It might sound oxymoronic, but fantasy is an incredibly tough genre to break into on streaming, even though it boasts a higher cancellation rate than any other form of storytelling. Refusing to get sucked into Netflix’s way of thinking, though, Prime Video renewed The Wheel of Time for a third season long before the second had even considered locking down a release date.
The Peripheral may have very recently bitten the dust despite being awarded an additional run of episodes, but given that Amazon’s platform is willing to spend $465 million on eight installments of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and $300 million on the turgid Citadel, it does at least give its heaviest hitters the chance to prove themselves before pulling the plug.
While The Wheel of Time displays a more assured sense of itself second time around, it still feels as if something intangible is missing that could propel it to the next level, something that the remainder of season 2 will hopefully deliver in spades seeing as its home streamer has already committed to spending the not-inconsiderable amount of money it takes to bring the world to life.
The good news is that it’s returned with a vengeance in terms of viewership, with FlixPatrol revealing the latest chapter in the sprawling and ambitious epic to have seized hold of the number one spot in no less than 86 countries worldwide a mere 24 hours after the first three episodes of its new season dropped.
With five more still to come, The Wheel of Time won’t be letting go of the summit for a while yet.
