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The Wheel turns no more at Prime Video. After three seasons of The Wheel of Time, Amazon pulled the plug on its once-promising fantasy epic, despite critical love and a loyal fanbase still holding out hope. But here’s the twist: even as the streaming giant shut the door on one high-budget fantasy, it quietly cracked open a more strategic one with Powerless, and honestly, it might be the better play.
Gone are the days of bloated fantasy budgets and studio-sized expectations. The Wheel of Time, while ambitious, was expensive and slipping in the charts. Viewership dipped with Season 3, even though it ended strongly critically with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score. The showrunners gave it a soft landing, anticipating cancellation.
A fan petition is still out there, and even showrunner Rafe Judkins is hoping that a The Expanse-style rescue could be possible. But let’s be real, networks aren’t tripping over themselves to bankroll another $100 million fantasy gamble.
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Could Powerless Be Amazon’s Smartest YA Fantasy Bet Yet?
While Prime Video has pulled The Wheel of Time, now here comes Powerless, quietly building buzz while checking all the smart-streaming boxes. It’s adapted from Lauren Roberts’ bestselling YA fantasy-romance trilogy, already a BookTok juggernaut and bookstore hit. The first book held the New York Times #1 spot for 19 weeks. One million copies sold in nine months. That’s not just hype, it’s a built-in fandom waiting to stream.
More importantly, Amazon isn’t handing the reins to just anyone. Daphne Ferraro, the breakout force behind Maxton Hall, Prime Video’s biggest international launch, runs the show (via Deadline). Her previous credits include Dark Season 2 and the feature film Fly. This isn’t her first genre rodeo.
The story has all the right hooks: an underdog heroine, a deadly competition, and enemies-to-lovers energy that YA fans eat up. Paedyn Gray, an “Ordinary” girl with no powers, saves a prince’s life and lands herself in the kingdom’s deadly Purging Trials. It’s Hunger Games meets Red Queen with a dash of Fourth Wing spice, and the stakes are messy and magnetic with a brooding prince hunting her kind.
Powerless is built to scale. It’s cheaper to produce, lighter on the lore, and tailored for a generation that binges with TikTok open on the other hand. It’s a fantasy that doesn’t try to be The Lord of the Rings, and that’s precisely why it could work. Amazon doesn’t need another giant. It needs hits that stick. And while The Wheel of Time spun too wide, Powerless might just run straight to the throne.
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