Last week, Prime Video's fantasy show The Wheel of Time premiered one of its most intense episodes to horde, when a horde of bloodthirsty Trollocs descended on the idyllic Two Rivers. The ensuing battle is by far the best battle sequence the series has yet produced, with the townsfolk putting up a desperate resistance, Trollocs tearing through the village, Whitecloaks fighting on both sides, the Ogier Loial leading a daring attack on the nearby Waygate, and the pacifist Tuatha'an trying to spirit the villagers' children to safety through the forest.
There was a lot to love in "Goldeneyes," and days later we're still unpacking it. We spoke with Marcus Rutherford (Perrin) about stepping into the leadership role for the battle, and how fans got to finally "meet" Perrin for the first time this season. We asked Isabella Bucceri (Faile) about her training and her character's blossoming relationship with Perrin.
Now we're bringing you a conversation with Taylor Napier, who plays the Warder Maksim. Napier has been on The Wheel of Time since its first season and is no stranger to action-packed scenes, but the Battle of the Two Rivers pushed him and the rest of The Wheel of Time's cast and crew to another level. We spoke about the extensive shoot for the episode, tackling the stunts, and how this episode stacks up against some of the other fight scenes Napier has filmed. We also danced around discussing a key event involving the Aes Sedai Alanna which happens in Book 6, Lord of Chaos, and how it will affect Maksim.
Watch our full interview below, or read on for a transcription edited for clarity:
Winter Is Coming: You were in the thick of the fighting for a lot of the Battle of the Two Rivers. What's a behind-the-scenes thing about filming Episode 7 that you think would surprise people?
TAYLOR NAPIER: Just how hard it was. [Laughs] We had about a week and a half of night shoots, and then a week and a half of kind of day-to-night shoots because we were trying to shoot at sunset. So it was a lot, it was quite a lot. And then we swung back around and did a crazy pickup day where I had to be up at 5 a.m. the next morning. So it was a lot of just physical exhaustion, by the end of it. I think we all felt like we had been in a battle, like there was not a lot of acting by the end of it, it was just...dead tired. Just really, really wanting a bed.
WiC: Is this the most difficult thing you would say you've done on The Wheel of Time so far?
TN: Yeah, I think just the stamina of that. Normally on Wheel, it's great, we actually have a lot of time to film and it's a big show, and so we get a lot of days to film every episode. And so when you're filming, even if you have a fight sequence, you're normally filming for a day or two, maybe three, and then you're off for a little bit. Or you have, you know, one or two days, a week and you might be in rehearsal for the rest of it, but it's not as much. So this was almost 20 days straight of filming. And so that was intense...but I think it's worth it. I think it looks really cool, I think it comes off beautifully and I think we all look appropriately exhausted. It was a really, really amazing shoot. I had a blast.
WiC: I've seen some behind-the-scenes videos, like on Amazon and socials and stuff, and it seems like you did quite a lot of your own stunts. So you've used very different types of weapons, you've done wire work, you've fought Trollocs...what was the type of stunt you've most enjoyed doing on the show?
TN: Should I say the most badass answer or should I say the real answer? The real answer is I really loved doing the archery because the arrows are fake, and then I didn't have to worry about hitting the right spot. [Laughs] I could just focus on the emotion of it.
The real badass answer is I really loved all the swordfighting and getting to do the wire work. I mean, the stuff in 5 was really fun because I felt like a real stunt performer, I felt like an acrobat. And Maksim's a real jack of all trades in terms of the weapons he uses, I think he's never used the same weapon twice in a battle. So it's been fun to kind of learn all of them and kind of pick up all the new skills. So that's been great...but probably the archery just because I got to focus on just the acting.
WiC: That makes sense. And you got to be the the person shouting "Loose!," which I loved.
TN: Yes! Love shouting, so that was that was really up my alley.
WiC: Shifting away from the battle for a second, one of my favorite scenes of Episode 7 is Alanna and Maxim's reconciliation of sorts, where he tells her that they're building something new because they've been grieving Ihvon this whole season. Alanna has often had multiple Warders...if there comes a day when she decides to take another one — especially if it's someone Maksim may or may not like as much as he obviously cared for Ihvon — how do you think he will handle that?
TN: I think that will be a really interesting day when and if that happens. I don't know that Maksim will love it. I think...Maksim's biggest hurdle with Alanna this season has been, not so much the things that are happening or the grief, it's her lack of communication. And so it seems like she spirals into that maybe more, if we follow maybe some of the stuff that happens in the books. And so I think that Maksim won't like it for himself or maybe the person that she might bond.
If it's a more consensual thing, then I think he would still love to be consulted. You know, one of his biggest kind of pet peeves or gripes with being a Warder is his lack of agency and his lack of power in that relationship. It's the thing that kind of sits the hardest for him. And so...if it's not a decision as a team, and she just does it...I think there might be a bigger blow up between the two of them.
WiC: I'm so curious to see how the show navigates, the stuff that the readers know, may or may or may not be coming for Alanna and Maksim, we'll say. Obviously a lot of us are rooting for the show to get more seasons. If The Wheel of Time is renewed, what's an aspect of Maksim that you'd really like to explore more in the future?
TN: You know, I got to do so much of it this season with the fighting. That was one of the things that I really wanted to explore. I think moving forward, I'd love to see kind of what we start in season 3 blossom a little bit more. Alanna is such a leader, and she's such a badass, and I want to see Maksim step into that more. Not that he's not kind of a badass, but it's sort of like a painful crawl to get him there. And so I'd like to see him just step up as much as possible going forward and be the number two she needs, or the general that she needs in her army.
A huge thank you to Taylor Napier for taking time to talk all things Maksim with us!
Only one episode remains in The Wheel of Time season 3. It premieres this Thursday, April 17 on Prime Video.
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