O Rei do Inverno

I have to say that I've been looking forward to The Winter King ever since I first heard about it. I love these kind of shows, this genre is definitely one of my favorites. When I first heard about this I was excited but once I saw the trailers my expectations grew even more. While it might not be quite as good as I was hoping for it's still pretty good and worth the time to watch it. It might start a little slow for some but stick with it because it picks up in a hurry and you won't be able to stop watching. I didn't think Ian De Caestecker would be able to pull off the role of Arthur but he does. He's actually the best of the show. Besides the acting and writing being pretty good, the visuals are also good. I hope that we get multiple seasons of this.

The Warlord Chronicles are among my favourite books, having read them a number of times. Whilst this adaptation captures some of the key elements of the first book, there is still much that is missing, particularly a heart to the story.

This is made to be Arthur's story rather than Derfel's. Consequently the complexities and nuances of certain relationships between characters are lost, particularly through the role of Merlin. This makes the production less interesting than it could otherwise have been.

World building is also a bit lacklustre and the sense of scale is lost by putting characters on horseback, a very noticeable shift in the story. Thus we lose some of the grit and realism of battles that came through the book (where are the shield walls?) and could have made for a compelling adaptation, rather just giving us something that we've seen before.

The adaptation also seeks to reflect "the world we live in today" through both its casting choices and the way in which certain characters are written. This works in some respects, but doesn't in others which is ultimately to the detriment of the show.

I've watched through the whole of series 1 and whilst I found it watchable, as a long time fan of the books, i felt this was an opportunity missed.

The most compelling aspects of the books is that they actively try to remove the anachronisms (wooden hill forts, ponies and spearmen instead of stone castles, warhorses and swords), and they look up at the legendary characters from the viewpoint of Derfel. Legendary characters sweep into Derfel's life, have impact, then leave. They keep their mystique because of the viewpoint we have of them. The show desperately wants to shift this viewpoint to Arthur and make it his story, which rather misses the point.

Straight away we start with the king in a stone castle and Merlin with some huts in a forest because that is the stereotypical settings for a High King and a Druid. Gone are the hill forts that gave the books an iconic setting, instead this adaptation just feels like churned out rubbish; wannabe Game of Thrones, Uthred or LotR.

That the characters have all had their personalities put through the wash is the final nail for this show. The worst examples are that Merlin isn't chaotic, Nimue has lost her bite and Morgan is bland. They've lost the very traits that drive their character arcs.

As a fan of book series (written by Bernard Cornwell whom also did the Saxon Stories that 'The Last Kingdom' is based on) I have been following the news and was eager to watch this show. To me, the trailer did not look promising given the lack of time provided to the book's central character - Derfel.

While it is obvious that this show would not be a faithful adaptation, cinema often isn't so I went in with an open mind.

The actors do a well enough job with what they are given, but it is obvious that the characters will not be the same as the book series (i.e. Merlin is meant to be senile and old, Morgan is not at all the same). Clearly this happens often as interpretations differ, but Winter King's interpretations are completely opposite to key characteristics for main characters.

While trying to view this property as a stand alone or outsider unaware of the original story, it is certainly better (maybe a 6.5/10 acknowledging my bias), though it provides nothing new or groundbreaking.

To most the show would be used to passably kill time. Entertaining enough I suppose. Time will tell where this show goes, does it get better with time or does it become The Witcher.

It's hard to quantify why this show doesn't work. Certainly the historical inaccuracies turned me off, especially the language - who in the fifth century asks, "Gotta minute?"

But it's way more than that - mediocre acting, uninteresting characters, a plot as slow as a soap opera, and no beauty or elegance whatsoever. I'm not really into fight and battle scenes, but I would have welcomed a few in the first episode, in place of the violent beatings and degradation it contained.

Game of Thrones has huge pluses over this show, including internal consistency, and gorgeous actors with true talent.