My wife and I have been watching a lot of The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime. It was her idea to watch it, but I had seen the previews that looked pretty interesting. I’m not surprised the whole series is based on books inspired by a guy that really liked Lord of the Rings.
The show begins with Moiraine, a member of the Aes Sedai looking for someone. The Aes Sedai use magic and have a military-like order to them. The person she’s searching for hasn’t been on this Earth for about three thousand years. His or her name is The Dragon.
That’s because The Dragon has reincarnated after many years of slumber. Moiraine finds five people of similar age in a little village, and she’s quite sure one of these kids is The One. When monsters utterly destroy their village, they follow Moiraine to wherever they need to go. It doesn’t take long for most of them to question themselves or Moiraine.
But things are rarely safe anywhere. You have the Whitecloaks, whom claim purity but have little toleration for anyone who they think is evil. Then there’s Aes Sedai infighting between “colors” of factions. And finally there’s a big bad dark lord who’s been waiting to fight the Dragon or corrupt the legend for three millennia.
Overall, The Wheel of Time disappointed me based on the previews. It seems like Amazon Prime Video wanted it as its Game of Thrones, but cheaped out on talent and production. It’s not bad per se, but it could have been much more. The first two episodes drag a bit but I really started to like it as it progressed. Maybe the second season will fix some of its faults, but it’s got a lot of work ahead if it wants to be the next Game of Thrones or The Witcher.
Score: B-
Neko Random 