This week, Prime Video premiered the third season of The Wheel of Time, its sweeping epic fantasy series based on the books by Robert Jordan. Out of the gate, it's become obvious that this is a much darker, more complex chapter for Amazon's fantasy show. There are new villains, the heroes are facing more difficult challenges, and factions are rising and falling.
There's a lot of that going on in the White Tower, the stronghold of the Aes Sedai sorceresses in the city of Tar Valon. Two out of the first three episodes of the season had the tower taking some serious hits. In the premiere, Liandrin Guirale (Kate Fleetwood) and her fellow Black Ajah defectors turned the inner sanctum of the tower into a battleground as they fought their way out of the city. Then in Episode 302, Queen Morgase Trakand (Olivia Williams) arrived to demand answers for the abduction of her daughter by Liandrin in season 2. It's not an easy time to be Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okonedo), the ruler of the White Tower.
The Black Ajah and the nation of Andor represent very different challenges for the Aes Sedai; one represents a schism within, the other a break with their most powerful ally in the wider world. Having defectors is bad enough, but having tensions with Andor could have even farther reaching consequences if Siuan doesn't play things wisely.
"These two entities, the White Tower and this kind of nation state that's run by a woman who has power, are the most powerful entities in our world. And when there's two superpowers in a world, they're always in some kind of conflict with each other," explains showrunner Rafe Judkins in the Inside the Episode feature for "A Question of Crimson," which is currently available in the Extras for season 3 on Prime Video.
In the second episode, Queen Morgase leaves her advisor Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan at the White Tower. Played by The Expanse's Shohreh Aghdashloo, Elaida is an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah and a major antagonist in The Wheel of Time books. There's no doubt that her presence in the White Tower will stir things up.
"[W]hen Shohreh walks on set, you know shit is going down," Judkins said. "Like, this woman is here, she's powerful, and she's going to cause serious problems for all of our characters throughout the season."
Beyond just generally being a force of nature, Elaida also has a contentious history with Siuan in particular. The details of this haven't been made entirely clear in the show so far, but when Morgase announces she'll be leaving Elaida at the tower, she claims the Red sister "almost bested" Siuan to the Amyrlin Seat. It sounds like there's a lot more to the story between Siuan and Elaida, which will hopefully become clearer as the season goes on.
"[I]t's not comfortable, [Elaida] returning. To say the least," Siuan actor Sophie Okonedo told us ahead of the season. "But Shohreh, she was the most amazing, I mean she's an incredible actress and just her voice. That was a great thing to haver playing that part...so that was really exciting. And we get to go head to head."
The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time season 3 are streaming now on Prime Video, with new episodes dropping on Thursdays. We'll find out what trouble Elaida will cause at the White Tower in the weeks ahead.
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