The third season of The Wheel of Time has ended, but with a fantasy show this dense, there’s plenty of little details to ponder while wait for the follow-up. The third season of Prime Video’s fantasy show was its best and most ambitious yet, with some serious twists and turns. For example, in the season finale, Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okonedo) was ousted from her position as the Amyrlin Seat of the Aes Sedai in a coup, stilled, and then tortured. That was shocking enough, but the television show took it a step further, executing Siuan moments after she gave a defiant speech to the new Amyrlin, Elaida (Shohreh Aghdashloo).
In a finale filled with important moments, Siuan's might have been the biggest, at least in terms of its ramifications for the wider world. With her dead, the leadership of the White Tower is now in the hands of a vindictive Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah who wants nothing more than to cage the Dragon Reborn and use him as a weapon. Siuan's death also shocked book readers because in the novels, she survives the coup and goes on to have a long and winding story afterward.
Whether you loved the twist of Siuan's death or hated it, the Amyrlin Seat's fall from grace was inevitable. On rewatching the epic finale, "He Who Comes With The Dawn," I noticed one bit of interesting foreshadowing that makes me think the Shadow has been banking on Siuan as a key component of throwing the White Tower into disarray for far longer than you'd think. To discuss it, we have to get into MAJOR BOOK SPOILERS from The Wheel of Time up until Book 12, The Gathering Storm.
Who would the Shadow want to be the Amyrlin Seat?
The season 3 premiere of The Wheel of Time begins with a cold open that shows the day Siuan Sanche was elected to be the Amyrlin Seat by her Aes Sedai sisters. This comes as a huge shock to Elaida, who is Siuan's main competition and who presumably received reassurance from the truth-telling Aelfinn that she would become Amyrlin. The truths of the Aelfinn are twisty, however, and I'm sure they didn't give Elaida enough details to make it clear she would one day be Amyrlin, but lose during that particular election.
In that way, Elaida was always destined to become the Amyrlin, and throw the White Tower into chaos because of her flaws and unwillingness to compromise. However, Elaida is notably not a Darkfriend in the books. I doubt she is in the show either; part of what makes Elaida so compelling is she thinks she's doing the right thing, and she's genuinely not aligned with the Shadow, but her methods are so extreme that they end up serving its purposes anyway.
However, there's another small bit of foreshadowing I think is interesting during Siuan's election: several important members of the Black Ajah vote for Siuan over Elaida. Now we get into those MAJOR SPOILERS I mentioned, and if it seems like I'm being extra cagey about them, it's because they truly are big 'uns.
When the Shadow votes for you, it's probably a bad sign
During the scene where various members of the White Tower are casting their votes for Siuan Sanche, two Aes Sedai who are Black Ajah in the books throw their weight behind her. One is Alviarin (Clare-Hope Ashitey), who is the secret head of the Black Ajah in the book series. The other is complicated: Verin Mathwin, played by Meera Syal. You don't find out Verin is a member of the Black Ajah until near the very end of The Wheel of Time books, when she confesses on her deathbed that she was forced to join the cult or face death, and she chose the cult. She used that position to do as much good as she could, but there were still plenty of times she had to serve the Shadow's goals. Alviarin had no such moral conflict; she was sworn to the Shadow through-and-through.
We don't know for certain yet whether The Wheel of Time is going to stick to the books and make both of these Aes Sedai Black Ajah, but I think it's pretty likely. There's already been quite a lot of foreshadowing that Verin is Black Ajah if you know to watch out for it, and showrunner Rafe Judkins has hinted at having "big plans for Alviarin." I'd be surprised if it didn't keep her book role as a senior member of the Black Ajah.
All this means that the Shadow wanted Siuan Sanche to become the Amyrlin Seat. The irony here is that Siuan Sanche was the candidate most likely to serve the Light and support the Dragon Reborn...but the very act of her getting elected over Elaida sowed the seeds for a schism in the White Tower down the line. It's a fantastic example of the convoluted methods the Dark One employs to bend the world to his will.
The third season of The Wheel of Time is streaming now on Prime Video, and is absolutely loaded with these sorts of subtle bits of foreshadowing. Enjoy hunting for them on the rewatch!
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