The Wheel of Time hit viewers with some major twists and turns in Episode 204, “Daughter of the Night.” In addition to the truth about Selene’s secret identity, the episode also revealed that the Aes Sedai Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) is in league with Ishamael (Fares Fares), the chief lieutenant of the Dark One.
Throughout season 2, we learned that Liandrin had both Mat Cauthon (Dónal Finn) and Min Farshaw (Kae Alexander) captive in Tar Valon. Mat and Min seemingly made their getaway in Episode 203, “What Might Be,” but at the last moment it was revealed that Liandrin had engineered the whole thing so Min could lead Mat to meet one of her mysterious contacts.
That contact turned out to be none other than Ishamael, who promised to take away the burden of Min’s future sight ability if she followed his orders and led Mat to the city of Cairhien. “What’s in Cairhien?” Min asks…but we never hear Ishamael’s answer.
So what exactly is in Cairhien, and why does Ishamael want Min and Mat to head there? Thanks to the Inside the Episode featurette for “Daughter of the Night,” we have a pretty good idea.
Why does Ishamael want Mat to go to Cairhien in The Wheel of Time?
Cairhien is a new setting which has featured heavily in season 2; that’s the city where Rand (Josha Stradowski) and Selene (Natasha O’Keeffe) are residing. In Episode 204 we also saw Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) head there, where she reunited with her sister and eventually tracked down Rand. A lot of pieces on the board are moving toward Cairhien right now; is there one of them in particular that’s most relevant to Ishamael’s plans for Mat?
“Episode 204 has a bunch of reveals laid right on top of each other,” explains showrunner Rafe Judkins in the Inside the Episode X-Ray feature for this episode. “You realize Liandrin is Black Ajah, that she’s working for Ishamael. That Ishamael is trying to put Mat and Rand back together, and that Selene is Lanfear.”
It doesn’t get more conclusive than that: Ishamael is sending Mat and Min to Cairhien because he wants Mat and Rand together again. The answer to why may lie in one of Min’s visions.
Min has the rare ability to see people’s futures when she looks at them. During Episode 202, “Strangers and Friends,” she glimpses Mat’s future, seeing that he will stab Rand with the ruby-hilted dagger from Shadar Logoth. Whether Ishamael wants Rand dead or there’s more to mystery, it’s possible this vision could tie into the Forsaken’s motives in one way or another.
Hopefully we’ll find out more when The Wheel of Time Episode 205 premieres next week.
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