Rand and Egwene on the outs
The trailer finally gives us a break from the onslaught with our next two images, which we saw in the teaser. That's Lanfear, putting the moves on Rand:
Egwene will get no such break, though. "Do you love her?" she tearily asks Rand:
In the books, Rand and Egwene's romance gradually peters out into something more like a brother-sister relationship. The Shadow Rising is the book where they really start to put it behind them. The show has played their romance up more than the novels, and from this scene it looks like they're going to milk the break-up for all it's worth. It's hard to compete with a Lanfear dream affair, after all.
Here's another jaw-dropper of a shot. That's Rand standing before the glass columns at the heart of Rhuidean. These are a series of magical artifacts, called ter'angreal, which induce the visions Aiel chieftain candidates must pass through. We're going to see Rand walk through that otherworldly forest of glass and relive the history of the Aiel!
The three rings of Rhuidean
Moiraine will similarly undergo visions, but from a different artifact: the three rings. Think of them as the Aiel equivalent to the Arches that Aes Sedai novices walk through to become Accepted. Here's Moiraine's stepping over the threshold:
"What did you seen in the rings?" Lan asks Moiraine in the desert outside Rhuidean:
We get a few quick flashes as Moiraine is hoisted upside down into the rings. And we see that she's not alone:
We don't see much of the other person in this shot, but I do have a guess (SPOILER ALERT). I think it's Aviendha; the hair looks like it could be a match. Aviendha starts out as a Maiden of the Spear in the books, but in The Shadow Rising she is forced to begin the journey to become a Wise One once it's discovered she can channel the One Power. In the books, she and Moiraine go separately to Rhuidean. The show may be sending them together. (And fully clothed, in a totally understandable and welcome change from the book.)
Now, we get to see some of Moiraine's visions.
For Rand to live, Moiraine must die?
Moiraine narrates: "In every future where I live, Rand dies. And the only way he lives, is if I don't." And we see a bunch of those futures. Here's Moiraine and Lan, with the One Power swirling around them in a verdant field:
I think there are two possibilities for this shot. One is that we're seeing a flashback that shows how Moiraine and Lan first bonded as Aes Sedai and warder. The other is that this is a possible future where Moiraine releases Lan's bond, perhaps so he can go live with Nynaeve.
Here's Moiraine with Rand, in the middle of a circle of people. Are those Tinkers?
Next is Moiraine with Rand, bleeding out in her arms. She's dressed as the Amyrlin Seat and he has a blade wound in his side. His sword lies beside him, bloody. The setting looks like either the Aiel Waste or Tel'aran'rhiod:
And here's Moiraine once more dressed as the Amyrlin, condemning Rand in the Hall of the Sitters in the White Tower. I can't tell who her Keeper of the Chronicles is, but wouldn't it be nuts if it was Elaida or some other recognizable character?
We get a brief flash of the scene where Moiraine's actual narration comes from, where she's saying this line to Lan in front of a fire with a tear in her eyes:
And now we see the visions of Moiraine dying instead of Rand, starting with this terrifying shot in the Ways:
We already broke this scene down in the last teaser, but that's Lanfear and Moghedien with our Two Rivers heroes plus Elayne Trakand, who've all turned to the dark. Moiraine crawls across the foreground, seemingly soaked in either blood or sweat.
Then, Lanfear stabs Moiraine with a sword in the desert of Tel'aran'rhiod:
Then Lanfear strangles Moiraine in that same desert:
Moiraine is wearing a striking outfit in this scene that matches one we've seen in an official press images:
After that deluge of images, we finally get another shot that isn't Moiraine being murdered. This one's of a brand new character: Queen Morgase Trakand, played by Dune: Prophecy's Olivia Williams:
The Lion Throne of Andor
Yes, that is the city of Caemlyn! We're seeing Morgase prepare to sit the Lion Throne of Andor! Check out those big golden statues on the sides and the distinctive lion banners in the background.
If I'm being honest, I'm having a hard time focusing on them though...because Morgase appears to be pregnant?! Morgase is the mother of Elayne Trakand. Elayne has a brother, Gawyn (Luke Fetherston), and half-brother, Galad (Callum Kerr). All of them are adults already, and Morgase has no other children in the books. So it looks like we're going to get a flashback showing when she was pregnant with one of them, which is very exciting.
The next image shows Alanna and her warder Maksim. They look a little battle-worn:
A quick shot of Elaida, an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah played by The Expanse's Shohreh Aghdashloo:
Elaida is the advisor to Queen Morgase, and a formidable Aes Sedai. She'll have a very large impact on the series moving forward.
Elayne is back in her novice whites at the White Tower...
...and her brothers are sparring, shirtless:
This sparring match takes place at the White Tower. Here we see Nynaeve, Elayne, and Mat watching them:
We're nearing the end of the trailer, but there are plenty more secrets to unearth. Click below for the final run of images: