With the recent debut of the new Wheel of Time-themed Amazon series starring Rosamund Pike, fans finally got their long-awaited adaptation. The popular high fantasy books by Robert Jordan were the inspiration for the series. One cannot avoid the unavoidable comparisons to Game of Thrones because it belongs to the same genre. Which is better, then? As of now, The Wheel of Time series does a fantastic job at transmitting the same feelings and conventional high fantasy components that helped the novels become so well-liked. Even with numerous plot twists, it hasn’t managed to match the extraordinary Game of Thrones series in terms of spectacle. We wait in anticipation of what will come after Game of Thrones’ extraordinary popularity and what will be able to fill those large shoes. The production order for a new TV series based on Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time (WOT) Series was revealed by Amazon on October 2nd, 2018, and as a huge reader of the novels myself, the anticipation and expectation are great!
Characters of all genders and races are extremely deep and well-developed in the story Wheel of Time. Not to mention the female warrior societies known as “Maidens of the spear” or the mystical Aes Sedai, the woman who commands the most respect and power in this world, this series has almost a 1:1 ratio of male to female leads. This is not to say that shows like Game of Thrones or Vikings don’t have strong female leads. The narrative takes place throughout a variety of locales, allowing us to see the fusion and representation of numerous diverse civilizations. This, in my opinion, will greatly increase the series’ diversity. If the screenplay for this series is any indication, it will hopefully set it different from so many others.
The Wheel of Time
Fans of fantasy are certain to become engrossed in this series. But believe WOT will be worth checking out if people like films and series like The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Vikings, The Last Kingdom, and The Witcher. Due to the stronger magical undertones, supernatural characters, and medieval European backdrop, I compared the setting of the novel to that of The Witcher. The epic is added to fantasy epics by The Wheel of Time. With nearly 4 million words and more than 2200 named characters, the A15-book series beat the Game of Thrones character list by roughly 200 names.
Many media have been clamoring for the upcoming big thing ever since Game of Thrones concluded airing back in 2019. Finding that elusive lightning in a bottle once more is all the rage in fantasy right now, much like the “next big LOST” era in the middle of the 2000s. While the Witcher, which was just released on Netflix, did a good job of adapting both the book and game, turning it into a kind of hybrid Frankenstein’s monster of the two, rumors about The Wheel of Time were always in the back of the minds of many fans of the genre. Robert Jordan’s fantasy epic appeared poised to light up the platform in a huge way with the power of Amazon Studios and a staggering 90-million-dollar budget at its disposal.
The Wheel of Time was initially intended to be turned into a movie by Universal Companies in 2004, but since that time, this IP hot potato has been pushed and dragged between many studios, until ending with Amazon as an 8-episode series. At its finest, The Wheel of Time perfectly and faithfully portrays the magic and aesthetic beauty of fantasy worlds; distant regions appear alluring and full of legend. Even at its worst, this first season makes the eighth season of Game of Thrones appear like a masterpiece. For the most part, The Wheel of Time is alright. It’s not utterly fantastic, but it’s also not terrific either.
Some fans object to the evident alterations made to the original work, such as the introduction of romantic relationships that weren’t there in the books. To preserve the intrigue and appeal to a wider audience, not just those who enjoy high fantasy, some alterations must be made, but you must keep in mind that TV series and books are very different mediums. However, some items are enjoyed by people. Rosamund Pike is killing it and is currently carrying the show with her acting. Although the authors made some adjustments, they truly tried to stay as close to Jordan’s original material as they could. I also particularly like the strong female characters in the series.
Game of Thrones
Imagine Consider how The Lord of the Rings would have ended if Aragorn had abandoned his throne and rode forth into Mordor’s deserted plains. Imagine delicate blades of green grass emerging from the ruin of Sauron’s empire. The messianic king-who-wasn’t, Jon Snow, rode out of Westeros in company with the Free Folk to bring life back to death’s icy kingdom. That is where David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ Game of Thrones left us. The throne, which saw so much blood spilled, turned to slag; the queen, who was never given the chance to claim it as her own, died in its shadow; and the dragon, who had lit tens of thousands of people on fire at her command, flew off into the ash falling toward no-one-knows-where.
And just in case it still feels too comfy, we watch characters we’ve grown to love over the years scoff and mock the concept of democracy, remaining secure at the pinnacle of the feudal system that has been tearing their nation apart since the Long Night 8,000 years ago. There is still the dragon, a symbol of war capable of razing any city in Westeros. In this world, suffering will undoubtedly return sooner rather than later. The series’ conclusion sparked a limitless fountain of fan ire that included lengthy Twitter threads and an actual petition asking HBO to start the eighth season again from scratch. But has Game of Thrones ever been a program about encouraging fulfillment? Its goal was to make people feel happy, right? It’s difficult to argue that watching Burn Gorman play Karl Tanner’s rule over the rape of Craster’s wives or the City Watch killing newborns in their sleep was pure escapism. The conclusion of Game of Thrones marks a turning point in how our culture views art.
The series was so amazing because it had the ideal balance of high fantasy, love, and intrigue. However, the shock value was what ultimately made it popular. Many outstanding lead characters perished in the most horrifying ways imaginable, sometimes in circumstances where a disaster like the Red Wedding occurs just when you think everything has calmed down. The fact that the showrunners did an excellent job of adhering to the original material certainly contributed to the ending’s lack of tension. Because George R.R. Martin didn’t complete the books in time for the show’s conclusion, they ran out of the story.
Comparison of The Wheel of Time and Game of Thrones
The plots of the two books are pretty similar when you compare them; good must battle evil to restore the world, but as evil lurks and gets more powerful, their struggles make the battle much more difficult. Both presents are magic and the search for “the one” who will ultimately save the world. However, the assumptions are different. In the Wheel of Time, it is much easier to distinguish between the good and evil sides, however in the Game of Thrones volumes, it is more difficult because everyone has their problems. While Game of Thrones emphasizes human avarice, The Wheel of Time emphasizes the classic struggle against evil.
Furthermore, the worlds are very unlike. Except for the terrible Night King, there aren’t many all-out magicians in Game of Thrones, yet one of the primary characters in The Wheel of Time is an Aes Sedar, who has amazing magical abilities. Additionally, the universe and time in the Game of Thrones books are linear, whereas the Wheel of Time emphasizes how time and space are cyclical, which means that history repeats itself depending on which period is spun from the Wheel. It depends on what you’re looking for as a reader because, overall, I’d say both series have their advantages and disadvantages. If you prefer a more conventional high fantasy plot with magic being used by the good watchers to combat.
