The Wheel of Time season three is nearly over but the action continues to amp up across its lands. In episode seven, the series took us back to the Two Rivers for an epic battle. Perrin Aybara leads the Two Rivers people against Padan Fain and his army, including Trollocs. He even goes to an unlikely source, the Whitecloaks, for assistance, making a deal that will change his future.
At the beginning of the season, the five Two Rivers friends—Rand, Egwene, Perrin, Nynaeve, and Mat—all went off on various quests. Rand and Egwene are with the Aiel people as he works to garner their loyalty as the Car’a’carn. Mat and Nynaeve are in Tanchico with Elayne on the heels of Liandrin and the Black Ajah. But Perrin’s journey this season feels quite removed from all of this White Tower, Aes Sedai, and Dragon Reborn drama.
He returns home to the Two River to face his unresolved trauma and mistakes while protecting his people. Perrin even has his own ensemble of powerful people, including two Aiel warriors, Alanna the Green Ajah, her warder Maksim, and the brave Ogier Loial, who sacrifices his life in battle in this episode. However, it is clear that Perrin is a reluctant leader of the Two Rivers people. However, he’s great in this position.
“Perrin doesn’t mold into this sort of archetype of a leader throughout this episode, even though there’s big moments in battle and big moments of heroism,” actor Marcus Rutherford tells Nerdist. “[His leadership] is mainly in those small nuanced moments where he’s talking to the Tuatha’an and he knows what to say to them, or he’s talking to Mat’s sisters or to Faile or Loial. I think that’s the beauty of his leadership. People are always kind of looking to him and he knows what to say at the right time.”
Perrin and his crew begin to prepare the Two Rivers for another Trolloc invasion. They teach the Wetlanders how to fight and protect themselves. Things become increasingly bleak when the Tuatha’an arrive after losing many of their people to the Trollocs. Considering all the refugees that were at the Whitecloak camps as well, it means they will need all the resources they can to fight against the Trollocs.
So, Perrin brokers a deal with Dain, the current Whitecloak leader, for their assistance in this fight. It’s a risky proposition to go to this enemy for a couple of reasons. Perrin killed Dain’s father Geofram in a fit of rage in the season two finale. And Alanna and Mat’s sister can channel, which puts them at risk of death. This unlikely team up led to one of the most expansive battles in The Wheel of Time so far, which was quite the feat for the cast and crew to accomplish. Rutherford revealed that it took weeks of night shoots to film and relied on very intricate choreography and hitting marks perfectly to accomplish.
“I spoke to [director] Ciarán Donnelly at the start of the season and I kind of knew this was a part of the season,” Rutherford said. “I didn’t know if it would be just an episode of Perrin’s story… It was amazing to hear that that storyline was given its own episode. I think I’ve always struggled a little bit with the fighting if there’s dialogue in the middle of it or there’s moments where it breaks. And so we really worked on choreographing the space and the fighting styles so that it would be quite messy and brutal. People should be getting knocked down and be on top of each other.”
It’s not the first epic fight we’ve seen this season. But, unlike the Aes Sedai battle in the White Tower, this fight is in a village with people who don’t have combat skills nor powers. Rutherford said this made a big difference when it came to mapping and choreographing movements.
“This isn’t like a fight with Lan or this isn’t channeling, or this isn’t the Aiel, which is very slick. It’s villagers digging them deep to kind of fight,” he affirmed. “And I wanted that aspect to come through. I wanted people to be knocked on the ground or people being hit by stuff. We did a lot of rehearsals with Ciarán and the DP to really choreograph different sequences. There’s one sequence in the middle where we’re all fighting and the camera’s turning and there’s explosions going off, and you really had to hit your mark. There was a level of preparation I hadn’t really seen on the show before for this, a lot of night shoots, but it was really fun.”
In the end, Perrin is willing to trade his own freedom to reduce the deaths in the Two Rivers. He allows the Whitecloaks to take him prisoner following the battle. This turn of events stuns everyone but they also honor Perrin as their selfless leader. Perrin’s choice is quite intentional as a person who, like the wolf, is protective over his pack. Rutherford’s input on this pivotal scene was vital as the person who understands Perrin’s psyche and overall persona the most.
Rutherford says, “There was a final line where I think initially it wanted to be exclaimed to the village that violence never ends. And I remember saying to the director that, I feel like if Perrin can just say that to Dain, and as long as Ila and the Tuatha’an hears it, it’s still powerful. This isn’t like ‘I sacrifice myself!,’ you know what I mean? There’s something still and quiet about it. His heroic nature is understated and underplayed. I think he just has an overwhelming sense of guilt… I think there’s cathartic moments throughout this season from burying Layla’s ring to going back home to the Two Rivers. That moment of handing himself in almost feels like a purge of his sins. There’s something almost religious about it in a way.”
We will have to see what happens next with Perrin. The Wheel of Time’s season finaleOpens in a new tab could give us a small look into his imprisonment. Or, we may have to wait until season four to find out more. Either way, Perrin’s underrated journey from a blacksmith to a war hero is one we hope continues for many years to come.
