Legend of the Seeker.

[Breine]

I don't know how many of you know this show, but I've become pretty much hooked to it over the last couple of days. I have seriously spend my entire Sunday and Monday watching the 20 episodes that have aired up until now on YouTube.

Legend of the Seeker is a fantasy/adventure show, produced by the same people behind Xena and Hercules, Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert. I grew up watching those shows. It's also filmed in New Zealand, like those two were, and it fills the fantasy void in television these days. It's based on a series of fantasy books called "The Sword of Truth" written by Terry Goodkind, for those of you who might know about those.

All in all I like the show, what about you?

[Miriel]

I grew up watching and loving Xena and Hercules so I knew I would like Legend of the Seeker. Especially since the production value is like 1000x better. The show is seriously beautiful to watch. And the fight sequences are some of the best I've seen on television. Really great fight choreography. But yeah, so much pretty! Pretty landscape, pretty actors, pretty pretty pretty.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/hannahgoesrawr/ladyintro.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/hannahgoesrawr/1z4vj0o.gif

[Ouch!]

The books are an absolute monstrosity of fantasy cliches. I heard the TV series bastardizes those, and they were already an abomination to begin with, so I have no desire to touch it with a ten-foot pole.

[Bastian]

Before the show aired, they had a behind-the-scenes promo thing hosted by Lucy Lawless. I was a huge Xena fan. And I saw that it was by the same production team but looked exponentially better . . . so I was determined to watch it.

And then I promptly forgot all about it.

Now I'm just waiting for the first season to be released on DVD so I can get into it.

[Shlup]

I've been meaning to watch it since Miriel mentioned it some time ago; I'm half-way through the first episode now. It's pretty fab.

I watched some Hercules and a good chunk of Xena when I was a kid. So far, this is much prettier. The main dude is nummers.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/hannahgoesrawr/1z4vj0o.gif

Is it vain and shallow of me to say that with this I am convinced to watch it? :sweat:

I remember watching Xena when I was a kid, not so much Heracles. In general I love fantasy though, so more reason to give it a try since my normal shows are done and anime release are weekly.

Plus, hot dude...

[Winter Nights]

I liked the books, but they were definitely really cliche and extremely preachy at times.

The show is pretty to look at. That's about the only good thing about it.

[Bastian]

Oh yeah, I forgot my main draw. They showed a scene of the main dude chopping wood . . . yup, gotta see this. ;)

:P

[Breine]

Yup, Craig Horner and Bridget Regan are both very prettilicious to look at. Good-looking actors have never hurt a show.

EDIT: Just tried to watch the 21st episode, but the sound doesn't match the images :(

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

Oh yeah, I forgot my main draw. They showed a scene of the main dude chopping wood . . . yup, gotta see this. ;)

:P

YAY! I am not alone in this!

BTW watched the first four episodes, not so bad. Enjoyable. It does give off the Xena vibe in a nostalgic sorta way.

[Shlup]

Just watched episode 21. My naked-time senses are tingling.

[sir helix]

man i love the show, havn't missed an episode yet. im realy wishing that i could find the books.

and with the cliche thing. some of you best shows are cliche. but even the slightest difference can make a show 10 times better

[Breine]

Just watched episode 21. My naked-time senses are tingling.

Haha, I know! xD

Can't wait to see the finale.

[Shlup]

Tra la la, I love the new spoiler tags tra la la~


http://i42.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/og06bk.gif

http://i41.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/20g1mkl.gif

[Breine]

Tra la la, I love the new spoiler tags tra la la~


http://i42.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/og06bk.gif

http://i41.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/20g1mkl.gif

That episode was pretty hot, I must say. Too bad it wasn't really them getting it on, though.

[sir helix]

oh so sad, but nowthat richard has the boxs of orden he can go bannanas and kahlen can confess him so he won't be controlled and he and kahlen can finnaly be together

how ever, i just know something bads gonna happen, god i hate rahl, that ass

[Shlup]

Prediction: They are not going to bone in the season finale and I am going to be PISSED. Just pissed as pissed can piss.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I wiki-ed the ending of the book, plus I decided to start reading it. :D

I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS! :P

The Seeker is mine. Okay, so I sorta have a crush on him. Then again Khalan is like super awesome. Still, I wouldn't mind having the Seeker to myself. :P

Noticed one thing about the book: they barely fight. The show makes them the typical quarrelling couple, at least in the beginning, but that's never the case in the book, so far. Also, Richard seems a tad brighter in the books than the show. Not saying that his character is dumb in the show, rather does not show as much intelligence as his counterpart. Or at least that is my impression. Wizard's First Rule's Richard seems a tad more mature than the Richard of the Legend of the Seeker, so maybe that is the difference I am noticing instead of in intelligence. The TV show is more like "Seeker has nice sword that can cut things", the book is like "The Seeker's greatest weapon is his brain and heart, the sword is just a tool".

[Shlup]

There are so many things wrong with you I don't even know where to begin.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

What is that supposed to mean? :'(

[Shlup]

You not knowing what that means is just another thing to add to the "Things Wrong with TSoL" list!

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

:cry: But...:cry: Shlup is being a meanie! :( *pets Richard Cypher*

Can I see this list? PLEASE, pretty please with sugar on top?

On topic, I am a bit over half way done the book. :D

[Shlup]

Is it just one book or is it a series?

Also: _deejay_: [picspam] kahlan pwp! (picspam without plot!) - gay for kahlan partaaay! (http://users.livejournal.com/_deejay_/89666.html)

[Araciel]

I remember when I made a thread about this show before it aired...

Anyway yeah I'm loving it, but you're totally right, Richard is a lot more intelligent in the books, and is unfailingly good... which is very hard to believe, but makes it worth reading... He's the goodest good guy ever in the books, and while it does show in the uh..show, it's nowhere near as insane.

I would like to point out that I pictured Richard somewhat older-looking and a bit bigger, and Kalahn a bit younger looking... Zedd also is a bit different, but the actor pulls it off awesomely otherwise. Rahl is full of fail, but oh well.

I do like how some of the books show through in some episodes but then they go off on other little arcs...Having read the entire series before the show started means I obviously would have gripes with the plot and such, but I think it was a good series to port to TV.

[Shlup]

I like my heroes with some flaws. Richard could actually stand to be a little more flawed. Perfectly good goodies are boring.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

Is it just one book or is it a series?

Also: _deejay_: [picspam] kahlan pwp! (picspam without plot!) - gay for kahlan partaaay! (http://users.livejournal.com/_deejay_/89666.html)

From what I gather, Legend of Seeker is based mainly off of Wizard's First Rule, though some elements from other books. The Sword of Truth is a 12 book series. Each book being at least 700 to 800 pages long. Pretty hefty. Wizard's First Rule is just the first book. Apparently in each book, a wizard rule is revealed and is the focus of the book. At least that's what Wiki tells me.

So basically the Wizard's First Rule is:



People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.

Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard%27s_First_Rule#Wizard.27s_First_Rule)

Which makes sense, since in the book, Richard is told he has to use his head to kill Rahl since he won't be able to with the Sword of Truth.

[Shlup]

They said "they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true" in the show!

So how far into the series does season one go?

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

As far as I can tell, it is mostly boring from just the first book. I still have a few more episodes to watch, but all the events are from the first book. Some are altered or made-up. Jennsen only shows up in later books (apparently). She is also Richard's half-sister, not related to Zedd. So minor stuff like that, but like Richard being made Denna's pet and stuff was from Wizard's First Rule, though the events are slightly different. Same as Kahlan using Con Dar, it happened in Wizard's First Rule but under different circumstances. :/

Also, the Sisters of Light are only introduced in later books as well.

They really should have had the sexy apple scene in the spirit house of the Mud People!

[Shlup]

Is the crypt scene in the book?? :o

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

Not as far as I know but they get hot and heavy after the apple scene! Much more sexy. :D As far as a guy and a girl making out go...

[Shlup]

Hmmm... I may have to read these books.

[Rye]

Oh man, oh man, watched half of the first episode so far, and it's all kinds of LoTR-esque cheesy Xena orgasmic joy. I love it. It IS really beautiful to watch. The quality is good even on YouTube.

[Araciel]

The crypt scene does not exist in the books as I remember... the series touches on parts of the first book so far and a lot of the episodes are all new stuff....once again my memory is hazy... I may have to reread the series.

The sisters of the light part of the book, and then sisters of the dark (lolspoiler) in others was awesome, but barely even scratched on the surface in the series, and it doesn't seem they're going to do much more with it... also the whole part with the mord sith (denna) was a lot more than a single episode I think..and I loved her... in the book and on the screen omg with her hair down *swoon* http://multipleverses.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/denna2_1280x1024.jpg

[Raistlin]

You people make me sad.

The books are solid. Goodkind is not the best writer, but he presents very enjoyable and well-developed characters, an interesting plot, and even some nice political allegory midway through the series. The last four books, however, are such an abomination of writing that they are only worth reading for avid fans. The plot overall is fairly engrossing, though the series eventually turns into a bunch of deus-ex-machina where Richard solves everything by instinct and epiphany in between speeches which replaced the dialogue. Though the 6th book, Faith of the Fallen, by itself is so well done that it justifies the series as far as I'm concerned.

The TV show, on the other hand, is really poorly executed and simplified to such a ridiculous degree. The quality of the writing is almost painful. I mean, the Boxes of Orden needing to be "put together" like a simple puzzle piece and then having everyone obey you? I cringed in pain. The Mord-Sith were done surprisingly well, though, and are the one highlight of the series.

[Shlup]

If snob-ass over there thinks it's a poor imitation of the book series, it must be a good show. Hurrah!

Season finale today! Woooooo!

[Raistlin]

I suppose it's good for people who classify Xena as "good," although at least Xena was deliberately campy. The writing is pretty terrible (and this is from someone who still occasionally watches Smallville).

I also refuse to pronounce "Kahlan" as "Kay-lin."

[Rye]

The way that everyone keeps pronouncing her name differently really bothers me. :|

[Raistlin]

*SEASON 1 FINALE SPOILERS*

Ok, so I just watched the finale. It was just as random and nonsensical and anticlimatic as I expected. They actually had a somewhat interesting plot going on for a bit (disregarding the ridiculous method of starting it), but of course anticlimatic deus ex machina takes over in the end (somewhat appropriate since Goodkind is notorious for it in the books). The sunrise ending almost made me puke. It was nice that they included Cara, though (a main character of the series, though not until the 3rd book).

Question: Richard and Zedd determined that the touch of a Confessor (which, btw, is incredibly lame and mild in the TV show unlike the permanent mind-wiping and enslavement it originally was) would temper Orden (which is also incredibly lame, unlike the power over all life it originally was) but not otherwise affect the person who controlled the Boxes (so Richard would control Orden but not be Confessed). But Shota tells Nicholas Rahl that if he did the same thing, he would control Richard. Seems a pretty blatant contradiction.

Also, very disappointed they didn't follow the books regarding Richard's true parentage (though I suppose it could still be consistent and just not revealed yet).

For potential future seasons: it probably is a good thing they're not following the books, because there's no way in hell a live action TV show could do Jagang justice.

[Breine]

I suppose it's good for people who classify Xena as "good," although at least Xena was deliberately campy. The writing is pretty terrible (and this is from someone who still occasionally watches Smallville).

Neither Xena or Legend of the Seeker try to be high culture or something else of the sort. It's just entertainment.

And, Xena is a good show :P

[Shlup]

I'm going to have to agree that the season finale was... disappointing. :p

They kept talking about Richard wielding the power or Orden and sending Rahl's own armies against him and stuff, but Rahl kills him-freaking-self! And the end was soooo cheesy. There was nothing epic in the entire episode, and no Richard/Kahlan funtime at all. Thumbs down.

[Araciel]

Cara has replaced Denna in my heart.

I mean pants.

[Shlup]

I still prefer Denna.

[cloud_doll]

HOT GUY HOT GUY HOT GUY HOT GUY!!

Sorry =/....that's all I know about the show. YUUUM.
My friend was telling me about it a while ago, and we went to the library at school and were pratically drooling over the pictures :kaolove2:

[Araciel]

I still prefer Denna.

Just wait till you read what happened between her and Richard in the book...

[Raistlin]

I still prefer Denna.

The TV show did Denna better, but Cara is such a great character in the books. Though you'd still probably like Denna more, for the reason Araciel stated (especially if you're into BDSM). The actress who plays Kahlan recently said in an interview that she is disappointed that the TV show is so much more tame than the books, bypassing the very violent and sexual parts.


The way that everyone keeps pronouncing her name differently really bothers me.

Basically everyone who read the book pronounces it "Kah (or Kuh)-lahn." Like, how it's spelled. Though Goodkind named her after a friend of his, which explains the counter-intuitive pronunciation.

[Breine]

I'm going to have to agree that the season finale was... disappointing. :p

They kept talking about Richard wielding the power or Orden and sending Rahl's own armies against him and stuff, but Rahl kills him-freaking-self! And the end was soooo cheesy. There was nothing epic in the entire episode, and no Richard/Kahlan funtime at all. Thumbs down.

I'd have to agree.
The episode itself was interesting, but seen as a season finale it was a little disappointing. I kept thinking that there was gonna be another episode where they set out to kill Rahl. There's no way they'll have enough time to create something epic enough after having spend so much time on the "stuck in the future" storyline. Granted, that storyline was interesting, but then they should have made the last episode a two-parter, so that epic-ness could happen in the second one, thus making the killing of Rahl more satisfying..

Anyway, I still like the show, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's gonna happen in the second season.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I found the finale anti-climatic. Also, annoyed by the fact that they will probably use the Kahlan and Richard sexual tension for like the next umpteenth seasons. :/

[Raistlin]

Apparently, it looks like there will be a season 2 and filming will begin sometime this summer.

FYI, since I just noticed some discussion about this: the entire season basically encompassed the first book of the series (Wizard's First Rule), and they have a similar overarching plot: Richard stopping Darken Rahl from using the Boxes of Orden. Beyond that, the two are very different (almost none of those hour-long sideplots that was the majority of the season occurred in the book, though there are some similarities with a couple).

It'll be interesting to see where they go in the 2nd season, since the end of the first book set up the rest of the series, and the TV show pretty much abandoned all of those elements.

[Shlup]

Did Rahl die at the end of the first book?

[Raistlin]

Yes. Though not in the same way, because, thankfully, the Boxes don't work like that. The puzzle-Boxes method is pretty retarded. So is shoving a sword into them magically creating green fire.

[Araciel]

You say retarded, the producers say simplified for the average Xena fan.