Diksha Sundriyal
The third season of Prime Video’s ‘The Wheel of Time’ turns the fates of its characters in unexpected directions in its sixth episode. With only two more episodes to go, this one sets the stage for the conflict that is sure to stir up the final two episodes, especially for Egwene and Rand. The previous episode ended with her watching Rand and Lanfear make out in his dream. The confrontation regarding this secret finally breaks out into an argument that escalates into something else entirely. Meanwhile, their friends face dangers of their own, which culminate in some very unexpected ways. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Liandrin’s Past and Her Future Plans Come to Light
Elayne, Nynaeve, Mat, and Min’s search for Liandrin takes them into the heart of Tanchico, but that’s not the only thing that they are looking for. One of their main objectives is to find the collar with two bracelets that could be used on Rand. Before we see where their search leads them, we get a glimpse into Liandrin’s origins. It is before her days as the formidable Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah. She is still in the dungeon cell where she gave birth to her son more than 90 years ago. When her captors come to take him away, she channels and kills both of them before escaping. As she walks through the streets asking for help, no one pays any attention to her.
Helpless with her child in her arms, she sits down in front of a statue, which is when Ishamael comes to her. This shows that Liandrin had been a Darkfriend even before she came to the White Tower and had been a sleeper cell for the Forsaken all this time. Now, she dreams of becoming the Amrylin Seat, but her fantasy is interrupted by Lanfear, who questions her loyalty. With Ishamael gone, Lanfear is the one she pledges loyalty to, but to prove that, she has to find someone within her ranks who has turned into a spy for Rahvin. Liandrin immediately suspects Nyomi of this deed and later kills her after extracting the location of the collar from her mind.
This is also when she reveals her desire to become one of the Forsaken rather than being their lapdog but killing Nyomi turns out to be a mistake as the spy turns out to be someone else who not only knows Liandrin’s plan but also learns of Elayne and her group’s presence in the town. She immediately moves to relay this information to Rahvin, but instead, she finds Moghedien, who kills her and then turns her attention toward the two girls. Before this, the Forsaken also indulges in spitting on the food and drinks of Liandrin and her group.
Trouble in the Hills of Tanchico
Meanwhile, Elayne, Nynaeve, Mat, and Min go around the treacherous streets of Tanchico, where Mat runs into Thom Merrilin and catches him up on all that has happened since they last saw each other. Thom’s presence also works in their favor when Elayne is recognized as the heir of Andor, and he helps her out of the bind by calling her a con woman who poses as the real Elayne to get money out of people. To prove that she is the said con and not the princess, they perform a local song, which soon turns into a party. Meanwhile, Min gets Nynaeve to loosen up a bit while also finding a person who tells them where Liandrin is set up and the bloodbath she made when she turned up in Tanchico.
Meanwhile, Mat spreads the word around for the collar, hoping that someone will tell him something, and it plays out at the end of the evening when a man walks up to them and gives them a bracelet. Thom tells the quartet that the collar comes with two bracelets, each in the hands of an Aes Sedai. The broken statue of the shackled man at the gates of Tanchico used to have the statues of two women wearing bracelets and controlling the shackled man who could channel. This means that whoever collars Rand won’t just be shielding him but will also have access to his power. The bracelet is given to Nynaeve for safekeeping, but when the women go to their rooms to call it a night, a woman knocks at their door.
They don’t know it’s Moghedien, which gives her the edge she needs. She immediately binds the duo in a spell where they start telling the truth to her. They tell her about being Accepted, about their mission to find Liandrin and her spy in the White Tower, and their search for the collar and the bracelets, one of which they have in their possession. Moghedien makes them give it to her, but she also feels Nynaeve resisting her magic, which interests her immensely. She also notices how powerful both the women are while also making Nynaeve confess that she has blocked herself because she is scared of the sheer extent of her power and what it can do. The Forsaken also reveals that it was Rahvin who sent the Gray Men because he wants to kill Elayne. She, on the other hand, believes that they are of use to her, so she leaves them alive but strips them of the memory of their interaction. When they come back to their senses, they don’t remember Moghedien, but they are also terrified to discover that the bracelet is gone.
Egwene Confronts Rand About Lanfear
In the previous episode, Egwene found Rand and Lanfear making out in his dream. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, she decides to handle Lanfear on her own. She enters the dream world again, but this time as well, Lanfear manages to find and capture her. She tells Egwene about how she and Rand have been together for a while, and when Egwene threatens to tell Rand about the torture Lanfear has been inflicting on her in her dreams, the Forsaken tells her that he already knows about it. Barely managing to escape the nightmare, when Egwene comes back to the real world, she confronts Rand about the secret he had been keeping from her.
When she asks him if he loves Lanfear, he tells her that things are more complicated than she can understand, and this leads the two of them to the point where both have to accept that perhaps their relationship has run its course. When Egwene asks her if he knew Lanfear was terrorizing her in her dreams, Rand is caught off guard and claims to have known nothing about it. Before they can discuss it any further, Sammael shows up and attacks Rand. In return, the Dragon Reborn unleashes his power, effortlessly killing the Forsaken.
His power also leads the whole place to blow up, and while this subdues the enemy, it also kills Alsera, who is sleeping on the upper floor. Alsera’s body is found within the rubble, and seeing her like that breaks Rand. He has formed a close bond with the girl, and he is devastated to see her become yet another casualty of the war. In fact, he is so heartbroken that he tries to bring her back. He uses the full force of his power, but in the end, he has to give up and accept that there is, in fact, a limit to powers.
War Comes Knocking on the Door of Two Rivers
Following the events of the previous episode, where Perrin and his friends managed to rescue Mat’s sisters, things settle down for a bit in Two Rivers. Everyone recuperates from their injuries. When Perrin is brought back, everyone searches for Alanna to heal him, but she has enough injuries of her own. From the looks of it, it seems that she might not make it, but then, Mat’s sisters come to see her to thank her for helping save them. When they discover she cannot heal herself, they reveal that they can channel it, and Alanna helps them use their powers to help her. The sisters’ power also proves her point of finding her army in Two Rivers.
Meanwhile, Perrin recuperates from his wounds as Faile takes care of him. They spend a lot of time together, which leads them to talk about their past. She talks about her parents, while he talks about his wife and his hand in her death. The conversation also veers, and he ends up telling her about Mat and the Horn of Valere. Faile is shocked to find out about this and also that Perrin had been keeping it a secret from her all along. The conversation ends with them sharing a kiss. Meanwhile, the Whitecloaks wait for reinforcements, and they arrive in droves. It seems that Dain Bornhald has survived his wounds and is ready to fight the next battle. This time, he has an entire army at his disposal, which does not bode well for his enemies.
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