Let’s take a look at “Seeds of Shadow,” the third episode of season three of The Wheel of Time. In case you missed them, here are the recaps for episode one, “To Race the Shadow” and episode two, “A Question of Crimson.”
Recap
Lord Gaebril, who is really the Forsaken Rahvin, meets with Liandrin and Sammael (Cameron Jack) to discuss making an alliance against Moghedien. Rahvin agrees to consider the alliance—but he is secretly already working with Moghedien.
Elayne and Nynaeve are brought in to interrogate two of Liandrin’s cohorts who were captured in the fighting. Nynaeve deduces that both are lying about where Liandrin has gone and takes Elayne to see where Liandrin was keeping her son. They find a strange symbol painted under his bed.
Elaida attempts to gain an audience with the Amyrlin Seat and is rebuffed by Leane and Verin. Later she is similarly rebuffed by the head of the Red Ajah, Tsutama (Diêm Camille), when she asks to have a vote called in the Hall to send Red Aes Sedai to find the Dragon Reborn.
The Aiel and Rand’s party find a group of Tuatha’an who have been brutally slaughtered, possibly by the Shaido, an Aiel clan that has a blood feud with the Taardad, Aviendha’s clan.
Alanna finds Perrin burying his wedding ring in the grove of apple trees where all his family are laid to rest. He tells her about Laila, and the two discuss the rituals around mourning and the nature of grief. Alanna and Maksim are struggling with their different approaches to mourning Ihvon’s death.
Later, in the inn, a group of people come in to tell Marin that Mat’s mother and sisters have been arrested by the Whitecloaks. Perrin is recognized and introduced to some hunters of the Horn, including a man named Lord Luc (Michael Lindall).
In the White Tower, Nynaeve and Elayne discover that the symbol is part of a pair, designed to hasten a soul’s reincarnation. They also find records of the artifacts that were stolen, including a bracelet that looks like those used by the Seanchan to enslave damane. They deduce that Liandrin has gone to Tanchico, near Falme, to search for the collar to match the bracelet. Suddenly Nynaeve spots a Gray Man and pushes Elayne out of the way.
They find the Gray Man in the hall. He has been stabbed. Verin comes across them all a moment later, and Nynaeve is suspicious of her. Elayne defuses the situation, but is surprised when Nynaeve points out that Verin never wondered about who killed the Gray Man.
Elaida has discovered that Min is a seer, set to spy on her by Siuan. She speaks of her own gifts of Foretelling, and suggests that, while the moments they each see might be fixed, much can be done with the time leading up to those moments, and the time leading away. She also reveals a plan for the Red Ajah to take over control from Siuan.
Bair (Nukâka Coster-Waldau), the Aiel Wise One who Elayne saw in her dream, explains to Egwene that she is a Dreamwalker, someone who can enter Tel’aran’rhiod, the World of Dreams. She also tells Egwene that if she is coming out of those dreams with real bruises, then the woman who is making them is alive. She promises to teach Egwene how to protect herself.
In Rand’s dream, Liandrin tells him that if someone were to destroy the Dark One, she could be free of her Dark Oaths to him. She tells him of a female sa’angreal that is as powerful as Callandor, but when he presses her she apologizes and flees.
In the Aiel sweat tents, Lan notices an Aiel woman with a Malkieri tattoo. She tells him that her name is Melindhra, and that she escaped the fall of Malkier as a child and was raised by a Wise One. She asks if Lan remembers the oaths of his father and states that she would follow him into the Blight to retrieve Malkier.
While making up with Mat, Min sees a vision of him hanging by his neck from a doorway. Horrified, she tries to tell him but they are interrupted by a chivalrous Galad.
Tsutama is ordered to take seven women of her Ajah and lead them in a search for the False Dragon, Mazrim Taim. Elaida observes to Galina that the Red Ajah will need a new Sitter to replace Tsutama while she is away, and Galina agrees.
Perrin convinces the people of the Two Rivers that their only hope for survival is to all stay together in the village and to stand united against the threats against him. He has attracted the attention of Faile (Isabella Bucceri), one of the hunters for the Horn, who observes that he will die if he tries to rescue the Cauthons from the Whitecloaks, and that he needs both hope and a plan to be a leader. Perrin insists that he has no intention of leading.
While practicing with a quarterstaff, Mat has another run in with Galad and Gawyn. Nynaeve comes to tell him that she is leaving for Tanchico, and Galad again misinterprets the situation as Mat harassing women. Mat bets that he can beat both swordsmen at once, and does so, soundly. He leaves with Nynaeve. Later, Min is seen sneaking after Nynaeve, Elayne and Mat as they get on a boat.
Liandrin finishes the symbol designed to bring her son’s soul back into the world, then discusses the stolen bracelet sa’angreal with Nyomi. Liandrin reveals that the item is for controlling men, not women, and that she intends to find the collar and put it on the Dragon Reborn. Moghedien is in the room, disguised as a servant.
Commentary
When I was writing the review for episode two, I didn’t expect to see the reveal of Gaebril’s true identity quite so quickly, but I can’t say that I’m disappointed about it. His explanation to Lanfear and Sammael is that he used the weave called compulsion to make Morgase, and everyone else, believe that he and Morgase have been together for more than a decade. I can’t remember for sure if this use of the One Power has been brought up in the show before, but I don’t believe it has. In any case, if Rahvin is able to create memories of his being with Morgase for so long in everyone who needs them, he would have to affect a huge number of people. He says it works on Morgase and anyone who meets them, which seems to suggest that compulsion emanates from Rahvin in some way, like a field that affects anyone in his proximity. If so, this is a change from the way compulsion works in the books. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but if he can make huge swathes of people not only believe in who he is, but have memories of time spent with him—Elayne recalls that they often got drunk together—this is a very powerful effect indeed.
Back in episode two, when the royal family was being formally introduced as they entered the Hall, Leane stumbled over Gaebril’s introduction. After the word “lord” she faltered and fell silent, blinking, then suddenly took on a warmer, less formal tone, asking his forgiveness before saying his name and title. It was something I noticed at the time and then immediately forgot about as I, myself, recognized the name and got excited, but this moment certainly supports the idea that the compulsion emanates from Rahvin like a sphere of influence. One wonders what happens when people move outside that sphere again. Do the memories remain intact? Or do they forget about “Prince Consort Lord Gaebril” entirely until the next time they happen into his presence?
Either way, it’s exciting to see more of the Forsaken, since we know that all of them were set loose by Ishamael before his death. The conversation between Lanfear, Sammael, and Rahvin, and then between Rahvin and Moghedien, gives us more context for who the Forsaken—or the Chosen, as they call themselves—are, and how they operate. Moghedien has already observed, in the last season, that Ishamael and Lanfear were the ones most obsessed with, and closest to, the Dragon; now we learn that as a group, in Lews Therin’s time, the Chosen fought each other more than the Dragon. We also learn that the Chosen are all vying to become Nae’blis, the leader of the entire group, and that Rahvin, at least, is working more than one angle.
Elayne did say her family is always working plots within plots. Perhaps that is why Rahvin felt drawn to Morgase as a target.
I found the idea that Siuan would have Nynaeve and Elayne conduct an interrogation of the captured Black Aes Sedai a bit unbelievable. She chose them to be her Black Ajah hunters because she knew that they themselves couldn’t be part of that organization, but they are still inexperienced students sent in to face full-fledged Aes Sedai. The ability to lie is cited as one advantage Elayne and Nynaeve have, but Joiya and Amico would know that these students could lie as much as they wanted—as, indeed, they themselves were able to.
The interrogation of Joiya and Amico happens a bit later in the books, after Elayne and Nynaeve have had a few more adventures and aren’t in the Tower surrounded by experienced Aes Sedai. It is a means to an end here, but it feels awkward, even though Accepted are clearly given a decent amount of freedom and authority among the ranks of the Aes Sedai.
(This, too, differs from the novels. Accepted have more freedom than the novices, but in the book version of the White Tower, no Accepted could leave the Tower without permission, and their movements were very strictly curtailed until they passed the trials to become a full Aes Sedai. It’s not a bad change, as it helps simplify the plot where needed and also makes the organization feel rather more modern, which I quite like. However, it also makes events feel a bit forced at times, as it does here.)
This episode manages, somehow, to be even more full than those that came before it. The whole convoluted plot to interrogate the captured sisters, and the mystery of the paired symbols, all seem so extraneous, when all the plot really needs is for Elayne and Nynaeve to find the details about the bracelet and recognize that it must be from Tanchico, which is what happens in the episode anyway.
Everything that is happening with the Aiel is interesting, but it is all still set-up so there is relatively little to talk about. Egwene is presented with the mystery of her attacker being a living woman when she knows that Renna is dead, Lan is presented with a new and even more painful reminder of the destroyed kingdom of his birthright, plus there is the introduction of the Shaido Aiel and the Aiel’s opinions about the Tuatha’an, but there isn’t much to do with that yet. I did enjoy the camaraderie between Lan and Moiraine in the sweat tent, with Lan reminiscing about their shared baths and encouraging Moiraine to go ahead and get laid if she wants to. This companionship between them was the first joy of the series, and it’s always good to have it revisited.
Future events are also being set up in the Two Rivers. The introduction of Faile and Lord Luc, Perrin’s determination to rescue the Cauthons and to convince all of the Two Rivers to band together but also simultaneously to not be any kind of leader, and the conflict between Alanna and Maksim (which is exactly what I anticipated it was going to be) are all important factors—little powder kegs just waiting for the spark to turn them into plot.
I loved watching Mat defeat Gawyn and Galad. It’s a great moment in the book, too, but might even be more satisfying here. The script is being very thoughtful about the way it presents Galad to us. We know that Elayne and “Gaebril” both find him insufferable, which bears out with the way he’s always bothering Mat. Both times he misreads the situation, and both times the script is careful to have the women tell Galad that they can take care of themselves. It rather presents Galad as having white knight syndrome (if one can use that term about someone who lives in an era and a world that has actual white knights). He and Gawyn are both insufferable in the way they taunt Mat in the training area; Nynaeve’s obvious pride at watching him was a perfect moment.
And then there’s Elaida. The Forsaken might be plotting, but so is Elaida, and her plots have already started to come to fruition. Denied a meeting with the Amyrlin, she went to the head of her Ajah. When Tsutama rebuffed her and talked down to her, Elaida sensed a possible ally in Galina. She set in motion a plan to get Tsutama out of the way, using the very spy Siuan set to watch her. She played Min perfectly. Now Siuan has attempted to weaken the Reds by sending Tsutama away, only to open up a position as Sitter for Elaida to fill. Siuan has just made possible the very thing she was trying to avoid—votes against her in the Hall from the Red Ajah.
I am curious about the mystery of Elaida’s bracelet, however. We see her hand shaking in her first scene, before she knocks everything off her desk in a huff. Later Min asks about it, clearly seeing some kind of importance in it, and Elaida stiffens before ignoring the question.
We will return this time next week for episode four, “The Road to the Spear.” In the meantime, I must say this. Some of the outfits are bordering on silly, and Liandrin’s new hairstyle looks like a bad 90s pop star, but I kind of love the evil glow-up she and her crew have gotten. They’re going to break out of the White Tower and capture the Dragon on weekdays, but on the weekends they all play in a grunge band, and I just think that’s neat. Maybe they can get a Gray Man or two as roadies—those special effects are pretty neat.
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