Wheel Of Time Trailer 2 Breakdown: 16 Story Reveals Explained
Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is coming to Amazon Prime, and here are all the major takeaways from the second trailer. Legendary author Robert Jordan originally planned Wheel of Time to be a six-book series, but it expanded to become one of the greatest franchises of his life. Sadly, Jordan passed away in 2007 while working on the final book, and it fell to Brandon Sanderson - who had become a writer because of Jordan's inspiration - to wrap the story up in his honor. Now Wheel of Time is becoming a lavish TV series for Amazon Prime, joining the ranks of other sweeping epic stories like Dune and Foundation that had previously been thought impossible to adapt.
Wheel of Time introduces viewers to one of the deepest, most intricate and well-thought-out fantasy worlds ever created. Amazon clearly believes this is just the right time, with Game of Thrones having left a gap in the epic fantasy market. Trailers for Wheel of Time have stressed the depth of world-building, offering tantalizing glimpses of arcane rituals and ominous prophecies without taking the time to explain them. In marketing terms, it's something of a gamble; while anyone familiar with the books will be thrilled, new viewers may well find the Wheel of Time trailers a little inexplicable.
Given the beauty of the production, though, it is to be hoped Wheel of Time will prove to be a truly immersive example of world-building. Here are all the main takeaways from the second Wheel of Time trailer - ranging from the Prophecy of the Dragon Reborn to the Dark One who threatens to burn the world.
The second Wheel of Time trailer opens with Moiraine, the sorceress - or Aes Sedai, in Robert Jordan's world - who will drive much of the narrative. The trailer shows the moment she was raised from an Accepted (or initiate) to a full Aes Sedai, a process that involves holding a sacred Oath Rod that magically binds her to keep to these promises. The three oaths have been modified slightly from the books, and in the Wheel of Time Amazon Prime series are:
"I swear to speak no word that is not true.
To make no weapon with which one person may kill another.
And never to use the One Power as a weapon."
The Three Oaths were introduced to reassure people that the Aes Sedai would not abuse their powers. Of course, in reality, they do not constrain the Aes Sedai as much as most believe. An Aes Sedai may not speak a lie, but that does not mean they cannot be deceptive, and Aes Sedai swiftly learn to excel at evasion and half-truths. They are able to construct weapons, just not lethal ones, and, while they may not use the One Power as a weapon, they often use it to weaponize things around them. Interestingly, the last of the three has qualifications in the books: "except in the last defense of my life, the life of my warder, or the life of another sister." The absence of these qualifications in the Wheel of Time trailer may be significant, suggesting their actions are a little more constrained.
The Aes Sedai are divided into seven different "Ajahs," or clans, each with their own special purpose. Three of them are shown in the second Wheel of Time trailer; the Green Ajah, the Blue Ajah, and the Red Ajah. The Red Ajah focus on dealing with abuses of the One Power and bringing in dangerous male channelers, the Green are warriors led by a Captain-General, and the Blue focus on righteousness and justice. Led by the First Selector, they have the biggest spy network. The Blue and Red are often at odds with one another.
All Aes Sedai, like Moiraine, wield the One Power, Wheel of Time's version of magic. As one character explains in Robert Jordan's novels, "The One Power comes from the True Source, the driving force of creation, the force the Creator made to turn the Wheel of Time... The True Source cannot be used up, any more than the river can be used up by the wheel of the mill. The Source is the river; the Aes Sedai, the waterwheel." Channelers of the One Power are not born equal; each has their own potential, and will have a preference towards specific types of magic. The One Power is frequently likened to threads that a channeler weaves together to spectacular effect; a stronger channeler can draw together more threads, but with training a weaker channeler can become proficient at weaves their more powerful sisters would find impossible. Moiraine is one of the greatest of the Aes Sedai, a channeler of rare skill and power.
In Wheel of Time, the magic of the world, known as the One Power, is split into two halves, saidar and saidin. Saidar is the feminine part, wielded by the Aes Sedai, and saidin is the masculine half, under the sway of a devilish figure known as the Dark One. The Aes Sedai keep an eye out for men who control the One Power, because they will grow insane and become incredibly destructive. These beings, who often become called "False Dragons," in reference to a prophecy of one man who will control saidin and oppose the Dark One, are restrained by the Aes Sedai and their powers are taken away. Logain is the last of the False Dragons, and he ultimately becomes a John the Baptist figure to the true Dragon.
The name "Aes Sedai" means "Servants of All," but in reality over the millennia the Aes Sedai have forgotten they were meant to be servants. They have become confident in their right to rule over the land of men, and the darkness of pride has grown within the hearts of their leaders. In recent times, a number of Aes Sedai have sworn themselves over to the way of the Shadow, breaking the Three Oaths and forming a secret Black Ajah that operates within the organization.
The leader of the Aes Sedai, chosen by the Hall of the Tower for life, is the Amyrlin; and she sits upon the Amyrlin Seat, a throne at the center of the Aes Sedai tower in their city of Tar Valon. The Amyrlin is considered the most powerful woman in the world, and kings bow before her throne. Amazon appear to have deviated from Robert Jordan's books a little here, because the Amyrlin shown in Wheel of Time's trailers is Siuan, daughter of a humble fisherman, and she shouldn't be someone to dress quite so ostentatiously. In the books, the Amyrlin is one of Moiraine's most potent allies, although she must navigate the treacherous politics of the Aes Sedai with care - especially when she becomes aware of the existence of Black Ajah.
Moiraine Sedai becomes aware the time of the True Dragon is approaching, and - having apparently participated in the capture of Logain - she decides to go to Two Rivers. She explains that "the Old Blood runs deep in those mountains." In Wheel of Time, there is an apparently genetic predisposition towards mastery of the One Power, and the older bloodlines are often stronger in its use. According to the prophecy of the Dragon, the Karaethon Cycle, the Dragon "will be of the ancient blood, and raised by the old blood."
The second Wheel of Time trailer then introduces some of the residents of Two Rivers. The first is Egwene, and in the books she's the daughter of the mayor of the town, with unusual potential to wield the One Power; she ultimately joins the Aes Sedai, and ascends through their ranks. The Wheel of Time trailers are deliberately placing on emphasis on Egwene, who is shown participating in a mysterious ceremony of some sort; Egwene began as a secondary character in Robert Jordan's books, but it looks as though she's going to be important to the TV series right from the start. The Wheel of Time's heroes are older than the books, a deliberate decision by the production team to ensure this doesn't feel too YA.
In the books, Moiraine arrives at Two Rivers and is taken aback to discover three ta'veren - people who are central to the Web of Destiny and who influence the lives of those around them in order to transform the world. These three are Rand, Mat, and Perrin, and the events of Wheel of Time largely orbit around them. No-one is born a ta'veren; rather, they are chosen by the Pattern when there is a need, and they only remain a ta'veren until they have fulfilled their purpose. Life is very unsettling indeed for a ta'veren, because anything can happen around them.
The voiceover in the Wheel of Time second trailer introduces the main villain, the Dark One. Essentially Wheel of Time's version of the Devil, the Dark One is a force of chaos and destruction who desires to remake all of creation in his own twisted image. He is said to have been restrained at the dawn of time by the Creator, but he has always reached out from his prison, attempting to find a way to escape and destroy all that exists. The prophecy of the Dragon, contained within the legendary Karaethon Cycle, foretells the Dark One's return.
"And it shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered,
and the Shadow shall lie across the Pattern of the Age,
and the Dark One shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man.
Women shall weep and men quail as the nations of the earth are rent like rotting cloth.
Neither shall anything stand or abide..."
The Wheel of Time second trailer reveals a major change from the books, with Moiraine revealing all five of the people she has taken from Two Rivers - the three men and the two women, Egwene and Ninaeve - are all ta'veren. What's more, it seems Moiraine has no idea who among them is the Dragon Reborn, and so she has taken all of them to Tar Valon, where the Aes Sedai are based, in order to be tested. This is a dramatic change to the lore, making Egwene and Ninaeve just as important to the plot, and it's a welcome one. Moiraine's inability to figure out which of the five is the Dragon Reborn raises a lot of questions about the saidar/saidin aspect of the One Power; in Robert Jordan's books, it was essential the dragon be a man because he wielded saidin.
The journey to Tar Valon is a dangerous one, with the ta'veren pursued by the Dark One's agents. They unwisely seek sanctuary in the ruins of the city of Shadar Logoth, which fell under the Dark One's influence long ago when its inhabitants' zeal for the light turned them upon one another. Moiraine and the ta'veren spend the night at Tar Valon, because even Trollocs will not venture there, but they uncover dark powers. Mat in particular acquires a foul dagger, seen in the first Wheel of Time trailer, which brings death with a scratch unless an Aes Sedai intervenes.
Moiraine is convinced one of the five ta'veren is in fact the Dragon Reborn, the one prophecied to battle against the Dark One at the coming Last Battle. As the prophecy states:
"Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow,
born once more as he was born before,
and shall be born again, time without end.
The Dragon shall be Reborn,
and there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth.
In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people,
and he shall break the world again by his coming,
tearing apart all ties that bind.
Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us,
yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle,
and his blood shall give us the Light.
Let tears flow, O ye people of the world.
Weep for your salvation."
The Dark One's army seek out the ta'veren to kill them. The Trollocs are so-called "Shadowspawn" - the Dark One's creations - who are a blend of human and animal stock, brutal and bloodthirsty. Unlike other Shadowspawn, Trollocs are social creatures, and they hunt in packs. They are also carnivores, and they feast upon the flesh of their fallen enemies. Ironically, as Wheel of Times continues, the Trollocs become the least dangerous threat - simply because they are obvious. As the second Wheel of Time trailer suggests, the Dark One has many servants who operate among the world of men. The Wheel of Time trailer than moves through a series of action shots, bereft of context, showing the heroes warring against their enemies.
According to Moiraine, the Dark One's goal is to burn the world. What she may well not tell the five ta'veren, however, is that the alternative is for the world to be broken. The Karaethon Cycle is quite clear that the Dragon will burn turmoil and destruction in his wake as well:
"With his coming are the dread fires born again.
The hills burn, and the land turns sere.
The tides of men run out, and the hours dwindle.
The wall is pierced, and the veil of parting raised.
Storms rumble beyond the horizon, and the fires of heaven purge the earth.
There is no salvation without destruction, no hope this side of death."
The crucial difference is that the Dark One's fire brings only destruction, whereas the Dragon will be an agent of rebirth. The Dragon does not offer a future in which the world is spared destruction at the hands of the Dark One, but rather one in which it will be destroyed and reborn.
The second Wheel of Time trailer ends with a warning that the heroes will never go home again. In truth, the magic of Robert Jordan's fantasy story is that every one of these characters embarks on a transformative character journey. By the time they have played their destined part, they will have been changed so much they would never fit in back home again. This is the promise of Amazon Prime's Wheel of Time: to recreate an epic story for the small screen, welcoming viewers to be part of this transformation.