Prime Video’s Wheel of Time series, based on the beloved and best-selling fantasy series of the same name, took a lot of criticism for its first season, but after two years and solid viewership, Season Two will arrive September 1 on the streaming service.
Having filmed seasons one and two back-to-back–with a third on the way–and with the primary goal being able to a total of eight altogether, the show takes some rather large liberties with how the story unfolds compared to the book series. The Wheel of Time book series consists of 14 main books, with a prequel novel detailing the origins of Moiraine and Lan, played by Rosamund Pike and Daniel Henney on the show, respectively.
However, the biggest challenge for the series to get there might not be fan backlash, but the fact that even though The Wheel of Time predates A Song of Fire and Ice’s publication date, the show has a lot of catching up to do to be part of the cultural zeitgeist the same way Game of Thrones has for over a decade. To complicate that even more, Amazon is also home to a show with an even larger following–The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Talking to GameSpot about the upcoming season, stars Pike and Josha Stradowski (Sony’s Gran Turismo) broke down how they think The Wheel of Time breaks through the noise of other fantasy series and what sets it apart.
“I mean, Robert Jordan was the bridge, wasn’t he, between Tolkien and George RR Martin,” Pike said. “I think what made him stand apart at the time–and still does–is his investigation of what the world looks like with women having access to the greatest power on Earth and being the gatekeepers of that power.”
In The Wheel of Time series, a society of women known as Aes Sedai are able to use a force called the One Power, but men who channel the same power eventually go mad. Stradowski’s Rand al’Thor is the only man who is supposedly allowed to use the power but also prophesied to save the world. However, the same prophecy says after he saves the world from the ultimate evil, he will destroy it.
“His interest isn’t solely in women, which is to do a disservice to the man who will ultimately break or save the world: Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn,” Pike added as she compared Rand’s presence in the world to an atomic bomb. “I think the diversity of his cast of characters is truly jaw-dropping and the way that so many women, in particular, who often feel excluded from fantasy, can read themselves into a myriad of fascinating characters is something that did set him apart.”