TV Review: "The Wheel of Time: Goldeneyes" (S3, Ep. 7)
In the penultimate episode of the season Perrin and his friends and allies must make some heartbreaking choices in the fight against Padan Fain and his army of Trollocs and Darkfriends.
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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode, and for the Wheel of Time book series, follow.
Holy shit, y’all, this was one hell of an episode of fantasy television. I’m not sure that we’ve seen a battle like this on the small screen since The Battle of Winterfell all those years ago (back when Game of Thrones was still a cultural phenomenon rather than a cautionary tale about the dangers of showrunner hubris). The battle that we see in this episode is well-executed and heartbreaking, with lots of bloodshed and sacrifice, including the loss of one of our most beloved characters. It was one of those episodes that managed to skillfully blend spectacle and heart, and I’m once again filled with gratitude that we’ve been blessed with a powerhouse fantasy show like this one.
As many of us have suspected since the title of the episode was announced, the entirety of this one focuses on Perrin and his attempts to protect Emond’s Field from the dark tide of Trollocs and Darkfriends, all of whom are being controlled and directed by his old nemesis Padan Fain. As the battle escalates, Loial is dispatched with Bain and Chiad to permanently seal the Waygate, and he ultimately does so at the cost of his own life. Meanwhile, Perrin embraces his warrior side, goes on a killing spree with Faile, and ultimately gives himself up to the Children who, under Dain Bornhald’s leadership, have come to the aid of the people of the Two Rivers.
I love the way that Marcus Rutherford has slowly grown into the role of Perrin, fleshing out this character in ways that the novels always struggled to do. This season has shown him slowly accept that, whether he likes it or not, he’s precisely the kind of leader that the Two Rivers needs in this tumultuous time. If he doesn’t step up, if he doesn’t become a killer, then no one else is going to save the people that he loves so dearly. Isabella Bucceri likewise shines as Faile, and watching these two strikes sparks off each other continues to be a true highlight of the Emond’s Field storyline. Each brings out the best in the other, and I have to say that I love them so much more than their book counterparts.
For all that this episode was quite grim in many places, there were also some light moments.I literally laughed out loud a little watching Loial of all people playing a game of Maiden’s Kiss. Like Perrin, he seems to be motivated by a belief that as many women should be sent away as possible, so as to avoid the death and chaos that are sure to arrive when the Shadowspawn come pouring into the Two Rivers. However, in a neat parallel to the Perrin/Faile dynamic, he learns that there’s no keeping these formidable women from fulfilling their destiny
While Perrin is obviously the heart of this episode, I don’t think I’ll ever not weep at Loial’s sacrifice, particularly since it comes after his poignant parting from Perrin. Seeing him take up his hammer and deliver the blow that halts the flow of Trollocs into the Two Rivers? Now that, my friends, is a heroic moment, and it’s easy to see why many would compare this moment to Gandalf’s climactic confrontation with the Balrog in The Fellowship of the Ring. There is a part of me that hopes that they bring Loial back to life somehow–if it’s good enough for a Wizard like Gandalf, surely it’s good enough for a Builder and a loyal friend like Loial–but I also think that would cheapen his sacrifice. He did what he did knowing very well that he wasn’t going to make it back, and that’s what makes it such an intensely powerful moment. It’s a reminder that, in the battle between the Light and the Dark, there are going to be people, even beloved people, who don’t make it through.
I’ll admit, though, that at first I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Was it really possible, I wondered, that they were killing Loial, one of the most beloved characters in the entirety of The Wheel of Time? The more I thought about it, though, the more that it made its own sort of sense. The Loial of the books is a lovely figure, but let’s be real. He doesn’t really do much other than just serve as part of an entourage. The show has also struggled to find something meaningful for him to do, and so far he’s been a bit of an add-on. This way, at least, he gets to do something that saves countless lives and strikes a blow at the Dark, while saving the people that he has come to love and care about from a death that would be both horrifying and very painful (we all know what Trollocs like to do those that they capture).
Indeed, this is an episode that is marked by sacrifice, since it ends with Perrin giving himself up to the Whitecloaks in exchange for their aid. I’ve learned by now that it’s always wise to give Rafe and his writing team the benefit of the doubt when it comes to dramatic changes to the events of the book, and I daresay that this is going to hold true in this instance as well. In the books, you’ll recall, the exact opposite happens. Dain, stubborn and angry to the last, declines to help the people of the Two Rivers, which means that Perrin is totally within his rights to tell him to get bent and take his bargain with him.
If I had to guess, they’ve changed this storyline in order to get Perrin where he needs to be for season five and onward, assuming that the show gets renewed for that many seasons. It’s also possible that they’ve chosen to switch his narrative with Faile’s, giving her a chance to do something other than become a prisoner of the Shaido and thus yet another female character in desperate need of saving by a male hero. I guess we’ll just have to cross our fingers and hope that the powers-that-be at Amazon realize that they are really sitting on a goldmine and that, with some key back-to-back renewals, they can help The Wheel of Time to keep getting better. I’m sure I’m not the only one who needs some closure when it comes to Perrin’s story!
Aside from Perrin, Faile, and Loial, we also get some important insight into a secondary character from the novels, Aram the Tuatha’an. As he did way back in the first season, Daryl McCormack gives a soulful and nuanced performance, and I particularly enjoyed the way that he captures Aram’s sense of conflict when it comes to choosing between death at the hands of a Trolloc and taking up a weapon, particularly since the former option would mean the demise of an innocent babe. We know by now–thanks to Rand’s vision in Rhuidean–that for a member of the Tuatha’an to take up a weapon, even in the defense of an innocent, means permanent ostracization, so this is a decision that has enormous consequences. It was probably inevitable that Avram was going to be the one to make this fateful choice but, even so, it’s heartbreaking to see his look with his dear grandmother, Illa (played with wrenching pathos by the divine Maria Doyle Kennedy).
I also enjoyed getting to see more of Alanna and Maksim in this episode. As I’ve written before, I’m not sure that getting to spend so much time with them is the best choice of valuable screen minutes, but they’ve grown on me. This episode marked an important moment for both of them, as they’re finally starting to move on from Ihvon’s death, building something new out of their grief. And I’ll give Alanna this: she has managed to be practically indescribable, and at this point I’m not sure that there’s anything short of a meteor strike or the touch of the Dark One himself that could bring about her demise. Maksim, for his part, is as irreverent as ever, and I particularly loved watching his little spat with Cenn Buie, the latter of whom reminds him, aptly, that the Two Rivers folk are better with longbows than they are with spears. (Side note: how awesome was it to see the Women’s Circle standing strong? Do not mess with Two Rivers women, people).
Just as importantly, this episode also marks the moment when Child Byar, that most hateful of bigots, finally got what was coming to him when the Cauthon sisters used their control of the Power–shaky at best–to immolate him. I can’t think of a more fitting ending for this particular character, who has burned so many women to death, including the girls’ own mother. Now, if only something similar could happen to the rest of the hateful Children of the Light I would be happy, but alas I don’t think that’s in the cards.
That said, there are a few niggling details that didn’t quite sit well with me. First, there’s the fact that Alanna seems to be nearly indestructible. By this point she’s been wounded several times–twice this season, both times quite grievously–and yet she manages to pull through, this time without even being Healed by the Cauthon girls. I love this show, but it does tend to lean on plot armor for some of its favorites, with Alanna being the most notable example of this storytelling crutch.
I’m also a little ambivalent about this iteration of Padan Fain. He doesn’t have quite the level of derangement that he does in the books, and he’s also played less of a role in the story. While it makes sense for Perrin to choose mercy over more bloodshed, it does make me wonder just what the endgame is with this iteration of Fain. He’s a bit indestructible in the books, an agent of chaos and darkness and death, so I’ll be intrigued to see whether this weaker version of the character will follow a similar arc. Once again, I guess I’ll just have to have faith in Rafe (not hard to do, as it turns out).
Lastly, I do think we need to get some sort of diegetic explanation for what I believe are Shaido among the ranks of Trollocs. If you’ve read the book you know that the Shaido are so deeply aggrieved by Rand’s presence that they become his implacable enemies, so it makes sense they might have joined with the Dark One. That hasn’t really been explained in the show yet or, if it has, it wasn’t explicit enough for me to take note. Then again, perhaps they’re just generic Darkfriends? Either way, I hope we get some sort of explanation as to where the human members of Fain’s army came from.
This was, to put it mildly, a heartbreaking episode, one that marks an important change for Perrin as a character, since it shows that he is, when it comes down to it, far more honorable than the Whitecloaks to whom he has turned for aid. He has also learned, thanks in large part to Faile, that he has to honor others and their choices to die for something larger than themselves. This will be an ongoing theme throughout the show. Just as importantly, this episode also shows us the incredible personal stakes in the looming Last Battle. Everyone has their part to play.
The question, though, is just how much can the show realistically wrap up in the season finale? There are a lot of balls currently in the air, and I am a little concerned that not every storyline is going to be resolved in a way that feels complete and authentic. This isn’t the show’s fault. As I will keep saying, it’s nothing short of malpractice for Amazon to keep short-changing its epic fantasy series by giving them only eight episodes and exacerbating that problem by dicking around when it comes to renewal.
Even so, I think we can all agree that The Wheel of Time has only gotten better this season. Every episode has managed to up the ante from the last, leaving us on the edges of our seats–sometimes because it’s hard to see, since this episode was remarkably dark, both in theme and in appearance. You can’t help but be invested in these characters and their lives and in the fate of their world.
I’m not ready for the end of the season but, as always, the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills.