The Wheel of Time - Review

Season 2 of The Wheel of Time streams on Prime Video beginning September 1.

In the later books of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, the ever-expanding cast of characters is too divided, dragging down the story with scenes that lack much action or relevant interpersonal interactions. A similar pattern emerges in the second season of Prime Video’s Wheel of Time adaptation where showrunner Rafe Judkins and the writing staff have isolated the members of their ensemble. Ironically, by deviating from the source material, the TV version has recreated the biggest problem with Jordan’s high fantasy epic. 

The Wheel of Time was put in a tough spot by the early departure of Barney Harris in season 1, forcing them to leave the cursed troublemaker Mat Cauthon out of the fight against the forces of the Dark One in the season’s final episodes. His replacement, Dónal Finn, is doing a serviceable job in these new episodes, though his character’s plot – being strung along in an obvious trap because he’s too cowardly to reunite with his friends – is unimpressive. The Dark One’s top lieutenant Ishamael (Fares Fares) is busy doing a lot more scheming and recruiting this season, and while his menacing charm is powerful, it feels like he’d be a lot more persuasive if he didn’t tell everyone he’s known as the father of lies and betrayer of hope.

The start of the season is bogged down in moping and brooding. After learning that he can channel the One Power – and that it will eventually cause him to lose his mind and hurt those he loves – Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) faked his death and fled at the end of season 1. Rand spends the first four episodes of the season trying to get control over his abilities while shacked up with an innkeeper in Cairhien, a bland setting mostly defined by dramatic wealth inequality between those who live inside its gates and the people outside them. There’s some appeal in showing a darker side of Rand, and a few of the key plots being developed in Cairhien show promise. Still, when he nearly burns down a building while having a sexy dream and talks about the joy of a woman seeing him as a man for the first time, it feels more awkward than erotic.

Rand and Mat’s solo storylines leave blacksmith-with-a-bestial-side Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford) alone in his search for the Horn of Valere, which was stolen at the end of season 1 by the traitorous peddler Padan Fain (Johann Myers). (In The Great Hunt, the book that forms the basis for this season’s beginning and some of last season’s ending, all three embark on a quest for the magical MacGuffin.) Without another protagonist to play off, too much time is spent focused on Perrin’s feelings about his dead wife – a character invented for the worst plot of season 1 who would be better off forgotten. But Perrin’s segment of the show has the best payoff so far in that it involves the introduction of the Seanchan, the mysterious seafarers who appeared at the very end of the season 1. Their depiction in the show does justice to Jordan’s words: Onscreen, the Seanchan are terrifying and brutal, their soldiers clad in helmets that look like gaping maws and their unique form of channeling brought to life through a mix of dramatic costuming and synchronized movement. They should be more heavily involved in the rest of the season, so hopefully things pick up soon.

The decision to still Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) – removing her ability to channel and undoing her mystical bond with her warder, Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney) – remains perplexing. While she demonstrates that she doesn’t need magic to dominate social interactions or even handle dangerous enemies, way too much time is spent on Moiraine trying to get rid of Lan and the stoic warrior moping about not being able to help her. But stripping Moiraine of her magical abilities feels additionally pointless and repetitive since the show already did a strong job depicting the exact same thing (with different characters) last season. Considering how powerful Moiraine’s foes are, she’d have to reckon with being uncharacteristically outmatched even if she was still at full strength. At least she doesn’t follow the path of Yennefer in season 2 of The Witcher and spend all her time trying to recover what she lost, staying laser focused on preparing for the coming apocalyptic battle between the forces of Dark and Light.

The events at the White Tower, where Rand’s village wisdom Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoe Robins) and childhood sweetheart Egwene Al’Vere (Madeleine Madden) are learning to channel, provide much of the best material in the early episodes. The Wheel of Time sits at the intersection of the fantastical worldbuilding of The Lord of the Rings and the intrigue of Game of Thrones, and nowhere is that scheming more prevalent than the Aes Sedai headquarters, which serves as both a magical school for girls and a place where women make decisions that impact nations.

Viewers who haven't read the books won't notice the questionable changes, but they may have their own struggle keeping straight the myriad of new and returning characters.

Madden and Robins continue to deliver standout performances, a study in contrast as Nynaeve is dismissive of the attention she receives for her incredible magical potential while Egwene bristles with jealousy as she tries to do everything by the books and sees few results. The writers are digging deeper into what it means to have an Aes Sedai’s magically extended lifespan for both Moiraine and her primary antagonist, Liandrin Guirale (Kate Fleetwood), who skillfully manipulates Nynaeve and demonstrates just how dangerous it is for the heroes to be off trying to save the world while neglecting what’s happening in the corridors of power.

Viewers who haven’t read the books won’t notice the questionable changes that have been made this season, but I feel like they’ll have their own struggle keeping straight the myriad of new and returning characters. The first four episodes tragically ditch the gorgeous title sequence showing the Pattern that connects the lives of everyone in the universe and the color-based factions of the Aes Sedai in favor of a simple spinning logo. If they had to replace it, A Game of Thrones-style map would have gone a long way to easing viewers into the show’s expanding world.