The Wheel of Time season 3 explores Tanchico, Rhuidean and Sea Folk culture

The Wheel of Time has cast another Forsaken for season 3

The Wheel of Time season 2 got viewers well acclimated with two fascinating villains: Ishamael and Lanfear, members of an elite group of channelers sworn to the Shadow called the Forsaken. Who can forget Natasha O’Keeffe’s delectable performance as Lanfear?

When it comes to the Forsaken, the show is just scratching the surface. There are 13 of them in The Wheel of Time books; we believe the TV show will include eight of them. The season 2 finale ended with the stinger that Ishamael had freed the remaining six before his demise at the hands of Rand al’Thor. We met the first of them in the episode’s final scene: Moghedien, played by Laia Costa.

Judkins revealed that another Forsaken has already been cast for The Wheel of Time season 3. “We really felt like the Forsaken are such an incredible part of the books, and we wanted to bring them to the forefront in season two, earlier than they really are forefronted in the books,” he said. “I’ve seen some very serious commentary online about the Forsaken and who may not be in the show, but I can confirm that we have cast and put on set a Forsaken you have not seen in the show as of yet.”

While Judkins keeps the mystery up about which particular Forsaken he’s referring to, my best guess is that it’s Asmodean. Both he and Moghedien feature very prominently in The Shadow Rising.

The Wheel of Time season 3 will take us to Tanchico

Now we get into Sunday’s Q&A, which was recorded for home viewing convenience by WoT In Color. Rafe Judkins discussed plenty of details about season 2 and the show in general, before dropping another huge reveal about a key location we’re going to see in season 3: Tanchico.

"There is another world that we have been working very hard to build and that is the world of Tenchico. And it’s tropical, it’s so different than anything else you’ve ever seen on the show before and genuinely — I don’t know if I can say this — but we built this area where there’s a bar, and there’s some of our characters like Nynaeve and Elayne that you love that are in there. And literally this place was just so wild and the costumes are so different, there’s tropical plants hanging from the ceiling and everyone looks like they could kill anyone at any moment. And we all just hung out after set one day in that bar because we were having such a good time there shooting. So I think Tanchico’s gonna bring a real fresh energy to the show in season 3."

Nynaeve and Elayne’s trip to Tanchico is a crucial part of The Shadow Rising. However, given that The Wheel of Time has at times streamlined its many locations, such as relocating many events which occurred in Caemlyn to Tar Valon in season 1, there was no guarantee we were going to see Tanchico. Thankfully, with Judkins’ confirmation we can now lay those fears to rest and get hyped in earnest!

Since we’re staying light on spoilers, we’re not going to discuss what Elayne and Nynaeve are doing in this tropical city; but we’ve talked about it elsewhere if you have a hankering for more information.

The Wheel of Time season 3 will explore the Sea Folk culture

The Wheel of Time season 3 will also focus on exploring the culture of the Sea Folk, also known as the Atha’an Miere. This is a people renowned for their sailing abilities and shrewd trading; we heard them referenced already in The Wheel of Time season 2 premiere, when Bayle Domon is haggling with Moiraine over the piece of cuendillar. Judkins revealed that season 3 will give them a proper introduction.

"There’s one more place I’m allowed to talk about, too. We shot it just a couple of weeks ago…we have built a Sea Folk ship and cast some Sea Folk. So we’ll get to see the world of that, which you don’t know anything about yet but you will soon."

Judkins didn’t go so far as to confirm that the Sea Folk will be appearing in Tanchico, but that’s what we’re guessing. We have a new tropical location and a new group of seafarers; it feels like an obvious fit. Plus, Elayne and Nynaeve are two characters who have relations with them in the books.