How The Wheel of Time season 2 improved on the books (and how it failed them)

Improvement: Bringing the look of the book to life

I can’t end this article without giving some props to the costumers, set designers, makeup artists, special effects technicians and other professionals who made this season so very pretty to look at. This isn’t quite an “improvement” on the books, but the crew of the TV show often took Jordan’s original descriptions and added their own flair.

Take the Seanchan, who are definitely one of the visual triumphs of the season, with their flowing robes and elaborate face masks. In the books, Robert Jordan says that some of High Lady Suroth’s fingernails are a bit longer than the others, one of the many things that mark the Seanchan as alien and strange. In the show, the crew decided to give Suroth and her boss High Lord Turak nails that are at least a foot long. I don’t know how they go to the bathroom, but they sure do look cool.

Lanfear’s outfits stand out. She wears a series of vampy numbers that make her the center of attention in whatever room she’s in. And there’s a lot of color on The Wheel of Time, from the many-hued weaves of the Aes Sedai to Rand’s iconic red coat to Moiraine’s bold blue dresses. The high fantasy genre is sometimes painted in shades of brown and grey, so it’s refreshing to see The Wheel of Time go in another direction.

Whatever nips and tucks they made, it’s clear to me that the people behind The Wheel of Time have a lot of love for the source material. Although there are changes, I’ll dare to say that the spirit of the novels is largely preserved, and in some cases upgraded. It’s not the same, but it’s a good watch. I hope Judkins and his team get to adapt the whole series, cause I want to see what they do with it.

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