Save The Wheel of Time

Giving nuanced portrayals of women holding both magical power & offices of power is such a rarity for any television, but especially fantasy television, and is something The Wheel of Time does fantastically well. The diversity of casting & breadth of the world breathes new life into Robert Jordan’s work, and long may it continue.

The beautiful costumes and diversity shows the range of all humanity. There is laughter and crying and anger and love and such complex humanity even with magic. I enjoy how the showrunners just show us every bit of humankind and I still want to root for everyone even the bad guys.

This is the show I’ve been LONGING for. The cast? Incredible. The costumes? INSPIRING. The writing? INSANE. There are changes from the books and yet I feel like every decision has come from a place of intense care and love. I’ve read the series 3 times, met Harriet Jordan and Brandon Sanderson the day the last book was released. Heck, I even won a backpack answering WoT trivia. As a fan of the books, I can truly say that the tv show has made me love WoT even more. Characters I dismissed (like Morgase or Liandrin) have entered the stage with dynamic presence, demanding my attention. I love this show. I LOVE THIS SHOW. I’ve made my whole family watch it. I’ve studied the costumes for hours. It’s everything I wanted and more.

The costuming, sets, cinematography and production design are absolutely beautiful. The big moments are breathtaking and nail-biting. The source material is rich and deep. The foreshadowing and callbacks are constant and would make Robert Jordan proud.

But, what I love most is the depth of character work that is done in this show. The main characters are very well realized in the show; three-dimensional and complex. Their emotions and motivations make sense and the relationships that develop (romantic, platonic or otherwise) feel authentic. This is one of the greatest strengths in the book series and I love that the show has made this aspect a priority as well.