'The Wheel of Time' Season 3: Everything We Know So Far

After a climactic Season 2 finale, the next installment of this fantasy epic is not as far off as fans might think.

By Michael Hein - October 10, 2023 06:12 pm EDT

The Wheel of Time Season 2 just wrapped up leaving fans eager for more, but thankfully Season 3 is already in the works. The Prime Video original series was renewed for a third season way back in July of 2022, so work on it has already begun. Here's everything we know about the next season so far.

The Wheel of Time premiered in the fall of 2021 and began its second season in August of 2023. Production hit some serious hiccups due to COVID-19 restrictions around the world while filming Season 1, and Season 2 had some course corrections to make. In some ways, the next season may be the first where we see what this show can do with no unexpected limitations. Prime Video announced the Season 3 over a year ago at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.

"I'm so thrilled that we'll be making a third season of The Wheel of Time," said showrunner Rafe Judkins at the time. "The Shadow Rising has always been my favorite book in the series, so being able to bring it to television and introduce new audiences to the stories that made me fall in love with these books in the first place is such an honor, and something I've been working toward since I first pitched the show years and years ago."

Amazon Studios executive Vernon Sanders added: "We are so excited to dive deeper into the world of The Wheel of Time with Rafe Judkins and his team, who have done such a marvelous job of honoring Robert Jordan's vision and delivering an incredible viewing experience to Prime Video customers. Season 1 resonated with the most loyal of Jordan devotees, as well as the uninitiated, who were experiencing this incredible world for the first time, proving this is a show that truly stands out in the genre space. We couldn't be happier to give fans more reasons to be excited about the show and bring more The Wheel of Time to our customers worldwide."

We may not have all the details we want yet, but we will continue to update this post with new information as it becomes available. Here's what we know about The Wheel of Time Season 3 at the time of this writing.

Filming Progress

We know that The Wheel of Time Season 2 wrapped up filming in February of 2022 and the renewal announcement came just a few months later, so it's no surprise that much of the work on Season 3 has already been done. Back in June of 2023, Daniel Henney told TechRadar that the cast and crew had gotten "a good chunk of [Season 3] done," but said that there was still plenty of filming left to do.

According to a report by WotSeries, filming for Season 3 began in April of 2023 and was scheduled to conclude in November of 2023. All signs indicate that the cast and crew have maintained that pace and are on track to stick to that schedule. However, some filming at other locations will happen on a different schedule that fans still haven't gotten the details on.

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Premiere Date

The Wheel of Time Season 2 — (Photo: Jan Thijs / Prime Video)

Prime Video has not announced a timeframe for The Wheel of Time Season 3 yet, but there are some important factors to consider. Firstly, the show is a European production with cast and crew in the European unions. That means that so far, it hasn't been delayed by the Hollywood labor strikes in the U.S., and it is not likely to be slowed down at all.

Considering all the special effects needed to create the final cut, this show should need at least six months of post-production – but likely closer to a year. That means fans can hope for Season 3 in the fall of 2024, but shouldn't be surprised if it comes in 2025 instead. It's worth noting that Amazon will also be releasing The Rings of Power Season 2 in late 2024, so the streamer may try to space out these two shows as much as possible.

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Casting Updates

The main cast has all been confirmed to be returning for Season 3, and that extends to dozens of different characters. Dónal Finn will be back as Mat Cauthon for yet another season, while several characters new in Season 2 will take on bigger roles going forward, such as Aviendha (Ayoola Smart), Bain (Ragga Ragnars) and Chiad (Maja Simonsen). So far, no major new characters have been announced, but Amazon confirmed that Laia Costa will return as the ominous Moghedien, introduced in Season 2's final scene.

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Tonal Shift

I’ve always said that people grew up with the books. That the tone and storytelling and emotions of the first book progress and mature until you reach the incredible depths of the final books. I hope the show is the same. S3 is even more sophisticated and rich and deep than S2
— Rafe Judkins (@rafejudkins) September 27, 2023

Many fans praised Season 2 as an improvement on Season 1, but in some ways the tonal shifts of the series have been planned from the beginning. In a Q&A with fans on social media, Judkins said that fans should expect the show to get "even more sophisticated and rich and deep" in the upcoming season.

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Books

Fans trying to jump into the book series may justifiably be intimidated by the length of these novels, with 13 main series installments plus one prequel. Seasons 1 and 2 covered the material in the first three novels plus some material from the prequel. Fans who are just looking to get ahead of show could theoretically pick up book 4, The Shadow Rising, but they'd likely feel a little lost. The show makes so many changes from the books that readers will likely want to take it from the beginning. The Wheel of Time novels are available in print, digital and audiobook formats.

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