The Wheel of Time was
unceremoniously canceled by
Prime Video by way of a Friday newsdump, mere hours before a three day holiday weekend. For ardent fans of rebellious and expansive genre storytelling (like me), this was utterly tragic news. In its three season run,
The Wheel of Time had managed the unthinkable: remixing Robert Jordan’s behemoth of
book series into an enchanting action adventure series that championed queer and female characters alongside its tortured “Dragon Reborn.”
If, like me, you’re also a grizzled veteran of the
“streaming wars,” a decade-plus era in which various tech giants dipped their toes into the entertainment world, prompting Hollywood studios to throw money into streaming with the rabid energy of the California gold rush, this also wasn’t a surprise.
The Wheel of Time was one of many expensive projects ordered by former Amazon MGM Studios head
Jennifer Salke. Two months ago,
Salke was ousted from her role after a series of expensive misfires, Amazon pulled the plug on their (expensive) adaptation. Coincidence? Of course not.
Some hardcore
Wheel of Time fans might not know the inside baseball of Hollywood boardrooms, but they’re definitely familiar with regime changes. The third season of the Prime Video show even ends with the scheming Red sister Elaida (
Shohreh Aghdashloo) toppling the Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche (
Sophie Okonedo), in the White Tower of the Aes Sedai. Naturally, Siuan’s allies will be deposed, replaced with Elaida’s cronies. Similarly, after Salke’s exit, comes the natural pruning of her projects.
The Wheel of Time is a victim of the streaming wars.
What makes
The Wheel of Time so special also is sadly what made its cancellation inevitable.
The Wheel of Time was one of many expensive fantasy adaptations ordered by streamers looking to have their own “
Game of Thrones” in the 2010s. When Salke took charge of Amazon’s streaming slate in early 2018, she inherited the company’s billion dollar deal with the Tolkien estate to produce five seasons of a
Lord of the Rings prequel show. As that project took shape, she also picked up Sony’s nascent
Wheel of Time adaptation.
The Wheel of Time finally premiered on Prime Video in late 2021 and told the story of Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike), a magically-powered sister of the Blue Ajah of the Aes Sedai on the hunt for the “Dragon Reborn.” Moiraine believes that one of five youths from a small village could be the reincarnation of their world’s most powerful wielder of the “One Power.” She takes them under her wing, dragging them on a dangerous journey across a vast fantasy landscape.
Like Robert Jordan’s own work, Prime Video’s
The Wheel of Time opens as a loving Tolkien pastiche, but soon twists, expands, and morphs into a strange, detail-laden, character-driven saga. The show reached a creative zenith in Season 3, devoting full episodes to Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) and Moiraine’s trippy journeys to the mystic Aiel city of Rhuidean and Perrin Aybarra’s (Marcus Rutherford) defense of the Two Rivers.
The Wheel of Time also took massive creative risks that maybe wouldn’t fly on other paint-by-numbers fantasy productions. Showrunner Rafe Judkins lifted countless bits of queer subtext from Jordan’s novels and pushed them into the forefront of his adaptation. The Aes Sedai were represented by a diverse cast of actresses of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, and body types. Finally, Judkins recognized that it would be literally impossible to adapt all fourteen doorstoppers in the series, so he shuffled the narrative order of some events, combined certain characters, and invented others. Naturally, some book readers rejected this approach, but the show soon nurtured an ardent fanbase all its own.
The Wheel of Time never became the mega hit that some other shows developed under Salke did. It never broke into the zeitgeist like
The Boys, Reacher, Fallout, or even
The Summer I Turned Pretty. It did, however, create an online fanbase that was welcoming, positive, and inclusive. Every part of the show was infectiously fun, from its exquisite costume and set design to diegetic musical numbers about the “Hills of Tanchico.” (The “hills” are boobs.)
The current head of Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, Mike Hopkins, used the word “streamlining” when explaining Salke’s exit in March. A quirky fantasy show that costs a lot of money isn’t going to survive that process. Especially not when Prime Video is already legally obligated to make three more seasons of
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The Wheel of Time‘s fate was thus sealed.
Naturally, fans are already launching campaigns for another studio or streamer to pick the show up.
The Wheel of Time Season 3 ends on a sour cliffhanger, with Siuan’s non-canonical death and Rand proclaiming himself the Dragon Reborn. Vampy villains Moghedian (Laia Costa) and Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) have joined forces. The Aiel are torn asunder. There’s still a sword in Tear that Rand needs to get! We haven’t even met Cadsuane!!! THE STORY MUST GO ON!!!
The story might not go on. If
The Wheel of Time doesn’t get a miraculous pick up, it will be just the latest example of a creatively exciting show that emerged from the streaming wars only to be cancelled.
Still, it’s not a total wash.
The Wheel of Time might have only lasted three seasons, but in those seasons, fans got to hear “Weep for Manetheren” and the “Hills of Tanchico.” We got to witness Mat Cauthon’s (Dónal Finn) blow the Horn of Valere and best cocky princes Galad (Callum Kerr) and Gawyn (Luke Fetherston). We got to see Aviendha (Ayoola Smart) and Elayne make out! Most importantly, though,
The Wheel of Time birthed a truly warm online fandom that feels like an oasis of joy amid the internet’s hellscape.
The Wheel of Time‘s time might be up, but there is no beginning or end to that community.
