Fifteen Thoughts on The Wheel of Time‘s “Leavetaking,” “Shadow’s Waiting,” and “A Place of Safety”

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose above the great recap pages of Multiversity Comics. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

The Wheel of Time is a high fantasy series based on a fifteen-book saga that was published between 1990 and 2013, with the first twelve books written by Robert Jordan, and the last three completed by Brandon Sanderson. Capping at over four million words, it is definitely a doorstopper, one fans (including myself, admittedly) have been waiting to be adapted for quite some time, having been completed as a book series.

As a warning to book readers, this series is not exactly a one-to-one translation. There are some changes, such as inclusion of new characters or excision of encounters, different arrangements of scenes, changes in the possibilities of the world to make up for a lack of female presence in some areas early on, and more sexual content than is common in the series especially early.

For sake of clarity, while we will likely hear the meaning behind the term later, just assume that ta’veren effectively means “protagonist.”

Today, we will look into the three-part premiere: “Leavetaking,” “Shadows Waiting,” and “A Place of Safety.”

1. A Speedy Introduction

The explanation for the state of the world in this series is decidedly extremely quickly put together, a narration that encompasses, at best, one minute’s time. The way that Rosamund Pike’s Moiraine Sedai (the latter word being a title) shoves through the explanations for the Breaking of the World and the existence of the Dragon, a kind of bizarre mixture between a figure of horror and one of wonder, makes it appear as though the script and the actress want to just get narration out of the way rather than let people sit on it. Of course, it makes sense in the character of a distressed individual looking for a reborn extremely dangerous figure, but the distinction from the way in which the world’s state is revealed in the novels, with massive destruction but still somehow slower worldbuilding, is still rather jarring.

In general, the opening of this episode is altogether far more action-oriented than its source, from that fast narration to the women of the Red Ajah (think “magic police” who guard against the madness that pervades male channelers [more on that later]) chasing down a hallucinating male channeler on horseback, rather than the slow openings with which fans of the franchise may be more familiar. This is not to say that the opening is bad, only that it is quite different in tone and perhaps better suited for film audiences who would expect high action pieces as a cold open, even as Moiraine and her Warder companion Lan Mandragoran watch over the capture of such a man calmly.

The speediness of the opening also serves as a crash course in the glossary of terms either unique to this series or with meanings unique to it. From Aes Sedai to channelers to ta’veren, there are a lot of terms to know in these opening moments. Some things are even changed, from the number of ta’veren (from three to four, now including Egwene al’Vere) to the fact that the Dragon could be reborn as a girl, likely brought about by the changing times since 1990 (but nonetheless perhaps odd given the terror brought about by male channelers far outstripping that of women). Thankfully, the structure of the episode helps to explain what they mean, negating much need for people to ask anything and allowing them to just enjoy the plot as it is.

Later discussions, such as Tam’s talk about the Wheel of Time itself and the lessons it can teach in learning from your mistakes or second chances, seem to fit better with the tone and speed of the story, making this introductory piece all the stranger.

2. An Eclectic Cast of Characters

The show wastes no time in showing quite a few characters after the title (which seems to lack a distinct, longer theme song), from Wisdom Nynaeve al’Meara to Egwene al’Vere to Rand and Tam al’Thor. The tones of their introductions are rather different, from the terror of flowing down one of the eponymous two rivers of her hometown for Egwene to the calm… wisdom enjoyed by Nynaeve to a simple walk down a path with the father and son of the al’Thor family. Other characters are met in quick segments, from Matrim Cauthon to Perrin Aybara, and each have their own special charm to them. The distress in certain parts of Rand’s introduction is notably missing with the lack of a certain creature, but perhaps that is the sacrifice needed for the more hectic opening scenes. As characters eventually get introduced over the course of this premiere, they tend toward examining their key facets, but it is Padan Fain the peddler who has an odd air to him, mixing his introduction with that of a rather horrific, hooded creature in a way that makes it hard to separate one in viewers’ minds from the other.

One introduction of course puts the others to shame: the official introduction of Moiraine (roughly equivalent to the likes of Gandalf the Grey for those who are not acquainted already), and the aforementioned Warder (a term to be likely expounded upon later). Entering the tavern of the town known as the Two Rivers, known for its archery above all, but also generally a simple farming village, she shocks them all.

3. A Living, Breathing World

Even without showing us, the premiere makes clear that this is a world of magic and intrigue, of many factions even outside of direct line of sight. There is quite a lot to understand, to recognize, with elements of a small town’s cultural practices (such as the intrigue around the Women’s Circle and the braid) featuring heavily and adding life to an already wide world.

Families are seemingly rather important, with each of the men in the story having their own. From Perrin’s wife Layla to Matrim’s siblings, mother, and father to more, there are elements that are used to give all the more life to the characters themselves and make them more relatable. However, given the book series already had 2782 named characters, nearly all of whom had importance to the plot, it may be a bit daunting for viewers going forward if they add too much.

4. Gradual Introduction of Threats

The threat of the hooded figure identified as an “Eyeless” or a “Fade” hangs over the appearance of Lan and Moiraine in the Two Rivers. It comes slowly, its menace more of a general feeling of foreboding rather than attacking anyone up front. The butchered animals in a field, the unease felt by those who can hear the wind, the direct attention given by the Aes Sedai and her Warder… all of these are important, and help set the scene for the all-but-certain horrors to come to this quiet village (as with many a high fantasy story).

As if to punctuate that level of danger, the characters who are unaware are more concerned with their own personal troubles, from Mat trying to make money by conning women to Rand and Egwene’s concerns over the latter possibly setting herself aside from any prospects for marriage in the future. These issues are definitely important to them, and they are well acted, but their sheer insignificance against monsters on the horizon only serves to further punctuate how small a gaze these characters have at this point in time.

It is for that reason that when the threat does come, when the violence truly begins, it is extremely shocking, brought about in the midst of joy and cheer rather than in the dead of night.

5. More than They Seem, Less than They Will Need to Be

As early as the first episode, there are a sizable amount of secrets shown. From Padan Fain’s apparent allegiance with the Trollocs (a mixture of trolls and orcs that make up the majority of the dark forces) to Tam’s expert swordsmanship to the identities of who was behind this strike (unless it was Fain himself), nothing is what it seems. While the time in the village of the Two Rivers seems to take a long time, it is only in that last quarter of the first episode that things really ramp up, showing that it is not humans who are the only threat, but rather monsters the likes of which the Two Rivers had never seen, but Tam, Moiraine, and Lan had.

The attacks by Moiraine Sedai herself, an excellent showcase of the One Power at work, show how dangerous an Aes Sedai can be to forces they can face, making all of the time she spent merely walking around and seeming mildly creepy bear fruit, even when she, like many others of the heroes, is overwhelmed even in the midst of victory.

Even the general townspeople of the Two Rivers show they are more than just passive observers, as when they overcome their shock, they are more than willing to fight back to defend their home, even if it is only with gardening implements. In spite of that, none of this is to say they are fully prepared for combat, as tragedy strikes in the worst of times when townsfolk full of bloodlust lose control of themselves and swing their weapons wildly.

—

6. Nobody Expects the Amadician Inquisition

The initial impression of the Children of the Light, better known as the “Whitecloaks,” is rather disturbing. Eamon Valda, their initial perspective character who is a member of the torturing “Questioners,” mixes the most infamous elements of the Spanish Inquisition and the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (or the Knights Templar, as they are commonly known), treating channelers in a manner akin to witches regardless of gender. Despite him ostensibly being on the side of the Light (that is, opposed to the Dark One and related forces), and in theory trying to help the world, Valda ignores the fundamental personhood of an Aes Sedai he is burning at the stake while he casually eats a meal, having already had her hand cut off. The fact that he carries a collection of serpent rings of the Aes Sedai numbering at least seven (and that may only be that day) shows that even if he believes that “brutality is the only path to mercy,” he is also nothing but a sadist when push comes to shove. Any attempts at being entirely benevolent also falls apart with one of Valda’s declarations to Lan: “Children of the Light hold sway wherever men walk in the Light.” In essence, it means he can do whatever he wants, wherever he wants, so long as he is still acting in the interest of the Light his own logic, a decidedly circular approach.

Despite her evident prowess in combat to a degree, the fact that Moiraine cannot use the One Power as a weapon unless absolutely necessary means that she, too, is well aware of the dangers of the Whitecloaks (as they are known by commoners and detractors alike), and demands absolute truthfulness from her charges as well as no mention of the White Tower (headquarters of the Aes Sedai) when passing them.

Interestingly, the Whitecloaks, while not a specifically allied force, also are not, necessarily, all inherently evil, nor all entirely against the aid of Aes Sedai. One among them, Geofram Bornhald, takes note of a wound on Moiraine and, while noting that the Children often steer clear of Aes Sedai, recommended that she seek refuge in the White Tower and get aid from the Aes Sedai to heal her wound. Furthermore, he seemed to want to go out to fight the Trollocs to the east and help people, rather than simply go around looking for more people to “question.” Perhaps they are often bad, but it seems that it is the Questioners like Valda who are the worst of the Children of the Light, not that they are the overwhelming majority.

7. A Symbolic Opening

In the second episode, we first see the opening credits for this series. They make extensive use of the imagery of thread, which is rather telling. After all, there is extensive use of weaving metaphors throughout the saga. Time runs along a wheel with spokes to indicate Ages. Magic is used by way of a manner of spells called “Weaves,” using threads of five different Classical elements (air, earth, fire, spirit, and water). The whole of creation that needs defending is known as “the Pattern.” All of this is emphasized through those simple images, with the weaves in the opening sequence making tapestries to give hints to the future by way of various characters who are put together.

Unlike a similar show related to the A Song of Ice and Fire series, this opening does not appear to be deliberately representative of the events within a given episode, at least not yet, as those who know the plot of the epic saga may recognize characters who will not be appearing at all for several books.

8. Hard Choices and Bad Dreams

The Trollocs and their Eyeless (or Fade, or… a lot of names), master are a potent threat. The latter does not do much, but the fact that Moiraine is willing to lead a man to drown as she sinks his ferry rather than allow the various Shadowspawn to cross running water on it speaks volumes, and the ferryman’s reaction acknowledging the Whitecloaks helps tie the two stories together. That Moiraine further states that “there are things more dangerous than Trollocs in this world” is a foreboding reminder that this is just the beginning of the heroes’ journey.

However, the death of the ferryman did give the four ta’veren pause: what if they stepped out of line? Luckily, it appears that the three oaths of the Aes Sedai (made to end a siege that was centuries past) prevent her from actually killing people with the One Power, or from “speaking a word that is not true,” so she was, by her logic, not actually killing the ferryman, but rather he gave his own life for a foolish cause. Further, the idea that she cannot say a word that is untrue means that her “cover story” to the Whitecloaks of being a lady of a fallen house is likely true, but not the whole truth.

Between the hectic nature of their journey and horrifying dreams (see below), Rand is starting to reach his wit’s end for the time being, starting snapping at Moiraine for answers on what they are to do, and why going to the White Tower would be a good thing for a man at all. However, despite Matrim agreeing that they are likely being used for some other aim, he cautions Rand to not be on the bad side of the woman who can “shoot fireballs from her hands,” which all things considered is a rather sensible approach, given even the resident gambler isn’t willing to take that bet.

On the other hand, what if she was right, and one of them is the Dragon Reborn, the strongest channeler ever to live? Amusingly, there does not seem to be any connection to dragons in other fiction, with Dragon simply being a title, rather than indicative of a certain magical being.

However, the fact that it could be a man or a woman seems to negate some of the effectiveness of the danger such a channeler can possess: after all, only men who can channel broke the world, and only men who can channel go mad when using their powers. A woman being the Dragon would just be… a strong channeler, and no less nor more of a liability than any other person, save for their raw ability.

The three male ta’veren are having trouble sleeping, their dreams all having visualizations of dead bats. Rand pulled one out of his throat, and Mat claims to have seen their necks snap in midair and fall to the ground. All three of them saw a man with “eyes like embers,” and with the trail of bats upon waking, was it a dream at all?

Moiraine indicates that they should tell her if they have another such dream immediately, as “dreams have power.” Does she mean power with a lowercase p, or an uppercase one indicating the One Power?

9. Rising Secrets and the Power of Legacy

As is gradually becoming apparent, each of the main characters in The Wheel of Time have their specialties. Some of those even become apparent as early as this point.

Egwene al’Vere is a channeler, as are many Wisdoms before her. The ability to “listen to the wind” and thereby predict the weather utilizes small strands of the One Power. The revelation from Moiraine Sedai shocks her, though it likely would not have shocked the likes of Nynaeve if she were present (given the ending, there is no question of her survival), given she knew that the Wisdom before her had gone to the White Tower to learn, and viewers may also realize that if Egwene can channel, and was taught more by Nynaeve, perhaps the latter also has (or had) the ability.

Alone, Perrin has a strange interaction with a pack of wolves. They appear ready to fight him, but instead… one of them comes up to him, and licks his wounded leg before they all run off. Does he have some kind of connection to them? If so, how deep does it go, and to what end?

Along the path, the four ta’veren sing a song about the fall of Manetheren, one that they do not understand, but Moiraine does. As it turns out, they are the descendants of that ancient kingdom from the “Trolloc Wars,” which held out as a thorn in the Dark One’s hand for thirteen days despite false agreement to help from nearby kingdoms (most notably Aridhol, see below). They fought to the last, not an inch of ground not drenched in blood, until the king fell in battle. His wife, the queen, felt him die, and drew so fiercely upon the Power that she annihilated the entire invading force, but also burned away herself, leaving only the children of the great kingdom to rebuild from the ashes of what remained. Judging from the way in which the kingdom was described, and specifically its king and queen, it seems they were led by an Aes Sedai and her Warder, who have some kind of mystical link between them much like how Lan and Moiraine can feel one another to some degree (a feeling explained further by a character somewhat in the succeeding episode). What would happen if one of them were to die? It is a question for another time, but as Moiraine notes, there is power in the old blood that runs through the Two Rivers folk’s veins (though perhaps not literally).

10. Splitting the Party in Shadar Logoth

Shadar Logoth, translated from the Old Tongue as “Shadow’s Waiting” (yes, like the title of the second episode), is a cursed city of sorts. When the heroes are chased there by the Trolloc and Eyeless forces (who will not enter the city itself, such is its corruption), they notice that there is no life in the city at all, not even birds or bugs, just absolute silence aside from them and their horses. They take refuge in what appears to be some kind of chapel, and try to keep the still-poisoned Moiraine warm. As Lan explains, it was Aridhol, the nation that decayed into Shadar Logoth, that let the nation of Manetheren die and fall into becoming just the Two Rivers. Closed off with a wall and no gate, they fell not to the Trollocs outside, against whom they were defending themselves, but to inner darkness amongst themselves. The land is so cursed that Lan notes that they should touch nothing and only eat the food that they had brought into the city.

In the dark of night, or close enough to it, Mat awakens to the sound of ominous whispers. Stepping out of the chapel (not the first one to do so, given Rand and Egwene spent some time across the street from it), he feels compelled to draw out a ruby-hilted dagger from a box under some rubble. Unlike the knife he gave to Perrin earlier, this is definitely a weapon, rather than a tool. However, as soon as he does take it, a black wind seems to chase them all, turning those it touches and is breathed in by to ash. As they are chased, Mat and Rand are separated from Egwene and Perrin, and all of them are apart from Moiraine and Lan, forcing the entire sextet to separate into pairs as they attempt to escape this arcane force and leave the city separately.

Frankly, the fact that Perrin and Egwene are able to jump from the top of the wall encircling the city and survive their fall without any broken bones due to falling in water is rather silly, but it is common enough in fiction that it can be ignored.

When forced to stop and care for the still wounded Moiraine, Lan is surprised by a serrated knife at his throat held by none other than Nynaeve herself, who demands that they take her to “them” (meaning the four ta’veren) or she would slit Lan’s throat.

—

11. The Warder and the Wisdom

As it turns out, Nynaeve escaped the Trollocs who had kidnapped her when they dropped her on the ground and one of them brutally murdered the other for being wounded (and thus incapable of fighting effectively), hiding in one of the pools of water she deemed sacred in an earlier conversation with Moiraine. Evidently, the Trollocs are nasty to look at and very strong, along with perhaps relatively fast, but they are all brawn and no brains, compared to their Eyeless leaders. And barring that, Nynaeve is even able to kill one of them with just their own knife (the same one she was seen to threaten Lan with as shown in the previous episode) once she had the upper hand, meaning they are rather ineffectual unless in massive hordes.

Back in the present, Nynaeve refuses to help heal Moiraine, and is tied to a tree and gagged by Lan. By the time daylight comes, she is willing to help if Moiraine will give her the answers she wants. Such a statement is not a demand, but a threat, given the Aes Sedai will die without treatment, and there is no Wisdom or other form of healer around the area who can help. With that, she finally agrees, and begins assembling nearby herbs for a treatment (under Lan’s watch to see if she runs to escape), rejecting his question of how she tracked him all the way from the Two Rivers to Shadar Logoth.

The mosses and flowers and other plants she collected are made into a poltice through the use of a very small mortar and pestle (likely carried with her as per her duties as a Wisdom), then applied to the wounded area on Moiraine (along with within it through cutting open the wound and pressing the treatment in with disgusting detail). Interestingly, Nynaeve seems to actually know a fair bit about Warders and Aes Sedai, at least enough to know one feels the other’s troubles and perhaps pain, but her knowledge seems to be either slightly inaccurate or Lan is exceptionally stoic, as he does not react at all when she applies the treatment despite her warnings, then lets it sit and work on its own, which would take much more time than just channeling a weave would for others. Still, this poison is not like any she had seen before, so she worries about the effectiveness of her treatment.

12. Breen’s Spring

In some kind of mountainous region, Rand convinces Mat to continue their trek toward the White Tower on foot, given it is all they know to do in order to stay safe. The two find their way to some kind of settlement with a lake known as Breen’s Spring, albeit one that has a corpse out in a cage as warning in front. Mat notices a purple jewel of some sort on the corpse, but leaves it be. Inside the nearby Four Kings Inn, they meet with the bartender and innkeeper, Dana, who warns them not to try singing to the people for coin, lest they be thrown out into the lake in favor of the gleeman.

As for the gleeman? Meet Thom Merrilin, the traveling storyteller (also known as a “gleeman”). He is introduced to Mat and Rand while telling one of his many tales and playing a song in a tavern, one about someone who was in “a prison of his making” and could not forget. He effectively steals some of Mat and Rand’s coins, but not without a smile on his face for teaching them some life lessons about living on their own.

Some time later, Mat’s curiosity about the jewel in the cage with the corpse gets the better of him, and he goes out in the dead of night, only to be found by Thom, who simply wants to bury the body. Thom is no fool, and is well aware that, based on Mat’s behavior and dress and more, he is from the Two Rivers and thus would find it odd that he would have seen a Trolloc. On bringing down the corpse, it turns out that the corpse itself is an “Aiel,” one of the desert peoples from the aptly named Aiel Waste to the east. Fierce warriors, they are nonetheless honorable, and only a threat when they pull their veils up over their faces. On the other hand, this one was not veiled at all, and thus was no threat, only killed by those who did not understand who they faced.

As one interesting note, the Aiel are known for their red hair, which is rare outside of their home… not unlike Rand himself. Curious…

13. Wolves and Tinkers

When trying to start a campfire and worried about the howls of the wolves that continue following them, Egwene notices Perrin’s distress at being unable to strike a sufficient spark and instead, herself, channels fire, one of the “Five Powers” of the One Power, and ignites their kindling in a small degree, Perrin helping her to blow on it to make it a full flame. He is well aware she channeled, and jokes about her making food or water. Egwene has the wrong idea about what Rand would want, believing he would be on his way back to the Two Rivers, and Perrin has to repeatedly tell her they cannot go back, a direct reversal of her and Rand’s positions before they separated.

In the dark of night, Perrin has a nightmare of a wolf eating the innards of his late wife Layla from the wound he had inflicted, followed by her opening her eyes to look at him, glassy as the dead. He turns around and sees that same figure with eyes of embers, his mouth opened with the same orange glow, before waking up once more. The figure is more easily seen, with his face scarred and crackled, lacking a functional nose and perhaps hair.

However, Perrin awakens immediately afterwards, and follows Egwene through the deadened woods they had camped in as the wolves chase them, continuing to run even after the wolves stop chasing them for some reason. On finding some wheel tracks, it seems as though the wolves were actually leading them toward this point, to help them head in the direction of the White Tower.

As they travel, Perrin seems intent on keeping Egwene safe, but she tells him “it’s not [his] fault,” meaning somehow, whether by reading his mind or hearing him in his sleep or just inferring from his behavior, that she knows he killed Laila by accident in the Bel Tine massacre. He does seem hesitant to agree, for obvious reasons of his own feelings of guilt.

As they are about to follow, they are found by a group of travelers in the style of real-life Bedouin or Romani peoples, known to themselves as the Tuatha’an, translated to the “Traveling People,” but to Egwene and Perrin they are known as the “Tinkers.” The people are very kind, providing food and blankets, and explain how their reputation for thievery of gold and children is ill-earned. Most of them are rather kind, but one, by the name of Aram, the grandson of the troupe’s apparent leaders, is much more sarcastic and willing to be up front about who they are and others’ beliefs about them.

14. Friends of the Dark

Dana may be friendly and seem to be curious about the outside world beyond her hometown, but she is, at her core, a Darkfriend, one who serves the Dark One in the name of power. She had received a vision of five youths from the Two Rivers, and knew who the two men who entered her inn were, having braided her hair deliberately to appear similar to Egwene and seduced Rand in order to attempt to steal Tam’s heron-marked blade (more about that if or when it comes up later). As for why she wants to serve the Shadow: she sees the fact that the Wheel keeps turning as a means for people to keep “hurting,” and wishes for the Dragon to break the Wheel of Time and make the pain stop. In the name of that goal, she claims she would receive the same glory as “Ishamael,” the last person to bring the Dragon to the Dark One three thousand years ago. She also had called for one of the Eyeless to come and help her in case Rand and Mat were to escape somehow, as they cannot hope to outrun a “Fade.”

Thankfully, after Rand breaks down a door that allegedly could not be broken down by “three men [his] size” (strange, that) and she chases him through the town, she is ultimately killed by Thom, who proves quite effective with a throwing knife by sending one straight through her throat from behind, not to mention far more worthy of trust than he initially seemed as shown with his proper burial for the Aiel mentioned before.

That done, he leads the two away, hopefully to escape before the Fade reaches the town, heading eastward, but not without Rand retrieving his father’s sword once more.

As an interesting note, Dana is an original character to the television series, though she is comparable to various other characters met either after separating from the group at Shadar Logoth or soon after that point.

15. The False Dragon

As Lan leads Nynaeve southeast on horseback with Moiraine in his horse’s saddle, they come across Liandrin Sedai, an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah (as opposed to Moiraine’s Blue). The same woman who had worked on the other man in the beginning of the second episode, Liandrin proudly states that she had captured a man calling himself the Dragon Reborn, one in a cage, a foreboding message for Moiraine given her mission to save the world and bring forth the Dragon. However, the man himself remains relatively calm, albeit seemingly at least a bit angry, and may prove a problem later.

And there you have it, the three-episode series premiere of The Wheel of Time. Do you have any thoughts, questions, or concerns? Feel free to leave comments below. See you next week!