The Wheel of Time casts Galad, Gawyn, Queen Morgase and more for season 3

The upcoming third season of Prime Video's epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time will adapt The Shadow Rising, often considered one of the best books in Robert Jordan's 14-book strong novel series. The second season improved on the first and the show is gaining momentum, especially after a wicked new trailer dropped the other week:

We also learned that The Expanse veteran Shohreh Aghdashloo will be joining the show in its third season as the morally flexible Aes Sedai sorceress Elaida, a meaty role. And today, we can reveal several other actors coming on board, playing a number of important characters book fans have been waiting to see introduced. First up...

Olivia Williams as Queen Morgase Trakand

Queen Morgase Trakand is the queen of Andor, the most influential country in the Westlands, where most of The Wheel of Time story takes place. She is also the mother of Elayne, whom we met as an Aes Sedai trainee in the second season of the show, played by Ceara Coveney. Regal, just and somewhat temperamental, Morgase is every bit a queen in bearing and presence. She's been grooming Elayne to succeed her.

As for Olivia Williams, she's a veteran British actress who has been killing it for years, whether as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company on stage, in movies like The Sixth Sense, or in TV shows like The Crown. As we speak, she's doing an excellent job playing Tula Harkkonen on the HBO series Dune: Prophecy. The Wheel of Time fans are in extremely good hands with her.

By the time the events of The Whee of Time begin, Queen Morgase is single, her husband Taringail Damodred having died in a hunting accident years before. She's not completely alone, though...

Nuno Lopes as Lord Gaebril

Lord Gaebril is Queen Morgase's lover and advisor. He has a lot of power and influence, but Andor is a matriarchal society, so Queen Morgase gets the final word.

As for Nuno Lopes, he's a Portuguese actor who's won plaudits for his roles in movies like Saint George, which was Portugal's submission for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 90th Academy Awards. He also got a lot of praise for playing a boxer in the Netflix series White Lines.

Readers of The Wheel of Time book series know there might be more to Lord Gaebril than meets the eye, but let's not give too much away. Instead, let's talk about Morgase's sons:

Luke Fetherston as Lord Galad (UPDATE: He's actually playing Gawyn)

Galad is a brother to Elayne and Gawyn, who we'll meet in a second. As the press release puts it, "Galad is a skilled fighter, famously handsome, and protective of his younger sister."

As for Fetherston, he's a British actor who's appeared on shows like Doctor Who as well as many roles on stage.

Callum Kerr as Lord Gawyn (UPDATE: He's actually playing Galad)

Finally, there's Callum Kerr as Lord Gawyn, whom the press release describes as "a royal prince of Andor, and older brother to Galad and Elayne. Despite being the first born, he is not the heir to the
throne. Andor is a matriarchy, and so the role of heir falls to his younger sister, Elayne."

If you pay attention, you can spot Callum Kerr in the trailer for The Wheel of Time season 3. Check out our way-too-detailed screenshot breakdown for more of that.

Is The Wheel of Time changing Galad and Gawyn?

The press release's descriptions of Galad and Gawyn are a bit confusing, because they differ from what we learn in the book. In The Wheel of Time series as written by Robert Jordan, Galad is the eldest of the siblings, then Gawyn, then Elayne. But the press release we received says that Gawyn is the "older brother to Galad and Elayne."

In the books, Gawyn and Elayne are both the children of Queen Morgase and her late husband Taringail Damodred. But Galad is their older half-brother, the son of Taringail Damodred and his wife from a previous marriage. It's unclear at the moment if the show is changing the family dynamic or if someone in the marketing department just mixed up the names of Galad and Gawyn. It would hardly be the first time a Wheel of Time fan did that.

UPDATE: The official Wheel of Time Twitter account cleared up the confusion in a new post. It was as we thought: Luke Fetherston is actually playing Gawyn, the middle child; and Callum Kerr is playing Lord Galad, the eldest. There must have been a little mix-up in the initial press release.

Okay, that sets things back the way they are in the books. In any case, The Wheel of Time season 3 will premiere on Prime Video on March 13, 2025.

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