All the biggest book changes in The Wheel of Time Episodes 201-203
By Daniel Roman
Episode 2: “Strangers and Friends”
Rand al’Thor
In the show: During his self-imposed exile, Rand al’Thor works in a sanitarium in Cairhien and spends his nights with Selene, an innkeeper.
In the books: In The Great Hunt, Rand meets Selene under very mysterious circumstances during his hunt for the Horn of Valere. They have plenty of sexual tension but don’t shack up to the extent they do in the show. Rand also never works at a sanitarium in Cairhien, either during The Great Hunt or The Dragon Reborn. In The Dragon Reborn, he goes off on his own because he’s following his visions, which are leading him to a particular place. He’s not just trying to lay low as he is in the show.
Mat Cauthon and Min Farshaw
In the show: Mat’s imprisonment in Tar Valon continues. He discovers that a woman named Min, who we met last season, is in the cell next to him.
In the books: Mat spends a decent chunk of time holed up in Tar Valon during The Dragon Reborn. However, he never crosses paths with Min. Instead, Min ends meets up with Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve while they’re training at the White Tower during The Great Hunt and becomes entangled in the events that way.
Perrin Aybara
In the show: Perrin and the Shienarans discover a village which was attacked by the Dark One’s forces. They find a Fade nailed to a door and speculate that Padan Fain is responsible. Later they’re attacked by the Seanchan at the village of Atuan’s Mill and taken captive. Ishamael is there with High Lady Suroth, one of the Seanchan leaders.
In the books: The Shienarans similarly discover the village and the dead Fade. However, these events are told from Rand’s point of view. Rand, Perrin and Mat are all there, not just Perrin. In the books the Shienarans don’t make it to Atuan’s Mill until much later in the story, after the Seanchan have already attacked it. Ishamael isn’t with Suroth like in the show. Finally, Perrin’s powers don’t allow him glimpses into the past the way they do in the show.
The White Tower and Elayne
In the show: Egwene and Nynaeve’s training at the White Tower continues. Egwene meets Elayne Trakand, daughter-heir of Andor, while Liandrin tries to push Nynaeve through the Accepted trial early. We also discover that Liandrin is tending to her elderly son. Egwene struggles with jealousy over the way Nynaeve is being treated in the White Tower.
In the books: Training at the White Tower continues, although Nynaeve is already an Accepted by this point. Egwene meets Elayne in a very similar manner, but readers already met the daughter-heir during the previous book, The Eye of the World, where she crossed paths with Rand al’Thor. Elayne has never met Rand in the show.
Since Nynaeve is already an Accepted in the books, Liandrin does not need to push for her trial. We also never find out about Liandrin’s son, and she is far more hostile to Nynaeve and Egwene in the novels than in the TV show. Egwene does not have the same issues with jealousy about Nynaeve that she does in the show either, in part because the Aes Sedai treat both of them with more or less equal interest rather than focusing so heavily on Nynaeve’s power.
Moiraine and Lan
In the show: Moiraine and Lan recover from their fight with the Fades. They spend time with Verin and Adeleas before Moiraine eventually forces Lan to go with Alanna Sedai. She pushes him away, threatening to have Alanna take over his bond with her.
In the books: Lan and Moiraine argue and reminisce over how they met, but Moiraine is far kinder to Lan. She reveals she’s made plans for his bond to be passed on in the event of her death.. Lan doesn’t take it well, accusing her of treating him like a “pet,” but Moiraine is staunch in her opinion that Lan’s skills shouldn’t be wasted if she dies. It’s a stark contrast to the way they act in the show, with Moiraine outright telling Lan he isn’t her equal and tossing aside their bond far more casually.
The fact that Moiraine pushes for Alanna to take Lan is actually nodding to something which happens much later in the novels, during books 5 and 6. We won’t discuss it for the sake of spoilers, but it’s an interesting choice that the book moved that particular plotline up.