The Wheel of Time is an epic fantasy show currently airing its third season on Amazon Prime Video. It starts simple: a farm boy named Rand al'Thor learns he is the Dragon Reborn, a messianic figure destined to to either save the world of destroy it. He and his friends go adventures and learn about themselves, and the world of the show expands. We're introduced to more factions, more cultures and more characters until we're up to our eyeballs in lore. The show is based on The Wheel of Time book series by Robert Jordan, which is famously enormous. The show is only three seasons in, but it has a ways to go if it wants to tell the whole story.
And hopefully it will get a chance to do that, but we can't help but notice that the third season is almost over and neither Amazon nor Sony, who coproduce the show together, have spoken publicly about a renewal. We've found ourselves smitten with the series, so we're doing all we can to help convince them. Amazon execs, Sony execs, people who know Amazon or Sony execs...if you're reading, here's why you should renew The Wheel of Time for more seasons, and why you should do it as soon as possible:
Because the show itself is getting better and better
Amazon and Sony decided to adapt The Wheel of Time books back in the late 2010s, when HBO's Game of Thrones show was at the height of its popularity. Back then, every network wanted its own high fantasy hit. The Wheel of Time were hugely successful and had only been completed a few years back. They were an obvious choice for adaptation.
The first season aired in 2021, and while it was successful, it left some fans wanting. In particular, the end of the first season was a bit rough; the show mounted a major battle scene at the city of Fal Dara, but because they were operating under early COVID restrictions, the scene seriously underwhelmed, seeming much smaller in scale than it should have.
Another problem was that actor Barney Harris, who played the key character of Mat, had to drop out of the cast towards the end of the first season; he was replaced in season 2 by Dónal Finn, who plays the role to this day. Finn quickly made Mat his own, but the recast meant that the writers had to restructure Mat's story, which led to some awkwardness in season 2.
I'm not pointing these things out to excuse the occassional hiccups in pacing and storytelling, but to celebrate the fact that, despite these problems, The Wheel of Time got stronger and more confident as it went on. You can see the uptick in public opinion plotted in real time on this graph tracing IMDb episode ratings. Season 2 was definitely stronger than season 1, and season 3 came out of the gate with guns blazing and has only gotten better, with some episodes being hailed as among best fantasy TV episodes ever produced.
Maybe showrunner Rafe Judkins and his team became more comfortable with making the show as time went on. Maybe the show got stronger once circumstances stopped conspiring against it. Probably a bit of both. But it's inarguable that the show has gotten better and better as it's gone on. Don't you want to see how good it can be if that trend continues, Amazon?
Because The Wheel of Time is a good investment
At the end of the day, studios like Amazon and Sony make TV shows for basically one reason: it makes them money. Happily, The Wheel of Time does.
Official numbers are hard to come by because Amazon keeps them under wraps, but according to data obtained by Parrot Analytics and WoT Series, the first two seasons of the series cost a combined $263 million to produce, more or less, with season 2 costing a bit less than season 1. According to that same data, those first two seasons brought in around $360 million in subscriber revenue. Do the math, and that adds up to a profit of around $97 million.
Is that the record-busting number that Amazon and Sony probably want? No, but it's nothing to sneeze at. It's also very good in context. Amazon makes another high fantasy series called The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and the first season of that show cost around $465 million alone. By comparison, The Wheel of Time is a steal.
It's true that there's a lot we don't know about the numbers, including anything about the most recent season. The Wheel of Time isn't as big a name as The Lord of the Rings, but it's also not as expensive, and at least if you ask me, it's delivering good storytelling where The Rings of Power has struggled. Amazon doesn't have to choose between its two high fantasy tentpole series, but if it did, I think The Wheel of Time is the better long-term bet.
Because the show needs time to cook
There are 14 books in The Wheel of Time series, plus a prequel novel. The whole thing clocks in at over 4 million words, making it one of the longest book series ever written. There are nearly 3,000 named characters, around 150 of provide our points of view from chapter to chapter. This book series is absolutely massive, and any TV show adapted from it is going to need a lot of room.
That's a good reason not only for Amazon and Sony to renew the show, but to renew it soon, and to renew multiple seasons ahead of time. A story of this size is going to take many seasons of TV to adapt, and if they want it to reach the end, Sony and Amazon are going to need to give Judkins and his team a lot of runway. If they wait to renew the show every year, they risk the cast of sprightly 20-somethings growing too old to convincingly play their young characters.
I also think the massive size is part of the reason the show has continued to get better the longer it's gone on. Reading the books, you can feel author Robert Jordan figuring out the characters and the shape of the world as he writes. Much the same thing is happening with the show. With each passing season, the lore is getting richer, the characters deeper and the world more invitingly complex. The Wheel of Time is a grower. Amazon and Sony need to let it grow.
Because The Wheel of Time is a once-in-a-generation-opportunity
Letting a series grow may be a difficult concept for a streamer like Amazon Prime Video to grasp. I don't know the hearts and minds of the executives, but sometimes I get the idea that they don't know what they have with The Wheel of Time; if they did, I feel like I'd see more promotion for it. I feel like they saw how successful Game of Thrones was, and figured that if they also made a high fantasy TV epic, they also could take over the culture. And when The Wheel of Time merely ended up being a solid base hit, they deflated and started looking for an exit.
They need to curb that instinct and realize that making a success out of a story like The Wheel of Time is a long-term endeavor. The massive size of the book series is a big part of the appeal. It's what sets The Wheel of Time apart from some of the big big-name fantasy series out there. The Lord of the Rings is beloved by generations, but it's a comparatively tight three novels. A Song of Ice and Fire is huge, but it remains unfinished, and the HBO show started to falter once it had to go off-book. But The Wheel of Time is an enormous, finished, one-of-a-kind series which presents an enormous opportunity to whoever adapts, but only if they have the vision to adapt it all the way.
Showrunner Rafe Judkins has that vision. He knows the show will need a lot of seasons if it's going to stay true to the story. He's flexible on exactly how many, but he knows a shortened version won't work, because a shortened anything is fundamentally at odds with what The Wheel of Time is. Amazon and Sony need to trust that vision. They need to think about the endgame: when all is said and done, they will have made a gigantic, complete, front-to-back fantasy epic that will be waiting exclusively on their platforms for future generations to discover and binge. They will have made an adaptation of one of the most beloved epic fantasy series of all time. They will have made a series that pushes the boundaries of what can be done on television, adding a prestige factor.
I think it's hard for executives who live and die by how well something is doing in any given quarter to make these kinds of long-term plans, but if you make a TV show based on The Wheel of Time, you are signing onto a long-term project. Even if the numbers aren't as ludicrously over-the-top as they want them to be, they need to breathe and think about this show as a legacy project. They're not just making a show to meet the moment; they're making a show that will last...if they have the courage to see it through.
Because I'm selfish and I just want to see it, okay?
I've enjoyed The Wheel of Time show since the beginning, but in season 3 I've really started to love it. And I want to see what happens next. I want to see whether Rand can get control of the raging power within him or whether he'll go mad and destroy everyone he loves. I want to see what happens to Perrin after he walks away with the Whitecloaks, choosing peace over violence. I want to see if Nynaeve can ever get past her block and harness her incredible gift for channeling. I want to see what badass evil outfit Lanfear dons next. I just want to see what happens!
It's human nature to grow closer to whoever is around us the longer we spend time with them, and that can apply to fictional characters too. In the case of The Wheel of Time, I'd argue the characters have grown more likable and interesting over time, as the writers got better at writing them and the actors better at playing them. Amazon and Sony can't take this journey away from me now! And it would feel especially cruel of them to do so just as the show is really achieving escape velocity. They've already come this far and they have a lot to show for it. The only way through...is through.
We don't know if The Wheel of Time will be renewed for a fourth season, let alone a fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth. But I advise Amazon and Sony to get on it as soon as they can. And not just for my sake, but for theirs, and for all the fans out there who are finally seeing this story adapted to the screen. Who knows when everyone will get that chance again? Amazon and Sony need to take it while they've got it.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.