Prime Video has formally slammed the door shut on The Wheel of Time — and followers are reacting just like the Darkish One himself simply gained.
The cancellation information hit on Friday, and the web response over the weekend has mirrored a way of incredulity from the present’s fanbase. “We lastly made a very good season from a fantasy guide adaptation? That is unacceptable! Cancel it instantly!” one dismayed fan quipped on Threads. One other known as it “actually the dumbest choice ever made,” whereas others identified that Season 3 had lastly hit its stride, delivering sturdy character improvement, big-budget battles, and momentum that felt prefer it was constructing towards one thing epic.
“It doesn’t make sense,” one other fan lamented. “I hope that the challenge might be rescued, it deserves it.”
And that’s the factor — The Wheel of Time did truly appear to be it was working. Not simply creatively, however commercially (appear being the important thing phrase). Right here’s a glance again:
Season 1 debuted in 2021 and just about exploded proper out of the gate. It racked up greater than 1.16 billion viewing minutes in its first week and climbed to just about 5 billion by the tip of its eight-week run. That translated to greater than 10 million US viewers, inserting the present within the “this might be Prime Video’s Sport of Thrones” class. The sequence was wealthy in lore, sprawling in scale, and primarily based on a beloved guide sequence with a built-in viewers.
Season 2, nonetheless, premiered in 2023 and didn’t fairly maintain the momentum going. Viewership dropped by greater than 50%, and though it nonetheless in contrast favorably to a few of Prime Video’s different mid-tier originals, it couldn’t match the large numbers being pulled in by exhibits like Fallout and even the wildly costly The Rings of Energy (which, sure, additionally misplaced half its viewers however someway nonetheless acquired renewed for Season 3).
By the point Season 3 of Wheel of Time rolled out in spring 2025, issues had stabilized considerably. The present landed within the Nielsen Prime 10 streaming originals chart and maintained sturdy engagement on-line — rating because the seventeenth hottest present globally at one level. It additionally hit #1 on Prime Video in 23 nations. Undoubtedly not a foul outcome.
The present additionally has respectable Rotten Tomatoes scores: A median 88% critics’ rating and a median 75% viewers rating for all three seasons (for the newest season, Season 3, these scores had climbed to 97% and 83%, respectively).
And but, right here we’re. Prime Video’s choice to cancel The Wheel of Time after three seasons actually appears to say extra about its shifting priorities than the present itself. With the success of Fallout proving it might probably do style exhibits proper, the streamer is now going all-in on two extra blockbuster variations: God of Battle and Mass Impact, exhibits that include huge budgets, huge IP, and large expectations. In the meantime, The Rings of Energy continues to limp together with its billion-dollar price ticket and more and more ambivalent fanbase.
That’s what stings probably the most for The Wheel of Time followers. The present wasn’t a flop, wasn’t damaged, and had discovered a groove — however Prime Video axed it anyway. One fan on Threads summed all of it up completely: “That’s a horrible choice… (the present) has a built-in viewers and can be a very good pickup by one other streamer.” Right here’s hoping that’s not simply wishful considering. As a result of whereas the wheel might flip, this seems like a break within the sample nobody needed.
