If you’re like me and haven’t ever read The Wheel of Time books, then I think it’s going to get harder and harder to understand what’s going on as time passes. There’s no denying the appeal of the show for fantasy fans, and with Rosamund Pike leading the pack with such grace and beauty, you can’t help but feel somewhat drawn to the idea of this show. However, in execution, it becomes a little bit difficult to keep things alive with such long gaps between seasons, but I digress. Season 3 begins with everything in turmoil. It’s been sometime since the battle in Falme, and our leads have returned to Tar Valon, where terrible things are about to go down. Despite being halfway across the world, news about Rand being the Dragon reborn has already reached the Aes Sedai. On the other hand, it looks like Egwene is still traumatized by everything that happened in the previous season (rightfully so) and doesn’t know how to move on. At the same time, Rand seems to realize he’s got a lot of power, and if he starts to lose control, Moiraine’s going to have a tough time dealing with it. With that said, let’s jump into episode 1 of The Wheel of Time season 3.
Spoiler Alert
What Happens At The White Tower?
Episode 1 begins with the Aes Sedai meeting in the hall of The White Tower. Liandrin has to face the Amyrlin Seat because she’s been found out by her as a Darkfriend. Liandrin’s line of defense is simple, though: she wants to tell everyone that the Amyrlin Seat let Rand go despite knowing he was the Dragon reborn. But Siuan has her own information; she announces how Liandrin is a Darkfriend, but Liandrin claims Siuan has no proof. Siuan then calls Nynaeve to tell the room that Liandrin kidnapped her and sold her to the Seanchans, but by then, Liandrin channels the power, leading to a massive fight in the hall. Shockingly, many of the Aes Sedai take Liandrin’s side. They’re definitely against Siuan and their own Ajah, killing many of the women in the hall. On the outside, Ihvon and Maksim try their best to break into the hall because they want to defend Alanna. Some women from the Red Ajah tell them to step aside, so they break the doors open, but they don’t budge because the Red Ajah has basically been banished for the moment, thanks to Liandrin. Siuan and Liandrin are brought to the floor on the inside, and outside, some more Aes Sedai come by to show their support to Liandrin.
On the other hand, Verin and Adeleas are attacked by Nyomi of the Red Ajah, a woman Verin watched grow up and trusted. This leaves Adeleas with a blank mind and no thoughts, while Verin is left with no way of bringing her back. Nyomi steals some important Sa’angreal and makes a run for it. Two of the Aes Sedai Amico and Joiya even try to kill Siuan because they can’t contain her, but fortunately, she’s protected and escapes, getting them caught. It is of course Moiraine who protected her. The hall is destroyed and Liandrin and her gang make a run for it. But, Alanna and her warders fight them off until Ivonh is killed by Liandrin’s sword trying to save Alanna.
In the meantime, the kids want to spend their last day of freedom doing whatever they like, even if it means going against Moiraine’s wishes. Since Mat used the Horn of Valere, he’s been struggling to sleep because he can hear battle cries every time he closes his eyes. He’s also been speaking the old tongue at random, with strange memories in his mind that nobody can understand. Later, Rand tells Mat and Perrin about Selene, leaving out the Lanfear part for some reason. At the same time, Lanfear shows up in front of Moiraine, and they discuss how they’ve got the common goal of getting Rand to Tear. Rand has to go to Tear to get the Callandor sword, which will help him defeat the Forsaken and the Dark One. Lan doesn’t trust Lanfear, but Moiraine does for the time being, only because Lanfear is way more afraid of the rest of them than she was of Ishmael.
Does Edwene Make It Out Of The Arcs?
Edwene is completely against becoming an Aes Sedai at this point, and she will follow Rand to wherever he needs to go. However, Siuan reminds her that she needs to be on the side of the Light and that she’s currently not strong enough. Also, if she leaves Tar Valon without a ring (of acceptance), then she’ll never be allowed to come back. Edwene agrees to go back to The White Tower under the condition she take the test to become accepted immediately. Siuan agrees, and Edwene enters the arcs. We don’t get to see much of it, but we know that she becomes the Amyrlin Seat in her test, and she has to kill Rand, who has gone mad after losing control over the power. From the looks of it, Edwene probably did kill Rand before finding her way out, but maybe we’ll get to know more about that later. I did think it would be like Nynaeve’s test again, where she gets a false escape, but it looks like Edwene succeeded pretty easily. The moment she gets the ring, though, she leaves The Tower, telling Siuan that she’s pledged to the Light, not to her personally.
In the meanwhile, Elayne speaks to Rand about having Aviendha on his side. She reminds him that with power, you’ve got to remember that siding with someone will hurt another; he can’t win battles by himself and he must learn who to trust. Elayne also says Ando and she will always side with him. This woman should’ve been the dragon reborn in my opinion. Later, she spends some time with the Aiel woman herself, and they end up getting intimate.
Who Attacked The Five?
Later at night, when everyone is sleeping, they’re each attacked separately. Mat, who has some tarot cards laid out in front of him, gets hypnotized by them while Nynaeve gets attacked ruthlessly in the same room. Just earlier, he’d asked her if she could help him with his wisdom. Nynaeve tells him she will. But while everyone is screaming, Moiraine and Lan just sit around doing nothing, as if they knew this was going to happen. Seems they made a pact with Lanfear to instill some fear in the kids so that they’d go to Tear, but it’s not just her who attacked them. It’s finally Lan who saves Nynaeve since she can’t channel even in that situation. On the other hand, Edwene gets stabbed, and she tells Rand that they’re being attacked through the mirrors. He uses the One Power to destroy the mirrors but loses control again. Edwene screams for him to come back to her, and he eventually does. Moiraine and Lan meet up with Lanfear and learn that it’s a Forsaken named Gray Man who attacked Nynaeve, not Lanfear. This means the Forsaken know where Rand is, so they have to get him out immediately. Lanfear was meant to scare the kids, but it didn’t go as planned.
Will the gang split up?
Nynaeve tells Edwene that she plans on staying back in The Tower because she can’t help anybody if she’s unable to control the power. Mat says he’ll stay back with her because she’s the only person who can help him in his current state. Edwene says she’ll go with Rand, and Perrin plans on going back to Two Rivers, where Loial, Bain, and Chiad go with him.
At the end of episode 1, Aviendha joins Rand because he’s the Car’a’carn and she’s duty-bound to him. However, Rand says he will not be going to Tear, but to the Aiel Waste to find the army he needs to defeat the Shadow. The episode ends with Moghedien torturing a man called Jaichim in her web. She reminds him that if someone breaks their Dark Oath then they’re met with death, however, she asks Jaichim if he wants to be gray. I suppose this is a middle ground for those who are neither light nor dark, the inbetweeners. Ultimately, Moghedien tortures the man into agreeing to go gray. So I guess the Grayman from before was also sent by Moghedien.
