The Wheel of Time (2x01-2x03): A Taste of Solitude, Strangers & Friends, and What Might Be
While S1 ultimately disappointed (somewhat for reasons outside of the writers' control, but also through odd storytelling choices), S2 holds more promise (and better VFX!)
Hi folks! Just a bit of housekeeping: It’s been a while since I had time to write about TV. When we last spoke, I had hoped to dig into the back third of Quantum Leap (2022) S1. That didn’t happen, and I haven’t published anything since February (i.e., since before my wedding). My goal this Fall is to post some final Quantum Leap S1 thoughts ahead of the S2 premiere in October. The idea would be to continue providing you with episodic reviews of Quantum Leap, while also engaging with shorter-run sci-fi/fantasy programming (as with S1 of House of the Dragon). So, with that: Welcome to reviews of The The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime!
Thank you for your patience, and for your subscription!
The Wheel of Time (or WoT)—a popular and notoriously long(winded) epic fantasy series written by Robert Jordan (until his death in 2007, later finished by Brandon Sanderson)—has finally been adapted into a TV show after years stuck in development hell!1 I’ve read the whole series (some books several times), which was published across fourteen ~1000 page novels (plus a short prequel) between 1990 and 2013. While it was never my favourite series (books 7-10 are sometimes affectionately labelled ‘The Slog’), it has certainly played a large part in developing my love of epic fantasy.
“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long pass, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings or endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.”
This blog wasn’t around when WoT S1 first aired, but even if it had been, I don’t know that I would have chosen to review the show. My reaction to S1 can be summed up by a brief discussion of two complementary adaptation changes (one good, one bad), production challenges, and a serious problem with the magic system (in any medium). I may at times discuss book spoilers (i.e., character arcs, plot twists, foreshadowing), but those will be clearly labelled and relegated to a section at the end (Spoiler Corner). Otherwise, throughout the review itself, I will talk about episodes up to what has aired so far (1x01 through to 2x03), possibly information from Prime’s X-Ray feature, and comparisons to the books (i.e., adaptation choices and changes mostly).
S1 Book-to-Screen Changes—Rand (Good) and Perrin (Bad, Very Bad)
Rand, our surprise feminist hero: In the novels, Rand al’Thor—a typical angsty, teenage boy fantasy protagonist—fairly quickly takes on some toxic feelings about women. As the Saidin-addled Dragon Reborn, he becomes obsessed with sacrifices made in his name, which would be fine (the burden of being a symbol of both hope and terror and all that jazz) if it weren’t for the fact that he only focuses on the choices made by women. He just can’t handle their choices and their agency. It’s very annoying.
In the show, all of the Emond’s Field characters are more mature (and sexually active). Rand and Egwene don’t have a reciprocated YA crush, they have an adult relationship. More importantly, Egwene is portrayed as a deeply ambitious woman and Rand (while sad) understands that he may not be the man for her. At the end of the season, when given the opportunity to live out a fantasy life with Egwene provided by Ishamael, he rejects it—because he knows it isn’t true to who Egwene is. He’s just a solid dude!
Perrin, our angsty accidental wife murderer: Probably the most controversial change, heavily critiqued by fans and Brandon Sandersons alike, was to create for TV a wife for Perrin, just for him to accidentally murder her in the heat of the pilot. And so, a large part of his journey has focused on his complex feelings about murdering his wife. In the books, he’s an extremely internal character (which is hard to translate to screen), a thoughtful and considerate person who aims to use his power (his physical strength and whatever is happening with Wolf Magic) to protect those around him. He has complex feelings about violence, respects the Tinkers and their pacifist ways, and struggles with what he may be capable of doing. With less internality possible on TV, and less time to dedicate to an arc, it’s really too bad they decided to work with the shorthand of Perrin fridging his own wife. [To say nothing of the love triangle ugh].
This leaves me with mixed feelings about whether I can trust the showrunners. They gave us feminist Rand with one hand, and fridged Perrin’s wife with the other.
COVID and the Mat Cauthon of it all: We don’t know what happened, but the OG actor who played Mat (Barney Harris) left after the filming of 1x06. This happened during a delayed production schedule caused by COVID-19; unfortunate timing given the series was starting to get good. It was especially rough to take, since Harris was a real standout. It also provided one of the corniest cliff-hangers I have ever seen (i.e., everyone shouting at Mat while a magical door closed, with B-roll of Barney Harris looking mildly concerned staring into the middle distance). Episodes 7 and 8 suffered from a lack of Mat, as plotlines were quickly rewritten to adjust for the change.
WoT Foundations: Gender Essentialism and the Red Ajah: So, the Wheel of Time exists in a world where men and women fundamentally have different magic. Women alone can touch Saidar (the female half of The One Power) and men alone can touch Saidin (the male half of The One Power, tainted by the Dark One in a previous Age). Men who channel in the current Age go mad due to the taint, and so we arrive in a world where men who can channel are captured and gentled (cut off from their power) by female Aes Sedai (specifically the Red Ajah, often framed as man-hating).
As mentioned above, I have mixed feelings about how or whether the showrunners have truly updated 90s attitudes about gender for a modern show and audience. But no matter who well they do addressing gender politics, how much can you update a world that is fundamentally built on top of essentialist accounts of gendered magic?
Season 2 So Far: Some Light Reflections
Episodes 2x02-2x03 were much better than 2x01, and most of S1, honestly!
Nynaeve is really the standout across three episodes, with Zoë Robins nailing the pain of her experience being tested to be an Accepted. I also love how this ter’angrael (the magic gateways) gives us glimpses of possible pasts, presents, and futures. The Wheel of Time turns, and this is just another turning of The Wheel.
Kate Fleetwood is also giving a heck of a performance as Liandrin; she’s doing a great job granting depth to a character I despise. The twist of the elderly man being her son also did an excellent job showcasing how Aes Sedai age slowly.
After three episodes, I think I like New Mat; however, I don't think it was a good idea to only include him in a single very serious scene in the season premiere.2 I understand that he's in the middle of a Dark Arc, but if they wanted to convince me that the role had been recast well, I don't think dramatic acting is what I would have gone for—maybe some kind of witty retort to Liandrin. Something more charming. I didn't mind only having a bit of time with Mat here, I just felt like he needed to say other things. I can imagine the show wants to pretend that there was no change, but it still felt like a missed opportunity to introduce the new guy with a bang. At least in 2x01, it did not work for me as much as I wanted.
The weaving looks so much better. I’m such a fan of the water/earth weave, and Verin’s fire weaves. Giving each element a more distinct colour, and sharpening the lines on the weaves so it doesn’t just look like magic air really helped.
Welp, there goes Uno Namesta, a fan-favourite who does not die in Book 2; in a world full of Darkness, a silly swearing guy goes a long way! Fun Fact: Alwhin (the Seanchan woman who orders the execution) is married to Uno in real life!
I've been pleased in general with how they have been collapsing characters and storylines to streamline the storytelling. According to the Internet, there are more than 2,700 named characters in the 4.4 Million Words across the 15 WoT novels. For example, Elyas (a guy who knows Stuff about Perrin’s emerging Wolf Magic) appears in the books, but he’s not the Sniffer who helps the Shienarans track Padan Fain (that would be Hurin). Both are interesting example of Magics beyond what the Aes Sedai can do, but while Hurin is great, this just makes sense.
I found it hard to believe that Liandrin wasn’t manipulating Nynaeve, but her reaction to Nynaeve discovering her son (even with Nynaeve having left the room) confuses that interpretation. But then Liandrin playing the long game with Mat and Min kind of lends more credence to her manipulations. Which is exciting!
I’m not super keen on what Moiraine is up to. Having her cut off from the Power is an interesting twist added to the show (perhaps to give Rosamund Pike more to do, since Moiraine doesn’t do much in Book 2), but despite her trauma, she mostly just comes across as a jerk to Lan, her best bud and friendo who wants to help.
That’s it for early S2 thoughts! I’ve just got some World Map Help and Spoilers below. Thanks!
Season 2 So Far: Location, Location, Location - [aka A Map to Help]
The show has so far divided the plot across four locations with connected stories:
Tar Valon and The White Tower, following Nynaeve, Egwene, Liandrin, Elayne, a whole bunch of Aes Sedai (Sheriam, Leane) and to a lesser extent Mat (and Min).
Toman’s Head in the West, following the Shienarans (Ingtar, Uno [RIP], and Mesema to name a few), Perrin, and Loail’s hunt for Padan Fain (a Darkfriend) and the Horn of Valere. Captured by the Seanchan in Atuan’s Mill. Also, wolves.
Tifan’s Well in the North, in Arafel, where Moiraine and Lan have been hanging out with sisters (and Sisters) Verin and Adeleas of the Brown Ajah (books n’ stuff).
Cairhien (at least the Foregate), a bit to the South of Tar Valon, where Rand has gone since pretending to die. As an orderly, he has worked for months to get close to Logain (the gentled false dragon) to learn how to magic from him. He’s shacked up with an innkeeper named Selene, and may also be getting drawn into the Game of Houses (yes, it sounds like Game of Thrones, but it predates that series).
Season 2 So Far: Spoiler Corner
DO NOT CONTINUE. You have been warned.
Book spoilers follow a line of dashes. Also, there are dashes at the end if you want to footnotes.
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Some changes, like Uno’s death, add some real tension for book readers, since we don’t know which of the literally hundreds of popular secondary characters are safe. This is not as faithful an adaptation as Game of Thrones (Sanderson has explicitly called it “a new turning of the wheel”), which I genuinely quite like.
Similarly, unless I have forgotten something from S1, it seems like Liandrin may get collapsed into other characters, like Galina, Alviarin, and possibly even Elaida (which means she might not be Black Ajah). I would still want an Elaida-alike; I think it’s important to include villains who aren’t just straight up Darkfriends.
Generally, I liked a lot of the foreshadowing (Verin and Ingtar especially). It didn't feel too on the nose (well, maybe Verin did), but it just worked for me. I basically died when Verin mentioned loopholes and oaths and tried not to cry and freak out in front of my partner who has not read the book series and knows nothing.
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The wildest bit was a secretly-aired standalone pilot, starring Billy Zane, clearly intended to retain IP rights (which were about to revert to Jordan’s wife), leading to lawsuits & nonsense.
I suppose that may be why Prime dropped three episodes at once (a model that doesn’t always make sense); with so little Mat and Rand in the premiere, we needed all three episodes to form a coherent three-hour-long pseudo-premiere / blob-o-episodes.
I really enjoyed this writeup! I don't actually watch Wheel but I do enjoy reading about it and I really appreciate how you discuss changes to the adaptation and/or the show that have occurred due to external factors. Might start watching when it gets truly good.