Fans have been grieving the cancellation of The Wheel of Time for nearly two weeks now, but some may have been holding onto hope that it would be revived on a different platform. Sadly, that does not seem to be the case. On Thursday, sources close to the production told TV Line that The Wheel of Time is not being shopped around to other streamers, cable networks, or platforms. It sounds like the show’s cancellation is final, despite the outspoken mourning from so many viewers on social media. The Wheel of Time adapted roughly five novels in its three seasons, but there are 14 books in the series in total, and some of the best stories were still ahead.
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Insiders said that The Wheel of Time is not being shopped around at other platforms after Prime Video canceled the series, so unless we hear otherwise, fans should assume the show is finished for good. It’s not too unusual for shows to be rescued by other streamers or networks in this day and age, although it seems like a tall order for The Wheel of Time. The production is big and expensive, and on top of that, it has remained controversial for its entire run.
The Wheel of Time was greenlit in the aftermath of the Game of Thrones finale, along with many other fantasy novel adaptations. Fans had been hoping to see this series brought to the screen for decades, and with its length and episodic format, it seemed perfectly suited to the prestige TV era. However, short season orders necessitated abbreviating the story in many places, and on top of that, practical issues seemed to hit the show hard in year after year.
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The first season of The Wheel of Time was filming when COVID-19 restrictions first began to hit worldwide, cutting its time short. The result was a season with some major changes to the books, but at the time, fans were happy to give it the benefit of the doubt. The pandemic was still a concern when Season 2 was filmed in 2021, and the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes were an issue during the production of Season 3.
Still, for all that, many of the changes made to the series couldn’t be explained by a tight schedule alone. Some fans were dismayed by the tweaks to the core premise in the very beginning, which had ripple effects on the remaining story. Some original additions were unpopular as well — for example, Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) having a wife at the beginning of the series. Changes to characters’ ages, relationship dynamics, and the pacing of events gradually made it hard to keep track of which changes were necessitated by others, and which were made with no apparent purpose.
Some fans would still like to see the TV version finished, but at the time of this writing, it doesn’t seem likely. Others are hoping for a more faithful adaptation of the story one day, but in today’s TV climate, it’s hard to imagine a studio granting the time and budget required. For everyone else, the original Wheel of Time novels are available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats.
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