The third season of The Wheel of Time is running right now on Amazon Prime Video, and it is rocking our world. The new season has scattered the growing cast to the winds: Rand and Moiraine have left for the deserts of the Aiel Waste, May and Nynaeve set said for the busting city of Tanchico, and gentle giant Perrin went home to the Two Rivers, perhaps hoping he could finally be done with this adventuring thing and settle into the life of a simple country blacksmith.
But that didn't happen. Even before Perrin learned that the Two Rivers was now beset by both Whitecloaks and Trollocs, he realized that he had changed during his journeys, which makes it very hard to go home again. “As soon as he gets there, he realizes that everything has changed… He had this idea of returning home and being outside of danger and destruction and war, [but] that’s just not a possibility anymore," actor Marcus Rutherford told TV Insider.
So instead of settling into his old life, Perrin finds himself in a leadership position, helping the people of the Two Rivers deal with attacks on multiple fronts. "He has to deal with all the trauma," Rutherford told Collider. "There's a very visceral reaction to going back to certain places when he goes to the Two Rivers that might be sort of like a finite moment that can actually cause this grief that he's been taking with him on this journey. Going back to the Two Rivers might be a moment that helps him get over it."
"So I think that idea of this peaceful life of returning back home quickly doesn't come to fruition. But I think he's become this different person now, whether he likes it or not. A bit like Mat, he's slowly becoming someone that he might not be able to see, but hopefully, some of the others can start to point out. There's a reason why people are looking to him, or there's a reason why people look up to him to help. That evolves throughout the season."
It comes to a head in the new episode coming this Thursday. Based on the trailers, there's going to be a reckoning in the Two Rivers. Battle will be joined:
With his newfound charisma, Perrin has attracted allies to his side. He's working with the Aes Sedai sorceress Alanna and her warder Maksim, as well as with Faile, a hunter of the horn with whom Perrin has grown closer. Readers of The Wheel of Time book series know that Faile is an important character in Perrin's life going forward, and Marcus Rutherford couldn't say enough nice things about actress Isabella Bucceri.
"Isabella is incredible," he told Collider. "I was just saying, there’s a lot of characters he meets throughout, especially for Season 2, whether it be the Shienarans or Elyas or Aviendha. There's a scene with Aviendha where she has a little flirty, playful moment with him in Season 2, but it's almost like he can't comprehend that. He's nowhere near that. By the time that Faile comes in, he starts to lift his head up a little bit. There's a little bit more open to this something, whoever it is."
"She brought a completely new energy to the show, which I think, on the third season, is very hard to do. There's a yin-yang.I'm this gentle giant, she's like this little feisty machine, and I think they just work with each other. I think that naturally happened through the casting process. I kept on saying to Rafe, 'It's a real opportunity to see someone that we haven't met before. I know it's hard on a third season, but there's a character here that I think offers something different.' And, yeah, she brought that in this season. I'm so excited for everyone to see her performance."
Watch a scene from the new episode of The Wheel of Time, but beware SPOILERS!
And then there's Loial, the other gentle giant in the cast. Loial belongs to a race of non-human creatures called Ogier. He's taken an interest in the adventures of Perrin and his friends, and is determined to write a book about them. In a scene from this Thursday's new episode, he and Perrin talk about what must be done to win the coming battle against the Trollocs:
Everything is lining up for this to be a barn-burner of an episode! We still don't know if Prime Video is going to renew The Wheel of Time for more seasons, although it absolutely should. Hopefully an episode like this will get people excited and remind Amazon what they have on their hands.
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