Why should you watch The Wheel of Time?
If you couldn’t already tell, Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time is sort of Prime Video’sThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power lite, with fewer characters, fewer creatures, a simpler plot, and a much faster pace. (Also, a smaller budget—but everything has a smaller budget than The Rings of Power.) Leaning into its Tolkien tendencies was probably a good idea; even those unfamiliar with Jordan’s books will find a bit of familiarity here. But it also has its own inventions—like the big theme of magic-wielding women who still have to deal with the power-mad machinations of men—and it’s consistently entertaining, with a diverse cast led by excellent performances from Pike and Henney. Its story also finds intriguing ways to interrogate the idea that the slope between good and evil is a slippery one, even in a world where the actual personification of evil exists.
The Wheel of Time returns to Prime Video on September 1.
