Fantasy Writer Brandon Sanderson Speaks Out on ‘Wheel of Time’s Cancellation After “Being Largely Ignored” by the Series

Prime Video’s treatment of The Wheel of Time the last month has been one of the more disappointing stories of the year thus far, and yet another creative involved with the show has broken their silence. Amazon announced near the end of May that it would not be moving forward with a fourth season of The Wheel of Time, despite cast and creators involved with the show expressing a desire to return and continue the story. One of the creatives involved with the series is Brandon Sanderson, the acclaimed fantasy author who finished The Wheel of Time novel series following original author Robert Jordan’s passing in 2007. Sanderson spoke about the cancellation during a video on his YouTube channel, even expressing frustration with how certain elements of the fantasy series were handled:

“I do think it’s a shame, as while I had my problems with the show, it had a fanbase who deserved better than a cancelation after the best season. I won’t miss being largely ignored; they wanted my name on it for legitimacy, but not to involve me in any meaningful way.”

The Wheel of Time was written and created for television by Rafe Judkins, who has also expressed his disappointment in the cancellation. Amazon claims the series was canceled strictly for declining viewership and financial reasons. It’s disappointing to hear that Sanderson, who is credited as a “consulting producer” on all three seasons of The Wheel of Time, feels his input wasn’t being valued by the creative team, though his affirmation that The Wheel of Time Season 3 was the best season makes the cancellation sting all the more, going out on a high note like the show did. It’s also been reported that Amazon and Sony have no plans to shop The Wheel of Time to other streamers or potentially networks, further ruling out the chance of a potential revival.

Who Stars in ‘The Wheel of Time’?

Rosamund Pike stars in the lead role of Moraine Damodred in The Wheel of Time, and she’s flanked by Daniel Henney and Madeleine Madden in the fantasy series, who play Lan Mandragoran and Egwene Al’Vere, respectively. Zoë Robbins and Josh Stradowski can also be seen in The Wheel of Time as Nynaeve al’Meara and Rand al’Thor, with the rest of the ensemble being filled out by Marcus Rutherford as Perrin Aybara, Hammed Animashaun as Loial, Dónal Finn as Matt Cauthon, Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin Guirale, and more. The show currently holds ratings of 88% from critics and 75% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.