The Wheel of Time audition tape hints at another new Forsaken in season 3

Season 2 of The Wheel of Time introduced new members of the Forsaken, a group of powerful channelers from the Age of Legends who are sworn to serve the Dark One. As with the book series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, the Amazon show has taken its time gradually introducing these memorable villains. In the books, there are 13 of them, introduced over the course of the series so that our heroes never have a moment of peace without the looming threat of the Forsaken plotting their downfall.

In the show, we're expecting to see at least eight of the Forsaken. We've already met Ishamael (Fares Fares) and Lanfear (Natasha O'Keeffe), as well as Moghedien (Laia Costa). But since season 2 ended with the massive cliffhanger that the rest of the Forsaken are now on the loose, we're obviously expecting to meet more.

A report from reliable Wheel of Time fansite WoTseries has revealed one of the Forsaken we may be seeing in season 3: Sammael. WoTseries uncovered an audition tape which they believe shows the Forsaken Sammael conversing with another character, most likely a channeller of the current age. Read on for the script, and then we'll discuss:

Unknown: Where is it?

Sammael: Five seconds. You can’t even wait five seconds for an answer. It’s disappointing.

Unknown: I agree. I’d read you were one of the greatest generals of your age. I’m surprised I was able to capture you so easily.

Sammael: I wasn’t the greatest general. I was a visionary, a pioneer, a conqueror. In my time, there were no armies. Hadn’t been for centuries. Knives were used for cooking, not killing. And as for military tactics, they’d all been long forgotten. I discovered the art of war. Me. I taught my people to be soldiers. I taught those soldiers to form armies. And I taught those armies to follow me.

Unknown: Well, they’re not here now, are they?

Sammael: They’re not. It’s just you and me

Unknown: I’m not afraid of you, Sammael. And you’ll answer my question eventually. Where is it? It’s all right. I can wait.

Sammael: That’s the thing, though, isn’t it. You can’t. Your weaves hold me here. You can’t move from that spot. Can’t eat. Or breathe. Or sleep. Or shit. You can’t do any of the things you mortals have to do to stay alive. I’m not your prisoner. You’re mine. And if there’s one thing I’ve gotten rather good at these last 3000 years, it’s waiting. (laughs)

Sammael was name-dropped by Moghedien during the season 2 finale, so we knew he was coming...but getting these kinds of hints is extremely exciting. WoTseries notes that they're filling in the blanks here a bit; the audition uses codenames to keep the characters' identities secret, but based on some of the dialogue it seems very possible that one of the speakers is Sammael.

Sammael was oft regarded as one of the greatest generals of his time. He's a pervasive threat in the book series, often maneuvering nations and armies to suit his ends rather than engaging in combat himself.

This scene raises some pretty big questions. If this is Sammael, who is the channeler that's shielding him? It doesn't sound like it's one of the other Forsaken; note how they talk about how Sammael is one of the "greatest generals of your age," implying that the speaker is from the current time. Perhaps it's Liandrin, or some other Darkfriend who serves one of the other Forsaken?

Filming continues on The Wheel of Time season 3. As of this writing it has no release date, but given that production is still ongoing, it's likely we'll be watching it sometime in 2025.

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