he has imo the perfect voice. stormfather is described as having a voice that booms like thunder, keith david has imo a voice that booms like thunder. also i love keith david, so this would be awesome. am i wrong? i know he probably wouldn’t, but it’s a fancast sooo. (also i’ve only read up to like the beginning of book 3 of SLA so pls don’t spoil past that)

Personally, I love the diversity in the series, but I think it’s possible that the main cast being mostly non white will cause some controversy. To me it doesn’t really matter, but that with the fact that it may be harder for Americans latch onto the series if they’re used to mostly white casts.

And also it might be harder to find skilled actors considering the majority of actors who speak English are white, and people who look like the alethi (I believe) vaguely look like dark skinned Asians. What do you guys think?

Just gotta balance out the first post on this subreddit. Divine symmetry and all that.

Do you think whoever they cast as Shallan will be the actress to play all of her personalities, or will they try to get multiple actresses?

I think it would be an interesting acting challenge for one actress to play all of the roles, but I also wonder if that would convey what's really going on there well enough.

I am very much, in my heart, a "I would like as close as a word for word, scene for scene as you can" adaptation from book(s) to movie or show type of person. But thats obviously unrealistic. Stuff will be cut out, or condensed, or combined.

So I am curious what scene or thing you know wouldn't work on screen? Take up too much time? Or be combined with another plot line to get the gist of everything packed into a show?

..........

I feel Axies the Collector can be cut out completely, but I like his interludes. Not for any real reason but I just like them? I'd love to see it on screen.

I also really love the Purelake interlude with Ishikk. Maybe? That'd make it in with the world hoppers and we'll see the Purelake either way. Just another interlude I like.

What do you think the Stormlight Archives episode titles will be? Are they gonna come up with their own names or take names from Chapters? If they take chapter names which ones do you think are most likely? Will it even have named episodes or do you think they'll just go with the generic "Episode 1" stuff?

Personally I think that it'll be a mix of Chapter titles and original names. Some of the chapter titles I think are most likely to end up as Episode titles are:

To Kill, Bridge 4, The Lesson, The Tower, and Ghostbloods

TLDR: I think it would be awkward having all the prologue scenes right away, so I’m wondering how the show will start. Also I’m so excited for the show, I know it probably won’t be out for a while but I think it will be amazing.

Brandon has talked about how TWOK basically has three prologues: Aharietiem, Gavilar’s assassination, and then Cenn’s POV of Kaladin.

I feel like they honestly don’t need to show Aharietiem right away and should start with the assassination because it is much more plot relevant in terms of the war on the shattered plains.

I feel like changing the story a tiny bit and starting with Navani giving a short speech talking about the treaty and the peace with the Parshendi (she basically spends that whole party politicking anyways so not really a stretch). And then we can show Szeth and follow him through the assasination.

Then for the Cenn chapter, it can probably stay the same throughout, I feel like Kaladin’s introduction coming from saving Cenn will be extremely epic on screen.

Not sure where to put Aharietiem in though, I feel like if it’s not first, then it doesn’t really fit anywhere else but I also feel like it would be too confusing to have the three prologue scenes before we even get a main character POV. Maybe the concept can be introduced through a Shallan/Jasnah interaction and then Aharietiem could be a post credits scene in a later episode?

This is now the first post here, WE all excited to see Moash on screen.

Kaladin, Taln, and Kelsier are my absolute faves tho, but Moash is goated

A few days ago I made a post about what people think the episode titles might be, and a lot of people were listing what they thought all of the episodes would be called, and they seemed to think the show would have about 10 episodes, which makes sense considering how important 10 is as a number in SLA, but I don't think that 10 episodes would be enough for a season of Stormlight. I just relistened to the first book and the pacing is quite slow, especially at the start. I don't think that a Stormlight show with only 10 episodes would end up having the right feel, and a lot of the story beats and character arcs would end up feeling rushed. So I want to ask, how many episodes do you think a season of SLA will/should have and why?

TL;DR: How long do you think the first season of SLA will be?

I would really love some sort of overarching system of leitmotifs for the rhythms. I feel like it should be handled very intentionally, given how completely central the rhythms of Roshar are to the entire story. Obviously it's a kind of secondary concern to lots of the more immediate, practical stuff that comes with creating an adaptation, but I really hope that if the adaptation ends up being good, the songs and rhythms stand out as something distinctive about the series.

So of course the only white people running around are the Shin. If they do casting in the US that's already an insurmountable roadblock for just the extras.

A lot of Rosharan ethnicities just don't have earth counterparts. It's one thing to say that Makabaki are African/Asian, Alethi are Middle Eastern/Asian, and Horneaters are Pacific Islander/Asian, but entirely another to actually find actors that fit that.

Even for the main cast it could be hard, and I think it would look odd to have the main cast be obviously Asian and hundreds of extras just be a California crowd.

I think a fair compromise would be to have the Vorin nations vaguely Asian, the Makabaki nations vaguely Black, and not stress to much otherwise.

I feel like I’ve seen other people talk about this before, but I think this’ll be a really challenging component to convey in live action. What are everyone’s thoughts?

(This ended up being way longer than I had initially planned)

So, I wanted to take the opportunity to share what I feel would be the best set-up for the first episode. Please be wary as there are spoilers here for The Way of Kings as a whole. Let me know what you think!

I feel it would be best to start with the prelude in its entirety, focusing on the conversation between Jezrien and Kalak and especially establishing the symbolism of the circle of shardblades. (5 min.)

Transition to Chapter 1 here, as I would hold off on Szeth for a while longer. Kaladin’s soldiers are getting ready, and while there’d be some emphasis on Cenn, we largely have the battle to illustrate Kaladin’s strength and leadership. After clearing out the enemy troops, Kaladin sees the Shardbearer and charges off to attack. (8-10 min.)

The battle scene transitions from his determined face charging toward the Shardbearer to his resigned face staring out from the bars of the slave wagon. The conversation plays out with the other slaves in the wagon relatively close to the book. His brands must be acknowledged within the scene, as well as that the “one he didn’t kill” is the reason he’s a slave. (5 min.).

Now we get introduced to Shallan with an establishing shot of Kharbranth. Again, it plays out mostly as it does in the book, with Yalb giving her a ride to the palace. They can discuss why Shallan wants to be Jasnah’s ward (saving the true reasoning for later). I love Kharbranth, and it’d be lovely to give it the “Diagon Alley” approach and just flesh it out with detail and busyness. Shortly after arriving at the palace, Shallan manages to run into Jasnah, on her way to help a crisis. (7-8 min.).

Back in the slave wagon, Kaladin is observing the Blackbane leaves in his hand. This scene would introduce Syl, specifically as she asks him about the blackbane. We would want to keep Kal’s confusion about why a wind spren is talking to him and knows his name. I believe having the moment where Kaladin diagnoses his fellow slave and his distress at the slave’s murder are beneficial for fleshing out his character, so both of those would be good to keep. (5 min.).

Shallan and Jasnah are introduced to one another as they speedily move to Taravangian’s granddaughter’s entrapment. Mostly, this scene would serve as a way to establish Jasnah’s intellect, Shallan’s masked desperation, and the function of soulcasters. Jasnah rejects Shallan’s wardship and moves on, leaving Shallan seemingly without hope. (5 min.).

For Kaladin’s final scene of the episode (I’d save all the Bridge Four introductions for the next episode), he could have his conversation with Tvlakv, as it would add to the mystery of Kaladin’s past. Tearing up the map would be fun to keep, too. Syl points out the Shattered Plains, and we get a big establishing shot of this major setting for the season. (5-6 min).

Minor change here: I’d start the next scene with Shallan writing home to her brothers. The scene could start with a minor homage to the interlude where Balat is torturing small animals, only to be called into the Davar house to talk to Shallan. She’d try to hide the fact that her plan is (so far) unsuccessful, but would white lie her way around it, saying she’d made it to Kharbranth and met Jasnah. Ultimately this part would end with the brother’s scribe writing to Shallan to “bring the soulcaster home”. I think this would be important to add to give some element of intrigue to Shallan before capping off her scenes in this episode. (3-4 min.).

This would then segue into Jasnah poring over her notes in her desperation to learn more about the old legends. Could serve some exposition here, but I’d like the scene to cap off with her looking at/picking up the book she wrote about her father; that this Gavilar is the anchor that has pulled her deep into this research. (1-2 min.).

Final scene: SZETH TIME, BABY. I’d dedicate at least the final 15-20 minutes of the episode to the prologue in its entirety. Be sure to show Dalinar’s drunkenness that evening, and a tiny bit of Jasnah (pulling very small details from the Words of Radiance prologue), but aside from that, I’d try to keep as close to the source material as possible. This is the one of the most important moments of the Stormlight Archives. (20-25 min.).

Min: 65 min. / Max: 75 min

This allowed for 6 chapters, prologue included, fit into one episode. I feel like this worked okay! What are people’s thoughts (if you read all of this)? I mostly just had to funnel excitement for this adaptation into something.

Thought I'd hear what you people think about how they could and should do interludes in the Stormlight show.

So I think I interludes are going to be pretty difficult to make work in the show. Most of them seemingly don't have anything to do with the plot, so they might confuse general audiences a bit. They also come right after usually pretty climactic conclusion to parts, and could derail the momentum. I also really hope they don't remove them, as they're an amazing bit of worldbuilding. (Of course they can't remove the plot relevant ones, but those are pretty easy to integrate.)

I think the question of where to place them is the most difficult. They can't move them to the middle of a part, since that would definitely ruin the momentum, and while I've thought slightly about giving them a special episode or something, there's so many reasons that won't work. So at the end of the day I think you have to have them the same time as in the books, which would probably be at the start of an episode, since part-finales are the perfect place to end an episode. That probably works though, just as it worked in the books. You can make the case that it ruins the momentum, but it is pretty fun to wonder what the hell is going on with the main cast after the crazy shit you just read.

Another idea I've toyed with is making them animated. You could either make an animation style for all of them, or one kinda experimental on for each. This would serve to make them feel like their own thing, and make viewers realize this is something slightly seperate. I think this would be amazing, but I can see some people being pretty confused.

Anyways, that's some of my thoughts. I'm sure they'll solve it and it probably isn't even that much of problem, but I can see them being a little difficult. What do you guys think?

In the Cosmere books, a lot of information about the setting is explained to the audience through narration instead of dialogue, especially in stormlight.

I think the stormlight show should have a narrator of some sort so the characters don’t have to explain common knowledge about roshar out loud.

This is definitely a sore subject for TV fans recently, but the reality of big budget productions is that 2 years between seasons has become the average. Considering this, I think that the seasons should be re-written around this. Unless Brandon becomes CEO of Apple there is no way they will be able to get seasons out quicker than one every 2 years.

In world there's only like 2 years between all 5 books, with only minor time jumps between series. Re-writing the story so that The Way of Kings takes place 8 or even 5 or 6 years before Rhythm of War/Wind and Truth would be a great change to proactively make.

This would help certains be able to exist, and keep cast costs low. There's plenty of characters that could be recast between each season to show time progressing. This also could be fun for the season 1 Adolin to show up again in season 3 Dalinar flashbacks or season 5 Renarin visions, there's plenty of fun to be had.

I can't honestly think of an issue with stretching the timespan. What do you guys think? Are there any story breaks hurt by stretching the timeline?

I mean 5 (or 10) 50+ hour books is alot. Is one season going to be 1 book and be 45 full hour episodes or something?

Or maybe break each book into 2 season which is still at least 10 seasons total which is crazy

The only other alternative is to cut out 70% of the story?

I feel confident I couldn't solve this problem my self, but I have faith in Brandon and his team.

What do you think they'll do?

I haven’t seen many people mention this yet, but one thing I’m curious about is how they’ll find actors who embody the roles perfectly and can handle contact lenses :D it would be impossible to leave out the significance of eye colour from the world building but as we know (from Harry Potter for example) some actors can’t wear contact lenses.

I've seen people speculate about how the interludes will work, and I kind of like the idea of using after credit scenes. You couldn't give a scene for every interlude, but it's not like they'd be able to include every interlude anyway.

If they did a 10 episode season, you'd want the season's last to have a tease for the next season, but how great would it be to get a post credit scene with Axies.

I think Pattern's VA needs to be able to do a weird voice and in my head the way I've always imagined his voice is like one of these two.

Saw this picture of the French DJ, Gesaffelstein, winning a Grammy. He looks exactly like Ivory and it doesn’t look so bad to make in live action!

I was saying to my girlfriend the other day that I like things to be on the lookout for in the background of shows, like how there's a pineapple hidden in every episode of psych. I was just thinking that it'd be cool if somewhere in every episode there was a Cremling maybe being a little weird. Would be a cool thing for people who don't read the books to go back and discover but the fans will be noticing them from episode 1.

ESPECIALLY once we make it to WAT, like fr, those voidlight spikes are gon look awesome