REVIEW: The Wheel of Time – Season 2 (2023)

Television Reviews

The Wheel of Time’s sophomore season ended Friday on Amazon Prime. I never got around to reviewing season 1, but I will say that I mostly didn’t like it. The best parts reminded me of Lord of the Rings, like early in the season when Rand’s (Joshua Stradowski) father, Tam(Michael McElhatton), essentially paraphrases Gandalf’s line about using the time we are given. You know, we don’t get to decide what times we live through, only how we choose to behave and react. I can’t remember exactly what Tam said, only that I said out loud, “OK, Gandalf.” For the most part, the show is grimdark, with characters who aren’t easy to care about.

Rand has a tempestuous relationship with Egwene (Madeleine Madden), a girl from his town who eventually wants to become an Aes Sedai, essentially a witch/priestess. Their friends include more people from their small village, Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), Mat (Barney Harris), and Perrin (Marcus Rutherford). Their primary character traits, respectively, are “unlikable wench with a stick up her butt,” “suspicious friend back-stabber,” and “guy who accidentally killed his wife and can’t move on.” I would say it’s more complicated than that, but two seasons in, it’s not. I genuinely don’t understand how you’re supposed to enjoy this show when the heroes are (mostly) crummy people with no strong values or beliefs. What holds them together? Why are they all friends? I can’t tell you. This brings us to Moiraine Sedai (Rosamund Pike), the catalyst for much of the story. She belongs to the class Nynaeve (reluctantly) and Egwene seek to join, and she believes one of the five friends could be the Dragon, a prophesied hero who can stand against the Dark One. I wanted to like Moiraine, mostly because I like Pike a lot. But she has made choices that frustrate me, like sending Lan (Daniel Henry), her bodyguard and close companion of twenty years, away without so much as an explanation. With all this being said, I thought it was worth watching season 2 because there’s literally nothing going on lately. Let’s check it out. 

***SPOILERS FOR SEASONS 1 AND 2***

In season 2, Nynaeve and Egwene realize what they’ve gotten into with the women of the White Tower. Meanwhile, Liandrin Sedai keeps Mat hostage for information. Rand fears what his power could do to him. Moiraine grows distant from Lan. Rand inadvertently taps into the One Power. Moiraine, Lan, and their hosts journey to the White Tower. After a botched initiation, Nynaeve grieves a lost, better potential life. Rand’s new lover is revealed to be more than she seems, putting him and Moiraine Sedai on the run. Egwene and Nynaeve discover Liandrin’s duplicity. Egwene is taken captive and enslaved as Rand tries to use his girl’s feelings to his advantage despite the fact that she’s evil and seemingly all-powerful. She and Ishamael corner Rand, Lan, and Moiraine, leaving the Amyrlin Seat stunned and helpless. In (another) final showdown, Rand and his friends overpower Ishamael and evidently, somehow, prevent him from regenerating again this time. 

Some of my biggest issues with the show began in the very beginning, but I’ll talk about them a little here since I never covered season 1. A lot of season 1 was poorly explained and unmemorable, but the scene with Rand’s father stuck out because it was uplifting. Sure, it’s derivative, directly mirroring a line of dialogue from a better fantasy series. I specifically mean the movies here; I haven’t read any of the many Wheel of Time books and won’t pretend to know how good they are. If I had to wager a guess, they’re probably better than this adaptation. One of my main gripes with this show is something the Lord of the Rings movies did very well: setting up and showing what the stakes are. That conversation between Tam and Rand hinted at an attempt, but it wasn’t enough. Two seasons later, I don’t know these cultures or care about the heroes enough. If the Dark One succeeds, I don’t really care. So much of The Fellowship of the Ring is dedicated to worldbuilding and the Shire in particular, so we know what’s at stake when things get really dark. We know the Shire intimately by then, how it feels, what it looks like, and why Frodo cares so much about it. We need to care too, or it doesn’t really matter what happens, right? It feels like Bilbo is our uncle, and those are all our friends. It feels important and special, which makes it worth protecting. I hardly remember the Two Rivers, and if they get destroyed by The One Power or whatever, I don’t care. This show is so grim and broody all the time that it’s hard to know what’s being fought for. So that Egwene can go back to playing with Rand’s feelings? So Moiraine can keep lying to everyone, and all of Rand’s other friends can go back to being dull and unlikable? We need those moments of levity and kinship with a place and its inhabitants to make its imminent destruction feel like more of a threat. 

The worldbuilding is also lacking in terms of the racial makeup of this world. There’s a misconception that Tolkien only created white societies. But it was more like Game of Thrones, which also did this very well, where people of different complexions come from different places in the world. Believe it or not, the relative position of the sun, available foliage, etc, affects how a people evolve to survive in that climate. That’s how it was in our world before colonization and globalism, so it makes sense for a Medieval-esque society. Much like its sibling Rings of Power, The Wheel of Time simply puts people of all complexion and cultural backgrounds in the same small, provincial villages. I don’t understand how a town of maybe 300 people is this diverse. I love the idea of showing different groups and cultures, but it needs to have some truth to it. Sure, our world today looks like this, but before travel was accessible and cultures merged, it didn’t used to. 

In season 2, the principal cast is written to be as unlikable as possible. Moiraine dismissing Lan, Nynaeve’s self-righteous attitude with the Aes Sedai, and the casual way Rand treats relationships are all puzzling developments. Moiraine tosses Lan aside after 20 years of faithful service because she loses her powers, which makes no sense at all. You’re mad at him because of your own (albeit undeserved) failings? Meanwhile, despite coming willingly, Nynaeve is dismissive and disrespectful of the Aes Sedai at every turn. She comes to the White Tower to support Egwene, who actually wants to take the oaths. But I don’t understand choosing to join the order for any reason if you refuse to follow their rules. Going for your friend is a poor decision anyway, but the show thinks they have to stay together since they’re besties 4ever or something. However, Egwene’s betrothed Rand does not feel that way. He’s lying to all his friends about being dead while shacking up with Selene, an innkeeper who’s more like a sexy, female antichrist. He clearly still has feelings for Egwene, as he tells “Selene” that he wants to forget his past love. Why? Why not help her instead of being here with someone else who doesn’t need you? Mat and Perrin aren’t any better, but they’re not that interesting. Mat is a schemer, and even though Liandrin holds him wrongfully, I can’t help feeling no sympathy for him. 

I have to give The Wheel of Time credit for one thing: its budget. The effects and action look good, especially for TV, especially in this day and age. Moiraine befuddles me as a character we’re supposed to like, putting Rand’s life above thousands of innocent bystanders and forsaking any and all bonds and friendships. But Pike is excellent in the role; she’s the only sort-of-big name here, and I’m glad they got her. Perrin uses The One Power this season to connect with animals, especially wolves. This leads to one of them protecting him and dying in the process, hacked by an axe. This is horrifying and made me realize how bland this show can be at times. This is, by far, the most emotion The Wheel of Time has ever made me feel, and it’s for an animal we don’t know. 

Watching The Wheel of Time is a confounding experience. This is true in a very literal sense, as some episodes, like season 2, episode 4, “What Might Be,” are confusingly framed and edited. This entire episode is about a possible life Nynaeve could have led, but this is unclear almost until the end. This is sloppy, not clever or profound. The show is also puzzling in its elevation of scumbag characters whose words mean nothing, who won’t even protect the people they claim to care about the most. The Rings of Power gets much more press, but The Wheel of Time deserves just as much vitriol. It’s not quite as dull as the other show, but it is confusingly edited and has nothing at its heart.