The third season of The Wheel of Time is off to a fantastic start on Prime Video. The streaming service released three episodes last week, and they didn’t disappoint.
Although the show is scrambling the events from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time book series a bit, these episodes did a good job of making that change relatively seamless without losing any momentum built up during the action-packed finale to season 2.
Without focusing too much on the differences between the books and the show, audiences can appreciate the visual smorgasbord the show delivers with aplomb. So far, The Wheel of Time is a prime example of how a quality fantasy story can be told on the small screen.
3 things that worked well in the first three episodes of The Wheel of Time season 3
No. 1: The opening battle in the White Tower
The season got off to an incredible start with a big One Power battle in the White Tower. The Amirlyn Seat (Sophie Okonedo) brings Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) up on charges of being a Darkfriend and, therefore, a member of the sinister Black Ajah.
Liandrin then calls her Black Ajah sisters to arms, who were present in the Hall of Sitters, and a classic battle between good and evil takes place. Visually, it's a spectacular scene as the sisters battle each other with weaves of saidar, the female half of the One Power.
Most of the Black Sisters are able to escape, taking numerous items of power with them and leaving a patch of destruction in their wake.
This was a terrific way to launch season 3, though the scene never appears in the books. It quickly illustrated the deep divisions within the White Tower that will lead to other significant issues in the future.
No. 2: The costumes
Kudos to the costume designers for this show. The costumes are beyond spectacular. The clothing of the Aes Sedai and the Forsaken is incredible.
Many fantasy books and shows have a medieval feel and theme. While The Wheel of Time has medieval elements, it is not a typical fantasy story. It often has a more modern, stylish look with stylistic inspiration from the Renaissance era.
Viewers caught a brief glimpse of the costumes we’ll see in upcoming episodes as Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), Elayne (Ceara Coveney), Mat (Dónal Finn), and Min (Kae Alexander) travel to Tanchico. In the books, Robert Jordan used styles of dress to distinguish different nationalities, and it is nice to see the show pay tribute to that.
No. 3: Perrin in the Two Rivers
When Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) returns to the Two Rivers, it launches the central part of his plotline. In Episode 3, he returns to his home village and finds that he has outgrown the place in many ways.
He also finds the Two Rivers in distress. Trollocs are harrying his family, as well as Rand’s and Mat’s. In addition, Whitecloaks are in the area, and they have it out for Perrin because of prior clashes.
So much of Perrin’s overlying plot for the whole series begins with this trip home, and it was nice to see the series stick to this key development for this character. As this season progresses, Perrin will come into his own, and it will be clear he is a top-tier character.
2 things that didn’t work in the first three episodes of The Wheel of Time season 3
No. 1: Wandering around Tar Valon
With the show largely skipping over the third book in the series, The Dragon Reborn, which ends with Rand and company conquering of the Stone of Tear, some key scenes that took place there early on in The Shadow Rising had to be moved. The show moved those scenes, which involve prominent characters like Rand (Josha Stradowski), Mat, Perrin, Nyneave, Egwene (Madeleine Madden), Elayne, Loial (Hammed Animashaun), Moraine (Rosamund Pike), and Lan (Daniel Henney), to Tar Valon.
This group includes multiple ta’veren, one of which is the Dragon Reborn, an Ogier, three Aiel, four women tied to the White Tower, and a famous warder. The fact that so many of these people, all of whom would be of interest to the White Tower, could be present in the city without every Aes Sedai not knowing about them feels implausible.
Every Ajah and many individual sisters have their own eyes and ears, or spies, throughout the city. It seems highly unlikely Aes Sedai wouldn’t be swarming all over them, even with the excitement that is taking place within the White Tower.
No. 2: Relationships
The books are undoubtedly modest by today’s standards when it comes to sexual relationships, and they needed to be updated for the TV show. That has been accomplished.
The unsettling part is that important relationships in the books have been completely abandoned on the small screen. While I don't want to dwell too much on the changes to the books, these differences are striking. In the books, the relationship between Rand and Egwene has long been over by mutual understanding. Egwene has formed her own tenuous bond with another character, and Rand is destined to share his love with three (yikes) women. In the series, Rand and Egwene are still together, Rand is involved with the Forsaken sorceress Lanfear, and the women with whom Rand is supposed to be involved have formed other relationships.
It is unclear why these changes were made other than to eliminate inevitable character entanglements from the books and streamline future storylines. Maybe Rand being involved with three women simultaneously would be too much of a hassle for the Prime Video series, so it was decided to do away with those possibilities early.
Regardless, season 3 has been excellent through the first three episodes, and the outlook for the series is exciting.
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