It’s time, now that I’ve had a bit of time between when the show came out to think about it, it’s time to talk about The Wheel of Time. Is this a series that you should checkout or isn’t it? The first season starts the adaptation of what Robert Jordan brought to book form in 1990 and Brandon Sanderson finished in 2013. It is a massive 14 book series, but is the adaptation any good?

What Is The Wheel of Time?

Like I said, it’s an epic 14 book series. It is heavy fantasy driven with a fairly standard epic fantasy setting, though some good tweaks on things like magic so that it isn’t just the normal setting. The main things that you need to know about the world going in is that time works on a loop, hence a wheel of time. Where heroes are reborn into the world, but because of a breaking of the world, there is a Dark One, and he wants to rule it all.

Rand Al’Thor and the kids of Emond’s Field live a normal quiet farm life. But when Moiraine Sedai shows up, their world starts to change. One of them is going to be the Dragon Reborn. They will either be the one to save the world, or join the Dark One and doom the world. But from Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nyneave, and Rand, Moiraine and her Warder Lan don’t know who it is going to be.

Thoughts on The Wheel of Time Season One?

I enjoyed the series. I am someone who read 13 of the 15 books. Yes, I said there were 14 books, and there are in the series, then there is a prequel which deals with Moiraine’s backstory. I do want to read that one as well eventually. And I am working my way through the series again now. The television series departs, pretty quickly, from the book series. And for some book readers, that departure, and the number of them might be shocking.

Even for myself, especially the first episode, seemed like a drastic step away from the books in terms of an adaptation. Now, that was closer, in some ways, than the series got as it went along. It ended up being more a pacing issue in the first episode and that they aged up the characters from the books. With that said, they generally always got the tone and feel right. When I look at an adaptation, that is what I want to see. I want it to give me the same feeling as the book. And I want it close enough to my minds picture that it’s easy to jump into the story.

I’d also say that the story is still strong in what they are doing. In some ways, because they had to cut down some fat from 14 books, and they really mainly touched on the first book, it works for television. There are parts that were cut out that I definitely missed, but that’d kind of be a spoiler. And there are other parts that remind me of how the Lord of the Rings trilogy completely cut out Tom Bombadil. Some characters, side quests, or plot points might be interesting, or fun, but less needed.

Spoilers For Wheel of Time Ahead

Clearly, we are getting into spoiler territory now. I recommend if the series interests you to stop now. If you have read the books but haven’t watched the show yet, feel free to continue. It might help clarify some choices that were made. Or lessen some surprises on changes that happened.

And if you want to catch up on my episode by episode reviews, you can find the one for the finale here. And links for other reviews in there.

What Didn’t Work?

A few things don’t work for me in the series. Let’s start at the very beginning. The pacing of the first episode and the heavy handedness of the first episode don’t work for me. One detail you need to know is that the characters in the show are older. This is not a bad change. I think it is needed because this is a long series and kids might age up too fast. Also this is an intense series, so I think slightly older works better.

Aged Up Characters

But the pacing was rushed on the first episode. Some of what makes The Wheel of Time a great series is that it has this writing style of slow, big moment, slow, big moment, a consistent rising and falling. The series gets to that, but it takes a little while. But Perrin is married, know that going in. And in order to get Perrin to dislike his axe, he accidentally kills his wife in the Trolloc attack. It is rushed and forced.

Who Is The Dragon?

They also play a guessing game as to who is The Dragon reborn. In the books, we get a fever dream from Tam Al’Thor, Rand’s father, about how he isn’t actually his father in the first quarter of the book. Here this was the second to last episode that we get that. It’s meant to keep the audience guessing, I get that. Bur, unfortunately, they telegraph it. They hint that everyone could be the Dragon except for Rand.

This can work if you are don’t pick up on it. But they generally lay it on pretty heavily. Every time that they were around both Mat and Rand, since they did spend a lot of time together, it always hinted that it was Mat. Every other character from Emond’s Field as well could be the dragon, except for Rand. I get that it creates a sense of mystery, but it is more interesting, when done well, as in the book, for Rand to try and come to terms with being the dragon. And that his father isn’t who he thought he is.

What Did Work?

Generally, I think that they did a good job in making things work for the show. This might be a bit less on the story front of things and more along the line of the aesthetic and acting. But let’s talk about the acting.

The Acting

The casting for this show is as perfect as I’ve seen for any show. Especially for an adaptation it is amazing. They manage to get the feel of every character right. Even an aged up Mat still has that playful side to him or trickster side from the books. Plus they give him more of a reason to lean into the darker side of the character. Perrin also really stands out to me. He has that slow, lumbering element to him. And while they change his story a lot, he still feels right.

I honestly can’t come up with any character that I didn’t think was a great casting. Min, maybe, wasn’t as how I pictured her in my mind. But she was good in it. And Lan might be a bit slighter of frame than I thought, but Daniel Henney does a very good job in the role. Again, he feels like Lan Mandragoran even if he doesn’t look the part perfectly. And in an adaptation, I care more about the feel than my minds picture.

Where They Meet

One of the more drastic changes, or two really, were skipping over Baerlon and Caemlyn. Instead, they took the whole group to Tar Valon, which doesn’t happen that early in the books. However, the whole Caemlyn plot and Baerlon plots, they more flesh out the story. They add in some new characters and new things that are important, but generally can be done anywhere.

This also saves on the story from the second book. Fal Dara storyline is interesting, but they massively tighten it up with going to Tar Valon first. Again, this is an adaptation, there are going to be some losses to story. But there are also going to be some casualties, but also some ways that the story is tightened up a lot. No Padan Fain being arrested, he just shows up. No going to the Eye of the World and coming back with the Horn of Valere.

We can immediately get into the chase for the horn and the Great Hunt. Though, we need to see how that is going to work as there are pieces who aren’t there right now.

What I Missed?

Let’s talk quickly about what I missed from the series. Honestly there is only one thing I truly missed. And that is what we haven’t met Elayne yet. And that means that Rand didn’t climb up the wall and fall into the castle grounds in Caemlyn. Is that scene extremely important, I’m not sure, honestly, no it isn’t. But it is one of the moments of just fun from the series.

The Wheel of Time has a lot of adventure to it. It is generally a pretty dark series. The Caemlyn scene is a lot of fun. And just in general Elayne is one of my favorite characters, both her and Min. So I am curious when she gets into the show how we’ll be. I don’t know much about the actor playing her, so I’ll have to see.

I also missed, as I talked about, the fever “dream” that Tam tells Rand. We get it later, but I would love to instead see the story play around with Rand’s questioning of everything. Maybe that is too internal, but I think seeing that one scene would improve the story for me.

Wheel of Time Final Spoiler Thoughts

I really liked the series. I thought with the characters they did such an amazing job that it stands out as unique and better than most things. There are a few elements that I really need to see what happens with them. How is Elayne introduced? Where is Rand going away to and when will he come back? What is Mat up to? How will the story change now that Moiraine has been stilled?

Those are massive massive changes, but in terms of story I still think that it works. How it will work long term, and how much it’ll diverge I’m very curious about. I still definitely love the series, though, will all the changes. It reminds me of Lord of the Rings where most of the changes have been done for the good. And I am really curious to see what is coming forward.

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