The Wheel of Time actress Rosamund Pike has expressed her hope that the Amazon series continues elsewhere at some point following its cancelation, but ultimately has resigned herself to defeat, admitting: “I think we have to accept that it’s over.”
The Wheel of Time is an adaptation of the much-loved fantasy book series by Robert Jordan, with a cast led by Rosamund Pike. After a shaky first two seasons that had fans of the books in uproar over controversial changes from the source material, Season 3 appeared to win over the fanbase and, it was felt, set up the show for even better things to come.
But in May it emerged that Amazon had decided against renewing The Wheel of Time for Season 4 after what Deadline reported were “lengthy deliberations.” Apparently executives liked the show, but couldn’t make it work financially.
Brandon Sanderson, who finished Jordan’s The Wheel of Time book series, had gone on the record to offer his thoughts on the cancelation, saying: “I do think it’s a shame, as while I had my problems with the show, it had a fanbase who deserved better than a cancelation after the best season. I won’t miss being largely ignored; they wanted my name on it for legitimacy, but not to involve me in any meaningful way.”
And showrunner Rafe Judkins insisted The Wheel of Time was watched “by huge numbers of people all over the world,” pointing to viewership data to back up his claim. Judkins also expressed a degree of hope that a rival streamer would pick up The Wheel of Time, highlighting sci-fi show The Expanse, which was canceled by SYFY before Amazon saved it and finished the story.
All the while, a fan effort to save The Wheel of Time picked up tens of thousands of signatures online, with a Brazilian group crowdsourcing their own billboard in Times Square in New York City, which Judkins subsequently acknowledged on social media.
Alas, we haven’t heard about The Wheel of Time returning since, and in a new interview with Collider, Pike told fans it’s time to accept defeat.
Pike, who played Moiraine Damodred of the Aes Sedai, admitted Season 1 had its problems, although she offered reasons for those problems and wondered whether Amazon would have canceled the show had it been as good as Season 3 from the start.
“The fans said Season 1 wasn’t good enough, which I think I agree with, for multiple reasons,” she said. “We were beset by COVID in the middle of our shooting. We had some heads of department change. Then, by Season 2, we knew what we were doing, and we offered up a much better season. By Season 3, I think we had our wings fully spread, and we were showing where we were capable of going, and there was a really well-acted, well-written, cohesive, deep show that was attracting powerhouse actors to come and play supporting characters. I think we showed what we were capable of doing with that material.
“Of course, you wonder, had we started off at that place, would we not have been canceled? Maybe. I think we’re possibly victims to the terrible churn factor of people wanting to show that ‘We’ve got a new show.’ It’s all about what’s new.”
While some fans still hope Apple may pick up The Wheel of Time for Apple TV, given the slate of expensive sci-fi and fantasy shows it already has on its books, that was always wishful thinking. Indeed, TVLine reported that The Wheel of Time wasn’t even being shopped around to other streamers.
Pike, too, has now accepted the show’s fate. “In my dreams, another studio would be wise and pick it up,” she said. “We have such an amazing team now. We have the ability to make a great final sequence of seasons for this show.
“We know what to do with these books now, so who knows? But I think we have to accept that it’s over.”
Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
