The Wheel of Time and Lucifer fans take Fandom Madness by storm!

There is nothing like a good old-fashioned smackdown to get people through tough times. Since March 16, we’ve been running a March Madness-style tournament that’s pit 64 of the most popular characters in sci-fi and fantasy against each other. It’s been a ton of fun watching the fandoms step up for their favorite series. The passion on display has impressed us mightily, and surprised us. Now, only two characters remain:

There have been some heated battles along the way, but by far the hottest took place yesterday, as fans of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series took on fans of Netflix’s newly-acquired original show, Lucifer. Their candidates, Moiraine Damodred and Lucifer Morningstar, were not heavy favorites going into this tournament, or at least, we didn’t think they would make it this far, not because they’re not great characters but because they’re not as widely known as some of the other folks in the running. They went up against the likes of Superman, Gandalf, Ironman, Darth Vader and Wonder Woman and bested them all. It goes to show that passionate fanbases trump everything.

In some ways, this shouldn’t be surprising. After a three-season run on Fox, Lucifer was cancelled. However, the response from fans was so overwhelming that Lucifer became the number one trending topic worldwide on the day of its cancellation, according to Deadline. Soon enough, Netflix swooped in and rescued the series for a fourth and eventual fifth season.

“Lucifer is a fantastic show that has really resonated with audiences in parts of the world, so we felt it was important for our licensing team to try to help that show continue for our fans,” said Cindy Holland, Netflix’s VP of content. Good call.

Meanwhile, The Wheel of Time series has sold well over 80 million copies worldwide, and it’s in in the process of being adapted by Amazon Studios. Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike will play Moiraine, an Aes Sedai sorceress who leads our heroes on an epic quest to defeat a great evil. And Amazon has struck gold here, because even without a television audience, this fanbase rallied together to put on an absolute nail-biter of a showdown.

Personally, I kept track of the event during the entire process and saw more lead changes than I knew what to do with. Things were back and forth at the beginning, but for the most part they remained at 50/50. As voting continued in the morning, Moiraine pulled ahead slightly, gathering 51% of the votes to Lucifer’s 49%. Things were looking good for the fans in the Wheel of Time camp, but then Lucifer fans marched back into the lead with a 56%-to-44% split.

Then when hope seemed lost for Moiraine, Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins came to inspire fans:

Alvaro Morte, who plays the false dragon Logain on the show, also showed his support:

With a new sense of urgency, Moiraine came cruising back and Twitter of Time recovered lost ground with an upper hand of 51% of the votes at 8,000 votes tallied and two hours to go.

It seemed like a sure thing for Wheel of Time fans, with such a small amount of time left. Believe it or not, the fun was just getting started. With an hour and 15 minutes remaining, Lucifans stormed ahead to take a 52% lead. Lucifer Morningstar wouldn’t bend so easily, and neither would his fans, never mind Wheel of Time’s celebrity support.

Yet the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. With only a small remainder of time left on the clock and a total of 12,000 votes, Wheel of Time refused to leave Lucifer in peace. Victory for Moiriane seemed impossible, with only minutes remaining, but as the poll came to end — a bloody brilliant ending if I may add — Moiraine emerged victorious over the Devil himself. The final results were 49.9% in favor of Lucifer, 50.1% in favor of Moiraine, who will be moving on to the championship round against Han Solo.

It might not seem like much right now, but it was a thrill to watch happen. If anyone out there hasn’t read The Wheel of Time or watched Lucifer, this is a great argument for starting. Clearly, if their fans are this passionate, they’re something special.

The next matchup will be Han Solo versus Moiraine. With the amount of fire in the The Wheel of Time’s fanbase, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Moiraine come out on top against a veteran icon and take the whole thing.

Check back soon for the championship!

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