How Amazon’s ‘Wheel of Time’ is different from the books

A 100% faithful adaptation of The Wheel of Time was never going to be possible. Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series spans 14 books — 15 if you count the prequel — totaling over 4 million words. That’s simply too much material to fit into a TV show. Understandably, Amazon Prime Video’s version of The Wheel of Time cuts a great deal from its source material. 

This first season mostly draws from the first book in the series, The Eye of the World. However, showrunner Rafe Judkins confirmed that this first season will also be covering elements of the second and third books, The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn. 

Despite a significant number of changes, the story of The Wheel of Time remains the same at its core. Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the powerful all-female Aes Sedai order, embarks on a massive journey with five young men and women, any of whom could be the powerful Dragon Reborn prophesied to either save the world or destroy it. There’s a bit more to it than that. So, be sure to check out our handy-dandy Wheel of Time guide to get your full bearings.

Here are the biggest changes The Wheel of Time has made from the books so far. The following contains massive spoilers for the books and the show, so consider yourselves warned.

The Dragon Reborn

Episode 1, “Leavetaking,” opens with a bit of voice-over that immediately changes something about the central figure of the Dragon Reborn. Moiraine reveals that the Dragon — originally a man named Lews Therin Telamon — has been reincarnated, but no one knows whether he has been reborn as a man or a woman. In the books, there is no uncertainty: the Dragon is (rightly) assumed to be a man. 

I doubt The Wheel of Time will change the identity of the Dragon, as that would have massive repercussions down the line. All this deviation from the book does is broaden the mystery of who the Dragon could be by adding women like Egwene (Madeleine Madden) and Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) into the mix — something that I’m not at all mad about.

Different Perspectives

A lovely scene we didn’t get in the books.
Credit: Jan Thijs

Most of The Eye of the World is told from the perspective of sheepherder Rand (Josha Stradowski), making it pretty obvious that he’s the Main Character (aka the Dragon). To keep us guessing, The Wheel of Time positions Moiraine as our lead, at least for the first few episodes. This choice allows us to understand the stakes of her quest a bit better.

By not solely focusing on Rand, we also get to learn more about other characters’ lives in the Two Rivers. We see Egwene’s induction into the Women’s Circle, an addition that Rand would not have been able to narrate. We also get glimpses of Mat’s (Barney Harris) troubled home life and Perrin’s (Marcus Rutherford) relationship with his wife. Speaking of…

Perrin is married?

Yes, but not for long! Perrin’s wife Laila (Helena Westerman) is a new character, who quickly becomes a new corpse in one of the show’s most unnecessary page-to-screen changes. When we first meet Laila, it’s clear that her marriage to Perrin is strained. However, before we can learn any more information or even get a smidge of resolution, Perrin accidentally kills her when the Trollocs attack. Her death is a classic example of “fridging,” when a character — most of the time a woman — exists solely to die or suffer in order to further the emotional arc of a more central character. It’s a cheap tactic that could easily have been avoided. Perrin could have had a strong emotional response to literally anything else, like, I don’t know, his home being burned? Or Nynaeve being kidnapped?

Nynaeve being what now?

Don’t worry, Nynaeve is fine. She was just carried off by a Trolloc, leading everyone to believe she’s dead. In the books, she survives the attack without being kidnapped, but she doesn’t leave the Two Rivers with the rest of the group. She chases after them later, believing them to be in danger from Moiraine and reuniting with them in Baerlon. That’s a little harder for her to do in the show because…

Bye bye, Baerlon

The first of many stops on our group’s journey to Tar Valon, Baerlon has been completely removed from The Wheel of Time. Since so much of The Eye of the World is just the group walking from place to place, it makes sense that some of those places got cut. However, we’re missing some key encounters as a result, like the aforementioned Nynaeve reunion. Plus, the role of the shady Padan Fain (Johann Myers) seems to have cut down to just one appearance (so far). We also lose out on meeting Min, whose uncanny ability to read people’s auras gives big hints about who the Dragon is. We’re sure to see Min at some point, though, given that Kae Alexander has been cast in the role.

Mordeth and Mashadar

Put that dagger down Mat!
Credit: Jan Thijs

The Shadar Logoth sequence in episode 2, “Shadow’s Waiting,” plays out a bit differently in the show than it does in the books, but the main beats remain the same. We learn the history of the abandoned city. Mat steals a ruby-hilted dagger, and the shadowy entity known as Mashadar separates the group as they escape. In The Eye of the World, we get the added step of Mat, Rand, and Perrin meeting a mysterious man named Mordeth, who tries to get them to move some treasure for him. He later attacks them, only backing off when he realizes Mat has taken the dagger.

Thom Merrilin

We meet mysterious gleeman Thom Merrilin (Alexandre Willaume) in The Wheel of Time‘s third episode, “A Place of Safety.” Jordan introduces Thom much earlier on in The Eye of the World. He arrives in the Two Rivers as entertainment for the Bel Tine festival and accompanies the group when they leave after the attack. He also advises Rand, Mat, and Perrin to hide their mysterious dreams from Moiraine. When the group splits up in Shadar Logoth, he escapes with Rand and Mat. So, introducing him now still means we could see how this trio interacts with each other. It also means that we had one less character to worry about remembering in the early episodes. Now that we’re more familiar with our seven leads, we can devote some time to getting to know the supporting cast.

A new Darkfriend

Episode 3, “A Place of Safety,” sees Rand and Mat threatened by a Darkfriend, a human who has been influenced by the Dark One. This Darkfriend is Dana (Izuka Hoyle) — not to be confused with Dena, Thom’s lover from the books. She’s a completely new character. But the run-in has roots in The Eye of the World, where Mat and Rand encounter Darkfriends like merchant Howal Gode on their journey.

Meeting the Tuatha’an

Wolves follow Perrin and Egwene after Shadar Logoth, chasing them all the way until they come across the nomadic Tuatha’an people. While this meeting occurs in The Eye of the World, it comes after Perrin and Egwene spend time with a character named Elyas. Elyas is a wolfbrother who teaches Perrin about his own connection with wolves. The Wheel of Time is clearly foreshadowing Perrin’s own wolfbrother storyline. But since casting for Elyas has not been confirmed yet, it looks like he will not be a part of it.

Liandrin and Logain

The Red Ajah is here, and they’re out for blood.
Credit: Jan Thijs

In The Wheel of Time‘s third episode, Moiraine, Nynaeve, and Lan (Daniel Henney) cross paths with Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood), an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah, and Logain (Álvaro Morte), an imprisoned man claiming to be the Dragon Reborn.

Liandrin isn’t introduced until The Wheel of Time‘s second book, The Great Hunt, meaning this whole scene is new material. However, parts of it are based on events that happen in The Eye of the World. The Aes Sedai do imprison Logain and bring him to the city of Caemlyn, but we never see the actual imprisonment or journey to Caemlyn ourselves. One of the many advantages of adapting The Wheel of Time is that we get to experience battles and scenes that happen off the page — like Logain’s experience with the Aes Sedai — for the first time.

We’ll update this post as more episodes of The Wheel of Time stream on Amazon Prime Video and potentially deviate from Jordan’s books even more. 

The Wheel of Time is now streaming on Amazon Prime with new episodes every week.