Interviews and News Articles

[Ralph]

https://www.wotseries.com/2021/12/23/qa-rafe-judkins-and-alvaro-morte/

 

Question: Has season 1 performed as you expected? Any thoughts on viewers’ feedback?

Rafe Judkins: When we started out, we knew the show had to appeal to a huge audience in order to justify its existence. So we always imagined that we’d likely lose absolute hardcore book fans who’ve read the series multiple times because the show would be too different from the books. And conversely, that we’d lose people who’ve never watched a fantasy show before because it’s too much like the books (which are very high fantasy). The target was always more people who read some or all of Wheel years ago or are fantasy/genre fans but not familiar with Wheel. Which is a huge breadth of people. The shocking thing to me has been how many really really Sarah Nakamura-level hardcore book fans have loved the show despite the departures and how many people who’ve never watched a fantasy show before in their lives are somehow finding their way to

 

 

Now that is just trolling...  ??

Edited December 23, 2021 by Ralph

[DaddyFinn]

From the Q&A

 

Quote

Question: How many seasons ahead are you thinking when making decision?

Rafe Judkins: All of them. Have to be. There’s lot of stuff that we’ve set up in Season One that are changes from the books that we needed to make for later payoffs.

 

 

Quote

Question: What are you proudest of in terms of translating it from the book to a visual medium?

Rafe Judkins: That we did it at all. That we introduced millions of new people to this series. For thirty years, people said that Wheel of Time was “unadaptable”, but after today, the first season will be out entirely, and the number of people who’ve come to it and enjoyed it has been absolutely insane. It’s Amazon’s biggest premiere of all time, the most-watched show in the world for three weeks running, the completion rate is massive, and Eye of the World is back on the best seller list! To see something that I love so much that most of the world had never heard of become this big, this fast is honestly surreal. I thought it would be years before the show was this big. I still can’t quite believe it as each new number comes in.

 

 

[Skipp]

6 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

From the Q&A

Question: How many seasons ahead are you thinking when making decision?

Rafe Judkins: All of them. Have to be. There’s lot of stuff that we’ve set up in Season One that are changes from the books that we needed to make for later payoffs.

 

And that is what I wanted to hear.  The changes may seem strange now but they are building towards something.

 

I appreciate this even more with EotW in general as Jordan didn't have a full idea of the series when he wrote the book.  While there are still plenty of awesome foreshadowing in the book there is also many things that just don't add up with the rest of the series.

[Windigo]

https://www.ign.com/articles/amazon-wheel-of-time-span-14-books-prequel
 

In an interview with IGN, Amazon Studios co-head of TV Vernon Sanders said the company is currently focused on the present, but would love for the series to eventually span all 14 Wheel of Time books and the prequel.

[JenniferL]

Leigh Butler’s review. 
 

https://time.com/6131394/wheel-of-time-season-finale-review/?fbclid=IwAR0zKqQCkdE_hGOh3AFQQeTXUglZdH4i7KDw9GmJ9m5tZ-bBHHDM-1xO3j8

[TheDreadReader]

https://www.cbr.com/wheel-of-time-rafe-judkins-interview/

 

 

[JenniferL]

Huh. So they really did still Moiraine. I don’t think I like that. 

[ArrylT]

23 minutes ago, JenniferL said:

Huh. So they really did still Moiraine. I don’t think I like that. 

 

Rafe, imho, is very Aes Sedai like.  I do not think he has ever said anything untrue - and in this case I do not think he specifically said she was stilled.  He simply chose not to either (a) respond to that term or (b) allow people to make up their own minds.

 

Now I am not disputing it is certainly possible that she has been stilled - just that I am going to WAFO before I accept that as a fact.  

[Skipp]

I don't think they stilled Moiraine.  The interviewer certainly believes that but Rafe doesn't say one way or another.  I am purely basing this on the fact that what the DO did to Moiraine looked alot more like shielding than what Liandrin did to Logain.

[Pandemonium]

2 hours ago, JenniferL said:

Leigh Butler’s review. 
 

https://time.com/6131394/wheel-of-time-season-finale-review/?fbclid=IwAR0zKqQCkdE_hGOh3AFQQeTXUglZdH4i7KDw9GmJ9m5tZ-bBHHDM-1xO3j8

this review seems spot on.  hopefully Amazon listens to the feedback and responds 

[ArrylT]

https://nerdist.com/article/the-wheel-of-time-season-1-finale-showrunner-interview-rafe-judkins/

 

Another article with Rafe Judkins - one snippet I wanted to share

 

The end of the book The Eye of the World is famously confusing and messy. Can you talk about bringing that to the screen and making the change for only Rand and Moiraine to go to the Eye?

 

Spoiler

One of the first things I did when I started was talk to Harriet, Robert Jordan’s widow, and Brandon [Sanderson] about: what are the things Robert Jordan would’ve changed about the books with “hindsight’s 20/20?” They both talked about the introduction of Mat and Perrin, and how to have those characters be crystallized earlier in the show than they were in the books.

And then another thing they talked about was the end of the first book. I felt when I read it too, [that it] didn’t necessarily deliver exactly what he was hoping for. There were a couple things in it that he specifically said he was unhappy with. I worked with Brandon to find a way—hopefully you won’t understand it until season two—but hopefully one thing from the books that Robert Jordan hated, we have given an idea too, in the show. I can’t say more than that, but that would make it actually make sense.

But I wanted to take it, and take the core of what happens in there. And instead of letting Rand sort of do everything, which he does in the books—he fights Ba’alzamon, he then teleports to Tarwin’s Gap and levels an army of Trollocs, and then he gets the Horn of Valere. A lot happens for Rand there in the finale, but we wanted to try to take it and piece it out for our ensemble.

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by ArrylT

[Blackbyrd]

3 hours ago, JenniferL said:

Leigh Butler’s review. 
 

https://time.com/6131394/wheel-of-time-season-finale-review/?fbclid=IwAR0zKqQCkdE_hGOh3AFQQeTXUglZdH4i7KDw9GmJ9m5tZ-bBHHDM-1xO3j8

Well I'm kinda glad I don't need to think about writing a review as this one basically sums it all up for me.

 

I would love to know what would have happened in 7 & 8 if Mat had been there

[VooDooNut]

3 hours ago, JenniferL said:

Leigh Butler’s review. 
 

https://time.com/6131394/wheel-of-time-season-finale-review/?fbclid=IwAR0zKqQCkdE_hGOh3AFQQeTXUglZdH4i7KDw9GmJ9m5tZ-bBHHDM-1xO3j8

I really liked this one. It gives a fair shake to the first season while acknowledging the meta-impacts and less than perfect decisions towards the end of the season.

[Raal Gurniss]

18 hours ago, Windigo said:

https://www.ign.com/articles/amazon-wheel-of-time-span-14-books-prequel
 

In an interview with IGN, Amazon Studios co-head of TV Vernon Sanders said the company is currently focused on the present, but would love for the series to eventually span all 14 Wheel of Time books and the prequel.

I hope I am wrong(sort of) but I truly believe season 2 will be the last…It depends if many of the fans of book feel they are being exploited and taken advantage of.

 

This  adaptation after all was not written for previous fans but did expect to attract a large percentage of them due to prior fandom.

[king of nowhere]

Can someone please ask rafe why he thought it would be a good idea to have the seanchan summon a massive tsunami against a mostly deserted coast? A coast with a high cliff behind, so it won't do any damage or accomplish anything except kill that child.

 

I get that they wanted to show those people as powerful with channelers, but they could have just as easily shown a sea in tempest, and the damane making the sea calm to land safely. or maybe show a city in the background, and the seanchan would show up and throw a tsunami at the shore near the city, as an intimidation tactic: "surrender to us, or we can wipe your city completely". those would have conveyed the same idea and they would have made sense.

[Vambram]

Tor.com; The Wheel of Time Takes the First Step of a Long Healing Process in “The Eye of World”

[notpropaganda73]

9 hours ago, JenniferL said:

Leigh Butler’s review. 
 

https://time.com/6131394/wheel-of-time-season-finale-review/?fbclid=IwAR0zKqQCkdE_hGOh3AFQQeTXUglZdH4i7KDw9GmJ9m5tZ-bBHHDM-1xO3j8

Articulated everything I wanted to say in a much calmer, and fairer, way. Kudos Leigh!!

[Pandemonium]

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/amazon-wheel-of-time-ratings-tops-netflix/

 

WOT was the most watched show on any streaming service, including Netflix, from 11/15 to 11/21.  Hopefully the audience stays for season 2 and Amazon can improve the show and get the interest level even higher for season 2

[DigificWriter]

13 hours ago, Raal Gurniss said:

I hope I am wrong(sort of) but I truly believe season 2 will be the last…It depends if many of the fans of book feel they are being exploited and taken advantage of.

 

The opinions of a divided fanbase are monumentally irrelevant when it comes to determining the long-term future of this show.

[TheDreadReader]

On 12/25/2021 at 8:07 AM, DigificWriter said:

 

The opinions of a divided fanbase are monumentally irrelevant when it comes to determining the long-term future of this show.

 

Yes.  I might dispute the "monumentally" but generally I agree with you.

 

Take, for example, the 50/50 split that someone pointed out on the Dusty Wheel poll.  That's indicative that the show was able to create "coffee pot talk" amongst the fanbase for the waiting period between seasons.  Just because the fans have reason to talk does not mean that it will result in a loss of interest in the show as it can equally drive greater interest in the show for season 2.

 

 

[Elder_Haman]

On 12/24/2021 at 10:27 AM, JenniferL said:

Huh. So they really did still Moiraine. I don’t think I like that. 

I think Ishy just shielded her and tied it off. Notice the little hand gesture. In the books those just decay over time. I’m wondering if something similar will happen here, or if she will discover another mechanism for getting her power back. 

[Ralph]

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/12/the-wheel-of-times-first-season-wraps-up-in-an-explosive-twisty-finale/

 

Didn't notice anyone posting this one yet 

[Vambram]

Phew, [REDACTED] didn’t die on The Wheel of Time

 

 

This is a pretty good read here.

[ArrylT]

7 hours ago, Ralph said:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/12/the-wheel-of-times-first-season-wraps-up-in-an-explosive-twisty-finale/

 

Didn't notice anyone posting this one yet 

Quote

Our biggest complaint about the season is that there needed to be more of it.

 

Join the club!  I think the line starts in Prague and extends all the way to LA. ?

[Els]

Priyanka Bose gave a podcast interview - she is such a delight. 

 

https://shows.acast.com/6181a97a239943001917ea15/episodes/interview-priyanka-bose-the-wheel-of-time