Amazon got everyone excited when they adapted Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time books to TV, but surprisingly they’ve not gone all-in as they have with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Rand al'Thor played by Josha Stradowski in The Wheel of Time season 2. Image: Prime Video. Rand al’Thor played by Josha Stradowski in The Wheel of Time season 2. Image: Prime Video.

Rumors have been floating that Amazon’s The Wheel of Time series might be in danger. The YouTube channel WoT Up reported that people involved in production seemed worried the show might not be extended beyond the third season, which is due out next year.

This seems nonsensical, but considering how little Amazon has supported The Wheel of Time, it shouldn’t be surprising. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power seems to be the favorite child for the streaming service as far as fantasy genre shows go.

Why has The Wheel of Time not received the love it deserves?

There are a couple of reasons why The Wheel of Time should get more support from Amazon than it does. For one, it costs way less to make than The Rings of Power. Michael Nordine of Variety reported that The Rings of Power costs about $58 million per episode to produce. That is nearly SIX TIMES MORE than what it costs to make The Wheel of Time, according to Joe Skrebels of IGN. That is a ridiculous sum of money for any show, and The Rings of Power, while still good, isn’t the best fantasy series on the air despite being the most expensive.

Another reason The Wheel of Time should be getting more support is that it has better source material. While The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books are excellent, The Rings of Power is based on appendices to The Lord of the Rings, basically a series of bullet points summarized things that happened long ago in Middle-earth. The producers take a lot of liberties filling in the gaps, and much of what they come up with doesn’t equal Tolkien’s prose.

The Wheel of Time, on the other hand, is based on 14 novels connected to one major storyline. The amount of content contained in those books is staggering, to be sure, but it could be told in eight to 10 seasons, especially if Amazon would allow more episodes per season (a whole season barely costs more than one episode of The Rings of Power).

The final point is that no matter how well the producers of The Rings of Power tell the story, because it’s a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, we all know the ending. Only fans of the books will know how The Whele of Time will end. Fans who have only found The Wheel of Time through the show and don’t want to wade through nearly 10,000 pages of book have a lot of surprises ahead of them.

Most people who watched The Game of Thrones at the beginning had not read the books (and no one has yet to read the last two), and that show is the standard for which all others in the genre should be reaching.

How to make sure Amazon commits to The Wheel of Time

It has never made sense that Amazon hasn’t made The Wheel of Time a foundational series for the streaming service. They don’t promote the show nearly enough, and the story has felt rushed at times. It would help the show was allowed even two more episodes per season.

There is still time. If you are a fan of The Wheel of Time books, watch the series. If you are a fan of the series, watch the first two seasons again and watch season 3 as it airs. Amazon will probably base its decision on whether or not to continue the show on viewership. So…watch it!

The story in The Wheel of Time is absolutely worth telling completely and thoroughly. It would be a shame for the genre if the show were canceled before that story was told. It would be the death knell for the future of genre on television. If they can’t tell a story as rich as this one, why would anyone else attempt to tell others?