In The Wheel of Time season 2, the heroes are spread across the world with different quests, all with the singular goal of keeping the Dark One at bay. The episodes are streaming on Prime Video.
Episode 1 recap: A Taste of Solitude
A little girl is playing by herself when three Trollocs rush toward her. She runs into a room where cloaked figures are meeting with Ishamael talking to them about Rand. He comforts the girl and shows her that the Trollocs will not harm her.
Moiraine and Lan are staying with channelers Verin and Adeleas, and their Warder, Tomas. Moiraine doesn’t have her powers anymore and she has pushed Lan away while carrying out her research.
A visitor arrives to meet with Moiraine, and she sits down with him in private. Egwene and Nynaeve are training in the White Tower as novices but they mostly perform chores.
Alanna is responsible for teaching them how to channel the One Power, but Nynaeve isn’t keen on harnessing her abilities. Liandrin asks for an opportunity to talk to Nynaeve and convince her of the right path.
Perrin is out on a hunt for the Horn of Valere and he regularly writes letters to Egwene, Nynaeve, and Matt during his journeys. Their party has a new tracker who has golden eyes and seems to have abilities similar to Perrin.
He finds the sight of a massacre and Perrin can see a vision of a girl who escaped. The party decides to bury the dead and give them a rightful send-off from the world.
Moiraine’s visitor arrives with various stones that she examines. He brings out a white stone that piques her interest and says that there was a poem written in blood on the structure before it broke off.
He offers her the poem and the stone but Moirane only takes the poem. When he mentions that he’s being followed by hooded figures, she tells him to sail far away for safety.
Nynaeve trains with Maksim and Ihvon in the art of sword fighting and they give her some helpful advice about training to be an Aes Sedai.
Egwene meets Alanna because she’s having some difficulty with her channeling. Liandrin meets Nynaeve and provokes her until she retaliates.
Perrin talks about his hatred for Padan Fain and what he might do to him when he sees him. Lan confronts Moiraine about shutting him out before storming off.
She heads out on horseback and is attacked by a few Fade. Lan arrives soon after Moiraine is hurt and does his best to hold off the rest. Mat is seen to be a captive of Liandrin within the Tower.
Rand is seen alive, living a life as a commoner in a far-off land.
Episode 2 recap: Strangers and Friends
Rand is trying to move on from Egwene and his past life but he constantly has nightmares that keep him awake. He is now living in Cairhien and works at a sanitarium taking care of old people.
Moiraine and Lan are recovering from their injuries and have to head back to the White Tower so Verin, Adeleas, and Tomas decide to accompany them.
Perrin and the Shienarians find a farm where Perrin has another vision of a family being massacred. The tracker tells him that he needs to learn how to differentiate between his visions and reality.
The others find a dead Fade nailed to the wall and wonder who could have done it. Rand takes care of an old man at the place where he works but one of the other attendants who works in the garden loves to mess around with the patients.
Liandrin continues the charm offensive on Nynaeve and shows her the positives of wielding the One Power. Liandrin returns to Mat’s cell to give him some food.
Once she is gone, he continues to dig through the brick wall behind his dresser. Egwene goes to her room to find several maids with cushions and other furniture filling up the adjacent room.
A very upbeat novice on her first day is excited to meet Egwene. She reveals herself to be the daughter heir and spends the day with Egwene.
Alanna expresses her concerns about Liandrin’s motivations but they fall on deaf ears. She is planning to go to Moiraine’s aid along with her Warders.
Nynaeve wants to see Liandrin and ends up following her through a secret passage before seeing something she wasn’t supposed to. Perrin and the Shienarians spend the night at a village by the riverside.
Rand attacks the rude attendant in an alley that night and ends up killing him by mistake after channeling the One Power. Mat is finally able to dislodge the bricks in the wall and looks into the cell beside his.
He sees Min Farshaw and the two of them dig a little more so that she can sneak into his cell and share a drink with him. She tells him about her power but he isn’t interested in finding out his fate.
Moiraine and Lan describe how they met while everyone relaxes around a fire. Egwene and the daughter heir sit and chat, and Egwene talks about her jealousy toward Nynaeve, which Nynaeve overhears.
Liandrin fetches Nynaeve so that she can face the Trial of the Arches. Rand gets the position of the attendant he killed and gets to work in the garden.
The riverside village is attacked by soldiers at night and everyone is captured. It is the foreign channelers who arrived from the West.
Episode 3 recap: What Might Be
The sisters explain to Nynaeve what the Trial of Arches constitutes. She will have to face her greatest fears and once she begins the trial, she cannot back out.
She gets through the first two trials but does not emerge from the third. Liandrin is the most disappointed as she was the one who pushed Nynaeve to tackle the arches and she hoped the novice would succeed.
All the villagers in the town along with Perrin and the Shienarians come face to face with Lady Suroth. She is announced as the queen of the Seanchan who has come back to reclaim what is rightfully hers.
Perrin is forced to bow down and pledge his loyalty like all the others. Rand meets Logaine and asks him how to control his powers. Logaine tells him that he’ll share that information only if he gets his hands on a very specific bottle of wine.
Rand goes back to the Foregate where Selene says she knows exactly where to get that wine from. Liandrin tells Mat that he can leave because she has no use for him anymore.
He escapes along with Min at night, but Min is actually working for Liandrin and has orders telling her where to take Mat. Rand and Selene attend a party of nobles where they get the wine Rand needs.
Rand leaves soon after to give the wine to Logaine, leaving Selene behind. When he sees her later on, he is scolded for doing that and sternly told not to do it again.
Ishamael meets Perrin and tells him that he’s going to keep an eye on his journey and is excited to see where it leads. Rand wakes up to find that his power is out of control and Selene’s inn is on fire.
Egwene tries to get Nynaeve out of the arches and fails. She waits in the chamber and Nynaeve eventually returns on her own before falling into Egwene’s arms.
Review
- The budget is extensive for this series and it shows in the costumes and special effects. No cost has been spared to ensure that the fantasy element is highlighted magnificently.
- There are multiple narratives to follow but it rarely feels overstuffed or too complicated. Everything seems to be weaved adequately and the story telling keeps things fresh.
- The performances aren’t the strongest, and some of the cast appear to be trying too hard. The tone calls for drama but some of the characters don’t seem to be landing on the right one.
The Wheel of Time season episode 1, 2, and 3
Director:
Thomas Napper, Sanaa Hamri
Date Created:
2023-09-01 00:00
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