The Wheel of Time has been abruptly cancelled at Amazon Prime Video after three seasons, each of which was a considerable step up from the previous one. Just when the show was starting to hit its stride, Amazon gave it the axe, which makes no sense because reviews were better than ever, and the show was quite successful, coming in as one of the most popular original series on the platform.

The cancellation was a pretty foolish decision. If the streamer were going to cancel it, it would have been better to do it earlier on rather than dumping more money into it, only to actually give it the boot when it became more profitable and successful than ever. While it was a bad choice, many characters in the show’s canon also make some pretty bad choices. Hey, we’re all human, and we don’t always make the best judgment calls. But these terrible choices in The Wheel of Time had disastrous consequences.

10

Trusting Padan Fain

Made by Eamon Valda

Padan Fain (Johann Myers) is a darkfriend posing as a travelling merchant, initially showing up in Season 1 to peddle his wares in the Two Rivers whilst secretly spying on the ta’veren and feeding information to the Dark One. He remains a thoroughly creepy background character throughout the series, pulling numerous strings behind the scenes and manipulating various factions of the light to turn against one another.

In Season 3, the Children of the Light, also known as the Whitecloaks, begin to surround the village of Emond’s Field in retribution for Perrin’s (Marcus Rutherford) perceived murder of one of their officers. Padan Fain arrives amongst the Whitecloaks, and for some unknown reason, they welcome him in and allow him to make some pretty major decisions, not even realizing that he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This dumb choice causes trouble for everyone involved and makes little sense considering the fact that Whitecloaks are always pretty mistrustful of everyone, yet not Padan Fain. It’s not like Padan Fain can channel, so he didn’t have anyone under some sort of spell. The Whitecloaks just made a bad call and suffered for it.

9

Not Doing Her Job

Made by Siuan Sanche

The sole purpose of the White Tower is to wait for the return of the Dragon Reborn and guide him so that he will be able to save the world rather than destroy it, like the last Dragon did. The primary division in the Tower responsible for this is the Red Ajah, one of the largest Ajahs, who devote all of their time to cutting off false Dragons from the Source, and keeping the true Dragon Reborn on a tight leash; it’s literally the only reason the Ajah exists.

Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okonedo) is the Amyrlin Seat of all Ajahs and none, yet she inexplicably decides not to do her job. Fans can understand why she did what she did, but in hindsight, it was a pretty bad call that had some disastrous consequences. Siuan gives the Dragon too much freedom, which is the antithesis of the Tower’s entire purpose., causing numerous Aes Sedai, including the Red sister Elaida (Shohreh Aghdashloo), to turn on and kill her, ousting her from the Amyrlin Seat and causing the internal conflict known as the Great Schism. Fans understand that Siuan did what was right, but this decision just doesn’t work in the world of The Wheel of Time, and it nearly destroys the Tower as a result.

8

Cutting Everybody Off

Made by Rand al’Thor

Following the showdown at the Eye of the World during the Season 1 finale, Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) makes the choice to flee to the city of Cairhien and assume ordinary work, cutting off all of his friends and family, spreading the rumour that he died and won’t be coming back. He does this to spare them from the monster he feels he is doomed to become, as men who can channel are guaranteed to lose their minds eventually, but also to hide from darkfriends.

This decision nearly cost Rand his life. He falls in love with an innkeeper named Selene (Natasha O’Keeffe), who reveals herself to be one of the Forsaken. It’s a good thing she never got to kill Rand, because it really looked like she was about to before Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) stepped in. The Last Battle is coming, and Rand frankly needs all the help he can get. It’s understandable why he decided to fake his death, but it was a pretty bad call that could have killed him, especially considering the Dragon needs allies to guide him in order not to destroy the world.

7

Attacking Rand and the Aiel

Made by Sammael

Sammael (Cameron Jack) is one of the Forsaken, who is fond of violent conquests and bringing the Dragon to his knees. He wants to see Rand destroyed and has numerous plans about how and when to do it. Unfortunately for him, the first of these plans is very poorly executed and could not have been done at a worse time. In Season 3, as Rand is learning about the Aiel in one of their few permanent settlements, Sammael decides now would be a really good time to kill him and promptly attacks the settlement.

Not only is Rand technically more powerful in the One Power, but he’s also surrounded by friends. Thus, Sammael is captured and eventually killed, and the attack fails in tremendous fashion. One would think that if Sammael wanted someone dead, he would wait for a moment when they were most vulnerable and strike by surprise, not charge into the middle of a group of warriors, allowing his target to muster strength and fight back. Honestly, it’s a wonder how Sammael came to rule over Illian with horrible plans like this.

6

Going Into the Ways Alone

Made by Loial

During the Battle of Emond’s Field, the Ogier Loial (Hammed Animashaun) realizes that reinforcements from the Dark One will likely be arriving through the Waygate near the Two Rivers, which will leave the defenders in a rough position, flanked on both sides by enemies. Knowing that he is the only one who understands Waygates and how they work, Loial decides to venture off into the mountains to close the Waygate himself and prevent any more reinforcements from coming.

He takes two Aiel Maidens of the Spear with him, but he honestly should have taken more. It’s understandable that it was kind of all hands on deck down in the village, but Loial’s decision to go alone cost him his life, which doesn’t happen in the books. Entering into the Ways, he realizes that the Trollocs are almost upon him… which, of course, they are. He knew reinforcements would be coming, no? What did he expect to find on the other side of the Waygate? Desperate, he destroys the path leading to it, falling into the eternal void below, yet turning the tide of the battle. It’s a heroic sacrifice to be sure, but he should have taken a larger force that could have held off the Trollocs while he found a way to destroy it in a way that didn’t involve his death.

5

Not Reinforcing the Wall

Made by Lord Agelmar

One aspect of The Wheel of Time that isn’t really touched upon in the books is the fortifications at Tarwin’s Gap in the kingdom of Shienar. Tarwin’s Gap serves as the border between Shienar and the Great Blight, which is the realm of the Dark One. In the books, it’s just kind of an empty valley, freely allowing shadowspawn to flow into the Westerlands. But in the show, there is a towering wall in the way, which definitely makes sense.

Lord Agelmar (Thomas Chaanhing) presides over the wall and mentions how long it has been there. When Trollocs attack it during the Season 1 finale, the wall proves to be little trouble for them, more of an annoying obstacle rather than an actual line of defense. Here’s the thing, though: if the wall has really been there for as long as Agelmar says it has, why haven’t they been constantly reinforcing it? They know what lies beyond; would it have killed them to constantly build it taller, or wider, or add more traps or ditches around it? Good thing they were still able to repel the attack, because they suffered heavy losses for their poor judgment.

4

Openly Defying the Seanchan

Made by Uno Nomesta

Uno Nomesta (Guy Roberts) is a soldier of Shienar and a personal friend of Perrin Aybara. The two are travelling across the coastal region of the Westerlands when the Seanchan army from across the Aryth Ocean invades, ransacking villages and rapidly conquering the unclaimed territory known as Toman Head. The Seanchan are known as the Ever Victorious Army and arrive with legions upon legions of soldiers, taking Perrin and his small band of travellers by surprise.

The Seanchan attack the band in a village and force everyone in attendance to submit to the Seanchan. Now, most of the other characters opt not for open defiance, but for escaping or fighting back when the time is right and the Seanchan’s guard is down. Uno immediately decides to tell off the Seanchan while staring down thousands of weapons, for which he is promptly executed in brutal fashion. Viewers understand that Uno is stubborn and a man of principle, but his actions did about as much good as shooting a water pistol at the Sun to cool it down. One-man armies can only do so much against superior numbers, and he would have been better off pretending to submit and then striking when the time was right.

3

Giving the Tower the Horn of Valere

Made by Matrim Cauthon

In Season 3, the White Tower approaches Mat Cauthon (Dónal Finn), who previously blew the Horn of Valere during the Battle of Falme, turning the tide and summoning the long-dead Heroes of the Horn. Mat doesn’t really know what to do with the Horn now that it isn’t needed and agrees to hand it off to the White Tower for safekeeping. Or at least, what he assumes is safekeeping.

See, earlier in the season, the White Tower is compromised, with the Black Ajah making their first move and infiltrating the storehouses, stealing a few ter’angreal. Now, it’s clear that Mat knows of the incident, as he’s in Tar Valon the moment it happens. So, why on Earth would he agree to give such a massively important artifact to the White Tower, knowing that the Black Ajah has access to their stores and can and will steal from them? Fortunately, there were no negative consequences, seeing as the show was cancelled, but it’s hard to see how anything positive would come of this.

2

Taking Egwene as a Damane

Made by Renna

Egwene (Madeleine Madden) is known for being one of the most promising channelers of the Third Age, with the Aes Sedai detecting enormous potential in her. She picks up easily on her lessons and is capable of performing most weaves on her first try. In Season 2, she is abducted by the Seanchan and taken as a damane, a sort of slave that is chained using a magical leash, who is to be used in battle for the Seanchan, using the One Power as their weapon.

Egwene’s sul’dam is Renna (Xelia Mendes Jones), a Seanchan woman who also senses the amazing potential in her. Renna can tell that Egwene holds immense power, more than any other damane she has seen, and gets excited at the prospect. Inevitably, Egwene breaks free of her bonds and kills Renna. If Renna were able to sense Egwene’s ability, she should have foreseen that her bonds would not hold her and should have opted for heightened security or something. Obviously, what Renna did was super wrong, but with how little care she took, she kind of brought her death on herself, didn’t she?

1

Revealing Herself Too Early

Made by Liandrin Guirale

Liandrin Guirale (Kate Fleetwood) is a member of the Black Ajah and is the first member of this secret cabal that makes herself known to the audience. To be fair, she was never portrayed as being squeaky-clean and has always sort of been detestable, so this revelation in Season 2 is certainly no shocker. That said, she picked pretty much the worst timing to make her intentions known. She does it when Egwene and her friends are sneaking out of the Tower, which is when Liandrin ambushes them and gives them to the Seanchan.

Liandrin sensed their power levels, yet somehow thought that the Seanchan would be enough to get them out of her way. As a result, the girls came back to Siuan and outed Liandrin as being evil, prompting the rest of Liandrin’s Black sisters to reveal themselves and make their escape. If Liandrin had just chosen her moment better or been a little more tactful, she would have been able to maintain her cover and would have been able to manipulate the Tower much better. Viewers are glad she got caught because they want the good guys to win, obviously, but for Liandrin’s sake, she really should’ve planned her movements a lot better.

NEXT: 10 Worst Decisions Made by Major ‘Game of Thrones’ Characters