In the last few years,fantasy has been the fastest-growing genre on TV, providing some of the most memorable series of the 2020s.House of the Dragon,The Witcher,The Wheel of Time, and many others have shown the extremes of what modern technology can do while bringing other worlds, monsters, and magic to life. Butthe reign of high-budget fantasy TV seems to be ending,especially with the announcement thatPrime Video will not be renewingThe Wheel of Timeafter its recent third season. The cancellation is something of a shock, as the recent season met with its best reception yet. Though certainly expensive with its sprawling narrative and ever-growing cast,The Wheel of Timedidn’t deserve to end so quickly.
Adapted fromRobert Jordan’s massive 14-book series,The Wheel of Timewas nowhere close to running out of stories for Rand (Josha Stradowski), Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), and their allies to explore, and evenleft some major cliffhangers, which made the audience all the more hopeful of a renewal.The Wheel of Timeisn’t the first fantasy series to end suddenly in the current streaming environment, and it won’t be the last. These shows are some of the most expensive endeavors a studio can undertake, though that hasn’t always been a deterrent. It seems the idea is to try several and see what catches on, but that does a disservice to the stories, which often need time to grow into their potential.The Wheel of Time’s premature cancellation is part of a concerning trend in the fantasy genre, which is hurting many beloved series.
‘The Wheel of Time’s Cancellation Indicates the End of the Fantasy Boom on TV
Following the undeniable cultural landmark that was HBO’sGame of Thrones, everyone wanted a piece of that audience, so the options for fantasy TV grew rapidly — which led to the announcement ofGame of Thrones’ first spin-off,House of the Dragon, as well asseveral moreshows being announced. Prime Video and Netflix both bought the rights to popular fantasy books, with Prime Video adaptingThe Wheel of TimeandThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,while Netflix madeThe WitcherandShadow and Bone. For a while, fantasy TV reached a new peak, with all of these shows running,but none quitefilled theGame of Thrones-shaped holein the cultural zeitgeist.
The first to go wasShadow and Bone, when Netflix cancelled it in 2023 after two seasons. Now,The Wheel of Timehas ended, and it has already been announced thatThe Witcherwill soon follow, leaving onlyTheRings of Powerstill standing. TheGame of Thronesspinoffs have escaped this curse so far, and more seem to be announced regularly. But with the genre as a whole waning,it seems the fantasy TV boom is over.
‘The Wheel of Time’ Completely Changed My Mind About Alanna
This Aes Sedai is much more than meets the eye.
It shouldn’t be ignored thatthe shows that are still being made already have a built-in audience, not just comprised of readers.Game of Thronesestablished a significant following over time, whileRings of Powerbenefits from the popularity of theLord of the Ringsfilm franchise. Meanwhile, the rest seem to have fallen victim to the changing tides of streaming services.
Fantasy TV’s Biggest Problem Is the Expense
In some ways, it makes sense that the fantasy genre’s popularity was unsustainable on television. Not only can few stories live up to the expectations set byGame of Thrones,but to be done well,a fantasy series requires a significant budget.The genre usually entails sprawling worlds featuring drastically different locations and civilizations. It also traditionally includes epic battles and more than a little special effects work. All of those things are expensive. Most of these showsrank among the most expensive ever made, withThe Rings of Powerhaving a budget of $58 million per episode. That is certainly a lot to spend on a single show, and it seems like streamers aren’t prepared to follow that model anymore.
For a while, streaming services set themselves apart with big-budget series, which was the perfect environment for fantasy to thrive in. These shows boasted major spectacles that demonstrated exactly what modern effects are capable of. But now that these streaming services have made a name for theiroriginal content, they don’t want to spend as much. That isn’t to saybig-budget TVis going away, but streamers are being more particular about what they drop their money on, and, as popular as they seem to be, these shows aren’t quite cutting it.Cost was one of the major reasons Prime Video citedforThe Wheel of Time’s cancellation, which goes to show the changing priorities of streamers.
Fantasy Shows' Early Cancellation Prevents Them from Fulfilling Their True Potential
However,with these fantasy series being prematurely canceled, they are not reaching their fullest potentialfor audiences. Most shows do have growing pains at first; evenGame of Throneswasn’t at its best right off the bat, taking a few seasons (and a growing budget) to reach the status that it eventually enjoyed.Season 4 is often consideredGame of Thrones' best, showing that these shows can improve over time. Yet, becauseThe Wheel of Timeand several other fascinating series were canceled so early on, they won’t earn the same opportunity to reach that point.
It takes a while to build a reputation in the competitive world of TV, especially with so many options available, but starting and then promptly canceling fantasy shows denies the stories any form of opportunity to grow a larger audience. It’s especially noticeable withThe Wheel of Time,asthe show consistently improved with each season. The Prime Video adaptation had only reached Jordan’s fourth book in a series of 14, leaving several iconic moments untouched. YetThe Wheel of Timeisn’t the only series whose potential was cut short.Shadow and Bone’s final seasonnot only left open cliffhangers, but the series set up anadaptation of the nextLeigh Bardugobook,Six of Crows, which many fans consider the franchise’s best.This growing trend of fantasy TV only getting to two or three seasons is concerning,and cancellations are both to the detriment of fans who are left hanging and the shows themselves. While watching the genre take off initially was exciting, few fantasy series are getting the satisfying conclusion they deserve.
The Wheel of Timeis streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.
