Wheel of Time in the Media

[Danny Franks]

And here it is:

I'm pretty bloody happy, I have to say. We knew the focus would be on Moiraine and I guess that extends naturally to Egwene. The boys are all just pretty faces with undetermined roles right now, which will make their journeys even more fun to follow.

The production values look very good - sets, costumes, locations and some of the shots of cities and landscapes are gorgeous. Particularly Tar Valon with Dragonmount in the background.

I'm not completely sold on the Channelling effect, and think that slight touches of colour to differentiate the flows would improve it - blue for water, red for fire, green for earth, yellow for spirit and just white for air.

We get Myddraal, Trollocs and Nynaeve pushing Egwene off a cliff, what more could we ask for?

[DearEvette]

Ok... that looked cool.  I am getting tingly for it now.

I loved the shadow effect for Shadar Logoth.  And, tbh, I liked the emphasis on the Aes Sedai and the power.

Also digging all the wheel/circle imagery and that one shot of -- Egwene(?) coming out of that pool with the paint precisely painting her was also pretty cool.

[Black Knight]

They know the readers will at least try the show regardless. They obviously feel that for non-readers, the best way to pull them in is to showcase the magic, and at the start of the series that means the Aes Sedai. The trailer looks great and is compelling, and I think will be effective at enticing non-readers.

They might have played around with colors for the various flows and concluded it was a little too visually busy or distracting.

[DoctorAtomic]

I found the channeling to be interesting in a good way. I like that it looked like there's physical exertion to it. I agree that you want some distinction as to air, water, etc. I would like to see there to be a weaving effect too. But, Moirane isn't super desiel either so maybe with Nye it's way different since she doesn't have control for a while. 

[AnimeMania]

The Wheel of Time Trailer: Women With Powers Protect the World in Amazon Adaptation — Plus, Get Premiere Date

The eight episode Season 1 of The Wheel of Time will release the first three episodes Friday, Nov. 19th, with new episodes available each Friday thereafter, with a season finale on Dec. 24th.

Based on Robert Jordan’s fantasy novels, The Wheel of Time is set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it. The story follows Moiraine (played by Gone Girl‘s Rosamund Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful, all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.

The sprawling cast also includes Sophie Okonedo (Flack) as the legendary Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche; Kae Alexander (Krypton) as Min Farshaw; Kate Fleetwood (Harlots) as Liandrin Guirale; Peter Franzen (Vikings) as Stepin; Clare Perkins (EastEnders) as Kerene Nagashi; Daniel Henney (Criminal Minds) as al’Lan Mandragoran; Madeleine Madden (Picnic at Hanging Rock) as Egwene Al’Vere; Marcus Rutherford (Bulletproof) as Perrin Aybara; Barney Harris (Clique) as Mat Cauthon; Zoe Robins (Power Rangers Ninja Steel) as Nynaeve; and Josha Stradowski (High Flyers) as Rand Al’Thor.

Wheel Of Time's World & Mythology Explained: Magic, Characters & Story

Edited September 3, 2021 by AnimeMania

[AnimeMania]

The Wheel of Time: Rafe Judkins & Rosamund Pike Answer Fans Questions

They answer quite a few questions, here are two.

 

[DoctorAtomic]

That's kind of weird because book 1 is a fairly straightforward story with a Big Ending. 

[Black Knight]

The "cryptic"-ness isn't really that hard to figure out, considering that Elayne, who is in the first book, is not in the first season (along with the rest of her family), while Min, who is introduced in the second book, is in the first season.

The entire Caemlyn section of the book, not just Elayne, seems to be destined for S2. Which makes sense since the first season is only six episodes and Caemlyn brings in a slew of other important characters.

[Danny Franks]

4 hours ago, Black Knight said:

The "cryptic"-ness isn't really that hard to figure out, considering that Elayne, who is in the first book, is not in the first season (along with the rest of her family), while Min, who is introduced in the second book, is in the first season.

The entire Caemlyn section of the book, not just Elayne, seems to be destined for S2. Which makes sense since the first season is only six episodes and Caemlyn brings in a slew of other important characters.

Min was in the first book, but only briefly - when they were in Baerlon she was working at the inn - so it makes sense to push her first appearance back into the latter part of the season as it also allows them to streamline the initial journey out of the Two Rivers.

I find myself curious as to how she's going to be introduced, and suspect she'll just be moved to Fal Dara, with the rest of her background staying the same. And Elayne, who is likely to appear for the first time at the White Tower, which is a shame because I really like the scene where she's introduced in the first book.

 It looks, from the trailer, like the journey from the Two Rivers to Fal Dara will be less isolated than it was in the books, with them running into the Logain expedition. I also don't know how or where they're going to meet Thom, as it seems like he's not in Emond's Field at the start of the show.

[AnimeMania]

Tiny Trailer

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTZ2rCjtJiW/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=843ea8bc-8d3a-4033-be0d-4c7e2ee403ad

[nokat]

I saw the trailer, I clutched myself as is this actually happening? I'm excited.

[nokat]

On 9/2/2021 at 12:14 PM, Black Knight said:

They know the readers will at least try the show regardless. They obviously feel that for non-readers, the best way to pull them in is to showcase the magic, and at the start of the series that means the Aes Sedai.

The readers will be the most critical, so yes that is probably the best way to start because you want to draw everyone in.

[AnimeMania]

‘The Wheel Of Time’: Sanaa Hamri Boards Season 2 As Director & Executive Producer

Sanaa Hamri has joined Amazon Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time as executive producer and director of the second half of Season 2. 

Sanaa Hamri previously was executive producer/director of Empire on Fox. Her past episodic work includes directorial credits on Shameless, Rectify, Nashville, Elementary, Glee and Desperate Housewives.

Edited September 16, 2021 by AnimeMania

[AnimeMania]

Amazon is heading to New York Comic Con and bringing with it some of its biggest shows.

THE WHEEL OF TIME: Exclusive Q&A with Cast & Showrunner (Virtual Screening)

Fri, Oct 8, 2021            2:30 PM - 3:30 PM             Main Stage 1D Hall

Based on Robert Jordan’s best-selling fantasy novels of the same name, The Wheel of Time is set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it. The story follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity. Join the series cast and showrunner as they discuss bringing this stunning world to life and what fans can most look forward to when the series premieres Friday, November 19th, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

All panels will be streamed live through NYCC’s official website and FindTheMetaverse.com.

[AnimeMania]

[AnimeMania]

Donal Finn (Left) replaces Barney Harris (Right) to play Mat Cauthon in Amazon's The Wheel Of Time Season 2. No reason was given for the change.

Season 2 of the series is currently in production in the Czech Republic.

[Danny Franks]

Yeah, this isn't ideal. Amazon haven't given a reason, and may not, but they wouldn't take this decision lightly. You don't recast one of the main roles in your show unless you absolutely have to. I hope it's something mundane like visa issues rather than anything to do with Harris's health or wellbeing.

I'm guessing that Finn was another actor who auditioned for Mat but lost out, and they were able to go back to him when they had to make the change. He has a more cheerful, less moody look to him (at least, based on these pictures), and isn't a bad choice for the role, although I was quite happy with Harris based on what little we've seen.

[AnimeMania]

 Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, the Aes Sedai

Warder Lan, played by Daniel Henney

 Josha Stradowski is Rand and Madeleine Madden is Egwene

[DoctorAtomic]

Why isn't Bela getting a photo credit?!!!

[AnimeMania]

25 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Why isn't Bela getting a photo credit?!!!

She needs no introduction?

I asked her if she needed an introduction and she said "neigh".

Edited October 7, 2021 by AnimeMania

[AnimeMania]

[Danny Franks]

That's not a good poster, I have to say. The characters don't blend at all well with the background, and it makes the Myddraal look like some kind of Voldemort knockoff. 

I've been pleased with most of the publicity stuff Amazon has done for the show so far, but this is a big misfire.

[DoctorAtomic]

Oh, I thought that was Ish. 

[Black Knight]

I thought it was Phantom of the Opera.

[DoctorAtomic]

Is Ish in the first book? 

[Danny Franks]

27 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Is Ish in the first book? 

He is, but he presents himself as Ba'alzamon, with eyes and mouth of flames and all that stuff.

Another clip has been released:

Clearly the show is moving at a faster pace than the books (as it has to) and this feels a little stiff and abrupt, but I like the little snippets we get of each character -

Rand and Egwene making flirty eyes at each other while being confused

Perrin being supportive

Mat chatting to a girl

Nynaeve being the defender of the people

Moiraine being unflappable and Lan being utterly confident

[AnimeMania]

Moiraine and introducing "Horsey" the Horse (higher quality picture of the one in TV Guide)

Ceara Coveney, Natasha O’Keeffe and Meera Syal will join the cast as series regulars in Season 2.

Ceara Coveney      Natasha O'Keeffe         Meera Sya

Ceara Coveney will portray Elayne Trakand.

Edited October 8, 2021 by AnimeMania

[Danny Franks]

Elayne doesn't have the bright blue eyes, but she's definitely the right kind of wholesomely beautiful.

I could see Meera Syal as a great Verin, though I don't know if Verin has already been cast. Could Natasha O'Keefe be Faile?

Edit: Apparently O'Keefe is listed somewhere as "Selene." I'm not sure about that, but Selene is pretty much an impossible to cast part. I mean, how do you cast "the most beautiful woman in the world" and make everyone happy?

Edited October 8, 2021 by Danny Franks

[AnimeMania]

 

[Black Knight]

2 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Could Natasha O'Keefe be Faile?

Edit: Apparently O'Keefe is listed somewhere as "Selene." I'm not sure about that, but Selene is pretty much an impossible to cast part. I mean, how do you cast "the most beautiful woman in the world" and make everyone happy?

Yup. You just have to cast someone attractive and move on. But I'm sad your guess about Faile wasn't correct, only because she just fits how I imagine Faile.

Coveney looks much younger than the other actors playing the rest of Elayne's peer group, but maybe it's just an older photo. IMDB doesn't have her age.

[Starla]

We have our first cast interview from NY Comic Con: https://www.findthemetaverse.com/film-tv/nycc-2021-the-wheel-of-time-exclusive-qa-with-cast-showrunner-virtual-screening 

I have a virtual ticket but I'm fairly certain everyone can watch it for free. I think all the cast look great and all seem to really get their characters. So impressed that Josha has read up to Book 11 (with Zoe and Madeline right behind). I can't imagine what it must be like to read the series knowing you have to play Rand. I wouldn't know whether be excited or terrified!

I'm also loving Zoe Robins. Nynaeve is my favorite female character and I wasn't sure about Zoe when she was first cast (due to her previous work), but she seems to genuinely get Nynaeve, and she looks great in the new clip. Love that she goes straight for her belt knife like a mama bear.

Meera Syal totally looks like Verin to me! She's a comedian so I think she'll be wonderful playing a fumbly absent-minded professor type role for Verin. My first thought for Natasha O'Keefe was possibly Lanfear, but now I'm leaning more towards Elaida. In the interview Rafe says they are two of the most important characters in the series, and I think that Elaida has a more important role than Lanfear. I think anyone can update IMDB and Wikipedia, so I'm not convinced about the "Selene" entry since she hasn't been officially announced.

[DoctorAtomic]

It doesn't bother me if an actor has or has not read the book. I'm more interested in how the show is going to tell this version of the story. It's kind of like the Wheel, no?

[AnimeMania]

 

[AnimeMania]

 

[Danny Franks]

While I don't believe Moraine would ever touch a filthy darkspawn, that is a cool poster. Much better than the previous one.

The puzzle idea was an interesting marketing device.

[AnimeMania]

 

[Black Knight]

The designs for the Shadowspawn feel a little derivative, but I acknowledge it's very hard by now to come up with anything original for bad guys like these. The execution is well done. And it all certainly looks a lot better than the Phantom of the Opera in that poster upthread.

[Danny Franks]

4 hours ago, Black Knight said:

The designs for the Shadowspawn feel a little derivative, but I acknowledge it's very hard by now to come up with anything original for bad guys like these. The execution is well done. And it all certainly looks a lot better than the Phantom of the Opera in that poster upthread.

I think Robert Jordan tried to make Trollocs as different from Orcs as he could, while still having them be fantasy monsters. The descriptions in the book of them having partially human faces (particularly human eyes) while also having different bestial aspects, were very effective. Just not easy to put on the screen convincingly, so I can understand why they've gone for a more typical 'beastman' design. But we do appear to be getting different beast variations, which is good.

It seems like the showrunners made a choice to steer as far away from LOTR's Black Riders as they could, when designing the Fades. I've seen people moaning that they "don't look like they could blend in to a crowd" but then, neither could they in the books if they took their hoods down. They were still eyeless, albino monsters. Based on the few non-book readers I've seen react to the trailers, the Fade design is effective.

[AnimeMania]

Wheel of Time Star to Narrate Audiobook Version of First Novel

Wheel of Time TV star Rosamund Pike is narrating a new audiobook version of Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World, the first Wheel of Time novel, to be released on November 16. The audiobook will be 30 hours long and contain a vast list of pronunciations and distinctive character voices.

The new Eye of the World audiobook is available for pre-order on Audible now, and will be available on Audible, Apple Books, Libro.FM, Google Play Books and more on Nov. 16. The original audiobook version of The Eye of the World, narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, will continue to be available for purchase at retailers.

[AnimeMania]

Spoiler

The Wheel of Time Built an Entire Village for the Premiere - Then Burned It Down

The Wheel of Time Built an Entire, fully functional, completely furnished Village of Two Rivers and then burned it to the ground to simulate an attack by an army of Trollocs that occurs in Episode 1. The small village was created in a quarry in the Czech Republic, it took several months and millions of dollars to make.

 

Edited October 24, 2021 by AnimeMania

[DoctorAtomic]

Holy shit, if that was Dragonmount, it looks exactly like I pictured it. 

[AnimeMania]

The Dusty Wheel Show Trailer Watch Party

[Anduin]

For some reason, Amazon doesn't have the new trailer on their main channel, only that 360 nonsense. Thankfully, it's on their Aus/NZ channel.

Looks good.

[DoctorAtomic]

I saw it the regular trailer on the Facebook page. 

Did Moiraine always channel fireballs? tbh, the trailer seemed generic fantasy quest to me. I kind of wished they said more that the Dragon was the 'savior', but also destroyer. Because on the heels of Dune it just looks like a typical magic savior story. I know they're trying to hide who the Dragon actually is, but I was hoping it would be more like, 'do you really *want* to be the Dragon?' 

Rand isn't necessarily the Dragon either until Tear. 

It looked like the last shot was the Eye though. 

[Danny Franks]

The trailer looks great to me. The scale of the show is everything it should be, and it's clear the people involved know what fans are going to want to see. The Aiel shot had me jumping out of my seat. I wasn't expecting it and I'm so happy that we're getting a look at the Blood Snows scene.

The Trollocs look amazing, the White Cloaks look like a real threat for once, the urgency of everything seems to be increased. 

If people aren't interested off the back of this trailer, they won't be interested in any of the nuance attached to the Dragon or the Aes Sedai, so over-complicating things by trying to shove too many plot points into the trailer seems counterproductive to me. It seems to me that the point of increasing Logain's role in the show is to highlight the fact that potentially being a male channeller is a bad thing.

But also, the marketing at the moment is pushing the idea that one of the girls could be the Dragon Reborn, which wouldn't be anywhere near as scary because they'd just be a really powerful Aes Sedai.

[DoctorAtomic]

8 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

It seems to me that the point of increasing Logain's role in the show is to highlight the fact that potentially being a male channeller is a bad thing.

That's really the unique feature that separates the story from your typical savior trope. I mean, you basically just have kid from a farm saves the world otherwise. I was hoping that would come across a little more in the trailer. 

8 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

But also, the marketing at the moment is pushing the idea that one of the girls could be the Dragon Reborn, which wouldn't be anywhere near as scary because they'd just be a really powerful Aes Sedai.

Is that why she said, 'any 5 of you?' That didn't make sense to me. Moiraine wasn't convinced anyone was the Dragon iirc, but was only like, 'whoa 3 ta'veren are here? huh.' She kind of backed it out, but no one knew for sure for a while. 

[Danny Franks]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Is that why she said, 'any 5 of you?' That didn't make sense to me. Moiraine wasn't convinced anyone was the Dragon iirc, but was only like, 'whoa 3 ta'veren are here? huh.' She kind of backed it out, but no one knew for sure for a while. 

So the theory going around - and that I agree with - is that she's just using Aes Sedai tricksy language to get them all to agree to leave - the three boys because any of them might be the Dragon Reborn and Egwene because Moiraine has detected that she can channel and needs to be taught.

But also, I think I've read that Nynaeve still doesn't leave with them, and some people online are saying that the word "five" looks dubbed in and doesn't match what Moiraine is actually saying in the scene.

[DoctorAtomic]

Egwene didn't need to be sold iirc. One she found out she could channel she was packing up. 

[AnimeMania]

[AnimeMania]