DRAGONMOUNT

Marcus Rutherford: How are you doing?   Dragonmount (Kathy Campbell): It’s so good to see you both again, thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I’m going to start with Dónal. You were absolutely incredible in Hadestown, and thank you for signing my book back in July!   Dónal Finn: Ohh big legend! Nice! Thank you!   DM: The UK version of Hadestown is unique in its choice to allow the actors to use their native accents. In contrast to that, your Mat Cauthon Two Rivers accent is then you also have to speak that Old Tongue in that accent, so smoothly. The parts of season three that I've seen show so much more extensive use of that balance. What was the hardest part about working with an accent and a completely different language?   DF: Do you know what, I feel a little bit kind of liberated when we're working with a character that has an accent because you’re kind of thinking through an internal monologue or something, or your internal thought process, you hear it in a different way. So you kind of hear how they see the world and it’s got to be different than your own voice, so you kind of start to move degrees of separation away from yourself. So I enjoy working in accents and also it’s not really like the accent is born out of necessity, not just placement but with this, when it comes to the Old Tongue. I think what was great about that was we had our dialect coach Naomi Todd. I have a text that's in the old tongue but I worked with her on it. There was nothing left open to a decision or interpretation because it felt at that point like a science, which was amazing given that it's you know, it's this world of fantasy, and that we get to decide these things based on what's there in the books as evidence. But she knew, given the way that it was written what accent within our world it might draw from, you know given what consonants it uses at the start of something, (then) that syllable is going to be stressed, and it's a case, or it might take some kind of a Russian influence or something, or this is where the verb lands within a sentence. So in the flow of a sentence, this is where you might hit that kernel that might be where you stress if you're trying to make this point. And it’s really imaginative work, and I think that really iit was a great exercise and great a great joy as an actor to kind of get stuck into that and to embody it.   DM: Yeah. . . Alright Marcus. A lot of book readers are very excited about what's to come in this season, especially with some new cast members including Perrin’s Falcon. She is a very divisive character in the books especially for her treatment of Perrin at times. How have you found that to play out on screen?    MF: It's been amazing man. I knew everyone was kind of anticipating Faile as a character that, even as Perrin, I was kind of so excited. To me, I felt like he'd met all these characters along his journey and I felt like they'd all kind of given him something to reflect about himself, whether it be the Tuatha'an, or Elyas, or the Shienarans, or Aviendha But it kind of felt like there was someone who almost going to slap him into shape a little bit and tell him what's right. And yeah, Isabella (Bucceri) is incredible. She's amazing. She brings a new energy to the show which I think is really tricky to do at this stage.  I heard some people have thoughts about Faile, and (Isabella) was like, “oh they might not like me,” all this kind of stuff. But she's incredible. She makes her so strong and so fierce, but so affable at the same time. I think people are going to be really really excited about that. There's, you know, this kind of big gentle giant and this little pocket rocket energy that kind of works. When we were doing chemistry test for that character, she just came in and everyone was just like “yeah this just works.” And she’s amazing, I think all those moments from the books and the little things she has with the beard. I dunno there’s so much there that is so sweet and so much fun to play with that’s in The Shadow Rising and the other books that hopefully all the book fans relate to.   DM: Oh I’m so very excited. Thank you again so much for this time and I hope you have a great rest of your day.  

Dragonmount: Hi Rafe! First off, thank you so much for how kind you were to Humberto at CCXP when they talked to you!   Rafe: Oh it was so sweet! We loved spending time with him!   DM: Thank you! We appreciate it so very much.   R: He was so sweet and so excited.   DM: He was so excited. Book readers will recognize from the press release that the two Wise Ones that were just announced (Bair and Melaine) seemed to have swapped abilities to channel versus just dreamwalking. We even got confirmation just to clarify to make sure that it was correct. What would you like to tell the fandom to help them understand the changes that have been made. Other than just Watch and Find Out.   R: Yeah, for that one it’s pretty simple, which is that we wanted, we needed, to condense Bair and Amys into one character essentially. So she is really Amys and Bair combined. So it felt important for Amys side of the character that she be able to channel, and I think that relationship with Egwene. But we loved the idea that one of the Wise Ones who was really proficient in dreamwalking couldn’t channel, so that became Melaine’s character trait. So it’s not really. . . It’s a technical change from the books, but it’s more about keeping the Amys character alive in Bair, and keeping alive this idea that one of them can’t channel because I really like that.   DM: Yes, well we like that too. We appreciate that, thank you for the clarification so no one will yell as much. Hopefully. Were there specific moments in the books that you felt were essential to highlight in Rosamund (Pike) and Sophie’s (Okonedo) portrayal of Moiraine and Siuan?   R: Oh that’s interesting! I think one of the most important scenes that we sort of focused on, especially in the first season, was this scene that they have at the top of the second book (The Great Hunt) where you kind of peel back the curtain suddenly and see, oh these two are working in cahoots with each other, and realize that this Amyrlin Seat that we’ve see as so high up above everything has actually has some relationship with Moiraine that we don’t fully understand. And then I think outside of that, a lot of what we took was from actually their relationship in New Spring which has so much of the richness between them, and their care for each other, and their love for each other. That was really the key places we were pulling from for their relationship and so operating under the idea that maybe their relationship is that close in the books but we don’t hear about it as fully.   DM: Yeah, absolutely. What is a question that you’ve been hoping somebody would ask because you have a perfect answer that you know people really want to know?   R: Oh that’s really interesting. There’s actually, people have been good today about asking so many questions. I wish that someone had asked exactly which Forsaken we’re going to be put on screen and when, because then I would tell them. . . But no one asked. . .   DM: Oh and now I’m out of questions! Dangit Rafe!    Both laugh   DM: I should've started with that! Well thank you so much for your time and I hope you have a great rest of your day.   R: Oh thank you you too it’s so good to see you as always!  

Rafe, Josha, and Madeleine: Happy birthday! Happy birthday Dragonmount! Happy birthday, woop!   Dragonmount (Humberto): Hello guys my name is Humberto and as I said I work for Dragonmount which is the oldest Wheel of Time website   Madeleine: Yeah!   Josha: Oh that's sick!   Rafe: It's OG Wheel of Time!   Josha: I love that    DM: Last time we spoke with you, Rafe, you said that the Wheel of Time fandom is statistically the greatest fandom ever. How do you feel? Does it still hold up or do we need some spanking?   R: Statistics are statistics! They don't change.   M: Statistics don’t lie!   R: It's still the greatest fandom statistically. But I think it's, you know, what they found when they were looking at the statistics was that the response to our show is more positive. I know sometimes it doesn't feel like it in the echo chamber of the internet but like actually the response amongst fans is more positive than almost any other adaptations that are out there and that the fans are more welcoming to people outside of the fandom than any other fandoms and so I think that that's always been a nice thing about Wheel of Time. You guys created that with Dragonmount way before the show ever existed, that this was a fandom who wanted to have people come into it instead of wanting to have people stay out of it, and I think that that’s true for the show too now.   J: And that’s also nice that we're here. We have you in the room because—we just spoke about it—but over the last years everything has been on Zoom, or we weren't able to do any kind of press This is actually the first time after four or five years that we can engage. That's lovely.   R: Yeah, that’s nice, that's nice!   DM: Last time, you said that your favorite dinosaur was the pachycephalosaurus?   R: (laughs) That's what I said, apparently!   All laugh   DM: So now I feel obligated to ask the cast of The Wheel of Time: what's your favorite dinosaur?   J: I mean, T-Rex!   R: That’s what the Dragon Reborn would say!   M: Destruction! There was this one… I worked on a show called The Ark and it was all dinos, dinos, dinos. And there was one, I can't remember the name, but it’s got these spikes on their backs and they can regulate their temperatures through their little spikes and I thought that was really cute. So I love them. The spiky one!   DM: And speaking about dinosaurs and creatures and monsters, one of my favorite things about the Wheel of Time is the shadowspawn like the Trollocs and stuff like that. And in the show we've seen the Trollocs, the Fades but there's still one creature that I really like that we haven't seen it yet. And I think in the Shadow Rising there's a scene with Rand and the Draghkar. . . Can we expect to see other creatures in season three or later in the show?   R: I will say that, every season… well, not the first, but in both season two and season three the Draghkar has been scripted as happening in the show, and then eventually gets removed when we talk to the VFX department and they’re like Rafe, Rafe Rafe, we can’t do this for one scene.   DM: So, not yet. . .   R: We would like to get it in there! And the Draghkar has a real, I don't know if I should say this, but in the writer's room we always joke about the Draghkar being like a car full of drag queens, so when the Draghkar arrives it's just like beep beep motherfuckers!   M: Get in, bitches!   J: But there will be other creatures, right?   R: Yeah! We have a new shadowspawn this season. . .   DM: Nice! So I had lots of questions prepared for you guys, and then I saw the trailer and I had to scrap everything to just talk about what I saw! There's Rhuidean, and there's the Car’a’carn and the Aiel Waste and so many cool things for the book fans. And I would like to ask which scene was the easiest to adapt from the book and not have to say: ‘oh we have to change this and we have to change that.’ Just look at the book and say: ‘ah we can pretty much do this as it is.’   R: I think one scene that was really easy to do this season—and I've been really excited to get to it for a while because I think it's such a beautiful scene—is a scene with Matt and Siuan Sanche and, you know, we don't often get to because we're compressing so much from the books and we have to change little things along the way so we don't often get to have exactly the group of characters, and exactly the place that they were in the books, saying exactly the words that they said in the books. We don't get all three of those things very often and that scene is pretty much exactly the characters, exactly where they were, and saying very close to exactly the words. So it was easy to write that because you just type it up!   M: Copy and paste!   DM: And I want to talk about Egwene a little bit. On the previous seasons Egwene was this character that had a lot of the world building and the concepts about the show and the book being shown through her eyes like the Seanchan and the damane and I believe in the next season we have the World of Dreams and Tel’aran’rhiod. I don’t know if you can talk about it, but how is it to play this character that so much of the world building and core concepts that have to be shown to the audience goes through your eyes?   M: Oh, It's amazing because I get the privilege of you know exploring these different worlds through her eyes and you know we've traveled to some amazing locations like on this show and you know I wouldn't be able to do that if I wasn't playing her. And exploring the different cultures and meeting the people that exist in those worlds has been really wonderful to learn more about the world and her, and who she is, and what her abilities are. You know, I think even with season two in the damane cells you know you're never actually like in there with her? She's telling Min what has happened when that's happening. . .   R: . . .In the books, yeah. . .   M: . . .and so to be able to have a whole episode just to like deep dive into it has been fantastic and it's the same sort of thing with the dream walking (in season three).   DM: That’s perfect. And I think, I don’t know, this is my first time doing this! But it’s just that one minute left. . .   R: Oh no that’s ok! One minute left!   M: Yeah, yeah!   DM: (to Josha) I know this is not your first time in Brazil.   J: It’s not, no   DM: And what about you guys?   M and R: First time!   DM: Please come film here!   All laugh   M: We’re so down!   R: We would love to! You call us and let us know about a government rebate and we’re here!   All laugh   DM: It was great talking to you!

This is one of those books where I feel my lacklustre words are not even worthy of talking about it. It tells the story of two close sisters, Ysabel and Esther, who live in a small human town on the very edge of the faerie world. Esther has fallen in love with Rin, a being who takes on a different form every time we meet them. The sisters like to sing together, and it’s Esther’s songs that have captivated Rin. However, the farmer who lives next door has other opinions on who she should marry.   There is a fascinating description of magic here, visualised as untamed grammar that flows in the river between the two worlds, that people in the town carefully harvest and pass down to those who wield it:   “That is the nature of grammar—it is always tense, like an instrument, aching for release, longing to transform present into past into future, is into was into will.”   I feel it is best not to talk too much about the plot, but it does touch on misogyny and murder, so keep that in mind. The main tale is not very long at all and is ideally read in a single sitting. There is an additional short story “John Hollowback and the Witch” included too, which is an inventive fairy tale and also well worth your time.   Amal’s clever and imaginative writing style really feels like nothing I’ve encountered before, and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future. Recommended!   Thanks to Tor for the early review copy.   Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store!  

I very much enjoyed the two previous books in this cozy sapphic fantasy series by Rebecca Thorne, “Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea”, and “A Pirate’s Life for Tea”. Reyna is a former guard to the ruthless Queen Tilaine, and Kianthe is the all-powerful Mage of Ages. They have settled down together in the town of Tawney, where they run a small, unassuming tea shop away from the pressures of the world.   Of course, life is never that simple, and over the years they have searched for missing dragon eggs, raised a baby griffin, sailed with pirates, and generally tackled injustice wherever they found it. Perhaps most importantly, they have encouraged all the people around them to become the best versions of themselves. Now they have a whole supportive community, which is very useful when you have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it.   In this, the third book of four, they are trying to entrap and overthrow the aforementioned Queen, using their own very real wedding as bait. Not to mention working out who is going to rule in her absence. But did I mention a wedding? That alone seems like a pretty stressful thing to plan and pull off! Trying to do both at the same time results in the sort of shenanigans you might imagine.   Most of the characters from the other books are here, as well as some new ones including Tessalyn the long lost heir to the throne, her expertly-named protector James, and Kianthe’s rather disapproving parents.   This series began as a reaction to the popularity of “Legends & Lattes” by Travis Baldree, but it has continued to grow away from that initial inspiration and certainly has found its own voice. The warm and loving tone was exactly what I needed, as well as the positive vibes and mutual understanding of the two main protagonists. This is my favourite book of the series so far, and I’m told by the author that the fourth and final book is even better, so I have a lot to look forward to. An extended excerpt of that one is included as a bonus chapter at the end.   Go read the whole series! Thanks to Tor for the early review copy.   Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store!  

The seals on the press junket embargo have finally been broken, and WoT fans will have been flooded with new interviews that occurred on a recent press tour for Season 3 of The Wheel of Time.   Dragonmount was lucky enough to secure three interviews.   The first, recorded way back during The Comic-Con Expo in Brazil (CCXP), was conducted in person by our own Humberto Tramujas, who attended the convention representing Dragonmount. He was lucky enough to interview Showrunner Rafe Judkins, Madeleine Madden (Egwene al'Vere) and Josha Stradowski (Rand al'Thor).   In this interview, we were able to learn a bit more about their favorite dinosaurs, as well as a hint towards a new Shadow Spawn in season 3 (and one tragic Shadow Spawn that keeps getting left on the cutting room floor). And good news: still statistically the best!   You can watch this CCXP interview in full here!       The second interview was with Marcus Rutherford (Perrin Aybara) and Donal Finn (Mat Cauthon), as part of the official press junket, and was conducted by our fearless leader Kathy Campbell!   In this interview, Donal reflects on accent work when learning to speak the Old Tongue, while Marcus reflects on Perrin finally meeting his falcon in Season 3 and the "Gentle Giant + Pocket Rocket" dynamic the two bring together.   You can watch this interview with Marcus & Donal here!   Our final interview was part of the same press junket, and Kathy was able to once more interview Rafe Judkins!   In this interview, Rafe reflects on some of the changes made to the abilities of the Aiel Wise Ones, and talks about the essential book scenes needed to successfully bring the relationship between Siuan Sanche and Moiraine Damodred to the screen.   Watch the solo interview with Rafe here!     What did you like hearing the most about from these? Let us know!

Today, in spectacular Wot Wednesday fashion, Prime Video released the FULL trailer for Season 3 of The Wheel of Time, with only one month remaining until the premiere on March 13th, 2025.    If you’ve somehow ended up here without seeing the trailer yet, or you just want to give it another view, please indulge yourself now before continuing the article. Watch the Trailer here!   Alright, you back now? One more rewatch? OK let’s get back to it.       If you’ve avoided any Season 3 knowledge up to this point, then you may be surprised to learn  that storylines of Season 3 are primarily based on The Shadow Rising (Book 4), potentially with a sprinkle of some Fires of Heaven (Book 5) as a treat.  A common fan favorite among book readers, The Shadow Rising is often referred to as the book where “The Wheel of Time” becomes “The Wheel of Time”, with definitive scenes and chapters that truly set this series apart from other sci-fi/fantasy series.    This trailer is full of glimpses of such scenes, bringing viewers to new locations such as the dangerous port-city of Tanchico, the throne room of Camelyn, the vast deserts of The Aiel Waste, and the forbidden city of Rhuidean within it. Meanwhile, in more familiar locations, tensions between the Aes Sedai reach a breaking point in The White Tower, as the armies of The Dark One gain more power and begin to move more openly in places like The Two Rivers.    All of this, and likely so much more to come, when Season 3 of The Wheel of Time premieres on March 13th 2025. Much like the prior seasons, the first 3 episodes of the season will be included in the premiere, with weekly releases until the season finale on April 17th, 2025.   But wait, there’s more! On a livestream yesterday, Matt Hatch, The Innkeeper of The Dusty Wheel, announced that he would be hosting an exclusive fan-screening event for Episode 1 of Season 3! This event will take place in London, on February 22nd, 3pm GMT, and will feature special guests Rosamund Pike & Showrunner Rafe Judkins, including a Q&A lead by the innkeeper himself.      Interested? RSVP Here! First Come, First Serve!       Still here and looking for a breakdown of every second of the trailer?  In that case, you might be interested in one of the many trailer breakdown livestreams within the fandom! Join the conversation, and embrace your inner HCFF!   Dragonmount Livestream Threefold Talk Livestream The Dusty Wheel Trailer Gai'don

If the thought of a sapphic romance with a giant spider woman—in a creepy gothic mansion filled with tarantulas no less—doesn’t make you want to burn down said mansion and move to another country, then sit down on a tuffet, and let me tell you more about this novella by Argentine-Brazilian writer Hache Pueyo, who also translated it to English.   It tells the story of Dália who is one of the servants looking after Miss Anatema, the mistress of The Capricious House. She is not exactly what you would call a great boss, given that Dália gets promoted at the start of the book because Anatema eats her predecessor. Dália is given the job of solving a mysterious theft, and there’s a high chance of getting eaten herself if she fails to do so, or is too bold with her employer.   Anatema is only vaguely anthropomorphic in that her human face is surface level camouflage over so many teeth, and she generally has a greater number of limbs than is strictly necessary. Still, Dália is not as traumatised by all this as many would be, and what starts off as more of a predator and prey situation turns into something more caring.   Things move very quickly in the relatively small number of pages of the book, and I would have preferred more length to really sell Dália falling for Anatema. There’s a distinct power imbalance as well which is not remarked upon either. Regardless, I enjoyed the characters and setting a lot, and the writing is delightful even when people are munching away on fried spider legs, or corralling rogue tarantulas like escaped kittens.   Eight legs out of ten! Thanks to Tor for the early review copy.   Don't forget, you can pick this up in our ebook store!

If you’re currently sitting in a cold, dark basement like I am, then another WoT Wednesday to keep you warm and cozy is just what the Wisdom ordered! Today, Prime Video unveiled the very first “First Look” images for Season 3 of The Wheel of Time, with 10 incredible stills to keep the TheoryCrew busy (at least until next week’s drop…) as we all pass the time until the new season premieres on March 13th 2025.   Posted below the 10 images here, I will lightly speculate on the potential context of each image, so please avoid that section if you are so inclined. I will restrict any book spoilers to through the end of The Shadow Rising + New Spring, but no further.                                Aiel Overlook Features: Bair, Melindhra, Lan, Rhuarc, (two unknown Aiel behind Rhuarc), Rand, Moiraine, Egwene (behind Moiraine), Melaine. Overlooking Rhuidean, alternate angle to the opening teaser shot.   Morgase + Elaida Features: Morgase in full queen regalia, and Elaida at her side in red. They stroll side by side in the halls of The White Tower with people watching along from the sides.   Wonder Girls (Egwene testing?) Features: Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve on horseback. Elayne is in noble green clothing, has a green ajah aes sedai ring. Egwene is in gold regal armor with the flame of tar valon on the chest, with an aes sedai ring that might be gold or yellow. Nynaeve is in yellow accented armor and a yellow dress, ring not visible. Possibly a scene from Egwene’s accepted test where she is the Amyrlin Seat, Elayne is Green Ajah, and Nynaeve is Yellow Ajah.    Rand & Lan Features: Rand and Lan back to back, mirroring each other practicing sword forms likely in the Aiel Waste   Siuan blast Features: Siuan Sanche, in her full Amyrlin Regalia, seemingly shouting in anger, her face contorted in rage, as she channels threads of fire and air around herself and around her outstretched arm towards some unknown entity.    Lanfear smirk Features: Lanfear, notably with shorter hair, glancing back over her shoulder as she rounds a corner and enters house, possibly on the streets of Tar Valon.    Moiraine Orb Features: Moiraine with weaves of the one power coalescing around her as she holds a glowing palm sized orb in her outstretched hand.   A seer, a wisdom, and a gambler walk into a bar Features: possibly a bar in Tanchico, an unknown man in a black and brimmed hat holds onto a cloth in front of Mat Cauthon, Nynaeve al’Meara, and Min Farshaw who all stare seemingly at him or his hat in shock. Mat is in an unbuttoned shirt with a loose robe over top of it, Nynaeve in a shoulderless dress, and Min with her hands in the pockets of her loose black pants and a belt that seemingly has a dagger tucked into a sheath on the front where the buckle would be.    Avilayne Features: Elayne Trakand and Aviendha, sit together looking into each other’s eyes as they each hold up the glass they are drinking from. They share a small smile as they stare fondly at each other.    The Boys Features: Rand al’Thor, Perrin Aybara, and Mat Cauthon all stand near a bar, Rand leaning against a stone column and holding a mug while smiling towards Mat. Perrin is beside Rand looking stoicly at Mat, holding two mugs, one for himself and one for Mat presumably, notably with his eyes still golden. Mat is just nearly out of frame, is somewhat out of focus, but appears to also be smiling or laughing with Rand.      Season 3 airs on March 13 2025 only on Prime Video