'The Wheel Of Time' review: Expect action and legend and magic

Rosamund Pike as Aes Sedai Moiraine in 'The Wheel of Time'. (Image: screen grab)

‘The wheel weaves as the wheel wills and we are only the thread in the pattern.’ This is what the seven spoked wheel of time does, over and over again, creating magic along the way. Magic of the Source that gifted people can tap into…

The opening credits of the show are stunning. Weaving light into threads looks magical. The show starts at Two Rivers, a rural community of hard working simple folk. We have been told that the cities are destroyed and the wheel of time is at a point where people have to recover.

There is a mysterious woman and her male companion who show up at the inn where people are happily drinking and laughing. Stunned silence greets the duo. They are obviously not to be trusted. Rosamund Pike plays the Aes Sedai Moiraine and her top knotted gorgeous companion Lan Mandragoran is played by the sword wielding Daniel Henny. Why are they here in a village that has strange rituals of pushing girls with freshly braided hair into the river?

When I first read Robert Jordan’s books, I was amused that women wielded the power and the men who have the power are cleansed because it drives them insane. I joined the fan clubs and enjoyed reading fanfiction about who would be ‘the’ dragon (the saviour of the worlds), how many times does the author use tugging of braids, smoothing of skirts, knuckling of moustaches), licking of gums (there’s a character called Glokta who does that most), sniffing (Lordy there is plenty of sniffing going on: Nynaeve 55 times and Egwene 19 times), and even attended dramatised book readings.

Cosplay aside, what is super cool about the show are the Trollocks. Half man, wholly beastly, these creatures of the dark are horrendously violent. They give orcs from Lord of the Rings a run for their money. If you thought Azog the orc was scary, then see the Eyeless one with the Dune Sandworm mouth! It’s the stuff of nightmares. Not PG 13 at all.

The four who could be Dragon need to be taken to the White Tower, where all the Aes Sedai are. Each one of them has a reason to not go, not trust Moiraine. But as one says, ‘She kept us safe… And she wields the light to destroy the Trollocks, so might as well go along with her.'

There is a band of Whitecloaks that are cruel to boot as they hunt the women who are Aes Sedai. Most viewers will watch them with fear. The whiter their outfit is, the bloodier their hands are… But what is even more frightening is the ancient city of Shadar Logoth, or the place where shadows wait. The action sequences here might make you fear your own shadow!

This reviewer watched two episodes of the series that promises to be full of action and legend and magic. The third drops on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, November 19. If you are tired of watching reruns of Lord Of the Rings (LOTR), then you’ll be ready to get entangled in the stories that the wheel of time spins...