The Wheel of Time season 2 is just getting started
When Amazon Studios’ The Wheel of Time season 1 wrapped up in December 2021, things were looking pretty grim for our heroes.
Sure, Rand (Josha Stradowski) came out on top in his showdown with the Dark One (Fares Fares), but as victories go, it was a bit of a downer. Not only did the newly depowered Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) declare that the Last Battle is still very much on the horizon; the bad guys took off with the Horn of Valere, a relic capable of summoning (and controlling) history’s legendary warriors. And if this wasn’t enough, the Seanchan — an invading force that uses female channelers as living weapons — invited themselves to the party too.
Like I said, it’s dark times for Rand, Moiraine, and the gang — and the first three episodes of season 2, which dropped on Prime Video last Friday, have somehow raised the stakes even higher. Will the forces of the light rise to the challenge? Just how badly are the odds stacked against them? And where is this conflict headed, both in season 2’s remaining installments and beyond? Only the people behind The Wheel of Time know for certain, and Polygon recently caught up with several crew members to wheedle the answers out of them.
A recurring theme throughout these conversations was the difference between The Wheel of Time the series and the bestselling fantasy book series of the same name by the late Robert Jordan. Season 2 is nominally an adaptation of Jordan’s second tome, The Great Hunt. Yet showrunner Rafe Judkins (absent from my set visit in late August due to the WGA strike) and his team have elected to honor the spirit rather than the letter of Jordan’s lore. This is perhaps exemplified most by the prominent role Pike plays in proceedings, despite Moiraine being
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