When characters from books or comics are adapted to a new medium, changes are inevitable, and that’s especially true when it comes to their love lives. Serial genre TV series traditionally lean on romantic arcs, fueling the passion of the shippers in the fanbase, so the needs of the story may not be the same as it would be in a book series. Amazon Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time, with its huge cast and intricate plot, is unlikely to be an exception. In this case, however, the source material is throwing the creative team something of a curveball.
The Wheel of Time book series, begun by the late Robert Jordan in the 1990s and completed according to his vision by Brandon Sanderson, has a male lead character whom the narrative follows from his innocent youth to his grand destiny. Like most fantasy protagonists, Rand al'Thor has his share of love interests along the way, but expectations are subverted when three of them -- Min, Elayne and Aviendha -- all concurrently steal his heart. It’s repeatedly stated that he loves all three equally, as they do him, and thus he never singles one out as his “true love” but instead maintains romantic and sexual relationships with each one throughout the series.
On paper, this might be an intriguingly unique element to add to the epic tale, but most readers seem to react to it with either disinterest or disappointment. Taken individually, each of Rand’s romances comes across as awkward and bland with scattered moments of real chemistry, and keeping all three of them in play does nothing to improve them. While Jordan is rightfully praised for his brilliance with plot and worldbuilding, he’s generally not the author that anyone looks to for a well-written love story.
This is where the adaptation has a chance to shine. Although today’s audiences may be ready for a polyamorous hero, if that arc is kept intact, it will still require some adjustment to make it satisfying. In the books, Rand’s lovers accept the situation grudgingly as their only option, and it’s hard to not feel that at least one of them is always getting shortchanged. In addition, the idea of such a relationship is frowned on by every culture in the story, with polygamy sometimes practiced by Aviendha’s people but only in the sense of one man taking two wives.
While it’s possible that the show will gradually build up to a healthy, balanced version of the books’ polycule, it could also take Rand’s love life in a different direction. Fans are often frustrated by love triangles in various fiction, but there’s a reason they’re so commonplace. Presenting the three love interests and then teasing the outcome of which one Rand will choose is a strategy that could generate seasons of debate and interest in the show. In spite of the cliche, this path could potentially benefit the story by allowing the remaining two love interests to find their own partners or decide they don’t need them.
Another approach might make use of some elements from the books while also addressing their lack of LGBT characters -- a notable absence for such a long story, and one that’s drawn a lot of criticism over the years. The friendship between Aviendha and Elayne, which begins with a reluctant agreement to not compete with each other over Rand, eventually becomes a committed bond of sisterhood. From some perspectives, it’s a much more compelling relationship than either of them have with Rand, and it would be easy to reinterpret it as romantic love and let both characters write the man out of their lives so they can carry on as a couple.
Of course, they can just as easily keep him in the equation, and Min as well -- or bring Min in and leave out Rand. The Wheel of Time, unlike Game of Thrones and its own source material, contains no explicit sex scenes, but that doesn’t rule out clear indications about who's sleeping with who. It may be as simple as some dialogue affirming that this is how the characters have chosen for themselves, or it may be kept indefinitely subtle.
The relationships described take multiple books to unfold, and as of now, only one of Rand's lovers has even been cast. Whether or not the show will go on for as long as the books did remains to be seen, but there’s plenty of room for relationships to develop, evolve, fall apart and surprise everyone.
Executive produced and written by Rafe Judkins, The Wheel of Time stars Rosamund Pike, Josha Stradowski, Marcus Rutherford, Zoë Robins, Barney Harris, Madeleine Madden, Daniel Henney, and Michael McElhatton. A premiere date has not been announced by Amazon at this time.
December 17, 2020 at 06:45AM
https://www.cbr.com/wheel-of-time-book-polyamory/
The Wheel of Time: How Will the Show Handle the Books’ Most Notorious Romance? - CBR - Comic Book Resources
https://news.google.com/search?q=Wheel&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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