After a 2 year absence, a major fantasy series returns today, looking to fill the Lord of the Rings void with epic entertainment this fall on Amazon Prime.
The lavish fantasy series The Wheel of Time returns to Amazon Prime * on September 1 with its 2nd season, consoling and over a year without The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The film adaptation based on the 15-volume epic * by Robert Jordan had taken us in 2021 to a world where only certain women, the Aes Sedai, were allowed to practice magic. For men, the ability to cast spells had long ago been corrupted, so that all male wielders of power who exercised it went insane. But then the “Dragon Reborn” was prophesied – a chosen one who would save or destroy the world.
The Wheel of Time starts season 2: What happened in season 1 of the fantasy series?
The complex fantasy world of the Amazon series was heavily inspired by Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. If you want to understand it with its magic, loom storytelling and evil shadow friends without knowing the novel, it’s best to reread the 7 most important things you need to know about The Wheel of Time. Otherwise, here’s a quick summary of what happened in season 1 before season 2:
The Wheel of Time: The Fellowship in Season 1
Magic-savvy Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) arrives at the Village of Two Rivers with her guardian Lan (Daniel Henney) because there could be as many as five candidates to be the chosen “dragon.” Farm boy Rand (Josha Stradowski), his buddy Mat (Barney Harris), blacksmith Perrin (Marcus Rutherford), village healer Nynaeve (Zoe Robins) and her student Egwene (Madeleine Madden). Together, they flee the minions of evil: a monstrous Trolloc army led by the eyeless “Pale.”
The self-professed dragon Logain (Álvaro Morte) turns out to be a false chosen one elsewhere and is cut off from magic. The friends split up and reunite. At the “Eye of the World,” Rand finally turns out to be a Dragon Reborn, but only Moiraine knows this, while the others think he is dead. Rand (apparently) defeats the Dark King (Fares Fares). However, the Amazon series revealed the identity of the big baddie to be false shortly before season 2 of The Wheel of Time.
The Wheel of Time: Season 1 summarized by the cast of the Amazon series
What can we expect in season 2 of Amazon’s fantasy series?
The focus of season 2 this time is first the search for the Horn of Valere: the artifact, stolen in episode 8 by the shadow friend Padan Fain (Johann Myers), can supposedly summon a great army of dead fallen heroes to battle – which is just one of the many Lord of the Rings parallels of The Wheel of Time.
In addition, the invasion of a sea power (already shown in the last season 1 scene) threatens all kingdoms: The Seanchan want to subjugate the continent and use enslaved female power leaders to do so, which becomes a danger especially for the Aes Sedai.
The 2nd season of Amazon’s fantasy series takes place 5 months after the events of season 1. The former companions from The Wheel of Time have now scattered to the four winds.
