The Wheel of Time season 3 episode 6 review: "The Shadow in the Night"

The sixth episode of The Wheel of Time season 3 is out now on Prime Video, and if you thought it was going to let up, you were mistaken. "The Shadow in the Night" may give some characters a chance to let loose and enjoy themselves, but by its bombshell ending things are right back to dead serious as multiple members of the Forsaken make their moves. It's trauma as well as good times on The Wheel of Time this week!

We've got a lot to talk about, so pull up "The Hills of Tanchico" on Spotify and let's get into it. FULL SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time season 3 Episode 6 beyond this point.

The Wheel of Time goes to Tanchico

In many ways, "The Shadow in the Night" feels like the last deep breath of relaxation for The Wheel of Time's third season before it barrels ahead into its final stretch. We know that next week's episode will focus entirely on Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) and the Two Rivers, meaning that this is the last time we'll see characters like Mat (Dónal Finn), Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), Rand (Josha Stradowski), and Egwene (Madeleine Madden) until the finale.

We get plenty of time with our characters kicking back and enjoying some much needed R&R to mark the occasion. The highlight of course is the musical "Hills of Tanchico" escapade, where Elayne (Ceara Coveney) serenades the tavern goers of Tanchico with a filthy song. Showrunner Rafe Judkins has long been teasing this musical sequence, and it delivered. The song is a total earworm, the choreography is hilariously fun, and the overall vibe of it is just a blast. It's even better because it comes up so naturally during the episode, so it's not jarring at all from a plot perspective as Elayne and Thom Merrilin (Alexandre Willaume) distract the locals to reinforce her secret identity.

Yes, Thom is back! After sitting out the show's second season, the gleeman has finally returned. His presence adds another dynamic to the Tanchico group; combined with Min and Nynaeve's time together, this grouping is fast becoming the most enjoyable to watch of the season.

The Tanchico section of the episode has a lot of important developments and lore, from Liandrin's (Kate Fleetwood) backstory, to the history of the Shackled Man of Tanchico statue, to dissention in the ranks of the Black Ajah and more. On the whole, The Wheel of Time handled it all deftly. (Although I must admit, I did wonder how random Tanchico residents recognized Elayne as the daughter-heir of Andor if she's never been to the city.)

The other massive highlight of Tanchico was Moghedien, the Forsaken played by Laia Costa. Moghedien has been pretending to be a servant of the Black Ajah in order to spy on their plans, and this episode gave her the most screentime yet. I laughed so hard at her vindictively spitting in their soup, chewing up and then spitting out their food onto their plates, and tearing their nice clothing to shreds when she restocked their shelves. Combined with the showstopping scene near the end of the episode where she used Compulsion on Nynaeve and Elayne, it made for Costa's best episode of the series to-date.

The ways of the Aiel

While Tanchico forms the core of "The Shadow in the Night," there's plenty going on elsewhere. In the Aiel Waste, Rand spends more time under the tutelage of Aviendha (Ayoola Smart) learning about Aiel culture, while Egwene does the same with the Wise Ones, who teach her how to defend herself in the Dream World. As a book reader, these are the sorts of scenes I've been dying for this season, and I've loved that the show is taking ample time for them.

Rand's storyline exemplifies the push-and-pull of the episode's balance between lighter and darker material. Once again, Josha Stradowski gets incredibly good material, conveying Rand's battle with madness in a number of crucial scenes. I think anyone who's wished for more Rand in this show is going to be well satisfied by now.

This especially comes through during the climactic moments of the episode, where Rand and Egwene have a difficult conversation that essentially serves as their break up. I'm a big fan of the fact that even though they're saying difficult, painful things to one another, the show dials into their deeper truths in a way that feels honest and mature. Rand has been giving his attention to a Forsaken, and Egwene will always choose her own ambition over their relationship. In the latter case, this isn't a mark against Egwene, but a simple fact that will always come up no matter where life takes them. And of course, there's the ultimate revelation that Egwene reveals Lanfear has been torturing her in her dreams, something Rand was oblivious to.

Their break up is cut short by the appearance of Sammael (Cameron Jack), another Forsaken who raids Cold Rocks Hold with the help of a group of Aiel Darkfriends. I was shocked to see Sammael in action so early; the design on his hammer, and the One Power in general, was striking. But he's quickly battered into oblivion by Rand, who numbly stares into the distance while his own magic collapses the building where Sammael — and the young girl Rand had befriended — into rubble.

We then get another iconic scene from the book series, where Rand tries to bring this young girl back to life, and learns the hard way that not even the Dragon Reborn can heal death. Well done to the team behind The Wheel of Time; this was a big moment, and every part of the scene was excellent.

The calm before the storm in the Two Rivers

While Rand and the Tanchico party cross paths with Forsaken, the gang in the Two Rivers licks their wounds after their skirmish with the Whitecloaks in Episode 305. One of my complaints with the previous episode is that The Wheel of Time has a tendency of giving its characters grievous wounds, only to immediately heal them afterward. And while Perrin and Alanna (Priyanka Bose) do get healed from their injuries, this episode did a better job with stringing that out than I expected. Alanna is the only Aes Sedai around in the Two Rivers; it's only after discovering that Mat's younger sisters can access the One Power that she's finally able to get back on her feet.

That gives Perrin plenty of quality time with Faile (Isabella Bucceri). The chemistry between Rutherford and Bucceri is great, and their playful dialogue helps make this relationship feel distinctly different from any other romance in The Wheel of Time. Perrin finally fesses up that Faile's mission to find the Horn of Valere is in vain, breaking out Mat's hilarious portrait of himself with the Horn. This leads into their first kiss. It's nice to see Perrin moving into this new phase of his story, and I've been really enjoying Bucceri's performance as Faile.

But they won't have much time to enjoy their newfound romance before it's thrown immediately into peril. Another interesting development in this episode is that Padan Fain (Johann Myers) arrives at the Whitecloak camp, pretending he's there to bring them reinforcements. Fain, in case you've forgotten, is the Darkfriend who brought the Trollocs to the Two Rivers at the very start of the series. He's back now with another Trolloc army, hiding in the forests around the nearby Waygate. Next week, we'll see these forces clash at the Two Rivers!

The Bullet Points of Time

• Moghedien tells Nynaeve and Elayne that Rahvin has been trying to murder Elayne. Presumably that's because with Elayne out of the picture, it would be even easier for the Forsaken to control the nation of Andor. Without an obvious heir, he might even be able to manipulate things so that he can rule outright in Morgase's name.
• Thom has a nice hat that looks an awful lot like Mat's iconic one from the books. I'm guessing it's only a matter of time till Thom gives it to him (or Mat pilfers it).
• It was cool to see Aviendha channel in this episode, by I wish the show had a little more time to set up the extent of her abilities with the One Power before she's suddenly kicking ass with it. Has she trained with it at all? Is this just her natural skill? I imagine if we'd had a few more episodes this season, we might have a better idea.
• It's kind of fitting that Sammael, the most annoying Forsaken in the books, immediately comes and gets in Rand's business before getting his ass kicked. We don't see a body, so I imagine he either escaped or is buried in the rubble. — edit: an eagle-eyed viewer on Bluesky pointed out that in the final moments of the episode, we actually get one very brief glimpse of Sammael unconscious in the rubble. So we'll see what happens with that in the season finale!
• We got Ishamael (Fares Fares) this week! Liandrin's backstory adds another dimension to her character, and I liked the subtle way the show had her slip into Tel'aran'rhiod before the Forsaken offers her a helping hand. Remember, Ishamael was still sealed at the Eye of the World at this point in time, so the Dream World is the only way he could have communicated with her.

Verdict

"The Shadow in the Night" is another banger of an episode for The Wheel of Time, and my favorite since Rand walked through the columns of Rhuidean. It gave us ample time with all our major characters, both in dangerous situations as well as fun ones. Sometimes these big sweeping fantasy shows can get dour, with nary a wisecrack or moment of levity to be found. Episodes like this one remind us why we care about our heroes in the first place. Our heroes' night out in Tanchico is arguably the most fun moment of the entire season, and a welcome respite before it all goes to hell in the final two episodes.

Episode grade: A

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