Last month, Amazon Prime Video decided not to renew The Wheel of Time, its ambitious fantasy show based on the sprawling book series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. This cancellation hit fans hard; The Wheel of Time is one of the most beloved book series in the genre, and season 3 of the show marked a new high in quality for the TV adaptation. It garnered rave reviews from critics, topped Amazon charts in countries around the globe, and faithfully adapted iconic moments from one of Jordan's best books, The Shadow Rising. All signs pointed to The Wheel of Time being on the rise, right up until Amazon pulled the plug.
Fans aren't just sitting around basking in their own misery over this move. Not long after the cancellation, a number of Wheel of Time fans banded together to create SaveWoT.com, a website devoted to finding a new home for the series. There are a number of ways fans can get involved if they want to see more of The Wheel of Time, chief among them a petition with three aims: to convince Amazon to backtrack and renew the show; to convince Sony Pictures Television, who has the rights to the show, to find a new home for it; or to convince another streamer like Apple TV+ to pick up the series.
The fan petition has been gaining momentum fast, and as of Sunday, June 1, it crossed another huge milestone: 100,000 signatures. That's a lot of people who want more Wheel of Time. And it's still going; as of this writing it's actually over 106,000, because more Heroes of the Horn keep arriving out of the woodwork.
Can The Wheel of Time beat the odds again to finish its story?
Fan campaigns to save television shows aren't anything new, and they rarely succeed. The Expanse is one of the notable examples where it did work out. Following the show's cancellation by the SyFy Channel after three seasons, Amazon picked it up to give it three more. Far more common are examples like The Acolyte, which was cancelled after one season at Disney+ and is fast fading into obscurity after its own save-the-show campaign stalled out.
In these instances, the organization and passion of the fan movement can make a big difference. The Acolyte has a Change.org petition which has racked up just over 84,000 signatures, and that's about it. The Wheel of Time has a much more coordinated effort with lots of ways for fans to get involved, from writing open letters of appreciation to the cast and crew, to social media days using the #SaveWoT hashtag, short video submissions and more. And of course, its own petition has already handily passed The Acolyte's; it's clear there's a much fiercer fan desire to see The Wheel of Time continue.
Only time will tell if it will be enough to save The Wheel of Time, but the longer this campaign goes on, the more hopeful I get. Adapting The Wheel of Time successfully for television was always going to be a long shot; it's based on a 15-book fantasy series with extremely complicated source material, has faced issues almost from the jump with the COVID pandemic, the recast of a core character, and Hollywood strikes. Now the challenge is a changing television climate where streamers are more reserved with their spending, after years of dumping boatloads of money at any show they thought might bring in new subscribers.
The Wheel of Time has beaten the odds before. Perhaps it can do it again, so this epic series can reach the conclusion it deserves.
If you want to sign the petition or get involved in the campaign to save The Wheel of Time, head over to SaveWoT.com for more details.
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