The Wheel of Time season 2 may have ended, but Prime Video is wasting no time getting the hype train rolling for season 3. This past weekend was New York City Comic Con, and one of the many shows to debut new details was The Wheel of Time. On Saturday, a panel including executive producer Marigo Kehoe, VFX supervisor Andy Scrase and VFX producer Brian Shows discussed details about filming season 2, with a surprise appearance by showrunner Rafe Judkins at the end to tease season 3. Then on Sunday, Judkins was on hand for an extensive Q&A following a screening of the season 2 finale at the Whitby Hotel in New York City.
The result is that we have a wealth of new information about The Wheel of Time season 3. From new locations to new cultures and more, let’s go over the six biggest highlights.
The Aiel Waste, Rhuidean and Dreamwalking are in The Wheel of Time season 3
Kicking things off, the very thing that Judkins revealed is that Rhuidean and the Aiel Waste will both feature in season 3. Season 2 combined elements of the second and third Wheel of Time books, The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn, but season 3 will primarily just be adapting the fourth book, The Shadow Rising. The Aiel Waste is a major new location we’ll explore. Rhuidean is an abandoned city at the heart of it which holds a lot of magic and is very significant for the series. We expected both of these, but it’s beyond exciting to get the official confirmation:
"One nice thing about season 3 is that we really get to focus on one book this season, which is book four, which is one of the best books in the entire series. So I’m glad that we get to really spend a whole season doing it. And I just flew back about 36 hours through 3 continents and arrived here today ’cause I was standing in Rhuidean and then I flew here. So that is one thing that fans will get to see for sure in season three: the Aiel Waste."
The Aiel have a very unique culture, which Robert Jordan explores with great depth in the book series. According to Judkins, the show is leaning into this as well.
“One of the other cool things that we get to explore is the culture of these incredible warriors in The Wheel of Time world,” he said during a surprise appearance at Saturday’s panel, which was attended by The Hollywood Reporter. “We get to go really meet them and see them go to where they’re from. We also get to explore with some of our characters the world of dreams and dreamwalking, and I think that’s a really cool thing to get to do in season three because it is one of those unique elements in Wheel of Time that no other book series really has. So we really explore that world and season 3.”
The Wheel of Time’s second season started getting viewers acclimated to Tel’Aran’Rhiod, the world of dreams. Without going too deep into spoilers, let’s just say the Aiel have their own methods for navigating this otherworldly plain.
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.
Perrin and Rand will receive a large focus in The Wheel of Time season 3
The last major bit of information we got for season 3 is that it will feature important moments for both Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) and Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford). Judkins explained that similar to how the third and sixth episode of season 2 focused heavily on Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoë Robins) and Egwene al’Vere (Madeleine Madden), season 3 will have episodes centered around Perrin and Rand.
“Every season, we sit down in the writers room and one of the things that we do at the very beginning is pick out a couple of the stories that we have to carve out a space to make a whole episode for,” Judkins explained. “We think it’s worth it because those stories will really stand out to an audience, especially that didn’t read the books. They’re given that time, and it’s carved out, so they can really follow that character on that journey.”
"The first season was more of the group journey that had the one big Moraine episode, but for seasons two and three, we’ve really carved out two episodes of season that can really be devoted characters. This season was a really big Egweyne and Nynaeve season for us. Next season is a really big Rand [and] Perrison season for us. There are always different characters who are rising in importance."
This makes me really happy to hear. Rand is central to the Aiel Waste storyline in The Shadow Rising, while Perrin will be returning to a familiar location. It makes sense that these two would get a larger focus in season 3.
The Wheel of Time was not affected by the Hollywood strikes
Circling back to Saturday’s panel, executive producer Marigo Kehoe shed a bit of light on the actual production of The Wheel of Time. There has been a lot of speculation about whether the Hollywood writers and actors strikes affected filming for The Wheel of Time season 2 or 3. Kehoe finally confirmed that because season 3 scripts were done before the writers strike and the actors were contracted through the UK’s actor union, Equity, production has remained largely unaffected.
“We were very lucky that we had eight scripts before we started so we were able to keep going,” Kehoe said. “And the production team were unbelievable. Cast-wise, they’re on Equity contracts, not SAG contracts, so they were contracted and able to work. We’re one of very few shows, I think, that was able to keep going. We really were lucky, and I’m just very grateful for the huge team of people, the crew, because it’s been so tough for everybody.”
Hopefully this means we won’t have to wait too long to see all those exciting things Judkins teased for The Wheel of Time season 3.
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