La Roue du temps

The Wheel of Time is an ambitious fantasy series based on Robert Jordan's iconic book series, bringing to life a sprawling world filled with magic, prophecy, and a battle between light and darkness. Visually, the show is stunning, with breathtaking landscapes, detailed costumes, and a rich cultural tapestry that sets it apart from other fantasy adaptations. The special effects and world-building are genuinely impressive, capturing the epic scale and complexity of the source material. Rosamund Pike delivers a powerful performance as Moiraine, grounding the story with wisdom and mystery. The supporting cast also brings energy and diversity, representing the wide array of cultures and nations that exist within the Wheel's turning. However, despite all these strengths, the show's momentum is noticeably held back by the portrayal of its central character, Rand al'Thor, played by Josha Stradowski. While the character is meant to evolve from a humble farmer to a world-changing figure, Stradowski's performance often feels flat, lacking the emotional depth and inner turmoil that defines Rand's journey in the books. His stoic demeanor comes across more as wooden than reserved, making it difficult to connect with him or fully invest in his transformation. Given the importance of Rand to the overall narrative, this casting misstep significantly impacts the emotional resonance of the series. One can't help but wonder how much stronger the show could have been with a more dynamic actor in the lead role-someone capable of conveying the vulnerability, fear, and reluctant heroism that Rand embodies. For instance, imagining an actor with the nuanced charm and range of a young Daniel Radcliffe, best known for his portrayal of Harry Potter, could have dramatically altered the feel of the series. Radcliffe's ability to grow with a character and express internal conflict would have added layers to Rand's arc, making the story more compelling and emotionally grounded. That said, the rest of the ensemble cast works hard to elevate the material, and the showrunners deserve credit for attempting to streamline an incredibly dense series into a television format. The narrative pacing has its highs and lows, occasionally feeling rushed or disjointed, especially for those unfamiliar with the books. Still, fans of the series will appreciate the nods to the original lore and the attempts to stay true to the themes of balance, destiny, and the cyclical nature of time. With strong female leads, diverse representation, and a deep mythology, The Wheel of Time has a lot going for it, but it also struggles under the weight of its own expectations. If the central performance had been more engaging, it could have elevated the entire production to a different level. Instead, the series sometimes feels like it's spinning in place, trying to find its emotional core. Despite this, there's still potential for growth, especially if the character development sharpens in future seasons. As it stands, The Wheel of Time is a visually rich and thematically ambitious adaptation that is held back by uneven acting and some awkward narrative choices-but with a few key changes, it could still become one of the greats in modern fantasy television.

The acting is actually very good but they can only do so much when the writing is aweful.

Some of the story changes are understandable, but most times the changes are nearly incomprehensible don't seem to serve a purpose. Additionally, there are a couple of moments that the writers make very poor story choices resulting in at least one instance of using the sin of "Deus Ex Machina" to escape their own story traps. This is lazy writing at its worst.

There are also fundamental changes to the main and side characters along with fundamental changes in relationships between people and organizations. This is another major writing sin and seriously jeopardizes eliminating or watering down both major and minor themes of the original story. Inexcusable.

There are other issues with poor site locations. A good example of this is picking a river next to a cliff to represent a part of a river delta for the largest river in the world. REALLY?

I gutted this season out and watched every episode from beginning to end so I could give the show an honest shot and not be one of tgose people that posts an opinion based on ignorance.

Season 1 did have a few moments that were at least decent, but not enough to make up for the rest of its considerable flaws and sins, therefore, I will NOT be watching season 2.

I would be lying if I said there are no moments in The Wheel of Time that I didn't enjoy. A few brief moments of action and some characters standout over others. Some of the sets look great and others have CGI from 2003.

As in many other reviews I wrote for individual episodes the biggest culprit affecting WOT is the writing. Conversations are rarely engaging, and most characters are poorly developed, providing nobody to emotionally attach to. The second problem for me is the acting and casting. Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, Zoe Robins as Nynaeve, Daniel Henney as Lan and Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin are all great in their roles. Everyone else including Rand are boring beyond belief. Rand and Egwene have no chemistry and it's hard to watch one of the worst love triangle plot threads unfold with Perrin. Perrin has potential as a character, but his expression is the same throughout the whole season, the same goes for boring Rand. Watching Rand during the finale made me want to poor bleach on my eyes. Matt, what happened to Matt...who knows?

For the budget the WOT's marketing bragged about little talent is displayed from the writers and a majority of the actors. Some of the CGI is distractingly awful for a big budget show. Another problem is the shows pacing. Episodes can drag on one after the other with the last thirty minutes of episode four being the only highlight. The direction of the story is all over the place and I was bored throughout most of the season.

If you're desperate to watch something fantasy related don't let anyone's opinion prevent you from giving WOT a try. Some people do seem to be enjoying it. For me, I loathed WOT for the majority of the show's duration. Potential is lurking on the horizon for WOT. Maybe use some of that Amazon money to hire better writers and directors?

With great source material to work from this should have been an easy pitch and catch for the showrunners but they have elected to follow the overarching plot without actually following any of the character arcs that make it up.

The sets are painfully reused, CGI low quality for 2021 and the best actor left the show after episode 6. The best parts of the show are the characters with less screen time, especially Dana, Padan Fain, Ishmael and Logain.

There is almost no setup to the Dragon at all and even less to the Dark One. This is the core struggle at the heart of the Wheel of Time and lost completely to the rapid pace of attempting to get through the 'quest' portion of the Wheel of Time as quickly as possible.

After 8 episodes I find myself with very little left to argue against those who see the show as misandrist in nature. Every single male character is deficient in some way whilst women are elevated in terms of power and competence. Given the more equal world we live in than when EotW was penned, along with the fact that the source material has plenty of empowered female characters, it's difficult to understand why.

Absolutely amazing season so far! A snow a bit shy, based on covid and Mat's recast in the ending of season 1, but getting better with each episode since! Season 3 is a must see, great world building, costumes and very good acting already at this point from the kids! Fresh new additions to the cast and solid adaptation. The show is now ready to lose some of the main protagonists as in the books, although that will make me cry! A few things done even better then in the books, especially when it comes to the heroes being more real and relatable in a tv adaptation. It also answers my biggest question as a huge book fan - why the white tower is unaware that there are so many channelers in the world outside of it? It absolutely bothered me in the books that the so powerfull and knowledgeable tower doesnt have a clue about the chanellers amongst the aiel, the seafolk etc if there are so many and each Aes Sedai knows who can channel only by seeing them, even when that person does not hold saidar at the moment. I beg those at Amazon, keep the show going it seems it will only get bigger and better now! The book material from now on has such a rich and unique storyline, that if the show goes all the way to the end, it will be impossible to ever find anything as good as it! PS: I cannot get "The hills if Tanchico" out of my mind! The hills of Tanchicoooo.....