The Wheel of Time (2x08): What Was Meant to Be

A packed finale delivers more excitement than disappointment, but remains muddled in several important ways. At least the gang's finally back together after a season fixated on themes of isolation.

When I was 12, I watched a horrifically bad 90s anime based on a video game series titled Arc the Lad. It was my first fansub¹ and it was like nothing I had ever seen. I thought it was amazing, and I forced a close friend to finish the whole series with me—despite his protestations that there was much better anime content out there. And so, the moment we started something new, I realized that he was 1000% correct; Arc the Lad was trash. One of the specific ways it turned out to be trash was that its villain represented a trope many will likely recognize (especially fans of anime): the Nihilist Big Bad,² a villain who wants to end all things, possibly because they believe the only way to save everyone and stop suffering is for everyone to die. These poorly-motivated villains helpfully provide world-ending stakes without much in the way of nuance.

That’s part of why, despite my many criticisms of the Wheel of Time on TV, I have been so pleased with the characterization of its villains. In previous reviews, I’ve gushed endlessly about well-motivated Darkfriends; Liandrin turned to the Dark for fear of losing her son, Barthanes to return his family to its former glory, and Ishamael (Father of Lies, strongest among the Forsaken) to end the cycle of birth/death/rebirth, forever. Unlike tropey anime villains, his nihilism is personal; sure, others could probably benefit from him ending all things, but his nihilism and dedication to the Dark is all about being real tired. In the words of Lews Therin: “I know how much you hate being alive.” What a punishment for such a person—imprisoned for millennia in a dreamlike state, not quite living but certainly not yet dead (or reborn). A lot of credit goes to Fares Fares for his phenomenal performance here, but it says a lot, that—more than any other villain trying to end existence—I kinda get where he’s coming from. It isn’t just about this life, it’s about living and dying over and over and over without end.

Lanfear and Ishamael have easily been two of the most compelling characters written for the show (closely followed by Liandrin). [Super cool to catch that Lanfear may be special/immortal, resurrecting as needed in this life]. Which is great, I love me some compelling villains! And yet, besides Rand himself (and perhaps Nynaeve and Egwene, at least to an extent), I’m not sure that the heroes were quite so well sketched out.

Perrin’s Magical Mystery Tour: On Fantasy Quests and POV Characters

Sometimes, when authors write sprawling epic fantasy novels, worldbuilding requires them to provide a point of view character, or a witness, to certain key world events. In Game of Thrones, Arya spends most of Book 3 (A Storm of Swords) wandering around, travelling from place to place, focused more on the journey and the people around her than any important or specific action of her own. I find this kind of storytelling to be frustrating as, often, the character in question has minimal agency at this point in time, and is likely only there so that we, as the reader, can understand or witness something important. Something that may not even be relevant to that character.³

Enter Perrin’s S2 arc. Initially, he’s the only main character (besides Loail, though it’s hard to describe Loail as ‘main’ on the show) that participates in the (titular, at least for Book 2) Great Hunt for the Horn of Valere. In the novels, all three of the boys (Mat, Rand, and Perrin) go on this quest together. Unfortunately, production issues led to a very different story, one much more focused on isolation than togetherness. And yet, Perrin spent quite a bit of time on a version of this quest. One that led him to Elyas Machera and the wolves, to the Whitecloaks in Atuan’s Mill, as well as to Aviendha and the Aiel with whom he travelled to Falme for S2’s endgame. In all of this, despite his participation in these stories (especially with the wolves), Perrin felt more like a tourist (or even a hapless tour guide), witnessing a variety of interesting cultures and factions, instead of acting, or helping us to understand the importance of the Horn.

I do think Perrin’s tour of cultures and factions across both seasons serves a purpose. Perrin is a very internal character in the books, where he faces similar challenges as he considers different approaches to violence, self-defence, and the responsible use of his strength and Wolfbrother powers. In S1, the Tinkers act as an interesting foil for him, as he genuinely wishes that the world were peaceful enough for their way of life, but he cannot quite agree that non-violence is the answer—especially when he must protect others. The Whitecloaks reveal different faces of religious zealotry and the (violent) extremes to which people will go to defend their causes. At the end of S1, he fails to act at a crucial moment, enabling the bad guys to do even more bad things in Shienar (like steal the Horn). In S2, he learns about the Aiel’s complex sense of honour and obligation (Ji'e'toh), which involves Avidendha requesting a violent beating for failing the people around her. [Something that could possibly appeal to Perrin, given his understandable self-flagellation over pretty much everything from his wife’s death to failing Sheinar]. And, of course, Perrin is terrified of what it means to be a Wolfbrother, worried that he may be a monster. A monster that murdered his wife because of his uncontrollable rage. A monster who avenged the death of Hopper⁴ by murdering the Whitecloak father of one of the only honourable Whitecloaks we have met to date, almost certainly kicking off some kind of vengeance-laden blood feud.

It’s not subtle work, which simply may not have been possible on TV, and it’s all rooted in the original sin of fridging his wife. But at least his arc is relatively clear. I’m glad he has finally reunited with his friends, so I’m hopeful for what S3 will bring.

Mat, Come Blow Your Horn

If Perrin has had opportunities to explore the different facets and faces of violence, Mat has been more one-note this season. Given that the showrunners were forced to completely rework their plans for S2 in light of the OG Mat leaving the show during the filming of S1, it seems to me that they did not spend enough time with New Mat onscreen to motivate him a bit more effectively. We get it, he thinks he’s an awful person who deserves nothing good and brings only darkness to those around him. Mat had the most explicit version of this story, but Perrin’s struggles with feeling like a monster, Egwene’s enslavement (and the cutting of her braid), Rand’s self-imposed isolation to protect his friends, and Moiraine cutting everyone out, are the thematic throughline of the season. Anyway, Mat quickly overcomes his insecurities in the finale, and boom! This all felt like retrospective justification for a decision outside of the writers’ control, aka Mat leaving the Fellowship partway through S1, which must have been tough, and yet I don’t know that Mat blowing the Horn felt earned. Which is really too bad because it is such a phenomenal and triumphant moment in theory.

Part of the problem has nothing to do with Mat. Ultimately, the entire Horn of Valere plot felt really unclear to me; it seemed like it was barely mentioned at all. Ingtar and Loail even steal the Horn from the Seanchan offscreen (with the implication being that Lanfear helped). Ingtar delivers some blink-and-you-miss-them lines about the Horn being necessary for the Last Battle, since it summons the Heroes of another Age. [Which leads Loail to announce that they are also actually “the heroes of another age’s legend,” which, fine.⁵] But like, what’s actually going on with this magical horn and who is this gaggle of Good Guy Ghosts coming to fight the Seanchan? It was nice to see Uno Nomesta return to us as a Hero of the Horn (with a magical Shield he gives to Perrin—get it, because Perrin wants to protect instead of attack), but it still felt like a bit of a tenuous connection (both emotionally and in terms of the story beats). I really do feel that the Horn just kind of totally fell out the bottom of the season.

Back to Mat! His gigantic revelation (that he is actually, indeed, a good guy, a Hero of the Horn, nonetheless) is overshadowed by the above confusion. I wish we had spent more time with Mat, to better motivate his unfortunate behaviour in S1. I had also hoped that abandoning Egwene at the start of S2, once freed by Liandrin, would lead Mat to a heroic moment specifically involving her; that could’ve been a nice cap on his choice to run away (the second time). Instead, he does some cool Evil Dagger tricks to melt locks and soldiers and super special magic boxes that cannot easily be opened, and we see that Min’s vision (of Mat stabbing Rand) was (of course) an accident.

I love Book Mat, so I’ve been pretty bummed about what we’ve gotten so far (well, I was really happy with OG Mat in the first few episodes of S1). Now that he has blown the Horn, and feels a lot better about himself, I’m looking forward to seeing him grow.

As with Perrin above (and Lan/Moiraine below), this is a common reaction I had to the finale. Everyone is finally back together and ready to move on to better-motivated and more interesting stories. While I quite liked S2 (far more than S1), it still, in some ways, felt like a recovery season, from COVID and from Barney Harris leaving. We’ll now just have to wait and see what impact the strikes have on an eventual S3.

Moiraine and Lan, You've Got a Friend in Me

On the other hand, while I have not been particularly keen on this S2 plotline, given its narrative primacy and significant focus, the moments between Lan and Moiraine in the finale do feel earned to me. I don’t think it was at all surprising when Moiraine revealed that her previous Three-Oath-Bound True Statement about not viewing them as equal was actually her perception that Lan is her better, but it was still sweet.⁶ The moment of connection during their bond was also really emotionally resonant and quite stunning (what a great way to visualize connection). Their stand on the beach together was the first moment since the series premiere when they truly seemed to be in sync. It’s a nice place for their S2 arc to end, a promising place from which to grow in S3, and it was nice to finally see badass Lan kicking ass and catching arrows.

That said, so much confusion stems from the decision to confusingly introduce the notion of lost knowledge (known to the Forsaken), including the tying off of Shields. All season, we think Moiraine’s been Stilled, but it turns out that she hasn’t been. All season, viewers are led to assume that Moiraine’s bond to Lan has been cut along with her access to the Power; however, she actually masked the bond at the end of S1, and so could not use the Power to unmask the bond after Ishamael Shielded her.⁷ Once regaining access to the Source, unmasking the bond should have been a simple affair. The finale made it seem like the bond had been severed completely and was being reconnected. Ultimately, I don’t mind so much, as it made sense in terms of dramatic necessity, and also the weaves were lovely, but it still felt unnecessarily confusing.

A final point of confusion for me, again related to the Three Oaths: I’m just not sure how Moiraine could wield the Power against possible innocents. I know the Seanchan are not innocent, but Moiraine tells Lan she “would let 1,000 innocent people die if there’s even a chance that [Rand] will live.” This is a neat little trick of the Oaths—she can let innocents die, even if she can’t wield the power to just murder people willy-nilly—but then she goes and firebombs the ships. I suppose the explanation is that she sees the weaves Shielding Rand, or maybe Egwene, and so this becomes a context in which she can use the power in the defense of the life of another channeler???

Again, as with Mat and Perrin, while this arc has not been completely satisfying for me, I am ready to see where Lan and Moiraine go in S3 with their bond reinvigorated.

Egwene, Break Free

The Moiraine and Lan plotline was not the only one to maybe bend (or break) rules the show has drilled into us. We watched an entire episode of Egwene being tortured while unable to touch a jug of water that she viewed as a potential weapon. I don’t know how she threw the A’dam on Renna without any backlash. There are, of course (as Verin said early on), loopholes in Oaths and with the Power; maybe Egwene did not think of the A’dam as a weapon in that moment? I don’t know, it’s a stretch, but I can appreciate and understand the intent here—for Egwene to save herself.

This was an emotionally satisfying resolution to her season-long arc, even if it did not make as much sense as I had hoped it would. I can still suspend enough disbelief to squint at it and come away feeling that it was well earned if not totally well crafted. Egwene has been through horrors beyond imagining and came out the other side. She is now a harder woman, who lost some battles, but ultimately won the war. Although the initial acts of collaring and blasting Renna up the pillar didn’t totally make sense, I think we are meant to understand this struggle as a battle of wills. Whatever Renna feels, Egwene feels twice over, and yet she does not bend or break—Renna breaks first. And after being released from the A’dam, she keeps her promise and Renna dies.

Relatedly, another moment that kind of beggars belief is her ability to hold off the most powerful channeler alive, Ishamael. But if we understand Egwene to be all willpower at this point, I can understand how, for a time, she maintained the shield.

There are also geopolitical ramifications to the revelation that Sul’dam are women who can channel, if very weakly. It could fundamentally undermine Seanchan society, built as it is on the dehumanization and enslavement of women who can channel (damane).

I still have questions about if the intense torture depicted onscreen was necessary, but at least we can understand Egewene’s decisions, and we’ve got nowhere to go but up.

Nynaeve and Elayne, It’s Just a Flesh Wound!

This plot really didn’t work for me, as it marks a Bad Change from the books, in which Nynaeve and Elayne save Egwene. Instead, in the moment when the Horn is Blown and we get the best-directed sequence to date, slow-mo shots of everyone in the heat of whatever conflict they happen to be focused on at the climax, we wind up with Nynaeve just… incapable of acting. I understand that her whole deal is that she has a block and cannot channel at will—a nice way of balancing her extreme power with a real challenge—but what a weird moment to focus on here. She can’t even heal an arrow to the knee. Her big aha moment is just to push the arrow through Elayne’s leg using her wisdom knowledge (also, I have questions about if that’s how you actually treat arrow wounds). From there, they somehow climb the stairs to the tower despite Elayne’s injury, and then Nynaeve just does nothing. For a character who has, so far, been at the heart of some of the best writing (like her time inside the arches), I just don’t understand why they focused on this story in this way in this moment.

Complete miss. And that’s really why I think this was a bad adaptation choice. It felt like, once the writers had decided to enable Egwene to save herself, Nynaeve and Elayne’s plot just fizzled out. Why did they even have to use the A’dam on Seta at all? What was Ryma’s sacrifice even for? It just didn’t work and felt poorly plotted.

Rand, With A Little Help From My Friends

And finally, we have the man of the hour, the Dragon Reborn himself, proclaimed above Falme, returning to save and maybe break the world anew! Honestly, I’ve been super pleased with how Rand’s story has been told in S2, and have been increasingly impressed with Josha Stradowski’s performance. While he hasn’t been featured like Egwene, with an episode focused almost entirely on him, his story has been sprinkled across pretty much every episode, so you never really felt his absence (unlike Mat).

Of course, the other characters’ did feel his absence, and his whole arc this season has been about hiding himself away to protect those he loves. Finally, he is ready to accept his fate and take on the role of Symbol of Hope (and Despair) as the Dragon Reborn.

Rand’s Book 2 arc focuses on him trying to accept his role as the Dragon. Part of that story involves Lan teaching him to wield the sword as they hunt for the Horn. Here, Rand’s confrontation with Turak ends in an actual dual. I love that the show acknowledged how Rand could not possibly be a proficient enough sword user to best Turak in a fight, leading to maybe the best Indiana Jones reference I’ve ever seen. I felt that this moment really captured the joy of watching Rand grow this season.

S2 was much stronger than S1; I’m looking forward to what an even better S3 can bring!

And with that, just locations, character descriptions, and the Spoiler Corner remain. If you’re stopping here, thanks so much for reading along all season! It’s been a joy to return to writing about TV, just in time for a show I have strong feelings about (both positive and negative). I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these discussions, and will join me on other TV journeys, like Quantum Leap, House of the Dragon S2, and (of course) an eventual WoT S3. Thanks again!

Where are all our players of the Game of Houses at the end of S2?

Toman Head: Falme - Basically everyone has finally Waygated or hiked to Falme.

1. The Big Five (Ta'veren)

   1. Rand al’Thor: The Dragon Reborn, has proclaimed himself above Falme.

   2. Egwene al’Vere: Very powerful channeler, former tortured damane, will of steel, able to withstand unfathomable pain and stall the strongest Forsaken.

   3. Mat Cauthon: Thinks he’s a bad guy, but actually might be the best guy! Horn Blower, Shouter of Ancient Tongues, Rememberer of Past Lives, Hero of the Horn, Wielder of Evil Magic Dagger 2: 2 Hot 2 Handle [So Put It On A Stick].

   4. Nynave al’Meara: The most powerful female channeler in generations, had a good arc at the start of S2 (especially in the arches), not sure what happened.

   5. Perrin Aybara: Wolfbrother, Whitecloak Murderer, Blood-Feud Starter.

2. Moiraine Damodred: Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah, briefly Shielded by Ishamael (but in a special way that no one noticed), finally feeling feelings and letting Lan in. Also does good fire magic, proclaiming Rand as the Dragon Reborn.

3. al'Lan Mandragoran: Sadboi looking for purpose, finds purpose, catches arrows.

4. The Forsaken & Friends

   1. Ishamael: Father of Lies, Ba'alzamon, the leader of the Forsaken. NOT the Dark One, just his most fearsome lieutenant. He brought Lanfear back into this world by breaking the heartstone seal on her prison. Realises his plans have failed (if only it weren’t for Lanfear & those pesky kids), so he releases the remaining six Forsaken into the world before dying (again, in this life).

   2. Lanfear: Selene the innkeeper, Daughter of the Night, of the Forsaken. As it turns out, pretty much planned everything that happened in S2, except for Ishamael releasing the other six Forsaken.

   3. Moghedien: Uh-oh, Moghedien (the Spider) gonna getchu Lanfear!

   4. Padan Fane: The OG Darkfriend, who led the Trollocs into the Two Rivers, stole the Horen of Valere from Shienar, comedic runner-away-er from Mat.

5. Good Guys Besides

   1. Elayne Trakane: Powerful Novice, Daughter-heir of Andor (the country where The Two Rivers is), arrow to the knee, did healing I guess to Rand’s wound.

   2. Loial: Nice friendly Ogier, escaped the Seanchan finally, found the Horn offscreen, hopefully he’ll do things in S3.

   3. Hopper: The goodest boy ever, hop on forever into your next life, lil guy.

6. Aiel

   1. Aviendha: of the Nine Valleys sept of the Taardad Aiel. Searching for the Car'a'carn (Chief of Chiefs). Has toh toward Perrin for the rescue from the cage, which enabled her to, unarmed, defeat just about a million Whitecloaks. Acknowledges Rand as the Car'a'carn in a quick shot at the end of the finale.

   2. Bain and Chiad: Maidens of the Spear with Aviendha.

7. Shienarans

   1. Ingtar Shinowa (RIP): Leader of Shienaran expedition, died heroically.

   2. Uno Nomesta (RIP): Except he lives on as a Hero of the Horn!!!

   3. Masama Dagar (shirtless fight guy): Silently impressed by Rand.

8. Whitecloaks

   1. Eamon Valda: Evil Questioner

   2. Geoffram Bornhald (RIP): Honourable, murdered Hopper, so Perrin got him

   3. Dain Bornhald: Honourable, but probably about to enter his vengeance era

9. Seanchan

   1. Darkfriend High Lady Suroth and her Voice, Alwhin (killed by Moiraine?)

   2. Not a Darkfriend High Lord Turak (Indiana Jonesed by Rand, RIP)

   3. Renna, slaver and torturer, hoisted by her own petard A'dam. Yay Egwene.

Cairhien - Did not appear this episode, but basically everyone else is still there.

1. Anvaere Damodred: Moiraine’s younger sister (she appears older), whose maneuvering led to her son’s engagement into Cairhien’s royal family.

2. Barthanes Damodred: Oops, the engagement actually happened because he swore himself to the Dark (and almost murdered Moiraine). Probably dead.

3. Min Farshaw: Likely still drinking herself into oblivion after failing to betray Mat, giving up on Ishamael’s promise to remove her prophetic visions (which, let’s be honest, probably would have mostly involved murdering her).

4. Aes Sedai

   1. Siuan Sanche: Ugh. Leader of the Aes Sedai (the Amyrlin Seat) Broke up with Moiraine in the worst way possible (magical compulsion is pretty evil).

   2. Leane Sharif: Keeper of the Chronicles, second in command to the Amyrlin Seat. Verin tricked her with tricky words and then oops the Dragon escaped.

   3. Alanna Mosvani: Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah (the Battle Ajah).

      1. Maksim: One of them warders Alanna hooks up with.

      2. Ihvon: The other warder Alanna hooks up with. Seems more patient.

   4. Liandrin Guirale: Aes Sedai of the Red (Black!) Ajah, user of actual Fast Travel (The Ways), Darkfriend extraordinaire, Dead Son sold separately.

   5. Verin Mathwin: Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah (the researchers / librarians of the Aes Sedai), did some tricky clever use of words to help Rand escape.

Other notables, in other places (maybe Tar Valon, maybe Arafel, maybe dead)

1. Elyas Machera: Another Wolfbrother, brief mentor to Perrin. Rude.

2. Sheriam Bayanar: Blue Ajah. Mistress of Novices, haven’t seen her in a while.

3. Maigan: Sitter of the Blue Ajah, captured by the Seanchan, RIP via trebuchet.

4. Ryma: Yellow Ajah, not seen since her capture (ominous).

Season 2: Spoiler Corner (with Book Spoilers through to the endgame)

DO NOT CONTINUE. You have been warned. Again again again again.

Book spoilers follow a line of dashes. Also, there are dashes at the end if you want to footnotes.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1. Mat remembering his past lives upon blowing the Horn of Valere, and actually being a Hero of the Horn himself, changes everything. Will he give up half the light of the world? Will we see the Tower of Ghenjei, the Eelfinn and Aelfinn? What does it all mean for Moiraine’s final confrontation with Lanfear? I was pretty disappointed with the ‘past lives dark magic tea’ scene, so while blowing the horn was a lot more effective for Mat’s arc, I do hope we get to see flashes of his past lives—not to mention all of the arches with pasts and futures to glimpse. Also, I really like him actually being a Hero of the Horn, that works for me.

2. Poor Ingtar. Barely a footnote. My partner asked me why the camera seemed so invested in such a minor character’s death, and I can’t say I felt much about it either. I get that WoT had no space to give Ingtar the attention his arc needed to feel earned; it makes sense—given the constraints of compressing multiple books into 8 episode seasons, in a show already suffering from pacing problems and with more than enough Darkfriend reveals—but it meant his sacrifice fell flat.

3. A lot of lore is missing on TV. I argued above that the show failed to explain the importance of the Horn of Valere, but at least the Horn mattered. Did the show even mention Artur Hawkwing, and how the Seanchan are his descendants, or was Uno supposed to be our emotional connection to the heroes of the Horn? I’m trying not to sound like a book absolutist (so many of the changes are good), but I worry that the explosive pacing means we lose depth of both character and world.

4. I wish we’d had more time with Hopper and Elyas, especially since Elyas is the embodiment of Perrin’s struggle (as a former Tinker turned lone Wolfbrother). I really really hope we get the Wolf Dream and more of Hopper in the future.

5. Forsaken Watch! The show confirms we will get 8 Forsaken! Not much changed since we last checked in, except that Ishamael is dead, Lanfear lives, and six more (including Moghedien) are free. Besides them, we know already know Graendal exists, and have now also confirmed the existence of Sammael. And unless we’re getting some much-needed gender fuckery, with trans* Mesaana or Semirhage, that leaves three spots for three more The Boys. I doubt we’ll get Aginor, Be’lal, or Balthamel, so that means perhaps we’ll see Rahvin, Demandred, AND Asmoden. What remains to be seen is whether we will also start to see some resurrected Forsaken—specifically, Moridin—and other special Beings like Shaidar Haran.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1. Fans translated unlocalized anime (most anime back then), encoded subtitles into file types I haven’t seen in years, and released them into the wild—to say nothing of the VHS era.

2. Apparently, TV Tropes refers to this character as the Omnicidal Maniac [ugh, TV Tropes used to be so much fun, this is what happens when you expand categories forever].

3. It might also be because of an author’s dedication to avoiding inexplicable Fast Travel and making sure that a character’s time on the road feels meaningful. This is why we can’t have nice things/GRRM hasn’t published Winds of Winter (see: The Meereenese Knot).

4. Notably, not a monster, just a very Good Boy who wants to Jump Real High. Also, Hopper’s death was probably the moment that had me the most emotional during the finale.

5. To this, my partner muttered “are you though???”

6. There should also have been questions about the Three Oaths. The Oath Rod only works on channelers, so if Moiraine had been stilled, but still could not lie, that should’ve been a hint.

7. I think Moiraine literally explains this out loud to Lan at the end of S1, if I’m not mistaken.