The Wheel of Time is an eight episode first season based upon the novels. It is set in a high fantasy world, following Moiraine, who is part of the Aes Sedai, a powerful organization. She is able to use the One Power, which can only be controlled by women, for if a man tries to channel it, it will drive them insane. The background of the story is that in the past, the Dragon razed the world. It is prophesized that its reincarnation will be the one to save the land. Moiraine’s objective is to find this incarnation but the evil ones are also seeking the Dragon.
Incidentally, Moiraine is led to a village where there are four possible candidates for being the Dragon Reborn. Before too long though, the village was attacked. Moiraine and the four candidates escape and it was decided that they will go back to the headquarters of the Aes Sedai, the White Tower, and regroup from there. Along the way, we learn more about this world and its inhabitants. There is a bit of drama going on between the characters, which is only natural. Firstly, the candidates are wary of Moiraine since everything happened in a rush. Secondly, they are young and thus there are the typical teenage dramas unfolding between them. It doesn’t get to the point of getting in the way of the story but does feel like padding at times.
Despite the intriguing start and the way the plot quickly sets itself up, it soon slows down and then scatters. The characters split up and thus we get multiple viewpoints. However, each viewpoint is not even in time, as some characters get a lot more screentime than others, which makes it hard to care for them at times. It feels as if there are a lot of distractions and detours, while these are used to explain more about the world and how it works, at the same time, it drags on. This can make the show feel very much like a stock standard high fantasy production, as its structure and the way it presents the story are done in familiar ways.
Luckily, the second half of the season shows off some more interesting things such as introducing other members of the Aes Sedai. Throughout most of the season, we had only seen Moiraine and since she is the protagonist, we had good, or at least better, impressions of the Aes Sedai. However, once we see the other members, and when the characters finally arrive at the White Tower, we see that it’s an organization through and through, with all the flaws of one. These women of power have ambitions, and between them are a ton of politics in their struggle for power and status.
It feels that despite all the runtime, the events that happen don’t amount to much substance. The plot takes baby steps to progress and most confusingly is that despite all this time, we are still not closer in knowing which of the four candidates is the Dragon Reborn. Each of them shows some sort of power, beyond what you would normally expect, which can feel contrived in order to drive up tension and mystery. Granted, if they revealed the mystery too soon, then that just deconstructs the whole show, but the way that things were constantly teased and held back is also not the best way to do it.
The last episode, and the season finale, is probably one of the better episodes. It finally resolves the core issue of the season, being that the characters are finally united. We get a good opportunity to see who is the Dragon Reborn, and what is going to happen now. It doesn’t give us a resolution, as there is plenty of story left to tell but at least it closes off the big plot thread of the season, after such a long winding detour. Despite the huge amount of worldbuilding, most of it is so localized that by the end of the season, you still don’t have a good grasp of this world.
Overall, The Wheel of Time is fine. It’s not a bad show but it is not stellar either. It had good production values and its concept is good. However, what lets it down is the slower pacing as well as the decision to split the characters up and then covering each of their viewpoints. As a result, the storytelling isn’t as focused and it is harder to gel with the characters. There is a lack of identity that doesn’t allow this show to stand out against other fantasy shows.
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