Summary
Rather than cover just the fourth installment,The Wheel of Time’snext season could conceivably cover the biggest parts of three books in the series. So far, each of the show’s two seasons has served as an adaptation of a specific book inRobert Jordan’sWheel of Timeseries. Seasons 1 and 2 told the stories of the first two books,The Eye of the WorldandThe Great Hunt.Based on what’s been confirmed about the upcoming chapter of the saga, season 3 is breaking the formula by going out of order and jumping to book 4,The Shadow Rising.
However, the show’s plan forThe Wheel of Time’scharactersmay be much more complicated than that. That would make sense, considering that the series is interpreting a 14-book journey from the page to the small screen. A book per season isn’t feasible, but then again, nor is skipping entire books, especially since most are heavy on substance that can’t be easily skipped. For that reason, Prime Video’s show may be inclined to start combining novels (more so than it has in the past), and it may be doing just that withWheel of Timeseason 3’stake onThe Shadow Rising.
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The Wheel Of Time Season 3 Would Struggle To Skip The Dragon Reborn
The Dragon Reborn’s Ending Is Vital To The Story
WithThe Shadow Risingon the horizon, it makes sense to assume that it’ll begin with Rand departing Falme for the Aiel Waste and end as the book does, with him beating Asmodean in Rhudiean. That lines up with the linear approach taken by the show’s first two book adaptations, but the number of important developments in book 3,The Dragon Reborn, complicate that scenario immensely.
Firstly, there’s the claiming of Callandor at the Stone of Tear where Be’lal and Ishamael are killed. Rand taking up The Sword That Is Not A Sword accounts for a huge part of the Dragon Reborn prophecy, particularly since he’ll need it for The Last Battle. Not only that, but having Callandor has a lot to do with why the Aiel accept him as the Car’a’carn in the first place. Similar to how it ended book 3,the fight at the Stone of Tear feels tailor-made for a season finale, but a direct adaptation ofThe Shadow Risingwould keep that possibility from working out.
In the books, the Aiel believe that Rand is the Car’a’carn, a figure of legend destined to unite their people. It’s because of this widespread belief that he travels to the Aiel Waste inThe Shadow Rising.
Other key storylines fromThe Dragon Rebornare Perrin’s party meeting Faile Bashere on the way to find Rand and the time that Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve spend in the White Tower. Both see major characters meet their main love interests for the first time, with Faile being Perrin’s future wife and Gawyn being the person Egwene falls in love after getting over Rand. This story also serves as an extra step toward Siuan Sanche’s downfall and the girls' journeys in becoming Aes Sedai.
How Wheel Of Time Can Realistically Combine The Dragon Reborn & The Shadow Rising
Books 3 And 4 Could Be Combined Without Much Difficulty
When looking at the most significant content fromThe Dragon Rebornand what happens inThe Shadow Rising, it’s clear thatcombining the two entries in the series into one, neat, narrative is far from implausible. For instance, Perrin’s adventure and meeting can still happen, albeit with a different goal - returning to the Two Rivers, not finding Rand. As for the White Tower plot, Egwene could go back to the White Tower whileElayne and Nynaeve are in Tanchico fighting Moghedien.
The Stone of Tear could also be incorporated, despite the challenges. Because of the One Power ability known as Traveling (which was teased inThe Wheel of Timeseason 2’s ending), Rand could realistically reach the Stone of Tear even though he’ll be in the Aiel Waste for the majority of the season. Theoretically, the season could replace Rand and Asmodean’s fight over the Choeden Kal access key with the siege at the Stone of Tear. Rather than the access key, the prize for his battle with Asmodean could be Callandor.
Taking this route could work well, given howThe Dragon Rebornis structured. It has its fair share of consequential character moments, of course, but also includes content that doesn’t exactly require the full-season treatment. One example of this is all the time spent finding Rand. Because Rand himself appears very little inThe Dragon Reborn,The Wheel of Timecan avoid a long absence for Randby using parts of the story, as opposed to the whole book.
The Fires Of Heaven Could Secretly Be A Big Part Of Wheel Of Time Season 3
Because Like The Dragon Reborn, It’s Unlikely To Get The Full-Season Treatment
WhileThe Wheel of Timewould be setting itself up for a massive challenge by adaptingThe Dragon RebornandThe Shadow Risingin a single season, it could be thatThe Fires of Heavenwill actually be covered extensively as well. Book 5,The Fires of Heaven, sees Rand battle Rahvin, a member ofthe Forsaken inThe Wheel of Timebooksand a villain who conspired to take over the Lion Throne from Queen Morgase Trakand.
After all, it shouldn’t be forgotten that in a lot of ways,The Fires of Heavenfeels like a “part two” toThe Shadow Rising, in that it continues plotlines from the previous book. It furthers Rand’s experiences in the Aiel Waste, pits Nynaeve against Moghedien, and explores the fallout of the Aes Sedai coup at the White Tower. That aspect ofThe Fires of Heavenarguably makes it the easiest to merge into season 3’s take onThe Shadow Rising.The show doing that makes more sense than making it the focus of season 4,especially since it still has several more books left to adapt.
As forThe Fires of Heaven’sfinale, it doesn’t relate directly toThe Shadow Rising, but it does tie intoThe Dragon Reborn.InThe Dragon Reborn,Mat went to Caemlyn, which is when Rahvin’s plans first came into focus. But the books diverted its attention from this plotine inThe Shadow Risingand didn’t resolve it untilThe Fires of Heaven, which wrapped up with an epic battle against Rahvin. Perhaps throughMat’s arc inThe Wheel of Timeseason 3, the series could tell the full story, with Rahvin as his villain instead of Rand’s.
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.
