TV Review: "The Wheel of Time: To Race the Shadow" (S3, Ep. 1)
The third season of the hit Amazon show hits the ground running, drawing our beloved characters together before sending them flying to the corners of the continent.
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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
Well, Wheel of Time friends and family, it’s finally here: the third season! We certainly hit the ground running with the very first episode, as Liandrin is put on trial for being a Black Ajah, only to lead a bloodbath against the others in the Tower. Meanwhile the Emond’s Fielders have to decide what they are going to do, particularly since Rand has now emerged as the Dragon Reborn with all of the complications that entails. By the time that the episode has come to a close they have once again gone their separate ways. While Egwene accompanies Rand, Lan, and Moiraine to the Aiel Waste with the other Aiel–including a very surly Aviendha–Mat, Nynaeve, and Elayne opt to remain in the Tower while Perrin has decided to return to the Two Rivers at last.
The opening battle is certainly some of the most intense action that we’ve seen yet in this series, excelling (in my opinion at least) the battle against the Seanchan that brought the second season to such a resounding conclusion. There’s something particularly wrenching about all of this happening in the Hall itself, given that the Aes Sedai are supposed to be the arbiters of order in this fractious and fallen world. I mean, we’ve obviously known that the Black Ajah is a considerable force within the White Tower, but there’s a pretty significant difference between knowing such a thing in the abstract and seeing them wreak havoc with Sitters and come perilously close to kidnapping and/or killing Siuan herself.
This is also a battle that has tremendous stakes, particularly when it comes to Alanna and her Warders Ihvon and Maksim, the former of whom Liandrin kills as she attempts to escape from Tar Valon. Given the extent to which we’ve already come to love these characters and their polycule, it’s really quite wrenching to watch one of their number be cut down. It’s clear even at this stage that this is going to be something that will weigh heavily on both Alanna and Maksim as the season goes on.
Elsewhere in the Tar Valon Moiraine has managed to bring our various heroes together. While one might question the wisdom of bringing the Dragon Reborn and the other ta’veren so close to the White Tower, it makes sense that Moiraine would want to both keep an eye on them while also making sure that Siuan manages to survive her fateful encounter with Liandrin. It’s only thanks to Moiraine that she manages to keep from being crushed by falling stone. Even though a true reunion and reconciliation between these two characters still seems a bit of out of reach at this point, it’s still poignant to see Moiraine go out of her way to rescue the woman that she clearly loves more than any other, even if their relative positions on the Dragon Reborn have put them in opposition to one another. No matter what happens, no matter what has passed between them, the bonds tying them together can never be truly broken.
Egwene also finds her loyalties tested, as she has to decide whether she is with the Tower or with Rand. To that end, she ends up taking her test to become an Accepted, and the test itself highlights the vexed role that the Dragon Reborn will play in the rest of her life. This sequence is shorter than what we saw with Nynaeve, but this is understandable, since I’m not really sure we needed to see yet another testing in such rigorous detail. What we do have is haunting enough, since it’s clear that Egwene’s desire to become an Aes Sedai is going to continue to come into conflict with her love of Rand and with his destiny as the Dragon Reborn.
Indeed, this is an episode of testing and shifting alliances, as one can see from the fact that Moiraine forges a bit of a collaboration with Lanfear. I’m sure some will raise a skeptical eyebrow, but this is in keeping with both her book counterpart’s utterly logical approach to matters regarding the Dragon Reborn and with her dynamic with Lanfear. Up until the moment that she pushes her through the ter’angreal, the two exist in a fragile state of detente, so I’m actually perfectly okay with the show bringing this more explicitly into the open. Furthermore, as we’ve seen time and again, Moiraine is quite savvy when it comes to her ability to manipulate others, so in her own mind she no doubt thinks she has Lanfear right where she wants her. More troubling is the fact that she’s willing to let Lanfear put the other people from Emond’s Field in danger in order to convince Rand of the need to leave Tar Valon. This, too, makes sense in terms of the type of character she has always shown herself to be. Moiraine absolutely loves these frustrating people from the Two Rivers, but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t willing to sacrifice any of them if it means that the Dragon Reborn will be equipped to fight and win the Last Battle. And she’s clearly concerned about the lengths to which Lanfear was willing to go (she’s not entirely whout a conscience, after all).
The premiere also allowed us to see another fledgling queer relationship, this time between Elayne and Aviendha. This is one of those changes that I wholeheartedly approve of, because the polyamorous dynamic that emerges among Rand, Aviendha, Min, and Elayne was always one of the strangest parts of the book and one that Jordan himself clearly tried to distance from any trace of queerness. Fortunately, however, The Wheel of Time as a show has a much more nuanced approach to these kinds of things than Jordan was ever able to achieve, and the consummation of this relationship will hopefully add more texture–and, dare I say it, drama–to the eventual foursome.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that Rand, Perrin, and Mat all three have their own burdens to bear as the season begins. I’m glad that we finally get a chance to see Mat in his element rather than being imprisoned, and Dónal Finn once again shines in the role. I’m looking forward to seeing his journey, particularly as Nynaeve attempts to figure out just what is going on with his fractured memory.
The episode ends, appropriately enough, with Moghedien tormenting a bound and captive Jaichim Carridin. Book readers know that Carridin–much like Liandrin–is one of those characters who at first seems as if he is going to be important but gradually becomes less and less so as the books go on. Like his show counterpart, he is one of the Children of the Light who has still sworn his service to the Dark and, also like his counterpart, he’s clearly failed, leading to Moghedien’s torture of him. I quite like the way that the show is leaning into horror when it comes to this particular member of the Forsaken. After all, she is named after a remarkably venomous species of spider from the Age of Legends. In this case, it also seems as if we’re getting some glimmers of the Forsaken Aginor, who was responsible for the creation of Trollocs and other Shadowspawn (though it’s never stated explicitly that he Grey Men, I think it’s more likely than not, given his skill at experimentation). Given that we’re not going to get Aginor in the screen adaptation–one can only include so many Forsaken, after all–it’s nice to see a bit of his personality given to one of those that we do get to see.
I know it’s become quite popular among the more annoying members of the broader Wheel of Time fandom to hate on the show for its perceived liberties with the source material, but one of the things that stands out to me about this show is just how much it gets right and how skillfully it draws on the various plot threads that will bear fruit down the road. This episode certainly hits the down running, giving us time to reacquaint ourselves with these characters before thrusting us right back into the thick of things. There’s no doubt that it’s going to be a hell of a season, and I am going to be here for every minute of it.