Rhys al’Thor? See Robert Jordan’s early version of The Wheel of Time

All things are possible with the turning of the wheel. In one age, The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan looked very different than how it does today today. Jordan left notes as he was developing his 14-book epic, and looking at early drafts, we see a version of the tale that resembles The Wheel of Time we know today, with some huge differences that clearly didn’t make it into the final cut.

The basic origins of Jordan’s story are well known. “I began writing The Wheel of Time because a great many notions had been bouncing around inside my head and they started to coalesce,” the author told Audio Renaissance in 1997. “I wondered what it was really like to be tapped on the shoulder and told you were born to be the savior of mankind.”

As we know, the young Rand al’Thor is the guy who gets tapped on the shoulder. But the main character originally looked very different. According to Adam Whitehead of The Wertzone, Jordan’s first version of the story focused on a middle-aged war veteran named Rhys al’Thor. Jordan wanted to make his protagonist older as a way to break from the traditional fantasy trope of the young hero trying to save the world. An older character, Jordan thought, would have the proper life experience for the journey ahead. Unable to escape destiny, Rhys must stop the opening of a gateway that would allow a powerful being from another dimension, Sa’khan, to enter his world and destroy it. Sa’khan would eventually become the Dark One, the main villain of the series.

The origins the Seanchan and the Ogier

In this early draft, Rhys and his allies travel from the Two Rivers to the Spine of the World and then to Tar Valon. Multiple Blights dot the land and the Stone of Tear is called the Stone of Stair. At one point, Rhys is shipwrecked on a mysterious supercontinent ruled by women; Jordan later repurposed that idea into the Seanchan.

In the beginning, the One Power was called just “Power” and there were a people known as “Ogyr,” early versions of Ogier that came from a mysterious world. There was also mention of Seven Eyes of the World that prevented Sa’khan from reaching our world, an idea that eventually became the Seals on the Dark One’s prison.

Rhys has the most to do, but Jordan broke things up by adding the characters of Mat Cauthon and Perrin Aybara. Over time, other changes were made. Jordan pulled back on some of the darker aspects the story, the main characters were aged down, and Rhys became Rand.

How The Wheel of Time originally ended

Jordan’s notes from this time even forecast what he had in mind for the final confrontation between Rhys and Sa’khan, now named Sha’tan, which is getting closer to the Shai’tan that we know from the published books:

"He will attempt to unite the people to oppose Sha’tan’s minions, to unite them by force if necessary… By attempting to force humankind to oppose evil he was attempting to circumvent the free will that the Creator had made a central part of all humans. In a final confrontation Rand binds Sha’tan away from the world once more. Some of those who support him want him to destroy Sha’tan, but he knows that to attempt to do so would be disastrous even if he succeeded, which he does not believe he can. Evil – which Sha’tan is, just as the creator is Good – cannot be destroyed any more than Good. Evil must be opposed by people who chose…"

While there are lots of differences, we can see how elements from Rhys al’Thor’s original story evolved into the tale fans adore today.

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