A battle skipped over by Robert Jordan’sThe Wheel of Timebooks appears to be getting some much-needed attention in its TV adaptation. As the marketing has made clear,The Wheel of Timeseason 3will bring the fourth book in the fantasy series to the small screen. Though it’s sure to add some stories of its own, it’s become abundantly clear that multiple plotlines fromThe Shadow Risingwill play out in the show when it airs its third season.
Trailers fromThe Wheel of Timehave confirmedsome of the arcs the show will be adapting, such as Perrin’s return to the Two Rivers and Rand’s journey into the heart of the Aiel Waste. It will also dive into Elayne and Nynaeve’s misadventures in Tanchico and the unrest at the White Tower ahead of Siuan Sanche’s ousting as the Amylrin Seat. In addition to all these stories, it would seem thatWheel of Timewill find room for a battle that happened in the timeline of the books, but was never allotted any time on the page.
The Wheel Of Time Appears To Be Showing Liandrin’s Escape From The White Tower
It Happened Between Books
A trailer forThe Wheel of Timeseason 3 shows the Aes Sedai using the One Power to restrain Liandrin, as well as an all-Aes Sedai fight in the White Tower. The battle between Liandrin and the Aes Sedai doesn’t match anything that happened inThe Shadow Rising,but does draw some interesting comparisons to an event that occurred off-page. In the third book,The Dragon Reborn, it was revealed that Liandrin - accompanied by 12 members ofWheel of Time’sBlack Ajah- raided a room full of One Power artifacts and fought their way out of the White Tower.
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From the looks of things, the TV show will take a different approach to this event. Rather than kick off its next story after it’s already happened, it would seem that viewers will get to watch it happen. Going in this direction does make sense, especially sinceLiandrin has become one of the show’s most important charactersand someone with considerably more depth than her book counterpart. To skip past the moment where Liandrin’s true loyalties are finally exposed to her fellow Aes Sedai would feel like a missed opportunity, not only for Liandrin’s character arc but also in terms of the action.
Liandrin’s Escape Will Likely Provide Setup For Wheel Of Time’s Moghedien Storyline
Liandrin’s Fight With The Aes Sedai Is The Catalyst For Everything That Happens In Tanchico
Another reason why Liandrin’s confrontation with the Aes Sedai and eventual escape from the White Tower is worth showing pertains to the consequences of this development. What Liandrin does betweenThe Great HuntandThe Dragon Rebornfactors heavily into the setup forThe Shadow Rising. After leaving the White Tower, Liandrin ultimately winds up in Tanchico, where she joins forces with Moghedien, one of the13 Forsaken inThe Wheel of Time.
Liandrin’s escape will most likely set the stage for Moghedien to enter the bigger picture, as it’s the search for the Black Ajah that triggers Nynaeve and Elayne’s arrival in Tanchico in the first place.
AsThe Wheel of Timeseason 2 finaleindicated, Moghedien will be a major antagonist in season 3, if not the main villain of the overarching story. Liandrin’s escape will most likely set the stage for Moghedien to enter the bigger picture, as it’s the search for the Black Ajah that triggers Nynaeve and Elayne’s arrival in Tanchico in the first place. With that being the case, there’s a good chance that the standoff between Liandrin and the Aes Sedai was indeedthe mystery opening battle that showrunner Rafe Judkins confirmedwould take place inThe Wheel of Timeseason 3 premiere.
The Wheel of Time
Cast
The Wheel of Time follows Moiraine, a member of the powerful all-female organization Aes Sedai, as she leads a perilous quest with five young individuals. Moiraine suspects one among them could be the prophesized reincarnation of a mighty figure destined to either save or doom humanity.
