The third season of The Wheel of Time is just around the corner, meaning we're about to catch up with the likes of magic messiah Rand al'Thor (Josha Stradowski), his mentor Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), and his morally challenged love interest Lanfear (Natasha O'Keeffe), an ancient sorceress intent on turning Rand to the dark side.
Lanfear is a member of the Forsaken, powerful channelers who lived long before Rand's time. Lanfear was involved with Lews Therin, Rand in a past life, and is now attracted to the man reborn. They had an electric chemistry in season 2, but as Rand is a prophesied hero responsible for saving the world from the dark lord to whom Lanfear is sworn; surely they can't date...can they?
In The Wheel of Time books, the connection is pretty one-sided, but on the show, Rand and Lanfear have a stronger connection. “There’s a lot of people who are on team Lanfear, actually,” showrunner Rafe Judkins told Screen Rant.
According to Natasha O'Keeffe, who plays Lanfear, the Forsaken sorceress really is nursing a hope that she and Rand could end up together. "It would be so much easier if you just gave in and came on board the dark, fun bus,’ she quipped. “It’s not to say she doesn’t keep trying in this season, but there’s a lot more pushback from Rand, and the old tricks aren’t working anymore.”
And with Rand pushing back, maybe the relationship will become less about Lanfear tempting him to the dark and more about Rand tempting her to the light. “What’s interesting [is that] when the old tricks of hers stop working, their relationship … starts to be new and exciting to her … when she’s less able to manipulate him that she’s actually more interested in him," Judkins said. The push-and-pull is by design: “One thing we really try to do in the writers’ room with their relationship is make it feel like, when you’re watching the show, you could actually wonder to yourself, ‘What if they ended up together?’ It’s something you never get to experience in the books.”
But for now, there is a sense that Lanfear is the devil on Rand's shoulder while Moiraine is the angel on the other. And romantically, Rand still has feelings for Egwene (Madeleine Madden), his childhood sweetheart. The Dragon Reborn's love life is very complicated.
Rosamund Pike is delighted that she has someone like O'Keeffe to play off, and that Moiraine has someone like Lanfear as an enemy...or a frenemy? Lines are shifting. “I think she gives Moiraine a run for her money, doesn’t she? We are really eyeballing each other," she told TV Insider. "It’s great for Moiraine to have an adversary in a strong woman and to have this triangle. There’s a sort of love triangle of Ewgene, Rand, and Lanfear, and then there’s this sort of power triangle of Moiraine and Lanfear both wanting to wield their influence over Rand.”
The other Forsaken are not happy to see Lanfear again
Another element complicating these relationships is that the rest of the Forsaken have been released from their prisons. And while Lanfear has long wanted to tempt the Dragon Reborn to the dark side, the others just want to kill him. We met one such Forsaken, Moghedien (Laia Costa), at the end of season 2. It's clear there's no love lost between her and Lanfear.
“Lanfear has been completely thrown off her high horse,” O’Keeffe said. “It’s interesting to see her trying to switch gears and [find] who to make allies with and who’s not having any of it. Obviously Moghedien is not going to be any kind of an ally any day soon, if ever."
Despite being one of the most powerful of the Forsaken, Rafe Judkins reveals that Lanfear is "not well-liked" among her fellows. That's pretty consistent with the books, where the Forsaken seem to spend at least as much time fighting each other as they do the Dragon Reborn. "She finds that maybe none of them have forgotten or forgiven the things she’s done in the past," Judkins said.
We'll see all this play out when The Wheel of Time returns for its third season on Thursday, March 13 on Prime Video.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.