The Wheel Of Time’s Cancellation May Be Good For Book Fans
Another promising, if flawed, fantasy show bites the dust.
While Amazon has been all-in on its efforts to cultivate the next great fantasy show, it’s decided not to renew one of its most unique. After three successful seasons, The Wheel of Time has reached its end, with Deadline citing financial issues as the culprit of its cancellation. Amazon executives reportedly liked the series and were happy with its third season — but with viewership slipping, costlier properties like The Rings of Power demanding more attention, and other critical hits like Fallout outpacing its contemporaries, Amazon couldn’t justify the effort to keep The Wheel of Time turning.
The cancellation naturally comes as a disappointment to the show’s vocal fanbase, and to those who recognized that it was finally coming into its own. Comparisons to fantasy franchises like the Lord of the Rings or Dune were inevitable, but The Wheel of Time always managed to deliver enough story to set itself apart. Its diverse cast and heady fantasy themes smoothed over most narrative blemishes, and if nothing else, it kept us curious about the future of the series. Now we’ll never get to see how Rand Al’Thor (Josha Stradowski), the messiah figure known as the Dragon Reborn, will fulfill his quest to save the world. But by that same token, we’re also spared from what could have been a controversial Season 4, one that would have diverged even further from the source material fans know and love.
The Wheel of Time was a show with so much potential, but it was undone by its disregard for its source material.
From the very beginning, The Wheel of Time was playing pretty fast and loose with its source material. As an adaptation of the 15-book series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, there are bound to be liberties taken — otherwise, there’s no way the show could get through all that story. Season 1 and 2 may depart the most from the books, largely due to a casting shake-up involving a key character, Mat Cauthon. After actor Barney Jenkins departed at the end of Season 1, most of Season 2 had to be rewritten, putting Mat and the rest of his friends on their own separate journeys. Season 2 also gave Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) a much meatier role, beefing up her importance in the series and making The Wheel of Time more of a two-hander shared with Rand.
Most of those tweaks made for compelling television, but there are others made in Season 3 that many have deemed unnecessary, distracting, or downright detrimental to the foundation set in earlier seasons. The third season of The Wheel of Time adapted The Shadow Rising, the fourth book in the series — and for the most part, it was the most faithful. Its final episodes, however, are drastically different, and most of its controversial changes have to do with its characters.
The demise of Siuan is one of The Wheel of Time’s most controversial canon changes.
The Wheel of Time’s treatment of the Forsaken, the dark servants of the show’s Big Bad, is especially puzzling. Some characters meant to play an integral role in Rand’s journey as the Dragon are murdered before they can reach their potential, while others are written out of the story entirely. Then, there’s the fate of Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okonedo), the head of the powerful society of channelers known as the Aes Sedai. Season 3 follows Siuan in her struggles to keep the politicking at the White Tower from boiling over, but her efforts backfire when Elaida of the Red Ajah (Shohreh Aghdashloo) stages a coup to depose her. Siuan’s ousting, along with the loss of her powers, is depicted in the books — but The Wheel of Time goes a step too far by depicting her violent torture and eventual beheading.
Siuan’s departure is the change from the novels that makes the least sense. Like a handful of characters in The Wheel of Time, Siuan plays a major role in the latter half of the series, serving as a mentor to main characters like Egwene al’Vere. She never regains her powers, but she finds new ways to aid in the battle against the Shadow, making her arc one of the saga’s most surprising and fulfilling. Cutting her time short in The Wheel of Time doesn’t only feel needlessly cruel, it also plays into frustrating tropes for queer characters and women of color. Her demise is particularly devastating for her star-crossed love, Moiraine, conveniently granting her the power she needs to secure a last-minute victory in a battle with another Forsaken. Given that the bulk of Season 3 was about foreshadowing Moiraine’s doomed future, this kind of bait-and-switch is indicative of the show’s worst instincts: centering its star at the detriment of its supporting cast.
Despite its incredible cast, The Wheel of Time always went back to Moiraine... for better or worse.
Judkins reportedly chose to say goodbye to Siuan to introduce a major shake-up to the status quo — and for better or worse, he succeeded. There’s no telling how her murder might have affected future seasons of The Wheel of Time; though the series likely would have improved in other ways, it might have continued to make unnecessary changes, alienating fans of the show and the original novels alike. That The Wheel of Time won’t get any chances to continue its story and explore its most controversial changes, is admittedly a tragedy. But even with all its tweaks, it was still struggling to justify its existence. Maybe it’s best to stick with the books.
