Shohreh Aghdashloo will reportedly play Elaida in The Wheel of Time
By Daniel Roman
It’s a pretty glorious time to be a fan of The Wheel of Time. Amazon’s TV show is currently in the middle of its second season, and it’s a promising step up from the first. With some major events from the book series by Robert Jordan on the way in the back half of season 2, there’s a lot to look forward to.
But now the news has broken that a major character for season 3 has been cast: Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse) will reportedly play Elaida, an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah and a major antagonist of the series.
Shohreh Aghdashloo to play Elaida in The Wheel of Time season 3?
This news comes courtesy of Wheel of Time YouTube channel WoT Up!, which has been building up a reputation for breaking these sorts of stories. WoT Up! claims to have received “documentation which proves [Aghdashloo] will be playing Elaida Sedai for season 3 and beyond.”
Aghdashloo has an interesting history with The Wheel of Time. In December 2021 the actor made headlines when fans dreamcast her as Cadsuane a different yet equally important Aes Sedai character. This led to her and showrunner Rafe Judkins discussing the possibility of her joining the show on Twitter. Judkins teased that he had her in mind for a “certain character” as far back as 2018.
Then, in May of 2023, reliable Wheel of Time fansite WoTSeries reported that they had received word from multiple sources that Aghdashloo was spotted on set for season 3 at Vranov nad Dyjí Castle in the Czech Republic, which was dressed with the White Lion banners of Andor. In the novel series, Elaida appears in the first book, The Eye of the World, where she meets Rand al’Thor in Caemlyn. Elaida has strong ties to Caemlyn, where she serves as an advisor to Elayne Trakand’s mother Queen Morgase. It makes sense we’d see her there at least once before she heads to the White Tower, where she’ll take place in a particularly brutal and important sequence from the book series which has reportedly been partially filmed, according to WoT Up!.
This isn’t a conclusive announcement so we can’t fully bank on it yet, but the evidence is pretty strong that Aghdashloo is joining the show.
Shohreh Aghdashloo would be a perfectly imperfect Elaida
So this seems to lay to rest the theory that Aghdashloo might play Cadsuane, an elder Aes Sedai who is something of a living legend at the White Tower. We’ve already heard multiple references to Cadsuane in season 2, so even if Aghdashloo isn’t playing her it’s likely she’ll show up at some point.
As for Aghdashloo as Elaida…that’s pretty much dream casting right there. Elaida is one of the most prominent villains in The Wheel of Time book series. She’s a member of the Red Ajah and probably the closest thing The Wheel of Time has to a Cersei Lannister; Elaida is power-hungry and flawed, but riveting. It’s easy to imagine a seasoned actor like Aghdashloo bringing her to life, especially after her run as Chrisjen Avasarala on The Expanse.
It’ll be a while until we see Aghdashloo as Elaida; season 3 is still filming as of this writing. But that’s okay, because we’re still enjoying season 2! New episodes premiere at 12:00 a.m. GMT on Prime Video.
Next. Ceara Coveney is having “so much fun” playing Elayne on The Wheel of Time. dark
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