Rand will become “really dark” on The Wheel of Time

Once upon a time, Rosamund Pike wasn’t interested in the fantasy genre. Now, as the actor behind Aes Sedai sorceress Moiraine on Amazon’s The Wheel of Time, she lives and breaths it. She’s even recorded audiobook versions of the first three Wheel of Time novels by Robert Jordan. That means she’s recorded over 80 hours of text, and there are still 11 books to go, not counting the prequel.

Pike took the audiobook job after some of her cast members passed. “I thought, ‘It probably does have to — I probably am the person to do this,’” she told The Washington Post. “It was exciting to me, then, how important it had become to me. And an audio version would be somehow linked intrinsically to our show.”

After sitting with The Wheel of Time for so long, Pike can talk fluently about its place in the greater fantasy tradition. “I mean, Robert Jordan was the bridge, wasn’t he, between Tolkien and George RR Martin,” Pike told Gamespot, referring to the authors of The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire. “I think what made him stand apart at the time–and still does–is his investigation of what the world looks like with women having access to the greatest power on Earth and being the gatekeepers of that power.”

"His interest isn’t solely in women, which is to do a disservice to the man who will ultimately break or save the world: Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn. I think the diversity of his cast of characters is truly jaw-dropping and the way that so many women, in particular, who often feel excluded from fantasy, can read themselves into a myriad of fascinating characters is something that did set him apart."

Rand and Moiraine will struggle to trust each other in The Wheel of Time season 2

On the show, Rand al’Thor is played by Josha Stradowski; he and Pike are some of the only cast members to have read Jordan’s books. When last we saw them, they sort-of teamed up to take down a character credited only as the Man. Rand is under the impression that they’d defeated the all-powerful Dark One, but if that were true we probably wouldn’t be getting a second season, would we?

According to Pike, Moiraine and Rand will have a bit of a trust problem going forward. “Moiraine is unwilling to trust anyone, Rand wants to trust but doesn’t know if he can trust her,” she said. “I think he comes to see during this season what she’s prepared to sacrifice in her quest and mission. She’s having to learn to cede control as he grows to understand himself. There’s only so much she can guide, but can’t control. She can steer, but she can’t dictate, and that’s not a comfortable place for Moiraine to be.”

Lord knows that Rand needs some guidance. As the long-prophesied Dragon Reborn, he commands enormous power, but is at something at a loss for how to use it; Pike compared him to an atom bomb and Stradowkski agreed. “I think that’s very true and that’s what I feel like where it becomes bigger than life,” he said. “For me, what’s so special is these characters and what they have to face is the Dark One, eventually in the Last Battle, but getting to that place and starting in the Two Rivers…I think is special. How much do these characters have to go through before they’re ready to face that Last Battle, especially for Rand–having read the books–how much can he take? How much suffering does he have to go through before he says ‘I can’t do this! I am going to join the Dark One because it’s easier?'”

"At some point, it becomes villainous as well. To me, Rand is becoming really dark, but I feel that is the only way he can beat the dark because he understands it. It’s not like he plays it, it’s not like taking on some character, no it’s through all of those traumas added up. That’s why he’s eventually able to face the Dark One and I just think that’s very exciting and different."

The second season of The Wheel of Time premieres on Amazon Prime Video on September 1. The first three episodes will drop all at once.

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