#WoTWednesday comes early this week! Rafe Judkins, showrunner of Amazon Studios’ forthcoming The Wheel of Time television adaptation, tweeted the news that the epic fantasy series had found a director for the first two episodes: Uta Briesewitz, whose credits include Jessica Jones, Stranger Things, and Westworld’s stunning season 2 episode “Kiksuya.”
Judkins welcomed Briesewitz to the Wheel of Time family on Twitter:
Another #WoTWednesday that’s not at all on Wednesday, but is worth the 6-day wait. Welcoming Uta Briesewitz to the team! She’s incredible and visionary and can pronounce Nynaeve like she was born to it. https://t.co/XXMqH2dESq
— Rafe Judkins (@rafejudkins) February 19, 2019
Briesewitz directing the first two episodes has us thinking The Wheel of Time will kick off with a two-parter series premiere. We know from Judkins’ tweets that the first two episodes are titled “Leavetaking” and “Shadow’s Waiting,” which are, respectively, the titles of Chapters 10 and 19 from The Eye of the World, the events of which bring the characters all the way to the chilling proceedings of Shadar Logoth. We also already know from the official series description that the adaptation of Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series will focus on Moiraine:
The fantasy epic is set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists, but only women can use it. The story follows Moiraine, a member of the shadowy and influential all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women. Moiraine believes that one of them might be the reincarnation of an incredibly powerful individual, whom prophecies say will either save humanity or destroy it. The series draws on numerous elements of European and Asian culture and philosophy, most notably the cyclical nature of time found in Buddhism and Hinduism.
Considering the particular episodes of genre television that Briesewitz has directed (“AKA I’ve Got the Blues” and “AKA Playland” for Jessica Jones, the aforementioned “Kiksuya” for Westworld), we would not be surprised if the first two episodes delve into Moiraine’s backstory in order to establish her viewpoint as an entry into the series. Could material from the prequel novel New Spring be incorporated into these episodes?
The Wheel of Time is set to begin production in Prague in September 2019. In the meantime, join us in the comments speculating on what to expect from Briesewitz’s episodes, and season 1 overall.
