Game of Thrones was a once-in-a-generation TV phenomenon that had everyone transfixed to their screens. The show also inspired one the Great Online Backlashes when fans were left deeply unsatisfied by the ending. Was Game of Thrones the greatest show of all time? Was its legacy tainted by its ending? The debate continues. In the meanwhile, other shows like The Wheel of Time are trying to take up the mantle and become the best epic fantasy show on TV.
But as good as The Wheel of Time is, and the most recent third season was very good, it's hard to talk about it and other high fantasy dramas without referencing Game of Thrones; to some extent, all of them are made in the shadow of HBO's mega-hit. Even The Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins mentioned Game of Thrones when talking about trying to secure a fourth season for his show.
"One of the great things about Wheel of Time the book series is that it is sort of a reverse Game of Thrones. It gets better as it goes on," Judkins told Entertainment Weekly. "And so that's what television is always about, is getting better as you go. And I think modern television sort of runs the risk of shows coming in with a big poppy movie-ish idea at the beginning and then petering out a little bit as they go through the seasons. But the great shows of television past really hit their stride in season 3 and 4, and I think that's what this show in this series has the potential to do and just keep getting better from here. So we're all very eager to continue this story and finish it."
Okay, I don't know if Judkins meant for that to come off as shady as it did, but I love it. "My show is like the reverse Game of Thrones because it gets better as it goes, whereas Game of Thrones got terrible towards the end," basically. Whether you agree with his assessment or not, funny is funny. He also may have been talking about the Song of Ice and Fire book series specifically, which fans have criticized for slowing down in the later entries, to say nothing of the eternal wait fans are enduring for author George R.R. Martin to finish The Winds of Winter. Either way, I am entertained.
In any case, he's right that The Wheel of Time has been improving season over season; if this trajectory continues, it will be bringing in boatloads of Emmys by season 5 or so...but only if Amazon and Sony actually let it go that long. We're pulling for it.
Part of what has made the feel sturdier as it's gone is Judkins' dedication to long-term planning. There are seeds planted in season 1 that only sprouted in season 3, and it sounds like there's more of that on the horizon. "I can say that we've put a lot of pieces in place at the end of season 3 to tell some of the most iconic stories from book six, which is a really important book in the series, and some of the biggest moments from book five as well," Judkins said. "So we're in the area of the books right now that is some of the most exciting."
The third season is based on the fourth book in the series, The Shadow Rising. If it's an indication of how Judkins wants to go about adapting this book series, I say give him as many seasons as he wants.
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