Hold onto your heron mark swords, everyone. We have our first look at images from The Wheel of Time TV series. It’s the most we’ve seen of the Amazon Prime Video adaptation of Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy novels so far. Amazon has shared a few cryptic video teases, and then they dropped a poster for The Wheel of Time at San Diego Comic-Con. But now? Entertainment Weekly shared a handful of first look photos and we can fully appreciate the cast and an important location.
Amazon Prime Video
First up, let’s look at this dramatic cast photo. From left to right we have Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoë Robins), Mat Cauthon (Barney Harris), Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henny), Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike), Egwene (Madeleine Madden), Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford), and Rand al’ Thor (Josha Stradowski). The group journeys together after Moiraine and Lan come to the Emond’s Field, the small village in the Two Rivers where the youths are all from. Moiraine, an Aes Sedai, goes to the village in search of the prophesied Dragon Reborn, who will save or destroy the world. She knows it’s either Rand, Perrin, or Mat. And as for Egwene and Nynaeve? Moiraine senses their power and knows they could be powerful Aes Sedai. She’s their guide to the bigger world outside of their village, and they’re reluctant to trust her.
Of course their journey out of the Two Rivers is fraught with peril, because the enemy, an evil being known as the Dark One, also suspects one of the three young men is the Dragon Reborn.
Anyway. The next imagine depicts a peaceful moment between Rand and Egwene, perhaps in the slopes above the Two Rivers. Or maybe in a quiet moment on their journey with Moiraine.
Amazon Prime Video
And below is something very interesting: a caged Logain (Álvaro Morte). Logain is a False Dragon. He can channel the One Power, the magic in The Wheel of Time world, a hallmark of someone being the reincarnated Dragon, but he doesn’t fit the prophecy. The One Power is divided into male and female halves, saidin and saidar respectively, and saidin is tainted. Men who channel saidin often go mad. So the Aes Sedai step in, as you can see in this image. The color of the cloaks denotes the color of an Aes Sedai’s Ajah, and you can see two members of the Red Ajah riding behind Logain—Alanna (Priyanka Bose) and Kerene (Clare Perkins).
In the books, those of the Red Ajah famously loathe men. They’ve captured Logain to “gentle” him, meaning that they strip his ability to channel. The act of gentling is often fatal because of the sudden absence of the One Power.
As for that important location we mentioned above, behold Shadar Logoth.
Amazon Prime Video
This is one place in The Wheel of Time (this world doesn’t have a name a la Middle-earth) that most avoid at all costs. Even those fighting for the enemy. It was once a great city that destroyed itself during past wars with evil. A malevolent pale white fog known as Mashadar haunts the city. Mashadar kills any being it manages to touch. And if you take anything from Shadar Logoth, even a pebble, you’re screwed. Its evil will taint and eventually kill you.
Our questing group takes a detour to Shadar Logoth because they have no other options to escape the enemy’s pursuing monsters, beastly creatures called Trollocs. This image shows Lan, Moiraine’s Warder (kind of like a bodyguard with cool special abilities), carrying Moiraine in his arms. Though Moiraine is a quite strong channeler of the One Power, using it constantly in large quantities will drain a person.
If you’ve read the books, you know something quite dire happens in Shadar Logoth. However, I won’t go into details. Yet.
The Entertainment Weekly article also features some commentary from showrunner Rafe Judkins. Read it here.
The Wheel of Time premieres on Amazon Prime Video in November 2021. So yes, you still have plenty of time to read the first book, The Eye of the World. Hopefully we’ll get a trailer soon.
Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of A Kid’s Guide to Fandom, available now. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
