The Wheel of Time season 2: What it’s really like behind-the-scenes on massive set
In a massive warehouse, deep within the Czech Republic, surrounded by derelict buildings – I’ve been granted rare access to a blockbuster TV series.
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Deep within the Czech Republic, in a rundown, derelict industrial zone, I’m frozen still as two shouting, coiled men and a woman dance around each other.
Their swords lock with jarring, metallic clangs while they grapple for the upper hand. A moment later, another man calls out from a ledge – high up above us – before plummeting to the floor, abruptly stalling the fight.
Applause rings out. It’s coming from me.
I’m in an enormous warehouse – once a factory, now a permanent production studio – and I’ve got exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to the making of Prime Video’s multimillion dollar high-fantasy series, The Wheel of Time.
Based on the best-selling series by Robert Jordan, it tells the story of humble farm boy, Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski), who discovers he is the Dragon Reborn and is destined to either save the world or destroy it.
The show also stars Rosamund Pike as the wise and mysterious Moiraine, a member of the all-female Aes Sedai, as well as Daniel Henney as Lan, Zoe Robins as Nynaeve, and Aussie actress Madeleine Madden as Egwene.
In an era of unprecedented global fantasy fandom, the required secrecy surrounding them generally sees the media kept at arm’s length.
But not today.
The Wheel of Time has plenty of high-profile peers (Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, The Rings of Power) and they’ve got common ground in their eye-watering budgets.
But with a staggering 14 books in Robert Jordan’s original series, this offering may well be the most ambitious of them all.
With that in mind, Prime Video has taken the bold step of establishing a permanent home for the show – located about half an hour outside Prague – named in honour of the man himself: Jordan Studios.
Season one was released in 2021 and proved a ratings hit, attracting 1.16 billion viewing minutes in its debut week and becoming one of the top five series launches of all time for the streaming service.
Fast-forward to a little under two years later, and just days before the release of the long-awaited season two, there I was in the stunt department’s gym, observing the highly-skilled team work through some of the action that will soon play out on screen.
The sets
Like its fantasy rivals, The Wheel of Time has featured location shoots from all over the world, including Morocco, Italy, Spain, Croatia and Slovenia. But the Czech Republic is its home – so much so that its star, Rosamund Pike, has permanently relocated her family from London to Prague.
Just under an hour from the capital, in what feels like the middle of nowhere, lies The Two Rivers village, where all the action kicks off in season one, episode one, following an attack on the peaceful townsfolk by the terrifying creatures, Trollocs.
Surprisingly, wandering around this TV village is more realistic than you’d imagine: it is made up of real structures, not facades, allowing you to walk in and out of the homes and easily envisage yourself as one of The Wheel of Time’s core local heroes.
It was a misty and cool afternoon when I was invited to visit The Two Rivers, and with the flaming torches and darkening clouds looming above, the ability to imagine Trollocs on the cusp of disturbing the quiet came a little too easily.
Meanwhile, about half an hour from the centre of Prague in Letňany, the purpose-built Jordan Studios provides the bulk of the interior sets – including the White Tower – as well as the cities of Tar Valon and Shadar Logoth.
It was once the home of a trucking company, and at 350,000 square feet, it looks it. Now, it’s a remote outpost of Hollywood, housing football field-sized sound stages and departments, all under one roof.
Golf buggies are on hand to take me from department to department. It’s necessary.
The stunts
Back to the stunt gym.
Located within Jordan Studios, it’s a veritable playground for industry action heroes.
Elaborate harnesses are hanging from hooks, endless wires and clips hang from the ceiling (“because we have a lot of magic,” as Stunt Coordinator Jan Petrina succinctly summarises the show to me), a full-scale rock-climbing wall and balcony ledge are positioned to one side. Underneath, of course: several gigantic foam mats, to cushion their many (planned) falls.
Weapons – swords, spears, axes – line the walls, offering plenty of options for violent creativity.
As I learned from a personal test run, some are extremely light (just for “practice”, Petrina explains) and others are the real deal, heavy and cumbersome.
There’s already been plenty of action in The Wheel of Time. And from what I witnessed first-hand – it’s about to kick up to a whole other (extreme) level.
“In big battles, we have a lot of ‘beats’ [individuals stunt moves], so we split it into sections,” explained Petrina, who was previously the stunt double for Chris Evans’ Captain America and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor in the Marvel films.
The process of creating the multi-character, lengthy action scenes is gruelling.
“We come up with ideas, we talk to [showrunner Rafe Judkins], we get as much information as we can,” Petrina tells me.
“We do bits and pieces, we start building up from that. A good example is the battle at the end of episode two in season two – we’ve got 8 to 10 cast members in the fight … and it took about eight weeks [start to finish].”
He added: “It’s quite long, because you need to create the fight for each character, then when the actual cast comes in, you can see if it works for them or if you need to adjust it.”
According to Petrina, the real test comes when they are actually on location and in their costumes.
“Sometimes we need to adjust the set piece, because of course, in the gym – it’s easy. It’s flat ground. But being there on set, it can be wet, it can be uneven.”
The costumes
For the purpose of our tour, the extravagant costumes worn in season two are displayed along the corridors of actual set of the lofty White Tower, which houses the powerful all-female Aes Sedai population.
As far as display backdrops go, this one’s pretty spectacular.
British costume designer Sharon Gilham guides me through her costume highlights – including that of Seanchan noblewoman, High Lady Suroth, the scheming Liandrin, and the exotic get-ups of Cairhien city dwellers.
Each ensemble is deeply unique – yet somehow manages to feel familiar, even to those who have never read the books.
There’s a clever reason why.
“Each nation in The Wheel of Time is a mixture of two cultures in our world,” Gilham explains to me as we peruse the luxurious fabrics.
“For example, the Seanchen are imperial Chinese and Mesoamerican. And in [the show], you can also take inspiration from any period of time.”
The most “complex” character to dress, she adds, was Lady Suroth.
“We wanted to her to be terrifying and beautiful. We needed [the Seanchen] to have an insect-like feel. They have these weird kind of pincers, and Suroth has a compound eye mask … there’s a lot of wow factor.”
There are plenty of huge developments heading into season two, but one of the most noticeable changes comes in the form of Moiraine – who is devastated after losing her powers.
“She needed to look radically different – shockingly different,” says Gilham.
“So that’s why her first costume [in season two], I just drained all the colour out of it. So you see this person who was once a blue Aes Sedai in a kind of neutral, washed out colour … But there is a little Easter egg on her costume, of something that reminds you that she is still an Aes Sedai.”
The “Easter egg” clues hidden in various characters’ costumes is one of Gilham’s favourite aspects of working on the series.
“It’s amazing, this job, this show – it’s an actual gift for a costume designer,” she says.
“I love the Easter eggs. The world is so rich, there’s so much information – there’s a lot to do, but it’s really fun to just add those things you know the fans are going to pick up on.”
The hair and makeup
Walking through a display of the wigs and prosthetic masks used in season two, I’m traumatised.
An eyeless, white, bald head, its mouth frozen in a silent scream with rows of tiny, sharp teeth is facing me, a huge bolt protruding from a bloody bolt in its head.
It’s just one of the many terrifying creatures coming up in season two, and I’m uncomfortably close to its nightmare-fuel of a face – but perhaps the most horrifying aspect is the realisation that whoever is wearing this has their eyes completely covered by thick rubber.
But for The Wheel of Time’s hair and makeup designer, Davina Lamont, it’s business as usual. Having previously worked on Peter Jackson’s monster-heavy Lord of the Rings trilogy, I guess it’s hardly surprising.
“A lot of [the prosthetics] can take hours – I’ve been on shows where this stuff has taken like five hours to do,” Lamont explains.
“But this is a pull-on mask, so it can be quick – although some of the pieces can also take four hours.”
Unlike most other shows, on The Wheel of Time – with constant expansions to its world, societies and characters – Lamont finds herself splitting filming days between the hair and makeup trailer, and her workshop.
“Normally, as a designer …. The makeup trailer would be my home place. But because this production is so big, we have a massive workshop – it’s got 400 wigs!”
She adds: “As soon as the cast are through [in the morning], I’m back in the workshop with a huge team, making wigs, braiding hair.”
![Moiraine’s [played by Pike] “hero” [main] wig. Picture: Supplied/Bronte Coy](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/42f96a8b890d1fc955024648a65b9501?width=650)
The vast collection of wigs on hand highlights both the elaborate styles required and the production team’s desire for efficiency.
“I have a huge repertoire of wigs on hand – it’s quicker for us to build the wigs off the head, so I’m cutting down the amount of time in the chair,” Lamont says.
“Otherwise, for me to be able to do that [on an actor] in the chair, it could take up to 2 and a half hours … we’ve knocked that down to anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour and a half. It’s as production-friendly as possible.”
It’s long been said that the hair and makeup artists in showbiz know where all the bodies are buried, because actors love to chat in the chair.
Is that true?
“I know lots of stuff,” the industry veteran laughs, unsurprisingly (but disappointingly) refusing to divulge anything else.
Worth a try.
The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time season two are now available to watch on Prime Video, with new episodes released weekly.
Originally published as The Wheel of Time season 2: What it’s really like behind-the-scenes on massive set
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