Fans like the new season of The Wheel of Time more than the first

Fans of The Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan have been waiting decades for a good adaptation. The first book, The Eye of the World came out all the way back in 1990. When Amazon announced that it was turning this high fantasy epic into a prestige TV show, fans were joyous. Finally, it was happening.

The first season of The Wheel of Time aired on Amazon Prime Video in 2021, and while critics and audiences mostly enjoyed it — it has a 60% favorability rating among viewers on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t great but it’s still a passing grade — many had problems, especially those who had read the books. “This is not Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. I know concessions have to be made when adapting a series as expansive as the books, but the compromises and changes that have been made thus far are horrid,” writes one. “Unrecognizable story slapped with the title of a popular book series,” says another. “Absolute GARBAGE!!!” commented another.

There were plenty of positive reviews, too — again, more positive than negative overall — but I did run into this sentiment a lot when the first season was airing. Personally, I thought the first season was more or less solid, although there were issues. The final two episodes in particular felt a little underproduced, possibly because they were filmed towards the start of the COVID crisis when no one had any idea how to film things during a pandemic.

Fans who didn’t like The Wheel of Time season 1 warm up in season 2

Now the second season of The Wheel of Time is here, and from where I’m sitting it’s an improvement on the first. It’s more confident, it’s got more weight to it, the effects and costumes and sets all look better…it’s just a step up.

And I’m not the only one who thinks that. Compared to the first season’s audience score of 60%, season 2 has a much more respectable 81%. I mean, you’re probably not gonna pin that to the refrigerator but you don’t have to be ashamed of a B-.

“The 1st book was pretty slow too but season 2 is, like the books, heating up quickly. Fantastic show and it’s great to see how it’s adapted,” one fan wrote. “Season 2 improves on the imperfections found in season 1,” says another. “I find the characters captivating and I am loving the action sequences we have seen so far. A step above season 1!” is a third thing someone said.

And just in the interest of not cherry-picking only positive reviews, I’ll include this too: “I think season 2 is about as good as a remake of The Sound of Music staring Gilbert Gottfried as Maria would have been.” I’m not sure what that means but I think it’s important to share.

Even some folks on Reddit, which is notoriously full of people who are hard to please, are coming around. “I’m only 2 episodes into the new season, but are my eyes deceiving me, or….is this season… good?!??” wrote someone on the Wheel of Time subreddit (that’s the subreddit dedicated to the books rather than just the show) to over 100 mostly positive comments. “All sins are forgiven, I have genuine hope for the show,” wrote another, to over 300 generally agreeable comments.

Can The Wheel of Time regain its footing among fans in season 2?

This is hardly scientific, but the vibes surrounding The Wheel of Time feel much better this season than last. If you wanted to be cynical, you could say that all the people who didn’t like the show stopped watching after season 1, so now the series is just left with a smaller core fanbase of people who liked it the whole time. But I dunno; a lot of the fans on that book subreddit had major problems with the series but seem to be warming up to it.

Vibes can change, of course. This is a Game of Thrones fansite; we all lived through the great season 8 meltdown. But right now, it’s cool to see The Wheel of Time back on its feet and in good fighting shape. I liked the first season, I’m liking this one even more, and I hope the show continues to improve for a good long time.

New episodes of The Wheel of Time drop Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.

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