The Wheel of Time season 2's suspense-filled first clip has arrived – but viewers can only watch it on Prime Video.
Ahead of the high-fantasy TV series' second season debuting on September 1, Amazon Studios has released its drama-laced first five minutes on its main streaming service. In order to watch The Wheel of Time season 2's opening salvo, all you need to do is load up the season 1 finale and skip to the 54:35 mark.
Unfortunately for fans who aren't currently subscribed to Prime Video, there's no other way to stream the clip online. Oftentimes, the world's best streaming services will release a new clip on another platform, such as YouTube, to build excitement for a hit show's return. This time, Amazon has exclusively released the footage on its primary streamer.
If you want to check it out, you could purchase an Amazon Prime subscription or grab yourself a free Prime Video trial. Or, if you're really not interested in doing either of those things, you can read on for our brief rundown of what happens in the clip. It goes without saying, but The Wheel of Time season 2 spoilers follow.
Season 2's opening clip, which is based on the "Darkfriend Social" prologue from The Great Hunt – the second book in The Wheel of Time series – begins with a young girl playing outside at night. However, her playtime is interrupted when a group of Trollocs emerge from the darkness and seemingly launch an attack.
Terrified, the young girl flees inside, where a roundtable of adults (known as the Forsaken or Chosen) discuss the new Dragon Reborn, aka Rand al'Thor. Among their number are the leader of the Seanchan, season 2's vicious new antagonists, and the Dark One – i.e. The Wheel of Time's overarching villain.
When the young girl attempts to disrupt the meeting to warn them of the Trollocs outside, the Dark One takes her outside to show her there's nothing to be afraid of. That's because the Trollocs are the Dark One's henchmen. Even though he shows the child she doesn't need to be scared, the Dark One gives a menacing speech that proves he shouldn't be messed with. If you doubted how much of a threat he and the Forsaken pose to Rand and company, this scene will show you why.
With less than a month to go until season 2 arrives, Amazon will be ramping up its promotional campaign for The Wheel of Time's return. Its official trailer confirmed our suspicions that it's the epic fantasy we've been waiting for, and that The Wheel of Time 2 is one of five exciting productions that'll be part of Prime Video's late 2023 lineup.
Is Amazon clip-ping its own wings with this exclusive reveal?
Amazon's decision to exclusively release this season 2 clip on Prime Video makes sense from one perspective. In doing so, it'll hope to drive sign-ups to its primary streaming platform, especially for any Wheel of Time fans who are desperate to watch any new footage they can find.
The problem with that, though, is that Amazon isn't marketing one of the best Prime Video shows to a wider audience. If it debuted the clip on YouTube, for example, Amazon could reach more people, and potentially persuade them to subscribe to the service. After all, diehard Wheel of Time fans will know that its second season is coming on September 1, but more casual viewers might not. Debuting the footage online – on YouTube, The Wheel of Time's social media channels, or by another medium – would go a long way to reminding general audiences that the show will be back on our screens soon.
Yes, there's the possibility that this season 2 clip may only be a temporary Prime Video exclusive. Amazon could distribute it more widely sometime in the next couple of weeks to try and coax more customers into buying a subscription. Given that we're only 29 days (at the time of writing) from The Wheel of Time 2's debut, though, the studio is leaving it a bit late to do that. In my view, it needs to do more than simply teasing the first five minutes, via a series of images on X (formerly known as Twitter), if it wants to excite and entice as many viewers as possible to sign up to Prime Video before season 2 launches.
For more Prime Video coverage, read our guides on the best Prime Video movies, Invincible season 2, and The Rings of Power season 2.
