Dealing with a fanfavourite horse god
And four other challenges facing the showrunner of new fantasy series THE WHEEL OF TIME
TEN THOUSAND-PLUS PAGES. Over 4.4 million words. Robert Jordan’s The Wheel Of Time novels could swallow seven The Lord Of The Rings and still have room for The Hobbit. How do you adapt this story, a wildly entertaining high-fantasy epic about five farm kids who might just save the world, without losing steam? We asked the showrunner of the TV adaptation, Rafe Judkins (Agents Of .S.H.I.E.L.D., Chuck) — already on set of Season 2 — to talk us through the hurdles in his path.
1. KEEP IT DIFFERENT FROM THE LORD OF THE RINGS
As a fantasy show on Amazon, this needs to establish its niche quickly or be flattened by a $500 million Tolkien juggernaut — the upcoming Rings prequel. “The way I approached it was by thinking of [Season 1] as an adaptation of the entire series,” Judkins explains. “I tried to take the spine of the first book, and then infuse it with all the elements that make The Wheel Of Time so unique.” That meant, for example, a much bigger role for the magic-wielding Aes Sedai sisterhood up front, immediately establishing that we’re not in Middle-earth here.
2. AVOID FANTASY CLICHES
To keep the viewer grounded alongside our country bumpkin heroes, Judkins took one key stylistic decision. “Right from the beginning, I was like, ‘I don’t want those big hawk-flying-over-the-cgi-city shots. I want to see the world from the eyes of our characters.’” He’s also worked hard to create all the differing — and frequently warring — cultures of this reality. “The books created a realistic geopolitical world, and defined a lot of fantasy literature that followed. So we make sure that a person looks like they come from somewhere real.”
3. MAKE THE METAPHYSICS VISIBLE
The Aes Sedai ‘weave’ different magical elements together to work their wonders, threads that are visible to other magic users. But is there a way to make that look as intricate on screen as it does in our heads? “Yeah, you will see it. The magic system in The Wheel Of Time is so special; we had to show that to the audience.” That’s not to say that this will be a mad Cg-fest: the non-human characters will be based on prosthetics with only Cg-enhancement — like the super-creepy, eyeless Myrddraal. “Those are unbelievably horrifying. I think we’ve done our job with them.”
4. TACKLE A POSSIBLY DIVINE HORSE
There’s a long-running fan theory that a horse called Bela might be the Creator — this universe’s God. Judkins was determined to honour the fans. “You don’t even understand the number of meetings I had about Bela,” Judkins says. “‘Guys, you need to know that this horse is important. This horse is important and the fans care about her.’”
5. KEEP IN MIND 10,000 PAGES
Judkins isn’t counting on getting six or seven seasons, but he’s planning so that can happen, if the desire is there. “Coming into something like this, there are certain decisions you have to make in the first and second season to set up for long-term success. We’re always thinking about that, right from the beginning.” Will they make it to the end? It’s only a matter of time.