“As you see the Fade move forward, we access all the things that are different about it than the Wraiths in ‘Lord of the Rings’ and try to bring those to the forefront,” he said. This is why, for example, the show stays true to the visual description of the Fade, a breed of shadowy, mounted riders even as it retains a surface resemblance to the Wraiths of Tolkien’s works. If he leaned too far away from things that were at the core of the book series, he didn’t think it felt right. “We try to lean into all of the things that are fresh, still, in ‘Wheel of Time, which there is so much.” “There’s a lot of stuff in ‘Thrones’ that was kind of cribbed from ‘Wheel of Time’ but now will feel repetitive if we do it,” he said.
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Judkins also was mindful of just how fluent contemporary TV audiences have become with the conventions of blockbuster fantasy franchises, including “Lord of the Rings,” which was a powerful influence on “The Wheel of Time,” and “Game of Thrones,” which in turn drew inspiration from Jordan’s works. It’s a choice and I actually think it really works and it’s going to work for us long-term.’ And then we agree to disagree on it.”
“And then there have been times to where I’m like, ‘No, this is why we’re doing it. “Brandon is super honest, saying, ‘I don’t think this works, for this reason,’ and then I’m like ‘OK I have to pay serious attention to this,’” Judkins revealed.
Throughout the adaptation process, Judkins had the aid of the late author’s wife Harriet, as well as Brandon Sanderson, who wrote the final three books after Jordan’s passing.