The Wheel of Time season 3 wrapped up today in typically spectacular fashion; the third season has been the show's best, and there are still miles to go. There are 14 Wheel of Time books, so we're not even halfway through.
But will Amazon and Sony actually renew the show for a fourth season, let alone renew it for as many seasons as it needs to tell this story to completion? Distressingly, we don't have a firm answer, although showrunner Rafe Judkins is doing his best to get Amazon to move. "I really want to deliver this full series, so how do we best do that?" he told The Hollywood Reporter. "I think one reason we went with Amazon, because we had options of who was going to buy the series when we first went out with it, is that Amazon felt like a place where they do want to invest in shows for the long term. There’s not a lot of places doing that anymore. For Wheel of Time, it’s really important for us to be somewhere that does want to invest in shows for the long term and not just for the splash and leave. So I am hopeful that we will get to finish this story. I think it’s a story that in many ways is important because of its length, and because it gets better as it goes."
"The books get better as they go and the show is getting better as it goes. I think we can continue that arc if we’re allowed to continue. But it is different [now]. Television’s moving in a direction where things just come in, splash and leave. But the history of television is that its strength is long-form storytelling; that you stick with it and you love these characters and you follow them through 60 to 100 hours. That’s where television has its strength. That’s where it’s better than movies, at telling those kinds of stories. So I’m hopeful for our industry that shows like Wheel of Time do get to tell the whole story. I think it’s important for television. It’s what we do best and so we should be finishing these stories."
I agree with everything Judkins said. A big part of the appeal of The Whele of Time is that it's this huge, overwhelmingly epic story. That means that whoever adapts it is going to need to commit for the long haul. I'm just crossing my fingers that Amazon and Sony have that vision.
Beware SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time season 3 finale below!
Judkins, at least, has a vision for how he wants the rest of the show to go. He's already setting up things that he'll knock down in future seasons...should they happen.
For instance, the villainous Forsaken — powerful magic-wielders who hail from a time far in the past — have played a bigger and bigger role on the show as it's gone on. We've met several, but Judkins plans to introduce us to more; it's possible that another one was already introduced and we missed it. "We’ve definitely laid the pieces for a few Forsaken to appear in next season who are new and maybe not so new that you will be excited to see on screen," Judkins hinted. "I think I can say that much. The interplay of the Forsaken is really exciting and interesting in the books, and I think we want to continue that in the show and continue to meet new members of this group."
Or what about Mat's encounter with the creepy Eelfinn creature, who made all kinds of creepy pronouncements? That scene may have seemed out-of-left-field, but it's important for Mat's story in the long run...again, if the show has a long run.
"The implications for this exchange are huge moving forward, and I think we’ve done a little hint to it," Judkins said. "There’s a fox head medallion on Mat’s chest at the end. Fans of the books know what that means. Hopefully people who aren’t fans of the books have registered that what happened in that world with that Fox Eelfinn creature is meaningful for what’s going to happen for Mat moving forward. It’s one of the most important scenes for him in the entire book series, so we knew we had to hit on it."
"In the books that happens in Rhuidean actually, because he’s there with Rand. But we always intended to have it happen like this, to have it be just as much of a side swipe as it is in the books by again interrupting structure and how you think the show’s going to go when Mat steps through that door frame. Hopefully it leaves the audience thinking they can’t predict what’s going to happen next."
The season 3 finale was full of twists, turns, and cliffhangers;! Some of them came as a surprise for readers, like Elaida executing Siuan Sanche. In the books, Elaida does take over the White Tower like she does in the show, but Siuan is taken prisoner and escapes. Her fate is much bleaker on the show.
"That’s really the idea of and why the White Tower coup — Elaida’s coup — in the books is such an iconic moment," Judkins said. "As much as you don’t know what the Tower is going to do, similar to our world today, you feel there are certain rules of decorum and sensibility that are going to hold. That this is an institution, and that institutions can hold. What Elaida does is she says, 'I am going to leverage every fucking rule in this Tower to its utmost advantage and this institution may not survive it.'...She actually thinks she’s doing the right thing for the world. But what she has done hopefully for the audience is at the end of this season, they don’t know if they can trust the institution of the White Tower anymore and what it’s going to do next. So could the White Tower be the greatest threat to our characters moving forward? Yes, it could."
It could...again, if the show gets to continue. Judkins even teased that Siuan Sanche and Moiriane could share more scenes together, even though Siuan is now minus a head. In a show where you can enter the world of dreams, I guess anything is possible. "I do think what’s beautiful about them is that their relationship is about something more and, if the show continues, it’s not the final scene we intend to have between the two of them. I guess I can say that much."
I want to see all of this, but first, Amazon and Sony have to do the right thing and renew the series. I'm here, waiting patiently.
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