When those trollocs and darkfriends come over the barricades obstructed by Perrin and his people, you can really see them coming, and you can really see what the people of the Two Rivers do to beat them back. The individual heroism of the townsfolk, the supernatural aid of Alanna and the local channelers with whom she links to fuel her ice attack on the enemy — it’s crystal clear.
Equally clear is the geography of the battlefield, which is a key element of successful combat filmmaking dating back to Helm’s Deep and The Two Towers. Perrin, Alanna, and the others have narrowed the approaches to the village down to just one, a narrow mountain pass that’s easily defended. When superior numbers and the temporary wounding of Alanna render the position untenable, the defenders fall back to the town gates and walls. When those fall, they retreat to the town square, forming an old-school phalanx and defending on all sides.
This renders the stakes of the battle easy to understandat all times. If we win, we hold our ground. If we lose, we fall back, until there’s nowhere else to fall back to. Clear, intelligible, physical consequences for success or failure in combat are crucial to building effective battle sequences, and Wheel comfortably passes that test this week.
I reviewed this week’s episode of The Wheel of Time for Vulture.
Tags: the wheel of time, TV, TV reviews, vulture