The Wheel of Time • Season 1
The Wheel of Time
TV-14
81%61%
The lives of five young villagers change forever when a strange and powerful woman arrives, claiming one of them is the child of an ancient prophecy with the power to tip the balance between Light and Dark forever. They must choose whether to trust this stranger – and each other – with the fate of the world before the Dark One breaks out of His prison, and the Last Battle begins.
Mike Wetjen reviewedFebruary 13, 2025
A very entertaining story, but unfortunately not a particularly faithful adaptation of the story from the books. The show follows many key points from Eye of the World, but misses or changes so many points that by the end, it is entirely its own thing. This is somewhat understandable, given the difficulties in filming, but a rather large disappointment for anybody hoping for a more accurate depiction.
However, praise where due: the story might not be what we expected, but it is engaging; there is some wonderful writing in this season and the cast do a splendid job with what they're given, but none of that compares to the incredible work done by the design and production teams. The costumes are absolutely stunning, the scoring is fantastic, and the set design is breath-taking. This is a truly beautiful show, and the team really understand the world Robert Jordan built, bringing it to life in jaw-dropping detail; from the grand ruins of past ages, to the hand-stitched embroidery on an extras collar.
This wasn't what I was expecting, and to say I was disappointed not to get something closer to the story we love would be an understatement, but what they did well was done so very well that I really am optimistic about the future of this show, and feel a little guilty for giving it such a low rating. On the other hand though, there is plenty of room for improvement in some areas, so I'm going to keep it at a 3.5 for now.