Amazon is probably less than pleased with sci-fi author Brandon Sanderson at the moment. That's because Sanderson delivered some harsh criticism for the streamer's season 2 finale of The Wheel of Time.
If you're unfamiliar with Sanderson, he is a celebrated fantasy author, best known for his Mistborn and Stormlight Archive fantasy series. However, he's probably more known for stepping in to write the final three entries in The Wheel of Time saga after original author Robert Jordan passed away. Sanderson was selected by Tor and Jordan's widow, Harriet.
His role in the Amazon show is that of a consultant who reads the scripts and provides feedback, primarily centered around what crucial elements from the books are necessary to retain. Sanderson has gone on record before to reveal that he's somewhat frustrated and disappointed that showrunner Rafe Judkins and the rest of the creative team don't always take his feedback to heart.
And it looks as if the cup may have finally spilled over, as Sanderson participated in a live reaction viewing of the season 2 finale with YouTube channel, The Dusty Wheel.
"I’ve read all the scripts, I have not seen the whole season,” he explained, as transcribed by Winter is Coming. “This is the first chance I’ve been able to sit down and watch."
The first issue Sanderson had with the finale spoke to an overall season 2 plot thread that centered on Moraine (played by Rosamund PIke) losing her powers. In The Great Hunt, the second novel in the series that serves as an inspiration for season 2, this does not happen.
"[Rosamund Pike] is great, by the way…but I fought pretty hard against the Moiraine not having her powers thing. I just don’t think it worked, and maybe again it’s just me looking forward, but…if we’re having people lose their powers and get them back just for the convenience of like a few episodes it really detracts from the idea of losing powers, getting powers back. I don’t think we needed it. I tried on that one."
Without going into spoiler territory, channelers losing their powers and getting them back becomes a key plot element in later books and to see it played out so early in the show might come back to haunt the showrunners as they look to adapt later entries.
Moving on, Sanderson also took issue with the way Rand dispatched the High Lord Turak. A big component of the novels is Rand carrying his father's heron-marked blade, a symbol that denotes the wielder as a blademaster. In book 1 and 2, Rand receives lessons from Lan and become fairly adept at wielding the sword, setting up a heroic sword battle with Turak.
In the finale, Rand just simply blasts Turank and his guards with the One Power, a clear homage to an iconic Indiana Jones scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
"I don’t really like it. It’s a cool shot... [But Rand] taught by the best swordsman in the world. In the books, he gets taught to be a blademaster by the best swordsman ever," said Sanderson. He went on to add, "The show is doing a lot of things fantastically, and it’s really good at scenes. But one of the things I keep arguing for is, ‘What are the arcs’? What is the theme? And arc and theme seems to fall by the wayside for cool scenes quite a bit, and that worries me. Particularly going into book four, where its the strongest Wheel of Time book and that’s partially because of themes of self-sacrifice and things like this."
The next element of the finale that Sanderson took issue with was the creation of Mat's ashandarei, an iconic weapon that Mat uses that was created by the One Power and is a combination of a spear and polearm.
In the finale, it appears that Mat's ashandarei will be his hastily made spear he created by tying the Shadar Logoth-tainted dagger to a staff. This is a pretty big departure from the novels and a change that's sure to infuriate many fans of Mat.
"Sorry. I really tried. I tried so hard," said Sanderson in response to the scene where Mat constructs his makeshift weapon. Sanderson went on to state that, to his knowledge, this will be the show's definitive version of the ashandarei.
"I’m sorry, using the dagger on a spear is the same thing as using it. You’re touching it…it’s a metaphor for using the darkness and accepting it. It’s a metaphor for turning to the Dark Side…it misses the whole point."
"Mat’s arc is not about weaponizing his darkness. That’s Perrin’s arc, and finding that balance. Mat’s arc is very different from that, and doing this just bothers me. I don’t feel it was built up through the season that his arc would be about weaponizing his own darkness, and walking that line."
Amazon's The Wheel of Time is currently filming season 3 in South Africa, and it will be interesting to see what role Sanderson plays in the series moving forward after publicly showing his disdain for the season 2 finale.
At the very least, it's led to fans wondering whether the show's creative team will take huge liberties when/if the show reaches the last three novels that Sanderson wrote.