Earlier this year, Amazon shocked fantasy TV viewers when it canceled The Wheel of Time, its epic series based on the books by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. This move came mere months after the show dropped its best season to-date, earning a series-high Rotten Tomatoes rating of 97% from critics. With showstoppers like the time-traveling odyssey "The Road to the Spear" and the frenetic battle episode "Goldeneyes," it seemed like The Wheel of Time was on the rise and its future assured. Alas, it was not meant to be.
Shows get canceled all the time, but this one hit particularly hard. Perhaps it was because the third season was so good, perhaps because the books have such an ardent following of fans who rejoiced at seeing the show adapted, or perhaps because it signaled the death knell of the fantasy TV boom; however you want to slice it, The Wheel of Time getting canceled felt like the end of an era.
The response to the cancelation has been immense, with a coordinated fan campaign that flew sky banners over an Amazon studio office, bought billboards around the world, and, as of this writing, has amassed more than 227,000 signatures on a petition to revive the show. It's clear that a lot of people cared about The Wheel of Time and were sad to see it go.
But I'm sure none were hit harder by The Wheel of Time's cancelation than the passionate cast and crew who worked on it. We heard from many of them in the days following the show getting axed, but more are still weighing in. The latest star to pay homage to The Wheel of Time is Daniel Henney, who played Moiraine's loyal warder al'Lan Mandragoran in the series. In late October, Henney returned to Prague to say goodbye to the show, and documented it on Instagram for the fans:
Daniel Henney thanks fans for all their support of The Wheel of Time
"Hey everybody. Welcome back to Prague," he began. "One of the things I wanted to do when The Wheel of Time ended, I told myself I needed to make sure I came back to Prague once, say goodbye. So that's why I'm here. I spent four, five-ish years here on The Wheel of Time. Amazing experience, challenging experience. Life-changing experience. And I just wanted to come back, and say thank you to this city, to the amazing people from this city and this country. We had a wonderful crew and cast for The Wheel of Time. What an experience it was. This is where the TV Lan was born, and...I love that guy. I had a lot of fun playing him."
Henney wasn't just reflecting for his own sake; he was also sending a message to the hundreds of thousands of people who have thrown their support behind the show. "I want to say thank you to all of you for just the incredible, incredible support you guys gave us through our three seasons, and how much you loved the show and defended the show," he said. "e could feel your energy the whole time. Even through COVID, you know, we spent that winter super cold, quiet, empty here. But knowing we had your support helped a lot. And what a great experience. Thank you so much you guys, you were amazing."
The Wheel of Time deserved better
It's nice to hear from cast members like Henney; he was a wonderful casting as Lan, and I always got the sense from interviews that he was very aware of how special the series was throughout its run. But I'd be lying if I said the cancelation of The Wheel of Time didn't still sting like hell. There was a magic to that show, and in its third season especially, you could tell that the entire cast and crew were firing on all cylinders. It at times had to face insurmountable odds — like when it shut down due to the COVID pandemic in season 1 and ultimately had to recast lead character Mat Cauthon, necessitating a "complete rewrite" of the following episodes and season 2. But still, it carried on, and was better for it.
There's been much talk since The Wheel of Time was canceled about whether Amazon decided it could only support one gargantuan fantasy show, and chose The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. I don't know whether that's true, but what I do know is that if Amazon wanted to build an iconic fantasy series which people would go back to for years and likely decades to come, they had it right there in front of them with The Wheel of Time. Unlike The Lord of the Rings, Jordan's world had never been adapted for the screen before, the show had a team that was clearly all-in on telling the full story, and by the third season, it had firmly found its footing.
When we look back on this era of television, I firmly believe that Amazon's decision to cancel The Wheel of Time will be seen as one of the biggest blunders of the streaming wars. I'd say it's not too late for them to reverse course and bring the series back, but from the sound of Henney's heartfelt message, it seems like the ship has sailed. At least we'll always have those first three seasons.
The Wheel of Time seasons 1 through 3 are streaming on Prime Video.