DRAGONMOUNT

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.   As discussed previously, it’s been known for some time that the role of Mat Cauthon had been recast for the Wheel of Time TV show. Actor Barney Harris played the role in six episodes of the first season before departing, and actor Dónal Finn has been hired to replace him for the second season.   The reasons for Barney’s departure have not been given, and given that NDAs and legal agreements are presumably in place, are not likely to be revealed in the near future. As such, we should note in discussing this topic that no negative connotations to the situation should be implied. What is interesting is how the show had to adapt on the fly to the news.   To recap, the first season of The Wheel of Time started shooting on 19 November 2019. On 15 March 2020, production of the first season was halted during the initial stages of the COVID19 pandemic. Fortuitously, 15 March was the Sunday at the end of the third block of shooting, with filming concluded for the bulk of Episodes 1-6. The only material missing from these episodes was pickup shots in Spain, for the scenes of Logain in Ghealdan at the start of Episode 4. This allowed the post-production team to put together edits of the first six episodes and for the vfx team to get to work on them.   Filming resumed on the final block of shooting, comprising Episodes 7 and 8, in early September 2020. Most of the material for those two episodes was shot before filming was suspended a second time in early November 2020, due to a huge outbreak of coronavirus in the Czech Republic. The pickup shots in Spain were able to go ahead, as Spain was handling the pandemic better at that point in time. Shooting for the outstanding material resumed in April 2021 and wrapped on or around Friday 14 May 2021. Filming on Season 2 began two months later, on 19 July. Amazon confirmed the recasting of Mat on 21 September.   Based on what happened in Episode 6, The Flame of Tar Valon, it now appears that Barney Harris did not return to the role of Mat Cauthon after the initial COVID outbreak and resulting shutdown in March-September 2020. This left the production in a somewhat awkward place, as they did not want to necessarily recast Mat immediately (going from one actor playing Mat in Episodes 1-6 and a different one in Episodes 7-8 would be jarring, at best) but they had to find a way of removing Mat from the narrative in a way that made sense and did not involve any new filming with Harris, who presumably was not available at all.   I strongly suspect that in the initial shoot, Mat entered the Ways with the rest of the characters and the episode ended perhaps on a foreboding note with the Waygate closing behind them. This left the writers with a difficult job of trying to explain Mat’s absence. Opening Episode 7, The Dark Along the Ways, ten minutes later with the characters saying, “I can’t believe we somehow lost Mat. Weird, huh? Anyway, let’s move on,” was clearly unappealing, and the cost of producing a CG replica of Barney Harris to walk along with the team before being written out was likely regarded as massively cost-prohibitive, not to mention weird.   The best option, or at least the best of a poor choice of options, was to remove Mat using the footage they already had in the can, and the fact that although they could not shoot new Mat material, they could shoot new reaction shots from the other actors.   Amazon, it turns out, had form for this kind of on-the-fly adaptation. Cas Anvar played the character of Alex Kamal on the first five seasons of The Expanse, but after work on Season 5 was completed but before it aired, allegations of improper conduct surfaced against Anvar (we note, again, that no information has been given about why Harris was replaced and it should not be suggested this was down to any kind of improper behaviour to our knowledge). Anvar was removed from the cast and the production team were left with how to handle this in the edit. The solution they chose was that ace pilot Alex should die from a brain haemorrhage brought about by high-gravity spacecraft manoeuvres, an ongoing and frequently-mentioned risk in the setting. Fortunately, this was even discussed in material filmed for the Season 5 finale, which they could re-emphasise in the edit. They had Alex die off-camera between shots, and then froze a shot of Alex in the cockpit, making it look like he’d expired, and added some CG blood floating in the air to sell the illusion.   Also fortunately, the team were shooting the start of Season 6 a week before Season 5 aired. This allowed them to re-shoot material from the end of the Season 5 finale to reflect on the character’s death. The only major technical obstacle was that Alex was present at a reception scene following his character’s newly-created death, which required the CG team to paint him out of every shot after the editors re-edited the sequence to use angles and shots avoiding his presence wherever possible. Although slightly awkward, the edit was broadly successful.   For The Wheel of Time, a similar process seems to have been followed. The original material for the episode included lines of Mat being reluctant to enter the Ways, presumably just as character banter before being encouraged to join the rest of the team. By focusing on this line more than was originally intended, the editors could make it appear that this was Mat genuinely feeling unable to carry on with the mission. The shots of the other characters entering the Ways and then reacting to Mat staying behind were likely re-filmed when shooting on Episode 7 resumed, and dropped into the end of Episode 6. Different shots of Mat outside the Ways were then used and dropped into the back of the shot to show him staying back as everyone else entered the Waygate.   It is, unavoidably, an awkward change to Mat’s story, although it is helped by the fact that Mat is not thinking clearly due to his association with the cursed dagger from Shadar Logoth. How well the recasting is handled will depend on the other characters' reactions to Mat’s departure in the next two episodes, and how his return in early Season 2 is handled. It is a good reminder that shooting a TV show is an uncertain business, and creatively responding to unforeseen events is a key part of the job of the production team.   EDIT: I've seen unpleasant rumours spreading that Barney Harris did not return to the project due to allegedly not being in favour of COVID vaccinations, which were required for filming to resume. This story is false and malicious. Production on The Wheel of Time resumed in September 2020, three months before the first COVID vaccines were available in the UK and EU and more like seven or eight months before they were readily available to people in their 20s. To our knowledge, Harris did not return to the shoot in September 2020 when the vaccines were still unavailable and nobody was vaccinated. Whatever his reason for not returning, it was completely unrelated to vaccinations.   As usual, please continue to follow developments on our casting and news pages and the forum and stay tuned for more info as we get it.

I know many avid book readers do not share my opinion, but nothing has thrilled me more about this adaptation of The Wheel of Time by Amazon Prime Video than the changes. It is a chance for me to experience a thrill again related to the world Robert Jordan created. When he died, and then again when the series was finished, I curled myself up with Crossroads of Twilight, my favorite of the series (don’t at me), and cried. I cried because there would never be new words to sweep me away into the world I had grown to love. Now, thanks to Rafe Judkins and his entire time I am being allowed to fall back into the world over again. Even if every change is not one that I would choose, I am fully enchanted by this turning of the Wheel.     Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okonedo), the Watcher of the Seals, the Flame of Tar Valon, the Amyrlin Seat, daughter of the river, clever as a pike, and strong as the tides, shows us her tenacity and fortitude in Episode 6. We are introduced to her humble beginnings, which makes the power she grows to possess so delightfully shocking. After being shown her life as the fish mongers’ daughter, them living alone on the banks of the river, that they fish every day. All within site of the Stone of Tear.  I feel as if I have more insight into her needs for a companion, a confidant, and lover. Her life appeared to have always been more solitary, a great preparation for a position of power that leaves you completely alone and from a young age she had to keep the secret of her ability to channel. Yet another great preparation for the life she would live training to be an Aes Sedai, in a place where it is well known each woman who calls herself Aes Sedai has her own ideals and goals. Lastly, the loss she suffered at having to leave her father and her only home, created within her a space for Moiraine. Greif and loss tend to make people love more fiercely and tie the bonds you have found in your life even tighter.    Siuan and Moiraine grew up together, ensconced in the Tower politics, as Novices and Accepted. Readers of the novels will know that Siuan and Moiraine’s romantic relationship is more than implied. I believe what we are seeing is two woman who were brought together by an innate shared ability, bound together by their quest to find and guide the Dragon Reborn and sewn together as lovers by the very human need to find someone to share your life. Who better for an Aes Sedai than someone of nearly equal power with whom who share a secret that could destroy the entire world? I am interested to see the ripple effect that their relationship has on the rest of the series.    One of the major changes of these series that has absolutely delighted me is the expansion of Logain’s (Alvaro Morte) storyline and the changes to Liandrin Sedai (Kate Fleetwood). I need more of Liandrin’s pursed lips and haughty stare in my life. I love to loathe her every time she is on screen. Kate Fleetwood and Abdul Salis who played Eamon Valda are tied in my mind for favorite “bad guy” so far in the series. Kate may not look like I had imagined Liandrin in my mind, but she nails her demeanor and adds a depth to the character that was somewhat lacking in the books. I am here for ALL of her evil moments. Based on off handed comments it is clear that Liandrin and Moiraine have a history together. I hope as the see their past continue to unfold. My mind is wondering about jilted lovers? Though Moiraine mentions a man that Liandrin is seeing, so my feelings could be off.    I enjoyed a deeper look inside the politics of the Tower. They used the Sitter Maigan to explain what it meant for a Green and Blue Ajah to speak up in favor of a Red in the Hall of the Tower. Outlining the divides that exist within the White Tower among the women who call themselves sisters. Tar Valon was looked on as a place of safety for the folks from the Two Rivers, but this episode makes it abundantly clear that they are not much safer. The danger has only shifted from Trollocs to women that channel who would use them for their own gain, or harm them for simply being who they were born to be.    Which brings me to an interesting revelation. The possibility of a many headed Dragon. The idea that not just one man or one woman was born to save or destroy the world. As we learn from Siuan and Moiraine’s post coital discussion, “The Dragon will defeat the Dark One or join him.” The fear at the Dragon’s power suddenly hit home when you realize that he, she or possibly they chance joining the wrong side of history. I think it makes the importance of Moiraine’s mission more apparent. We still have not heard the full prophecies of the Dragon, but we know that the Dragon must defeat the Dark One at the Last Battle to save the world.    This episode brings to us the reunion of the Two Rivers folk, who have been separated since they fled Shadar Logoth. The joy of their reunion is short lived as they are faced with a trip through the Ways to reach the Eye of the World. Their mission once they arrive is vague at best and none of their lives are guaranteed. Siuan and Moiraine seem to believe that the Dragon’s presence at the Eye of the World could circumvent the last battle and prevent the Dark One’s escape. The notion seems slightly foolish for two women who have read and studied the prophies and have been engaged in a singular hunt for the Dragon for two decades. With Moiraine certain that one of the youths she brought from the Two Rivers is the one they have sought, it feels as if they are giving in to fear and the unknown. They risk being stilled, cut off from the One Power, and perhaps death.    Watching the series with people who do not know the Wheel of Time, I feel as if this episode is somewhat dialogue heavy and yet fails to give full explanation of what the travelers will face and their purpose. The Ways are a place outside of time and space. They can allow people to travel quickly between one waygate and another in a much shorter amount of time if they know the correct path. It is for this reason that Moiraine needs Loial. The Ogier can read the guideposts in the Ways. In spite of the highly amusing conversation that Egwene and Nynaeve have with Siuan, the Two Rivers five are once again swept off on a journey of unknown outcome with nothing more than a few words to convince them. They travel on the faith of the words of Aes Sedai, for whom the truth you hear is not always the truth they mean. We are led to believe that the prophesies surrounding the Last Battle are so widely known that even their mere mention is enough to sway the lives of Rand, Mat, Perrin, Nynaeve and Egwene. Though as the closing moments of this episode reveal, Mat’s mind was not so easily swayed. It was an interesting way to handle Barney Harris’ departure from the series; a fact that was widely known before the first season aired.    With only two more episodes remaining this season, The Flame of Tar Valon, serves to propel our cast of characters forward into the unknown and a presumed confrontation with who or what waits for them at the Eye of the World. I can only assume we are being set up for a reveal of the Dragon Reborn and a cliffhanger that is meant to draw us forward into season two. There are still a few questions that I hope are answered this season. What is Liandrin’s true purpose? Is Thom Merrilin dead? And what does it mean that Moiraine swore fealty to Siuan on the Oath Rod? With all the changes to the story thus far, I have a feeling that the answers to some of my questions may surprise me. In fact, I hope that they do. For someone who cried as the book series drew to an end, I am enjoying every minute of this retelling.      What was your favorite moment of Episode 6? Let us know in the comments below.

Amazon Prime Video's The Wheel of Time announced five new actors joining the cast for season 2. We have new faces for characters from the borderland country of Shienar. These characters appear at the end of The Eye of The World and in The Great Hunt. We most likely will see them at the end of season one  and for sure in season two.   Thomas Chaanhing is Lord Agelmar         Sandra Yi Sencindiver is Lady Amalisa         Guy Roberts is Uno Nomesta         Arnas Fedaravicius is Masema Dagar          Gregg Chilingirian is Ingtar Shinowa         Welcome all to the Wheel of Time family! Can’t wait to see all these incredible actors in their roles.   Who are you most excited to see? Let us know in the comments and be sure to join the discussion on our forums.  And be sure to check our TV section of the website.   

Rajiv Moté is Dragonmount’s book blogger with a lens on the craft of fiction writing. When he’s not directing software engineers, he writes fiction of his own, which can be found catalogued on his website.   Do you love Stepin, the affable, dual axe-wielding Warder of Kerene Sedai, whose easy charm brings smiles around the campfire and who did not appear in any of the books? If you do, I have good news and bad news. If you don’t love Stepin, the news is mostly bad: episode 5, “Blood Calls Blood,” centers around him. And if you love him, well, this episode chronicles his terminal decline and demise. It’s all to a purpose: it shows us that the bond between Warder and Aes Sedai is bone-deep, emotional, and carries consequences. When an Aes Sedai dies, it is as if her Warder “swallows her death.” He falls into a depression. He loses the will to live. These are the stakes of a Warder bond. I sure hope that doesn’t ever happen to someone we know.      Alanna the Green Aes Sedai plans to bond Stepin herself, as a way of saving his life. Moiraine mentions that she thinks it’s possible to release a Warder from his bond. A little world-building, a little foreshadowing. But alas, Stepin is a clever man. He gets a sleeping powder from Nynaeve, uses it on Lan, and takes the unsupervised moment to commit suicide before the doors of the Hall of the Tower. The Warders hold a throat-singing, chest-thumping funeral, and open, naked grief throws Lan off beat with the thumping. The pain he feels is mirrored in Moiraine’s eyes. The bond cuts both ways.   Daniel Henney is an empathetic, emotive version of Lan Mandragoran, not the stone-faced Warder of the books. It works because Henney’s charisma is of a warmer, emotionally wider sort. It’s easy for audiences to take to him, and to understand why certain characters might do so too. It also works because The Wheel of Time of showrunner Rafe Judkins is deliberately redefining the masculinity of Robert Jordan’s vision. Where the latter’s conception of masculinity was stoic, consumed with duty, and honor-bound, the show imagines men with the emotional room to fret over a daughter’s initiation, pine over a girlfriend growing more distant, and insist on the creature comforts of a hot bath. These men talk to each other about their feelings, swap personal stories, and stay up all night together when one is feeling sad.   Stepin’s tale is a valuable foundation for what may occur later, and Stepin’s history and the camaraderie of the Warders is touching, but this episode feels like a digression. Especially since our protagonists--the scattered Two Rivers folk--are a hair’s breadth from a reunion in Tar Valon. We started the journey because one of them is the Dragon Reborn, hunted by the forces of the Dark One, and requiring the protection of the White Tower. The only trouble is, the White Tower doesn’t seem to be in on the plan, because Moiraine keeps secrets.   Nynaeve is already in the White Tower, hidden away in the Warders quarters by Moiraine to “protect” her from the Red Aes Sedai, Liandrin. We’re given our first look at Aes Sedai politics: when a promising potential student shows up, she is noticed by all, and the Ajahs compete to lure her to their team. Moiraine warns Nynaeve, now that she’s seen how great she is in comparison to those she loves, she will never be the same. That deserved a braid-tug--Nynaeve knows who she is. For her part, Nynaeve has fulfilled her end of her knifepoint bargain with Lan. She kept Moiraine alive, and now she wants assurances that Moiraine will bring the Two Rivers folks to her as soon as her eyes-and-ears locate them. The promise Moiraine gives is not necessarily the promise Nynaeve hears, but Nynaeve isn’t the trusting sort--and Liandrin is happy to drive a wedge into that crack. Unfortunately for Moiraine, all Liandrin has to do is suggest Nynaeve go for a stroll in the Tower garden.   Mat and Rand arrive in Tar Valon, and Rand seems to recognize Dragonmount. Impossible--he has lived all his life in the Two Rivers. He must be thinking of another volcano. In a shock to book readers, Mat thinks they should go straight to the White Tower. But Thom the gleeman had given Rand the name of a trusted inn where they can rest and refresh. (In the world of The Wheel of Time, lying on your bed with your boots on is not just for oafs like Mat--Moiraine does it in this episode, too.) Mat has become dark and troubled in the month since fleeing Shadar Logoth. He snaps at children. He’s sullen and pessimistic. He wonders if he, not the Fade, killed the Grinwell family. He thinks he’s going mad, and he’s terrified of what that could mean. When he and Rand sit on the balcony to watch the Aes Sedai parade the caged, defeated false Dragon Logain into the White Tower, Mat imagines (?) Logain seeing him and laughing wildly. Madly. Does the false Dragon recognize the real Dragon? Or is this a part of the paranoid madness Mat feels seeping into him?     Meanwhile, Rand is bored with Mat’s moping (and apparently incurious about seeing the peddler Padan Fain having a drink in Tar Valon) so he browses books in the library, like the Karaethon Cycle--the Prophecies of the Dragon. There, he meets a new friend, who isn’t put off in the least by Rand’s rudeness. Enter Loial the Ogier--big as a Trolloc, but much more chill. The show has rendered the Ogier with practical effects, and at first, Loial looks like an actor in a costume. My suspension of disbelief kicked in quickly, though, and he became the Ogier--a little less naive, a little more sure than his book counterpart, but still a gentle giant with good manners. Except, of course, when he tells Rand with absolute certainty that his red hair makes him an “Aielman.” At least Thom was discreet about that. I mean, have you seen the royal house of Andor? (No, we have not. In this adaptation, we skipped Caemlyn for Tar Valon.)   Loial’s access to the White Tower grounds, the apparent rarity of braided women, and Liandrin’s seemingly innocuous suggestion to Nynaeve, reunites three of the Two Rivers folk. It becomes immediately clear that Mat is going through something bad when he lashes out at Nynaeve. That, and the dark whispers. Logain was beset by voices, but we heard dark whispering in Shadar Logoth too. Rand and Nynaeve worry about Mat, but they worry about Perrin and Egwene, too. Nynaeve tells Rand a story about how Egwene survived (mysteriously) a childhood infection of the deadly breakbone fever. “Egwene is many things, but above all else, she is unbreakable.”   This is fortunate. Despite the Tinkers’ non-violent attempts to prevent the brutal Whitecloaks from taking Egwene and Perrin, the two end up prisoners of the gleefully villainous Questioner, Child Valda. Ever the gourmet and gourmand, Valda enjoys roast suckling pig as he sets up a deadly dilemma. If Egwene channels the One Power, Valda will kill her and release Perrin. Otherwise, Valda will flay Perrin and release Egwene.     Perrin wants to die. As wolves begin to howl outside, he admits to Egwene that yes, he was directly responsible for his wife Laila’s death. Under Valda’s knife, Perrin’s eyes turn golden. Like a wolf’s. But Egwene won’t allow it. She tosses a feeble fireball at Valda, but manages to singe Perrin’s bonds enough for the big man to snap the ropes and break free.   There are so many ways this scene could have played. Perrin could have gone berserk, like during the Trolloc attack. He could have crouched on all fours and leaped like an animal at Valda. Hell, he could have wolfed out like Michael Jackson in “Thriller.” But instead he only groaned like Frankenstein’s monster and shambled forward--slowly. Valda, who has faced Aes Sedai and was just channeled at, can only stand paralyzed, and gasp “What are you?” Fortunately, Egwene knifes him in the back, ending the whole embarrassing scene. Outside the tent, wolves are savaging the Whitecloaks and Egwene and Perrin slip away.   “Blood Calls Blood” slows down the breathless pace of the first four episodes. Our heroes have fled the Trollocs, survived the dangers of the ruins, wilderness, and the road, and reassembled in Tar Valon. Along the way, Egwene has learned to channel unaided, Nynaeve has lit a beacon fire to her potential power, Perrin has gained the protection of wolves, Mat has found a dagger and started hearing voices, and Rand has discovered a talent for breaking down doors. The plan was to assemble in Tar Valon under the protection of the Aes Sedai sisterhood. That accomplished, the question becomes “now what?” Tar Valon has provided no answers yet. It’s clear that outside of Moiraine and Lan, nobody of the Tower knows about the Dragon Reborn. But the Amyrlin Seat, the leader of the Aes Sedai,  is coming, and presumably she’ll know what to do next. Until then, all we can do is put up our booted feet on the bed and wait.

Episode 4 of Amazon Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time television show is aptly named “The Dragon Reborn.”  When the episode titles were announced, I was convinced showrunner Rafe Judkins was racing through The Eye of the World with the first four episodes and wrapping up The Great Hunt with the last four. I am glad my hypothesis was so far from what Judkins delivered.   “The Dragon Reborn” begins with a flashback of Logain Ablar, the self-proclaimed Dragon Reborn, as he ravages the king’s palace in Ghealdan. I love the first view we get of Logain as he comes into focus—similar to Moiraine’s introduction in the first episode.  Logain’s calm and collected, very much in control of the situation.  When the king’s guards attack, we see him channel.  Unlike Moiraine’s wispy flows of the One Power, Logain’s are laced with black.  The show names this the “corruption” of the Dark One rather than the taint, but it is very clearly shown as something sinister and evil.  The sad thing is Logain can’t seem to understand that. The corruption in his weaves take forms and speak to him, tempting him to kill the king.  The madness doesn’t have him so far in its grasp, though, because Logain convinces the king to join his side.   While we know of Logain in book one of the series, it’s incredibly satisfying to see it unfold this early in the television show.  I was expecting Logain to be our main antagonist of Season 1, seeing the Aes Sedai fighting him, viewers wondering if he could be the Dragon.  I feel this could have made some interesting and conflicting emotions when we get to the inevitable gentling and Nynaeve’s accidental Healing.  This is a man we battled for eight episodes and suddenly he’s a threat again!  Once again, the show handled this in a way that was far superior.  Logain’s triumph at the beginning of the episode is contrasted beautifully to his fall at its ending.   His arc was engaging, beautiful, and tragic.  More on this in a bit.   The Perrin and Egwene side quest also differed from the source material.  Elyas Machera was completely cut at this time—though he may show up later—but I’m glad they still met up with the Tuatha’an.  Aram’s charm is quite the same, but the flirting between him and Egwene was removed.  This timeframe is happening much quicker than in the books, so the breakup with Rand is still fresh.  It makes sense for her to hold her feelings in reserve for now.   While Perrin is uncomfortable at first with the idea of the Way of the Leaf, Egwene seems to grasp the core of their beliefs.  Aram scoffs at the idea of a song that brings peace, but one of my favorite lines in this episode is when Egwene looks around the happy, smiling faces in the camp and retorts, “Are you sure you haven’t found it already?”  The music slows and Aram really looks at his companions’s faces.  It’s an amazing scene, so hopeful and uplifting.  I immensely enjoyed every second we shared with the Tinkers.   Rand, Mat, and Thom’s journey gets interesting as Thom casts our suspicions on Mat as a possible Dragon.  For those of us who’ve read the books, the corruption from Shaidar Logoth is apparent.  However, the “corruption” of the One Power is shown in a similar way.  I can see how the connection could be made between Logain’s channeling at the beginning of the episode, and the black bile that comes out of Mat towards the middle.  Rand mostly stays in the background, though it’s interesting that he’s able to defuse the situation with the Grinwells so easily.  Thom would have been my first candidate for reading the signs of Master Grinwell’s posture.  Perhaps this is Rand moving the Pattern more than just a regular ta’veren would?   The buildup of tension between Nynaeve and Lan made up the best pieces of this episode.  Their relationship has been laid out so satisfactorily up to this point.  Lan underestimated her twice—first thinking she couldn’t track him, then dismissing the knife she held to his throat and trying to call her bluff.  She’s surprising him and I like how organically the chemistry between them grows.  When she watches him offer to a prayer for Malkier and the Seven Towers, we see a moment of vulnerability.  She shows him a prayer she says but admits she doesn’t know the meaning.  She stopped saying it because the people of the Two Rivers “don’t go to a Wisdom for ignorance.”  When Lan can give her the translation of her prayer, the emotion is clear on her face.  She’s letting down her walls of hostility and fear.  She’s feeling safe with him.  I’m super upset we didn’t get to hear Lan’s complete thought of how she’s exactly as he expected.  I hope that will come later.   Moiraine is surprising in this episode because she thinks—however briefly—that Logain might be the Dragon.  I love the depth of her character here.  She is able to hear new information, process it, and take the steps needed to find out the truth.  Very reminiscent of a Brown Sister, or maybe a White.  The complexity of her emotions is so engaging and so well done.  I love when she confronts Logain and actually listens to his reasoning.  I really believe she would have followed him if he’d answered the questions correctly.  But alas, Logain is not the Dragon.  His downfall here was so sad.  He’s been shown to be so confident and capable, so seeing the power ripped from him, tears in his eyes, saying with overwhelming awe, “Like a raging sun,” broke my heart.    This whole scene was my favorite of the series so far.  Nynaeve’s moment of vulnerability left her in a state of emotional upheaval.  When Logain’s attack sliced Lan’s throat, Nynaeve understandably snaps.  I’m wondering if she’ll have an anger block like in the books, because it wasn’t anger that made her channel, it was desperation.  Nynaeve has been raised by the old Wisdom to be the Wisdom, who we know can’t marry or have children.  She probably never went through typical adolescent infatuation, or if she did, it may have been one-sided.  Now, here is a man who sees her as she is—strong, fierce, brave, determined—and he flirts right back.  To think she’d lose that after just finding it is devastating.    I’ve cried every time I’ve watched this scene.  There are so many levels of feelings.  The awe for Nynaeve, the sadness for Logain, the sense of loss for Kerene.  This is the most perfect scene and I'm hopeful it will soothe a lot of book-fans.  Yes, there are changes, but they can be equally as awesome.   I cannot wait to see the ramifications of this episode.  How will Mat and Rand get on without Thom?  How far will Egwene and Perrin go with the Tinkers?  What penance will the Aes Sedai pay for gentling Logain outside the Tower?  How will Nynaeve deal with this new Power inside her?   Episode 5, “Blood Calls Blood,” premieres next Friday.  I hope some of our questions are answered.   What was your favorite part of “The Dragon Reborn”?  Let me know in the comments below.

Join Dragonmount on Nov 26th at 5pm PT for a live Twitter watch party of Episode 4: The Dragon Reborn!   Start the episode at 5 pm and follow along for our commentary and insights.   Then watch our live stream with Jason and Kathy as they dive into a spoiler filled discussion of Episode 4! You’ll find the livestream on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.   Update: Thanks everyone for joining us! Here's a link to the Twitter thread and to the video stream that followed immediately after.         

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.   It’s finally happened. The balloon has gone up, the Eagle has landed and the hounds have been released. The first three episodes of Wheel of Time hit Amazon Prime Television on 19 November after an intense two-month period of trailers, sneak peaks and featurettes, culminating in multiple premiere events at cities across the USA and several in Europe.   A question was by what standards would Amazon judge the show to be a success and if the show would hit those metrics. Streamers can be notoriously opaque about such things, although it also feels like there’s been a concerted effort recently by the likes of Netflix to deliver more data on how successful a show has been.   Amazon made a surprising early statement on the show’s success yesterday, when Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke discussed the situation with industry bible Deadline. Salke was clearly delighted with the show’s early going, discussing the following points:   The Wheel of Time is the most-watched Amazon series premiere of 2021, beating other high-profile shows including Invincible, Clarkson’s Farm, I Know What You Did Last Summer and The Underground Railroad. According to third-party company TV-I, The Wheel of Time was the #1 TV show through social media engagement last weekend and is the biggest Amazon Original series on social media this year. The Wheel of Time is one of the “Top 5 series launches of all time for Prime Video,” a list which includes shows such as The Grand Tour and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The show had “tens and tens of millions of streams” in its first three days of release. The show has been most popular in the USA, India, Brazil, Canada, France and Germany. According to Parrot Analytics, The Wheel of Time has had Prime Video’s biggest opening since the Season 2 premieres of The Boys and Mirzapur in late 2019. Their analysis indicates that The Wheel of Time’s debut has outpaced that of The Witcher’s on Netflix in 2019 for global pre-release demand. Most importantly, Salke has said that the show is “trending to exceed our expectations, which were high.” Despite recent rumours to the contrary, Amazon have not yet renewed Wheel of Time for a third season. The second season is more than halfway done shooting in the Czech Republic (with additional location filming expected shortly in Morocco) but filming is expected to continue until spring, and the first season still has another five weeks to air, which will give Amazon more data about which to make a decision. However, The Wheel of Time’s success so far means that Salke and Amazon “have a good feeling the show will go on for years and years.” The success of Wheel of Time has left Amazon feeling buoyant for the release of their Lord of the Rings prequel series in September 2022 and also made them feel confident enough to announce that a TV series based on the Mass Effect video game franchise is also now in early development (though not greenlit yet).   Amazon’s metrics for the success of The Wheel of Time – or any of their original programming – are interesting, and different from the old network model which required the maximum number of eyes on the screen to sell advertising. The main thing Amazon will be looking for is new sign-ups: if people were not Amazon Prime members beforehand, but they sign up and the very first thing they watch is The Wheel of Time, that’s counted as a major success and makes a renewal or continuation of the show much more likely. This is why it’s important that the show gets a place in the cultural conversation: Netflix shows like The Witcher, Bridgerton, Stranger Things and, most recently, Squid Game and Arcane have been judged to be hits because they’ve driven lots of new subscriptions. Amazon have likewise judged shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (and its impressive Emmy haul) and The Boys to be major successes because people sign up ahead of the new season of each show to watch it.   Amazon does have other metrics for success they will be looking at. People who watch The Wheel of Time and then buy merchandise related to the property on Amazon, or start buying the books via Amazon or reading them via Kindle, will factor in as well.   Critical acclaim is of course desirable, but less important than these other forms of success. Wheel of Time had a bumpy launch window, with fairly evenly split critics, but over the weekend a slew of more positive reviews drove up the Rotten Tomatoes score to 73%, ahead of the critical response for The Witcher’s first season (68%), with the possibility of further changes depending on the reception to the remaining episodes.   It is, of course, still early days overall, but The Wheel of Time’s early performance bodes well for the show to continue for many years to come.   As usual, please continue to follow developments on our casting and news pages and the forum and stay tuned for more info as we get it.

Aleksandra (Ola) Hill is a Polish-Canadian writer and the founder and editor-in-chief of khōréō, a magazine of speculative fiction by immigrant and diaspora writers. She won the grand prize in the 2019 Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards and is currently pursuing an MFA in writing at The New School. You can find her on Twitter at @_aleksandrahill.   #   TL; DR: A Marvellous Light is a delightful Edwardian fantasy and the first in a series. Centered around a murder and a mysterious curse and heavily interspersed with both humour and steamy scenes, it’s perfect for fans of Sorcerer to the Crown, Magic for Liars, and Silver in the Wood.     #   A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske is set in Edwardian England where magic exists, but is a secret kept by those who can use it. Robin Blyth—decidedly not a magician—is thrust into what seems to be a dead-end government job as a minor act of social revenge, only to learn that he has become a liaison between the magical and non-magical worlds since his predecessor disappeared two weeks before. It is there he meets Edwin Courcey, a gentleman from a long magical line who has very little power for himself. When Robin is cursed by a man wearing a mask made of shadows, Edwin takes it upon himself to lift it before it’s too late.    There are dozens of books set in some historical version of England, so starting this story can feel like donning a particularly cozy sweater that you’ve owned for many years. While there’s a certain delight in familiar tropes, it can be hard to make these kinds of stories feel fresh. What really sold me on this particular one was the way magic is described in the books. Using it relies on “cradling” one’s spells using one’s hands. Children learn to do this using string, much like one might play a game like cat’s cradle; most adults dispense with the aid. The imagery of this made me think very much of a “modern” version of channeling that one sees in The Wheel of Time. The system itself is relatively soft, with many open questions and unknowns, but there’s a decided academic bent to it: I would love, for example, to see an illustration of the system of notation used to communicate these spells.   I would also kill to be able to see the murderous hedge maze in the flesh. But not, you know, be murdered by it. That’s no fun.   The magic is immersive partially because of how mundane it is. That isn’t to say that we only see individuals stirring their coffee with a levitating spoon in the book (though that does happen); rather, throughout the course of the novel, we get to see the inventiveness of magicians in all aspects of life, whether it’s home security or afternoon games for rich young adults with nothing better to do. There’s a constant feeling of play within the magic that makes it feel a million times more desirable to me.   Interestingly, contracts and consent also play a large role in the magic system. To start, humans have been able to do magic due to a contract that’s been passed down through generations (which brings up a fascinating question around the distribution of magic: why do some children receive more magic than others, and some none at all?). But magic itself also has contractual constructs within it. For example, having a pen write by itself requires imbuing the pen with the desire to be helpful and setting out the terms and parameters of the spell; every spell seems to be a negotiation of sorts. A family setting up a home can also make a blood bond with the land using similar terms, asking it to accept them and receiving certain protections in return. Given Britain’s history of colonialism, this makes for an interesting perspective on what it means to have and own land as a magician and would certainly make for interesting inheritance-related shenanigans (could I run over to a friend’s house and claim it for my own if the land liked me better?).    This constant focus on contracts and agreement also makes it feel utterly natural that Edwin is a particularly thoughtful romantic lead when it comes to consent. I don’t read a lot of romance, so I don’t have a strong understanding how writers have treated consent in the past, but I did appreciate how Edwin always checks for enthusiastic consent in a way that never intrudes on the scene or makes it any less steamy (I’d argue that the anticipation only adds to the effect, actually).    On the note of romance: this book is heavy on romance, to an extent that I didn’t quite expect from the marketing, and there are scenes that made me double check that no one was reading over my shoulder on the subway. It certainly wasn’t a drawback for me—I loved every moment of Edwin and Robin’s growing relationship almost (but certainly not quite) as much as I loved Nynaeve and Lan’s storyline in Wheel of Time. A nerd and a himbo, an introvert and an extrovert, a magician and a non-magician—they balance each other out marvelously well on the page. The tenderness with which they treat each other’s differences is also particularly well rendered. One line that particularly struck me:   “You are the most fascinating thing in this beautiful house. I’d like to introduce my fists to whoever taught you to stop talking about the things that interest you.”   I don’t think I’m the only one on this site who grew up loving something (like, say, a book series that’s just now becoming a TV show) and being shut down from talking about it, so hearing someone say this—even if it was a fictional character, even if it wasn’t to me—was a balm. With all this said, however: the focus of the book lies equally on them as it does the mystery of the murder and the curse, so if you’re looking for just the latter with none of the former, this might not be the right book for you.    In sum, I read this book in two sittings and wish I had the luxury to do it in one (it would’ve been if the past few weeks hadn’t been a hellish chorus of responsibilities all coming to a head). The combination of mystery, magic, and romance was utterly enthralling and perfect for the exhaustion brought on by the end of the year/everlasting pandemic. I recommend this book heartily to anyone who enjoys historical fantasy or magical mysteries, or who is looking for a steamy queer romance. It combines the humour of Sorcerer to the Crown with the academic overtones of Magic for Liars and combination of romance and magic of Silver in the Wood.     A Marvellous Light is available in the Dragonmount eBook store. Find it here!  

Yesterday, Amazon Prime Video released the first three episodes of The Wheel of Time television show.  Along with this new, official content, Dragonmount is covering these episodes across all media formats.   You can read chapter summaries of the first three episodes, and future episodes will be updated as the series continues. “Leavetaking” “Shadow’s Waiting” “A Place of Safety”   We’ve posted several spoiler-free content leading up to release day, but now you can read our full-spoiler reviews. “Leavetaking” “Shadow’s Waiting” “A Place of Safety”   Dragonmount: The Wheel of Time Podcast has new episodes, one for each of the three television shows. “Leavetaking” “Shadow’s Waiting” “A Place of Safety”   And we had an Instagram live session today talking with fans and each other about the books, the show, and anything in between.       We are all so excited to engage with this new content and with fans—old and new.  You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to keep up to date with all things Wheel of Time.    What was your favorite part of the first three episodes, and why was it Daniel Henney in the bathtub?  Let us know in the comments below!

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.   I started reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time novels in 1996. A quarter of a century later, I sat down at the IMAX in Waterloo, London to watch the first episode of Amazon’s lavish TV adaptation of the series.   The weight of expectation is strong here. I saw The Fellowship of the Ring only five years after reading the book, and the first episode of Game of Thrones just over a decade after reading the first book in that series. But Wheel of Time has been part of my literary background for a lot longer. Can the adaptation - any adaptation - survive the weight of expectation that is thrust upon it?   The answer is “maybe,” and Rafe Judkins and his team have not aimed at a close or literal adaptation of the source material which attempts to replicate the novels line-by-line. Fortunately, it’s not an ultra-loose “inspired by the source material but also not really” kind of adaptation as we’ve seen recently with BBC America’s The Watch (where any similarities with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels are more by coincidence than design) or Apple TV+’s speculative take on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels.   The Wheel of Time instead charts an interesting middle ground, with some scenes directly lifted from the books - and certainly each major plot beat is lifted from the source material - and others invented to flesh out character background and motivation. In many cases these changes are improvements for the visual medium: rather than hear about the enigmatic matriarchal rituals of the Women’s Circle, we see one firsthand. Instead of hearing about Mat being a chancer and gambler, we see him playing dice. And instead of Rand and Egwene agonising over whether they want to be in a relationship or not, we see them debating about whether to continue a pre-existing relationship, which raises the stakes. The most controversial change is with Perrin: a young bachelor in the books, the show opens with him as a married man, albeit one whose relationship seems to be having its own issues. These changes help make the characters distinct rather than being similar young, single men, with their differences in character and temperament only emerging over time.   The most surprising thing about the first episode is how Judkins (who wrote this instalment) allows the episode to breathe. Over the course of an hour, he sets up the Aes Sedai, the curse of men who find they can channel the One Power, and the power dynamics and relationships within the village of Emond’s Field (which goes curiously unnamed, with all references being to the wider region of the Two Rivers). We explore Rand’s relationship with his father Tam, see Nynaeve’s sense of conflict at being both part of the community and, as Wisdom, outside of it, and that Mat has a problem with gambling. Another controversial choice is to make Mat’s parents troubled wastrels, with Mat showing signs of being a better man (doting on his sisters and ensuring their wellbeing) but also falling into the same temptations (as he likes a drink and a wager, but is not very good at mixing the two). I can see why these changes were made, to deepen and complicate the characters, but also the argument that these changes may veer on the cliche (and, in Perrin's case, indulging the tiresome fridging trope). Still, the measured introduction and dedication to the show’s worldbuilding and character relationships is a relief given fears that the show would have to blast through the major plot elements to get the story told in just eight short seasons. Whilst the slower start may compromise how much story can be told later on, it works very much in giving a good first impression of a show that cares about its characters, their relationships and making sure the audience can follow what’s going on. The show even strengthens book relationships, by giving Nynaeve much more of a reason to be angry at Moiraine, when the latter plays Columbo and manipulates Nynaeve into giving away invasive personal information just so she can work out her age.   The show’s visual design is sumptuous, with excellent set design and some breathtaking location shooting in the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Shots of Rand and Tam descending a mountain pass with their horse and cart, or Moiraine and Lan riding across the landscape, recall the epic vistas of The Fellowship of the Ring. The show replicates the book’s evocation of Tolkien without copying him outright, though a few moments come close: Padan Fain riding into town with a gaggle of children chasing his cart will have you waiting for the fireworks to fly out.   The Wheel of Time is a large and complicated story set in a large and complicated world, but the first novel, The Eye of the World, does a good job of easing readers into the setting. Judkins’ first episode does the same thing, with some elegant ways of getting worldbuilding info to the audience: rather than bald exposition about the dangers of men who can channel, the episode opens with a coterie of Red Sisters led by Liandrin hunting down two men who can channel...but in reality, it’s only one, the other a figment of his increasingly deranged imagination. A quiet Bel Tine scene has the villagers honouring the spirits of the departed, but knowing they will one day be reborn through the weavings of the Wheel, telling us this world is more a place of spiritual ideology and philosophy than religion as we know it.   The quiet worldbuilding of the early going is soon offset by an impending sense of dread. Moiraine and Lan’s arrival lets us and the villagers know that Trouble is Afoot, and even an unexpected bath scene which out-Witchers the infamous tub scene from The Witcher (featuring an, I’m assured, charismatic performance by Daniel Henney as Lan) cannot lessen the feeling of doom which builds excellently in the latter third of the episode. This culminates in the infamous Trolloc attack on the village on Winternight, with a dozen of the huge beasts (realised through a near-flawless mixture of prosthetics and CGI) running amok. In a nod to the varied origins of the creatures, we see wolf-headed Trollocs attacking upright but also dropping to all fours for greater speed or mobility (though that's where the CG can occasionally creak). At first the attack is a massacre, but the Two Rivers folk soon show their steel, with the Coplins and Congars putting their differences aside to bring down one of the creatures with pikes and staffs, whilst Perrin and his wife Laila fight off an interloping band into their forge with a mixture of hammers and axes. The best bit of fight choreography comes when Tam al’Thor shows his blademaster prowess by fighting off the presumed Narg in his farm.  Book purists will weep to learn that Narg’s dialogue has been removed from the show, but this is probably for the best given how incongruous it is with later Trolloc behaviour.   The show finally lets loose by showing what it is capable of when Moiraine unleashes the One Power in the defence of the village. She uses Air to hurl Trollocs through the air with bone-snapping force, Fire to blast the enemy into ash and Earth to rip the ground apart around them. When the Trollocs are finally ready to overwhelm her, she uses a tornado to tear half the village apart and blast the Trollocs with a storm of masonry. It’s as impressive an action sequence as ever put on TV cameras, helped by most of the fighting and a lot of the reaction shots being done in-camera, with CGI being resolved only for specific moments that would be impossible to realise otherwise. Watching this scene in IMAX with a powerful sound system realising every explosion and scream was absurdly overwhelming. I have to confess to mixed feelings on the collateral damage: Moiraine literally tears the Winespring Inn apart to destroy the attacking Trolloc horde, and it’s unclear if she knew there was anyone inside. A scene from the second episode hints at a possible change to the Three Oaths: Moiraine indicates she can kill people inadvertently if she does not 100% know they are there or that will happen, as opposed to the books where it feels like Aes Sedai can’t channel destructive weaves indiscriminately if there’s even a chance an innocent might die in the crossfire. Whether this is a deliberate change or Moiraine was able to ascertain via some application of the Power that no innocents were in the firing line remains to be seen.   After that storm of battle, the episode ends with a coda: Moiraine telling Egwene, Rand, Mat and Perrin that the Dragon has been Reborn, and it’s one of the four of them. She has to take them out of the Two Rivers quickly to draw off the Shadowspawn pursuers before they return. This is an awkward scene because it conveniently gives the youngsters and Moiraine no time to check with their parents about the circumstances of their birth or arrival, otherwise the mystery of whom the Dragon Reborn is would die a quick death. However, it does give us that iconic final shot of the team leaving the Two Rivers with the Trolloc army on their heels, as Moiraine gives us the classic catechism and Lorne Balfe’s music stirs.   The first episode is a lot to take in, and purists will likely decry everything from Rand and Tam’s farm being moved (from the Westwood to a mountainous perch not far from town) to Two Rivers not being quite as cut off as in the books (there’s now an open road leading south to Ghealdan) and the insinuation that Egwene is both a ta’veren and a candidate to be the Dragon Reborn. Those more willing to accept changes for the visual medium will find much that is rewarding. The most surprising and welcome thing is that the episode doesn’t cut to the chase of explosions and battles ASAP, but spends a leisurely 40+ minutes building up characters, relationships and the world before bringing on the Shadowspawn. The vfx scenes have been hogging the attention in trailers, but it’s the quieter moments where the show sings: Tam and Rand grieving the loss of Kari, Egwene being accepted among the women of the town, Mat scrambling to afford a Bel Tine present for his sisters, and the villagers coming together to pay respects to the souls of the dead in a ceremony that seems to move even the stoic Moiraine. Lorne Balfe’s score particularly plays well in these quieter scenes and moments, though the music mix is perhaps a little too low in the released version (it was more noticeable in the IMAX).   Performances are uniformly excellent, with Rosamund Pike and Daniel Henney providing real gravitas and skill as Moiraine and Lan, and Michael McElhatton convincingly going from Worst Dad Ever in Game of Thrones to Best Dad Ever here. But the youngsters also prove their mettle: Barney Harris simply walks Mat out from the page and onto the screen, Madeleine Madden has impressive screen presence and Zoë Robins excels at portraying Nynaeve's sense of responsibility and care for the rest of the community, but also her loneliness. Marcus Rutherford and Josha Stradowski are lower-key presences at this point, but so are Perrin and Rand at this point in the novel (Mat somehow manages to steal scenes when he's not even the POV character), and what we see here is promising.   There are problems, and some of them feel a bit of a non sequitur at this point: the changes to Perrin don’t seem to add much to his character (especially given his limited ability to react to them in the two succeeding episodes); Padan Fain feels like a random addition to the series at this point; and the final scene where everyone has to leave abruptly without any time for exchanging seemingly vital plot and character information is somewhat contrived. The first preview scene from the episode, where Lan and Moiraine arrive in the village at night, is also awkwardly shot and paced. But beyond those scenes, Leavetakings does what it needs to do: it sets up the story in an interesting manner and leaves the viewer wanting to see more.      As usual, follow our casting and news pages, and let us know what you think of the latest developments.