The Wheel of Time boss expected changes to upset “hardcore book fans”

The Wheel of Time just wrapped up its first season on Amazon Prime Video, and it’s been a success. The show posted excellent numbers for the streaming service and has reviewed fairly well, although there are some fans of Robert Jordan’s original book series who are less than pleased — I moderate the comments on this site so I know, believe me.

Showrunner Rafe Judkins talked about the target audience for the show in a recent Q&A session which has been transcribed on the show’s official Twitter account. “When we started out, we knew the show had to appeal to a huge audience in order to justify its existence,” he said. “So we always imagined that we’d likely lose absolute hardcore book fans who’re read the series multiple times because the show would be too different from the books. And conversely, that we’d lose people who’ve never watched a fantasy show before because it’s too much like the books (which are very high fantasy).”

"The target was always more people who read some or all of Wheel years ago or are fantasy/genre fans but not familiar with Wheel. Which is a huge breadth of people. The shocking thing to me has been how many really really Sarah Nakamura-level hardcore book fans have loved the show despite the departures and how many people who’ve never watched a fantasy show before in their lives are somehow finding their way to this one and loving it too!"

Sarah Nakamura, for reference, is a Wheel of Time superfan who actually became a consultant on the series.

I’m one of those people that Judkins is talking about who has read some of The Wheel of Time — I’m on Book 4 — but not yet all of it, and I’m enjoying the series quite a bit. There have been a lot of changes, but I guess they haven’t really irritated me, and in some cases I’ve thought they improved things. The relationship between Lan and Nynaeve is a good example; I remember reading The Eye of the World and being confused when they declared their feelings for each other — like I thought I might have missed a chapter, it came so out of nowhere. The show has done a much better job of making it make sense.

So basically, I’m in on the series and am glad it’s found a fanbase. I expect more changes as the series goes on, which Judkins and company are already thinking about. “There’s lots of stuff that we’ve set up in Season One that are changes from the books that we needed to make for later payoffs.”

"For thirty years, people said that Wheel of Time was “unadaptable,” but after today, the first season will be out entirely, and the number of people who’ve come to it and enjoyed it has been absolutely insane. It’s Amazon’s biggest premiere of all time, the most-watched show in the world for three weeks running, the completion rate is massive and Eye of the World is back on the best seller list! To see something that I love so much that most of the world had never heard of become this big, this fast is honestly surreal. I thought it would be years before the show was this big. I still can’t quite believe it as each new number comes in."

Seeing as filming on the new episodes is already well underway, The Wheel of Time season 2 should be around sometime next year.

Logain will be back on The Wheel of Time

Judkins also talked a bit about the character of Logain Ablar, played by Álvaro Morte. “I’d already loved Alvaro in Money Heist, so requested that Kelly have him tape for Logain,” Judkins remembered. “And the second his tape came through, we all just fell over with what he brought to Logain. Logain is one of the most complex and conflicted characters in the books, so we really needed someone who could deliver all of that behind the eyes.”

Logain is a character who really doesn’t get deeply involved in the plot until later in the book series, but the show showed us some of the early mischief he gets up to as a False Dragon. Last we saw Logain, the Aes Sedai had cut off his access to the One Power and were keeping him prisoner in the White Tower, but Álvaro Morte thinks he deserves another chance. “I do! Absolutely. Rafe…? You there…?”

"Logain is an amazing character. He is full of possibilities in terms of acting. It’s a gift for an actor to get the chance to perform a character like Logain and follow his development."

As for when we’ll see Logain again? Judkins offered the vaguest of hints: “Sooner than you expect but later than you wish.”

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels