5 Reasons to Binge ‘The Wheel of Time’ Over the Holidays
It’s the age-old question TV journalists have been asked for millennia: What should I be watching? We hear it every day and everywhere. “Is this show any good?” “What do you think of the one with that guy?” “Why is everyone talking about blah-blah?” It’s constant, and it’s kind of awesome. There are so many shows out there that folks might have missed, because there are so many shows out there. Honestly, even those of us who watch TV for a living can find ourselves with a blindspot here or there. Honestly, who knew Netflix had dropped like, three new murder documentaries this month?!
Still, whenever anyone asks what they should be watching, there are a few shows that instantly pop up. And since late 2021, one of them has been Prime Video‘s The Wheel of Time. Long-considered unadaptable, the epic is based on Robert Jordan’s 15-book series (completed by author Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s passing in 2007) and is set in an expansive world where a select group of women known as Aes Sedai can channel the One Power, a magical source that turns the Wheel of Time.
Centering on Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a powerful Aes Sedai, the series kicked off with her visiting the town of Two Rivers. There, she and her protective Warder, Lan (Daniel Henney) were thrust into a wild journey to save five young villagers — one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn who will either save humanity or destroy it. Seasons 2 dropped earlier this year, and it was HOT. Fast-paced, action-packed, full of twists, new characters and worlds, brutal battle scenes and a finale that knocked. Us. Out.
So, if you have some free time this season, maybe the week off until New Year’s or PTO or even the gift of funemployment, do yourself a favor and take a spin on the Wheel. Here’s a few reasons why you won’t be sorry…
Kate Fleetwood's Liandrin
“She’s a cat playing with the mice,” says the actress who dominates every scene as the traitorous Aes Sedai. “I think of her as a revolutionary…and of course she will see herself as a righteous person. She’s on a mission and she’s complex, and the writers have entrusted me with the complexity of her.”
As one of the Dark One’s secret allies, the brutal and powerful channeler has so far imprisoned Mat (Dónal Finn), betrayed her sisters, and sold out Egwene (Madeleine Madden), Elayne (Ceara Coveney) and Nyneave (Zoë Robins) to the violent Seanchan.
And while she was entirely absent from the season finale, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t up to something off-screen. “Oh, it’s a thing,” Fleetwood laughs when asked what Liandrin has planned. “And it’s clearly something from the books that people will recognize.”
The Arrival of Elayne!
One of the books’ most beloved characters, this heiress to a kingdom came into Season 2 and instantly won us over. “I knew fans would really enjoy her introduction, albeit a different from the introduction she has in the books, but I think it definitely served the series.”
When we first meet her, “she’s completely a fish out of water,” says Coveney. “And I think that was such an interesting way to meet this character because you’re seeing her navigate new situations and being thrown into adventures that I don’t think she ever anticipated for herself.”
What she and the ladies get into is a far cry from royal life, but Coveney feels that it will pay off for the princess in the end.
“It was really fun to play that pushing against that life she had…she chooses her loyalty to her friends, and I think in the future, that will influence the queen that she becomes.”
As for her possible king? Well, keep an eye on her season finale interaction with Rand (Josha Stradowski). “I really had a moment after we wrapped where it was a proper ‘pinch me’ moment,” she recalls of the game-changing scene. “I was like, did I just do that? Did we just film all of that? Oh my goodness. It was completely surreal.”
Lan's Evolution
Starting off the season estranged from Moiraine due to her being cut off from the One Power in Season 1’s finale, her Warder was a bit adrift.
“It’s pretty tumultuous with Lan and Moraine,” says Henney. “After their semi split-up, they go their separate ways. Ros and I were both kind of interested to see how they were going to pay this off, you know what I mean?”
We do, and we loved how, as he puts it, “this season gave all the characters a chance to be in their respective containers to test themselves, to be on their own journeys.” For Lan, it was by spending time with other Warders, revisiting that bond that means so much between them and their Aes Sedais, and also realizing he’s a hero in his own right.
“I think we leave Season 2 feeling like we know these characters a bit better and that they can stand on their own,” Henney offers. “Lan was always very much connected in many ways to Moiraine, so to see him on his own like this, I think, is only going to build strength for him moving forward.”
Good thing, because this quietly graceful badass is about to show some folks how it’s done. “All I can say is in Season 3, he’s going to be having some pretty great action sequences with some newer characters.”
Have ALL fear, Lanfear's here!
Another beloved book character who made their debut in Season 2 was Lanfear, the former lover of previous Dragon incarnation, Lews Therin. Seemingly ageless and definitely wicked, we first met her as Selene, the lover and landlord to an in-hiding Rand.
“I wondered what people would think of [her introduction], because we were trying not to give away too much,” says Natasha O’Keeffe of this “mysterious innkeeper that was really into this guy.”
It was soon discovered why she was really into Rand after Moiraine tracked him down and dispensed with the Forsaken sorceress. But you can’t keep a good bad girl down, and by the middle of the season, this one is raising hell!
“It’s as fun as it looks,” raves the Peaky Blinders actress. “And you can see the excitement on the set when I get to throw fireballs or do the kind of channeling that’s deemed evil… Everyone wants to make it perfect, the crew and the special effects guys. And it’s a real team effort.”
Hopefully she has that kind of support in Season 3, because Lanfear was last seen crossing paths with another Forsaken femme who could make her brand of chaos seem quaint. “She’s dangerous because she comes out of the shadows… She’ll come out of nowhere and snap you up like a spider. And that’s what makes her so dangerous.”
This Damn Picture
If this is how dragons are reborn, bring ’em on! Josha Stradowski gave fans a beefy Instagram peek at what might be coming now that his Rand is poised to rise in power. And while this certainly has fans counting the days until next season, the shot earned Stradowski some good-humored humble pie from his Wheel pals.
“Lemme just tell you something,” laughs Henney. “I called him and was like, ‘Okay, enough of that, enough of that.’ I commented like, ‘Yeah, looking good…sheep herder!'”
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