The Brick of Time: Building The Wheel of Time in LEGO

Burn me… it's finally here, the day that we Wheel of Time fans have been waiting for… (some since 1990): Amazon's television adaptation is upon us (or will be at 4 pm PT if the rumors are true)!

My good pal Kevin Wanner asked himself the question: "what better way to celebrate the most exciting fantasy TV event in recent history?" And the answer couldn't have been clearer! He would mastermind an online collaboration to build magnificent LEGO MOCs telling the story of book one (The Eye of the World) to release every few days while the show airs. And he went and did it.

Since I'm an inside man on this caper, I decided to share our nefarious plans with the amazing LEGO community through a story here on BrickNerd. Thus Kevin and I cooked up the story of what we are up to and we'll give you woolheaded sheepherders a little taste of all the builds that are to come!

Keep in mind there could be some minor spoilers depending on how little you know of the story and some plot that you can glean from some of the teaser images below. So please enjoy our conversation below.


Doug: First of all, Kevin, can you explain what the Brick of Time is?

Whitecloaks are just as mean in Lego form

Kevin: The Brick of Time is a LEGO adaptation of The Wheel of Time. More specifically, it is an online collaborative multi-build project covering parts of The Eye of the World, the first book in The Wheel of Time series. Sony and Amazon are releasing an original multi-season television show based on The Wheel of Time. Season 1 will start releasing to Amazon subscribers on November 18th and will primarily cover The Eye of the World.

Our LEGO builds are mostly based on the books while adding in some elements from the show. We will release the builds starting November 15th through December 24th every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The first build was posted this past Monday to coincide with the world premiere of the show.

The Builders are Brick Ninja (that's Kevin), Doug, Caleb, and Joe. Each builder will post their own builds on Instagram, with everything being co-posted on the Brick of Time account.

Each post will be accompanied by a map with a pin showing where in the land this particular scene is occurring. The map was designed by fastlindyrick who graciously allowed us to use it for the collab.

Kevin matched a magazine cover showing off the characters, quite the awesome crew!

Doug: Hopefully that gave you the flavor of the plan, but if you want a little more, Kevin also posted a great overview video of the collaboration here, go check it out! So Kevin, just in case any readers aren't familiar with the books, can you give us a rundown of the Wheel of Time?

Kevin: The Wheel of Time is a 15 book high fantasy series of novels written by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

Kevin soaking up the fantasy goodness

What follows is a simplified world setting which is a basic summary of The Wheel of Time:

A fantasy world set roughly in the 1700s (without gunpowder), where only certain men and women can use magic (the One Power). Only women can safely use the magic, as thousands of years ago the male half was tainted causing any man who uses it to go insane. A formidable force of evil (the Dark One) wants to break into the universe, destroy time and ultimately remake the world as his own. There is one sliver of hope, the Dragon Reborn: the reincarnation of a hero from the Age of Legends. Unfortunately this prophesied savior would be a man able to use magic, a man who would go insane. The world lives in fear of his coming, believing that even if the Dragon Reborn can defeat the Dark One that his victory will be little to no better than the Dark One's victory.

The Wheel of Time is notable for its length, complex magic system, and large cast of characters—like seriously large cast. There are 2,782 named characters in the series and there are more named horses in Wheel of Time than there are named characters in The Lord of the Rings.

Graph from Unraveling the Pattern on YouTube

Doug: Thanks for all that helpful background Kevin! Such a journey… I recall it took me around a year of pretty dedicated reading to tackle the series myself. Another neat thing to share with you all is that Kevin has been creating teaser posters to match the ones released by Amazon as part of the lead-up to the release, see the striking resemblance below!

WHICH ONE IS EVEN LEGO?!? :)

Doug: Because you’re such a great fan of the series Kevin, and as a bit of backdrop for how this all came about, why don’t you tell us just a bit about your love of Wheel of Time. How long have you been a fan and just how big a fan are you?

Kevin: I first started reading The Wheel of Time about 20 years ago, and in all honesty, I haven’t ever stopped. The first time you read it, you can grasp and understand what is going on and you don’t feel like you are missing anything. Yet each time you read it again you learn something new. I am currently on my 11th read of the series as a whole, and I literally just made a connection about one of the characters that I had never realized before.

The layers and complexity of The Wheel of Time let you read it once and enjoy it, or read it again and again and keep learning. The series has kind of ruined me for other fantasy series. There are plenty of other great books out there that I enjoy, but nothing else has felt so deep, so real, and filled with so many characters that you love, can relate to, and have shortcomings that make them feel real, despite living in a world full of magic and mythology.

Moiraine looking out on Tar Valon from the White Tower

Doug: Over the last few months you've been participating in fan-held events and live stream type events to spend time with fellow die-hard fans and get more interaction with the cast and crew. Is there anything in particular that stood out as your favorite experience thus far?

Kevin: Oh, that is a tough one. Doing live reactions for the trailers was a lot of fun, but in regards to the LEGO side of it, I have received a lot of positive reactions from people involved in the show. I have received a few likes and/or shares from different cast members and some of the crew. If I had to choose one it probably would be being commissioned by Amazon to do three new builds to help promote the show. To be able to be involved even slightly officially in this is just absolutely exciting. Plus we all know LEGO can be an expensive hobby, so any time you can use your hobby to help fund your hobby it is a win-win all around.

Doug: Alrighty readers, if that doesn’t pump you up about the Wheel of Time then I have one more thing to try… we'll end here with some teaser images from some of the upcoming builds that'll make you want to stop by the Two Rivers for a night at the Winespring inn, or give you chills as you imagine Mashadar's evil magical tendrils snaking their way in your direction… enjoy!!


AN EMPTY ROAD BY KEVIN:

Rand and Tam heading to town


Winternight by Kevin:

Moiraine in all her Power wielding glory!


ACROSS THE TAREN BY ME! (DOUG)

Something is sure startling these poor fellows


TINKER CAMP BY KEVIN:

Egwene chatting up a Tinker


CAEMLYN ROYAL GARDENS BY ME (DOUG)!

There be some flowers here


THE EYE OF THE WORLD BY KEVIN:

What’s this luscious land?!


And that’s that… those are all the teasers you get to see for now! :)

Of course, anything here is subject to change so follow BrickofTime on Instagram and tune in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to make sure you don’t miss a beat, and come dance the spears with us on this magical journey!

And we’ll be back here at BrickNerd to give a recap of all the awesome builds sometime soon after the collaboration finishes on Christmas Eve.


Are there any Wheel of Time super fans out there? Give us a shout-out in the chat below!

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