Prime Video's 'The Wheel of Time' Has Quietly Mastered What Every Other Fantasy Show Gets Wrong

Published Jul 30, 2026, 8:46 AM EDT Andrew is a lifelong lover of stories. Whether it's reading, watching or listening, Andrew has studied the art of good storytelling in all it's forms since childhood. He began acting in plays in the fourth grade, and has been obsessed with it ever since. Andrew has an extensive background in theater and film, academically and recreationally. After studying both in college, he went on to teach high school Enlgish and created elective courses focused on mutlimedia, film and acting. He's directed and starred in many plays, and his literature studies taught him the professional critical analysis skills he uses to disect film and tv shows. He is a huge sci-fi and fantasy fan, and has thoroughly enjoyed recent series such as The Rings of Power and The Wheel of Time. Having read comics since he was a kid, he also enjoys everything from the MCU, and he's happily followed the Star Wars franchise through all their shows, movies and every book he could get his hands on. No matter what type of media he's consuming, though, great storytelling is his main focus. Fantasy stories have traditionally centered around men who become heroes, typically by saving a woman they fall in love with. Recently, more popular stories in the genre have reversed these gender roles, giving women far more agency. Game of Thrones featured characters like Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and Sansa (Sophie Turner), along with many other strong women, but their agency often revolved around how they manipulated men who always held more power. The Star Wars franchise has done better by comparison, with characters such as Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) and Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) most recently reintroduced in live-action, but the events driving the galaxy's conflict still center mostly around men. Prime Video's adaptation of The Wheel of Time, however, presents a world where women hold more power than men, and not just because of their connection with the One Power. Regardless of whether a woman can channel or not, they’re independent warriors and diplomats who shape events, resulting in representation that is far superior to that of other modern fantasy shows. Channeling Is Just One Way Women Hold Power in 'The Wheel of Time' Using the One Power in the current age is a right reserved only for women. Both men and women can channel, but the arrogance of men thousands of years ago exposed the One Power to the Dark One, who corrupted it for any future man who can channel. Men were forbidden to channel after this, which put women in a far more powerful position in society. Some of these women spearheaded the story's present-day incarnation of the organization known as the Aes Sedai and, while their use of channeling has been bound by the Three Oaths, they’ve found many loopholes to evade them. The politics behind their institutional authority are often used in the pursuit of their own agenda, rather than protecting everyone. Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) and the leader of the Aes Sedai, Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okonedo), are secret lovers who sacrifice their relationship in their efforts to stop the Dark One, but politics wouldn't allow any official records to reflect that truth. Moiraine was asked to stop traveling and remain in the Tower after being away for years, so she concocted a plan to publicly disobey Siuan, which would get her expelled from the White Tower, freeing her to leave and continue her quest to destroy the Dark One. While these two are extremely powerful channelers, they have proven even more powerful in how they politically manipulate events to mask their true agenda. Other Aes Sedai have gone far beyond playing politics to keep up appearances, though. The Dark One has a couple of majorly powerful women on his side. Liandrin Guirale (Kate Fleetwood) is one of the most ruthless of the Aes Sedai as a Red Ajah, but has also secretly sworn herself to the Dark. She is adamant about being involved with training the newest and most powerful channeler, Nynaeve al-Meara (Zoë Robins), in an attempt to persuade her to serve the Dark One as well. Nynaeve accuses Liandrin of breaking the Three Oaths, and she retorts, “I’ve broken many more than that.” However, Liandrin is not the only woman serving the Dark One. Among the newly revealed members of the Forsaken is Lanfear (Natasha O'Keeffe), a sadistic, cunning woman who was imprisoned for siding with evil 3,000 years ago. She was one of the most powerful channelers alive, and she takes lives as easily as she breathes. After being freed by Ishamael, she tries every trick she can imagine to convince Rand (Josha Stradowski), the Dragon Reborn, to join the Dark as well. Women Who Can’t Channel Have Their Own Power in 'The Wheel of Time' Image via Amazon Prime Even the women who can't officially channel magic in The Wheel of Time are depicted as having different spheres of power and influence. At the beginning of Season 1, before she discovered she could channel, Nynaeve held authority as the Wisdom of the Two Rivers. She was the youngest Wisdom the community had ever known, yet her maturity and decisiveness taught everyone to trust and respect her. Other women, like Moiraine’s younger sister Anvaere Damodred (Lindsay Duncan), have worked hard to bring dignity back to their family’s tarnished history, while Ila (Maria Doyle Kennedy), the pacifist leader of the nomadic community called the Tuatha'an, believes in the Way of the Leaf, drifting through life and never causing harm to others. Beginning in Season 2, The Wheel of Time also introduces the Aiel culture from the distant Three-fold Land, where all their people, especially women, become hand-to-hand combat experts. The first example is in a Season 1 flashback that depicts the moment when Rand’s mother (Magdalena Sittova) gives birth. She is literally in labor while one soldier after another unsuccessfully attempts to take her out, but that doesn’t stop her from spinning circles around them. From the day they’re able to, all the Aiel learn to fight and never allow their enemy to strike. One of these women could easily take out a dozen highly trained Whitecloak soldiers, as viewers see in Episode 5 when the show introduces Aviendha (Ayoola Smart). After Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) frees her from her cage and tries to protect her, she laughs at the thought of someone else having to fight for her. As the soldiers attack, Aviendha maneuvers around their blades while breaking their bones, making each of those Whitecloaks her momentary partner in a dance to the death. Although it's later revealed that some women among the Aiel can channel, including Aviendha herself, on the whole, their female warriors are regarded as stronger and more deadly than any man outside their own culture, and this fact is well known throughout the world. In 'The Wheel of Time,' Power Can Be Wielded in Many Ways for Good Image via Amazon Prime The Wheel of Time has so many women in different positions of power who don’t need the protection of men. They have independent lives and shape the world around them. Not all women may be able to channel the One Power, but they can learn how to get stronger and more agile, just like Aviendha and the Aiel. Many women find ways to peacefully put themselves between oppressors and their victims to protect the vulnerable, just like Ila did by leading the Tuatha'an. Power isn’t simply using force or threats to assert your authority, and the different ways women lead in The Wheel of Time exemplify how power can take many different forms. That said, this show is so much more than just reversing the roles of power between men and women. Women are not assumed to have authority over men in their world the way that men are assumed to have authority in ours. The Wheel of Time ultimately emphasizes the many different ways women can gain power over their lives — not just to attain autonomy and individualism, but to coexist with men’s autonomy as well, giving both genders an equal footing within the overall backdrop of an incredible fantasy world.