The Wheel of Time season 1 wrapped up on December 24 and we’re here with our recap of the season finale. We’ll also be writing a full season 1 review in the days ahead where we will cover the entire season and delve into the comparisons to the book series. For now, let’s dig into an action-packed finale! Spoilers Ahead!
A Look at The Past
The episode kicks off with a flashback, but unlike last week’s look back to Rand’s birth, we go much further back in time. We get our first look at the previous Dragon (although also called the Dragon Reborn), Lews Therin Telamon. He is discussing his plans to strike against the Dark One and imprison him forever with a woman from the Aes Sedai.
We officially learn that in this distant past, the Aes Sedai were made up of both men and women, each controlling their half of the one power. The Aes Sedai (Latra Posae) warns Lew Therin Telamon that his plan is incredibly dangerous and that he can’t let the Dark One touch the male half of the one power or he will corrupt it. She says that the women of the Aes Sedai will not support his plan. We know how this all works out.
We also get a look at an ancient world with advanced technology, as we see flying vehicles throughout a large city with tall buildings. Whether they run on magic or actual technology is unknown, but they convey how advanced the world once was before the world is broken during the battle between Lew Therin Telamon and the Dark One.
The Blight
We now catch up with Rand (revealed as the Dragon Reborn in the previous episode) and Moiraine as they travel through the Blight to reach the Eye of the World. As they move through the lands taken over by weird vegetation, they run across the body of one young soldier who tried to prove himself by traveling through the Blight. Later, they see the ruins of Malkier, Lan’s hereditary kingdon.
As they rest at one point, Rand falls asleep and meets the Dark One (aka Ba’alzamon) in a dream, where the evil one kills Moiraine and reveals his human face to Rand. upon awakening, Moiraine tells Rand her plan, which hinges on him being able to use a magical item called a sa’angreal, that will allow him to amplify his channeling abilities, hopefully, to become a match for the Dark One.
The Trolloc Attack
Meanwhile, in Fal Dara, a huge army of Trollocs is spotted coming out of the Blight. It’s larger than any army seen in generations and Agelmar (Fal Dara’s leader) recognizes it is hopeless, but he takes his army toward Tarwin’s Gap (a fortress wall keeping the Trollocs out of the lands of man.
He leaves his sister, Lady Amalisa to defend the city and send a warning to the rest of the lands that the Trollocs are coming. Amalisa was trained at the White Tower but wasn’t a strong enough channeler to become a full Aes Sedai. Still, she gathers any women who can channel to help her stand against the army of Trollocs. Egwene and Nynaeve join her (Nynaeve somewhat reluctantly).
The Trollocs break through Agelmar’s army with relative ease and descend upon Fal Dara. Amalisa has the 5 women channelers join their power with hers and she used their combined power to decimate the army. She is astounded by how much power she is absorbing from Nynave and Egwene and the strength of it begins to consume the women.
First, the two other channelers are burned from within and then eventually Amalisa, who can’t let go of the power. We also see Nynaeve being consumed by the power, saving Egwene. But, it appears that Egwene heals Nynaeve before she is utterly consumed.
At the same time, several of Agelmar’s men are retrieving a chest from under the throne, that holds an object called the Horn of Valere, which is destined to be used by the Dragon Reborn to call forth an army of heroes to fight the Dark One. They are attacked by Padan Fain (remember him from episode 1? He seemed sketchy, right?) and several Faids who then take the horn. Perrin confronts them, but is ultimately unable to actually attack them. Loial is also killed during the attack.
The “Final” Battle
Moiraine and Rand eventually descend into an odd circular ruin, discovering a huge Aes Sedai symbol carved into the floor (basically it’s a yin/yang symbol without the dots). Ba’alzamon appears and confronts Rand again. This time, he sends Rand a vision of an idyllic life where he marries Egwene and they have a child together on a farm in Emond’s Field, where they grew up.
Rand recognizes it can’t be real, but Ba’alzamon says he can make it real, if only Rand will accept it. Rand eventually refuses, saying that he knows this isn’t what Egwene would want. It’s a solid heroic moment for Rand, as he puts someone else’s wishes above his own happiness. He then attacks Ba’alzamon using the One Power, amplified by the magical talisman and he defeats the evil one.
He then tells Moiraine that he needs to leave everyone behind since he can already feel the madness from touching the One Power. She lets him leave, perhaps because she has lost her powers, which she reveals to Lan when he finds her sitting on top of the now broken Aes Sedai symbol on the floor of the Eye of the World. She explains that the Dark One has stilled her, much like the Red Ajah do to any man who can channel.
About that Final Scene
As the episode wraps up, we see Rand heading off into the wilderness alone, Perrin standing over the dead bodies of Loial and the warriors after Fain and the Fades have left, Egwene holding Nynaeve as she is healed, and Mat looking very dark and perhaps evil walking through the city around the White Tower.
Lastly, we are taken to the “far western shore” where an armada of warships is approaching the land. They have women who can channel, apparently held prisoner and controlled by others who use them to create a huge tidal wave and send it speeding toward the shore. Fade to black.
What We Know and What We Think
The season ends, but we know there is a season 2 already in the works and the series of novels includes 14 books, of which season 1 only covered the first.
We know that Ba’alzamon wasn’t actually killed by Rand. In the books, the Dark One is not killed at the Eye of the World, only defeated in that one instance. The repercussion is that one of the seals on his prison is broken (the Aes Sedai symbol in the floor). Since there is a second season, we’ll assume the series is following the books in this instance.
About those ships… From the books, we know these are the Sanchan, a race from across the sea that has come to conquer all of the known lands. They capture and control all women who can channel and use them as weapons. This was a major plot from the second book in the novel series, so expect it to be a key to season 2.
The series has now veered from the books in some major ways after the finale. In the books, Moiraine did not lose her powers facing off against the Dark One. Rand also did not go off alone, although he talked about it a great deal. Loial was not killed and goes on to play a key role in future books.
Padain Fain did show up in Fal Dara, chasing after Mat and the dagger, and then escaped, stealing the Horn of Valere. Mat was with the group in Fal Dara and was not seeming to become evil. Nynaeve never came close to dying in a battle with Trollocs, only to be healed by Egwene. Perrin has no problem picking up an ax and fighting because the entire storyline of him killing his wife accidentally never happened in the books.
There you have it. Come back for our full series review soon!
