The Wheel of time is an epic fantasy television series produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios. Rafe Judkins serves as the showrunner. The Show is based on the novel series of the same name by Robert Jordan. The show consists of 8 episodes in the first season with a second season on the way.
The Wheel of Time Series Plot
In the world of The Wheel of time, the dark one wants to take control of the earth and the only one who can stop him is the dragon reborn. The previous dragon trapped the dark one and 3000 years later, the dark one is getting his powers back as he sends his army of Trollocs and dark allies to serve his purpose.
An Aes Sedai, Moiraine along with her warder, al’Lan Mandragoran travels to the Two Rivers in the search for the Dragon Reborn. She believes that the dragon has been reincarnated as a resident of the Two Rivers and there are four possible candidates, Rand, Perrin, Mat and Egwene. Unaware of there being another possible candidate, she takes the four of them with her to The White Tower as they escape before the Trolloc army could catch hold of them.
The Wheel of Time Series Cast
- Rosamund Pike as Moiraine Damodred, an Aes Sedai
- Daniel Henney as al’Lan Mandragoran, Moiraine’s Warder
- Zoë Robins as Nynaeve al’Meara, Wisdom of Emond’s Field
- Madeleine Madden as Egwene al’Vere
- Josha Stradowski as Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn
- Marcus Rutherford as Perrin Aybara
- Barney Harris as Mat Cauthon
- Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin Guirale, an Aes Sedai
- Priyanka Bose as Alanna Mosvani, an Aes Sedai
- Hammed Animashaun as Loial, an Ogier
- Sophie Okonedo as Siuan Sanche, the Amyrlin Seat
- Kae Alexander as Min Farshaw
- Fares Fares as Ishamael, one of the Forsaken
- Johann Myers as Padan Fain, a travelling merchant
- Abdul Salis as Eamon Valda, a Whitecloak
- Álvaro Morte as Logain Ablar
The Wheel of Time Series Review
A fantasy television series adaption of the books is seen more and more in recent times like The Wheel of Time, The Witcher, Shadow and Bone, Game of Thrones, the new Lord of the Rings series by Amazon and many but each one of them has its essence which makes them unique. All of them follow a basic formula to introduce a new world unknown to the audience and from there, the path is taken towards their story. Each one has a good and evil, just like every other fantasy and what makes all of them similar is “THE ONE”. “THE ONE” who will save them from all evil. What makes these fantasies unique is obviously the story, their rendition of the good and the evil but also what makes “THE ONE” different in all of them. “THE ONE” has some unworldly powers but how does it control itself and defeat the evil for the greater good, that is what makes each of these fantasies similar but different in a sense.
The One in this fantasy, The Wheel of Time is referred to as the Dragon. Dragon is the only one who can wield such powers to defeat and sustain the dark one. The Wheel of Time takes a different approach with it having The One but its fate is intertwined with four others. All five of them are essential to the fight against the dark one. It is still to be known as to how they will contribute but in some way or other, all will come to an end at the last battle.
The Wheel of Time leads the audience into the story through many different perspectives, even if many are not explored as much you might want them too but still establishes the world and the lore in a somewhat diligent manner. The first few episodes fail to hit the mark enough to generate high interest but hanging around for more is definitely fruitful. Season 1 is meant to establish the lore of the dark one and dragon and take a look into the characters who are and will play an important role throughout the narrative. The many places like The White Tower, Two Rivers, Malkier, Shadar Logoth etc play a significant role in the story as does any place in epic fantasy. The history and such significance add a lot to the world-building and also towards amplifying its realism. A treat about fantasy books is they are best at describing and introducing a new imaginary world where the audience can submerse themselves in and television or movie adaption makes those words into a reality which takes it to the next level by being even more immersive. The Wheel of Time doesn’t fail at doing so either, the massive plains and vegetations, mountains and cities, land and sea take us long to jump into its grand world.
The Wheel of Time isn’t perfect, it is good at many things but still needs to achieve more at some other to reach the height that it can. Mainly from the storytelling point of view, the characters are well cast and they do play their respective roles credibly. But it becomes hard to attach yourselves to them, root for them, the characters needed to be explored more. A deeper dive into themselves makes it more accessible for the audience to understand their point of view as they are the protagonists. There are more seasons to come where we can see the real them but more could be done in this season itself.
The fact that Perrin isn’t in love with his wife, Laila as he loves someone else is made very obvious, but it left me desiring more from his character in terms of being vulnerable and expressing what he truly feels. I feel like even though at the time, he did not love Laila but eventually there was a growing bond that lead to the feeling of love being blossomed. Perrin is being underutilized and more can be explored and likewise for some other characters.
Another important part of the story that feels forced is the revelation of Rand being the Dragon. Even though there were some subtle hints of him being the dragon it still isn’t believable as each one of them showed some form of power unique to themselves. Even after the revelation, it was still doubtful if he was the dragon or not, which is confirmed later but there isn’t any increasing development that could substantiate him as the dragon.
The season ends with the dragon trapping the dark one and leaving to protect the others. Moiraine realized that this wasn’t the last battle but the first of many. And a fleet of ships from a foreign world attacks the westernmost part of the land/continent. Which leaves us on the cliffhanger as to whether the dark one that was defeated is really the dark one? Was he really defeated? How is all five of their fates intertwined? The fleet of the foreigners attacking is the start of the war? and What is more to come from the fight for good versus evil?
The Wheel of Time Series Critical Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a rating of 82% based on 75 reviews. On Metacritic, the series scored 55 out of 100 based on 24 critics and on IMDb, the wheel of time has a rating of 7.3 out of 10 based on 70k ratings.
The Movie Culture Synopsis
The Wheel of Time has a slow start but still can pique interest because of a new and unknown world. As the series goes on it becomes more interesting and rewarding as the lore is revealed and the dark one is confronted. Season 1 is fun but it does come along with its faults, but a show of such massive scale can become better as they do have a solid start. Season 2 is already in shooting and it is exciting as to what will be next, mainly with the foreign invaders’ storyline.
The Wheel of Time season 1, the complete season is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video. It is available to watch worldwide.
