The Wheel of Time season 3 premiered this week on Prime Video, launching viewers back into a fantasy world filled with magic, conspiracies, and globe-trotting adventure. Based on the beloved book series by Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time is the story of Rand al'Thor (Josha Stradowski), a reincarnated hero known as the Dragon Reborn who is destined to either save the world or break it. As Rand comes more into his destined role, the massive cast of characters around him also grow more into their own, whether they want to help Rand or hinder him.
Foremost among those who want to stop Rand from halting the forces of darkness are the Forsaken, a group of Channelers who swore allegiance to the Dark One thousands of years ago. These shadowy figures played a major role in Rand's past life as Lews Therin Telamon; some have fond memories of the previous Dragon, like Ishamael and Lanfear, while others like Moghedien and Sammael have nothing but an abiding hatred for him.
In Robert Jordan's books, there are 13 members of the Forsaken. However, the show is streamlining it down to eight. Speculation has been swirling for years about which Forsaken the show would include and which it would cut, and now that the first three episodes of the third season are out, we have a much better idea. Episode 303, "Seeds of Shadow," confirms seven out of the eight Forsaken who will appear in The Wheel of Time. Beware SPOILERS for the episode ahead.
Who are the Forsaken in The Wheel of Time?
The cold open for "Seeds of Shadow" features a meeting of several Forsaken, including Lanfear, who we got to know in season 2. Robert Jordan's books often featured meetings like this among the Dark One's lieutenants, which showed how they were just as ready to kill each other as they were Rand. It was a lot of fun to see a scene like this play out on the TV show.
It also gave us the most information yet about the Forsaken. That meeting was between Lanfear, Sammael, and Rahvin, who is posing as Queen Morgase's consort Lord Gaebril. Moghedien was also there, eavesdropping from the shadows. That's half of our Forsaken accounted for. But three others also got mentions, confirming they're in the show.
The first and most obvious is Ishamael, the very first Forsaken we met during the show's first season. Rand killed him during the finale of season 2, and this meeting seems to confirm Ishamael is well and truly gone...at least for now; in the books, we do see him resurface eventually, but that's too big a spoiler to get into the details for at this point.
In "Seeds of Shadow," Rahvin mentions that he's also met with two other Forsaken: Graendal and Semirhage. That brings our total Forsaken count for the series to seven. Who is the last?
Who is the eighth Forsaken in The Wheel of Time show?
During the show's first season, we saw eight Forsaken statues on the Warder Stepin's altar, which seemed to depict four men and four women. With Lanfear, Moghedien, Graendal, and Semirhage all set to appear in the show, that means our female Forsaken are fully accounted for. RIP to Mesaana, who seemingly did not make the cut.
That leaves one last male Forsaken slot to fill. Here are the options from the book:
- Balthamel
- Aginor
- Asmodean
- Be’lal
- Demandred
Both Balthamel and Aginor appear in the first book, The Eye of the World, where they are promptly killed off. Be'lal similarly only appears in book three, The Dragon Reborn, where he helps Ishamael lay a trap for Rand at the Stone of Tear. It doesn't go Be'lal's way, and he's swiftly dealt with. These three Forsaken would all be easy for the show to leave out.
That leaves Asmodean and Demandred. Asmodean features prominently in The Shadow Rising, the book which forms the basis for The Wheel of Time season 3, as well as the following book The Fires of Heaven. If he's in the show, we will definitely find out this season.
As for Demandred, he comes to the forefront late in the series, where he serves as one of the primary antagonists as our heroes speed toward Tarmon Gaidon, the Last Battle. He has a lot to do and a very large presence on the overall story. If the show does cut him, it will have to find some other way to fill his shoes because his impact on the story is too large to fully avoid.
Whether The Wheel of Time includes Asmodean or Demandred as its eighth Forsaken, I think either way it has a difficult choice to make. Both are fan favorites, and I don't envy the television show having to choose between them.
Who do you think is the eighth Forsaken we'll see in The Wheel of Time? Let us know in the comments!
The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time season 3 are currently available to stream on Prime Video, with new episodes set to drop every Thursday until its season finale on April 17.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.