An epic fantasy series based on a book saga surrounding prophecies and mythical creatures. For most, this description would ring a bell known as The Witcher. But, Amazon Prime’s The Wheel of Time is rivaling the Netflix Original. With the release of season 2 of The Witcher and the conclusion of season 1 of The Wheel of Time, fans cannot help but compare the two high fantasy series. All of your searches end here:

Comparison of The Witcher season 2 and The Wheel of Time season 1:

Theme and lore

Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson have spread The Wheel of Time over 14 books that mount up to about 4 million words. To put it into perspective, this is more than thrice the word count of Marcel Proust’s legendary In Search of Lost Time, which is the largest novel anyone has ever written. Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher books are much shorter, and hence, do not bear as much detail as The Wheel of Time does.

The themes of both the books are very similar. They make political statements in the backdrop of a universe containing magic and mythical creatures.

Acting

Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia has garnered largely positive reviews from fans. Actors Anya Chalotra, Joey Batey, and Freya Allan have been magnificent in their portrayals. Even ones in smaller roles like that of Tissaia, Calanthe, and Mousesack have managed to make a good impression despite their limited screen time in the Netflix live-action series.

While many find Rosamund Pike’s portrayal of Moiraine Damodred “absolutely terrific“, others find the character dry. Despite there being no season 2 of The Wheel of Time yet, fans look forward to more of Rosamund and Moiraine. Other actors have caught little attention of the fans yet.

Direction and production

Most viewers of The Wheel of Time have found it to be “dry” and “dull”. While season one of The Witcher received such remarks, as well, the same cannot be said of the second season. Fans realize that the locational shooting about The Wheel of Time that intrigued them initially is the only redeeming part of the series.

Season 2 of The Witcher outdoes The Wheel of Time in every way. Fans of both the shows on Reddit have said that they have come to appreciate The Witcher, especially season 2, after having seen The Wheel of Time. It made them realize how difficult the genre is to pull off and how the former actually did a decent job at it.

Soundtracks

It is time for a square-off between Jaskier from The Witcher and Thom Merrilin from The Wheel of Time. While Jaskier’s Toss A Coin To Your Witcher is extremely catchy, Thom’s The Man Who Can’t Forget has a grim undertone. Deciding between the two bards will certainly not be objective- both the soundtracks and songs are great and they both fit in perfectly in the show’s storyline, albeit differently.

We are drawn towards Toss A Coin because of its adding more character and color to the show. The track does the job of not making the soundtrack of the Netflix Original Game of Thrones-esque when both the shows aren’t nearly as gloomy.

Fan reaction

So far, none of the shows have satiated the book lovers (and in the case of The Witcher, video game fans as well). Both the shows largely deviate from the books, something readers find wholly unacceptable. But then again, fans of books usually aren’t satisfied easily. Not every story can be a Lord of the Rings or The Power of the Dog.

Even in this regard, The Wheel of Time readers are more disappointed than the ones of The Witcher are, even in season 2. This is because of the change the showrunners have made about the dragon being reborn as a woman, which essentially was the entire point of the book saga.