Prime Video's The Wheel of Time has an ambitious task in adapting the plot of Robert Jordan's long-running novel series.
The Wheel of Time is set in a high fantasy world. It follows an order of female magic wielders known as the Aes Sedai on their quest to find the prophesized Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy the world.
Jordan's fantasy saga contains 14 books, three of which have already been adapted throughout two TV show seasons (albeit with a few changes).
Which Books Will Be Adapted in The Wheel of Time Season 3?
The third season of The Wheel of Time is expected to cover the plots of two of Robert Jordan's novels, The Shadow Rising and The Fires of Heaven.
Amazon confirmed in an article that the fourth book in Jordan's saga will form the basis for most of the plot in The Wheel of Time Season 3. This is the longest novel in Jordan's saga, and it follows Rand and his friends on a journey to the desolate Aiel Waste.
Some fans of the books will note that this is a departure from Jordan's timeline in the novels and indicates the TV series will skip over a major plotline from the third book that follows Rand's journey to the Stone of Tear.
However, star Rosamund Pike, who plays Moiraine, reassured in an interview with Screen Rant that the series hasn't "neglected the Stone of Tear, we've just rearranged the order:"
"We haven't neglected the Stone of Tear, we've just rearranged the order. There'll be debate about it, but instead of Rand, as you would expect, his next point on his journey would be to go and get Callandor from the Stone of Tear, we are going into the Aiel Waste first, because he needs to discover who he is. Obviously in the novels, there's loads of opportunity for the internal battles of Rand, coming to terms with being the Dragon Reborn - but we need to make that active."
The series' reasoning for this change, according to Pike, is to help make the "internal battles of Rand" and his "coming to terms with being the Dragon Reborn" more active on screen (which is something Rand's actor Josha Stradowski also teased for The Wheel of Time Season 3.)
This suggests that portions of the third book, The Dragon Reborn, will still be covered in future seasons of the TV series, but it's unclear as to exactly when.
The Wheel of Time Season 3 Will Also Draw On Book 5
While the fourth of Jordan's novels will be the primary driver of the plot in The Wheel of Time Season 3, parts of the fifth book, The Fires of Heaven, are also expected to be adapted.
Showrunner Rafe Judkins confirmed during a panel at New York Comic-Con last year (via Collider) that book four would be the primary storyline of Season 3 but that elements of book five would also be included.
These elements will likely be related to the characters of Lord Gaebril and Queen Morgase, who are being played by new cast members Nuno Lopes and Olivia Williams in Season 3 of the show.
Both characters have roles in prior books in The Wheel of Time saga, but their storylines are most important in The Fires of Heaven, with Lord Gaebril being one of the primary antagonists of that book.
It remains to be seen to what extent these characters will be used in Season 3 of The Wheel of Time, but it seems like they might become a larger part of the story in the TV show earlier than in the books.
The Wheel of Time Season 3 will debut on Prime Video on Thursday, March 13 (find the full schedule and release date details for Season 3 here).
