WHEEL OF TIME TV series cancelled after three seasons

Amazon has decided not to proceed with a fourth season of its fantasy adaptation, The Wheel of Time. The decision came after significant deliberations at the streamer, as the show's commercial performance had left it right on the edge of being cancelled or renewed.

The Wheel of Time TV series adapts Robert Jordan's immense, 14-volume fantasy series of the same name, published between 1990 and 2013 (with Brandon Sanderson completing the series after Jordan's untimely passing in 2007). The books have sold over 100 million copies and for many years, until the success of Game of Thrones, were the biggest-selling epic fantasy series after only J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books. The series had been optioned for both television and film several times, by NBC, Universal and Warner Brothers, before Sony Television and Amazon finally got the project across the line.

The show aired its first season in 2021 and subsequent seasons in 2023 and 2025. The show initially attracted mixed reviews from newcomers due to its exposition and lore-heavy approach to storytelling, and from book fans for the large number of changes and compressions from the books, particularly the decision to give one of the characters a wife (who doesn't exist in the books) and immediately killing her to engender sympathy. Despite a strong cast, led by Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, the first season suffered significant production problems resulting from COVID (including one castmember not returning after lockdown and severe limitations on production due to social distancing) and the finale was heavily criticised for not being very clear in its storytelling and an overuse of unconvincing CGI.

The second season saw a marked improvement in critical reception, mainly due to the addition of compelling new actors including Ceara Coveney as Elayne and Natasha O'Keeffe as Lanfear, and a more successful adaptation of the Seanchan storyline from the second novel. Again, a muddled finale attracted criticism.

This year's third season saw a large improvement in the critical reception, particularly the fourth episode which was able to hyper-focus on just a few crucial chapters from the book and delivered them on-screen with skill. The seventh episode was also well-received for concentrating on a single huge battle sequence.

The show's commercial fortunes were more mixed, with Season 1 seeing a very strong performance that dropped off for Season 2. Season 3's performance seemed to be on the level of Season 2's, with a slight dip but then signs of a longer tail developing (the show returned to the Top 10 streaming charts this week, almost two months after the season had concluded). Pre-release commentary suggested that a renewal for Season 4 would be dependent on a marked improvement of the show's Season 2 performance, which did not happen. This is ironic as Amazon apparently considered renewing the show for Seasons 3 and 4 together, but ultimately decided not to proceed.

Even without that, it appears that Amazon were still looking for ways to renew the show. There seems to have been creative affection for the project inhouse at Amazon, and it is a significantly cheaper investment than The Rings of Power, whose second season drop-off in viewers seem to have carried it below Wheel of Time's level, which may spell uncertainty for that show's future after the forthcoming third season (despite an expensive pre-purchasing of the rights to make five seasons). The show also seemed to be a solid performer in several overseas territories, including India (likely thanks to the presence of Indian actress Priyanka Bose in a key role). It appears that Amazon held discussions with Sony on paying a lower licencing fee or reducing the show's budget. However, the show was already seen as a relatively low-budget project shot with fiscal efficiency in custom-built studio facilities in Prague. Lowering the budget further was likely not deemed possible without compromising the show's production value and making it impossible to deliver the massive battles and magical displays from later books.

Sony will also be ruing the cancellation, having paid eight figures to secure the television rights in a 2016 deal with Radar Pictures and iwot (a rebranded Red Eagle Entertainment, who secured the Wheel of Time TV rights in a 2004 deal with Robert Jordan). Sony may shop around the project to other venues but it's very unlikely to find a new home in the current, more fiscally conservative TV environment. Additional Wheel of Time projects including a proposed prequel feature film and video game are in development from iwot, but the cancellation of the TV show is not likely to help their prospects either.

Some may celebrate the end of the TV show as it means a future adaptation can be more faithful to the source material. However, with streamers and studios looking to cut costs and reduce episode counts further in the future, and a faithful Wheel of Time adaptation requiring a much higher number of episodes (at a much greater cost overall), this is an unlikely outcome.

One good piece of news is that the TV show resulted in improved sales of the novels, with more than five million additional copies of the books being shifted since 2021.

RUMOUR: THE EXPANSE's Shohreh Aghdashloo cast in THE WHEEL OF TIME

Thanks to good detective work by Wheel of Time fan channel WoT Up!, there are well-supported indications that The Expanse actress Shohreh Aghdashloo has been cast in the third season of the show.

Aghdashloo is best-known for her role on all six seasons of The Expanse, playing Chrisjen Avasarala. Her performance on that show was highly acclaimed, and led to her being cast in numerous geek-friendly projects. However, her acting career goes right back to the late 1970s, when she debuted in films in her native Iran. She moved to the UK and then the United States after the 1979 Revolution and began acting in projects there, achieving a breakthrough for her role in House of Sand and Fog (2003). Her TV roles included ER, Grey's Anatomy, 24, House of Saddam, The Punisher and Grimm. In video games, she also voiced Admiral Shala'Raan of the Quarian Fleet in Mass Effect 2 and 3, Lakhshmi-2 in Destiny and Destiny 2, and Roshan in the Assassin's Creed franchise. She reprised her role as Avasarala in this year's The Expanse: A Telltale Series.

Aghdashloo was fan-cast by Wheel of Time fans for the role of Cadsuane, a powerful Aes Sedai who cannot stand the strictures of the Tower so prefers to operate independently of its hierarchy, something that has gotten her in trouble with the sisterhood. In the books, Cadsuane is initially a difficult-to-read figure who may be an ally but also an enemy of Rand al'Thor. Aghdashloo subsequently responded positively to fans on Twitter suggesting she audition for the role, leading to an exchange with showrunner Rafe Judkins. She was subsequently spotted on location when filming for Season 3 began in Prague.

According to WoT Up!, Aghdashloo is actually playing the role of Elaida, a different Aes Sedai. Elaida is the Aes Sedai advisor to Queen Morgase of Andor, thanks to her gift of the Foretelling, comes to believe that the royal house of Andor is pivotal in events to come. She relocates to Tar Valon, where Morgase's daughter Elayne is studying to be Aes Sedai, to better guide her education.

Although I think Aghdashloo would be a better Cadsuane than Elaida, she would still be excellent in that role. It may be that Cadsuane's role in the show will be reduced compared to the books, in which case casting a lower-profile actress for that role might make more sense (Cadsuane has been mentioned several times in the series, so will probably appear in some form), whilst Elaida will be a more important figure who debuts earlier and plays a bigger role in events.

We await full confirmation from Amazon as to Aghdashloo's casting and what role she will be playing, but overall this is excellent casting news.

WHEEL OF TIME Season 2 finally gets an airdate

The much-delayed second season of Amazon's Wheel of Time adaptation has finally got an airdate. The season will debut on 1 September this year.

The first season of The Wheel of Time debuted in late 2021 and was a successful launch for the streamer, who were keen to find their own big-budget fantasy epic to compete with the likes of Netflix's The Witcher and HBO's expanded Game of Thrones universe. The show attracted middling reviews and scorn from some fans for its large-scale alterations to the source material's story and characterisation.

Although production of the second season wrapped up last year, scheduling issues saw the season repeatedly delayed to make room for other Amazon launches, including the first season of The Rings of Power and the second season of Carnival Row. Amazon had hoped to use Wheel of Time as a test run of greenlighting multiple seasons of a show at once to shrink the gaps between them to just a year or so. Ironically, the wait for the second season of WoT will be close to two years by the time it finally launches, not great news for trying to hold onto casual viewers.

The second season draws on elements from the second and third novels in the fourteen-book series, The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn, and will introduce some fan-favourite characters from the novels, including Aiel warrior Aviendha (Ayoola Smart) and bookish Aes Sedai Verin (Meera Syal). The new season also sees some recasting, with Dónal Finn taking up the role of Mat Cauthon after original actor Barney Harris declined to return from the first year.

The third season of the show has already started production in the Czech Republic and other locations in Europe.

WHEEL OF TIME formally renewed for a third season

Amazon have renewed their Wheel of Time TV series for a third season. The announcement came during a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. It had previously leaked that the show had been renewed for a third season in February and was under a consideration for a fourth, but Amazon rowed back on those rumours at the time.

The Wheel of Time aired its first season in November 2021, almost immediately becoming the single most-watched season of original programming in Amazon's history. The first season of Reacher and the third season of The Boys subsequently have notched past that, demonstrating Amazon's consistent growth in market share whilst their main rival, Netflix, has begun contracting. After a mixed start, the full season attracted reasonable critical acclaim, being certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, despite grumbling from part of the book fanbase for its deviations from the source material (as well as a final pair of episodes somewhat hamstrung by being produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a castmember unexpectedly leaving).

Season 2 had been greenlit whilst Season 1 was still in production, allowing production to continue from Season 1 into Season 2 without too much of a delay. The same may now be true of Season 3, with this renewal allowing work to get underway on the season quite soon and before Season 2 airs.

The airdate for Season 2 remains unconfirmed. With Season 2 wrapping exactly a year after Season 1, it's possible that the show will likewise air a year after the first season, in November this year. However Amazon has several issues with more post-production requirements for Season 2 (the COVID delays ironically allowed post-production on Season 1 to start much earlier in the process), another completed fantasy season waiting for a slot to air in (the second season of Victoriana steampunk show Carnival Row) and possibly not wanting to air The Wheel of Time so close to its flagship medieval fantasy show for the year, The Rings of Power, which will air its first season from 2 September through 14 October. These issues may make a January/February 2023 airdate for Wheel more likely.

Showrunner Rafe Judkins also hints at the content of Seasons 2 and 3. Whilst Season 1 adapted the first novel in the book series, Season 2 will reportedly draw on elements of Books 2 and 3. Judkins notes that Season 3 will cover material from the fourth volume, The Shadow Rising, his favourite book in the series. However, with the planned eight season run of the show requiring to compress fourteen books, it might be that Season 3 also covers material from the fifth book in the series and maybe later as well.

WHEEL OF TIME casts Aviendha for Season 2

Amazon's Wheel of Time adaptation has cast the key role of Aviendha for Season 2.

The fan-favourite character debuts in the third novel in the series, The Dragon Reborn and plays a key role in most of the rest of the series. Aviendha is a Maiden of the Spear, a member of the only female warrior society among the Aiel, who dwell in the desolate lands to the east of the main continent.

Actress Ayoola Smart is best-known for playing Audrey in Killing Eve, and has also appeared in Death in Paradise, Death in Paradise and Smother.

Season 2 of The Wheel of Time is in the last stages of shooting and is expected to debut on Amazon Prime in late 2022 or early 2023.

Bayle Domon cast for WHEEL OF TIME Season 2

Welsh actor Julian Lewis Jones (Invictus, The Eagle, Justice League) has been cast in the fan-favourite role of Bayle Domon in the second season of The Wheel of Time.

The character of Bayle Domon actually debuts in the first Wheel of Time novel (which formed the basis of the first season, which aired last year) but his debut was delayed in the TV show until he had more substantive material. In the second novel, The Great Hunt, Domon commands a ship called the Spray which he takes to the west coast of the continent to start a new trade run only to run into unexpected complications, which eventually lead him to cross paths with the main characters. Domon becomes an occasionally recurring character in the books until the very end of the fourteen-volume series. He is noted for his thick Illianer accent and his (oft reluctant) bravery.

Season 2 only has four confirmed new castmembers: Donal Finn as Mat Cauthon (replacing Barney Harris, who left during the filming of the first season), Ceara Coveney as Elayne Trakand, Arnas Fedaravicius as Masema Dagar and Gregg Chillingirian as Ingtar Shinowa. They will be joined by Natasha O'Keeffe and Meera Syal in unconfirmed roles.

Season 2 of The Wheel of Time, which is wrapping up production now, is expected to air either in very late 2022 or early 2023.

WHEEL OF TIME renewed for a third season at Amazon...and maybe a fourth

The Wheel of Time has been renewed for a third season at Amazon Prime Video, with a pickup for a fourth season also potentially on the way.

The news, somewhat obliquely, came in a Deadline article discussing the return of Criminal Minds. As cast-watchers should be aware, Wheel of Time star Daniel Henney was a regular on both Criminal Minds and one of its spin-offs for several years. During the article, Deadline confirms that Wheel of Time has been picked up for "two more seasons."

It's unclear whether Deadline was including the already-filming Season 2, which wraps in the next few weeks, in their count. If not, Wheel of Time will make it to fourth season, halfway through its planned eight-season run. If not, the show will definitely get a third year.

This is a bit of a no-brainer. Despite a mixed critical reception, especially its divisive season finale, Wheel of Time became Amazon's biggest-ever TV premiere when it launched in November, outperforming the likes of The Boys, Carnival Row, The Grand Tour and Invincible. Greenlighting a third season well ahead of a time will be essential to keep the gap between the second and third seasons to a minimum, and greenlighting a fourth season would be advantageous in allowing the production team to plan out future episodes and storylines, as well as creating a schedule that works with their much in-demand lead actor, Rosamund Pike.

Amazon have not yet confirmed the news, but Deadline (along with Variety and the Hollywood Reporter) is usually very on the ball with this kind of news.

Season 2 of The Wheel of Time is expected to air late this year or early next.

The Wheel of Time: Season 1, Episodes 5-8

The Aes Sedai Moiraine and her Warder, Lan, have found four candidates who might be the Dragon Reborn, the prophesised reincarnation of a great hero who is destined to save the world, but in the process may break it one again. Separated into three groups, the candidates proceed to the Aes Sedai stronghold of Tar Valon, where they must negotiate tricky corridors of power. In the process they learn of a greater threat, and must brave a journey through the terrifying Ways to the frontier city of Fal Dara, where a confrontation between the Dragon Reborn and the Shadow awaits.

The first half of the first season adapting Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time novels to the screen was reasonably successful. A few baffling missteps aside, it improved episode-by-episode and made strong arguments for most ("Though not all," - Perrin Aybara's fridged new wife) of the changes necessitated by time and budgetary concerns.

The second half of the season, unfortunately, does not build on this success but becomes a lot more variable. Poorer adaptive choices are made, in some cases choices which dramatically slow down the narrative rather than speeding it up (surely the primary goal when you have less episodes than Game of Thrones to adapt a story almost three times bigger), and the show shows signs of hesitancy and uncertainty in how to handle its sprawling narrative. An even bigger problem emerges in how the show handles the abrupt (and still mysterious) departure of actor Barney Harris, who played Mat Cauthon, between the fifth and sixth episodes. His unexpected departure clearly left the writers and production team scrambling to accommodate it and they were only partially successful, with the transfer of some of Mat's story material to other characters being handled very awkwardly. 

Blood Calls Blood is a transitional episode, seeing the various sub-groups of characters reaching Tar Valon and regrouping. Perrin and Egwene are captured by Whitecloaks and tortured (in an attempt to force Egwene to channel, so she can be executed), Lan tries to console his friend Stepin after his Aes Sedai was killed by Logain, and Rand deals with Mat's odd behaviour whilst also making the acquaintance of Loial, an Ogier. The episode is a mixed bag, with Hammed Animashaun's superb performance as Loial being a highlight (and overcoming some variable makeup and prosthetics). The focus on a unique-for-the-TV-show side-character (Stepin) feels like an odd move, although it does set up the shattering grief that Warders feel on losing their Aes Sedai, which is reasonable foreshadowing. However, the episode feels a bit lopsided in pacing and could have been combined with elements from the subsequent episode.

The Flame of Tar Valon is stronger, mostly due to Sophie Okonedo's performance as Siuan Sanche. Okonedo and Rosamund Pike are two of Britain's greatest actresses of the moment, and seeing them spark off one another is a pleasure. The episode's slower pace allows for something of a refocus on the core characters of Rand, Nynaeve, Egwene, Mat and Perrin, though it's mostly done through Moiraine's eyes, and the episode arguably does more to establish Moiraine as a character than any before it. However, the episode ends abruptly, a result of Barney Harris's abrupt departure, and the reasons for the gang to take off for the Eye of the World feel more contrived than in the books (where at least it felt deliberately contrived). Still, this is the best episode of the back half of the season thanks to its focus and performances.

The Dark Along the Ways is misnamed as an episode, with only the first few minutes of the episode actually set in the Ways. The production team do their best with the resources they have, but the Ways fail to be as impressively eerie as in the books. Things improve once the team reach Fal Dara, a stunningly-realised location with some outstanding integration of CGI and location filming. The new castmembers introduced are very strong (particularly Kae Alexander as Min), and there's some excellent character work between Lan and Nynaeve. However a mid-episode descent into sub-Dawson's Creek teenage angst drama with some clunky scripting gives us the worst-written scene of the season. The episode recovers, and simultaneously gives us one of the best scenes of the season with its depiction of the iconic Blood Snow battle, where the Dragon Reborn is born on the slopes of Dragonmount and carried away to safety. Probably the most inconsistent episode of the season.

The season finale feels like it has been heavily compromised by the departure of Harris and the rewriting done to make the story work. Weirdly, Harris's story beats seem to have been transferred to Loial rather than Perrin, the far more logical choice, given Perrin otherwise has nothing to do other than standing around looking vaguely into space, which has been his characterisation for the second half of the season. Some elements of this episode work extremely well, particularly Josha Stradowski whose portrayal of Rand has really come into its own in the second half of the season. The decision to clean up the finale of The Eye of the World, which was vague and confusing in the novel, is a good one, but the storylines and cliffhangers that replace it end up being equally vague and confused. We do get a solid battle sequence as Trollocs attack Tarwin's Gap and some impressive effects as the makeshift circle of amateur channellers fend them off. The confrontation between Rand and the Shadow (personified in a dignified performance by Fares Fares, who banishes any memory of Billy Zane playing the same character) is also very well-handled. The epilogue where the Seanchan show up and immediately make an impression with their awesome (if random) display of the One Power is also striking. But the messy ending, some inexplicable changes to the backstory and the feeling that the show is making changes where they're not needed and not making changes where they are needed continue to make the series feel uneven.

Fortunately, Amazon's Wheel of Time has been enough of a hit out of the gate to likely mean it will get another couple of seasons to improve itself. The cast remains excellent and the visuals mostly impressive (though budgetary constraints feel a bit more obvious in the second season), but the pacing, characterisation, worldbuilding and dialogue in the second half of the season (***) remains too inconsistent. The Wheel of Time may eventually become Amazon's Game of Thrones, but it's not there yet. The season is available now on Amazon Prime Video.

The Wheel of Time: Season 1

• 5. Blood Calls Blood ***
• 6. The Flame of Tar Valon ****
• 7. The Dark Along the Ways ***½
• 8. The Eye of the World **½

Season 2 is approaching the end of production and should air on Amazon Prime Video in late 2022.

WHEEL OF TIME become Amazon's most successful television series premiere to date

The Wheel of Time has become the most successful original series in the history of Prime Video.

The news, which had been circulating behind the scenes for a while, was let out via social media. Amazon had previously committed to merely saying that the show was their most successful Prime Original of 2021, outperforming shows like Invincible and Clarkson's Farm. However, the updated information paints an even broader picture of success, confirming that the show has outdone the launch and premieres of series including The Man in the High Castle, The Expanse, The Boys, Carnival Row, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Grand Tour.

The news will be a welcome one to Amazon Prime Video and Sony Television, who took something of a gamble on greenlighting the show with a budget of over $10 million per episode and filming on multiple locations across Europe, based on a series of fifteen novels that have sold around 90 million copies and have passionate fans around the world.

It also bodes well for Amazon's commitment to genre programming. Although The Expanse is wrapping up after three seasons on the streamer, Carnival Row is due to launch its second season next year and The Boys its third. More germanely, Amazon is also planning to launch its Lord of the Rings prequel series, about the Second Age of Middle-earth, on 2 September 2022. With a budget conservatively estimated at three times that of Wheel of Time (and possibly a lot more), there's a huge amount riding on that project. Wheel of Time getting more people watching Amazon Prime's video channel can only be a good thing for that project.

The Wheel of Time has already been renewed for a second season, which is now more than halfway through shooting in the Czech Republic, although contrary to some reports it has not yet been renewed for a third. With this news, that now seems inevitable. The final episode of the first season will drop this coming Friday.

WHEEL OF TIME adds new Borderlands castmembers for Season 2

Amazon's Wheel of Time TV series has added a number of new actors to its roster for the end of Season 1 and then into Season 2, which is currently shooting.

First up, Amazon have confirmed the long-rumoured casting of Thomas Chaanhing as Lord Agelmar Jagad. Chaanhing is a Danish actor who has appeared in projects such as Pros & Cons, Equinox and Marco Polo. His character is a fan-favourite from the books. Lord Agelmar commands the frontier fortress of Fal Dara in the Borderland kingdom of Shienar. Fal Dara guards the entrance to Tarwin's Gap, the main invasion route into the northern Westlands from the Great Blight, and as such it is part of a martial society where men and women are dedicated to the fight against the Dark One. Agelmar is a key ally of Moiraine and the other Aes Sedai. He is expected to appear at the end of Season 1 and the start of Season 2.

Sandra Yi Sencindiver is an American-Danish-Korean actress, best known for appearing in The Bridge and the video game Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. She is playing Lady Amalisa Jagad, Lord Agelmar's sister. She is expected to appear in the last two episodes of Season 1 and possibly the start of Season 2.

British actor Gregg Chilingirian (A Discovery of Witches, Da Vinci's Demons, Being Human) has been cast as Lord Ingtar Shinowa, a Shienaran nobleman and soldier, and one of Agelmar's most trusted lieutenants. He is expected to debut in the first episode of The Wheel of Time's second season. Some reports indicate that Amar Chadha-Patel had been cast in the role of Ingtar in the final two episodes of Season 1, but when he picked up a higher-profile role in the Disney+ series Willow, his character was renamed as Lord Yakota instead, though this is unconfirmed.

Guy Roberts is a noted Shakespearean actor who founded the Prague Shakespeare Company, an English-language theatre in the Czech Republic. Most of his work has been on stage, but he has also provided voice acting for Japanese anime series, and has appeared in the TV series Borgia, Legends and Hanna. In Wheel of Time, he is playing Uno Nomesta, a grizzled Shienaran warrior with a reputation for honesty, steadfastness and constant swearing. He is under Ingtar's command and is one of his best soldiers.

Possibly the best-known of the new intake is Arnas Fedaravicius, a Lithuanian actor who rose to success in Thicker Than Water before being cast as Sihtric in The Last Kingdom, where he became a fan-favourite actor. He recently wrapped filming on the fifth and final season of The Last Kingdom, which is expected to air on Netflix in 2022. It is as yet unconfirmed if he will be returning for the forthcoming TV movie, Seven Kings Must Die. Fedaravicius is playing Masema Dagar, a Shienaran soldier under Ingtar's command and a comrade of Uno's. Masema is noted for his suspicion of outsiders and his commitment to the Light. Book readers will know that Masema is a minor character who increases in importance in later books. Both Roberts and Fedaravicius are expected to debut early in Season 2.

The Wheel of Time is currently shooting its second season in the Czech Republic, and is expected to wrap after Christmas. The series is currently airing its first season, with the sixth of eight episodes, The Flame of Tar Valon, due to air this Friday on Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon developing a MASS EFFECT television series

Amazon Prime Television are developing a television series based on the popular science fiction video game series, Mass Effect.

The news came as Amazon celebrated the launch of their new Wheel of Time television series. The first three episodes, which dropped last Friday, have exceeded Amazon's launch expectations and become Amazon's highest-rated debut series of 2021, and one of their biggest of all time, in the same bracket as anti-superhero drama The Boys and the highly acclaimed comedy series The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel. A second season is already more than halfway through shooting and reports indicate that a third season has been at least "amberlit," with contingency planning underway before Amazon decides to pull the trigger on that order.

Mass Effect is a popular video game series consisting of a trilogy and a stand-alone sequel game, all developed by BioWare (also known for their Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age franchises). The trilogy - Mass Effect (2007), Mass Effect 2 (2010) and Mass Effect 3 (2012) - was released on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A "Legendary Edition" of the three games was released this year on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, to some success and acclaim. Microsoft published the original game whilst the two sequels and subsequent re-releases were handled by Electronic Arts. Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017), which was supposed to start a new storyline set in a completely different galaxy, was not successful and EA and BioWare have since pivoted to make Mass Effect 5, which reportedly will lean harder on the original trilogy's characters and factions.

Set in the late 22nd Century, Mass Effect is set several decades after first contact between Earth and a community of alien civilisations who control most of the Milky Way. This community is represented by the Citadel Council, a sort-of United Nations in space who are based on the Citadel, a colossal city-space station which acts as a trade and diplomatic hub between the various species. Despite their newcomer status on the galactic scene, humans are petitioning hard for greater prestige and power on the Council, to the annoyance of alien races who've been waiting centuries for promotion to the higher ranks. Key to Earth's hopes is Shepard, a skilled human agent who has become the first of their species to join the Spectres, an elite special forces division which reports directly to the Council. Shepard's investigation of an attack by the cybernetic Geth leads them to uncover evidence of a massive threat to all life in the galaxy, and their attempts to convince other races of the threat before it arrives.

The trilogy was highly praised on release for its writing, characterisation and action, as well as the slowly-growing sense of dread that built until the third game turned fully apocalyptic. The trilogy was also acclaimed for the accumulating weight of meaty decisions the player could make, which could leave individual characters dead or alive, and even entire civilisations destroyed, hostile or allied. However, the ending of the third game was considered underwhelming on original release, resulting in enough of a fuss that the ending was revised in later patches. Despite this, the trilogy retained enough goodwill to make last year's "Legendary Edition" a reasonable success. To date, the franchise has sold almost 20 million copies across all formats.

Rumours of a movie or TV version have circulated for years, with different options on the table. It sounds like Amazon's current plan is the most serious yet. It is unclear if Amazon would directly adapt the trilogy to the screen or develop a new story in the same universe, but the trilogy's storytelling and character focus would make a direct transition more viable than it is for many other games. Amazon would have to make some interesting casting choices, including which gender of actor for Commander Shepard to pick (players could choose their gender in the trilogy, with different vocal performances from Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale).

It's worth noting that Witcher, Enola Holmes and Superman actor Henry Cavill was recently pictured with potential script pages for a Mass Effect project. A noted fan of the video game trilogy, it was assumed he had gotten a voiceover part for Mass Effect 5, but it might be he's also been put in mind for a role on the Amazon project, his other commitments allowing.

Amazon are also developing a Fallout TV series with the Westworld creative team. Meanwhile, Electronic Arts and BioWare are continuing to develop Mass Effect 5 for an estimated 2023-25 release window.

More news on this project if and when it develops,

Additional WHEEL OF TIME episode titles revealed

Amazon Prime have (possibly inadvertently) revealed the title of the seventh and penultimate episode of the first season of The Wheel of Time. The episode will be called The Dark Along the Ways.

Update: in another inadvertent slip (spotted by WotSeries), the season finale has now been confirmed to be called The Eye of the World, the same title as the first book in the series.

The current schedule for Season 1 is as follows:

1. Leavetakings (19 November), written by Rafe Judkins, directed by Uta Briesewitz
2. Shadow's Waiting (19 November), written by Amanda Kate Shuman, directed by Uta Briesewitz
3. A Place of Safety (19 November), written by the Clarkson Twins, directed by Wayne Yip
4. The Dragon Reborn (26 November), written by Dave Hill, directed by Wayne Yip
5. Blood Calls Blood (3 December), written by Celine Song, directed by Salli Richardson Whitfield
6. The Flame of Tar Valon (10 December), written by Justine Juel Gillmer, directed by Salli Richardson Whitfield
7. The Dark Along the Ways (17 December), directed by Ciaran Donnelly
8. The Eye of the World (24 December), directed by Ciaran Donnelly

Season 1 of the show draws almost entirely on the first novel in the series, The Eye of the World, for source material. Some characters from prequel novel New Spring also appear, and some characters from The Great Hunt appear early (such as Liandrin, Alanna and Siuan Sanche), whilst other characters from Book 1 have been delayed to Season 2 (most notably Elayne Trakand).

Some fans have been confused by the show's use of episode titles, which draw on book chapter titles. However, rather than using chapter titles from just the first novel in chronological order, the production is using chapters from all over the place, making some fans think the show is adapting way more material at a faster rate than it really is. For example, Leavetakings is a chapter title from Book 1 (Chapter 10), Book 2 (Chapter 9), Book 4 (Chapter 16) and Book 5 (Chapter 48), whilst Blood Calls Blood is Chapter 7 of Book 2, and A Taste of Solitude, the first episode of Season 2, comes form Chapter 18 of Book 6!

RUMOUR: WHEEL OF TIME casts GAME OF THRONES actor for Lord Barthanes in Season 2

The reliable Redanian Intelligence has provided a new casting scoop for Season 2 of Amazon's Wheel of Time.

They've scooped three new actors for Season 2. First up is British actor Will Tudor, best-known for playing Odi on Humans, Sebastian Verlac/Jonathan Morgenstern on Shadowhunters and Olyvar, right-hand-man to Littlefinger, on Game of Thrones for three seasons. According to the Intelligence, he will be playing Lord Barthanes Damodred, an important, influential and somewhat sinister nobleman. In the second Wheel of Time novel, Barthanes is something of a foil for Rand al'Thor and Mat Cauthon when their quest to recover two missing artefacts leads them to the capital city of the troubled nation of Cairhien. Barthanes is plotting against King Galldrian Riatin, with their two houses poised for civil war. Although the novels do not make much of the connection, Barthanes is a distant cousin of Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a connection that may or may not appear in the TV show.

The second new player is Haruka Kuroda, a UK-based Japanese actor. Kuroda has recently appeared in Killing Eve, Claude and EastEnders, as well as providing voicework for the well-received video games Subnautica: Below Zero and Total War: Shogun 2. Kuroda will play the aunt of Min Farshaw (Kae Alexander), a friend and ally of Moiraine. In the novels, Min has three aunts who raised her in a mining village in the Mountains of Mist and taught her self-reliance and toughness. It is unclear if Kuroda is playing one of the three aunts or an amalgamation of the three. It's also unclear if she will appear in flashbacks or the present-day storyline.

The final actor cast is Natasha J. Murley, a relative newcomer with mostly theatre credits to her name. Murley's role has not been disclosed, though the potential roles from the second novel of The Wheel of Time, The Great Hunt (which is believed to provide at least most of the source material for the second season) are numerous. It'd be particularly interesting to see if Murley will play one of the Seanchan, as so far there has been no sighting of Seanchan castmembers for the second season, leading to some speculation if they are being held back for later, or may have even been cut altogether (which does some extremely unlikely).

Amazon's Wheel of Time TV series debuts this Friday. Season 2 is roughly halfway through filming, to debut in 2022.

Amazon release new WHEEL OF TIME trailer

With only three (and a bit) weeks until transmission, Amazon has released a new trailer for its adaptation of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time novels.

The new trailer opens with Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) swearing the Three Oaths that all Aes Sedai sisters have to take upon completing their trailer: to speak no word that is not true, to not make a weapon which may be used by one person to kill another, and to never use the One Power as a weapon (the caveat that Aes Sedai may use the One Power in defence of their own lives or others' is omitted by the trailer, presumably for dramatic purposes). We see Moiraine in the White Tower, possibly a flashback to taking the Oaths.

We then see Moiraine, flanked by Alanna Mosvani (Priyanka Bose) and Liandrin Guirale (Kate Fleetwood), using the One Power to apparently imprison or question the captive false Dragon, Logain Ablar (Álvaro Morte). A Warder, Steppin (Peter Franzén), then reveals that in the Old Tongue, "Aes Sedai" means "Servants of All," meaning that the Aes Sedai serve the world. Moiraine then stands atop the White Tower, considering her mission, and tells her Warder, Lan (Daniel Henney) they must go to the Two Rivers, where the Old Blood still runs strong.

In the Two Rivers we see the Women's Circle walking through mountainous foothills; Egwene (Madeleine Madden) enduring her coming of age ceremony whilst Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) watches on; Egwene in a ruined building in Shadar Logoth; and Rand (Josha Stradowski) and Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) enjoying a drink with Mat (Barney Harris) outside the Winespring Inn.

We then see a Myrddraal or Fade arriving in the village; Lan leading the party into the ruins of Shadar Logoth via massive crack in the walls; Egwene and Rand in the ruined village; Perrin in his forge; Nynaeve dramatically flicking her braid in face of an unknown danger; Mat unsheathing his sword; Rand practising his bow in the courtyard of Fal Dara castle; Moiraine telling the Two Rivers youngsters that one of "the five"* of them will save the world; various scenes of travelling and looking dramatically over impressive vistas; scenes of the attack on the Two Rivers; Tam fighting the Trolloc book fans know as Narg; a sweeping camera shot of Fal Dara Keep and what might be the mountainous pass of Tarwin's Gap beyond (apparently massively compressed from the hundred-mile-long valley from the book); our heroes arriving in Fal Dara and meeting Lord Agelmar Jagad (whose actor has so far not been identified).

We also see Lord Captain Eamon Valda (Abdul Salis) drinking wine whilst apparently burning an Aes Sedai at the stake and taking her Great Serpent Ring as a symbol of victory; Lan and Moiraine partaking in a ceremony of apparent grief; Rand telling Egwene he can't lose her and Egwene promising he won't; three Whitecloak soldiers taking Egwene and Perrin captive; the gang gathering at a Waygate**; a Fade battling an unknown soldier; more scenes of combat during the Trolloc attack; Moiraine weaving Fire and Air to deliver a horrendous firestorm against attacking Trollocs; Logain apparently escaping his prison and (in an earlier scene) using the One Power to stop a Ghealdanin soldier from striking him (in a nice touch, the dagger has the three star sigil of Ghealdan on the hilt); Alanna channelling a massive amount of the Power to fend off an attack; and apparently a Trolloc attack on Fal Dara, with Shienaran soldiers defending the walls.

In an exciting scene, we get a brief flashback to the Battle of the Shining Walls, known as the Blood Snows, with Aiel fighting Westland soldiers at the feet of Dragonmount; Logain marching through a Ghealdanin town; Rand drawing his bow; and Moiraine intoning one of her famous sayings, the "Wheel weaves as Wheel wills." The trailer ends with Perrin asking if they will ever go home and Egwene saying no.

Epic music - apparently the final score by Lorne Balfe - then plays over the logo.

The first three episodes of the first season of The Wheel of Time drop on Amazon Prime on Friday 19 November, with five more episodes to follow at weekly intervals. Season 2 of The Wheel of Time is already in production.

* Interestingly this is a change from the version of the same scene which recently aired at MCM London, where Moiraine says "four."

** Alas, our apparent first glimpse of Loial (Hammed Animashaun) is denied by him being behind the other characters with his back turned.

Amazon releases WHEEL OF TIME clip, song and new casting information

Amazon has released a number of new clips and some information related to their upcoming Wheel of Time television series.

First up was a clip from the first episode, Leavetaking. This is a dramatisation of the scene where Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) and Lan (Daniel Henney) arrive at the Winespring Inn in the village of Emond's Field. In the novel, this scene takes place off-page and is told to Rand al'Thor (Josha Stradowski) later on. For the more time-pressed TV series, Rand has simply been included in the scene to view it firsthand. Another change is that Moiraine's identity as an Aes Sedai is made clear from the start, whilst in the book she tries to hide her status until becomes clear later on.

Secondly was an excerpt from the musical score. "Al'Naito" is composed by Lorne Balfe with a title that translates from the Old Tongue (a fictional language in the Wheel of Time setting) roughly as "For the Flame." The song has lyrics that also appear to be in the Old Tongue.

Rounding things off is a number of new casting announcements for Season 2 of the show, currently shooting in the Czech Republic.

British newcomer Ceara Coveney will play the role of Elayne Trakand, the Daughter-Heir to the Kingdom of Andor and a novice Aes Sedai. As the first heir to a throne to be trained as Aes Sedai in almost fifteen centuries, Elayne is a potentially powerful player in the politics of the Aes Sedai and the Westlands themselves.

Natasha O'Keeffe is a British actress best-known for playing Lizzie Shelby in Peaky Blinders, Emilia Ricoletti in Sherlock and Abbey in Misfits. What role she is playing in Wheel of Time is unknown, save that it is "one of the most important" roles in the series. Based on her looks, it is possible she is playing Lanfear, one of the most powerful Forsaken, the servants of the Dark One who have been imprisoned alongside that entity for almost three and a half thousand years and released as its prison weakens. It is also possible she might be playing Elaida, an antagonistic Aes Sedai, or possibly Suroth, an important political and military commander among the Seanchan. Lanfear seems to be the most popular guess at present.

Rounding off the new arrivals is veteran British writer, comedian, actress and singer Meera Syal. A hugely-respected actress with a formidable body of work behind her (including comedy series Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42 and a huge array of British dramas, including Doctor Who and Broadchurch), Syal's role is also said to be crucial to the Wheel of Time mythos. The smart money would be on the role of Verin Mathwin, an Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah, who becomes a key ally of the adventurers from the Two Rivers.

The Wheel of Time debuts on Amazon Prime on 19 November this year.

WHEEL OF TIME recasts lead actor for second season

Amazon's Wheel of Time television adaptation has recast one of the major roles for its second season. Barney Harris has left the role of Mat Cauthon and has been replaced by Irish actor Dónal Finn.

Harris had completed shooting of the eight-episode first season, which shot over an extended period of twenty months due to repeated delays during the COVID pandemic. Shooting began on Season 2 earlier this year after only a short break.

The reasons for the recasting are unknown at this time, although other shows have been adversely affected by COVID delays to shooting causing scheduling conflicts with other projects that otherwise would not have taken place.

Although unusual, the situation is not unprecedented: Aml Ameen shot the entire first season of Sense8 for Netflix, but had a falling-out with showrunner Lana Wachowski at the table-read for the second season and was replaced at short notice for Season 2 by Toby Onwumere. Game of Thrones recast the role of Daario Naharis from Ed Skrein, who played him in Season 3, to Michiel Huisman who played him in Seasons 4-6. The role of Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain, was also repeatedly recast with three actors ultimately playing the role.

Like Harris, Finn is a newcomer who has only been active in the business for a couple of years, having graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in 2018. He had a small role in the second episode of The Witcher as Nettly (the peasant who hires Geralt to deal with a devil), and has also appeared in the stage play Albion, the film How to Build a Girl, the short film Love Have I Known and the TV shows SAS: Rogue Heroes and Cursed.

The first season of The Wheel of Time will debut on Amazon Prime on 19 November. Season 2 is expected to air in late 2022.

HIS DARK MATERIALS composer Lorne Balfe to score THE WHEEL OF TIME

Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins has confirmed that Lorne Balfe will score The Wheel of Time. Balfe is best known for his excellent work on His Dark Materials, particularly the impressive main title theme:

Balfe's other credits include the Mission: Impossible franchise, Black Widow, The Tomorrow War, Pennyworth, Bad Boys For Life, Pacific Rim: Uprising, The Crown, and various video games including the Assassin's Creed and Skylanders franchises.

None of Balfe's work was used in today's trailer. However, a snipped of his score was used on the previous logo reveal teaser.

There's a good interview here with Balfe where he discusses his work on His Dark Materials.

Amazon reveals first WHEEL OF TIME trailer

Amazon have - at last! - revealed the first trailer for the Wheel of Time television series.

The trailer opens with Nynaeve al'Meara (Zoë Robins), the village Wisdom of Emond's Field, telling  Egwene al'Vere (Madeleine Madden) to "be strong" before pushing her into a river. This scene is not from the books, but may be linked to the idea that Nynaeve is considering training Egwene as her apprentice, although Egwene, as the Mayor's daughter, is also considering other options for her future.

The peaceful village of Emond's Field, the chief settlement of the Two Rivers.

Blacksmith Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford), Mat Cauthon (Barney Harris) and farmer's son Rand al'Thor (Josha Stradowski) enjoying themselves in the Winespring Inn.

Egwene covered in the a pool of colours. This isn't from the books, but may be some kind of dream sequence.

The city of Tar Valon, the stronghold of the Aes Sedai. This image is looking south, past the White Tower towards the forbidding mountain of Dragonmount. Tar Valon and the White Tower have been significantly redesigned from the books, and either Tar Valon is a lot smaller or the White Tower is stupendously huger than it is in the novels.

Moiraine Damodred (Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Rosamund Pike), an Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah, letting people know she's here to glare disapprovingly a lot and kick arse.

The Hall of the Tower, the governing body of the Aes Sedai, convenes. Front and centre are Liandrin Guirale of the Red Ajah (Kate Fleetwood), Moiraine and Alanna Mosvani of the Green Ajah (Priyanka Bose). The Keeper of the Chronicles, Leane Sharif (Jennifer Cheon Garcia) can be seen at right.

The Amyrlin Sea of the Aes Sedai, Siuan Sanche (Academy Award nominee Sophie Okonedo), the first among equals and effective leader of the Aes Sedai sisterhood.

Moiraine channels the One Power, the energy that drives the Wheel of Time, to destroy attacking enemies.

Liandrin commands a detachment of sisters of the Red Ajah. The Red sisters dedicate themselves to tracking down and gentling (neutralising) any man who can channel the One Power, for men who try to channel are doomed to go insane and die horribly, wreaking great destruction in the process.

Leane keeps order in the Hall of the Tower.

Alanna channels the One Power to stop an arrow attack on the Aes Sedai sisters sent to apprehend the false Dragon and male channeller, Logain Ablar.

Another aerial shot of Tar Valon. In the books, the island of Tar Valon is eight miles long, so if that's the case here, the White Tower is really freaking huge. In the books it is a relatively modest 600 feet high.

Rand and Mat gaze on the ruined city of Shadar Logoth in the distance.

Mat finds an abandoned dagger in Shadar Logoth.

Our heroes flee Shadar Logoth as a strange shadow consumes the city.

Perrin runs into some wolves in the forest.

Rand and Egwene share a moment. In a marked shift from the books, where Rand and Egwene assume they have been promised to one another in marriage by their parents but never actually have a relationship, they appear to be much more intimate here.

Tam al'Thor (Game of Thrones' Michael McElhatton), Rand's honourable father, gives his son some parting words of advice.

Villagers in Emond's Field celebrating the festival of Winternight.

The Aes Sedai count the cost of their victory over Logain.

In a repeat of the aerial wheel motif, the Hall of the Tower as seen from above.

Al'Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney) - you can call him Lan - Moiraine's Warder and close ally.

A Myrddraal leads a pack of Trollocs on a raid.

The ragtag followers of the false Dragon mount an attack.

Logain Ablar (Álvaro Morte), a man who can channel the One Power. He has proclaimed himself the Dragon Reborn, the chosen hero of destiny who will stand against the Dark One. The Aes Sedai are disinclined to believe him.

Moiraine arrives in the White Tower. This is another marked change from the books, where Moiraine only visits the Tower on-page in the prequel novel, New Spring.

Lan and Moiraine fight off three Trollocs.

The companions assemble at a Waygate, a mysterious portal leading into a realm known as the Ways. They are joined on their adventure here by the Ogier Loial (Hammed Animashaun), whom I suspect is actually supposed to be in this shot but his CGI wasn't ready.

A Myrddraal, also known as an Eyeless or Fade, a servant of the Dark One who commands his Trolloc hordes in battle. Myrddraal are famed for their blade skill and their ability to make the unwary feel fear with a single "look."

Moiraine unleashes the One Power.

The Wheel of Time's eight-episode first season arrives on 19 November this year with the first three episodes, then one episode will air weekly from 26 November. Season 2 is already in production.