The article contains SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time season 3 Episode 8.
The season 3 finale of The Wheel of Time has arrived, and it's absolutely packed with important developments and iconic scenes. That includes the introduction of the Eelfinn, an otherworldly species of people who live in a pocket dimension which can be accessed by walking through a twisted redstone doorframe ter'angreal. Yes, this is The Wheel of Time, and you'd best get comfortable with some crazy magical explanations for things!
In "He Who Comes With The Dawn," Mat Cauthon (Dónal Finn) comes face-to-face with one of the Eelfinn, played by Robert Strange. The Eelfinn is a looming figure with the aspect of a fox who speaks in the Old Tongue and makes a dangerous bargain with Mat, granting him three requests. Mat shouts that he wants to stop being pushed around by every magical force in the world, and the Eelfinn grants him a fox head medallion which will make him immune to the One Power. He asks if it can fix the past life memories which are clouding his head, and the Eelfinn seemingly takes them — along with who knows what other memories.
Sensing a trap, Mat uses his last request to make sure he can leave and go back to his own world. But the Eelfinn says Mat forgot to set a price, so it sets one of its own, sending Mat back through the doorframe at the end of a noose. Only the timely intervention of Min (Kae Alexander) prevents Mat from dying.
If you've just watched The Wheel of Time season 3 finale, you're probably eager to learn more about the Eelfinn and their mysterious counterpart, the Aelfinn. Even in Robert Jordan's book series, they're enigmatic beings with many secrets. Let's go over what we know.
Who and what are the Eelfinn?
The Wheel of Time novels leave a lot of questions open about the Eelfinn, and never explicitly spell out things like their origin, their motives, or their culture. But we do know some things about them. They are often referred to as "foxes" because of their fox-like aspect, and inhabit a dimension which is wholly separate from the main Wheel of Time world. There are two ways of accessing it which appear in the books. One is to go through a twisted redstone doorframe ter'angreal like Mat does in the show. The other is through a mystical place called the Tower of Ghenjei, which appears much later in the book series.
The Eelfinn allow humans to enter their realm because of an ancient treaty they signed in ages past, so long forgotten by time that no one remembers the details. There is one catch though: the humans who come into the realm of the Finns cannot bring iron, sources of light, or musical instruments. In that way, Robert Jordan's Eelfinn have similar weaknesses to faeries of legend. This is why the Eelfinn asks Mat if he has any iron when he enters its realm, since that would void him of the protections he'd otherwise be afforded by the treaty.
The Eelfinn are known specifically for granting wishes with unforeseeable consequences, which often work out badly for the person making them — as the many skeletons lining the Eelfinn's dimension attest. Fortunately, Mat manages to make it out in one piece.
Who and what are the Aelfinn?
While we only see an Eelfinn in The Wheel of Time season 3 finale, we do get a mention of the other Finn race, the Aelfinn. During the cold open flashback, Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan (Shohreh Aghdashloo) emerges from the twisted redstone doorframe in the basement of the White Tower. Another Aes Sedai, Alviarin (Clare-Hope Ashitey), is waiting for her, and asks what the Aelfinn promised her. So we have confirmation that The Wheel of Time TV show isn't condensing the Finns; it's including the Aelfinn and Eelfinn both.
The Aelfinn look different from the Eelfinn, more like snakes than foxes. They inhabit a similar pocket dimension, and just like the Eelfinn they have a long-standing treaty with humans. But rather than offering wishes, they will tell any three truths a person asks after. Those truths often come with barbs though, and are rarely straightforward. In return, the Aelfinn take the experiences or memories of the person asking. The show did condense this down a little, with the Eelfinn taking Mat's memories rather than the Aelfinn like in the books, where he meets both Finn races.
Presumably, one of the truths Elaida asked was if she would become the Amyrlin Seat, since she visited the Aelfinn on the eve of the vote. They likely told her yes, she would...except they left out the details. So Elaida went into the vote against Siuan thinking her victory was assured, only to lose out. Then, years later, she stages a bloody coup in the tower and finally ascends to Amyrlin. It's a prime example of the twisty answers of the Aelfinn.
One last fun bit of trivia about the Eelfinn and Aelfinn for the road: in the books, there's a children's game which rose out of the myths about them, called "Snakes and Foxes." It's common knowledge that the only way to win the game is by cheating, which is a pretty good representation of the underhanded ways the Eelfinn and Aelfinn.
All eight episodes of The Wheel of Time season 3 are now streaming in Prime Video. We've been covering the season extensively, should you need more reading material:
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