TVTT Accepted/Soldiers Edition – What I Want from the TV Show
Author: Atane Valthon
Published: September 10 2021 - Tar Valon Times Blog Link
There have been many reaction pieces to the trailer for the Amazon Prime adaptation for the Wheel of Time. People have shared their hopes for the show while others have shared their critiques of what the trailer have showed us. These reactions have demonstrated what many of us already know: fans of The Wheel of Time have a great love for the series and a desire to see this adaptation done well. We want to see our favorite scenes played out onscreen, to see the swordfights, the comic interplay between the members of the Women’s Circle and the Village Council of Emond’s Field, and even to feel the fear in Shadar Logoth.
Why do we want to experience these events onscreen when we have built them up in our minds and imagined them? Speaking for myself there are a few reasons, the first of which is: I want validation. I want to be able to say, “Yes! That’s how I always pictured it in my head. I’m glad someone else imagined it the same way.” Another reason I want to experience the saga onscreen is because I want more people to like what I like. Some people are more drawn into sights and sounds than they are to the written word; if the sights and sounds of a show or a movie are going to draw someone in more effectively than a book, than get it produced!
As for why I want people to be drawn into the series: The Wheel of Time series has been a part of my life since 10th grade, in 1999. I would bring the paperback books to school and read them before class, after class…and during class when I could get away with it. I would let the words paint a picture in my mind and escape whatever I had been going through in my real life. I also remember the excitement that I had when one of my classmates started reading the books; someone else, that wasn’t a family member, was experiencing the world of WoT for themselves. Again, there was that shared experience.
And here, at TarValon.Net, we know that the desire to share our individual experiences with the Wheel of Time has brought us together. Sometimes, making one’s way through the series can seem like a slog; including New Spring, there are 15 books in the series, and the books are not thin. Other times, we want to voice dissatisfaction with particular characters with whom we do not empathize. Yet, we also want to share our favorite scenes or to say how our favorite character is clearly better than another.
So as we prepare for the coming of the Amazon Prime show, I hope we can all welcome new people into our love for the Wheel of Time. And I also hope that we’ll be able to say, “That scene, I wasn’t sure about it at first, but it really does the books justice.” Most of all, I would like the show to remind us why we fell in love with the series in the first place.
