The finale of The Wheel of Time season 3 is here, and it's a massive affair with major twists and turns for just about every character. "He Who Comes With The Dawn" finally solidifies Rand al'Thor as the Car'a'carn of the Aiel, dramatizing a key moment from Robert Jordan's book series from which there is no return. Over the course of its 68-minute runtime, the episode rearranges all our favorite characters on the board; there will be no going back to the way things were.
The Wheel of Time season 3 has been the season most faithful to Jordan's books by far, with a number of important plotlines from The Shadow Rising making an appearance. Yet while the season itself has been very faithful, the finale made a number of very large deviations, some of which are almsot certain to leave longtime fans distraught. Why did it make these choices? What could they mean for the overall arc of the series?
We're going to discuss five of the largest changes The Wheel of Time season 3 finale made from the books. There will be FULL SPOILERS for the show as well as the book series.
1. Sammael and Asmodean
During the finale, we find out that Moiraine has taken the Forsaken Sammael captive following his failed attack on Rand in Episode 306. Afterward, Moiraine tells Sammael that she intends to force him to train Rand how to better handle the One Power. There are differences to using the male and female halves of the Source, and only another man who can channel can truly teach Rand those nuances. Before Sammael can teach Rand, however, Moghedien sneaks into the room where Sammael is being held captive and murders him. Sammael is seemingly gone for good.
This differs from the books in two ways. The first is that in Jordan's novels, it's a different Forsaken named Asmodean who is taken captive and who teaches Rand. Asmodean poses as a bard and travels with Rand into the Aiel Waste in The Shadow Rising; at the end of the book his true identity is revealed, and Rand chases him to Rhuidean where he subdues him with the help of Lanfear. Asmodean then teaches Rand for the entirety of the fifth book before he's killed by another Forsaken, who we later learn was Graendal.
Sammael, meanwhile, continues to be a thorn in Rand's side for quite a while longer. He takes over the nation of Illian, influences the Shaido Aiel, and manipulates the other Forsaken into causing Rand problem after problem. Ultimately, Rand forces a confrontation with Sammael in the seventh book, A Crown of Swords, when the two head to the ruined city of Shadar Logoth and Rand finally puts an end to him.
The television show has seemingly cut both the arc of a Forsaken teaching Rand and Sammael's later machinations. At least it winked to readers about it by making us think Sammael would teach Rand, but still, this is a change that means one of the most pervasive Forsaken of the book series was relegated to a relatively minor role in the show. The show may end up cutting the political stuff with Illian entirely, though I still expect a different character — the false Dragon Mazrim Taim — will end up teaching Rand more about the One Power. He's already been mentioned in the show, and has a major arc involving Rand which starts in book 6, Lord of Chaos.
2. Nynaeve vs Moghedien
The change that I was most disappointed about in The Wheel of Time finale is that Nynaeve and Moghedien never cross paths. In the show, Moghedien never even shows up at the Panarch's Palace, instead giving the Domination Band bracelet to Liandrin and later re-appearing to further bind the Black Ajah sorceress to her will. Nynaeve, meanwhile, has a deadly run-in with Liandrin, where she finally overcomes her block after being tossed into the bay and nearly drowned.
In the book, Nynaeve runs into Moghedien at the Panarch's Palace and the two get into a duel. It's extremely dangerous for Nynaeve, but despite facing a Forsaken, she actually manages to defeat Moghedien. The Forsaken flees, leaving Nynaeve in shock that she was able to go toe-to-toe with one of these ancient and powerful channelers. This is a major turning point in the series for how the Forsaken are framed, as our heroes start to realize that their power is actually on par with the Forsaken despite their fearsome reputations.
Nynaeve's duel with Moghedien is one of her most iconic scenes in the entire series, and it begins a long and dysfunctional rivalry between the two as Moghedien makes it her personal mission to cause Nynaeve as much suffering as possible in retaliation for the loss. I was pretty sad it didn't appear in the finale.
I'm assuming The Wheel of Time show cut this scene because Nynaeve also fights Moghedien at the end of the fifth book, The Fires of Heaven. That duel happens in Tel'aran'rhiod so it's a little different, but it's close enough that the show may have wanted to trim things down, with this season focusing on Nynaeve breaking through her block and next season building her up to the duel with Moghedien. Time will tell!
3. The Domination Bands
Aside from Nynaeve's duel being cut and Mat's inclusion in the Tanchico plotline, there is one other way it differs drastically from the books. In the show, Liandrin successfully takes the Domination Bands and collar from Nynaeve and ends the season by offering them up to Moghedien. In the novel, Nynaeve and her friends actually succeed in getting the Domination Bands and collar, and promptly enlist the sea captain Bayle Domon to drop them into the ocean.
However, later in the series we find out that Domon failed in this mission, as he was intercepted by the Seanchan and they confiscated the Domination Bands and collar, making several copies which later impact the story. So despite Nynaeve and Elayne succeeding in getting the bands, they end up in enemy hands anyway.
Of all the changes in the finale, this is the one that makes the most sense to me. The Domination Bands have an important role to play, and their destruction was essentially a giant fakeout in the books. The show has followed its villains much more closely, so there's no reason not to be up front about the fact that these artifacts are still in play. The main difference here is just that Nynaeve and Elayne know the bad guys have the Domination Bands, and at this point they're in the hands of Moghedien and Liandrin rather than the Seanchan.
4. Moiraine vs Lanfear
Instead of Nynaeve and Moghedien, the big duel we get in the finale is between Moiraine and the Forsaken Lanfear. While Rand proclaims himself as the Car'a'carn in the Aiel Waste, Moiraine and her Warder Lan fight a desperate battle against Lanfear in the nearby desert to keep her away. Lanfear comes very close to killing Moiraine, but ultimately she's driven off.
While this battle is thrilling, it's one of the only parts of the finale that has no basis at all in the books. Moiraine is basically an observer during Rand's proclamation to the Aiel, and doesn't factor into the big finale in The Shadow Rising the same way she does in the show's third season. Obviously, you don't want to sideline your biggest star, so it makes sense the TV series would give Rosamund Pike a big moment like this, especially considering that Moiraine spent most of last season without her powers.
There are some ways this nods to the novels, even if this event itself is new. For starters, Moiraine and Lanfear do have a showdown in the books which ends in traumatic fashion, but it's nowhere near as flashy as what we see here. That happens in the fifth novel, The Fires of Heaven, when Moiraine tackles Lanfear through a twisted redstone doorframe and seemingly causes both of their deaths. The show has been hinting at this moment for a while now, so it's no surprise that it's making the rivalry between Moiraine and Lanfear even more volatile ahead of it.
The other way this fits with the book mythos is that in the third book, The Dragon Reborn, Moiraine does kill another Forsaken, named Be'lal. So unlike Egwene going toe-to-toe with Ishamael for a brief minute during season 2, there is a firm basis in the books for Moiraine having the strength to fight off a Forsaken on her own at this point in the story, especially if she has a strong ter'angreal like the Sakarnen.
As for how this will affect things moving forward, the main way is that I expect Moiraine and Lanfear's grudge will only deepen until their final showdown next season.
5. Siuan Sanche
And now we come to the big one: the death of Siuan Sanche. The most heartwrenching moment of The Wheel of Time season 3 finale is without a doubt when the Red Ajah sorceress Elaida leads a barely legal coup in the White Tower, deposing Siuan before stilling and executing her. This is a horrific turn which directly impacts Moiraine's battle with Lanfear, as she feels the oath which bound her to Siuan disapate at a key moment which ultimately saves her life.
Elaida's coup is a major turning point in the book series. It goes down more or less just like it does on TV, although the TV series shows us more of Siuan gradually losing her grip on power. But Elaida does get Siuan voted out of the Amyrlin Seat, and takes over that position for herself. Both Siuan and her Keeper of the Chronicles Leane are stilled and interrogated.
The main difference is that, in the books, Siuan is not executed. Unlike in the show where Min goes to Tanchico, in the books she stays at the White Tower. After Siuan is deposed, she and Elayne's brother Gawyn help Siuan and Leane escape Tar Valon. They then go to join rebel forces in Caemlyn led by Gareth Bryne who are fighting back against Lord Gaebril. Siuan has a long and winding plotline in the books, where she doesn't die until the very end of the saga during the Last Battle.
Cutting Siuan's story will undoubtedly have a large ripple effect on the TV show. I imagine that the TV series will give many of her plot points to Leane, since Leane is with her for most of the books and she presumably survived the coup. While I'd be glad to see Leane get that kind of focus, I can't help grieving for the fact that Siuan was taken from us far too soon.
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