The Wheel of Time was a big punt for Amazon Prime Video, which has lavished upwards of $80 million on its adaptation of the Nineties fantasy saga. The gamble appears to be paying off, with analytical data from the US showing that the series is rivalling Netflix’s The Witcher and Disney+’s Hawkeye in “audience demand”. Amazon has, then, conjured a new franchise from thin air (with the caveat that Robert Jordan’s books were already wildly popular). 

But having created a splash, can The Wheel of Time stay on the straight and narrow? Episode five suggested the answer was very much in the affirmative. After the Tolkien-esque derring-do of earlier instalments, this was where WoT lived up to its reputation as the fantasy work that had most influenced George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones). Forget swords and spells. Here was a satisfying hour of conspiratorial whisperings in darkened rooms and of bad things happening to good people. With the focus on the Aes Sedai order of female sorcerers, you could call it Game of Crones.

We were introduced to the courtly intrigue of the Aes Sedai, who have monopolised the use of magic (the One Power) in the WoT’s post-apocalyptic universe. As Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) warned Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) when they arrived at Aes Sedai capital Tar Valon, “these tower politics will eat you alive”. With creepy “Red Ajah” sister Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) making a play for Nynaeve’s loyalty it was clear the young acolyte with untapped powers will need to mind how she goes. 

Also reaching Tar Valon were Rand (Josha Stradowski) and Mat (Barney Harris), who’d spent an entire month schlepping through the wilderness. Rand’s sheepskin wunder-coat had survived the ravages of the road. His chum was, alas, in poorer shape. Life force poisoned by the haunted dagger from Shader Logoth, he had completed his transition to Emo Mat. He was shouting at children and, in Tar Valon, had a vision in which neutered “False Dragon” Logain –  paraded through the streets by the Aes Sedai – turned and laughed at him. 

While Emo Mat continued to lose his marbles, Rand was making friends. He bumped into Loial, an amiable “Ogier” (essentially a hobbit trapped inside the body of a giant). In the books, Loial is nearly eight-foot tall. But rather than spend a fortune on a computer-rendition of the character, WoT has decided to put actor Hammed Animashaun in a wig and prosthetics. It works, with Animashaun capturing Loial’s gentle wistfulness (and his obsession with reading).