Amazon have confirmed that they are making a
Wheel of Time TV series (or they are at least developing one and ordering scripts). Lots of people on the Internet are excited. Others are a bit apprehensive. Some are dismissive. But that if you haven’t got a clue what the
Wheel of Time is? May I suggest a brisk franchise familiariser course?
The Basics
The Wheel of Time
is an epic fantasy series written by American author Oliver Rigney Jr.
(1948-2007) under the pen-name “Robert Jordan.” Jordan completed eleven novels
in the series before his untimely passing; the remaining three books were
completed by Brandon Sanderson using Jordan’s notes, outlines and dictated cassettes.
The Wheel of Time was, until this
year (when it was overtaken by George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series), the biggest-selling post-Tolkien fantasy
series, with over 85 million books sold worldwide.
The books are set in a fictional version of our world in the
distant future (but, due to the circular notion of time in the books, also our
remote past). The books are set in the Westlands, a collection of fourteen
kingdoms and assorted city-states, and depict a struggle between the forces of
the Light, led by the Dragon Reborn, and the Dark One, led by the Forsaken. A
key theme of the series is duality, particularly the dichotomy of male vs female,
expressed in the fact that men and women use differing forms of sorcery (known
as the One Power in the books). The male form of sorcery is tainted and any who
use it are doomed to go mad and die. Women therefore hold the magical balance
of power in the world when the series opens, but prophecy states that a male
channeler will be needed to unite the world and save it from the Shadow…but in
the process he will go mad and destroy it.
The titular Wheel of Time is based on the Buddhist and Hindu
concepts of time as a circle ever tuning and returning, with reincarnation a recurring
(if minor) theme.
As well as the fourteen-volume main series, Robert Jordan
wrote a prequel novel and co-wrote a companion volume. A second companion book was
published by Robert Jordan’s widow and writing assistants after the series
concluded.
Adaptations of the series have been somewhat limited, with a
comic book, video game, CD soundtrack and pen-and-paper roleplaying game being
released in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Last year it was confirmed that Sony Television was working
on a TV adaptation of the series. This year it was confirmed that they were
developing the project for Amazon Studios, with Rafe Judkins (Agents of SHIELD) and Amanda Kate
Shuman (The Blacklist) on board as
writers.
The Canon
The Wheel of Time by
Robert Jordan
- The Eye of the World (1990)
- The Great Hunt
(1990)
- The Dragon Reborn
(1991)
- The Shadow Rising (1992)
- The Fires of Heaven
(1993)
- Lord of Chaos
(1994)
- A Crown of Swords (1996)
- The Path of Daggers
(1998)
- Winter’s Heart (2000)
- Crossroads of Twilight
(2002)
- Knife of Dreams
(2005)
- The Gathering Storm
(2009, with Brandon Sanderson)
- Towers of Midnight
(2010, with Brandon Sanderson)
- A Memory of Light
(2013, with Brandon Sanderson)
Short Stories
- The Strike on Shayol Ghul
(1996, online; later published in The
World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time)
- New Spring (1998,
in Legends ed. Robert Silverberg;
later published as part of New Spring: A
Novel)
- River of Souls
(2013, in Unfettered ed. Shawn Speakman;
a cut chapter from A Memory of Light,
canon)
- Journey into the Ways
(2019, in Unfettered III ed. Shawn
Speakman; a cut chapter from A Memory of
Light, non-canonical)
Companion Works
- The World of Robert
Jordan’s The Wheel of Time (1997, with Teresa Patterson)
- New Spring: A Novel
(2004)
- The Wheel of Time
Companion (2015, with Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk & Maria Simons)
Ancillary Material
- The Wheel of Time
(1999, video game by Legend Entertainment)
- A Soundtrack to The
Wheel of Time (2001, album by Robert Berry)
- The Wheel of Time
Roleplaying Game (2001, by Wizards of the Coast)
- The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game: The Prophecies of the Dragon (2002, by Wizards of the Coast)
Backstory
The backstory of the Wheel
of Time is long and extensive. More than 3,400 years before the events of
the novels, humanity had achieved a level of utopian civilisation in a golden period
known as the Age of Legends. The memory of war had been eliminated, famine and
suffering was unknown and almost all diseases had been cured. This golden age
had been achieved through science and technology, but also through the use of
the One Power.
The One Power allowed great feats to be accomplished through
the manipulation of the five elements (earth, wind, fire, water and spirit). Injuries
could be Healed, vast distances could be Travelled in the blink of an eye and
illusions conjured. For all its potency the One Power was limited by the True
Source. Both the Source and the Power are divided into two halves: saidin, which only men can use, and saidar, which is only accessible by
women. The origins of the One Power were obscure, originating in the remote
First Age, the age before the Age of Legends.
Channelers of the One Power in the Age of Legends were known
as Aes Sedai, the “Servants of All.”
The Aes Sedai spent their lives in the service of humanity, working as doctors,
teachers, scientists and in many other fields. Although they achieved stupendous
feats, they were limited by the division in the Power. Uniting the two halves,
or finding an undivided source of the Power, became the obsession of certain
Aes Sedai researches. Finally, they succeeded. Detecting an undivided source of
the Power, the Aes Sedai drilled a dimensional hole – or bore – straight into
it.
This proved unwise. The undivided source of the Power they
had detected was actually a prison containing the primeval force of evil in the
universe: Shai’tan, known as the Dark One. The Dark One’s influenced seeped
back into the world, unleashing chaos. Murders, bloodsports and depravity, crimes
unknown in thousands of years, became commonplace once more. In the space of a
single century, the peace and tranquillity of the Age of Legends was shattered
forever. Finally, those sworn to the service of the Dark One, aided by
monstrous creatures created by genetic engineers, made war in an effort to free
the Dark One freely from its prison. They were opposed by the Aes Sedai, now
led by Lews Therin Telamon, the man history calls “the Dragon.” After a brutal
ten-year war, Lews Therin finally found a way of sealing the Dark One’s prison.
His plan was too risky, so he was only supported by male channelers in a final
assault on the volcano known as Shayol Ghul, the early connection to the Dark
One’s prison. The plan succeeded, the Dark One’s prison was sealed and victory
achieved.
But, in the last possible moment before the seal came crashing
down, the Dark One tainted saidin,
placing a rotting curse on the male half of the One Power. Every male channeler
of the Power went insane on the instant, channelling uncontrollably (including
Lews Therin, who immolated himself). In their insanity, the male channelers
destroyed the world, plunging entire continents beneath the waves, tearing up
new ones from the ocean floor and killing millions. The Breaking of the World
almost destroyed humanity altogether, but a small number survived, reduced to a
pre-technological state.
A small number of Aes Sedai, now all women, also survived.
They killed or “gentled” (cut off from the Power) every male channeler they
could find. After three centuries of chaos and destruction – the Breaking of
the World – the chaos finally subsided. Humanity recovered from the ashes,
under the guidance of the Aes Sedai. After a thousand years it appeared that
mankind might rise again to great heights, but hordes of Shadowspawn attacked
out of the far north in a massive war engulfing the continent known as the
Westlands. Humanity rallied and drove them back, but the effort almost
shattered the human kingdoms altogether. Centuries later, the High King Artur Paendrag
Tanreall arose and united the entire continent under his leadership, creating
the greatest human empire since the Age of Legends. The civil war that followed
his death was unrelenting and brutal, plunging the continent into anarchy for
over a century.
More than a thousand years have passed since the time of the
High King. The battered Westlands are in decline. Fourteen human kingdoms now
exist, but they are less than the great nations of the past. Even the Aes Sedai
are less powerful and influential than they once were. But time grows short,
for the Prophecies of the Dragon state that the Dark One was only defeated, not
destroyed. The seal on its prison is failing and the Dragon shall be Reborn to
lead humanity in the fight against the Shadow. But the Dragon, as a man who can
channel still-cursed saidin, is
doomed to go insane and destroy humanity in the process.
The Wheel of Time
is the story of the search for the Dragon Reborn, his discovery and his struggles
to unite the nations against the Dark One in the face of opposition from both enemies
and supposed allies, including the Aes Sedai who are divided on whether to use
him, gentle him or kill him.
The world at the time of the Wheel of Time novels (click for a larger version).
Setting
The setting for The
Wheel of Time is our world at a remote point in the far future, many
thousands of years from now. The Breaking of the World has altered the world
beyond all recognition. The primary setting is a continent (or subcontinent) known
as the Westlands (a name Jordan doesn’t seem to have been too keen on, but was
the only official name he ever gave to it). Other continents are known to exist
and play a tangential role in the story, particularly the enormous western continent
of Seanchan and the mysterious eastern land of Shara, but the Westlands is the
setting for almost all of the action in the saga.
The Westlands contain fourteen notable kingdoms. At the
outset of the story the sagas are as follows:
- Andor, ruled by
Queen Morgase Trakand from Caemlyn.
- Cairhien, ruled
by King Galldrian Riatin from the city of Cairhien.
- Tear, ruled by a council
known as the High Lords of Tear, from the city of the same name.
- Illian, ruled by King
Mattin Stepaneos den Balgar from the city of Illian.
- Murandy, ruled by
King Roedran Almaric do Arreloa a’Naloy from Lugard.
- Altara, ruled by
Queen Tylin Quintara Mitsobar from Ebou Dar.
- Ghealdan, ruled
by Queen Alliandre Maritha Kigarin from Jehannah.
- Amadicia, ruled
by King Ailron from Amador (at the sufferance of the Children of the Light).
- Tarabon, ruled by
King Andric and Panarch Amathera Aelfdene Casmir Lounault from Tanchico.
- Arad Doman, ruled
by King Alsalam Saeed Almadar from Bandar Eban.
- Saldaea, ruled by
Queen Tenobia si Bashere Kazadi from Maradon.
- Kandor, ruled by
Queen Ethenielle Cosaru Noramaga from Chachin.
- Arafel, ruled by
King Paitar Nachiman from Shol Arbela.
- Shienar, ruled by
King Easar Togita from Fal Moran.
Also of note are several independent city-states:
- Tar Valon, location
of the White Tower, the seat of power of the Aes Sedai.
- Falme, an
independent port located on Toman Head at the far west of the continent.
- Far Madding, a trading
city located in the south, noted for the inability of anyone to channel in its
environs.
- Mayene, a great
trading city located at the very south-eastern tip of the continent.
- The Seanchan Empire also plays a major role in the story,
but its homeland on a distant continent to the west is only briefly visited in
the series.
The Wheel of Time and
the One Power
The word “magic” is never used once in the entire Wheel of Time series. The One Power is
instead treated like a science, with carefully set-out and logically-worked-out
rules which are expanded upon in every novel. The One Power is one of fantasy’s
most deeply-thought-out “magic systems” and is a primary influence on the
numerous magic systems worked out in Brandon Sanderson’s novels.
The One Power is drawn from the True Source, the energy that
drives the Wheel of Time. Time is a wheel made up of seven spokes, each spoke
representing one of the seven Great Ages. The Wheel weaves the Pattern of the
Age from the lives of everyone who lives through that age; when the Wheel
completes a revolution and the same Age comes again, the same lives are woven,
but they have free will and can change things if they wish (although such
changes are minor from one turning of the Wheel to the next). Those who are so gifted
can read the Pattern and sense (if imperfectly) future events. Once every few
centuries special people known as ta’veren
are born, people who can warp chance and probability around them. They seem a self-correcting
mechanism, spun out of the Wheel when it appears that the Pattern of the Age is
going off-course.
The Creator and the Dark One both exist outside of the
Pattern, with the Dark One striving to influence events so it can break free from
its prison and remake all of time and space in its own image. The Creator plays
no role in events, having started the turning of the Wheel and stepped back to
let each world live and die on its own.
The True Source and the One Power are divided into two
halves, saidin and saidar. Ostensibly only men can use saidin and women saidar. According to most, the link to channelling is genetic (and
possibly, at least originally, artificial). However, at a key moment in the
series a woman who is the reincarnation of a man is able to channel saidin, suggesting that the link is more
spiritual in origin.
There are two types of channeler: those with the inborn talent
and those who can learn. Those with the inborn talent will start channelling
whether they want to or not. Learners will never tap the Power unless shown
how. Those with the inborn “spark” seem to make up between one-quarter and
one-third of the potential channelling population.
Both men and women can vary wildly in how much of the One
Power they can channel safely. Each channeler must discover the limits to their
power: draw too much and they risk “burning out,” destroying their ability to
channel, or even killing themselves.
Shadowspawn
During the original War of the Shadow, the Forsaken, the
most powerful Aes Sedai who defected to the side of the Dark One, created monstrous
creatures to fight against the forces of the Light.
These creatures include: Trollocs, bestial blendings of humans of animals; Myrddraal, eyeless humanoids created in
the same fashion as Trollocs but considerably more dangerous; Draghkar, winged creatures which can
suck out people’s souls; Darkhounds
are lethal wolves corrupted into something far darker; Grey Men are humans stripped of their humanity to such an extent
that they become almost unnoticeable, making them near-perfect assassins; gholam
are shapeshifters; and jumara are monstrous, worm-like
creatures.
Conception and
Development
I previously provided a very detailed account of the genesis
of the
Wheel of Time series
here.
Further Reading
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