Episode 5 of The Wheel of Time is out, moving the story along, introducing new characters from the books, and giving us more insights into the bonds between Aes Sedai and their Warders. Let’s dive right in! Spoilers ahead!
The Aftermath of The Battle with Logain’s Army
The show begins as we watch the Aes Sedai burying those who died during the fight with Logain’s army, Many warders and other members of the group (assuming there are others) were killed, along with one Aes Sedai sister (Kerene).
Her Warder, Stepin, is clearly shattered by her death as he brings her ring back to the White Tower. The episode focuses quite a bit on Stepin’s grief as he goes through various ceremonial tasks with returning her ring to the Tower.
But, once those tasks are complete, it’s clear that Stepin faces an uncertain future. He could bond with another Aes Sedai sister as her Warder, but his grief is too strong.
The other Warders, particularly Lan, are clearly keeping a close watch on Stepin, in hopes of helping their brother through his grief and recovery. But, Stepin drugs Lan in order to get clear of him for long enough to commit suicide.
We then watch Lan and the other Warders process their own grief at Stepin’s passing. The scenes give us (and characters like Nynaeve) more understanding of the Warders and their bonds with the Aes Sedai and each other. This wasn’t focused on as much in the books, at least not so early in the story. But, it adds to the depth of the overall story.
The Whitecloaks are Back
As our three groups of characters (Moraine, Lan & Nynave - Rand & Matt - Egwene & Perrin) have made their ways toward Tar Valon, the Whitecloaks have made multiple appearances.
They may be only unwittingly helping the Dark One, but they are also pretty clearly evil. So, when they capture Egwene and Perrin, we know things won’t go well. The only Whitecloak we get to now is Eamon Valda, their inquisitor. We already knew he was utterly ruthless in his mission, but we watch as he takes Egwene and Perrin away from the Tinkers and puts them into an unthinkable situation.
He is convinced that Egwene can channel (although he has no reason to think so) and so he says that Egwene can either channel and condemn herself to death, allowing Perrin to go free - or if she can’t channel, Perrin will be tortured to death and she can go free.
Egwene is able to just barely muster enough of the One Power to throw a tiny bit of light at Valda. But, it’s enough for him to decide to kill her after he has already been torturing Perrin horribly.
Perrin and the Wolves
What Valda misses, is the idea that Perrin might also be a danger to him. We’ve seen hints that Perrin has some strange bond with the wolves of the forest. In the books, this was already further developed, but here we’ve seen the wolves not attack Perrin and Egwene and even seem to lead them toward the Tinkers for safety. Now we see that connection come to fruition as Perrin seems to gain strength as his eyes turn yellow, like a wolf’s. He breaks free of the bonds Valda has him in, giving Egwene time to grab a knife and stab Valda so they can escape. The wolves then attack all the Whitecloaks, letting Perrin and Egwene escape.
Rand and Matt Arrive in Tar Valon
Meanwhile, Matt and Rand apparently escaped the farm where they and Thom were attached by a Fade. Thom was left fighting the Fade the last time we saw him in episode 4. This more or less follows part of the plot of the books.
Matt is becoming sicker with the darkness from Shadar Logoth and the dagger he took from the city, but Rand continues to mistake it for madness from channeling. The two find their way to Tar Valon, but hide in the city rather than going to the White Tower.
They witness the Aes Sedai parading the now-gentled Logain into the city in chains. Logain looks up at them and laughs madly. But, we’re not sure if this really happens or if it is just in Matt’s mind. In the books, it did happen, and he was looking at Rand. Matt and Rand promise each other that if either goes mad from the One Power, the other will stop him.
Rand is out investigating the city, when he meets a new character from the books, Loial the Ogier, a strange-looking creature that we will obviously learn more about in the weeks ahead. Loial later brings Nynaeve to the inn where Rand and Mat are staying.
The White Tower
We also learn a lot more about the inner workings of the Aes Sedai. While ostensibly a sisterhood, all working for a common goal, it is clear that the political machinations behind the scenes in the White Tower are constant.
Each Aja (we know of the Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow, at this point) all have their own goals and even each Aes Sedai seems to have their own plans and desires. We have yet to meet any other Blue Aja besides Moiraine, but she appears to be among the strongest Aes Sedai.
Her friend Alanna suggests that she might be strong enough to challenge the Amyrlin Seat for the rule of the Aes Sedai, but Moiraine seems to have little interest. It is clear that Moiraine bringing Nynaeve to the Tower will certainly gain her more favor, as her power will make her a target for every Aja as she enters training.
Moiraine is confronted by Liandrin about this, but she rebuffs the Red sister suggesting that if they think they can lure Nynaeve to their cause they will fail because she doesn’t share their contempt for men.
This largely brings us to the end of the episode. So, we still need Perrin and Egwene to rejoin the larger group and technically for Rand and Mat to meet Moiraine and Lan, as well.
Random Questions and Thoughts
The showrunners really want us wondering who the Dragon Reborn really is.
- Mat seems to be going mad, but anyone watching closely should know that is because of the dagger and Shadar Logoth, and he has shown no signs of using the One Power.
- Nynaeve tapped into the One Power for the first time and it certainly may have looked like a ‘radiant sun’ to Logain.
- Egwene can channel, but her power seems limited or she hasn’t figured out how to tap into it yet.
- Perrin has a magical affinity with the wolves, but is this the One Power? It isn’t anything like we saw from Logain.
- Rand hasn’t shown any outward signs of using the One Power or going mad. However, he broke through the supposedly unbreakable door in episode 4. The show just dropped that very quickly. To be honest, the show is spending less time on Rand than any of the others in many ways. When he is the focus, he tends to seem a bit childish. Not exactly the obvious choice for the ultimate protagonist of the story. Seems like a potential misdirect.
One quick thought about the Whitecloaks. If everyone knows that the Aes Sedai can’t lie, why doesn’t the inquisitor simply ask any woman he questions whether she is an Aes Sedai? They can’t say no. Minor pet peeve.
