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It started a few weeks ago.
Friends and colleagues chatting over texts and direct messages, casually slotting it into conversation.
Hey, isWheel of Time… good now?
There is some exhaustion that inevitably follows this kind of observation.
Maybe itwasgood, but no one has time to wait for a show to improve in its second season.
Not only that, but the postGame of Thronesera of massive TV fantasy has proven to bedistinctly lackluster.
Suddenly, a show that figures itself out in season two becomes a more interesting prospect!
So it is my duty to report that yes, its true.
Let us give thanks and praise.
Its going to feel both too familiar (Oh really?
That nice young man with a humble background is the only person who can save the world?
You dont say!)
and too opaque (Theres a complex magical system based on … weaving?
And only some people have it but others dont and also some people have wolf magic?
Its a huge relief.
What distinguishesWheel of Timeis threefold.
Its villains got better.
It made bold decisions to depart from the books.
Between Lanfear and her Forsaken brother (colleague?)
Its so important to have someone around to actively participate in the conflict.
Looming, shadowy doom is only fun for so long.
Rand and Lanfear have plenty of room to be freaky together before Lanfear is revealed as a baddie.
This also creates more freedom to leave some characters out of the story until their roles are interesting again.
Whats Mat doing imprisoned in the Tower this whole time?
We dont really care!
The total effect of all those changes is thatWheel of Timeis simply more fun than it was before.
If all this sounds like the basic, competent storytelling necessary for any TV show: yes!
That still putsWheel of Times second season solidly above most fantasy TV over the past few years.
The IP keeps rolling out, and the wheel keeps turning.
This time, thank goodness, its in the right direction.
