What Can We Expect In Season Two Of 'The Wheel Of Time?'
Image Source: Fandom
Amazon is going all in on epic fantasy lately. After bidding nearly a quarter billion dollars to acquire the television rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which resulted in The Rings of Power, they’re willing to spend nearly a billion dollars on the series. They also acquired Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series and have turned that into a show as well.
Season two of The Wheel of Time has wrapped filming and at the time of this publishing is finishing the season in post. Season three is underway, but the Writer Strike has already disrupted the production of several shows, so there’s no telling what effect it will have on season three. Season one essentially followed the pace and scope of the first book, The Eye of the World. There were some notable changes, but for the most part, it stuck to the book.
So what can we expect in the second season?
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The first thing to expect is that it will look a lot different than the second and third books. Showrunner Rafe Judkins has said that season two will cover books two and three so that season three can cover book four. This is likely to make fans a little squeamish because of the nature of Jordan’s books. The Wheel of Time books are notorious for their most distinguishing characteristic: their length. It is a 14-book long series, and nearly every book is over 800 pages long. If people think The Silmarillion is a daunting task, Jordan’s collective series is monumental. That’s likely part of the feeling of season one feeling a little rushed. It will be interesting to see how Rafe manages to condense two books into one season. Though to be fair, books two and three are among the shortest of the 14, and Rafe has said season two episodes will be longer, so it may be possible to pull it off if the main beats are covered.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at what those beats could be as there are likely to be large changes.
Padan Fain with the Horn of Valere and Mat’s dagger (Tucked into his belt).
Image Source: Den of Geek
Now, in the second book Rand and his friends are involved in what is known as the Great Hunt, which is also the title. Recall, if you will, that at the end of the first season, Padan Fain steals the Horn of Valere, and Mat’s blade, and runs off with them, which is the catalyst for the Great Hunt. Mat and the boys have to go after Fain, partly because Mat will die if he’s parted from the knife for too long, and also because the Horn of Valere is a legendary instrument that is said to be able to call the long-dead army of legendary heroes back to fight for them. It’s supposed to be used at the Last Battle, but as the events of the novel unfold, the invading Seanchan, which we got a glimpse of at the end of season one, proves to be too great a threat, and the Horn is used against them.
Rand is separated from the group early on when he accidentally transports himself, Loial the Ogier, and an expert tracker from the Great Hunt into an alternate realm. In this realm, they meet Ishamael, also known as Ba’alzamon, who is the same person he released at the end of season one. He is part of what is known as the Forsaken, the Dark One’s chief lieutenants and followers. Rand and Ishamael fight and Rand gets a brand burned into his hand, fulfilling another part of the prophecy of the Dragon Reborn. While traveling in the other realm, he and the others also meet someone named Selene, a mysterious woman who offers to lead them out, and when they succeed, they find they are ahead of Padan Fain and his Trollocs. They manage to steal the horn and Mat’s blade back by simply waiting for them and sneaking into their camp. Rand and his companions meet back up with Mat and Perrin and the rest of the Great Hunt in another city, Cairhien. A fan favorite reunites with them there, Thom Merrilin. Despite having recovered the Horn and the blade, they are once again stolen and the Hunt continues.
The Seanchan arrive.
Image Source: Winteriscoming.net
Egwene and Nynaeve are taken to the White Tower for training as Aes Sedai. While there, Nynaeve is discovered to be immensely powerful, perhaps one of the most powerful Aes Sedai in generations. She takes the trials and is instantly promoted to an Accepted. Egwene does not fare as well, but she is discovered to possibly be a Dreamer, someone who can travel the realm of dreams and even go into others’ dreams. They also meet Elayne Trakand, daughter of the Queen of Andor, there to train as Aes Sedai and Min Farshaw. Min was introduced in season one as the barkeep of the pub in Fal Dara, the one who could see auras and images about people.
Everyone is brought back together in a realm called Toman Head, at the city of Falme, which is the beachhead of the Seanchan invasion, and where the Horn and Mat’s blade have been taken. Rand and the Hunt get there via the Ways and portal stones like the one he accidentally activated except because he’s untrained, he screws up and it takes them longer to get there. Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne, and Min are convinced to go and help their friends by Liandrin Sedai. When they arrive, they are captured and enslaved by the Seanchan, who leash female channelers and force them to use their power. It all comes to a head when Rand fights an epic sword battle against Ishamael, in which he unknowingly projects an image into the sky, basically telling everyone he’s the Dragon Reborn. The ladies manage to escape and learn how to break the Seanchan’s leashes, and Mat blows the Horn and summons forth the legendary army, driving the Seanchan from the field.
That’s just book two.
Book three, The Dragon Reborn, is shorter, though not by much.
The Stone of Tear
Image Source: Pinterest - Phil Lowe
Rand leaves the group as it travels back to Fal Dara, instead heading toward a realm called Tear and a famous fortress there called the Stone of Tear. There, he is determined to test this prophecy that he is the Dragon Reborn by taking the Stone and wielding the fabled sword Callandor, a sword made of crystal, and allows a male channeler to summon unimaginable amounts of the One Power. Moiraine, Loial, and Perrin follow him.
Mat is taken to the White Tower to be healed of his connection to the blade, which is successful. After that, Mat seeks to escape and starts to portray some incredible luck and skill that must have something to do with his having blown the Horn and being a ta’veren. He once again runs into Thom Merrilin, and while delivering a letter to Elayne’s mother, they discover a plot to kill Elayne and they head off after the ladies.
Maidens of the Spear for season two. Aviendha (Ayoola Smart) in the middle.
Image Source: Nerdist
Speaking of which, Egwene and Nynaeve are tasked with seeking out the Black Ajah — Aes Sedai who serve the Dark One — within the Tower. Min is sent by Moiraine to keep the Amyrlin Seat apprised of developments. The other three ladies pick up on a lead and head to Tear. This once again brings everyone back together in Tear at the end of the book, where Rand takes on not one, but two Forsaken. First, he takes on one called Be’lal, but Moiraine intervenes and kills him with balefire, an incredibly powerful use of the One Power that erases anything it touches from the Pattern. We’re talking out of existence and the cycle completely. Then, Ishamael shows up, again, and Rand manages to take Callandor and kill him. Rand thinks Ishamael was the Dark One, but Egwene discovers that he was indeed Ishamael, the Dark One’s right-hand man. It’s then that the Aiel show up and conquer the Stone of Tear, and declare themselves to be the People of the Dragon.
Just think, Rafe wants to get all that into season two, somehow.
It’s a lot, to be sure, but some major beats could gel together into a coherent season that covers two massive books. They have to get the Horn back. It would be a major violation of Chekhov’s Gun to introduce the Horn at the end of season one and then do nothing with it, especially with the time devoted to it in the final episode of season one. And there’s the threat of the Seanchan. The question is, can that be done in half the season and also take them all to the Stone of Tear? Will they do the Tear arc? Casting can give us some clues as to what will happen there.
Elayne Trakand (Ceara Coveney), heir to the throne of Andor, daughter of Queen Morgase.
Image Source: Twitter
The Aiel don’t factor into the story until the Stone of Tear, but there are confirmed castings for three Maidens of the Spear, one of which is a story-centric character: Aviendha (Ayoola Smart). She eventually becomes one of the love interests of Rand, but she doesn’t appear until the third book. Since the Aiel are a key part of the Tear arc, and Aviendha is a major character, it all suggests that this arc will make it into season two. As Rafe has stated that season three will focus on book four, and book four takes place almost entirely in the Aiel Waste, it suggests there’s a strong possibility that Rand is somehow diverted from going to the Waste. It’s more likely that Aviendha and the other maidens cast for season two will somehow center around the Stone of Tear and that Rand will make his way there.
This brings us to Rand and the Falme arc. It perhaps isn’t a necessary beat for him to go to Falme and fight Ishamael, as he does it again and kills him in Tear, officially becoming the Dragon Reborn by wielding Callandor. With him traveling east on his own, it makes it less likely that he even goes to Falmer. It would be possible then to introduce Selene at some point. Though it’s not confirmed yet who would play Selene, or if she’s even in the season, but Natasha O’Keeffe has been cast for an unknown character. There’s a clue, however, from the books that could suggest she plays Selene. Selene’s described as incredibly beautiful and has long black hair. Natasha O’Keeffe has black hair. It’s total speculation, but as she’s a major character in the book and has frequent contact with Rand, especially in the Great Hunt, it’s a strong possibility.
Cover art from The Dragon Reborn, with Rand reaching for Callandor. Notice the Aiel lurking behind the columns
Image Source: Tor
We do know that Elayne Trakand has been cast, set to be played by Ceara Coveney, so it’s likely the Aes Sedai arc will be followed to some degree. This could mean that the ladies will in some way interact with the Seanchan and also be involved in the Tear arc. Elayne is a central character, both in the Seanchan arc and Rand’s life, so how Rafe Judkins works that into an eight-episode season will be interesting.
Then there’s Verin Mathwin, recently announced to be played by Meera Syal.
Verin is another unknown, mostly because Rand’s journey in season two is set up to be so different. In the books, Verin accompanies the Great Hunt and helps Rand and the group get to Falme at the end of the second book. She’s also involved with healing Mat at Tar Valon, but since that’s all kind of different, it’s unclear how she’s going to factor into this season. She is a close ally of Moiraine, despite being a Brown, so it’s likely she’ll interact more with Moiraine this season since Rand went off on his own.
There’s certainly some blending of the books going on, as it technically should not be known until the end of book three that Rand killed not the Dark One but instead Ishamael, but based on the teaser, it seems that Moiraine is on to the ruse. We also know that Padan Fain has Mat’s dagger, but Mat did not accompany everyone to Fal Dara like in the book and we’re made to think he’s done with the blade. There was a shot in the final season where they purposely show Fain sheathe the dagger, so it’s still got some importance. Can’t forget Perrin either. His burgeoning telepathic link with wolves will prove useful on the Great Hunt, but there’s no mention or casting information about him meeting the woman he’d eventually marry, Faile. Faile also has black hair so perhaps that’s who O’Keeffe plays. Who knows.
Some paths seem pretty clear, while others remain a mystery. As the potential premier date sometime this year draws closer each day, and major news is usually announced at big conventions, we’ll likely hear more in the coming weeks.
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