The TV show, The Wheel of Time brings a world built on magical power struggles and the confines of repeating fates to life. The TV show explores a fresh perspective from the fantasy book series leaving viewers excited to find out what happens next.
First released Nov. 19, 2021 on Amazon Prime, The Wheel of Time quickly rose up the charts becoming the most demanded show in the US and Amazon Prime’s biggest release that year. The show was later nominated for six different awards, including a Hugo Award for best series, and won a ReFrame Stamp award.
The Wheel of Time is set in a fantasy world influenced by a wheel that spins through the ages and controls time. When The Dragon, a person who is prophesied to have the power to save the world, is reborn, Moraine Sadai, one of the eas sadai, women with incredible power, is sent out to find them. Her journey leads her to a small farming town called Two Rivers, where she meets a group of five friends, one of whom may be the Dragon. Together, they set out to learn more about themselves and save their world from impending doom.
There are many series and movies based on books, many of which are done poorly and disliked by fans. For example, the Percy Jackson movies are famously disliked by fans of the book who call them inaccurate and a disgrace to fantasy cinema. As a result of this, the stakes were incredibly high for The Wheel of Time especially due to the fact that the success or downfall of this series could predict how good the upcoming Lord of the Rings series would be, as the show was another fantasy book adaptation being released by Amazon Prime. Despite the pressure, director Rafe Judkins rose to the occasion drawing from the books and producing a show that, while different, was complementary and a strong addition to the original series.
“It’s crazy seeing how many people are watching the show. It feels like we’ve done the thing we set out to do, of connecting with people who really love the books, but a big majority of our audience is people who don’t know anything about the books and aren’t even necessarily fantasy fans,” said Judkins in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
What made this series brilliant was the way it focused on all of the main characters at different points, with each episode being specific to one character. These glimpses into a character’s world and background made them more relatable while the audience struggles to predict who the Dragon really is.
One thing that The Wheel of Time struggled with was keeping viewers focused and up to date on new information with its one hour long episodes. In order to immerse viewers in the intricate fantasy world, The Wheel of Time constantly introduced new information, and with the episodes flipping between different points of view it was very difficult to truly grasp everything. This overload of information can create confusion and some boredom as the episode would seem to be over when it was only halfway done.
Other than a few minor grievances, the The Wheel of Time series is a fantastic visual interpretation to the well known books. The series is more inspired by the books than acting as a carbon copy, making it a good watch for both new and returning fans.
