The first season of Amazon’s Wheel of Time came to a stunning conclusion, with the heroes wrongly assuming the Dark One had been defeated. “The Wheel of Time spins, and epochs pass, leaving behind memories that become legends.
Legend dissolves into myth, and myth slips into obscurity when the Age that gave birth to it returns.” With these lines, fantasy novelist Robert Jordan ushered readers into one of the most well-developed fantasy worlds ever created. Wheel of Time, which was once thought difficult to adapt for the small screen, is now available on Amazon Prime as a TV series.
Moiraine, one of the Aes Sedai – Jordan’s sorceresses – visited the little rural settlement of Two Rivers in the first season of Wheel of Time. She discovered five ta’veren there, people who are vital to the Web of Destiny and have an impact on the world around them. One of them, she assumed, was the Dragon Reborn, the hero destined to face the Dark One, the franchise’s take on the Devil.
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Moiraine drove (Rosamund Pike)the two to the edge of the Blight, desperate to start the Last Battle before the Dark One regained his strength. She took Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) to confront the Dark One after successfully identifying him as the Dragon.
The first episode of Season 1 of The Wheel of Time follows a pretty standard fantasy pattern. The mystical showdown between Rand and the Dark One at the Eye of the World, and a Trolloc invasion at Tarwin’s Gap, are the two events that it focuses on. The magical struggle is truly the key to everything that happens, as is customary in fantasy literature, with the actual war – complete with the killing of thousands – serving as the B-plot. But, in the end, what does it all mean?
The Last Dragon Reborn Explained by Lews Therin Telamon
The chronicle of the Wheel of Time begins 3,000 years ago, when Lews Therin Telamon, the last Dragon Reborn, brought one cycle of the Wheel to a close. He believed he was powerful enough to bind the Dark One, and he accompanied him with an army of male Channelers. His time’s Aes Sedai refused to back him up in his quest, preferring to instead on repairing the world they imagined he would destroy in his Last Battle against the Dark One.
There may be one Dragon Reborn, but all 5 of our heroes have a part to play. Watch all episodes of #TheWheelOfTime now on @PrimeVideo. pic.twitter.com/l6raGJsb5u
— The Wheel Of Time (@TheWheelOfTime) December 28, 2021
Lews Therin Telamon was only partially successful without them by his side; he fought the Dark One in the Eye of the World and bound him with cuendillar seals, an almost unbreakable mineral. The Dark One touched the One Power and corrupted saidin, its masculine half, so victory came at a cost. Any man who wielded the One Power from that day forward was doomed to go insane, as Lews Therin Telamon discovered when he returned home and slaughtered all those he loved.
What Has Been Happening With The Dark One? Is he no longer alive?
Moiraine took Rand al’Thor to the Eye of the World in the hopes that he would be able to repeat the process and bind the Dark One. Her hope was that this cycle of history would come to an end with the Last Battle postponed, but she was incredibly naive. The Dark One had known for a long time that something powerful was brewing in the Two Rivers, and his agent Padan Fain had been watching the five ta’veren develop.
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He didn’t seem to believe Rand was the Dragon Reborn – it’s unclear which of the five ta’veren he thought was the most likely – but he knew confronting the Dragon too soon would not help him defeat him. Moiraine thought Rand had defeated the Dark One at first, but she was entirely wrong. This was not the Last Battle; rather, it was the beginning, with the Dark One manipulating events to gain a little more freedom while also discovering his true opponent in the Dragon Reborn.
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Cuendillar: Moiraine’s Rock and What It Means To The Dark One
When Moiraine glanced down at the cuendillar seal in the Eye of the World, she realised the truth. Cuendillar, commonly known as a hearthstone, is a rare material produced by sorcerers during the last cycle of history in the Wheel of Time. It’s nearly indestructible, absorbing any force that tries to shatter it, and the Dark One’s cage was sealed with cuendillar to keep him contained.
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The True Power, on the other hand, can destroy cuendillar, and when Rand channeled via the sa’angreal, he unleashed enough power to burst one seal. There are other seals dispersed over the world, and they, too, are beginning to fail, assuming the Wheel of Time follows the same trend as the books.
In Season 2, how could Nynaeve assist Moiraine?
The finale of the first season of The Wheel of Time deviates considerably from the books, including elements from subsequent books. One of these is the idea that Moiraine loses her One Power; in the Amazon Prime series, the Dark One himself takes away her capacity to use it. This will undoubtedly serve as an intriguing setup for Wheel of Time season 2, which will presumably focus on Lan’s struggle to come to terms with the breaking of his Warder’s Bond; it’s possible he’ll choose to bond with Nynaeve, given the two are clearly falling in love and do indeed end up bound together in Jordan’s books.
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Nynaeve(Zoë Robins)and Egwene(Madeleine Madden) are both incredibly powerful, and they may be able to help Moiraine recover access to the One Strength; the power that those two ladies wield appears to have no bounds, with Egwene practically bringing Nynaeve back from the dead. Alternatively, Season 2 of Amazon’s Wheel of Time may include it as part of the overall story, with Moiraine using the same techniques she did in the books, such as wearing a powerful bracelet angreal that makes her even stronger than before.
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What Happens To The Main Characters From The Wheel Of Time?
Season 1 of The Wheel of Time sped through the plot at a breakneck pace, reworking much of Robert Jordan’s lore to reach a satisfying ending. The finale takes things a step further, combining plots from earlier in the series, making it even more difficult to predict where the characters will go next.
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Still, it’s certain that Egwene and Nynaeve will wind up at the White Tower, where they’ll become engaged in Aes Sedai politics – and Liandrin will very certainly be revealed as a Darkfriend. Meanwhile, the three male ta’veren will continue their own stories: Rand must face the Madness he now faces as a result of tapping into saidin, while Perrin and Mat must fight their own demons.
The Biggest Book Differences In The Finale Of Season 1 Of The Wheel Of Time
Season 1 of The Wheel of Time differs significantly from the books, most notably in Moiraine’s knowledge of what the Eye of the World is. It is a pool of pure, uncorrupted saidin established by the Aes Sedai at the conclusion of the last cycle of history so that the Dragon Reborn would not be compelled to channel contaminated saidin and risk the Madness, according to Jordan’s novel.
Because of this difference in approach, the confrontation between Rand and the Dark One in Amazon’s Wheel of Time plays out very differently than it does in the books: in the books, Rand is the one who uses the One Power to destroy an army of Trollocs, while Egwene and Nynaeve are powerful but not nearly as spectacular. All five members of the Emond’s Field gang are present for this pivotal battle and play their parts in the Amazon Prime series.
The adaptation, overall, stays true to the fundamental principles and ideas of Robert Jordan’s books, although it is clearly loose with the details. This has resulted in a mixed reaction, with some fans dissatisfied with how things have been changed. In this scenario, a number of elements from later in the series – such as Moiraine’s loss of the One Power – have been included in the first season, leading to a lot of conjecture about the show’s future path.
Seanchan Villains Explained in Wheel Of Time Season 2 Setup
Season 1 of The Wheel of Time concludes with a new menace – the Seanchans – emerging on the continent’s western shore. The Seanchan Empire was founded a thousand years after the Trolloc Wars in the books, and it has already lasted for generations. The Seanchans have wiped off all of the Shadowspawn on their continent, but they have grown to regard the One Power as a tool to be manipulated; they use cuendillar necklaces to control channelers, thereby turning them into puppets.
The Seanchans’ arrival is foreshadowed by a massive wave of destruction in the last scenes of Wheel of Time season 1, hinting at just how destructive they are. In the novels, the Seanchans are able to catch and control some of the most powerful Aes Sedai, even tying Egwene to a leash. It’s unclear whether Amazon’s Wheel of Time series will take the same strategy, or if the plot would be changed in some way.