It’s one of many greatest fantasy sequence of all time—and never simply in recognition. Robert Jordan’s 15 books span greater than 11,000 pages of journey, lore, and world-building that may be extremely intimidating to start out studying. Maybe it’s even made you cautious of Amazon’s upcoming TV adaptation of the sequence. If that’s true, don’t be afeared—this io9 Guide is able to let you know all the things you want to know. Admittedly, it’s nonetheless type of so much, but it surely’s manner shorter than 11,000 pages.

Welcome again to the io9 Guide sequence, the place we take an introductory however complete have a look at the myriad universes of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. These guides are geared toward laypeople looking for a fast refresher, in addition to seasoned followers who need to debate the which means and important data of a topic.

What Is The Wheel of Time About?

To put it merely… actually, OK, there’s no good option to put it merely. In a world the place magic is nearly completely utilized by ladies, there’s a legend of a male sorcerer who can be reborn to combat and defeat Shai’tan, aka the Dark One, a god of evil and desolation. That sorcerer known as the Dragon, and the issue is that the primary time he stopped Shai’tan, the Dark One poisoned the male aspect of the One Power, inflicting the Dragon to go mad and shatter the world. The Dragon Reborn is prophesized to lastly imprison Shai’tan for good, but in addition to destroy the world a second time as a result of he’ll be tainted by the identical corrupted magic. That’s simply the prologue. The Wheel of Time really begins when Moiraine—a member of the Aes Sedai, a company of ladies who wield highly effective sorcery and political energy all through the world—believes that the Dragon has lastly been reborn close to the small city of Emond’s Field in Two Rivers. Once there, she spirits away the three teenage boys she believes might be the Dragon’s reincarnation after their village is attacked by the Dark One’s forces.

This units off an epic fantasy that encompasses a number of kingdoms, cultures, societies, numerous characters, a number of wars, a number of continents, and in some way a lot, far more (and we do imply epic, as even the publication of the sequence spanned practically 30 years). Jordan started writing the primary quantity, The Eye of the World, in 1984. After it was printed in 1990, he adopted it up with The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising, The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos, A Crown of Swords, The Path of Daggers, Winter’s Heart, Crossroads of Twilight, a fast prequel referred to as New Spring in 2004, and Knife of Dreams earlier than passing away of terminal coronary heart illness in 2007. The last three books—The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and the ultimate quantity printed in 2013, A Memory of Light—have been accomplished by best-selling fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson in accordance with Jordan’s notes.

What Is a Wheel of Time?

It’s the central a part of the sequence’ elaborate mythos. The all-powerful Creator created the Wheel to imprison his harmful counterpart, Shai’tan. The Wheel spins by means of seven ages of very indeterminate size and significance after which, presumably, restarts. The unique Dragon, whose identify was Lews Therin Telamon, ended the Second Age by defeating Shai’tan and “breaking the world,” because the folks time period it. The novels happen close to the tip of the Third Age, which can finish when Shai’tan is both reimprisoned or takes complete management.

The Wheel is rotated by the One Power, the magical power divided neatly into female and male halves referred to as saidin and saidar, respectively, and is represented by the yin-yang image (besides with out the alternating dots). In the Second Age, each women and men might channel their respective a part of the ability, however when the Dark One tainted saidin, all male sorcerers went mad and began a rampage. The ladies of the Aes Sedai have been pressured to kill their male counterparts, which is why solely feminine Aes Sedai exist when the books start, and why the Aes Sedai are so involved concerning the reincarnation of the Dragon.

Who are the primary characters in Wheel of Time?

There are greater than 2,700 named characters within the books, so lots of which maintain main roles that it turns into arduous to maintain monitor of them, particularly since Robert Jordan simply retains piling essential ones up because the sequence goes on. But listed here are the core characters from The Eye of the World, the primary quantity in The Wheel of Time, which presumably additionally varieties the premise for the primary season of the upcoming Amazon TV sequence.

Moiraine Damoded—A strong Aes Sedai who has spent years looking for the Dragon Reborn. (She’s performed by Rosamund Pike within the TV present.)

Rand al’Thor—A shepherd who Moiraine has concluded is likely one of the three doable reincarnations of the Dragon. He’s tall, cussed, and has reddish hair. (performed by Josha Stradowski)

Nynaeve al’Meara—The Wisdom of Emond’s Field, which makes her the village healer and chief of the ladies’s circle—the youngest ever chosen. She’s very obstinate and hot-tempered. (performed by Zoë Robins)

Perrin Aybara—The village’s blacksmith, Rand’s buddy, and one in every of Moiraine’s potential Dragons. As befits his career, he’s closely constructed and fairly sturdy however has a really calm, considerate demeanor. He additionally has golden eyes. (performed by Marcus Rutherford)

Mat Cauthon—The third of Moiraine’s Dragon candidates, and a detailed buddy of each Rand and Perrin. He’s a consummate mischief-maker and gambler and thought of lazy, immature, and untrustworthy by the folks of the village, however he’s additionally extremely loyal. He additionally had oddly good luck. (performed by Barney Harris in season one however already recast with Dónal Finn for season two)

Egwene al’Vere—The daughter of the mayor of Emond’s Field and Nynaeve’s apprentice. She’s very shut with Rand, Mat, and Perrin. She’s additionally a voracious learner who longs for journey and new experiences. (performed by Madeleine Madden)

al’Lan Mandoragan—Moiraine’s Warder, one of many historically male protectors Aes Sedai are bonded to and accompanied by. He’s stoic, stony-faced, and completely dedicated to Moiraine. He’s additionally an especially proficient swordsman. (performed by Daniel Henney)

Will The Wheel of Time TV Series Be the Next Game of Thrones?

It doesn’t appear probably. While Amazon is spending an absurd amount of money on every episode, with its major concentrate on magic, destiny, and monsters, The Wheel of Time is far nearer to the excessive fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings than the devious-politics-plus-occasional-monsters of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, at the least throughout its early books. But in these later books, issues get so complicated and sprawling it’s extraordinarily tough to maintain monitor of all the things occurring—way over byzantine than Thrones ever was, imagine it or not. Plus, there find yourself being so many foremost characters and storylines that the primary narrative, the combat towards the Dark One, strikes ahead at a glacial tempo. A whole lot of issues would must be lower to make the TV sequence simpler for audiences to observe (and get invested in, to be sincere).

That’s to not say the present can’t do it—actually, it virtually has to do it, until Amazon is planning on making 14 seasons of The Wheel of Time, which appears unlikely. At the very least, it’s arduous to think about actors like Rosamund Pike would actively signal themselves to a challenge that may require that a lot time and compelled them to principally move to Prague. (Even Robert Downey Jr. solely spent 11 years as Iron Man.) There’s loads of materials that may be lower, and it appears to everybody’s profit to take away it, or at the least replace it.

What Needed to Be Updated for The Wheel of Time in 2021?

Quite so much with reference to its characters and characterization if it needs to face subsequent to different fashionable TV creations. If you haven’t picked it up but, The Wheel of Time is a extremely, extremely gendered story with rigidly outlined concepts about masculinity and femininity. While ladies should undergo saidar and permit it to movement by means of them to make use of its energy, these males who can channel saidin should combat it and conquer it, and are extra highly effective than ladies because of this. To Jordan’s credit score, there may be binary gender equality in a lot of the world of The Wheel of Time, and the setting even leans to the matriarchal given the ability and affect of the Aes Sedai.

However, many individuals really feel Jordan’s ability at depicting feminine characters was usually missing (myself included). Their personalities oscillate between domineering, offended, infantile, jealous, or coquettish. Regardless of no matter energy, affect, or preliminary independence they’ve, they’re fortunately dominated by their male romantic pursuits. Jordan hardly ever describes his characters’ pores and skin coloration in a manner that feels prefer it’s irrelevant to him, given the numerous totally different peoples and cultures populating the e-book. However, given the abundance of romantic relationships within the books, the shortage of LGBTQ+ illustration is inescapable. Very few of these 2,700 characters are gay, they usually’re primarily made up of a sure portion of Aes Sedai who’re additionally misandrists. There aren’t any trans characters however there’s a womanizing man who the Dark Lord reincarnates in a feminine physique as a merciless joke. Suffice it to say, the TV sequence has plenty of room for enchancment in these areas.

Should I Be Excited About Amazon’s The Wheel of Time TV Series?

You ought to, and never simply because the present has already addressed these issues to some extent, particularly with its extensively various casting. But much more notably, the present’s official synopsis says Moiraine “embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn”—closely implying that Egwene and Nyneave are additionally thought of doable reincarnations. If that is true, this could have large ramifications for the way the present will deal with gender, particularly when it comes to the magic underpinning the story’s framework.

Plus, there’s nonetheless so much to get pleasure from about The Wheel of Time, however I can’t clarify it with out technically mentioning issues which might be launched later within the books, so for those who’ve not learn them and need to go into the TV sequence recent, time to show away.

Despite the books’ flaws, there’s an fascinating, compelling, and nonetheless extraordinarily epic fantasy story inside The Wheel of Time. While Jordan borrows concepts from many different fantasy sequence—Shai’tan is Lord of the Rings’ Sauron, the Aes Sedai are Dune’s Bene Gesserit—he offers all of them distinctive twists, and provides loads of his personal concepts, too: Ta’veren, focal factors of the Wheel of Time with the innate energy to govern the Pattern of destiny. Several sects of Aes Sedai with very totally different philosophies. False Dragons, who declare they’re Lews Therin reborn. The Forsaken, Shai’tan’s 13 strongest disciples who escape from the Dark One’s weakening jail. Tel’aran’rhiod, the World of Dreams. Wolfbrothers, who’ve particular powers and are thought of by wolves as one in every of their very own. The Land of the Madmen. Sniffers, who can odor violence. Balefire, highly effective magic that not solely kills folks however can erase their existence.

This is to say nothing of the numerous continents, kingdoms, different lands that populate the world of The Wheel of Time, every with their very own distinctive cultures, politics, objectives, and typically even powers. And at its coronary heart is Rand’s battle to keep up his sanity because the Dragon Reborn—which you certainly guessed after studying his very bland character description—whereas utilizing tainted magic to combat the Dark One’s many minions, which is a hell of a hook when nobody is aware of if he’s going to save lots of the world, destroy the world, or each. Honestly, the restrictions of a TV sequence might be precisely what The Wheel of Time wants as a result of it would power the creators to condense the story right into a extra concise, targeted narrative. The novels have their flaws, however The Wheel of Time sequence has an actual likelihood to make the epic fantasy nice and that’s undoubtedly one thing to be enthusiastic about.

Will There Be a Season 2 of Wheel of Time?

Yes. Amazon Studios has already renewed the fantasy sequence forward of its season one premiere on November 19, 2021. Showrunner and government producer Rafe Judkins stated: “The belief Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television have shown in The Wheel of Time has been incredible to see throughout the entire process of making this show. Getting a second season order before the first season has even premiered is such a vote of confidence in the work we are doing and the property itself, and we couldn’t be happier to be able to continue to live and work in the world Robert Jordan created. This property is one I’ve loved since I was a teenager, and seeing it brought to life with the resources to make it truly worthy of what’s on the page is something I can’t wait for the other fans of the books to see.”

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