The Wheel of Time Season 3 Review (Non-Spoiler)

With every new season of The Wheel of Time adaptation on Prime Video, fans are gripped by both excitement and anxiety – excitement about the possibilities a new season presents and anxiety over whether it will be good enough. After a first season that ended shakily with last-minute changes courtesy of COVID, Season 2 raised the bar in almost every way, from story and costuming to visuals and VFX. Now, Season 3 is poised to be possibly the most crucial season yet. Not only is it adapting The Shadow Rising, the book that many fans consider their favorite, but it is the first time that The Wheel of Time fans have gone into a new season without the certainty of the next one already in the works. And in the same way that The Shadow Rising was seen as pivotal to the overall story, so is Season 3, for the story and production alike.

Can Season 3 possibly meet the daunting expectations of fans and will it be good enough to draw enough eyes for a Season 4 renewal? We’ve had the pleasure of watching all eight episodes of Season 3 in advance, and—without spoilers—here are our thoughts on how Season 3 measures up.

 

The Story: North and West the Wind Blew

We ended Season 2 in Falme, where Rand defeated Ishamael, the most powerful of the Forsaken, and revealed himself as the Dragon Reborn. However, the brief moment of victory was overshadowed by the looming threat of six other Forsaken, now free from captivity and ready to spread chaos across the world; their sights set on the Dragon Reborn and his companions.

Season 3 begins in Tar Valon, to the north and west, where our heroes face the growing threat from the Shadow, against a backdrop of internal turmoil within the White Tower, the world’s most powerful institution. It is from here that our characters set out on their individual journeys and trials.

A recurring theme in this write-up is that Season 3 represents the closest the show has come to adapting a single installment from Robert Jordan’s books into a full season of television. As book fans, we found that Season 3 marks a significant turning point in the series in terms of character development, world-building, and plot advancement, much like The Shadow Rising, which was also a pivotal volume in the book series. For book fans, if you enjoyed The Shadow Rising, there is much to love about the upcoming season.

For show-only fans, Season 3 is great television. It balances action and reflection well, starting with Episode 1, where an explosive, epic battle inside the White Tower transitions to our primary characters enjoying a modicum of comfort and togetherness as they contemplate the path forward. Across the entire season, we are graced with many memorable character moments and dialogue that allow the story to breathe while bringing us closer to these characters.

Showrunner Rafe Judkins has repeatedly made it clear that he’s adapting a series, and not a single book, so storylines and cities and even characters will be shuffled around. In Season 3 however, much of the foundational pieces of the story from The Shadow Rising remain intact. The wind blows in multiple directions, taking us to the Aiel Waste, Tanchico and back to the Two Rivers. Yes, a few characters are shifted, but the essence of their journey and motivations remains intact. Expect to be repeatedly—and pleasantly—surprised by what’s familiar.

We also feel that Season 3 does a great job of maintaining momentum while advancing the plot for our main characters and storylines. This mirrors the source material in many ways, though the pacing and some of the transitions here are much faster than in the books, which is understandable given the daunting task of adapting 1000 pages into 8 hours of television.

Adaptation and Deviation: Weaves of a Pattern

At its best, Season 2 found an amazing balance between changing plot specifics while still feeling very much like the book. We’re happy to say that the entirety of Season 3 feels even more like reading the books.

That’s not to say that viewers shouldn’t anticipate changes. While some sequences are truly as straight from the pages as possible, there are many other sequences where plot threads are rewoven in new and surprising ways. Book fans will be pointing at the screen as they recognize all the groundwork being laid for future storylines, even if they’re coming a bit earlier—or later—than expected.

Season 3 strikes a near-perfect balance here. It weaves one part faithful adaptation, one part off-screen book moments brought to life, and a third part reimagined sequences to benefit the visual medium. Each of these parts contributes to cohesive and engaging storytelling. This also works so well because even if you know the books backwards and forwards, there are going to be many moments that surprise you and leave you with questions. We’re very much looking forward to seeing how those questions are answered if we get future seasons.

 

Production Value: Glory to the Builders

This section of our review is purely for acknowledgement of The Wheel of Time crew. There isn’t much we can say here that wasn’t on full display in the episode 1 cold open, which was released by the Amazon as their initial extended sneak peak of Season 3, and for good reason.  Those 11 minutes of the battle with the Black Ajah inside the Hall of the Tower showcased the prowess and brilliance of every aspect of this production, including intricate set designs, stunning costumes, exceptional hair and makeup, fantastic stunt work, and breathtaking visual effects, not to mention the brilliant acting, but we will get to that.

Speaking of VFX, the leap in visual effects quality from Season 1 to Season 2 was widely praised, even earning the show a BAFTA nomination. Maintaining that standard for the series moving forward would have been great, but VFX supervisor Andy Scrase and his team somehow managed to give the show yet another upgrade. The channeling is so immersive and intricate that it draws you into the scene. The location extensions across all sets—from Rhuidean to Tanchico to Tar Valon—render a world as vast as the one dreamt up by Robert Jordan

 

 

The set designs, under the leadership of Ondřej Nekvasil, are yet another aspect of the show that pulls you into the experience. The Two Rivers feels like a thriving, lived-in village in every sense of the word. The Tanchico set looks more like an actual harbor city loaned to the production than a film studio set. And in the Aiel Waste, from tents to settlements, this season brings to life our collective mental image of what Robert Jordan described in words against a stunning backdrop of real deserts and studio lots.

Then there’s the awe-inspiring work on costuming, hair, makeup, and prosthetics, which gives the characters authentically unique looks befitting a world where the future is also the past, a high fantasy setting that occasionally dabbles in sci-fi. The costume design, in particular, is breathtaking, with Sharon Gilham and her team building on their incredible work from Season 2, continuing to deliver iconic costumes with unique designs that utilize extraordinary materials and prints.

Bringing these characters fully to life is a collaborative effort, and Davina Lamont, Hair and Makeup Designer, and Nick Dudman, Makeup Effects Designer, deserve recognition for their outstanding contributions in completing each character’s look with exceptional attention to detail.

 

 

 

Character Development

The heart of The Wheel of Time is its characters, and this season, we see all of our characters continue to change and grow. The three boys, Rand, Mat, and Perrin, all have to grapple with some significant life changes this season as the Pattern continues to challenge each of them. Also noteworthy are the arcs that Moiraine and Nynaeve experience, with both women learning to grapple with fear and issues of control.

This season offers a clear and compelling look at what drives many of the main characters, revealing more about their goals and struggles. At the same time, the show maintains an air of mystery around some of the new characters, ensuring that its audience, even book readers, stay engaged and full of anticipation.

Characters from Seasons 1 and 2 that we didn’t get to spend much time with are much more fleshed out in Season 3 and become three dimensional characters rather than just character archetypes.

 

Season 3 introduces quite a few new characters introduced this season and, while some of them sadly do not get enough screen time to really establish themselves, there are definitely a few stand-outs. The main Aiel characters—Bair (Nukâka Coster-Waldau), Melaine (Salóme Gunnarsdóttir), and Rhuarc (Björn Landberg)—feel lifted directly from the pages, and Faile (Isabella Bucceri) quickly establishes herself as an intriguing character to keep an eye on. Not to mention powerhouses like Olivia Williams and Shohreh Aghdashloo who play Queen Morgase and Elaida, respectively.

When it comes to performances, The Wheel of Time is never short on outstanding acting and delivery, but this season, Josha Stradowski’s portrayal of Rand on his journey into the Aiel Waste truly shines. His performance stands out in much the same way that Madeleine Madden’s did in Season 2 during her time as a damane. Showrunner Rafe Judkins spoke about Josha’s performance during a CCXP panel in December 2024, revealing that there is a huge episode in Season 3 that demanded an incredible amount from Josha as an actor. Rafe seemed to believe that Josha delivered and we wholeheartedly agree.

 

Music: Or Another Will Find the Song

Series composer Lorne Balfe returns with his musical magic. Balfe interweaves new themes while also utilizing themes from the previous two seasons. After a brief vacation for season two, in-world music sung by our characters makes a return this season in spectacular form. We can’t say much without spoilers, but in two episodes, singing is brought to the forefront, but to very different effects.

The music is unobtrusive in the best ways in most moments, balancing out scenes and deepening the world without turning the viewers focus from the visuals. But when you do notice it? It is probably because you’re smiling, laughing, on the edge of your seat, or, just maybe, shedding a tear. We can think of a few scenes where two characters interact, with music acting as a third presence, every bit as important as they are. Some of the more noticeable themes repeatedly added to and amplified the emotion of the moment, and we can’t wait to play the season 3 tracks on repeat.

 

Conclusion: There Are Neither Beginnings nor Endings

“Was this season better?” Fans asked this often before Season 2, and we’re hearing it again now ahead of Season 3. That’s the way of The Wheel of Time fandom, they want it to be good because they want to share it. The answer was yes then, and it’s yes now. Season 2 built upon Season 1, and this latest installment is more than just an improvement, it’s a turning point.

We feel like the cast and crew have truly hit their stride. It took time to climb out from under the weight of freshman jitters, a global pandemic, a major cast departure that forced rewrites, and a writer’s strike. But as one of our team members at WotSeries put it best: the show crawled and walked in Seasons 1 and 2 so Season 3 could run. And run it did.

For book fans, there are moments this season that will resonate no matter their opinions of the first two seasons. These scenes and moments have been etched into the collective memory of those who have read (and reread) Robert Jordan’s books for decades, are now made real on screen.

For show-only fans, you’re in for a ride. If you thought you loved these characters before, if you thought the world was expansive, if you thought the visuals were stunning, if you thought the ensemble cast was unmatched, just wait! Season 3 will impress you.

This show is worthy of recognition and worthy of being seen through to its epic conclusion. Our sincere hope is that Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios will renew this series for a fourth season and beyond.

 

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The third season of The Wheel of Time, based on Robert Jordan’s fantasy book series, will premiere on Prime Video on March 13, 2025. All episodes of the first two seasons of The Wheel of Time are now available on Prime Video. The series is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios.