The style of storytelling used in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time books will apparently carry over to Amazon’s TV adaptation, thus separating it from all other fantasy shows preceding it. In crafting the story of the Dragon Reborn and his numerous allies, Jordan employed a unique POV format that was present throughout all 14 books and the prequel.
Rand al’Thor is the central protagonist of Wheel of Time, but he’s far from the only main character. The books also focus heavily on Moiraine, Lan, Nynaeve, Perrin, Mat, and Egwene, all of which being characters confirmed to be among the main cast in Wheel of Time season 1. As an ensemble show, Wheel of Time will eventually expand to different corners of its world and ultimately encom a large and diverse cast of heroes that includes Thom, Loial, Elayne, Aviendha, Min, Juilin Sandar, and more.
One of the most notable elements of the books is how the story was told through the perspective of only one character at a time. What this means is that for several chapters (or less), readers would follow along with a particular protagonist. They only knew and saw what that character experienced until the POV changed to someone else. Depending on how this approach is implemented in Amazon’s TV series, it can impact various facets of the show and its story. One way that it’s confirmed to be important is the depiction of the One Power (the name given to the magic that exists in Wheel of Time).
In the Wheel of Time books, how the One Power is described depends largely on who’s using it and who the POV character is. First of all, it’s important to note that people who can’t tap into the One Power can’t see the “weaves” channeled by the . In other words, if the POV character is a normal person like Mat Cauthon, they won’t be able to see what’s happening. Also, men and women view the One Power differently, so how their abilities look in the show will be determined by if the POV character is male or female. Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins has already indicated that this is how the One Power will work in the show (via World of the Wheel).
Aside from the powers, it’s unclear just how far the series will go in translating the books’ POV format. Presumably, it’ll have some differences since some things may be difficult to adapt from the page to the screen. In the books, it allowed for a great deal of mystery. Because villains were rarely POV characters, the knowledge of the reader was usually restricted to the heroes and what they encountered on their journeys. If the show moves in this direction, audiences will be introduced to all sorts of characters, places, and concepts at the same time that Rand, Egwene, and the others do. Regardless, Wheel of Time utilizing the POV formula – to any extent – promises a unique fantasy experience.