By [ad_1]
Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time has debuted as the #1 Original on Nielsen’s TV rankings, with over a billion viewing minutes in its premiere week.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 1, Episode 7, “The Dark Along the Ways,” available now on Prime Video.
According to Nielsen’s ranking of original TV streaming series, The Wheel of Time debuted at the top of the list, clocking 1.16 billion viewing minutes in its premiere week, November 15-21.
The epic high fantasy show, based on the books by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, was the only original from Prime Video to appear in the chart, with the rest of the top ten being produced by Netflix. Tiger King, Cowboy Bebop and Locke & Key all made the list, but The Wheel of Time‘s numbers were far ahead of all the others.
Prime Video used a hybrid release strategy for The Wheel of Time, dropping the first three episodes at once and then rolling out one per week for the remainder of the season. The eighth and final episode of Season 1 will be available to stream on Friday, Dec. 24.
The Wheel of Time inspired confidence in its studio from the beginning, with a second season greenlit long before the first had premiered. Season 2 began production in July, and the success of the show’s debut may point to good news for fans who hope for more to come. Showrunner Rafe Judkins has spoken about his hopes of completing the entire story told in the lengthy series of source novels, estimating early on that it would take eight seasons to finish it properly.
Starring Rosamund Pike as the Aes Sedai Moiraine, The Wheel of Time is set in a world in which magic exists but only certain women can safely wield it, due to the corruption of the male half of the One Power in the Breaking of the World thousands of years ago. The man responsible for the catastrophe has been reincarnated according to prophecy, and Moiraine spends her life searching for the Dragon Reborn, finally narrowing it down to five young villagers. Moiraine and her Warder Lan, played by Daniel Henney, lead the candidates through dangers that will reveal the place that each one has in the world.
In the penultimate episode, “The Dark Along the Ways,” the steadfast sheepherder Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) was revealed to be the Dragon Reborn. In the finale, viewers will see how he deals with his destiny to either save the world or break it again.
The first seven episodes of The Wheel of Time are streaming now on Prime Video, with the season finale airing on Friday. A release window for Season 2 has not yet been announced.
Source: Nielsen
About The Author
[ad_2]
