A massive statue of a stone man, arms bound, kneels by the water. Vendors sell wares on rickety-appearing docks with thatched coverings. Paths wind between the stalls, seemingly never-ending. The docks of the coastal city of Tanchico in The Wheel of Time have a sense of haphazard sturdiness—and a sense of danger. At nighttime, when moonlight and flickering torches cast moody shadows over the set, one feels as though anything can happen. Tanchico, the capital of Tarabon, will feature in The Wheel of Time season three, and Nerdist has a first look at the richly detailed set. We also joined two other outlets on set and toured Tanchico with production designer Ondrej Nekvasil.
What Is Tanchico’s Importance in The Wheel of Time?
Without getting into story spoilers, let’s look at The Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan so we can better get to know Tanchico. As mentioned above, Tanchico is Tarabon’s capital city. It may be one of the oldest cities in the world. Historians claim that some of Tanchico’s architecture dates back to the Age of Legends. An Assembly of Lords elects a king and a panarch to jointly rule Tarabon; both the king and panarch call Tanchico home.
A bustling city in the world of The Wheel of Time, Tanchico is spread over steep hills with three peninsulas reaching into the Tanchico Bay at the mouth of River Andahar. The city was once a place of wealth and success. Now, its sheen is a mere facade. Structures are crumbling. What used to be grand is fading. Thieves, cutthroats, and any number of ne’er-do-wells roam the streets. The docks, in particular, are a place where muscle and brawn rule.
As you can see in the set photos, a few characters have business in Tanchico. We see Min Farshaw (Kae Alexander), Mat Cauthon (Dónal Finn), Elayne Trakand (Ceara Coveney), and Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoe Robins). All of them, even Mat, appear to be wearing traditional Taraboner attire with veils over their faces. We’re very curious to learn more about what they’re up to in the streets of Tanchico as The Wheel of Time season three unfolds.
Tanchico’s Set Design in The Wheel of Time Season 3
Prime Video filmed parts of The Wheel of Time season three at Cape Town Film Studios in South Africa. The location happened to include a beach and basic docks used for Starz’s Black Sails. Production designer Ondřej Nekvasil said he and his team built upon this base to create an ancestral city with a tropical vibe. They constructed the additional structures on the existing set to flesh out the city’s port, as well as adding the entrance wall to the city itself. The Wheel of Time also filmed the interior of Tanchico on stages in Prague, though they shipped the doors and other key pieces from that set to Cape Town from Prague. Constructing the set in Cape Town took about two months.
Nekvasil cited Zanzibar as an influence, both in the docks and the city gate. One can see the inspiration from Zanzibar’s Old Fort in the walls around and throughout the city. We, of course, only saw the sets, but Nekvasil said they remained loyal to the books’ description of Tanchico with its hills and peninsulas. He noted that viewers will mostly see that come through in the wide shots with VFX.
With Tanchico’s docks, though, the goal was to get up close. The Wheel of Time wanted the Tanchico set to feel crowded, intimate, and dangerous—not actually dangerous, though. Nekvasil told us the most challenging part of the set was the wood. Note that the set appeared to be largely made from wood. The material had to be safe while looking like it had been around for a long time, so the team had to sandblast fresh wood to age it.
Take One More Look at our The Wheel of Time Season 3 Exclusive First-Look Images
Just in case you want to see them all together, you can check out the gallery below to explore all our first-look images of The Wheel of Time season 3’s Tanchico one more time.
The official description of each of these The Wheel of Time season three images is as follows:
- Kae Alexander as ‘Min Farshaw’, Dónal Finn as ‘Mat Cauthon’, Ceara Coveney as ‘Elayne Trakand’ in the streets of Tanchico.
- Zoe Robins as ‘Nynaeve al’Meara’ in the streets of Tanchico.
- Residents of Tanchico.
- Tanchico’s bustling waterfront.
And you can witness Tanchico come to life in its full glory when The Wheel of Time season three premieres on Prime Video on March 13.
