Who are the Seanchan in The Wheel of Time?

The second season of The Wheel of Time is here! The first three episodes are available to watch now on Amazon Prime Video, and they introduce some exciting new characters. Among them are the Seanchan a new civilization of people who have invaded the Westlands from across  the Aryth Ocean.

The Seanchan come from a continent also called Seanchan. They say they are here to reclaim the Westlands. The leaders of Seanchan society, called the Blood, claim to be descended from a great leader named Artur Hawkwing, who came from the Westlands. Hence they feel entitled to the whole place.

Seanchan society is very strictly divided by class. At the top are the blood. At the bottom are the damane, woman who can channel the One Power who are enslaved from a young age and trained to become living weapons for the Seanchan Empire. This is extremely different from the way things are in the Westlands, where woman who can channel often become Aes Sedai and exert enormous power over society.

Who is Lady Suroth on The Wheel of Time

The most prominent member of the Seanchan we’ve met so far is Lady Suroth, who is carried around on a huge palanquin and wears some wickedly long nails.

Lady Suroth is a powerful noblewoman from Seanchan. I don’t recall if she wore a mask in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time books, but it is mentioned that she has a couple of especially long fingernails. The costuming on the Seanchan in the show is next level. They look great.

The Seanchan are here to conquer, and they enslave women who can channel. That’s probably not going to sit well with a lot of people, especially the Aes Sedai. We’ll see what they get up to as The Wheel of Time season 2 continues.

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