What’s Going on With ‘Wheel of Time’ Season 2?
Amazon Prime’s silence regarding Wheel of Time season 2 has us asking–are we going to see Rand and the gang return anytime soon?
Before Prime Video “ruined” Lord of the Rings, the studio took a turn at “ruining” another fantasy epic. Coming out in 2021 Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time had mixed reviews. However, it did well enough to get a second season. While Prime was pretty quiet for a bit, at long last we have started to get some real info on the next season. So what’s going on with the Wheel of Time Season 2?
A Mixed First Season
It’s not controversial to say that Wheel of Time had a somewhat mixed first season. While there was a fair amount of good in the show, overall it just failed to stick the landing. A lot of its issues came with changing things from the books. But not all the issues were related to changes made on purpose. The first season had some outside events that negatively affected it. The most obvious one was the pandemic. Reports indicate that it forced major disruptions in the filming of the show.
via Amazon
The final episode of season one was pretty widely derided. And yet it may have suffered a lot from covid restrictions. Reports indicate for instance that the well-done practical effect trollocs had to be replaced by poorly done CGI ones due to restrictions on how many people could be on set.
On top of that, one of the main actors, Barney Harris, left the show mid-way through filming. While the reasons for this have not been disclosed his character had to be written out of the last couple of episodes causing major changes. Still, the show wasn’t a lost cause. Season 2 could still be okay.
What’s Going on With Wheel Of Time Season 2?
via Amazon
For a while, Prime Video was pretty quiet about what was going on with Season 2 of the Wheel of Time. Season 1 came out more than a year ago, and season two wrapped filming quite some time ago. However at last we’ve gotten a decent amount of info. In more than a year, we’ve got a few short teasers/behind-the-scenes looks and some pictures. We also did get news that the show is getting a third season, so Amazon seems pretty confident in it.
We also have a good idea of what the season will cover. In an interview with the Dragonmount YouTube channel, showrunner Rafe Judkins shed some light on season two of Wheel of Time. We’ve long heard that season 2 will combine plot points from books 2 and 3. Indeed the first teaser we got for season two pointed toward that. In the interview, Rafe confirmed this is indeed the case. The showrunners felt that the plots of the two books were two similar and covered a lot of the same ground.
I do think it could work to combine the two books. The Great Hunt has a more important plot and introduces a lot of major world-building aspects. A lot of characters get introduced in The Dragon Reborn. It also has some really major character developments, but its plot is a lot less important overall.
The big wild card here is Moiraine. After losing her powers at the end of Season 1 she’s on a totally different arc than in the books. Combining two books into one season is a hard enough process. Throwing in some brand new storylines, something they did poorly in Season 1, could lead to a lot of troubles.
Wheel of Time Season Two is Coming September 1st
As announced by the show on Twitter season two will premier on September 1st. At last, we have a real date. It is a little earlier than most people expected (or a lot later) however. Once the show was pushed back into the fall most people were predicting a November release, much like both season 1 and The Rings of Power had. But what is important is that the show is coming out this year. The tweet didn’t have a ton of other info. There was a small video that was nice and ended with some mysterious words.
It also announced that “the great hunt begins on September 1st”. The Great Hunt is both the title of the second book in the series and of a major event that takes place in the early books. Various people have translated the mystery text in the tweet as reading “the grave is no bar to my call.”
This is a reference to the Horn of Valere. The Horn is the subject of the Great Hunt, so this makes a lot of sense. It certainly seems that these elements from Book Two are going to play a big role in Season 1.
A Lot of Characters Are Joining
We’ve also gotten a lot of information on new characters joining the cast. Among the new cast members, we’ve seen three important Aiel characters. Ayoola Smart is joining as Aviendha, Ragga Ragnar as Bian, and Maja Simonsen as Chiad. Jay Duffy is also joining as Dain Bornhald.
We’ve also known since all the way back in 2021 that Meera Syal was joining The Wheel of Time season 2. Who she would be playing however was never announced. There was a lot of speculation as to who she could be, with it seeming likely she would take on the role of an Aes Sedai. Many people speculated that she would be playing the fan-favorite Verin Mathwin. Recently this was officially confirmed. The internet sleuths were correct and the Brown Ajah is getting a strong representative.
The Showrunners are Looking Forward to Introducing This Character
During a JordanCon interview, Rafe was asked what character they are looking forward to seeing in later seasons. He told viewers that he was looking forward to seeing Elaida. This powerful Aes Sedia plays a major role in the books. As one of the top Aes Sedia, her influence is felt by most of the main characters.
In the books, she shows up in The Eye of the World. However, she was cut from season 1. Based on this wording it’s not clear she’s going to show up in season 2, and with no casting announcement for her, it seems she’s being pushed even farther back.
There is New Stuff Coming in Wheel of Time Season Two
We’ve also got some information that the show is adding new things now in the books. For instance, this picture shows what appears to be Perrin Aybara and Aviendha fighting some Seancahn in a city. This doesn’t mirror anything from the books I can think of, so is clearly something new to the show.
Then we have a picture with more Seanchan and Loial and the Dark One/Ishamael walking through that same city. This could be Falme or Tear or some other place entirely. This is another scene that doesn’t really seem to match up with the book as far as I recall.
We also have this interesting picture of Rand. The banners show the same symbol we’ve seen on other banners in the town where the Seanchan is this is almost certainly that same place. In the books, this section takes place in Falme, but the show could change that. Given Rand’s fancy shirt and look of determination, along with the fact that Rand doesn’t get to Falme till towards the end of book two, I’d guess this comes late in the season. Still, now that we have a release date for season two of The Wheel of Time, we won’t have to wait all that long to find out!
Let us know if you are looking forward to this season, down in the comments!
