Amazon is delving deep into the world of fantasy epics with its Lord of the Rings series on Prime Video, but first up we have their adaptation of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, which makes its premiere on November 19th. In addition to the high fantasy series, those who are not familiar with the history of the world in which the story is set can take advantage of new bonus content which examines the long and distant past of the unnamed world that acts as the setting of the main story. The Wheel of Time: Origins is a series of animated shorts that will be released with new episodes of the series and was announced on the series’ official Twitter account.
“Explore the years and centuries before our tale,” the tweet reads. “On November 19, see the new animated shorts on X-Ray by pressing up on your FireTV remote or tapping on your mobile device while watching The Wheel of Time.”
Explore the years and centuries before our tale. On November 19, see the new animated shorts on X-Ray by pressing up on your FireTV remote or tapping on your mobile device while watching #TheWheelOfTime. Only on @PrimeVideo. pic.twitter.com/ZAd4URwCyk
— The Wheel Of Time (@TheWheelOfTime) November 12, 2021
The short trailer features a series of dark and moody animation segments, fitting perfectly to the kind of imagery used in many other fantasy epics when a chunk of mythology needs to be explained outside the main story, and a voiceover explains both the purpose of the episodes and how to access them. “Experience the origins of The Wheel of Time with exclusive animated bonus content from Prime Video X-Ray…and see how the world Broke,” the narration begins. After explaining how to access the bonus content via FireTV remote or mobile app, it continues, “Each episode is an expansive backstory of The Wheel of Time. It must be seen to know the whole truth.”
In many ways, the interactive and branching abilities of streaming allow viewers to be brought into series and movies more than ever before. When the Lord of The Rings movies arrived on DVD and Blu-ray with a host of appendices that expanded on what could be put on screen as part of the main movies. Skip forward two decades and filmmakers and TV execs now have the ability to put this kind of detail into the fingers of views without them having to change discs or go searching through additional menus. The Wheel of Time is a perfect property for this kind of additional content to come into its own.
Based on the best-selling novels of Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time was originally envisaged as a six book series but ended up spanning 14 novels, with author Brandon Sanderson being brought in to complete the series when Jordan died in 2007 but left behind extensive notes on how the final story would pan out. In total the series has sold in excess of 90 million copies, making it one of the biggest fantasy sagas since Lord of the Rings, which makes it even more appropriate that Amazon should have a hand in both franchises coming to the small screen.
The first three episodes of the first season will premiere on November 19th, with the first Origins shorts, all via Prime Video.
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