For those of us waiting for the Wheel of Time television series to arrive, the wait is starting to feel a bit interminable. Production on the first season began almost two years ago and we still don’t have a final air date or even a full-length trailer, although Amazon have started recently posting very short clips to kick off the marketing excitement for the show.

At this point a recap of the status of the show might be in order.

A Wheel of Time adaptation, based on the fourteen-volume book series by Robert Jordan (published between 1990 and 2013), has been in the works for over twenty years. NBC, Universal and a Japanese animation company all took various tilts at the idea before finally Sony Television brought the project to life in conjunction with Amazon. Showrunner Rafe Judkins, a veteran of shows such as Agents of SHIELD and Chuck and a lifelong Wheel of Time fan, has adapted the show with a team of scriptwriters from the fields of television, film and stage plays. Robert Jordan’s widow and editor, Harriet McDougal, and author Brandon Sanderson, who completed the novels after Robert Jordan’s sad passing in 2007, are advising on the project, as is Wheel of Time superfan Sarah Nakamura and Maria Simons, one of Robert Jordan’s researchers and assistants.

Production of the show is based in the Czech Republic, with filming studios in Prague serving as the primary base for shooting. Location filming has taken place across the Czech Republic and also in Slovenia and Spain.

The first season consists of eight episodes and will adapt the first novel in The Wheel of Time series, The Eye of the World, although some story elements from other novels may be introduced earlier than anticipated, and some storylines, locations and characters from The Eye of the World have been dropped for time or cost reasons, or delayed until later seasons and storylines when they have more to do. With the show unlikely to last fourteen seasons, it is likely that the show will take a somewhat looser approach to adaptation than, say, the Lord of the Rings movies or the early seasons of Game of Thrones.

The show’s production has been, regrettably, extended by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Six of the eight episodes had been shot to completion when the Czech Republic imposed a lockdown on filming in March 2020. Shooting was able to resume in early September, but shut down again in November when a second wave – and, for the Czech Republic, a much worse one – of the pandemic hit the country. Some additional filming did take place in December in Spain.

The current status of the show is that the overwhelming majority of footage needed for the first season has been shot and is in the bag, and the vfx and post-production teams are hard at work on inserting music, sound effects, CGI and graphics for the final product. However, several scenes from the last two episodes remain to be shot and it sounds like they need to be finished off before the season can be said to have fully wrapped and a release date set. There are some rumours that the production team may be able to shoot the last footage they need in the next couple of months, opening the way for the show to air in late 2021 through to early 2022, but that has not yet been confirmed.

Of course, The Wheel of Time is not the only fantasy show to be adversely affected by the pandemic. The second season of Netflix’s The Witcher had a similarly protracted filming period, with repeated shutdowns due to COVID outbreaks in the UK and even among the cast and crew (a problem that Wheel of Time at least seems to have dodged). Fortunately, that show was able to conclude its filming last week and now seems firmly on track to air later in the year.

The Wheel of Time does have a slight issue in terms of internal competition. Amazon Television is also producing a Lord of the Rings TV series based on the forging of the Rings of Power, set in the Second Age of Middle-earth (roughly five thousand years before the events of The Lord of the Rings itself). Filming in mostly COVID-free New Zealand, the show has largely escaped the delays and problems that have beset Europe-based productions. Filming is expected to continue for some months, but some reports and rumours suggest that the show is filming its first two seasons back-to-back, and filming of the first season material may have already concluded and be in post, with a view to airing in very late 2021 or early 2022. That could lead to a time issue where Amazon are perhaps reluctant to air two superficially-similar epic fantasy TV shows in the same window (and with both shows likely to air weekly, maybe simultaneously), resulting in further delays to one of the projects. That’s only a theoretical issue for now, but one to keep an eye on if the delays continue.

The wait is of course frustrating, but we can hope that the end product will be worth it. In the meantime, keep an eye on Dragonmount’s news page and casting page for the latest developments.

Amazon Prime revealed a first glimpse of Rosamund Pike as the iconic character Moiraine Damodred in the upcoming Wheel of Time TV show. They revealed a 5-second video via their official social media accounts and YouTube:

This is the first official character reveal that the show has provided fans. 

Tell us what you think of the video in the comments below or on social media.

Learn more about Amazon's Wheel of Time TV show.  

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

At some point in the hopefully-not-too-distant future, Amazon Prime’s Wheel of Time TV series is going to hit the airwaves, and the question arises on how are they going to get the show before as many eyeballs as possible?

The current television market is glutted with more network, streaming and cable shows than ever before. More than five hundred scripted series – that’s not episodes, that’s series – will air in the United States alone in 2021, and that’s not counting English-language shows from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere. Getting eyeballs on the show is going to be essential to ensure it survives, but that’s harder than it ever has been before.

Fortunately, The Wheel of Time has some help. Almost 100 million copies of the books have been sold worldwide since 1990. The Wheel of Time is one of the highest-profile and best-known fantasy series in the world, with a vast, international fanbase. Fans have already been talking excitedly about the series for around eighteen months, ever since the first casting and production information began to trickle out, and various Wheel of Time-related phrases and hashtags have been trending on social media. Multiple, high-profile booktubers have been discussing the adaptation for over a year, and high-profile geek websites like Tor.com and io9 have been spreading news as it breaks. Like Game of Thrones before it, Wheel of Time benefits from a passionate fanbase keen to spread the word of the TV show before it even airs, with the bonus that Wheel of Time has a much larger reader base than the Song of Ice and Fire novels had in 2011.

But for the show to be a hit, it has to reach out beyond the core fanbase. Some of the high-profile casting will help. Rosamund Pike (Moiraine) has had a long career in hit films from Die Another Day through Pride & Prejudice, Jack Reacher and The World’s End, through to her massive hit role in Gone Girl (which garnered her an Oscar nomination), and she has plenty of fans willing to check out any project she’s involved in. Rosamund's profile has risen even higher thanks to her Best Actress (Musical/Comedy) win at the Golden Globes last weekend for I Care a Lot. Daniel Henney (Lan) likewise has a keen international fanbase of his work in both American and South Korean cinema and television, particularly his popular stint on Criminal Minds, whilst Maria Doyle Kennedy (Ila) has a strong fanbase from her work in The Commitments, The Tudors, Outlander and Orphan Black, as well as her singing career (among many other projects). The high-profile end of the casting will certainly draw eyes onto the project. Álvaro Morte (Logain) also has a strong following from his work, and recently spoke about his role.

Amazon’s relatively small slate of original programming, at least compared to competitor Netflix, will also help with this: Amazon can afford to put more resources into marketing the show and making people aware it’s on its way, rather than risk the show getting lost in a morass of other shows coming out at the same time. For a long time, it looked like Amazon was lagging a little in the streaming race with Netflix, but recent breakout hits like The Boys and the hugely increased viewership and awareness of The Expanse after it moved over to Amazon have shown it can now produce great shows with large audiences.

One question we’ve touched on before is whether the show will launch weekly or all at once. Given Amazon’s move to a weekly release schedule for many of their original shows, I think it’s probably more likely than not that Wheel of Time will hit the airwaves one episode at a time, possibly after the first two or three episodes are released at once. That will give The Wheel of Time more than a month of having people talking about a new episode every week, that will hopefully get people excited and willing to watch more.

Amazon has already, of course, started drip-feeding us some marketing already, with a short look at the Winespring Inn, a look at the show’s swords, a tease of an infamous dagger and a brief glimpse at Thom’s new musical instrument, as well as unveiling some impressive concept art. At the moment these sneak peeks are aimed more at book-readers than a general audience, but that will change.

I suspect a short teaser of some kind will be aired first, maybe 3-6 months out from airing, with a longer and more substantive trailer a few weeks out from transmission. These trailers will have to nail what makes The Wheel of Time different from other fantasy projects like Game of Thrones or The Witcher, or Amazon’s own upcoming Lord of the Rings show, so I’d suspect some display of the One Power in full force and a focus on Rosamund Pike’s star power as Moiraine (especially since early blurbs suggest the show will re-focus on Moiraine as a protagonist to keep the identity of the Dragon Reborn more in question than it is in the books).

What will be interesting is if some kind of supporting website is launched as well. The world of The Wheel of Time is complex, with fourteen distinct nations in the Westlands alone, numerous competing factions and a detailed backstory unfolding over almost 3,500 years. Existing references are heavy on spoilers for the books, so a TV-specific website with maps, histories and descriptions of factions like the Aes Sedai, Tuatha’an, Aiel and Children of the Light could be a great reference, especially if it’s only updated to the latest episode to avoid spoilers.

It’s also likely we’ll get some kind of aftershow to discuss the latest episode in detail with guest stars and comparisons to the books. There’s certainly plenty of Wheel of Time talent out there knowledgeable enough to make such a show engaging. There may also be featurettes and documentaries expanding on what happened behind the scenes on the making of the show.

There’s also merchandising to consider. We’ll likely see The Eye of the World at least – if not the entire series – reissued with a TV tie-in cover, and we already know that Valyrian Steel are working on replica swords based on the TV designs. We’ll also probably see the soundtrack released commercially. More detailed merchandising – statues, action figures, a pop-up guide book to Tar Valon, and, of course, the inevitable Narg’s Cooking Masterclass cookbook – may wait on people seeing how successful the first season has been.

One thing that is for sure is that when Amazon decide on a release date for the show, they’ll make sure as many people as possible know about it.

As usual, hit us up in the comments with your thoughts and keep an eye on the Wheel of Time TV News page here on Dragonmount.

It's #WoTWednesday and @WoTonPrime didn't disappoint.  A new video released today showed us our first look at Mat's ruby-hilted dagger.  Here's the clip:

Where the Shadow waits. pic.twitter.com/Y1WS0HFwqr

— The Wheel of Time (@WOTonPrime) February 17, 2021

The script says: "He moves toward it, blowing dust away.  The iron is rusted and decayed, and CRACKS away as he OPENS the case -- 

-- and inside, he sees something protected from the ravages of time -- A RUBY-ENCRUSTED DAGGER.  It must be worth more than anything he's seen before.  He picks it up, looks at it, and then --"

Here's an image of the dagger from the clip:

Jason Denzel posted some commentary on Twitter, outlining the differences between the description in the book, as well as the chapter icon featuring the dagger.

Images of the officially-licensed ruby-hilted dagger. Photos courtesy of @WilsonGrooms, Robert Jordan's cousin. Also an image of the book icon and @WOTonPrime dagger. Thread about the differences...!#TwitterOfTime #dragonsworn #wheeloftime #RobertJordan pic.twitter.com/n2yZzQU5Iq

— Dragonmount.com (@dragonmount) February 17, 2021

We can see some changes in the designs.  This is the Museum Replica, approved by Robert Jordan:

And the chapter icon looks very similar:

Jason's arguments for the changed position of the ruby make logical sense.  The thing that gave me chills was the voice of Barney Harris--who plays Mat Cauthon--saying "Alright, let's make a deal."  Who is he talking to?  Mordeth?  If so, he doesn't sound scared.  Also, it seems the dagger isn't in the treasure room as it was in the books, and it wasn't grabbed almost by accident when Mordeth blows up.  Mat taking the dagger here is more calculated and intentional.  And what type of deal is he trying to make?  Is he willing to give up something in exchange for the dagger?  Does he know the dangers that come from it in this turning of the Wheel?

I think I speak for a large portion of the fandom when I say how much Mat grows on the reader.  Hearing his voice makes the television show so much more real to me.  I will die on the hill of worshiping Daniel Henney--I'm a Lan girl, through and through--but Barney Harris is an incredibly close second.

How do you anticipate Mat's taking the dagger will change events of the story?  If he knows the cost of the dagger, would he still take it?  Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

Welcome to 2021, the year that, all things being equal, we should see the Wheel of Time TV series finally hit our screens. It’s been a long road, both in terms of the thirty-one years the series has been in print and the sixteen months that have passed since shooting of the first season began on location in the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

As transmission draws nearer, Rafe Judkins and the Wheel of Time publicity team have started teasing images and videos from the series, such as the show’s version of a heron-marked blade and Thom Merrilin’s musical instruments.

These have been useful for showing the series’ production values and also hinting at creative decisions that are being taken which will mean things are different to the books.

Differences between books and their screen adaptations are of course nothing new, often driven by a combination of budgetary restraints, time pressure and maybe the TV scriptwriters spotting good story changes that the original novel writer may have done themselves if they’d had the luxury of writing the entire story before publishing it (as George R.R. Martin has recently said, “Five Kingdoms” sounds as good as seven, and would be a lot less work). In some cases, some of the biggest changes from book to screen have been carried out or approved by the original novel author themselves: J.K. Rowling signed off on all the Harry Potter movie scripts and Frank Herbert approved of the idea of the “weirding module” sound weapons for David Lynch’s version of Dune, when Lynch rejected the original novel’s hyper-fast kung fu as being too difficult to realise with 1984 technology.

Such changes can take place even in very faithful adaptations: Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is, by normal movie standards, very close to Tolkien’s novel, but fans to this day debate the merits of changes such as removing Tom Bombadil and the Scouring of the Shire, having Legolas shield-surf into combat, over-using the Army of the Dead or having Aragorn randomly knocked off a cliff by a warg. Game of Thrones started off extremely faithfully to George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels, but even in those early days fans still questioned the lack of violet eyes for the Targaryens, not showing a major battle sequence or casting a short actor as the supposedly-towering King Robert Baratheon.

The Wheel of Time finds itself in a difficult position in that it is entirely possible that the series will have less time than Game of Thrones to tell a story almost twice as long (so far). The Wheel of Time tops out at fourteen volumes (not counting the prequel) totalling almost four and a half million words, compared to A Song of Ice and Fire’s projected seven volumes and around two and a half million words. The Wheel of Time’s first two seasons are expected to come in at eight episodes apiece (as compared to Game of Thrones’ first six seasons of ten episodes apiece). With the show unlikely to last more than Game of Thrones’ eight seasons, that means Wheel of Time will almost certainly come in with a fair few less hours to tell a much longer story. And yes, The Wheel of Time has a lot of descriptive passages which can be skipped over with simple visuals, but that’s not going to be enough to make up such a huge difference.

That means changes, and compression and a substantial number of changes are coming to the story we all know and love. Some of these changes will likely be widely well-received – it’s a rare Wheel of Time fan who won’t admit to some subplot or tertiary character that doesn’t feel totally necessary to the story’s narrative, or eagerly asking for more scenes of Faile as a captive of the Shaido – and others will be more controversial.

In a recent Q&A, Rafe Judkins addressed the issue of changes. He notes there are no 100% original-to-the-show characters, but some book characters and character names may have been repurposed, and some characters combined so one character is now doing the role of three or four smaller roles. He also noted that in some cases, extras or background roles may not speak or be identified in dialogue, but will nevertheless be based on character descriptions from the novels.

Rafe also notes the perennial weakness of book-to-screen adaptations. In novels we can spend time inside characters’ heads and hear their thoughts and learn their motivations. On screen we can’t. The few times that shows or movies have tried doing this, it hasn’t really worked: the awkward voiceovers to describe character thoughts in David Lynch’s Dune comes to mind. As a result character motivations now have to emerge naturalistically through action and dialogue, and that can often be difficult and more time-achieving to show.

Changes in the show also have a vetting committee of sorts, starting with Rafe himself and creative consultant/superfan Sarah Nakamura and then going to Brandon Sanderson (who completed the Wheel of Time books after Robert Jordan’s sad passing), Harriet McDougal (Jordan’s widow and editor) and Maria Simons (one of Jordan and Sanderson’s assistants and researchers). This won’t stop major changes being made where necessary, but will ensure that each change has at least been stress-tested by a number of book experts to see if they are at least in the spirit of Robert Jordan’s writing.

There are several key changes likely for the first season. The first is that major characters who make their first appearance in The Eye of the World but then do not return for a long time, will not appear in the first season for simple practical reasons. The season already has an enormous cast with the characters who play a major role and adding in other characters who only appear for one scene and then don’t show up again for two or three seasons would risk being confusing as well as dangerous, since the actors might get other gigs in the meantime and not be available when they need to come back (this problem blighted Game of Thrones repeatedly, resulting in two actors playing Lord Beric and three playing the Mountain). Fans seem already resigned to key characters like Queen Morgase, Gawyn and Galad, and possibly Elayne, not appearing in Season 1 (although it is still possible some more roles will be announced), and other characters such as Elaida, Elyas and Mordeth have not been confirmed yet either.

Another problem that epic fantasy often has is the travelogue aspect. Fantasy novels often have characters travelling from place to place to have adventures, rather than staying put in one location. This is great for a novel but bad for television, which likes to have a relatively small number of regular standing sets the characters can be based around. Game of Thrones was lucky with the source material which often established bases of operations for characters, such as the Red Keep in King’s Landing, the northern court at Winterfell, the Night’s Watch stronghold of Castle Black and the various cities Daenerys conquers in the distant east. Wheel of Time does not do this for a long, long time. Eventually the story settles down and the royal palaces in Caemlyn and Cairhien, the White Tower in Tar Valon, the Stone of Tear and various inns in Ebou Dar become such bases, but not for a long time. Filming a travelogue is very expensive and challenging even for big-budget films.

The Eye of the World is a constantly-moving travelogue which moves from the Two Rivers to Taren Ferry, Baerlon, Shadar Logoth, Whitebridge, Caralain Grass, Arien, Four Kings, Breen’s Spring, Market Sheeran, Carysford, Caemlyn, Fal Dara, the ruins of the Seven Towers, the Eye of the World and Tarwin’s Gap. The TV show sounds like it will be adding scenes set in Tar Valon as well. Rafe has indicated that not all these locations will appear on screen, necessitating some changes to the story. The cost of building an elaborate, expensive outdoor set which is going to be used for a single ten-minute on-screen sequence may not be worth it when you can set those scenes elsewhere at a cheaper cost. Rafe’s answer to this does seem to add fuel to the widespread rumours that Baerlon will not appear in the first season, and that we will be meeting Min and the Whitecloaks (who have been cast) elsewhere, as an example of a practical change that may be unavoidable but will no doubt have some fans declaring the story to be “ruined forever” before seeing a single second of footage.

Other changes will come from casting. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins is 50 years old and a mature Hobbit by the time the adventure starts, but Elijah Wood was only 18 when he was cast in the role. Hardcore fans complained about the casting, but Wood’s performance was later widely praised and is now considered iconic by many people. In Game of Thrones, the writers and casting producers realised that casting thirty-somethings for the roles of fathers and family men didn’t look quite right by our modern sensibilities and thus aged up characters like Robert Baratheon, Catelyn Stark and Eddard Stark to their late forties or early fifties, and this was widely accepted.

For The Wheel of Time, the producers decided that Alexandre Willaume was the best actor they’d seen for the role of Thom Merrilin, even if he was around twenty years younger than Thom in the books. Casting an actual sixty or seventy-something for the role of Thom was unlikely to happen given the vigours of long-term, location filming. It also seems to have influenced the decision to change Thom’s instrument of choice. A harp is a large and unwieldy instrument to be lugging around a continent, and reducing the instrument to a half-sized harp or even a lyre may have felt a bit demeaning given Thom’s exacting standards. Switching to a guitar had several advantages, since it was more portable, better hinted at the setting’s more modern aesthetics (The Wheel of Time looks like a medieval fantasy, but more accurately is a 17^th Century-style setting, lacking gunpowder) and it allowed Alexandre Willaume, who is a professional guitarist (even booking his guitar its own seat on the plane to the start of filming), to play the instrument live on set. These advantages were weighed as being more worthwhile than sticking to book accuracy.

There is of course a sliding slope when it comes to such decisions. Terry Pratchett fans are very unhappy with The Watch, a TV adaptation of the Discworld novels that has abandoned event the vaguest pretence of adapting the novels faithfully in favour of creating an original story with almost no influences, characters or settings from the book even present. Many adaptations have suffered death from a thousand cuts, where small changes for good-intentioned reasoning has led to massive shifts over time that made people wonder why the writers even bothered adapting the story in the first place. These are valid concerns but, so far, it appears that Rafe Judkins and his team have made changes and choices for the best. We can – hopefully – judge how successful they’ve been later this year.

As usual, let us know what you think and stay up to date with the latest news right here at Dragonmount.

Today, @WoTonPrime—the official Twitter handle for the Amazon Prime’s Wheel of Time television show—shared a short video and snippets of concept art. The short video featured Rafe Judkins, the showrunner for the Wheel of Time show, emphasizing the themes in The Eye of the World: “of balance, of gender, and the emotional journey of these characters.” While Judkins talks, several images of concept art flash behind him. Let’s take a closer look!

So what can we glean from these images?  Fans are already speculating.  Here's my take.

The first image must be Rand and Mat.  Ginger hair on Rand.  Mat has a quarterstaff.  But which river are they looking at?  Thom's not there, and if Thom is not there it has to be after Whitebridge.  And if we're deviating from the novel entirely, perhaps this could be the place Rand and Mat glimpse the Tower of Ghenjei.

Image number two: Winternight in the Two Rivers.  Rafe Judkins already let us know we will get to see the Bel Tine celebration, so perhaps Rand and Tam don't return to their farm that night.

The third seems a tame version of the Tuatha'an camp.  It fits the description of the wagons, but the colors are all wrong!

My first thought on the fourth image was it featured the Two River's folks on the other side of the Taren River.  I seem to recall they hid in some dense trees that first night.  However, the number count is off.  Lan and Moiraine at the front.  Rand, Mat, Perrin.  Egwene.  One more rider makes Nynaeve a member of this group.  The only time they all rode together--in The Eye of the World, at least--was traveling to and from the Waygates stationed in Caemlyn and Fal Dara.  The forest could be on the Shienar side of the Waygate.

And finally, the one that actually gave me chills: Shadar Logoth.  The dark atmosphere, the looming buildings, the lurking fog.  This is amazing!

Sometimes it seems the new information isn't coming fast enough.  Other times, we see amazing glimpses into the making of this show and the anticipation it stirs inside will last for several days.  The more we see, the more real it becomes. 

Here's the full video:

The Eye of the World was not the beginning.

There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of The Wheel of Time.

But January 15, 1990 was a beginning. pic.twitter.com/BNgKu28l6V

— The Wheel of Time (@WOTonPrime) January 15, 2021

Let us hear your thoughts on where these concept art scenes could take place in the comments below!

Amazon's official WoTonPrime social media accounts revealed today a brief video showcasing Thom Merrilin's guitar. The video showed how the instrument went through its design phase to becoming an actual prop seen in the show.

About Thom's instruments

In the Wheel of Time books, Thom Merrilin (played by Alexandre Willaume in the TV show) is a skilled gleeman with a far-more-interesting-than-he-would-like past. He demonstrates his skill with both a harp and a flute. But interestingly, WoT TV showrunner Rafe Judkins and his team made the decision to give Thom a guitar instead. Here's what he wrote in a Q&A addressing the topic:

Quote

Thom is a good example of changes made for the show. For one, I want characters to appear when we have the time to spend to properly introduce them and get enough scenes for them to attract a great actor for the role. You will never see scenes on the show where four random people appear, say two lines, and then disappear for seasons. It just won't get you the caliber of actor you need and it doesn't properly intro the character to the audience. So for Thom, we wanted to give him a proper introduction, and we also wanted him to have a strong masculine energy that made a counterpoint to Moiraine. We saw actors of all ages, races, and vibes to play Thom but when Alex Willaume's tape came through we knew he was Thom and moved toward his vibe for the character which was younger and grittier than books Thom. The guitar looks much more fitting in his hands and with his voice than a lyre. When he stomps onto stage in the show, it's a MOMENT, and that's what we wanted for Thom. Never fear, multicolored cloak it's still in existence, but different than you imagine. Isis (our costume designer) nailed it. 

 

-Rafe Judkins

Amazon has already released preview videos of the Winespreing Inn, Tam's heron-marked sword, and a basic audio trailer. 

What do you think of the Thom's guitar? Join the conversation below or view our reaction on The Wheel of Time Community Show on YouTube.

Learn more about Amazon's Wheel of Time TV show.  

Amazon's official WoTonPrime social media accounts revealed today a brief video showcasing Tam al'Thor's iconic heron-marked sword. The video showed how the sword went through its design phase to becoming an actual prop seen in the show.

— The Wheel of Time (@WOTonPrime) December 2, 2020

This is the first official glimpse of a notable prop seen in the show. 

The sword seen here is almost certainly the heron-marked sword that's prominently featured in the books.

About Tam's sword (spoilers for books 1-2)

In the Wheel of Time books, Tam al'Thor, Rand's adoptive father, received a heron-marked sword during his time as a soldier. Tam al'Thor is played by Game of Thrones alumni actor Michael McElhatton. (View all of the announced cast here.)

The heron marking on the blade indicates that he reached the rank of a blade master. At the beginning of the book series, which takes place approximately 20 years after he earned the sword, Tam has long retired the blade to his attic. He gives it to Rand on Winternight because he fears ominous danger lurking near their remote home. Rand keeps the sword for the duration of his adventures in the first two novels. The sword is ultimately destroyed during his battle with Ba'alzamon over the city of Falme. 

The sword seen in this video is likely to feature a prominent role in season 1 of Amazon's Wheel of Time TV show. 

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

It’s been two years since Amazon ordered The Wheel of Time to series, ending a long wait for fans who'd been wanting to see their favourite series picked up for the screen. That wait began on 15 January 1990 when the very first readers to finish The Eye of the World put the book down and said, “This would make a good movie, wouldn’t it?”

Such a long wait for such a hugely popular property to be adapted is unusual. The first Harry Potter film hit screens barely four and a half years after the first novel was published, and The Lord of the Rings got a BBC radio adaptation just two years after the book came out (and “only” twenty-three years for the first animated film version). Game of Thrones was optioned by HBO only ten years after the first book was published, although actually getting it on screen turned out to be an arduous task taking another five years after that point. Fans may be forgiven for asking why it took so long - thirty-one years by the time it airs - for someone to adapt what was, for most of its lifespan, the biggest-selling epic fantasy series since Tolkien.

The answer is that there’s actually been several attempts to bring the books to the screen before, some of them getting quite far and having quite a lot of money spent on them before the plug was pulled. Here’s the lowdown on a few of those attempts:

NBC

The American network NBC optioned The Wheel of Time for adaptation in 1999. Several network executives were fans of the books and – more to the point – of their massive runaway sales success which had already seen it score a New York Times #1 bestseller position (the first of six) and over 40 million sales by that point. The executives were enthusiastic and – for the time – highly ambitious, envisaging adapting each novel or perhaps several novels as mini-series in their own right, adapting the entire saga across several years. The initial plan was for a six-hour adaptation of The Eye of the World.

Their model was the 1998 mini-series Merlin starring Sam Neill (no relation to the 2008-12 BBC TV series), which adapted the Arthurian legend across three hour-long episodes costing more than $10 million each. The mini-series had concept art from legendary Tolkien artist Alan Lee (who would decamp to New Zealand the following year to help Peter Jackson shoot The Lord of the Rings) and a surprising degree of historical fidelity to the likely post-Roman, pre-Saxon setting of the stories. The casting director even tipped his hat to other Arthurian adaptations, by reusing castmembers from John Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur. The mini-series also had an exemplary cast, including Miranda Richardson, Isabella Rossellini, Helena Bonham Carter, Rutger Hauer, James Earl Jones and Sir John Gielgud. NBC even tapped some of the writers of Merlin to possibly work on Wheel of Time.

Here's an audio clip of Robert Jordan talking about this adaptation effort, saying, “If what I get is what they did in Merlin, I’ll be perfectly satisfied.”

In a similar vein to the Merlin project was Dune, a mini-series which aired on the Sci-Fi Channel (about to return to NBC’s ownership at the time) to great success in 2000.

Alas, the Wheel of Time project at NBC was not to be. It foundered for several reasons (one imagines the sheer cost, the huge scale of the project and the fact that the books were not complete were all contributory factors), but the main one was that the executives backing it moved on from NBC by the end of 2000 and interest at the network dried up. They allowed the rights to revert to Robert Jordan.

Quote

“I'm waiting for some contracts to catch up with me which are an option by NBC to do a mini series based on The Eye of the World with the screen writer who did NBC's Merlin. Now that's an option. It might happen, it might not happen. That's the only movie or TV activity going on.” – Robert Jordan, August 1999

Anime

Around the same time, a Japanese animation company – the identity of which has never been disclosed – contacted Robert Jordan to discuss the rights. Although Jordan had always envisaged a live-action adaptation, he was certainly not opposed to the idea and entered into discussions. Japanese animation studios are not unused to long-running adaptations and the use of animation would allow them to overcome the budgetary problems with effects and prosthetics that were daunting those interested in a live-action project.

Japanese animation studios are also well-used to the problem of adapting incomplete works. Bones Inc. produced a 51-episode adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa’s manga Fullmetal Alchemist in 2003-04, but the manga was not yet complete, so they made up their own ending. Five years later, after the manga was finished, Bones made a completely new adaptation from scratch called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood which adapted the entire manga very faithfully.

Unfortunately, the Japanese animation studio involved did not propose anything so ambitious. In fact, their proposal was that they would adapt only the first three books – The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn – and then adapt the ending of the third book into an ending for the entire story (so presumably the battle at the Stone of Tear would become the Last Battle, with Rand’s defeat of Ba’alzamon becoming the final defeat of the Dark One). They also seemed to be envisaging a single feature film to tell this story rather than a full TV series. Robert Jordan was rather bemused by this notion and turned the project down.

Quote

“A Japanese company contacted me about doing an animated movie. I told them no, because they wanted to do a movie based on two or three books, and I said, "no, I won't do that". I would not support anyone doing a feature film of, say, The Eye of the World. I do not think it could be compressed into three hours. Certainly not into two. That would make it incomprehensible.” – Robert Jordan, April 2001

Red Eagle & Warner Brothers

In 2003 Robert Jordan sold an option for the books to Forsaken Films, who wanted to get the books on screen at either HBO or the Sci-Fi Channel. This was moving to capitalise on Sci-Fi’s success with the Children of Dune and Battlestar Galactica mini-series that aired that year (the latter leading to a long-running regular series). However, after a risible response to Sci-Fi’s (absolutely awful) Earthsea mini-series the following year, Sci-Fi’s interest in adapting original SF or fantasy novels dried up.

Forsaken Films was founded by Wheel of Time fan and budding film producer and director Eben McGarr specifically to adapt the Wheel of Time property. They partnered with DZYNZ Inc., a visual effects company who were working on Team America: World Police, to produce possible ideas for a mini-series project (presumably not using puppets!). DZYNZ’s owner, John Naulin (an industry veteran who’d worked on the Star Wars franchise, as well as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) brought on board Larry Mondragon and Rick Selvage to advise on the project. After some months developing the property there was a re-organisation, with Naulin, Mondragon and Selvage founding Manetheren LLC to develop the film and then a parent company, Red Eagle Entertainment, to oversee a wider rights-handling project.

In March 2004, Red Eagle struck a larger deal with Jordan that superseded the deal with Forsaken (who promptly left the picture altogether). This was for rights-handling rights, including comic books and video games, for The Eye of the World alone. The price paid was $35,000 which, given the popularity of the series, was an incredible deal. This deal was extended several times until early 2008, by which time Red Eagle had paid an additional $130,000 to secure an option on the entire series. Then in May 2008 Red Eagle exercised the option, purchasing the film rights to the entire series for $465,000 on a deal that required them to have a project released by 11 February 2015.

Almost immediately Red Eagle ran into problems by pairing with redoubtable comic book company Dabel Brothers in producing first a limited series based on New Spring and then a longer comic series based on The Eye of the World. Both projects were beset by unexpected delays, controversies and unrealistic timescales (Dabel Brothers had form for this on several earlier projects, it has to be said).

The comic book furore was so notable that Robert Jordan took time out of his medical treatment to make his displeasure with the situation clear. Unfortunately, just a month later, Robert Jordan passed away.

As early as 2004 Warner Brothers showed an interest in a film project based on the books, possibly to bolster their fantasy film portfolio which also included the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises. However, after some speculative development work was done, Warners passed on the project. It was around this time that they began spinning up the work that later led to the Hobbit movie trilogy, and may have chosen not pursue that and not muddy the waters with a superficially similar fantasy project. This Wheel of Time project was dead by 2006.

Universal Studios

Red Eagle continued to develop the property and in August 2008 it was announced that Universal Studios had bought an option with a plan to develop the first book in the series, The Eye of the World, as a high-budget feature film. Film producer Jeff Kirschenbaum was put in charge of the project and spent time developing it with writer Chris Morgan (the Fast and the Furious franchise, as well as 47 Ronin, Wanted and the long-gestating Legend of Conan movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger), but they were sidetracked when the Fast and the Furious movies started blowing up in a big way and refocused on those. Other writers came on board, but no-one could get a script in place that they liked.  (Disclosure: Dragonmount founder Jason Denzel also contributed to the project at the time).

Kirschenbaum left Universal and Universal’s interest in the project dried up. Red Eagle noted the pivoting of the industry towards television and re-pitched the project as a TV series, which ironically brought the property back to the attention of NBC and the Sci-Fi Channel – now called SyFy – as they were owned by Universal. After a brief perusal of the idea, the two networks passed. Normally you’d expect the biggest post-Tolkien, non-Rowling fantasy series in the world to attract more interest (especially since the prices involved seemed to be pretty low), but this process was coinciding with the biggest economic downturn the world had seen in seventy years and the project fell foul of Universal’s sudden reticence to commit to anything other than proven franchises. Although there were flickers of renewed interest at the studio after Game of Thrones (which began airing in 2011) hit the big time, Universal’s film option had finally expired by February 2014.

In the meantime, Red Eagle continued to develop the video game project. In February 2010 they announced they were partnering with Obsidian Entertainment, the developers of Fallout: New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Knights of the Old Republic II to partner with them in making a roleplaying game based on The Wheel of Time.

The game never materialised. Rather oddly, Red Eagle signed a distribution deal with publisher Electronic Arts, but did not want to sign over creative control of the game to them, as is standard in the industry. This meant that EA would not fund the video game, only distribute it. Red Eagle would have to find the budget for the game themselves. But with the budget for a video game of this nature being comfortably in the tens of millions of dollars (Skyrim, which was in development at this time, cost over $80 million to produce, not including marketing) and Red Eagle not having access to anything remotely approaching that figure, it was unclear where the money was going to come from, if not a publishing deal. In April 2014, Obsidian confirmed that the deal had fallen through because of a lack of funding and they’d moved on to other projects.

In the meantime, in 2012, Red Eagle set up a Kickstarter with Jet Set Games for a Wheel of Time mobile game called Banner of the Rising Sun. They asked for $450,000 to develop two games in the setting, and then failed to publicise the project. The Kickstarter was abandoned with under $3,000 raised. They would probably have had better luck with a Kickstarter for the proper CRPG, but had decided to focus on a mobile game as a smaller project to start with.

Sony & Amazon

After such a series of high-profile failures, it’s unsurprising that Wheel of Time fans had lost faith in Red Eagle to achieve anything with their option. However, in early 2014, (almost the second the Universal deal expired) Red Eagle entered into discussions with Radar Pictures and Sony Television about a TV adaptation of The Wheel of Time, following the huge success of Game of Thrones at HBO. These early talks would eventually lead to Sony and Amazon Television joining forces to take on the project, resulting in the project currently shooting in the Czech Republic, with Red Eagle as consulting producers (but not with any decision-making power). Even that was a strange saga, with Red Eagle self-funding their own pilot called The Winter Dragon starring Billy Zane to hold onto the rights a bit longer so they could claim a share of the Sony deal. Harriet McDougal, Robert Jordan’s widow, took exception to this and expressed her displeasure publicly. A lawsuit followed, and Red Eagle counter-sued for slander, a move which obviously proved unpopular in the fandom. The two parties eventually settled out-of-court.

The saga of the previous not-to-be adaptations of The Wheel of Time is fascinating in its own right, and it’ll be interesting to see what the end result of this twenty-year journey is when Amazon finally brings the books to the screen next year.

As usual, let us know what you think and stay up to date with the latest news right here at Dragonmount.

Also, check out this video from our Wheel of Time Community Show team where they discuss the points I've made in this article. 

Exciting news dropped this past Wednesday: The official @WoTonPrime social media account released the first audio trailer from the Amazon Prime Wheel of Time television show.  You can watch/listen to the clip below:

There’s already a plethora of speculation about what scene and characters this can be.  Madeleine Madden (who plays Egwene al’Vere) confirmed on Instagram that the voices do belong to Egwene and Perrin.

But when does the scene take place?  The battle noises in the back suggest Winternight (or during Bel Tine as showrunner Rafe Judkins suggested last month).  We also know in the novels that Egwene and Perrin spend a large chunk of the book together, so it could be their flight from Shadar Logoth or in the Whitecloak campe.  Either way, we'll have to "WAFO" (Watch And Find Out)!

For more information on the Wheel of Time show, visit our TV page or follow the links below. 

Additionally, check out our reaction to the video on this episode of The Wheel of Time Community Show:

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

On 1 February 2013, Netflix changed the conversation about how TV shows are released when they dropped all thirteen episodes of political drama House of Cards on the same day. Since then, every Netflix original scripted show has done exactly the same thing. Rival streamer Amazon Prime adopted the same strategy, whilst Hulu adopted a mixed strategy, releasing some shows on the same time and others weekly.

It was a bold and innovative move, and for more than three years was wildly successful. Of Netflix’s first ten original dramas, six were massive hits, driving huge boosts in subscriptions and almost dominating the cultural conversation: House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Daredevil, Narcos, Jessica Jones and Stranger Things. Netflix seemed to be onto a winning strategy.

However, some rivals were not convinced. The two biggest shows of the 2010s were HBO’s Game of Thrones and AMC’s The Walking Dead, launched with regular, weekly release patterns and were rewarded with dozens of new articles and hundreds of thousands or even millions of Tweets every single week a new episode was released. It’s arguable if Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding would have had the same nuclear impact it did on TV discussion if it had dropped as part of a one-day release of the entire third season.

When Hulu released The Handmaid’s Tale in 2017, conscious they had a show that spoke to the cultural moment and also was awards-fodder, they opted for a weekly release schedule (after dropping the first three episodes at once), reversing the decision to release some of their prior shows all at once. Likewise, they were rewarded with eight weeks’ worth of constant coverage. CBS All Access launched its service almost at the same time, again favouring weekly release schedules for their first two dramas, The Good Fight and, a few months later, Star Trek: Discovery.

The Boys is the first Amazon Prime original to switch to a weekly release schedule, with strong results.

During this time period Netflix began to flounder. The rate of production of critically-acclaimed, conversation-starting shows dropped off sharply. Their constant drive of content and the need to produce a whole season of television for almost every Friday of the year saw them releasing shows with next to no marketing and then cancelling them: the high-budget second season of Sense8 was a notable casualty when its launch buzz and marketing was instead swamped by adverts for the already-concluded first season of 13 Reasons Why (which Netflix believed was a stronger show to generate new subscriptions). Netflix also appeared to reach its English-language subscription ceiling much earlier than expected, leaving it deeply in debt and unclear where future new customers were going to come from.

Both Apple TV+ and Disney+, perhaps seeing Netflix’s struggles, both launched with weekly release schedules for their shows and profited from them, with the Star Wars show The Mandalorian particularly benefitting from weekly discussion over the adventures of Pedro Pascal’s bounty hunter hero and his animatronic, Yoda-like friend.

Which brings us to Amazon Prime, and The Wheel of Time.

Amazon have been looking to differentiate their TV offerings from Netflix for some years. Although they had some hit shows – The Man in the High Castle was a modest success, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel a somewhat bigger one – they were still batting way behind Netflix, which was frustrating given how widely available Amazon Prime Television was (free for all Amazon Prime subscribers, a fact that surprisingly large numbers of them were unaware of). In 2016 they switched to a weekly release schedule for their hit car programme The Grand Tour, which was successful, and in 2018 extended the idea to drama with The Romanoffs. The latter bombed, but Amazon eventually decided this was more down to the quality of the show than problems with a weekly release schedule. They next decided to roll the dice with a show that already had a successful first season: The Boys. Showrunner Eric Kripke had already been lobbying for a weekly release schedule for the second season and Amazon agreed to give the format a go.

The result has been hugely successful. Each week for six weeks (the first three episodes were released on the same day), the show attracted a large amount of online engagement. Weekly reviews, articles and recaps, and regular interviews with the showrunners and cast helped drive the show to the top of internet TV discussions. Over the course of the run Amazon saw a marked increase in subscriptions as people tuned in to catch up on the previous episodes and watch the new ones.

The Expanse is switching to a weekly release schedule on Amazon Prime with its forthcoming fifth season.

The success of the format saw Amazon make the decision to repeat the experiment for space opera show The Expanse. The Expanse had already aired three seasons released weekly on SyFy, but disappointing viewing figures saw the show cancelled. Amazon bought out the show and transferred it to Amazon Prime for a fourth season in 2019, released on the same day. It did well, but Amazon saw a chance to improve its standings by switching to a weekly release schedule for the fifth season. This was helped by the fact that the fifth season will be the most explosive of the nine they are hoping to make: the fifth book in the series features a Game of Thrones-style, “Red Wedding” level shocking event, and if the TV show delivers on it, it could propel the show to a new level of success and achievement. We will find out if Amazon’s gambit pays off between December and February, when they air the ten episodes of the fifth season.

With Amazon switching to a weekly release schedule for two of its biggest shows, it makes it much more likely that The Wheel of Time will follow suit when it launches on Amazon in 2021 (as well as the Second Age-set Lord of the Rings prequel later in the year, or in 2022). The move will be divisive – people have gotten used to sitting down on a Friday and dedicating a day or a weekend to watching a whole season of a show – but I think will be more successful. One of the reasons Netflix’s model seems to be increasingly flawed is because a binge-release is an all-or-nothing proposition. The show has to be a hit out of the gate because, if it isn’t, then three weeks later everyone’s forgotten about it and something else has come along to replace it in the conversation. A weekly release schedule gives five to eight weeks’ worth of coverage and discussion and raises the profile of a show to higher levels, and generates more viewers of the earlier episodes in the season. It gives the show more of a fighting chance to be successful and get a renewal for more seasons.

From a more cynical point of view, it is also more profitable: people wanting to stay up to date on a new, zeitgeist-defining show have to subscribe for two or more months rather than a single weekend, but if they prefer the binge experience, they can wait until the whole season is available. That does of course mean dodging spoilers for several weeks in a row, but ultimately it does give them more choice about how to consume a new series.

Of course, Amazon may change its mind and decide to release Wheel of Time in one go, but it feels less likely. Anything which helps Wheel of Time get more viewers and more critical discussion can only be a good thing if the show is to survive the long term, but what are your thoughts? What strategy do you think is the best approach? Let us know in the comments and as usual keep at eye on the Dragonmount TV News page for breaking stories.

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

Today marks a full year since production of The Wheel of Time began in the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Had things proceeded according to plan, shooting would have wrapped in May and the production would have been deep in post-production, ready for an early 2021 debut.

Unfortunately, fate had other ideas and instead we’ve had to endure a pandemic which has had far-reaching consequences around the globe. The Wheel of Time had to go on shooting hiatus in March with six of the eight episodes in the can and for a while it looked like completing the season would have to be held off indefinitely. Fortunately, shooting on the final two episodes was able to resume last week and the hope is that the series will be able to debut in 2021, hopefully not too far behind the original airing schedule.

For this anniversary post, I thought it would be fun to do a brief catch-up of the news covering production as it unfolded.

Back in April 2019, we had firm news that casting was underway. Two months later we had confirmation of our first castmember: Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, The World’s End) as Moiraine Damodred. Pike also signed on as a producer, part of a long-term interesting in working behind the scenes in film as well; she also recently signed on as a producer on Netflix’s Three-Body Problem, working alongside former Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

The floodgates opened in August 2019 when the main Two Rivers cast was announced: Madeleine Madden as Egwene al’Vere, Marcus Rutherford as Perrin Aybara, Barney Harris as Mat Cauthon, Zoë Robbins as Nynaeve al’Meara and Josha Stradowski as Rand al’Thor. We also got Brandon Sanderson to weigh in on the casting choices, and he had some wise words on audience expectations of a faithful adaptation versus the practicalities of delivering that with the practical and financial limitations of television production.

We then got news of Daniel Henney being cast as al’Lan Mandragoran, and an early preview of the cast in action due to a video of the first table read for the series. More casting news followed: Tam al’Thor; Logain, Loial, Thom Merrilin and Padan Fain; Alanna Mosvani, Maksim and Ihvon; Liandrin, Aram, Leane and Ila; Abell Cauthon, Natti Cauthon, Marin al’Vere, Bran al’Vere, Daise Congar and Cenn Buie; Eamon Valda and Geofram Bornhald; Master and Mistress Grinwell and Dana; Basel Gill; Raen; and Min Farshaw and Siuan Sanche.

Meanwhile, in other posts we discussed things to expect from the show, characters who might have expanded roles, the writers working on Season 2 scripts, the directors, the budget, the locations, and that pesky question of how many books will be adapted in the first season. We also had to address fan concerns over characters being cut, initially fears that Thom Merrilin was going to be axed (he wasn’t) and that Min wouldn’t make it into the first season (she has, although the jury is still out on Elaida, Elayne and the rest of the Trakands).

We even had a chat about the show at the virtual JodanCon back in April, which was gatecrashed by showrunner Rafe Judkins who kindly answered some of our questions about the project (and got some nice exclusives, like Seasons 1 and 2 being eight episodes long apiece).

It’s been a wild ride and it’s not quite over yet. Shooting on the final two episodes of the season is expected to continue well into October, if not November as well, and there’s still some castmembers we expect to see in the first season who should be announced (including Lord Agelmar, hopefully, and maybe a couple of those pesky Forsaken).

As usual, Dragonmount will continue bringing you news on the series as it comes in.

This #WoTWednesday had some major announcements.  First, the @WoTonPrime book club concluded its read of The Eye of the World.  This introduced so many new readers to this wonderful series we know and love.  Our fandom is growing!  The book club doesn’t currently have plans to start The Great Hunt, but we hope they will continue with this as the Amazon Prime show gets closer to completion.

To celebrate reaching the end of The Eye of the World, @WoTonPrime rewarded us with this snippet of a video, starting on the excerpt from The Eye of the World where it introduces the Winespring Inn, then we get our first real look at the epicenter of Emond’s Field.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You want stories?" Thom Merrilin declaimed. "I have stories, and I will give them to you. I will make them come alive before your eyes.” #WOTonPrime

A post shared by The Wheel Of Time On Prime (@wotonprime) on Sep 9, 2020 at 11:00am PDT

Rafe Judkins also joined the celebration on Twitter and agreed to answer the first three questions about the Winspring Inn.

“To celebrate @WOTonPrime‘s first glimpse of the Winespring, I’ll answer the first three questions I get about it on here.  Go :)”

The first question focused on the smell:

Q: “Does it smell like honey cakes and fresh bread?”

A: “It mostly smells like ginger tea, which anyone who’s spent time on the WoT set would tell you ha. But there were honeycakes that the wasps and hornets couldn’t get enough of. So we had to spray them with a wasp repellent, but they didn’t tell me and I ate one.”

Hopefully eating wasp repellent isn’t harmful to humans….

The second question makes all of us long to be on the set.

Q: “What were your thoughts walking through it the first time”

A: “Absolutely one of the most emotional moments on the show for me so far.  Just standing in the center of Emond’s Field felt totally surreal, looking up at the red roof of the Inn, the trouble they’d gone to give each house and villager a profession and a life there. It was amazing”

I cannot want to see more of Emond’s Field!  These answers from Rafe makes it much more real and closer than ever to being a finished product.

The last one may spark some interesting speculation.

Q: “Do we see the bel tine celebration?”

A: “This one might be a spoiler, especially for Winternight enthusiasts, but yes.”

Wow!  We all know that Bel Tine was ruined by the Trolloc attack.  If the attack doesn’t happen on Winternight, when will it happen?  During the Bel Tine celebration?  If so, do we get to see Tam’s fever dream?  Will we not be aware Rand is adopted right from the start?  Will we still see Narg—the most intelligent Trolloc—trying to reason with Rand about going to the Myrddraal? 

So many things to think about just on one sentence!  It was a great #WoTWednesday.

Let us know when you think the Trolloc attack will come in the comments below!

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

As production resumes on Season 1 of The Wheel of Time, a familiar question has reared its head again: how much material from the books will the first season cover?

This is a key question because The Wheel of Time is, by some measures, the longest work of epic fantasy ever published. The series itself spans fourteen large volumes, a prequel and two companion works. The series is almost 12,000 pages long in paperback, containing more than 4.4 million words (approximately ten times the length of The Lord of the Rings) and taking twenty-three years to publish. Adapting it to a television series which might be lucky to last seven or eight seasons is going to require very extensive changes, far moreso than even the changes required to adapt George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire into its TV equivalent, Game of Thrones; although I suspect Rafe Judkins and his team will at least be very happy that they have a complete story to work from. This question became more challenging once it became clear that Season 1 of The Wheel of Time will only consist of eight episodes, which will almost certainly be the standard one-hour length of most Amazon television series. For contrast, Game of Thrones had ten episodes to adapt the first novel in that series, a novel which is only marginally shorter than The Wheel of Time’s first volume, The Eye of the World. It could be argued that The Eye of the World has a somewhat more relaxed pace and certainly a much smaller cast than A Game of Thrones, with a more linear story which keeps the characters together in the same location for much of its length, so there is scope to depict it more quickly, but even so there are limits on what I think will be possible in terms of compression.

We also know the names of the first six of the eight episodes in the season: Leavetaking, Shadow’s Waiting, A Place of Safety, The Dragon Reborn, Blood Calls Blood and The Flame of Tar Valon. On the basis of the titles alone (and the perceived overall need to fit in two books per season), some have suggested that the show will try to fit The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt into the first season. On this basis, Leavetaking will span most or all of the events of Winternight, our heroes meeting Moiraine, the Trolloc attack and the subsequent flight from the Two Rivers; Shadow’s Waiting will focus on the side-trip to the ruined city of Shadar Logoth; A Place of Safety could refer to Caemlyn and Egwene and Perrin’s adventures with the Tinkers; The Dragon Reborn would feature the events in Fal Dara and the Blight; Blood Calls Blood would feature the events in Fal Dara leading to the theft of the Horn of Valere and The Flame of Tar Valon would introduce the Amyrlin Seat. These all seem like fairly logical extrapolations. In addition, we know several characters have been cast who do not appear until Book 2, most notably Siuan, Leane, Alanna and her Warders, and Liandrin.

However, there are several problems with this interpretation. The first is the casting has been announced roughly in keeping with the table reads for the series. Maria Doyle Kennedy and her fellow actors playing Tinkers were not unveiled until the Episode 5/6 table read, suggesting that the Tinkers will not appear until these episodes. The second is that much of the casting for the show was leaked before it was officially announced, and we have had no indications at all of casting for key Book 2 roles such as Ingtar, Hurin, Suroth, Egeanin, Verin or King Galldrian (although we should also note we have still not had several key Book 1 cast announced yet, most notably Elayne, Galad, Gawyn, Morgase, Elaida, Bayle Domon and Lord Agelmar). We also have a reasonable list of filming locations so far and none of the places involved would seem to reflect key Season 2 locations, such as Falme or Cairhien (indeed, the shooting locations for this week seem more reminiscent of the Blight, or Tarwin's Gap). In addition, Johann Myers who plays Padan Fain has only been booked to appear in one episode of Season 1, with the potential to return for future seasons. I would submit that doing the start of The Great Hunt, let alone all of it, without Padan Fain is untenable. Finally, we know that the Eye of the World material will be supplemented by a new storyline focusing on Logain, his capture and his taking to Tar Valon for trial and gentling, with actor Alvaro Morte booked for multiple episodes of the first season. A rushed Eye of the World, which is only covered in four hours, doesn’t seem like it leaves much room for a major new multi-episode arc focusing on a different set of characters. We also know we are getting flashback scenes to Siuan’s childhood (as an actress has been cast to play Siuan as a young girl) and potentially to the events of New Spring (an Aes Sedai who only appears in New Spring and dies during its events has been cast); fitting in a large amount of new material when they are trying to cram two long, epic books into just eight hours would be very difficult.

Revisiting the episode titles with this knowledge, they can be given different explanations: The Dragon Reborn could focus on the battle against Logain and his capture, whilst in The Flame of Tar Valon he arrives in Tar Valon and is tried and gentled. During this storyline we would meet the Book 2 characters who show up early: Alanna, Siuan, Leane and Liandrin. This would also be a likely explanation for why Eamon Valda has been cast in Season 1. Although oft-mentioned in the first six books, he doesn’t actually appear in-person until Lord of Chaos. However, we do know that he was part of the detachment of the Children of the Light who helped defeat Logain (studiously avoiding all Aes Sedai contact in the process), followed them to Tar Valon via Caemlyn and generally made a nuisance of themselves outside the city. Blood Calls Blood is a trickier one, especially if it’s the same episode the Tinkers first appear in. It may be that the TV show has repurposed the saying from the Prophecies of the Shadow to be more related to the wolfbrother abilities. On the other hand, it might be that the dark prophecies will be quoted and appear earlier on than they do in the books, perhaps in one of the dream sequences that litter the first volume.

The curious issue of pacing is still a valid one. We know from Brandon Sanderson’s set visit that Episode 2 opens with the events in Taren Ferry. Perhaps the action cuts quickly from fleeing Taren Ferry to Shadar Logoth (potentially bypassing Baerlon altogether, with Min’s late casting announcement suggesting she appears somewhere else, perhaps Basel Gill’s inn) based on the episode titles, but that then leaves a fairly yawning chasm between fleeing Shadar Logoth (presumably at the end of Episode 2) to Perrin and Egwene meeting the Tinkers (apparently in Episode 5). One solution I’ve seen theorised is that Episode 2 actually does feature more material related to the flight from the Two Rivers and Shadar Logoth is presented as “a place of safety” they can flee to; the Shadar Logoth events take place in Episode 3 instead and then Episode 4 cuts away mostly to Logain’s story, picking our heroes back up in Episode 5.

A third solution also does raise itself. We’ve been focused very much on Season 1, but we also need to consider the bigger picture of the entire series. It’s extremely unlikely the series will go for much longer than seven or eight seasons in total due to the mounting cost of cast salary renegotiations (the expense of which eventually made even global mega-hits like Game of Thrones and Friends unsustainable at a certain point), so packing in the entire saga as it appears in the books is simply impossible, as that would take more like fourteen seasons. If eight-episode seasons are going to be the norm (as they are for many Amazon projects), Rafe Judkins and his team potentially have less episodes than Game of Thrones did to tell a story more than twice the length in the books. This requires a dramatically different kind of adaptation, one that simply cannot afford to be “faithful” to the text in the same way as Game of Thrones’ early seasons or Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies. Trying to do that would likely result in the series being left incomplete. Instead, the approach may be to take the entire book series as one whole and then dramatically cut, compress, combine and streamline events into a shorter, more focused narrative, whilst trying to remain true to Robert Jordan’s themes and the general big picture. Taken from this perspective, trying to map which books will appear in which season may be futile, with the showrunners instead conflating storylines, characters and locations in a more dramatic manner than fans are perhaps expecting. On this basis the first season may draw on elements, scenes and characters from several books whilst still trying to achieve the narrative objective of introducing the characters and world and setting up the storyline.

With shooting due to resume in the next couple of weeks, hopefully we’ll get some shots and information from the Episode 7/8 table read which will confirm those episode titles, which should gives us some more information to work with.

As usual, let us know your thoughts and keep an eye on the Dragonmount TV page for more Wheel of Time news.

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

Work on the Wheel of Time TV series is spooling up again after a long break due to the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the cast and crew is now back in the Czech Republic, more casting has been announced and shooting should be resuming fairly soon for the last leg of production so, hopefully, we can see the show early next year as originally planned.

Whilst that work continues, it may be interesting to consider something we haven’t talked about much so far: locations and places in The Wheel of Time and how they will be depicted on screen.

The Wheel of Time spans numerous cities, towns, villages, nations and areas of wilderness scattered across a landmass considerably larger than the United States, as well as (very) brief jaunts to other continents and islands. One of the weaknesses of depicting fantasy on screen for decades was how to depict such locations on a limited budget. Peter Jackson cracked that in his Lord of the Rings movie trilogy – aided by a competitive exchange rate – by scouring the entire nation of New Zealand for interesting locations and building towns and cities on naturally-occurring landforms, using a mixture of CGI, forced-perspective, models and actual physical sets, sometimes in a logistically challenging manner. The construction of Edoras, the capital of Rohan, was a major enterprise involving construction workers spending months building on Mount Sunday, a remote hill in a mountain valley several dozen miles from the nearest town, for just two weeks of filming. These scenes were then augmented in post-production with additional CG buildings.

Similarly, HBO’s Game of Thrones presented us many cities on a limited budget. The great city of King’s Landing, capital of the Seven Kingdoms, was built on sets but also through location filming, principally in the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, but also locations in Malta, Spain and on soundstages in Northern Ireland. Locations in Spain and Morocco, again backed up by a large amount of CGI, augmented these to build up other cities such as Qarth, Astapor, Meereen, Braavos, Volantis and Oldtown, creating distinctive environments out of a small number of filming locations.

The Wheel of Time starts small in the bucolic backwater of the Two Rivers but soon grows larger. In the first book alone we visit the large towns of Baerlon, Four Kings and Whitebridge, the ruined and crumbling metropolis of Shadar Logoth and the cities of Caemlyn and Fal Dara, along with half a dozen villages along the Caemlyn Road. We also travel the banks of the mighty Arinelle, cross the enormous plain known as Caralain Grass and risk the High Pass through the foothills of the Mountains of Dhoom to find the home of the Green Man, Someshta. Later books take us to the great cities of Tar Valon, Cairhien, Illian, Tear, Ebou Dar, Tanchico and Far Madding (among others) and the ancient, unfinished city of Rhuidean. The TV producers may also be tempted to include flashbacks to the Age of Legends and vast, vanished cities like Paaran Disen (seat of the Hall of Servants) or V’saine (home of the great floating laboratory known as the Sharom, where the Bore was created), or travel to the Seanchan home continent to behold the imposing Court of the Nine Moons. The Wheel of Time has hundreds of strange and evocative places, many or most of which the TV producers will have to recreate for the show.

We already know that The Wheel of Time has a generous budget and we will be seeing some of these places on screen. Emond’s Field, chief village of the Two Rivers, has been partially built as a physical set on location in the Czech Republic, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some economic redressing and shooting from different angles to sell this village as several different villages. Taren Ferry is also present, and it seems a waste to have the main soundstages located in the great city of Prague and not make use of its historic buildings and period architecture to depict the streets of Caemlyn or Tar Valon (or both!). Computer graphics will no doubt give us impressive aerial establishing shots of these places as well. CG will also likely be employed to depict the various mysterious and strange other dimensions our characters encounter: the Ways, the Portal Stone worlds, the enigmatic world of Sindhol (home of the Ael’finn and Eel’finn) and Tel’aran’rhiod, the World of Dreams.

Always know where the nearest post office is.

Depicting the locations is one thing, but you also need to make sure the audience knows where they all are. Fantasy novels almost always come with a map in the front pages of the book, or in the case of hardcovers sometimes realised as a spectacular full-colour painting, located conveniently for readers to be able to refer to as they read. This is less convenient for a TV show or film. The Lord of the Rings got around this by having maps appear in the film itself, with characters like Bilbo or Faramir pouring over them to decide their next move. Game of Thrones had, of course, a title sequence built around a map, with the locations appearing in that episode appearing on the map, with the camera swooping through them as they raised out of the ground. I suspect Wheel of Time will not copy that device, but getting the geography of the story across to the audience in a manner that doesn’t take them out of the moment is an interesting challenge.

What locations are you looking to appearing in the show? As usual, let us known in the comments and keep an eye on the Dragonmount TV page for further news.

Amazon Prime's Wheel of Time television show had some major announcements for #WoTWednesday today!

Kae Alexander as Min Farshaw

Sophie Okonedo as Siuan Sanche

Kae Alexander is a BAFTA elevate actress. Kae recently filmed action feature INFINITE for Paramount Pictures and the MALEFICENT sequel for Walt Disney Pictures. Other recent credits include Fox thriller DEEP STATE, THE GREAT WAVE directed by Indhu Rubasingham for the National Theatre, ITV/Amazon thriller STRANGERS for Two Brothers Pictures, 4 part series COLLATERAL written by David Hare and directed by SJ Clarkson for BBC / Netflix, BBC crime thriller HARD SUN, Reb in Steven Spielberg's READY PLAYER ONE and Elaine in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's comedy FLEABAG.

Sophie Okonedo's credentials are too long to list here, so we'll name a few.  Sophie began her film career in 1991 in the British coming-of-age drama YOUNG SOUL REBEL before appearing as Wachati Princess in ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS (1995) and Stephen Frears' DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (2002). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in the 2004 film HOTEL RWANDA. Sophie also received a Golden Globe nomination for the miniseries TSUNAMI: THE AFTERMATH (2006) and BAFTA TV Award nominations for the drama series CRIMINAL JUSTICE (2009).

We are so excited to have these actresses join the Wheel of Time family!  

Today, three other cast members were officially announced.  We already knew they were involved, but it's nice to have it official.

Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin Guirale
Peter Franzen as Stepin
Clare Perkins as Kerene Nagashi

Kate Fleetwood is a Tony and Olivier nominated actress with a storied career on stage. Her extensive screen credits include leading roles in Harlots (Hulu/ BBC), Brave New World (Peacock), Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix), Victoria (ITV / PBC Masterpiece) and Macbeth (PBS). Kate’s film work includes Les Miserables, Beiruit, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

Peter Franzén is one of Finland’s most accomplished actors and has enjoyed a successful career both nationally and internationally. Franzén’s career has spanned 20 years and includes over 90 movies and series in several countries- in English, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, Estonian speaking productions. He has been awarded three Jussi Awards (Finland’s  Academy awards) and a total of seven nominations.  He has also received awards from international film festivals.

London born and raised and graduate of Rose Bruford College, CLARE PERKINS' is a British actress with almost 30 years in the business. Having performed at some of the most prestigious London theatres such as the Almeida Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Hampstead Theatre, Royal Court  Theatre and the Gielgud Theatre, Clare has more recently been making a name for herself on screen, soon to be seen in Netflix crime drama, YOUNG WALLANDER. She will also star in series 4 of popular Netflix series, THE CROWN and the second series of comedy drama FLACK with Anna Paquin.

Things are starting to come together.  Perhaps a ta'veren is involved.

We don't see Siuan in the series until the start of The Great Hunt.  Is the fact Sophie Okonedo's been cast now a sign Siuan will pop up earlier than expected?  Let us know what you think in the comments below.

And be sure to check out our team's reaction The Wheel of Time Community Show:

The latest casting announcement for the Amazon Prime Wheel of Time television show has been announced.
 

Darryl McCormack as Aram

Maria Doyle Kennedy as Ila

Narinder Samra as Raen

These new announcements shouldn't come as any real shocker.  Darryl McCormack and Maria Doyle Kennedy were introduced as characters ages ago.  Many speculated that Darryl McCormack could be Aram, but most thought Maria Doyle Kennedy was sure to play an Aes Sedai.  It's nice to finally have confirmation for these two characters, and the addition of Narinder Samra as Raen.  

I personally love the idea of the Tuatha'an within the series.  Their way of life is simplistic and idealistic.  But like Perrin, I agree it's not really applicable in society.  Still, I cannot wait to see the Tinkers on the screen.  Perhaps the show will even give more closure for their society than what we received in the novels.  Maybe they'll find their song.

You can check out the latest edition of The Wheel of Time Community Show where Thom gives you all the details you'll need about our beloved Tinkers.

Did anyone anticipate Maria Doyle Kennedy as Ira?  Let us know in the comments!

The latest casting announcement for the Amazon Prime Wheel of Time television show has been announced.
 

Darren Clarke as Basel Gill

Basel Gill plays an important role in reuniting our beloved Two Rivers characters, and this announcement could mean we're getting closer to the in-book scenes in Caemlyn.  Will Elyane be revealed next?  Or maybe Morgase?  Gareth Bryne?  Maybe Elaida?

Or is this an indication that Master Gill's character is changing or evolving from his role in the books?  The Twitter feed for @WOTonPrime seems to be aligning their announcements with what's happening in the books--based on the #TwitterofTime book club reading of The Eye of the World.  If we get this information when Basel isn't even mentioned (they read chapters 19-22 this week), it could be foreshadowing about changes to the storyline.

What do you think?  Is the Two Rivers group heading to Caemlyn?  Or will Basel Gill appear elsewhere?  Let us know what you think in the comments below!  

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

Things have been surprisingly busy since our last check-in, with Amazon revealing multiple new castmembers for the show.

To quickly get up to speed, the new characters announced are as follows:

• Christopher Sciueref as Abell Cauthon.
• Juliet Howland as Natti Cauthon.
• Mandi Symonds as Daise Congar.
• Lolita Chakrabarti as Marin al’Vere.
• Michael Tuahine as Bran al’Vere.
• David Sterne as Cenn Buie.
• Abdul Salis as Eamon Valda
• Stuart Graham as Geofram Bornhald.
• Jennifer Preston as Mistress Grinwell.
• Pasha Bocarie as Master Grinwell.
• Izuka Hoyle as Dana.

With the exception of “Dana,” these are all characters well-established in the books, consisting of a sizeable chunk of the Emond’s Field supporting cast, two of the Whitecloaks and two farmers met by Rand and Mat on their journey.

There are two questions that the latest casting announcements encourage: who is Dana and why haven’t we heard anything about Elayne or Min?

There is no Dana, there is Only…?

In the Wheel of Time novels, the name Dana is notable by not actually existing. The closest approximation is “Dena,” the name of a young gleeman whom Thom takes on as a student (and lover) in The Great Hunt. Changing “Dena” to “Dana” seems fairly pointless, but it is possible that they will introduce Dena much earlier in the TV show and perhaps have Thom meet her after he parts ways with Rand and Mat. Keeping Thom’s story on screen saves it disappearing for a large stretch of time (probably well into the second season), which is useful for keeping the actor gainfully employed in the meantime.

It is also possible that the producers have already decided not to feature Dena (a very minor character in the books) and borrowed her name for Else Grinwell. With several “E” names already present in the first season (Egwene, Elayne, presumably Elyas), introducing some name variety is a good idea. It seems a bit silly, but other shows have also done this kind of name-changing on occasion (most famously, turning “Asha Greyjoy” in Game of Thrones into “Yara Greyjoy” because they deemed it too similar to the already-introduced wildling character of Osha). The fact that Dana was announced at the same time as the Grinwells adds credence to that theory, although you’d assume that they’d also have just announced her as “Dana Grinwell” in that case.

There is also the possibility that “Dana” is a codename for another role, ranging from Mili Skane (the last Darkfriend standing, first introduced in The Eye of the World) to the intriguing (if somewhat farfetched) possibility that she is actually “Dana Bornhald,” the genderflipped daughter of Geofram Bornhald. That seems unlikely, but remains a possibility, since Dana and Dain are closely related names.

Is Min MIA?

Another discussion engendered by the announcements is the fate of Elmindreda Farshaw, or “Min,” a fan-favourite character who appears early on in The Eye of the World. Min only has a small role in that book but goes on to have a much bigger role in the rest of the series.

Min first appears in the town of Baerlon. Curiously, we have not heard any casting at all for notable characters in Baerlon (such as Dain Bornhald, despite his father being cast) and the episode titles suggest that if our heroes are stopping in Baerlon at all in the show, it’ll be for a very brief visit (the second episode is called Shadow’s Waiting, suggesting that most or all of the Shadar Logoth storyline will take place in that episode, which limits the time that can be spent in Baerlon). This has led to the speculation that Min has been cut from the first season and will appear in Tar Valon in Season 2, or, more intriguingly, will show up in the Queen’s Blessing Inn instead, working for Basel Gill. The rumour mill suggests that

Gill has also been cast, but we have had no official confirmation from Amazon yet. This latter idea has a lot of promise, since it means that Min and Rand can meet up and spend several days together rather than the comparatively brief meeting in Baerlon.

My strong suspicion is that Min has been cast for Season 1 but not announced yet, and appearing later in the season would explain why the announcement has not yet been made. Of course, it could be that “Dana” is a code name for Min.

Trakands or Not Trakands?

Another question is hovering over the fate of the entire family Trakand. The royal family of Andor has a small but key role in The Eye of the World, when Rand’s curiosity gets the better of him and he ends up in an ad hoc royal audience with Queen Morgase and her court. Particularly important in this sequence is that he meets Elayne Trakand, Daughter-Heir of Andor, but many characters critical to the later storylines show up at this point: Gawyn, Galad, Gareth Bryne, Elaida, Morgase, Lini and Martyn Tallanvor.

That’s seven characters with multi-season roles to introduce at once, which is why I’m increasingly sceptical that it will be adapted faithfully. It might make more sense, especially from a budgetary point of view, to skip this scene and introduce Elayne, Gawyn and Galad in Season 2 instead, and potentially Morgase and Gareth as well (Lini and Tallanvor are relatively minor characters who are ripe for the chopping, although I think fans would hate to see Lini and her endless quotes cut from the series). The only problem with this approach is that Elayne and Elaida are such major characters that introducing them as early as possible seems like a much better idea. They could also cut the difference: cut the court scene but introduce Elayne and Elaida via the expanded Logain storyline, as we know there will be new material for Logain relating to his capture in battle and subsequent journey to Caemlyn and Tar Valon (it’s also likely that this is where we will meet Alanna and Liandrin).

These are key questions that will, of course, keep fans guessing until Amazon confirm the full cast for the first season.

As usual, let us know your thoughts in the comments and keep checking in with the Dragonmount TV page for the latest developments.

Amazon Prime announced today, via social media, the casting of three actors for The Wheel of Time TV show.
 

Jennifer Preston as Mistress Grinwell

Pasha Bocarie as Master Grinwell

Izuka Hoyle as Dana

There’s already been some debate on who Dana might be.  Listed with Mistress and Master Grinwell, logic would say she’s Else Grinwell but with a different name (we already have two major characters with E names—Egwene and Elayne—so this change might be to cause less confusion for TV viewers).  There’s also Dena—Thom’s apprentice in The Great Hunt.  It seems too early to have her appearing, though.  But in the world of cinematic storytelling, who know!

Let us know who you think Dana might be in the comments below!

Amazon Prime announced today, via social media, the casting of 2 actors for The Wheel of Time TV show. 

Abdul Salis as Eamon Valda.
Stuart Graham as Geofram Bornhald.

.

These actors have been rumored for a while, but we've only now reported on them because of Amazon's confirmation. 

Production on the TV show has been halted since March due to the global COVD-19 pandemic. It's believed that filming will resume this summer, perhaps as early as July, in Prague where most of the show has been filmed. So far 6 out of the first 8 episodes for Season 1 have been shot. 

Casting for the TV show is primarily handled by the KVH Casting Agency in London. For more information on The Wheel of Time TV show and cast, visit our TV section.

Check out what we thought about this casting announcement on The Wheel of Time Community Show on YouTube. 

Tell us what you think of these casting announcements in the comments!

Amazon Prime announced today, via social media, the casting of six actors for The Wheel of Time TV show. 

Christopher Sciueref as Abell Cauthon.
Juliet Howland as Natti Cauthon.
Mandi Symonds as Daise Congar.
Lolita Chakrabarti as Marin al’Vere.
Michael Tuahine as Bran al’Vere.
David Sterne as Cenn Buie.

 Christopher Sciueref as Abell Cauthon.
 

 Juliet Howland as Natti Cauthon.
 

 Mandi Symonds as Daise Congar.
 

 Lolita Chakrabarti as Marin al’Vere.
 

 Michael Tuahine as Bran al’Vere.
 

 David Sterne as Cenn Buie.

Several of these actors have been rumored for a while, but we've only now reported on them because of Amazon's confirmation. These specific roles are likely limited in their scope, with the actors appearing only or primarily in the first couple of episodes of the season. 

Production on the TV show has been halted since March due to the global COVD-19 pandemic. It's believed that filming will resume this summer, perhaps as early as July, in Prague where most of the show has been filmed. So far 6 out of the first 8 episodes for Season 1 have been shot. 

Casting for the TV show is primarily handled by the KVH Casting Agency in London. For more information on The Wheel of Time TV show and cast, visit our TV section.

Check out what we thought about this casting announcement on The Wheel of Time Community Show on YouTube. 

Tell us what you think of these casting announcements in the comments!

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

Money may not always make the world go around but it is certainly important when you want to make an expensive fantasy TV show featuring nonhuman creatures, sorcery and vast ruined cities.

It’s been known for a while that Amazon have dramatically increased the money they are spending on their shows. A few years ago, Jeff Bezos, the head of Amazon and Richest Man on Earth™, told his TV division to start spending big and look for the “next Game of Thrones” to help popularise Amazon’s streaming division. They took that to heart, snapping up not just The Wheel of Time, but also J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth for a new prequel TV show set in the Second Age, telling the story of the forging of the Rings of Power and the original rise of the Dark Lord Sauron.

The budget for the Middle-earth show is widely-known, having been discussed in the trade magazines at the time. The Tolkien Estate sold additional rights to the Middle-earth books to Amazon for an unprecedented sum of $250 million. They also included a stipulation that each of the show’s seasons was to have a budget of between $100 million and $150 million. With apparently ten episodes per season, that gives the show a budget of $10-15 million per episode. For comparison’s sake, HBO’s Game of Thrones was given a budget of $100 million for each of its final three seasons, which, due to a declining episode order per season, gave them a per-episode budget of approximately $10 million (for Season 6), $14 million (for Season 7) and $16.7 million (Season 8), so the Tolkien series will be in the same ballpark.

The budget for the Wheel of Time TV show has been much more of a secret, at least up until recently. WoTSeries.com did some digging and found publicly-disclosed funding which seems to indicate how much money is being spent on the project.

The Wheel of Time TV show is being shot in the Czech Republic, in studios in the capital city of Prague with location filming in surrounding areas and across the border in Slovenia. As is common, the Czech government has tax rebates and incentive funding available for shows that film in the country, the idea that by spending a certain amount of money to encourage the production to remain in the country, the production will spend more money and the local economy will benefit, encouraging more shows to shoot there. This has been successful in recent years, with the Czech Republic becoming a hub of filming with numerous projects setting up shop there (Carnival Row is shooting in studios near the Wheel of Time production base, for example).

The rebate is based on the idea of “Czech spending,” how much of the budget is being spent in the country itself, with the production able to expect 20% of the budget refunded by the government. In the case of The Wheel of Time, we now know that $14.9 million was refunded by the government to Amazon for Season 1 of the show.

Some rather simple back-of-the-napkin maths shows that Amazon must have spent $74 million in the Czech Republic to qualify for a $14.9 million rebate. Of course, that’s not the total budget for the show. Casting was carried out in the United Kingdom and a large chunk of post-production is likewise being handled in the UK, by Cinesite Studios and several other CGI companies. There is also editing, mixing, musical composition and other post requirements taking place in the United States.

All of that comfortably lifts the total budget to well over $80 million and likely significantly more (the CG effects requirements for the show will be enormous). With showrunner Rafe Judkins recently confirming eight episodes for each of the first two seasons, that puts the per-episode budget of The Wheel of Time at well over $10 million per episode, comparable to Game of Thrones circa Season 6 and not far off the budget of the new Lord of the Rings project.

It’s worth noting that Game of Thrones’ budget only started at $6 million per episode when filming started in 2009 (about $7.2 million in today’s money, thanks to inflation). The Witcher’s first season had a budget of around $70 million in total (about $7.7 million per episode), although some figures place it at closer to $80 million (around $8.8 million per episode), so Wheel of Time will certainly outrange its Netflix competition.

The show will live or die on its writing, direction and performances, but it’s good to see that Amazon is providing enough financial resources to bring Robert Jordan’s grand vision to life.

In other news, WoTSeries has an interesting feature on the set of Emond’s Field being removed and on the logistics of location shooting, as well as finding confirmation that the Emmy Award-winning Ondřej Nekvasil is the main production designer on the show.

Daniel Henney (Lan) has posted the second part of his recent online Q&A, confirming that he sees himself working on The Wheel of Time for many years to come. Zoe Robins (Nynaeve) has also been interviewed in her native New Zealand, in which she discusses the show and seems to confirm the previously-mooted 2021 release date (although how the pandemic impacts on that remains to be see).

As usual, we will bring you all the latest news here on Dragonmount’s TV page.

Also, sure to watch our latest video on The Wheel of Time Community Show on YouTube where host Thom talks about this budget topic. 

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

With Wheel of Time filming on hold due to the global coronavirus pandemic, you’d be forgiven for thinking there’d be no news to share. Fortunately, the cast and crew of the show have put their time in quarantine to good use.

A couple of weeks back, Rafe Judkins dropped in on a virtual JordanCon panel (with Matt Hatch, Shannan Lieb, Daniel Greene, Jennifer Liang and myself) to drop some nuggets of new information about the show. He confirmed that six episodes of the first season – rather than the previously reported four – had completed filming before the lockdown, leaving only two incomplete. Editing and post-production of those six episodes are in progress even during the lockdown. Rafe also confirmed that the show’s first two seasons will consist of eight episodes apiece.

Encouraging news has also come out of the Czech Republic, where The Wheel of Time has been shooting. The Czech Republic enacted a severe lockdown very early in their outbreak of the virus, sealing borders with more adversely-affected countries and reinforcing their health service. As a result, the Republic has seen cases and fatalities both plummet. The country began easing restrictions two weeks ago and there has been no sign of a surge in new cases. As a result, the country’s government has given permission for shooting on various productions to resume, as long as cast and crew subject themselves to several days of isolation and testing after entering the country. The second season of Carnival Row is expected to resume shooting in the next few weeks, and discussions are underway with Marvel and Disney to remount the aborted Prague leg of shooting for The Falcon and Winter Soldier. In the latter case there was only a few days of shooting booked for Prague with most of the remaining shooting to be undertaken on the main sound stages back in Atlanta, Georgia, which so far remains shut down for filming (but likely not for much longer).

Interestingly, The Wheel of Time is apparently not rushing back to filming. About six weeks of shooting were left on the clock for the first season, so more work definitely needed to be done but the current reports suggest that a resumption of filming is further out. This may be a nod to the show’s more international crew, with actors and crew having to return from other countries where pandemic restrictions and lockdowns are still in place. Interestingly, Rosamund Pike (Moiraine) chose to remain in Prague during lockdown and seems raring to get back to work.

Still, the situation is better there than it is for countries still at the peak of their respective outbreaks; the UK, where filming of the second season of The Witcher and the first season of Joss Whedon’s new show, The Nevers, were in full swing, is unlikely to allow production to resume for many more weeks.

In additional news, actor Daniel Henney has hosted one of his online Q&As. He confirmed that he is in the process of reading the books and notes that Lan in the show will retain his commitment to loyalty and duty, elements he finds inspiring. He also noted that he found the sets built for the show to be overwhelming, and the most impressive he’s ever worked with.

Back to Rafe, he recently asked a question on Twitter about how fans think the prologue should be handled. He’s previously confirmed that the first episode will open with Rand and Tam on the Quarry Road, so the prologue is not opening the series, and there have been no signs that it’s been filmed in the first season (no possible casting, so far, for Lews Therin or Ishamael, for example).

It’s likely that the scene will appear eventually as a flashback. My feeling is that the producers want to avoid the problem of other productions where they’ve hired actors for the first season, had a long break before getting back to them and then finding them unavailable, so have had to recast (a repeated bane of casting on Game of Thrones, for example). It may make more sense to hold back until the studio can do a better deal with the actors to lock them in place for a longer stint. That may also feed into how they want to handle Lews Therin’s “voice” in the film, whether it’ll just be a voiceover or maybe a more physical presence, and also whether they want the same actor to play Ishamael/Ba’alazamon and Moridin.

As usual, please follow the Dragonmount TV page for the last developments and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.

With Wheel of Time production suspended – along with almost every other TV show and film on the planet – I was thinking it might be some time before we got more solid news on the series. However, showrunner Rafe Judkins surprised everyone by hosting a Q&A yesterday on his Instagram feed.

There was a lot of exciting information to learn here, so let’s get to the salient points.

• There is no connection at all between the current series and the 2015 Winter Dragon pilot from Red Eagle.
• Confirming what we’ve previously reported, Season 1 will consist of eight episodes. At the time of the shutdown, production was completed on episodes 1-4, they were still shooting episodes 5-6 and prepping episodes 7-8, whilst writing Season 2.
• Post-production is continuing remotely, with Rafe currently approving vfx shots and editing from home.
• One of the first challenges they found was that Mat and Rand visit 20 villages and cities in The Eye of the World including Emond’s Field, Taren Ferry, Baerlon, Shadar Logoth, Whitebridge, Arien, Four Kings, Market Sheran, Carysford, Breen’s Spring, Caemlyn and Fal Dara, plus lots of unnamed ones. Doing this on the show would be impossible, so they have condensed the trip along the Caemlyn Road in particular.
• “Honey in the Tea” (Chapter 24 of Knife of Dreams, about Egwene in the White Tower) is one of Rafe’s favourite chapters of the entire saga.
• Elayne, Aviendha and Min are three of Rafe’s favourite characters. They will not be combined. Min will appear in Season 1, but Rafe did not comment on Elayne.
• Sometimes very minor characters will be folded into a more major one to make better use of the cast, but there will be no “nutso” combinations for the sake of it. “New” characters will be few and far between, and will be inspired by characters in the books or a number of characters combined. The production cannot cast every named or appearing character from the books because then they’d only be able to afford “a radio play.”
• As well as main composer David Buckley, there will be “musical guests” on the show.
• Actors are speaking the Old Tongue where required.
• Lord Captain Geofram Bornhald is in Season 1 but his actor has not yet been confirmed. He has what Rafe describes as his “favourite costume” on the show.
• Rafe has been spending “more time” with Ishamael in the writing process. His favourite Forsaken are Graendal, Lanfear and Moghedien.
• Rafe has had to make some “painful” cuts.
• The visual effects (vfx) team has spent a lot of time on channelling and how it looks. The early work looks “awesome” so far and Rafe screamed when seeing Moiraine channel on screen for the first time. The show will have a fair bit of CGI but they are trying to do as much as possible in-camera.
• An Aiel will appear in Season 1, and the one in question will “shock” audiences.
• Rafe wants tall actors for Aiel but has noted that acting ability will always be the first priority.
• The show has a real sword master who handles the weapons and training.
• There are actually two horses playing Bela, one trained to pull a cart and one for riding by herself.
• Mandarb and Aldieb also have their own horse actors.
• When asked if we will “see the prologue from The Eye of the World on screen in Season 1,” Rafe replied that we “will hear that phrase.”
• Fal Dara is Rafe’s favourite set in Season 1 and the Great Serpent Rings are his favourite props.
• Narg has not been cut.
• Harriet McDougal (Robert Jordan’s widow and literary executor) has visited the set in Prague, read all the scripts and provided notes when she felt the script was moving too far away from the books.
• Rafe is a fan of Brandon Sanderson’s work, including both the Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series. Brandon has read all the scripts, provided notes and consulted on the project. Rafe would have him do more, but Brandon is busy with his own projects.
• Loial will be presented properly as an Ogier, and will be not made more human looking for practical reasons.
• The show is making some adjustments so it will be understandable for those who haven’t read the books, but “Google exists” for other queries.
• Alanna, Verin and Siuan are Rafe’s three favourite Aes Sedai. He also loves Sheriam and Pevara. Galina is his least-favourite.

My main takeaway is that, as previously speculated, it should be possible for Amazon to complete the first four episodes even with the shutdown. Whether that means they will transmit them or wait until production can resume and finish the whole season is not known. If the shutdown is likely to persist into 2021, they may decide to air the completed episodes as new content, but if it looks like the pandemic has eased and production can be remounted later this year they may choose to wait until the last four episodes are completed as well.

Obviously, the health and wellbeing of the Wheel of Time cast and crew, and of the residents of the city of Prague and the Czech Republic, is the primary concern at the moment.

As usual, please follow the Dragonmount TV page for the last developments and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

A full transcript of the Q&A follows

Which character has your favorite costume so far?

Rafe: Ooo this is tough. Probably Geofram Bornhald.

Can we expect a trailer for the show anytime soon?

Rafe: Probably not for a long while sadly.

When will we get more casting announcements to hold us over?

Rafe: I’ll try to get them to put out something soon. A lot of folks in all departments are affected by the state of the world right now though, so I can’t promise a timeline.

Are you using taller actors to portray the Aiel, or camera trickery?

Rafe: Trying to get tall folks. But I’m less concerned with height and more concerned with acting ability.

Will [Min], [Elayne], and [Aviendha] have to be combined into a single character?

Rafe: Girl you crazy, I’m not going to combing huge characters like that. Maybe sometimes a minor character folded into a more major one to make better use of our cast but nothing nutso

Do you have a favourite chapter from the whole saga? Mine is Veins of Gold.

Rafe: So many. But Honey in the Tea is one off the top of my head.

How many trollocs do I have to take out to become a writing assistant?

Rafe: Violence is never the answer

RJ writes a lot of internal headspace stuff. What’s 1 hint on how the show will handle that?

Rafe: That’s the biggest difficulty of any novel adaptation. Figuring out how to make the internal monologue come out clearly to the audience. A lot of the changes we make and stories we tell differently are designed to serves exactly that purpose—showing you what those characters internal monologues from the book are without them just saying it out loud in exposition

What are you finding most challenging about going from book to screen?

Rafe: The hardest thing is the physicality of production. In the first book alone they go to more than 20 villages and cities. To try to do that is physically impossible for the show, so most of the work we [do] in the room is geographical, figuring out how to condense the story and move it through places we can physically create.

Yes or no. Have you had to make any cuts be it a scene or chapter, that has been painful for you?

Rafe: Yes.

How are you handling sword forms and their names?

Rafe: We have a for real sword master on the show who walks into every room and tests out everything as a weapon. He could most definitely kill me with any item in my office.

What’s been your favorite shooting location so far?

Rafe: Slovenia! Spectacular stuff there

What words of hope would you offer a fan afraid that the show will cut out a lot of content?

Rafe: I genuinely think we are cutting less than most people think. When I see people ask questions like “are you cutting Min?” it blows my mind. I don’t know how you do an adaptation without some of these characters. I think it’ll be more of the smaller stories you’ll miss. We can’t have Rand and [Mat] travel to many many inns on their travels across the countryside for instance. It’s just not producible. So that will be more of what you miss, I think, and the books always exist to read for that ?

Any funny behind the scenes stories?

Rafe: I once walked up to Rosamund’s dummy to say hello and then pretended to check its makeup and told everyone they were doing great work

What would you say the CGI to practical ratio is going to be?

Rafe: Trying to do as much in camera as we possibly can!

Will we have to wait till season 2 to see any Aiel? (Other than Rand)

Rafe: Nope. And the one you see will shock you. Haha. Amazon shouldn’t let me be on here when I’ve been cooped up for a week.

How are the horses on set? Is Mandarb spectacular?

Rafe: They are so great. Honestly I love our horses. Mandarb and Aldieb are downright sexy

Is [Mat] fluent in the old tongue yet?

Rafe: We’ve had a couple cast members speak in it already and they NAILED IT

Will the show be understandable for those who didn’t read the books?

Rafe: That’s the idea. If there are little things they don’t get though, luckily google exists

Similar to Thom performing in an old Inn, what other iconic moments filmed stands out to [you]?

Rafe: Rand and Tam walking through the Westwood

Who is your favorite Aes Sedai in the books? And you can’t say Moiraine/Siuan or the Wonder Girls

Rafe: So many rules. I honestly love all of them though (except Galina that bitch) Alanna, Liandrin and Verin are probably my Top 3. And Siuan! There’s too many I love. Sheriam! Pevara!

Since JordanCon was cancelled, can we maybe get an extra treat next month?

Rafe: Sure! What do you want?

I think [Bela] is such an important character, will the same horse play [Bela] through the series

Rafe: We’ve already had to have two Belas. It turns out a horse for riding on film is not the same as a horse for pulling a cart and SHE MUST DO BOTH

If you were an Aes Sedai, what Ajah would you choose?

Rafe: Such a good question. They all have merits but GREEN for the win. If only to hang with @priyankabose20

Has any post-production work begun or does that not start until filming is completed?

Rafe: Nope! We do it simultaneously. Before the corona hit, I was prepping 2 episodes, shooting 2 episodes, in post on 4 episodes and writing Season 2 simultaneously  ?

Can you guys do a big WoT Wed announcement during the hiatus to keep all us fans hyped instead of al [sic]

Rafe: Yeah! It would cheer us all up and we have some fun news

How involved, if involved at all, is [Brandon] Sanderson in the writers room?

Rafe: Brandon is hugely helpful. I talked to him before we started Season Two while he was in Prague to get advice and he reads all the scripts and gives notes. He’s incredibly thoughtful and understands the process of adaptation and what’s required from it. I feel so lucky to have him involved. I would have him do more if I could make him!

Will there be a soundtrack? Who’s the composer?

Rafe: Of course! David Buckley. Plus a few incredible musical guests we’ve already had.

To what extent has Harriet McDougal been involved with the project?

Rafe: She’s a consulting producer so she’s been out to Prague to the sets and reads all the scripts and sends me her notes on them. She and Maria [Simons] are hugely helpful for maintaining the truth of the series and always keep me honest when it comes to things that change too much

Do you read [The Way of Kings] or Mistborn? Please make a tv adaptation for them too

Rafe: Read both. Love both.

Will the show have any connection to that abomination of a pilot that [Red Eagle] put out

Rafe: nope! ?

Are you going to merge Min and Elayne?

Rafe: Hell no

Are Min/Elayne in season 1?

Rafe: TWWaTWW

[The Weave Weaves as The Weave Wills]

Will we see the prologue from the Eye of the World on screen in season 1

Rafe: You will hear that phrase

Is Lan going to be as much or an absolute stud in the show as he is in the books?

Rafe: You’ve seen @danielhenney right?

Which WOT book title best describes your self isolation experience?

Rafe: A Memory of Light…

What has been your favorite set so far?

Rafe:  Fal Dara!

RJ created 1000’s of [characters]. Given that did you feel the need to create new characters?

Rafe: Anyone “new” is inspired by characters in the books or a number of characters combined. If we paid to cast all speaking roles in the book we could only afford to have a radio play

Please tell me you’ve cut Narg!!

Rafe: Never!!

First moment you were speechless on set?

Rafe: First time walking into Emond’s Field with my mom

How is the cast and crew weather the pandemic?

Rafe: Our team in Prague did an amazing job of getting everyone out and keeping them safe. And now everyone’s home and we all live on Instagram.

Should Amazon do a better job of engaging fans love of theory & speculation. [Please] embrace us!!

Rafe: I love theory and speculation! What can they do to better engage you? Send suggestions and I’ll forward them along ?

Blink twice if Min is in season 1.

Rafe: ? ?

Do you have a favorite Wise One?

Rafe: [Aviendha]

Now you’ve met them settle the score: who’s better with women? Rand, Mat or Perrin?

Rafe: I think they’d all say it’s the other

Will Loial portray the Ogier species, or will he be humanized for screen?

Rafe: He’s an Ogier!

How are you planning to handle the visualization of the weaves? Any little tidbits?

Rafe: We are trying to stay as true to the books as possible. I’ve been giving a bunch of VFX folks long diatribes about channeling, weaves, threads, earth vs. air, etc and [the] early stuff has started coming in. It looks FUCKING AWESOME. I screamed when Rosamund started channeling

Will Jeff Probst be one of the Aiel? Can you make some calls?

Rafe: If he dies his hair red ?

Can you please make sure you do a great job? Books are so great

Rafe: This is a really good idea

Is any aspect of the show still in development, or has it all stalled because of the virus?

Rafe: A lot can be done virtually! I’m still doing VFX, editing and the Season Two Virtual Writers Room! And I can do it all in pajamas

Who is your favorite Forsaken??

Rafe: Ahhh. I love the ladies. Greandal, Lanfear, Modhedien. And Ishamael holds a special place in my heart the more time I spend with him

So far, what is your favorite prop in the show?

Rafe: Great Serpent Ring. We all want one.

How has it been to work with your incredibly talented cast? Also… dinner’s ready

Rafe: Okay I have to go eat now. I think I did this right. Next time I’ll use different colors. I don’t know why it was pink and orange the whole time.