# Shannara TV series.



## Garren Jacobsen (Jan 5, 2016)

Watched the premier it was average. It'll take another viewing or so to decide if I like it.


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## Ophiucha (Jan 6, 2016)

I'm not a huge fan of the _Shannara_ books, but I do like Manu Bennett so I'm watching it anyway. S'okay so far. About what I'd expect from MTV.


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## Caged Maiden (Jan 6, 2016)

It might have been called a series, but I read three of them before i decided they were all the same book. So mediocre, I can't remember anything but how much I wanted to like it, but couldn't. Bland, dull, and all the same. I hope a TV series breathes some life into the stories, because I was underwhelmed by the books, even as a teenager.


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## Incanus (Jan 6, 2016)

This may be one of those extremely rare cases where the movie (or show in this case) is better than the book.  Even if it's mediocre, there's a good chance it would be better than the source material.  I'll give it a shot at some point.


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## Miskatonic (Jan 7, 2016)

Maybe if it was anyone but MTV.


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## Steerpike (Jan 7, 2016)

Premiere was OK. The show will have to get better for me to keep watching it. They tried to cram too much in 80 minutes. Too many encounters with people that seemed random. Jumps in time and space. You have to do some of that in a show, of course, but I contrast it to something like The Expanse, where they're doing a nice job of building the story and not rushing it even where they've accelerated some of it (all of the principal characters haven't even met yet, for example). Also, though Shannara is geared toward a younger audience I think they're underestimating the viewers by trying to play up too much of a YA aspect to the show.


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## Vaporo (Jan 7, 2016)

I read the first book in the Shannara series, and I only made it through that only out of sheer determination not to leave a book unfinished. Throughout the whole thing, I couldn't stop thinking "What a shamelessly blatant ripoff of Lord of the Rings." It does have its original moments, but most of the plot and characters can still be traced directly back to Lord of Rings.

I might give the TV series a try. If you can get over the unavoidable similarities to LotR, it's an ok book, and the trailer makes it seem like it won't be following the plot of the first book. Maybe I should give the series another chance and read the second book.


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## glutton (Jan 7, 2016)

Maybe I have low standards but I like it so far. Eretria is bae lol and Allanon has an awesome voice, 'Katniss' I mean Amberle is cool too.


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## Addison (Jan 8, 2016)

Crap I missed the premier! I've been re-reading the books to catch up before I watched the series. Dang it! Serious question, how can I watch it now?


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## Addison (Jan 9, 2016)

Still looking for where and how to watch the episode, but are they starting with the original Shannara trilogy? Or Word and Void?


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## Garren Jacobsen (Jan 9, 2016)

No idea where they're starting but you can watch it on mtv .com I think. Or Hulu.


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## Mindfire (Jan 19, 2016)

I remember reading somewhere that the adaptation is starting with Elfstones. I've never read the books, and thanks to the lukewarm reception they've generally gotten from the MS I'll probably skip them. I've seen the trailers and the show seems interesting though. Even if it turns out mediocre it already outstrips the Eragon movie, and I sat through that. Has anyone who's already seen it tell me if it's SFW? I might catch some of it online during downtime at my job.


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## Garren Jacobsen (Jan 19, 2016)

Mindfire said:


> I remember reading somewhere that the adaptation is starting with Elfstones. I've never read the books, and thanks to the lukewarm reception they've generally gotten from the MS I'll probably skip them. I've seen the trailers and the show seems interesting though. Even if it turns out mediocre it already outstrips the Eragon movie, and I sat through that. Has anyone who's already seen it tell me if it's SFW? I might catch some of it online during downtime at my job.



That's a tough call. There is some demonic dismemberment and some blood, implied sexiness and male toro nudity. I wouldn't say it's clearly NSFW but it's not super SFW either.


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## Mindfire (Jan 19, 2016)

I'm in episode 3 so far and my complaints are: Amberle is insufferable, Eretria is insufferable, and Wil is boring. Of the core group, only Allanon is remotely interesting. 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


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## Garren Jacobsen (Jan 20, 2016)

Mindfire said:


> I'm in episode 3 so far and my complaints are: Amberle is insufferable, Eretria is insufferable, and Wil is boring. Of the core group, only Allanon is remotely interesting.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk



That's fair. I agree too. Allanon is a pimp.


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## Garren Jacobsen (Jan 25, 2016)

This show. It has moments of greatness and the it reeks if mediocrity. Why can't I stop watching this?


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## evolution_rex (Jan 27, 2016)

I stopped watching it after three episodes. I think the source material may be good though and I might check it out, because it feels like good concepts being ruined by forced MTV meddling (the cheesiness of the love subplots and the use of pop music for example).


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## Incanus (Jan 27, 2016)

I was probably going to wait until this was available in disc form.  But...

is there really pop music in the soundtrack?  If so, then it's a non-starter for me.  I'm not sure there is anything more jarring.

Could someone confirm/elaborate on this?


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## Mindfire (Jan 27, 2016)

The plot seems powered by character stupidity at times.


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## glutton (Jan 28, 2016)

Mindfire said:


> The plot seems powered by character stupidity at times.



A whole squad of elven 'warriors' can't handle a wolf or whatever that thing was in the woods and have to be saved by Eretria.

Amberle has no situational awareness and gets taken hostage immediately by a guy coming at her from the side after drawing her sword and walking forward to join a fight.

I guess elves suck at fighting no matter how cool they dress, HUMAN PRIDE.


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## Mindfire (Jan 28, 2016)

glutton said:


> A whole squad of elven 'warriors' can't handle a wolf or whatever that thing was in the woods and have to be saved by Eretria.
> 
> Amberle has no situational awareness and gets taken hostage immediately by a guy coming at her from the side after drawing her sword and walking forward to join a fight.
> 
> I guess elves suck at fighting no matter how cool they dress, HUMAN PRIDE.



And don't forget Amberle being so stupid as to _insist_ that they keep their captive- who is ready to screw them at the earliest opportunity- alive rather than giving him the execution he definitely deserves. And then sets him free during the chaos of a demon attack, which would be the prime moment for him to screw the rest of them over. Amberle clearly hasn't learned the difference between "honorable" and "Too Dumb To Live". I don't care what they call themselves, these guys are not elves. They have no wisdom, no gravitas, and their military power is weaksauce. Arwen could solo their entire army.


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## Steerpike (Jan 28, 2016)

Watch The Expanse instead. Much better


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## glutton (Jan 28, 2016)

Steerpike said:


> Watch The Expanse instead. Much better



No incredibly gorgeous and badass-looking elf 'warrior' who can't actually fight or lead though.

The 'most amazing looking character who isn't actually cool' award might go to Katniss Amberdeen.


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## evolution_rex (Jan 28, 2016)

Incanus said:


> I was probably going to wait until this was available in disc form.  But...
> 
> is there really pop music in the soundtrack?  If so, then it's a non-starter for me.  I'm not sure there is anything more jarring.
> 
> Could someone confirm/elaborate on this?


There is about one song per episode. They're not Justin Bieber or Mariah Carey-leveled pop, they sound more like Lana Del Rey type music (I'm not really big into modern pop music so it's hard to describe it). I think it's fairly tasteful considering but I couldn't get over it.


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## Incanus (Jan 28, 2016)

evolution_rex said:


> There is about one song per episode. They're not Justin Bieber or Mariah Carey-leveled pop, they sound more like Lana Del Rey type music (I'm not really big into modern pop music so it's hard to describe it). I think it's fairly tasteful considering but I couldn't get over it.



Ah, thanks.  I've never heard of Lana Del Rey, but all in all, this show sounds like... well, not my kind of thing after all.  I mean, I can't even watch Shrek movies for a similar reason.


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## glutton (Mar 4, 2016)

I wrote a fairly popular (90+ percent upvoted) rant on the Shannara reddit on what I found the most noticeable problem with the show.

They should never have tried to sell Amberle as a warrior. : shannara

Poor Faux ActiongirLE.


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## FifthView (Mar 14, 2016)

I recently watched the whole thing.

The writing is extremely bad.

Teleporting from place to place—not actual teleporting, but you get the sense that everything that happens on the show would fit inside Chicago, and much of it within a few city blocks.  This is a show where a ride one direction, fraught with dangers and holdups, might take about a week total (if that), but the ride back takes 30 minutes and there are absolutely no hurdles or obstacles coming back.

The writers/directors seemed to be going for a coolness factor—and failing—rather than anything requiring logic or reason.  A couple examples:



Spoiler: Spoiler




The best place to stand when looking at a map is at the top of an extremely large behemoth of a statue that has no discernible way to scale it.  Especially, when you are in a hurry to get away.

Make sure to have the leader of the good guys' army say "We are outnumbered 1000 to 1!" when you've also let the audience know that a recent ally has brought 5000 warriors to help out.  That puts the enemy force at _substantially_ more than 5,000,000 if your own forces ("greatest army in the 4 lands") are greater than that allied force.





If there's a dire situation, with death hanging all around you and the clock running out, that's the best time to pause for a 2-3 minute heart-to-heart chat between characters.  Perhaps this is the YA pandering in action.

I could go on and on but I'd need more spoiler tags.


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## ChasingSuns (Mar 15, 2016)

The show was pretty underwhelming in my opinion. The only reason why I watched the whole season was because Manu Bennett is awesome, and does really well in the role of Allanon. But a solid actor can't save a show all alone.


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