“Wheel of Time”: Casting of Rand Al Thor, Perrin, Mat, Ewgene and Nynaeve in Amazon Series

We’ve been anxiously awaiting any kind of news about the upcoming live-action tv series adaptation of Robert Jordan‘s (and later completed by Brandon Sanderson) epic fantasy series “The Wheel Of Time.” Amazon almost missed this month’s #WOTWednesday, but they promised the announcement would be a doozy.

Last month, it was the reveal that Rosamund Pike would be starring in the Amazon Studios series as Moiraine, and the official Wheel of Time twitter account has been dropping subtle hints all week as to what the next news would be.

You’ve got plenty of time to try to read the 14-book series before the show airs (still no word on WHEN), but definitely try to get through books 1-3.

This morning, the WOT Twitter admitted today’s announcement would be casting-related.

We are super pleased to share the news that Josha Stradowski will be playing Rand Al Thor

A relative newcomer, Joshua has just two IMDB credits to his name, but comes from a stage musical background. He’ll be bringing to life the main character of Jordan’s book series, who will play a very important part in the fate of the world. (Trying not to spoil anything for non-book readers, here.)

The announcements weren’t done after that either, as shortly after Josh, Amazon shared the news that Marcus Rudda will be playing Perrin Aybara!

AND THEN- the casting of Zoë Robins as Nynaeve!!!

And then Barney Harris as Mat!

And Madeleine Madden as Egwene Al’Vere!

Showrunner Rafe Judkins has been the best source of information on the show, even though he’s now adhering to whatever studio-mandated approval process he has to do in order to tweet ANYTHING about it.

That said, Brandon Sanderson is under no such order (or, if he is, it’s no where near as strict, and / or he knows how to talk around actual spoilers) and took to Reddit to offer some insight into the Wheel of Time show. [Big ol’ Manetheren thanks to Dragonmount.com for their compilation of all these comments.]

“They [the writer’s room] went with some unexpected decisions, which I really liked though,” Sanderson posted. “I get to read the scripts and give feedback. I get to push the characters in the direction I want them to go. The first screenplay was really good.”

Sanderson continued his thoughts, talking about those “unexpected decisions” being “excellent choices”, which is good to hear.

“I found the mast majority of these decisions to be excellent choices–things that will give the show its own soul, but still in line with the feel and tone of the books. I can’t say for certain, but my instincts say the fanbase will in general respond to them positively. There are a few I offered suggestions on, and we’ll see.

When the series was officially announced by Amazon, the offered logline was….interesting, considering the main character shift.

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.

Last we heard, the series was moving forward with Westworld‘s Ute Briesewitz on board to direct the first two episodes of the tale. Showrunner Rafe Judkins shared the news, and we adored his admission that Briesewitz “can pronounce Nynaeve like she was born to it,” something with fans of the Village Wisdom have been fighting about for years.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.