As is the trend this year, most conventions are going online. For those of us who don’t have the resources to travel to all these amazing cons, this set up isn’t so bad. Spoilercon—a convention celebrating the podcasts The Wheel of Time Spoilers, Mistborn Spoilers, and Broken Earth Spoilers—is hosting an online even next weekend, October 2nd and 3rd. Registration for this event is free, though pre-registration is required. You can sign up here. Some notable guests for Spoilercon include our own Jason Denzel—Dragonmount’s founder and webmaster—and Thom DeSimone—host of The Wheel of Time Community Show. Maria Simons from Team Jordan will also be making an appearance. And a reoccurring event from last year, Michael Kramer and Kate Reading—who perform the audio books for The Wheel of Time and many other sci-fi/fantasy titles—will be doing a reading. This convention offers a lot across the fandom board! You can check out the complete schedule here.

This #WoTWednesday had some major announcements. First, the @WoTonPrime book club concluded its read of The Eye of the World. This introduced so many new readers to this wonderful series we know and love. Our fandom is growing! The book club doesn’t currently have plans to start The Great Hunt, but we hope they will continue with this as the Amazon Prime show gets closer to completion. To celebrate reaching the end of The Eye of the World, @WoTonPrime rewarded us with this snippet of a video, starting on the excerpt from The Eye of the World where it introduces the Winespring Inn, then we get our first real look at the epicenter of Emond’s Field. Rafe Judkins also joined the celebration on Twitter and agreed to answer the first three questions about the Winspring Inn. “To celebrate @WOTonPrime‘s first glimpse of the Winespring, I’ll answer the first three questions I get about it on here. Go :)” The first question focused on the smell: Q: “Does it smell like honey cakes and fresh bread?” A: “It mostly smells like ginger tea, which anyone who’s spent time on the WoT set would tell you ha. But there were honeycakes that the wasps and hornets couldn’t get enough of. So we had to spray them with a wasp repellent, but they didn’t tell me and I ate one.” Hopefully eating wasp repellent isn’t harmful to humans…. The second question makes all of us long to be on the set. Q: “What were your thoughts walking through it the first time” A: “Absolutely one of the most emotional moments on the show for me so far. Just standing in the center of Emond’s Field felt totally surreal, looking up at the red roof of the Inn, the trouble they’d gone to give each house and villager a profession and a life there. It was amazing” I cannot want to see more of Emond’s Field! These answers from Rafe makes it much more real and closer than ever to being a finished product. The last one may spark some interesting speculation. Q: “Do we see the bel tine celebration?” A: “This one might be a spoiler, especially for Winternight enthusiasts, but yes.” Wow! We all know that Bel Tine was ruined by the Trolloc attack. If the attack doesn’t happen on Winternight, when will it happen? During the Bel Tine celebration? If so, do we get to see Tam’s fever dream? Will we not be aware Rand is adopted right from the start? Will we still see Narg—the most intelligent Trolloc—trying to reason with Rand about going to the Myrddraal? So many things to think about just on one sentence! It was a great #WoTWednesday. Let us know when you think the Trolloc attack will come in the comments below!

This past weekend, Dragon Con celebrated all the things we love in fandom. The convention went online rather than in person, and that gave many people who can’t make the trek to Atlanta, Georgia the opportunity to see what this fantastic con has to offer. There were quite a few Wheel of Time themed panels throughout the event—not surprising with all the recent updates with the Amazon Prime television show. Jason Denzel, Jennifer Liang, and Thom DeSimone had a speculation hour in the “DragonCon High Fantasy Track Presents Wheel of Time TV Show Speculation.” The topics ranged from how many of the novels will be included in the first season, to how well established the Wheel of Time fandom is to judge the show’s worth, to the maturity rating the show will receive. You can check out all the speculations here! Did you know The Eye of the World celebrated its 30th anniversary? (You should, because we talked about it here, and here, and here…) And, what every Wheel of Time anniversary celebration needs is an appearance by Brandon Sanderson! And for an added bonus, Dr. Michael Livingston joined in too! The panel “DragonCon High Fantasy Presents Wheel of Time 30th Anniversary” delved into what makes this series timeless and so beloved by fans. You can join in all the festivities, even after the fact, by watching the video below. It’s been a sad year for convention goers, but I’m so happy that every effort is being made to keep some of these events going. We’re making the most of a bad situation, and this little taste of home, friends, and family can go a long way to making us feel not so isolated right now.

Amazon Prime's Wheel of Time television show had some major announcements for #WoTWednesday today! Kae Alexander as Min Farshaw Sophie Okonedo as Siuan Sanche Kae Alexander is a BAFTA elevate actress. Kae recently filmed action feature INFINITE for Paramount Pictures and the MALEFICENT sequel for Walt Disney Pictures. Other recent credits include Fox thriller DEEP STATE, THE GREAT WAVE directed by Indhu Rubasingham for the National Theatre, ITV/Amazon thriller STRANGERS for Two Brothers Pictures, 4 part series COLLATERAL written by David Hare and directed by SJ Clarkson for BBC / Netflix, BBC crime thriller HARD SUN, Reb in Steven Spielberg's READY PLAYER ONE and Elaine in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's comedy FLEABAG. Sophie Okonedo's credentials are too long to list here, so we'll name a few. Sophie began her film career in 1991 in the British coming-of-age drama YOUNG SOUL REBEL before appearing as Wachati Princess in ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS (1995) and Stephen Frears' DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (2002). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in the 2004 film HOTEL RWANDA. Sophie also received a Golden Globe nomination for the miniseries TSUNAMI: THE AFTERMATH (2006) and BAFTA TV Award nominations for the drama series CRIMINAL JUSTICE (2009). We are so excited to have these actresses join the Wheel of Time family! Today, three other cast members were officially announced. We already knew they were involved, but it's nice to have it official. Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin Guirale Peter Franzen as Stepin Clare Perkins as Kerene Nagashi Kate Fleetwood is a Tony and Olivier nominated actress with a storied career on stage. Her extensive screen credits include leading roles in Harlots (Hulu/ BBC), Brave New World (Peacock), Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix), Victoria (ITV / PBC Masterpiece) and Macbeth (PBS). Kate’s film work includes Les Miserables, Beiruit, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Peter Franzén is one of Finland’s most accomplished actors and has enjoyed a successful career both nationally and internationally. Franzén’s career has spanned 20 years and includes over 90 movies and series in several countries- in English, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, Estonian speaking productions. He has been awarded three Jussi Awards (Finland’s Academy awards) and a total of seven nominations. He has also received awards from international film festivals. London born and raised and graduate of Rose Bruford College, CLARE PERKINS' is a British actress with almost 30 years in the business. Having performed at some of the most prestigious London theatres such as the Almeida Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Hampstead Theatre, Royal Court Theatre and the Gielgud Theatre, Clare has more recently been making a name for herself on screen, soon to be seen in Netflix crime drama, YOUNG WALLANDER. She will also star in series 4 of popular Netflix series, THE CROWN and the second series of comedy drama FLACK with Anna Paquin. Things are starting to come together. Perhaps a ta'veren is involved. We don't see Siuan in the series until the start of The Great Hunt. Is the fact Sophie Okonedo's been cast now a sign Siuan will pop up earlier than expected? Let us know what you think in the comments below. And be sure to check out our team's reaction The Wheel of Time Community Show:

The latest casting announcement for the Amazon Prime Wheel of Time television show has been announced. Darryl McCormack as Aram Maria Doyle Kennedy as Ila Narinder Samra as Raen These new announcements shouldn't come as any real shocker. Darryl McCormack and Maria Doyle Kennedy were introduced as characters ages ago. Many speculated that Darryl McCormack could be Aram, but most thought Maria Doyle Kennedy was sure to play an Aes Sedai. It's nice to finally have confirmation for these two characters, and the addition of Narinder Samra as Raen. I personally love the idea of the Tuatha'an within the series. Their way of life is simplistic and idealistic. But like Perrin, I agree it's not really applicable in society. Still, I cannot wait to see the Tinkers on the screen. Perhaps the show will even give more closure for their society than what we received in the novels. Maybe they'll find their song. You can check out the latest edition of The Wheel of Time Community Show where Thom gives you all the details you'll need about our beloved Tinkers. Did anyone anticipate Maria Doyle Kennedy as Ira? Let us know in the comments!