I started watching the Wheel of Time after season 2 had already come out. I remember seeing the ads for the show when the first season came out but I have been so disappointed with so many fantasy shows recently that I didn’t want to watch it and again be disappointed, so I didn’t even try. Fantasy was relegated to the world of children for me, a part of myself that could never be reactivated after years of disappointing Epics on TV. Nothing gave me that sense of magic and wander that I felt as a kid.
When the second season came out, I happened to be in the middle of a really rough patch with my identity and purpose in life. I didn’t know which direction to take and I really struggled with standing up for myself. I felt buried behind a mask of my own making after years of working in customer service jobs and putting on a smile for the people that I worked with. I went to a party with some family friends and I happened to talk about fantasy with another nerd who recommended the Wheel of Power. I was surprised, I thought it was just like the other disappointing shows that I had seen so just the mention of it made me curious. I ended up having a sort of burn-out that same year and I took some days off of work. I remember thinking what I should do with my time and I came across the Wheel of Time on Prime so I decided to finally watch it and I was immediately plunged deep into the world. I felt my cynicism slipping away and tears filled my eyes watching a fantasy story with magic and monsters and heroes who were my age, and who looked like me. I stayed in bed and watched the entire first season in a few days and then watched the second one soon after. I eventually quit my job and went back to school to get my masters and those days at home watching the Wheel of Time will always be a precious memory of going back to magic and hope. Believing that the fantasy world is expansive and can include me too was an incredibly hopeful message.

I know that the political climate of the world may be pushing us farther from diversity, but I also have to state clearly that this show being full of women and especially women of color has been absolutely life changing for me. I am a black woman who grew up reading fantasy and watching fantasy TV shows to escape an oppressive experience in church and isolation in school. When I was a kid, I even sent emails to my favorite authors begging them to turn their books into movies and asking them to allow me to be in them. Sadly, those who I sent emails to never got their books turned into movies but seeing so many women who looked like me in this fantasy world of the Wheel of Time has been so healing for the little 10-year-old kid who has slowly been sloughing off her mask of sadness and conformity.

The third season of the Wheel of Time was absolutely beautiful, I had held off on watching the entire season because I was waiting for the perfect moment to cozy up and watch it alone, it was that precious to me. When I saw that it was cancelled, I was heartbroken. I hold onto the hope that maybe this can change. This show has renewed the sense of magic for me, and I fell in love with the characters, the actors, the sets, the costumes and the story. All I can say for now is thank you to everyone who worked on this show. I haven’t read the books yet but I will pick them up now to fill the void that has been left after season 3. I will also look forward to listening to Rosamund Pike’s reading of the book series as well.