Welcome to our weekly feature where we walk you through the latest episode of Amazon’s The Wheel of Time and fill you in on how it differs from The Wheel of Time book series by Robert Jordan. In the latest episode, “Blood Calls Blood,” the destination may have changed, but the plot remains the same.
Rand and Mat in the Big City
In the show: The fifth episode jumps a month forward in time and catches up with Rand and Mat as they finally make it to Tar Valon, the home base of the Aes Sedai. Mat’s lingering sickness hasn’t gotten any better along their journey. In fact, he lashes out at a child, so it’s arguably worse. On the outskirts of the city, Rand notices a smoldering mountaintop in the distance, remarking that he thinks he’s seen it before.
Upon entering Tar Valon, the pair are amazed by its grandiose and jubilant atmosphere; book readers will delight to hear them say, “blood and ashes.” Rand, worried about what the Aes Sedai might do to Mat, takes them both to an inn Thom recommended.
Later, the Aes Sedai parade Logain through the city street to show what happens to those who challenge the White Tower. Meanwhile, Rand stumbles upon a small library. To his shock, he meets a rather large creature with a low, baritone voice. The Trolloc-sized being identifies himself as “Loial, son of Arent, son of Halan.” He is an Ogier, a member of a non-human race.
Loial is amused with Rand and says that he looks like an Aiel, which Rand knows nothing about. Looking out the window, Rand notices a commotion in the street. The Aes Sedai have arrived with a caged Logain. Rand joins Mat and watches. Logain looks at them and seems intent on Mat, laughing hysterically. Both feel a bit shaken.
In the books: In the books, Thom fights a Fade in the town of Whitebridge, not at the Grinwell Farm. After that, Rand and Mat hitch a ride from a local farmer to the city of Caemlyn, where they find an inn Thom told them to visit: The Queen’s Blessing. It’s there that they meet Thom’s old acquaintance Basel Gill. He talks of Thom and warns them against meeting the Aes Sedai.
Rand finds the inn’s library, filled with hundreds of different books. There he meets Loial, at first mistaking him for a Trolloc before the two become friends. Loial thinks Rand is Aiel and quotes their saying, “Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared screaming defiance with the last breath to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the Last Day.” In the end, Loial decides he wants to travel with Mat and Rand so he can continue to write his book.
After several days, Logain is brought to Caemlyn, caged and shielded by Aes Sedai. Rand leaves to go see while Mat stays behind. Finding a spot to watch the procession, he sees Logain inside a large iron-barred cage. Suddenly, Logain throws his head back and laughs.
So basically, the TV show had a lot of the material from the books, but it happened in Tar Valon rather than Caemlyn, which the series is skipping for now. That also means we’re not meeting the character of Elayne, who is introduced in Caemlyn. There will be other opportunities to introduce her later on, though.