This article contains SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time season 3 Episode 8.
The finale of The Wheel of Time season 3 is out in the world, bringing this epic season of television to a fitting close. "He Who Comes With The Dawn" is one of the darkest episodes of the show's run to date, with the Black Ajah outfoxing our heroes in Tanchico, Siuan Sanche being overthrown at the White Tower, and Rand al'Thor giving in to his darker impulses as Moiraine fights for her life in the Aiel Waste.
Somewhere, the Dark One must be pleased, because things are looking bleak for our heroes. But they're also pretty bleak for the Forsaken, the Dark One's own lieutenants. Lanfear nearly got killed by Moiraine, while Sammael was taken captive before being subequently dissected for fun by his fellow Forsaken Moghedien.
Fortunately, the Dark One has other Forsaken, and showrunner Rafe Judkins has plans to bring even more of them into the picture in future seasons. "We’ve definitely laid the pieces for a few Forsaken to appear in next season who are new and maybe not so new that you will be excited to see on screen. I think I can say that much," Judkins told The Hollywood Reporter. "The interplay of the Forsaken is really exciting and interesting in the books, and I think we want to continue that in the show and continue to meet new members of this group."
It's no surprise that The Wheel of Time will be introducing more Forsaken. In many ways they're the central antagonists of the book series, and a bunch of them have already been named in the show. What piqued my interest is that Judkins said we'll see some "maybe not so new" Forsaken. In other words, the show may have already introduced some in secret.
Actually, we can take this a step further and say the show has definitely hidden at least one other Forsaken in season 3. When Episode 304 aired, Judkins stopped by The Dusty Wheel YouTube channel to answer some questions from the fandom. One of the questions put directly to him by Innkeeper Matt Hatch was, "Are there other Forsaken in this season, but they're going to remain unmasked?"
"I mean you know that there are," Judkins replied with a sly smile. "Listen...I don't want to give too much away. We're being very thoughtful with the Forsaken, and I think there's something potentially controversial that will happen in Episode 8 that people should keep their eyes peeled for with the Forsaken. I'm interested to see the reaction to it...but you know, we think about the Forsaken a lot. We really want them to be just as exciting in the show as they are in the books, and they're amazing in the books so that's hard to pull off."
Now that Episode 8 is out, we can safely say that the "controversial" thing involving a Forsaken was the death of Sammael. In the books, Rand captures a different Forsaken, Asmodean, who then goes on to teach Rand how to better channel the One Power before he's murdered by another Forsaken named Graendal at the end of Book 5. Sammael, meanwhile, takes control of the nation of Illian, influences the Shaido Aiel, and continues to be a giant thorn in Rand's side all the way up until Book 7, where Rand forces a fatal confrontation with him in the ruined city of Shadar Logoth.
The show played on readers' expectations by making it seem like Sammael was going to be the one to teach Rand, only to then kill him later in the same episode. This seemingly confirms the show has cut Asmodean, and that it's cutting or repurposing Sammael's later storylines. It's a big change that will have far-reaching ramifications.
Who is the hidden Forsaken?
So far The Wheel of Time has named 7 out of the 8 Forsaken who will appear in the show: Ishamael, Rahvin, and Sammael for the male Forsaken, and Lanfear, Moghedien, Graendal, and Semirhage for the female Forsaken. Presumably that leaves one male Forsaken unaccounted for, since the series hinted early in its run that the TV show will four male Forsaken and four female Forsaken, down from 13 total Forsaken from the books.
By the time of Judkins' interview, the Forsaken named above have all been mentioned in the series, although we have yet to see Graendal and Semirhage onscreen. Then there's the mysterious eighth Forsaken. I think it's very likely that the last Forsaken we'll see is Demandred, since he serves as a key general during the Last Battle and has a lot to do late in the series. He's also introduced later in the books, so there's still plenty of time to bring him into the picture.
But really, it's anyone's guess who that eighth Forsaken will be. Are they already in the series? Maybe Sammael was really Asmodean disguised as Sammael, and we'll see the real Sammael pop back up next season? I doubt it, but you never know.
I think there's a better chance that either Graendal or Semirhage has already made their debut, and we just don't know it yet. Before the finale, I might have guessed that Sevannah, the matron of the Shadio Aiel, could have been Graendal. Graendal is notoriously promiscuous in the books, and this is also a trait Sevannah seems to share based on some of her dialogue. But she didn't recognize Lanfear during the finale, so that theory has been firmly quashed.
My other main theory is that Solinda could be Semirhage. Solinda is an Aes Sedai we saw in Rand's Rhuidean flashback to the Breaking of the World; she warned Latra Sedai about entrusting the Sakarnen to the Aiel. In turn, Latra warns Solinda about how dangerous it would be if a woman who can channel took the Sakarnen and sided with the men who were shattering the world. That conversation felt laden with extra meaning to me, so as of right now, I'm holding to this possibility.
Whoever the hidden Forsaken is, one thing we can say with certainty is that they must have appeared in season 3, because during seasons 1 and 2 the Forsaken were all still sealed away. Ishamael only released them during the Battle of Falme, so it's very likely that this mystery Forsaken was introduced this season — unless they're somehow taking the place of someone who was introduced previously, and using magic to hide their appearance. This is a great mystery that could easily keep us theorizing until season 4 comes along.
All eight episodes of The Wheel of Time season 3 are currently streaming on Prime Video. We've been writing a lot about it, and will be picking through the fallout for a while yet, so check back for more:
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