Los Angeles: Amazon MGM Studios, and Sony Pictures have decided not to go ahead with the fourth season of Amazon Prime’s blockbuster fantasy series ‘The Wheel of Time’, whose third season ended on April 17.
The show, which premiered in 2021, became Prime Video’s most-watched premiere show that year, and eventually became the most-watched series in several countries. The third season was highly appreciated by fans for its powerful storytelling, with critics rating Season 3 at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, up from 82% for Season 2 and 81% for Season 1.
First reported by The Deadline, the producers decided to end the show for financial reasons, even though fans have been highly disappointed with the news.
The reports saw extensive debates on Reddit, with most fans expressing disappointment at the news.
“Each season was a substantial improvement over the last. I don’t understand how they gave it to whoever started the first season because they had fnck all judgement and threw out a lot of the plot and characterisation that made the books so great (though hugely flawed, massive amount of filler). Why do they pick people who have so little talent or respect for the material they’re adapting? Isn’t several hundred million a lot of money to throw away or have I lost track of inflation?
Pity because, despite the mistakes made, the 3rd series was becoming excellent, the actors were growing into the parts and they were smoothing over some of the mistakes they’d made since the start.” a redditor by the name Foreign-Entrance-255 said.
The show’s creator Rafe Judkins had hoped to ‘finish the story’ and he was looking forward to the next season. Friday’s cancellation news will end this prematurely.
“The books get better as they go and the show is getting better as it goes. I think we can continue that arc if we’re allowed to continue. But it is different [now]. Television’s moving in a direction where things just come in, splash and leave. But the history of television is that its strength is longform storytelling; that you stick with it and you love these characters and you follow them through 60 to 100 hours. That’s where television has its strength. That’s where it’s better than movies, at telling those kinds of stories. So I’m hopeful for our industry that shows like Wheel of Time do get to tell the whole story. I think it’s important for television. It’s what we do best, and so we should be finishing these stories.” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
