Prime Video’s 3-Part Fantasy Epic Shows The Witcher Season 5 How It’s Done

Netflix’s The Witcher wraps up with its fifth and final season later this year, with many fans disappointed in the show’s current trajectory. However, it’s never too late to change course, as one Prime Video fantasy series demonstrated earlier this decade. The Witcher could revive its legacy if it uses this rival series as a model.

After the release of its first season in 2021, Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time was derided as a knock-off adaptation of its literary source material, which deviated from author Robert Jordan’s original vision unnecessarily. Yet, it managed to turn things around. By The Wheel of Time’s season 3 ending, most fans of the novel series had been won over.

Unfortunately for Netflix, fan opinions on The Witcher have moved in the opposite direction, as the show’s later seasons have been met with increasingly negative feedback. Given that more changes to the books will be necessary in The Witcher season 5, it’s especially important that the series follows the example set by The Wheel of Time.

Prime Video’s The Wheel Of Time Ending Is A Model For The Witcher To Follow

The Wheel of Time may have had a fraction of The Witcher’s budget to work with, but the Prime Video show did have one very important factor on its side when it came to improving on previous seasons. It had to weather the criticism of author Brandon Sanderson, who finished the books it was based on after Robert Jordan’s death.

By its third season, The Wheel of Time had used Sanderson’s critiques to improve its character arcs, so that the likes of Rand al’Thor got the screen rendering they deserved. Showrunner Rafe Judkins listened to the author and his fanbase, and the series benefited as a result.

The team behind The Witcher need to look at what Judkins achieved with The Wheel of Time season 3, and apply a similar approach to their show’s final installment. The spirit of Andrzej Sapkowski’s original novel series can still be revived, even without Henry Cavill playing Geralt of Rivia.

The Wheel Of Time Provides The Blueprint For Geralt, Yennefer & Ciri’s Reunion

One key improvement that The Wheel of Time made for its third and final season was the shift towards an ensemble of main characters who were collectively involved in its main plot together. It goes without saying that The Witcher season 5 needs to resolve the fates of Geralt and Yennefer, as well as Ciri, if it’s to placate viewers.

Yet, it’s difficult to see how the arcs of these three protagonists can reach a satisfying conclusion when they’re all separated, each journeying along their own disparate plot thread. The Witcher should aim to bring them together as soon as possible in its last season, so that they’re able to brave the wartorn Continent as one united force.

Even if this plot development would mean making certain changes to the book, The Wheel of Time illustrates how these changes could be advantageous when it comes to honoring the spirit of the source material. Composite characters and setting relocations are more than welcome if they allow a time-limited TV season to stay true to the story of its franchise.

The Witcher Is Even Better Placed For A Satisfying Ending Than The Wheel Of Time

If The Wheel of Time could go out on a high, then The Witcher has no excuse for delivering a disappointing ending. The Prime Video series was cut short just as it was coming into its own, but still managed to leave fans relatively happy.

Still, many rued the fact that The Wheel of Time was just getting good when it was canceled after three seasons. There won’t be any complaints of this kind about The Witcher, which has been given more than enough time by Netflix to build its story.

Across the eight episodes of its fifth season, this landmark fantasy drama still has the chance to redeem the disappointment of season 4, which followed a convoluted and underwhelming third season. As The Wheel of Time exemplifies, all is not lost for The Witcher.