We here at WinterIsComing were well and truly impressed by the third season of The Wheel of Time, Prime Video's adaptation of author Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series. There are many books left to adapt, and we'd love to see them all make it to the small screen.
Season 3 ended a few weeks back, and unfortunately we have yet to hear anything about season 4, to say nothing of anything beyond that. What's the holdup?
Well, a pessimist might say that the show is doomed, but I wouldn't go that far. The how has been a success for Prime Video, with solid viewership and excellent reviews. Plus, let's remember that Prime Video announced that it was renewing its other epic fantasy show, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a full four months after its latest season finale. I would prefer not to wait that long to hear good news about The Wheel of Time, but if that's how long it takes, that's how long it takes.
The proprietor of the WoT Up! YouTube Channel, Jonathan MacDonald, is more tapped in than me; he has sources close to The Wheel of Time show, and in his newest video he shares what they've been telling him about the show's chances of renewal.
The basic story is that Sony and Amazon, who co-produce the show together, are currently negotiating a deal that would get the show back on the air. MacDonald points that the climate in Hollywood right now is very different than it was back when The Wheel of Time was first given the green light, and that both sides are trying to get as much for themselves as they can. "No decisions have been made," he says.
However, it sounds like decisions could be forthcoming, at least according to what MacDonald has heard. "There is a deal on the table, right now, that I've been told about, that they are actively looking at," he says. If WoT Up! had his way, the show would be renewed for 15 more seasons with 30 episodes per season and each episode would run two hours. The deal on the table falls far short of that, but is still "better than I expected, and that is what they're actively striving and working towards."
"I can tell you that there is an active deal that both parties seem interested in. There is conversations happening between both Sony and Amazon about this."
MacDonald sounds fairly optimistic that this deal will get signed. "I was told that they are pretty close to a deal, they're pretty close to something that everybody's pretty happy about, and that we should hear something either positive or negative very soon," he says. "It will be likely announced, and it will likely be announced soon."
Keep in mind that "soon" is a relative term; MacDonald expects to hear something within the next few months. If we don't hear something by then, it's time to worry.
The point of no return
MacDonald advises that there is a "soft cancel" date in mind for The Wheel of Time. A soft cancelation is where a studio fails to renew a show within a reasonable amount of time, rather than formally canceling it. MacDonald thinks that date will come around for The Wheel of Time in early fall of this year. That's when contracts start to lapse and it becomes increasingly untenable to get talent — including actors, directors, technicians and others — to come back. "So if we hear nothing by early fall, we can pretty much expect that we're not going to hear anything."
I hope we hear something much faster than then. I hope we hear something by the time you read these words. The sooner The Wheel of Time is renewed, the sooner the cast and crew can work on a new season and the shorter the wait will be. I know I'm not the only one who's growing very tired of having to wait multiple years between new seasons of TV shows. MacDonald says something that encouraged me on that score: "Executives are actually starting to listen to the resounding chorus of people saying that two years between seasons is stupid. It's the dumbest thing streaming has done, in my opinion." Hard agree.
But first things first: let's get The Wheel of Time renewed:
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