adaptation of the NEXT time these people are living this story.

Once again, this is just one person's perspective. Rafe can say this better than I do, and perhaps there are things about his motives that I misunderstood.