How Many Episodes Are In The Wheel Of Time Season 2?
On September 1, Season 2 of "The Wheel of Time" kicked off with a bang. Amazon Prime made not one, not two, but three episodes available all at once, providing fans with well over three hours of fantasy fun in the process. Dropping a trio of episodes all at once might feel like the beginning of a long rollout process, but in reality, the premiere gave viewers access to nearly half of the season in a single day.
As was the case with Season 1, there will be eight total episodes in Season 2. Each of these tends to tick several minutes past the one-hour mark, which means we're probably in for around eight total hours of story-telling fun (minus the credits). This is similar to other Amazon Studios' series; "The Rings of Power," for instance, also released eight one-hour episodes in its Season 1. It may feel like a significant investment, especially when you add up several seasons' worth of content, but for a story set in Robert Jordan's universe, it's just a drop in the bucket.
A lot of story, so little time
Eight hours is a lot of time to invest in a fictional narrative. In some cases, this can lead to a lot of downtime, as was the case in "The Walking Dead's" infamous Season 2 slump. For "Wheel of Time," though, the length is well-warranted — and probably not enough. The show is an adaptation of authors Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson's 14-book epic, a story spanning dozens of cultures, cities, nations, and biomes. It has over 2,700 named characters. It has nearly 150 different points of view.
Working with such an astronomical amount of source material is intimidating for any length story, so the thought that it's going to be packed into a limited number of eight-hour seasons seems frightfully difficult — but the creative team behind the show is up for the challenge. In a recent on-set interview with Looper, Producer Holger Reibiger spoke to the difficulties of adapting so much written material. Reibiger said that Season 2 will pull from both Book 2 and Book 3, explaining, "If you think about how much source material it is to fit that into eight episodes, it's quite challenging. You try to pick the best moments and create as best as possible."
"You pick your favorites, and you focus on them," Executive Producer Mike Weber added. "That's what Rafe and the writers have done. You zero in on the most dramatic, the most emotional, the most action-oriented points of view, and you tell the story through their eyes, for the most part. That's easier for an audience to engage through."
A big finale and Season 3
At a weekly release rate of new episodes dropping every Friday, the final episode is slated to air on October 6. As is the case with most fantasy epics, Season 1 spent a lot of time introducing characters and setting up the world. Season 2 started with a time jump and then launched right into the story. As momentum builds, the promise of a rewarding finale grows.
This isn't mere speculation, either. The creative minds on the show have been hinting at a big ending to Season 2 for a while now.
During Looper's time on set, the show's hair and makeup artist Davina Lamont, stunt coordinator Jan Petrina, and production designer Ondrej Nekvasil all referenced the Season 2 finale as a truly epic event to look forward to. Characters will come together again, reuniting in the fight to overcome evil and defeat the emerging Dark One and his Forsaken followers.
After that, fans will be able to look forward to at least a third foray into Robert Jordan's world. Showrunner Rafe Judkins snuck in a surprise announcement at Comic-Con, informing fans that Season 3 is officially happening. While the show may have had a slow start getting out of the gate, it seems that it is quickly picking up steam as it builds toward its world-shaking conclusion.