Amazon put out eleven minutes of The Wheel of Time Season 3 as a sneak peek, and I guarantee you it’s not even as good as this season gets. There’s no way this is the climactic part of anything. For them to hand this over as the preview tells me what they think they’ve got behind it.
I kept calling it a trailer while we watched. It was eleven minutes of the most raw thing this show has put on screen, and I’m blown away.
I watched it with my co-host, who hasn’t read a page of these books, and that matters for everything that follows. I’ve read them. So you’re getting both seats on the couch.
A Gun in the Courtroom
The Amyrlin Seat gets called to the floor of the Hall, the sitting is sealed, and Liandrin stands up to accuse her of breaking Tower custom and law. Then the Amyrlin turns it around in front of everybody and says the thing most of the women in that room don’t know: Liandrin can break the Three Oaths. She’s sworn to the Shadow. She’s a Darkfriend.
Then they all start getting glowy. If you don’t know this world, using the Power against a sister in that room is like raising a gun in court. And once the Black Ajah shows itself, look at who’s standing with Liandrin. There’s one from each color. We both caught it at the same time and neither of us could sit still after that.
From there they’re just killing everybody. One of them goes straight for the room where the Tower keeps its most powerful objects and takes whatever she can carry, and the whole thing spills out toward the docks. Somebody on screen asks how so many could be sworn to the Shadow, and that’s the right question.
I’ll say this for the show too, because we were both saying it out loud the whole way through: the outfits are gorgeous. That’s one thing they do a really good job with.
I Don’t Think This Is How the Season Opens
I forgot a lot of this, and I’ve got to go back and find a Season 2 recap, because it was all coming back to me while I watched.
I don’t think this is how Season 3 opens. I remember where we left everybody at the end of last season, and they were still across the world. They’ve got to come back first. So I’m sure we get this fight in episode one. It just might not be right at the beginning.
Liandrin Has the Prophecy Wrong
Watch your mind on one line. Liandrin stands up in the Hall and says the Tower is duty bound to “cage and control” the Dragon Reborn. That’s not what they’re supposed to do. According to prophecy, they’re supposed to help get him to the Last Battle.
What happened is that over centuries they assumed. Men can channel, and men go crazy when they channel, so clearly the only way the Dragon Reborn gets to exist is if we control him and point him at the Last Battle. That’s the wrong interpretation, and it’s the one the whole Tower has been living inside.
Two Camps, and One of Them Wants a Photocopy
There are literally two camps online on this show. People who think it’s amazing and people who think it sucks. The people who think it sucks are purists who want a page for page, line for line redo of the books.
I keep saying I’m so glad they got past the first season. The first season was rocky, because they didn’t know what they wanted to put in and they weren’t sure how to proceed. The second season was immediately a marked improvement.
My co-host pointed out that I can only say that because I’ve read the books. They saw none of that. As somebody who hasn’t read any of it, they’re very entertained and know exactly what’s going on. They said they consider themselves lucky to have me on the couch explaining terms, but they think they’d still call this very good without me. That’s fair.
Compare it to The Rings of Power, which is clearly its own deviation from some of the Tolkien material, and that’s why there’s so much noise about it. This is more faithful than that. There are idiots out there who’ll tell you it’s just woke women doing magic. This is very much Rand’s story.
Fantasy is one of those things you either do right or you do wrong. I felt like the Dungeons and Dragons movie with Chris Pine did Dungeons and Dragons great. I feel like The Wheel of Time is doing The Wheel of Time great. The adaptation of the Sword of Truth series was horrible. Not at all faithful. It’s one of the worst adaptations of a fantasy series I’ve seen in my life.
My co-host went back in the crates for their own example: the only book they’ve ever read where they liked the adaptation was The Bridges of Madison County.
What I’m Hoping For Is Dumai’s Wells
If you haven’t read the books you don’t know what that means, so stay with me.
In the books, the Reds manage to catch Rand. They haven’t stilled him, because by prophecy you need him or the world ends. So at all times there are seven women surrounding him, cutting him off from the Power. We’ve seen the show do that to other people. But to torture him, they keep him chained inside a chest. He starts getting claustrophobic and he’s freaking out.
By this point he’s created a group called the Asha’man, men who can channel. He creates the Black Tower and basically says all men who can channel are welcome. I might be getting some of my events mixed up, so forgive me. I don’t remember if he did that before this or after.
But at Dumai’s Wells he explodes out of that box and rains holy terror on them. What did you expect him to do? He’s the Dragon, and you just did this to him.
I want to see how they represent the Asha’man when they finally introduce them. I may have to cosplay as one, because those things are awesome. For the record, there’s a heron going on a sword in this house, and a ring with a snake eating its own tail and a yellow stone. I guarantee somebody on Etsy has made one.
The Casting, and Why the Changes Don’t Bother Me
My co-host asked how close the cast is to the page.
Moiraine is supposed to be a very small, diminutive brunette. Rosamund Pike has done a wonderful job. Lan is supposed to be big and broad, and I honestly envisioned him more like Alan Ritchson. But the way the books describe the men of Shienar is very Asian inspired, so the casting makes sense. I would’ve liked to see him a little bulkier. He’s doing an amazing job.
Perrin I had to get over. Perrin is described as a big, lumbering guy, a little slow, who has to come to terms with some things. He isn’t described as a person of color with a little afro. But the guy embodies him so well that I don’t care. Whoever’s playing Mat is doing an amazing job playing Mat.
Nobody’s doing a bad job. All the characters are described on some level, and the series has taken liberties with that, and it doesn’t bother me in the least. If you embrace the character enough that he isn’t written badly, I’m okay with certain changes. The story and how everything is coming forward is way more important to me. The portrayals are overriding the casting choices.
Mat Is Owed a Story
My co-host wants to know what’s next for Egwene, the one who was chained and made to channel with somebody else, now that she’s free.
That reminded me of something from the very end of last season, and I only remember it because we were talking. They introduced a woman from the Seanchan. In the books she marries Mat. He’s the man who blew the horn, and she’s going to bind him and make him hers, and Mat ends up a Seanchan general. At least that’s what happens in the books. If they really embrace that part, I think it’d be a wonderful story for Mat, because he’s had very little coverage in a lot of this beyond blowing the Horn of Valere.
I liked the way they did the heroes last season. It wasn’t what I expected, but I thought it turned out great. I want to see if they do Birgitte Silverbow. She’s the archer, the Artemis of the legendary heroes. Mat blowing the horn spun all of those legendary souls back out into the wheel, so they’re being reincarnated as people today, and she’s one of them. And Mat starts having memories of the past.
The story is going to be very detailed. March 13th. I can’t wait.
I may very well do a Know-It-All Files before the season starts and walk through some of this, including why men aren’t supposed to channel in the first place. They’re adapting things very well, and for people who’ve read it, that’s very important. Amazon Prime is doing pretty decent stuff these days.
Tell me how excited you are for Season 3, and what you’re looking forward to seeing represented from The Wheel of Time. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
