'The Wheel of Time' Turns Up A March Debut for Season 3

The pandemic delays that upended filming for Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon led to a head-to-head, as Amazon and HBO released Season 1 of each within a week of each other in 2022, and then their respective Season 2 back-to-back earlier in 2024. However, it also lifted the profiles of both series, turning them into *THE* big-budget fantasy showdown of the 2020s and leaving Amazon's other big-budget fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, as an also-ran in the minds of critics. It's a damn shame, too, as Rafe Judkins' innovative adaptation of the unwieldy series continues to be superior to both.

For those who didn't grow up in the 1990s, The Wheel of Time marked a new era in fantasy novels in which women's perspectives were given the same weight as their male counterparts. Much like George RR Martin's hit novels, which became Game of Thrones, they are very much a product of their era, and at 14 books, far too slow-moving to adapt straight to television. Enter Judkins, whose surprisingly expert streamlining of the series conveys all the heaviness of the Hero's Journey story while excising the detritus that would only confuse viewers.

The series is also not included in these conversations because its release date tracking is different. It streams in The Rings of Power's off-years; in this case, Season 3 will arrive in March 2025, six months after LOTR Season 2 and almost a year after the second run of HotD. Both should be grateful, as the trailer for Season 3 once again promises to eclipse most of the competition.