DRAGONMOUNT

After years of speculation we have confirmation from the Nerdist that Meera Syal is Verin Mathwin, Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah, in season two of the Wheel of Time on Prime Video. The Nerdist article suggested to not google Verin to avoid spoilers, and we'd like to reenforce that recommendation! Brown Ajah are pursuers of knowledge and devote themselves to study and research. Verin is first introduced in book two, The Great Hunt, so it makes sense we will see her in season two.  Meera was first announced as joining the cast in October 2021. We've wondered and guessed who she could be playing, and then a couple weeks ago showrunner Rafe Judkins teased fans with a WOT Wednesday post that nearly, but not quite, revealed Meera's role. The following week during JordanCon 2023 we had four new casting announcements, and Meera was not included much to our disappointment! Today's announcement was a Nerdist exclusive and we are so excited to finally know this casting!     Welcome again Meera, and we can't wait to see you play Verin!         

Happy JordanCon 2023! Wheel of Time Fans from across the world have gathered for the 15th annual JordanCon in Atlanta, Georgia.   To celebrate, the cast and crew of The Wheel of Time television show on Prime Video put together a short video for fans (link & embed relevant tweet?).     As part of the video we learned about four new casting announcements for Season 2, including:   Maja Simonsen as “Chiad” Ragga Ragnars as “Bain” Jay Duffy as “Dain Bornhald” Rima Te Wiata as “Sheriam Bayanar”     Welcome to the Wheel of Time Family Maja, Ragga, Jay, and Rima! We can’t wait to see you in your roles!   Earlier this week, Showrunner Rafe Judkins teased fans with the return of WOT Wednesday, where he plans to post more behind-the-scenes tidbits. This week he teased the casting of Meera Syal without revealing her role. She was not revealed today, so the mystery of her role will continue! There’s still no official word on when we will see Season 2, however, Rafe announced that Season 3 has begun filming!   Are you at JordanCon this weekend? Tag Dragonmount and we will share your photos! Let us know what you think about the new casting in the comments below.

The Wheel of Time actress, Rosamund Pike, a fan favorite known for playing Moiraine on the Prime Video TV series, has won an Audie award for Best Female Narrator for her recording of The Eye of the World.  The Audies are awarded for the best audiobooks by the Audio Publishers Association (APA). The Eye of the World was released in November 2021 by Macmillan Audio. During her acceptance speech Rosamund acknowledged the narrators of the previous versions of the audiobooks, Michael Kramer and Kate Reading.     Rosamund also mentioned that her mother, Caroline Friend, was the director of the audio book, and that the third audiobook, (The Dragon Reborn) will be released in June 2023.    Have you had a chance to listen to Rosamund's version of The Eye of the World? You can find it on Audible, Amazon, Google. Let us know what you think in the comments below! 

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 at his website.   There is an ongoing moment in the literary world (see “Cat Person” and “Bad Art Friend”) where fiction is seen as a puzzle-box for readers to decipher truths about the authors and the lit scene. The events in these stories are fictional, but if you sleuth enough, you’ll find the scandalous truths about the author and their acquaintances, showing that it’s all just veiled biography. When I read Jason Kehe’s attempted exposé of author Brandon Sanderson in Wired Magazine, “Brandon Sanderson Is Your God,” the best (and maybe most charitable) reason I could infer for the article’s existence was that Kehe wanted to reveal the hidden-and-problematic truth of Sanderson’s popularity. Then he got mad that he couldn’t. Kehe enters Sanderson’s world like a Royal Academy ethnographer coming to study a primitive culture, or maybe a New York columnist who has a layover in the midwest and decides to write about it. He sneers at the prose (“At the sentence level, he is no great gift to English prose”), Sanderson’s writing process (“Sanderson has said: “I detest rewriting,” “I write for endings,” and “I write to relax.” It shows. He writes, by one metric, at a sixth-grade reading level”), Utah restaurants (“at that first dinner, over flopsy Utah Chinese”), his friends and family (“Sanderson’s assistant is his wife’s sister. As I orient myself within the Cosmere House, I keep running into his nearest and dearest. His doppelgänger brother. Multiple siblings-in-law. Neighbors. People’s children”), their topics of conversation (“Sanderson gives feedback with half his brain, the other half occupied with autographing books. It’s only afterward that the real talk happens, such as Star Wars debates”), his fans (“As is typically the case at these things, there’s a general air—warmish, body-odored—of unselfconsciousness. By my rough count, some three-quarters of the attendees are men, boys, menboys, blurring together in a mass of pale, fleshy nerdery in Sanderson-appropriate graphic tees”), his religion (“it’s no secret: Mormonism is the fantasy of religion. ‘The science-fiction edition of Christianity,’ I’ve heard it called, with its angels and alternative histories, embodied gods, visions and plates made of gold”), and even actor Hugh Jackman (“When Hugh, lame Hugh, opens his mouth to sing, I can’t help it. I burst into tears”). But these jabs aren’t the point of the article. Kehe is searching for something. A thesis. Yes, it seems to offend him that Sanderson rakes in money, has legions of fans, but isn’t a public discussion topic in the way George R. R. Martin or J.K. Rowling are. But Kehe seems to be looking for a way to tie who Brandon Sanderson is with the books he cranks out, and reveal that his fans are embracing something that’s at best misguided, and at worse, wrong by the standards of Wired’s sophistication.   The angle Kehe choses is Mormonism. There are legitimate criticisms arising from Mormon beliefs. Both Sanderson and science fiction author Orson Scott Card (the other “weirdo Mormon” Kehe mentions) have gone on record condemning homosexuality as sinful, as their religion instructs, and the “love the sinner, hate the sin” stance they take is no less problematic. But Kehe doesn’t even mention that. He traces the well-worn fantasy tropes of invented gods, rule-based magic, and heroic apotheosis to Mormonism, and Brandon agrees. Kehe thinks Sanderson walked into the trap with his eyes open, and concludes, “The surprise is that it was Sanderson’s ending all along, the ending of his best books. A character becomes a god, and the god beholds his planet below. If Sanderson is a writer, that is all he is doing. He is living his fantasy of godhead on Earth.” Is that all? Even Tolkien, whom Kehe (justifiably) venerates and thinks that some Sanderson fans will eventually “graduate” to reading, wrote stories in a Christian moral frame with Biblical themes, if not so blatantly as his friend C.S. Lewis. But this is where Jason Kehe wraps up his own Hero’s Journey. It’s in the article’s title, subtitle, and concluding paragraphs. Brandon Sanderson is a Mormon, his stories share ideas with Mormonism, and he builds worlds like a self-styled God. Big deal.  As if world-building was a “Mormon” thing and not a “fiction” thing. Sanderson wrote a response to the Wired article on Reddit. It was classy, perhaps over-charitable, and it upsets the apple cart on Kehe’s starting premise. Sometimes, the author isn’t the story. Sometimes, like in this case, the author is just someone doing what he loves and found a substantial audience who loves the result, even if it’s simply low entertainment and not High Art. And that’s okay.

Last summer at the first WoTCoN, fans saw two deleted scenes from Season One of The Wheel of Time on Prime Video. The first scene, featuring Egwene, was released on social media soon afterwards. The second scene was not, until now.    This week, The Wheel of Time social media accounts released the deleted scene featuring Michael McElhatton as Tam al'Thor and Madeleine Madden as Egwene al'Vere. The scene provides more context about The Two Rivers history, Tam's late wife, and his relationship with Rand.      Let us know what you think of the deleted scene in the comments below! 

A few weeks ago Rob from Malkier Talks tagged us in a Hype Train with eleven questions to get us excited for the eventual return of The Wheel of Time on Prime Video.      Here's the questions Rob proposed:    Questions 1 - What is your favourite episode from season one? 2 - Who is your favourite character from season one? 3 - What is your favourite piece of dialogue from season one? 4 - Which character did you end up loving that you didn't expect to love so much? 5 - Who had the best outfit in season one? 6 - Who portrayed their character the best and why? 7 - Tell us about a moment that unexpectedly made you laugh or cry in season one? 8 - What moment was the best homage to the books? 9 - Aside from Blood Snow, what was your favourite Cold Open? 10 - What was the best moment in the BTS footage of season two? 11 - Which new actor are you most excited to see on screen? Ceara, Donal, or Ayoola?     We responded with our own video over on YouTube. Check it out to find out how Thom, Kathy and Kitty answered Robs' questions!       Let's keep the hype train going!    Let us know your answers to Malkier Talks questions in the comments below! 

Katy is a news contributor for Dragonmount. You can follow her as she shares her thoughts on The Wheel of Time TV Show on Instagram and Twitter @KatySedai   This story contains spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series, until the very end of A Memory of Light. Please proceed with caution if you haven’t finished the book!   Brandon Sanderson and Harriet McDougal hold copies of A Memory of Light in January 2013.    It has been ten years since A Memory of Light, the final volume of The Wheel of Time was released. Since then fans have read and reread the books. New fans have found their way to the books, and have finished the series. Most of the mysteries from the series are tied up, but not all of them.   For ten years, author Brandon Sanderson has been holding onto one final secret, which he revealed during a recent interview with Matt Hatch on The Dusty Wheel YouTube channel.         Brandon talked with Team Jordan, and the plan was to always reveal this final secret after ten years. Matt and Brandon also discussed other secrets that have been haunting fans for the last ten years. They divided the conversation into three parts, the first, are secrets that are perhaps resolved, and have been discussed before. The middle is the big new reveal, and the final section is a Q&A from fans.   There are number of existing fan theories from the end of A Memory of Light that Brandon and Matt covered during their conversation. First is “the pipe”. Rand lights a pipe in the Epilogue, and Brandon confirms it is one of the last mysteries of the series. We will forever be able to debate and theorize about it because Robert Jordan left no answers. Brandon believes that Rand was close to the pattern, and therefore able to affect objects In the real world. Harriet believes it’s Jordan’s way of showing us that the 4th age will be as different from the 3rd as the 3rd was from the 2nd. Matt Hatch said his favorite theory is his friend Mary’s - it’s a ter’angreal. The next mystery is the identity of Nakomi, the aiel woman who visits first Aviendha and then Rand at the end of the books. Robert Jordan included a woman at the bore after Rand had walked out of Shayol Ghul, but left no details and no one from Team Jordan knew who she was. Brandon added the scene with Aviendha to foreshadow this mystery woman. He said it’s canon that Aviendha is asleep, but the details of Nakomi’s identity is Brandon’s theory more than anything.  All the details about Nakomi are revealed in Origins of the Wheel of Time by Michael Livingston. Brandon and Matt also discussed the body swap theory from the end of the books. There was a thread on reddit in 2019 where someone correctly outlined how the body swap worked, with the two men being linked by balefire streams crossing. Brandon confirmed this theory, and confirmed the answer comes from Robert Jordan via Harriet. Brandon sees this as a chance for Rand to lay down the weight and go live a life.    Then we come to the big “final” secret.  At the very end of A Memory of Light, the forsaken, Lanfear, is alive. She faked her death! Matt and Brandon give some background on this from way back when Matt was a beta reader. Matt found the foreshadowing too obvious in A Memory of Light, but time has proven Brandon correct that sometimes foreshadowing needs to be a little bit more heavy handed - not many people picked up on the subtle game Lanfear played with Perrin during the final book. Brandon frames the thought process this way - Lanfear was in a no-win situation where no solution would work. She needed a credible witness to confirm her death so the good guys wouldn’t come after her, and she needed the good guys to win so the dark one wouldn’t punish her in the end. She helps Perrin and manipulates Perrin into thinking he cannot be affected by compulsion. And in the end, she lives with everyone believing she is dead. Brandon confirms that this is canon, Lanfear is alive at the end of a Memory of Light. The discussion of the Lanfear Lives secret begins here: https://youtu.be/nTifdnXH4lg?t=1217   The rest of the interview involve a few other points about the ending of the books, including Egwene’s story line, and who decided her fate (Team Jordan), whether Rand would raise his children (yes!), and that we will see the Bridal Wreath scene (eventually, someday). The final section of the interview are some fun and interesting Q&A from fans. Brandon reveals some fun tidbits: like Harriet wrote most of the chapter titles for Robert Jordan and for Brandon; Brandon would remove some the spanking scenes in hindsight; and he’d have his team help with the timelines now knowing there are three books. Brandon would add more Padan Fain, but keep the ending with Mat. Brandon had many calls from fans for a Narg cameo, but in the end, he didn’t include a talking trolloc.   The release of A Memory of Light was the end of the book series, and yet in the 10 years since then we’ve continued to have some new material, in the companion book, in Origins of the Wheel of Time, and from interviews with Brandon, Harriet and Team Jordan. And now, it seems, we know everything that we ever will know. The rest is speculation and theorizing.   There are no endings to the Wheel of Time, but it was an ending.       When did you read A Memory of Light for the first time? Was it January 2013, or more recently? Let us know in the comments below!   Back in 2012, Jason Denzel, founder of Dragonmount, wrote a letter to Robert Jordan in response to reading A Memory of Light. Read it here.

The Wheel of Time Showrunner, Rafe Judkins, joined Dragonmount producer Kathy and community show host Thom for a live interview.    If you missed the interview check it out over on YouTube.      Here's some of the major points from the conversation:  Season 3 writers room is finished! Season 2 is coming 2023, but don't expect it in early 2023. They still have quite a bit they are working on wrapping up.  Rafe will be also showrunning God of War, and about show running multiple projects he said -      There's fun new technology for season 2 & 3. Season 2 will also have some longer episodes. Changing the story more to get through the story more effectively. Wheel of Time has about 200 pages episode, versus Game of Thrones had about 50 pages an episode. There's more remixing to deliver the story overall.  When asked about the diversity of the writers room - Rafe said he also focuses on diversity of thought. For example, Celine Song has a family belief of reincarnation and would share with the writers of season one how that belief filters into their daily life. This allows the writers to incorporate those thoughts into the characters. There's no organized religion in the books, but strong cultural practices, so they tried to add to the world building in the show with little "ritual stories." For example Stepin, burning incense for the forsaken.       Rafe also said that the Wheel of Time fandom is statistically the best fandom. They do statistics on big fandoms, and ours is the best in terms of being kind and positive, the most welcoming. I think a lot of us have felt this, so to hear it backed by numbers feels great!    For more fun details, including what other media Rafe is watching and his favorite Wheel of Time curse word, check out the full interview!    

Katy is a news contributor for Dragonmount. You can follow her as she shares her thoughts on The Wheel of Time TV Show on Instagram and Twitter @KatySedai   The Dusty Wheel YouTube channel has posted a clip from an interview with Rosamund Pike about narrating The Eye of the World. Both The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt have been released by Macmillan Audio with narration by Pike. The video is a clip from an interview that was included in full with the audiobook version of Origins of the Wheel of Time by Michael Livingston.   During the interview Pike explains she has to use the full range of her voice for all of Robert Jordan's characters, and uses cues from the books to add unique touches to all our favorite characters. She says narrating The Eye of the World is "like acting out the entire first season singlehandedly."    Watch the interview below and check out Origins of the Wheel of Time audiobook to hear the full interview.      

Katy is a news contributor for Dragonmount. You can follow her as she shares her thoughts on The Wheel of Time TV Show on Instagram and Twitter @KatySedai     Welcome to the 2022 Dragonmount Holiday Gift Guide! We’ve rounded up all the best Wheel of Time themed gifts from artists and small businesses. We've also opened up the brand new Dragonmount Merchandise Shop with lots of cool new gear.        Books & Official Merchandise First up is licensed merch and books. Origins of the Wheel of Time ($ 14.99) delves deep into the lore that inspired Robert Jordan. A must-have for anyone who loves to re-read the series.   For those book collectors located in the UK , Orbit is publishing this gorgeous version of The Eye of the World (£85).   There are two versions of the Aes Sedai Great Serpent rings. The first Aes Sedai ring by Badali Jewelry is the original ring approved by Robert Jordan ($85). (Available from the new Dragonmount Merchandise Store!)   The second is the gold Aes Sedai ring  by Jalic blades inspired from the TV series on Prime Video ($60). Plated gold with semi-precious stones for each ajah.   For sword collectors, there’s Rand al’Thor’s Heron Mark sword from The Wheel of Time on Prime Video (Jalic Blades - $360, preorder, expected to ship in Jan 2023).    The last piece of official merchandise is this incredible, limited-series serpent watch from Tockr ($449). Engraved with The Wheel of Time logo on the back. (Currently out of stock, but perhaps returning soon?)     Dragonmount Merchandise & JordanCon Next up are a few items from the all-new Dragonmount Merchandise Shop! You can start with a gift card, but there's a great selection of headwear like this dad hat ($19).   There's clothing like this cute muscle tank ($24).   Also, lots of drink vessels to choose from. Our favorite is this epic beer stein ($29).   Another fantastic gift is a three-day membership to JordanCon ($55). JordanCon is a small fantasy literature convention started in honor of The Wheel of Time author, Robert Jordan. JordanCon 2023 is taking place April 21-23 in Atlanta, Georgia.   Finally, for those who've finished reading The Wheel of Time we recommend checking Dragonmount founder Jason Denzel's Mystic Trilogy book series (ebook format:  $9.99, $11.99, and $14.99). Also available in print and audiobook. Check Jason's personal website for more details.       Unofficial Merch Inspired by The Wheel of Time For anyone who has the full hardcover The Wheel of Time collection, these book jackets from Juniper books make an incredible statement on your bookshelf ($225).   If you've always wanted your own twisted ring ter'angreal, you'll want this Möbius strip ($35). From the description: Mobius Strip is a surface with only one side (when embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space) and only one boundary curve.    This fox head pendant looks a lot like one we imagine a trickster gambler wears ($161). We think Mat Cauthon approves.    If wolves are more your spirit animal, this wolf brother candle is inspired by our favorite Blacksmith ($23).    Artistic types will enjoy this new Unofficial Wheel of Time Coloring Book ($14.99).       The Wheel of Time has inspired many wonderful artists. Serena's print entitled "Cleansing" shows an iconic scene from the middle of the books ($11.95)   The Oath rod shirt is great for fans of the Moiraine and Suian relationship ($28).    Fans of the new The Wheel of Time TV show will appreciate this cute Green Ajah mug ($14.50), and this greeting card with Daniel Henny's Lan ($6).    Lan fans can also request personalized book pendants with their favorite characters or text from the books.      These handmade bone dice are just the Pips for your favorite gambler ($20).    Wheel of Time fans love to cosplay, and you can't play Moiraine without the kesiera, the pendant with a blue stone that Moiraine wears in her hair ($19.99). Anyone looking for a simple Warder cosplay can pop on this I'm her Warder t-shirt and be in character ($23.20)   If you need to fill your home with Wheel of Time art, you can drink your tea (or ale) out of this Aes Sedai Tankard ($43).   The last recommendation we have is Corey Lansdell gorgeous art inspired by the TV show. We especially love Rosamund Pike as Moiraine ($46.94)   What Wheel of Time gifts are on your wishlist? Let us know in the comments below!