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, “The Dark Along the Ways,” our heroes make a journey through darkness and danger to reach the fortress city of Fal Dara, where revelations are abundant.
Tam al’Thor
In the show: In this episode’s cold opening, a pregnant Aiel warrior battles Illianer soldiers on a snow-covered mountain known as the Dragonmont. She’s deadly with a spear but it’s clear she’s struggling, and close to giving birth.
Taking a knife wound, the warrior fends off her enemies before preparing to have her baby amidst the blood and snow. Distracted and in pain, the scene ends with Rand’s father Tam al’Thor putting his heron-marked blade at her throat.
Near the end of the episode, it’s revealed Tam told Rand about this event while delirious after fighting a Trolloc in the first episode. Rand confirms the truth of it from Min, who crossed paths with Tam as a child and saw a vision of an Aiel woman dying while giving birth to a baby boy. Tam, who rescued that baby, raised him on a comfortable farm in the Two Rivers.
In the books: The backstory of Tam al’Thor is pieced together through various chapters in The Eye of the World. Speaking with Nynaeve in Baerlon, Rand learns that a young Tam left the Two Rivers and joined the army of Illian. During the Aiel War, he rose high in the ranks and earned the title of blademaster. Afterwards, he returned to Emond’s Field with a wife, who later died, and a baby boy.
During the attack on Winternight, a wounded Tam speaks in a fever dream as Rand brings him through the woods to safety:
". . . battles are always hot, even in the snow. Sweat heat. Blood heat. Only death is cool. Slope of the mountain . . . only place didn’t stink of death. Had to get away from smell of it . . . sight of it. . . . heard a baby cry. Their women fight alongside the men, sometimes, but why they had let her come, I don’t . . . gave birth there alone, before she died of her wounds. . . . covered the child with her cloak, but the wind . . . blown the cloak away. . . . child, blue with the cold. Should have been dead, too. . . . crying there. Crying in the snow. I couldn’t just leave a child. . . . no children of our own. . . . always knew you wanted children. I knew you’d take it to your heart, Kari. Yes, lass. Rand is a good name. A good name."
So the show more or less adapted this accurately, although it told us about it later on in the story.
The Ways
In the show: The group wants to open the Waygate and go back for Mat, but Loial says it is impossible to use the One Power once in the Ways, because it risks alerting Machin Shin, the Black Wind. They decide to press forward, catching up to Moiraine and Lan. Perrin notices a guiding stone in the distance, despite the darkness. It has been defaced to prevent others from finding the right path through the Ways.
They decide to rest while Loial figures out which way to go. As they sleep, Egwene and Rand are attacked by a Trolloc and channel to knock the creature into the endless void below. Sensing the use of the One Power, Machin Shin appears and the companions flee for a closer Waygate instead. Padan Fain is also seen briefly within the Ways.
Machin Shin descends down on them near the Waygate, tormenting each in turn with whispers about their greatest fears. Nynaeve fends off the Black Wind with the One Power and Moiraine unlocks the Waygate, allowing the group to escape into the lands outside Fal Dara.
In the books: After the company enters the Waygate, they find themselves submerged in darkness in a world where time works strangely. The Ways appears as a series of floating islands connected by bridges, with pitch black below. Each island along the way has a big stone slab etched with directions in Ogier script. There is significant damage to the structures, but Loial is able to point them in the right direction.
The journey continues, but Loial becomes increasingly distraught at the corruption infesting the Ways. At one point, they find frightening evidence of Trollocs and stop for the night to rest. But later the next day, Rand notices the sound of a faint, screeching wind. Loial, utterly terrified, announces the approach of Machin Shin, a terrible evil that haunts the Ways and devours souls.
They rush for the Waygate outside Fal Dara, but find that it has disappeared. Moiraine sees no other choice but to break their way out, using the One Power to hold off the Black Wind at the same time. They manage to escape and proceed to Fal Dara, wishing to speak with Lord Agelmar.
Fal Dara
In the show: After they leave the Ways, our group reaches the city of Fal Dara near the Blight, a desolate land where the Dark One holds the most sway. Lan, who hails from this area, is given a warm welcome by his Shienaran companions, including the foul-mouthed Uno Nomesta. They call Lan “daishan” before escorting the group to meet with Lord Agelmar, who runs the city.
Agelmar is initially distrustful of the Aes Sedai, but Moiraine says she’s come to warn Agelmar to block off the Waygate or risk a deadly Trolloc attack, which is useful enough advice to get him on her side. Fal Dara has withstood thousands of Trollocs from the north, but an attack from the south would be deadly.
Additionally, Padan Fain is seen exiting the Waygate outside Fal Dara, and again by Perrin in the walls of the fortified city.
In the books: After escaping Machin Shin, the group travels quickly through the snows to reach Fal Dara. Winter remains stubborn in these lands and Rand tries to convince some of the others to stay behind when they leave for the Blight, but they refuse, having all been swept up in the Pattern.
Once inside the defensive city, Lord Agelmar reveals that he is sending his army to Tarwin’s Gap to defeat Trollocs that have been heavily raiding their lands all winter. Agelmar would like Moiraine and Lan to join him, but they have their own mission here. Many of the guards recognize Lan and ask him if the Golden Crane will fly again. At dinner, Algelmar tells the Emond’s Fielders more about Lan’s history.
Resting at Fal Dara, the party also learns that Padan Fain, the peddler from the Two Rivers, has been arrested. After interrogations, Fain admitted that he followed them during their entire journey, from Baerlon to Caemlyn and through the Ways. The heroes leave him behind and venture into the Blight.
Min Farshaw
In the show: New viewers are introduced to Min Farshaw, a bartender in Fal Dara. Under the protection of the Aes Sedai, Min’s abilities have been kept a secret. She can read glimpses of the Pattern in the form of auras that surround a person. Essentially, she can tell someone’s future.
Moiraine brings the Two Rivers folk to Min for a viewing. On Perrin, she sees yellow eyes and blood running down his chin. Rand holds a baby. For Egwene and Nynaeve, though the viewer is unable to specify which one, Min sees a white flame and a ring of gold. All four of them are unusually linked and Min’s visions are clear.
Looking at Moiraine, Min says that the Amyrlin Seat will be her downfall. At the end of the episode, Rand asks Min what she sees around him, and she replies, “Rainbows and carnivals and three beautiful women…Usually the more important something is to the Pattern, the clearer the vision.”
In the books: On her way towards the Two Rivers, Moiraine meets Min in the city of Baerlon. She learns Min, while unable to channel, has a talent for reading the Pattern such that she can see into a person’s future.
Later on in the story, Rand bumps into Min while the group rests at the Stag and Lion in Baerlon. She explains to him in detail how she can see things about people and remarks that the Emond’s Fielders are all tied to the fate of the Pattern. Min talks about the various images she sees around Rand. She also sees images around Lan, Thom, Perrin, and Nynaeve, ultimately deciding they are all somehow connected to each other.
In the books, this happens long before the group reaches Fal Dara. Baerlon has not yet appeared in the show, so it looks like they took some of the Min material and transferred it to the Borderlands city.
Malkier
In the show: After they sleep together, Lan wakes up to Nynaeve staring out his window. She asked him why the people he visited earlier referred to him as “daishan.” Lan reveals that it is a title given to the future kings of Malkier. Unfortunately, his kingdom was consumed by the encroaching Blight long ago.
On the night Malkier was overrun by darkness, Lan’s family was slaughtered, but one of his father’s armsmen smuggled him out of the city. Lan was brought to Fal Dara and grew up as a king without a kingdom.
In the books: Lord Agelmar tells a more detailed version of the story Lan tells Nynaeve. The mighty nation of Malkier was ruled by King al’Akir Mandragoran. The King’s brother, Lain, had a wife with a jealous desire for power. She convinced her husband to charge into the Blight, a disastrous move that severely weakened Malkier.
The now-widowed wife, Breyan, blamed the king and worked against him, pulling Malkier into chaos. Trolloc hordes slaughtered the defenseless nation, but the King and Queen sent their baby son away to safety. Growing up, Lan learned the stories and how Malkier was consumed by the Blight, forever damning him to be a king without a kingdom.
Machin Shin
In the show: Machin Shin terrorizes the heroes in the Ways. Looking like a swarm of bats, Machin Shin tries to consume them all, but Moiraine and Nynaeve hold it back. Each person hears different whispers from Machin Shin that targets their vulnerabilities.
In the books: The Black Wind known as Machin Shin is a malevolent evil in the Ways, capable of stealing the soul from anyone it comes into contact with. The larger the group traveling the Ways, the more likely Machin Shin will appear. When it comes close, it takes the form of blood-curdling chants and haunting cries devouring the mind and the soul. Its origin is unknown, although there are many theories.
"Something left from the Time of Madness, perhaps, or even from the War of the Shadow, the War of Power. Something hiding in the Ways so long it can no longer get out. No one, not even among the Ogier, knows how far the Ways run, or how deep. It could even be something of the Ways themselves. As Loial said, the Ways are living things, and all living things have parasites. Perhaps even a creature of the corruption itself, something born of the decay. Something that hates life and light."
Amazon’s The Wheel of Time drops the last episode of the first season next week. It’s titled, “The Eye of the World.”
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