The Wheel Of Time Season 2 Teaser Breakdown: Rand's New Look, Major Battles Ahead, And... Is That Selene?
Fans of Prime Video's The Wheel of Time were well-fed this week, with the news that Season 3 is officially a go, but more to the point with a provocative peek at the yet-to-be-scheduled Season 2.
The 100-second long behind-the-scenes featurette (embedded above) shows off epic battles, a variety of striking locations, and plenty of characters both familiar and new.
Adapted from Robert Jordan's sprawling high fantasy novels, the first season of The Wheel of Time last November/December took viewers on a perilous adventure through the events of the first book, The Eye of the World. Going into Season 2, it looks like showrunner Rafe Judkins has streamlined the next two novels, The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn, to occur over a single season. That makes sense, since Judkins has already teased Season 3 to be all about The Shadow Rising aka Book 4.
What all is to be gleaned from the BTS video above? Scroll down for our closer look at the assorted faces, new hairdos and curious Easter eggs to be found....
The sizzle reel opens with a quick glimpse of three Maidens of the Spear, or women who belong to a fierce warrior society within the Aiel. We saw one of these Maidens in action last season, when Rand's mother Tigraine (played by Magdalena Sittova) fought off soldiers while giving birth. In this scene, the actress in the center appears to be Ayoola Smart (Killing Eve) as Aviendha, a major character from the books with a special connection to Rand.
We don't see much of Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) and Lan (Daniel Henney) in this sizzle reel, though they're seen here walking down a nondescript beach. Note, it doesn't look identical to the one we saw at the end of Season 1, where the Seanchan made their bombastic entrance into the show. Moiraine and Lan admittedly don't do as much in the second and third books compared to the first, so we can probably expect some brand new material for the characters, similar to what we saw last season after the events of Shadar Logoth.
One of the major events of The Dragon Reborn is the Battle of Falme, which occurs between several factions, notably the Whitecloaks (Children of the Light) and the Seanchan. That could very well be what these next two shots are serving up. We see a group of Whitecloaks riding horses down a barren waste with a siege weapon in the background. Then a large wheel with what appear to be cuffs, perhaps teasing a torture device used by the Seanchan. Then we see a Children of the Light officer with blondish white hair and a mouth covering who might be Jaret Byar, a particularly ruthless Whitecloak who serves under Geofram Bornhald (Stuart Graham), whom we met last season.
After a brief glance at Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) traveling with the Shienarans, we see ruins of some kind buried in palm trees, then we cut back to what is likely a Seanchan stronghold in Falme. The Seanchan in the center might be the High Lord Turak, a major antagonist of The Great Hunt. If they're consolidating the books, however, we might expect his role to be somewhat diminished in the show.
At just past the 30-seconds mark, we finally see Rand (Josha Stradowski), the Dragon himself, blazing into the season like Indiana Jones. His head is now shaved, perhaps to hide his red hair (a giveaway for being Aiel), and he appears to be caught up in a conflict inside a fishing village of some sort, perhaps the outer shanties of Tear (though this could just as easily be one of the many nameless villages Rand visits in The Dragon Reborn).
We immediately cut to Rand on a beach with a woman we haven't met before. She has dark hair and formal clothes, which means this might be Natasha O'Keeffe, who has long been rumored to be cast as Selene (though that is not yet official). If we're skipping right to the coast with these characters, then it's likely we won't see Rand and the others visiting Cairhien anytime soon.
The clip speeds up a bit for the next part, quickly showing us a woman, perhaps Min (Kae Alexander), staring ominously at something. Then we get rapid cuts of several actors from their back. First, we see Rand marching forward in what is probably that same fishing village from before... someone with long white hair walking into an immaculate building... and Padan Fain (Johann Myers) confidently breezing down a mansion hallway. Perhaps he's heading for the Darkfriend Social in Illian?
We see a few more vague shots of a man in dark clothes (likely a Fade), a small structure in a dirt field, and more footage of the Battle of Falme, showing off some impressive stunt work. Forty-five seconds in, we finally get our first glance at Egwene (Madeleine Madden), who's been training at the White Tower as an Aes Sedai. She also appears to be in possession of what might be objects of the One Power....
Next, we apparently see our new Mat (Donal Finn) practicing with a quarterstaff. He appears to be training with Warders in the White Tower, which would essentially track with what goes down in The Dragon Reborn. (After Barney Harris departed the show last season, it was unclear what they would do with Mat going forward. Looks like a reunion with Egwene and maybe Nyneave [Zoë Robins] is in store.)
The sizzle shows off a few more battle scenes and effects, including a glimpse of a Whitecloak (perhaps Dain Bornhald, son of Geofram) fighting a Maiden of the Spear. We then see one of the most cryptic moments from The Great Hunt, as Perrin and the Shienarans come across a dead Fade, pinned to a door. We don't see Loial, so it's unclear where he might be this season (Showrunner Rafe Judkins confirmed with us that he is still alive in the show). But the other Shienarans here could be Uno, Masema, and a few others.
Angsty Rand comes onto the scene, likely pondering his role as the Dragon and confronting the dangers of him channeling as a man. His central role in the narrative is to fulfill the prophecy of the Dragon Reborn and save the world... before he goes mad and destroys it. Lots to think about, indeed.
As the sizzle reel speeds to its conclusion, we get a variety of blink-and-you'll-miss-it shots. Lan is seen training shirtless as welcome fan service... a woman (maybe Selene again) rides into the moonlit night on horseback... Padan Fain appears with a scowl... the Whitecloaks hover over a map showing their position in the Battle of Falme... and Perrin watches on as a night battle takes place between Seanchan and perhaps Whitecloaks, right before he's dragged away by some unknown attacker.
We then see this mysterious woman with a golden mask. She could be Seanchan, perhaps the Empress. or maybe one of the masked participants of the Darkfriend Social, which would be odd considering she's outside. Based on her mystique and that old-looking attire, she might actually be Lanfear.
The sizzle reel ends with a quick shot of someone attacking downward with a sword, then we get our expected logos teasing the new season to come, hopefully soon. The sizzle certainly shows off quite a bit from The Great Hunt, with only sparse references to events of The Dragon Reborn. That might be because they're saving a lot of that material for the second half of the season, while the first can mainly deal with Seanchan, the hunt for the horn, and Rand's ego trip across the continent.
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