We're less than two months away from the premiere of The Wheel of Time season 3 on Prime Video, and the teases are coming fast and furious. A few weeks back, the team behind the fantasy TV show revived a popular fan-favorite marketing series called #WOTWednesdays, where they reveal new details, behind-the-scenes looks, and more each week to get people excited. So far we've gotten a slew of new casting announcements and a bunch of first-look images.
Now, we're getting yet more images that give us our first peek at one of the major new locations we'll see in the series this time around: Tanchico, a bustling seaside city which features prominently in Robert Jordan's novel The Shadow Rising. We've known Tanchico was coming this season for a while, but now we actually get to see its streets, fashions, and vibe. And it all looks very promising!
Nerdist has a first-look feature where they walk the set with production designer Ondrej Nekvasil. Tanchico is the capital city of Tarabon, an ancient nation with a storied history. The city covers three peninsulas which jut out into the sea, and has a strong mariner culture. Tanchico is an ancient place which has fallen on hard times in recent years, becoming the domain of ruffians and pirates. Nekvasil drew inspiration from Zanzibar, especially in crafting the city's docks and gates.
But enough about the details, you wanna see the photos! Check out these new images straight out of Tanchico:
This first image shows Nynaeve al'Meara (Zoë Robins) walking through a bustling marketplace. Obviously, the thing that draws the eye here is the distinctive Taraboner veil Nynaeve has over her eyes. That's a fashion we haven't seen elsewhere in The Wheel of Time yet, but we'll be seeing it plenty this season. For example:
From left to right, that's Min (Kae Alexander), Mat (Dónal Finn), and Elayne (Ceara Coveney) walking the streets. Yes, you read that right: the person in front is Mat Cauthon in disguise. Blending right in! At least he gets some new clothes this season after wearing that same musty jacket for just about all of season 2.
I think the second picture may be from the same scene as the first; note the spokes on the market stall on the left hand side in the second pic, which match the stall in the first image. So either it's the same scene or same street. Or maybe that's just the style in Tanchico!
This highlights a notable difference from The Wheel of Time books, where Mat doesn't go to Tanchico at all. Instead, he journeys out into the Aiel Waste with Rand. There's some pretty important stuff which happens to Mat in the Aiel Waste, some of which was already foreshadowed in season 2. I'm very curious to see how the show reconciles all of it if it's sending him to Tanchico instead.
This next image shows some of the residents of Tanchico. I'm not sure of the identity of any of these characters, but I do love how the image gets across the pirate vibe of the town.
And here's our final image, showing off a bustling dockside district. Acoording to Nerdist, The Wheel of Time filmed many of its Tanchico scenes at Cape Town Film Studios in South Africa. Another show which famously filmed in Cape Town, South Africa is Black Sails, the outstanding pirate drama from Starz. The Wheel of Time used some of the same beach locations, as well as a basic dock set from Black Sails which they built on top of for Tanchico. With this shot in particular, I could totally picture it.
We'll get to see more of Tanchico when The Wheel of Time season 3 premieres on March 13.
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