The Winter King

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.

So I love anything that has to do with King Arthur and Bernard Cornwell is one of my favorite writers so to have him do an Arthurian book series was awesome!! I love the tv version of "The Last Kingdom" by him and was really hoping this would be similar but sadly it's not even close. The creators/writers of the show either never read the books or decided to just ignore them entirely. I've watched all 5 episodes to air and every one makes me more disappointed in what could've been a great show. Outside of the fact it's very different from the books the acting, writing, casting, and overall production is just bad. Only gave it a 5 cause I love the legend and original books so much.

Absolutely awful. I've waited 27 years for someone to bring this to the screen and all I have is a sense of crushing disappointment.

Right from the start, characters were not doing what the book had set out. The child Mordred was not Uther's son. Norwenna was not Uther's wife.

Merlin is a Druid of British Celtic origin. Hywel (Welsh name) is Merlin's Steward on the Tor. Lunete is Derfel's first female "companion" , is of Irish origin, and is not related to Hywel in any way. Morgan is disfigured by fire but appears whole on screen. When Gundleus attacks the Tor, Hywel is killed. Derfel rescues Nimue and makes his escape, picking up Hywel's sword. The sword is renamed "Hywelsbane" and features throughout the rest of the tale. That didn't happen on screen so will leave gaping holes in later episodes.

I lasted to half way through the third episode and then gave up. This ranks as one of the worst book to screen adaptations, only surpassed by "The Running Man"

It is a different aproach to the legendary story of Arthur Pendragon. A Tale a little more realistic and dark than the usual. You got to see it with an open mind. It have a very interesting view of thing, very deep in the human process, in the human progress, and in the evolution of the character. You have to see it with patience and profund prospect of analysis. Nothing is in vain. Everything mean something. The ambientance is particularly realistic and with a touch of humility, the main characters are complex and a very human structuration. The interaction bethwen them is very rich. I recommend this serie.

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.