The Wheel of Time Cast on What’s in Store for Their Characters in Season 3

The Wheel of Time season three is nearly here—and the first episode kicks off with a massive, thrilling magic battle scene. (You can watch it here through the end of today, otherwise you’ll have to wait until the premiere.) Ahead of the Robert Jordan adaptation’s return to Prime Video, io9 got a chance to talk with multiple cast members, starting with Sophie Okonedo. Her character, Aes Sedai leader Siuan Sanche, is dead-center in that huge, season-opening brawl.

“I was very nervous to do that scene, because it’s slightly out of my comfort zone,” Okonedo recalled of filming the sequence. “I haven’t done much stuff like that. So I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. But actually it was really great. I was very held through the whole sequence with the other actors and by Ciaran [Donnelly, the episode’s director] and the stunt people. So you felt like you could still do your acting within this huge, choreographed set piece. Hopefully you can see what’s going on with Siuan by my acting, but [she’s experiencing] a lot of things: betrayal, anger, loss.”

Despite the heavy mood of the scene, and all the staging that had to go into it, Okonedo said she had a blast creating it. “It was quite a lot of fun, because it’s actually the first time I’ve been with all those women together, in that room for two weeks. It was a lot of laughs and I was quite sad [when] that bit ended, because we had a good time doing it.”

Siuan’s tender relationship with Moiraine, a powerful Aes Sedai member played by Rosamund Pike, fractured in season two, and there’s still some mending to be done in season three. Moiraine also had strife with her Warder, Lan, after the brief but devastating loss of her powers—but they at least were able to repair their bond ahead of the season two finale.

Daniel Henney, who plays Lan, says the duo will need each other more than ever in season three, as Moiraine resumes her role as mentor of Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski), the prophesied Dragon Reborn who’s destined to fight a potentially world-ending battle.

“I don’t think that he ever held any sort of resentment or blame toward her being so mission-oriented and driven toward their goal,” Henney said. “He understood completely what she was doing. And you could see while he was working this plan out himself, he had the ultimate faith in what she was doing. And that paid off. I think he’s most likely happier to find a level footing with her at the beginning of season three. They’re back together, and they have to be, because what’s in front of Rand [is] sort of devolving and dealing with the corruption and what’s going on inside of him. So they have to be at their strongest right now.”

Other important ties this season include the friendship between lifelong pals Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) and Mat (Dónal Finn), who each went through their own nightmarish twists and turns in season two—but, at the start of season three at least, are finally back together, sharing a drink. Or a few drinks, if you’re Mat, whose party-guy persona helps him work through his PTSD.

“I think he loves being a really good friend,” Finn reflected. “And I think it is so easy to look around the table of his friends and realize how much hardship there is in the world, and particularly [given] all of their circumstances. A big quality in his character is to minimize his own turmoil in an effort to bolster the people around him; it’s really a selfless thing. I’m sure we all have experiences of being like, ‘I want to show up for my mate [even though] I have my own stuff going on,’ but it’s also pretty severe what is going on for him as well. He’s dealing with this inherited pain or grief from the Horn of Valere, [carried over from] the previous Heroes of the Horn. It’s a lot to contend with in his private life—and then also to kind of step out into his public persona and to act like nothing is fine, I think it’s his great friends that see through that and offer him the support that he needs.”

Perrin also draws strength from his old friends, all of whom have experienced life-changing adventures since we first met them in season one. “Perrin actually returns to [their homeland of] the Two Rivers this season,” Rutherford said. “[It reminds you of] everything that happened when Moiraine arrived, they were thrust into this kind of quest and journey. It wasn’t really a decision. They were kind of dragged from their homes. So I think they have that bond, still, that friendship, that this is kind of a situation they didn’t choose to be in. There’s only a few people that they come across who will understand theheavy toll that they carry. And that’s probably the Emond’s [Field] crew that were there initially.”

Two newer additions to Wheel of Time’s ensemble—Elayne Trakand (Ceara Coveney), who is both an Aes Sedai novice and a royal heiress, and fierce Aiel warrior Aveindha (Ayoola Smart)—joined the adventure last season, and while they didn’t spend much time together in season two, season three reveals there could be more than just friendship between the characters.

“On paper they could be perceived as being from very different worlds, from very different upbringings,” Smart said. “But there’s commonality between them, definitely, in terms of how they view the world and their relationship to duty, and to the role that they’ve been given in life and how they ultimately deal with that. There’s an element of a kindred spirit there, and also they’re two women who are both very intelligent and both very curious. I think that natural curiosity also draws them together.”

Speaking of those different backgrounds, audiences will get to meet Elayne’s family early this season, including her formidable mother—Queen Morgase Trakand, played by Dune: Prophecy’s Olivia Williams—and her brothers, Galad (Callum Kerr) and Gawyn (Luke Fetherston).

“It was really, really interesting to be able to dive into that this season and really explore her family dynamics,” Coveny said. “At the end of season two, obviously her experiences being kidnapped and being thrown into such a dangerous situation and surviving, I think has really opened up her world and her perspectives. And then to, so early in season three, be thrown back into the dynamic of her family and having them around her—it really throws up a lot of conflict for her. Being able to work alongside Olivia Williams playing Queen Morgase was absolutely incredible. I think her presence and what she brought to the character really gave me so much to work with and the conflict therein. And then as well bringing in [Elayne’s] brothers, played by the amazing Callum Kerr and Luke Fetherston, they just each brought a dynamic that really challenged what we’ve seen so far of Elayne in the series.”

She continued. “It’s been a really incredible journey to really be torn between her old life and her new life and that responsibility. Also, I think her experiences have taught her that maybe she’s not as ready to be queen as she thought—and maybe there are more things that she needs to apply herself to in order to follow in her mother’s footsteps. It really challenges what her and her mother had always envisioned for her; maybe that isn’t the way anymore. And she’s really coming to grips with what that looks like.”

The Wheel of Time season three premieres March 13 on Prime Video.

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