9 things the first season of The Wheel of Time needs to get right
By John Fallon
2. The Forsaken
Ah yes, the baddies.
The Forsaken act as antagonists throughout the series, and we can expect at least a few of them to be established early on. They are channelers of the One Power who serve the Dark One, which is as evil and dangerous as it sounds. Ages ago, the Forsaken led armies in a war known as the War of Power. The horrific actions of the 13 most powerful are still told as stories to frighten children when our story starts…and they’re not done.
The 13 who remain won’t show up all at once. The Forsaken Ishamael plays an important role early on in the story, particularly in the first book, so we’ll likely see him at least during the first season. Other baddies named Aginor and Balthamel might appear, but the show could easily avoid them.
Fans really want to see the infamous Darkfriend social, a meeting of evildoers in masks there to be instructed as to Dark One as to his wishes. The reader never truly knows who all is in attendance…but that’s harder to do onscreen with actors, even if they’re behind masks. It’ll be interesting to see how, or whether, the show pulls this off.
3. Trollocs
The animal-headed soldiers of the Dark One, Trollocs are meat puppets to slash up guilt-free. Like orcs, these creatures are terrifyingly cruel and enjoy a feast of human flesh from time to time.
Eventually, Trollocs end up being canon fodder for the heroes, but early in the story, the sight of one is enough to set lead character Rand al’Thor on edge, so they’ll have to look suitably menacing on TV. If they don’t, it’s not impossible to change up their appearance later on — the second season of The Witcher is improving some stupid armor designs from the first season — but the first impression counts for a lot.
We don’t have any clear idea of what the Trollocs will look like on the finished show, and we likely won’t until the episodes start to air, since the creatures will be built at least partially with CGI. Until then, we’ll wait in fear.