Fantasy fans are still waiting on release dates for some of the biggest shows in the works right now, including The Wheel of Time Season 2. The series premiered in the fall of 2021 and has been in production ever since, but there is still no word on when it will come out. Read on for all the updates we have gotten so far.
The Wheel of Time is an adaptation of the fantasy novel series by Robert Jordan, which includes 13 books and one prequel. Amazon Prime Video ordered the series during the initial mad dash for the “next Game of Thrones” a few years ago. These days, the fantasy genre is clearly thriving thanks to spinoffs of familiar heavy hitters like House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power, as well as new adaptations like this one. The Wheel of Time saw an influx of new viewers this fall, so hopefully, Season 2 can take advantage of this timing.
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In many ways, The Wheel of Time is the perfect follow-up to Game of Thrones for casual TV viewers. Its map is similarly sprawling and fleshed out, and it plays on familiar tropes in new and interesting ways. You can read all 14 books in the series now in print, digital or audiobook formats, and you can stream Season 1 on Prime Video. In the meantime, here’s everything we know about the next season so far.
Release Date
Unfortunately, we can’t do much but speculate on the release date for Season 2 so far. Amazon has not announced a release date for the new installment, and to many fans’ disappointment, this news did not accompany Rings of Power in any way.
It’s notable that filming for The Wheel of Time Season 2 wrapped up in May of 2022. Typically, it takes at least six months for post-production on a show like this with lots of VFX and action sequences. That means the new season could theoretically be complete by now, but there is still no news. Some fans are now hoping for a seasonal hint on the show – perhaps a premiere date in the spring. If that’s the plan, Amazon does not have much time left to announce it.
New York Comic Con 2022
Prime Video hosted a large Wheel of Time panel at New York Comic Con 2022, including an all-new teaser for Season 2. It hints at the plot of the next installment and gives many exciting glimpses of new and returning characters – including the dreaded Seanchan.
Teaser
Technically speaking there is one teaser out there for The Wheel of Time Season 2, but it’s brief and it doesn’t reveal much. The clip features mostly behind-the-scenes footage from the filming process, but it gives a few glimpses of new characters, costumes and locations.
Renewals
Amazon renewed The Wheel of Time for a second season in May of 2021 – months before Season 1 even premiered. The show’s production was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the renewal allowed them to get right back to filming while they had the chance.
In July of 2022, Amazon renewed the series once again for a third season. It’s not clear what prompted this announcement since there was no news on the second season, but it came at the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel. Showrunner Rafe Judkins broke the news to fans himself.
“I’m so thrilled that we’ll be making a third season of The Wheel of Time,” he said. “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 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.”
Casting
The biggest casting news for Season 2 is still the recasting of Mat Cauthon. In Season 1 he was played by Barney Harris, but Harris left the series for undisclosed reasons. Starting in Season 2 that role will be filled by Dónal Finn. Other than that, the main cast members are returning for the new episodes.
Meanwhile, some new cast members have been announced and many others have been rumored. Officially, we know that Ceara Coveney will be playing Elayne Trakand, Arnas Fedaravicius will be playing Masema Dagar and Gregg Chillingirian will be playing Ingtar Shinowa.
We have since learned that Ayoola Smart has been cast to play Aviendha, to fans’ delight on social media. Meanwhile, other major casting news remains unconfirmed. According to a report by WoTSeries, Gary Beadle has been cast as Elyas Machera and Hayley Mills has joined the cast in an unconfirmed role. Due to the size and scope of this story, we can expect plenty more casting announcements before we see the show for ourselves.
Episode Title
Judkins confirmed that Season 2 will again have just eight episodes, but hinted that each one will be longer than in the previous season. Meanwhile, the show’s social media account revealed that the season premiere episode is titled “A Taste of Solitude.”
Changes From Source Material
Before the series premiere, executive producer Marigo Kehoe told PopCulture.com that the series would not do a straightforward adaptation of one season for each book. Fans then saw how the show rearranged and consolidated the timeline in some crucial ways. Kehoe suggested that the producers were hoping for about 10 seasons to tell the whole story, but that they were prepared to do it with less if needed.
This is a good hint about how changes we’ve seen already will impact the story down the line, and what further changes we might see. It’s already clear that the characters have been aged up a bit, and the timeline has been shortened. Online, you’ll find no end of speculation about what comes next for the TV show.
Reasoning for Changes
If you’re looking to dive deep on comparisons between the books and the TV show, it’s worth checking out Judkins’ interview with Empire Magazine back in March. At the time, he explained how he and the writers approached these changes, and that most of them were made to create more satisfying character arcs from season to season. He felt that the plot lines for Mat and Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) needed some particular work in the early seasons.
The Wheel of Time books are available now in print, digital and audiobook formats. Season 1 is streaming now on Prime Video. Stay tuned for more updates on Season 2 as soon as they become available.
