You can find all available episodes of The Wheel of Time streaming on Amazon Prime Video. For even more Wheel of Time, check out the epic book series, also available on Audible.
Like many grand fantasy epics, Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time starts in a small town. Life for friends Rand (Josha Stradowski), Perrin (Marcus Rutherford), Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), Egwene (Madeleine Madden), and Mat (Barney Harris) is sweet and simple in the Two Rivers until an imperious Aes Sedai named Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) and her stoic Warder Lan (Daniel Henney) roll into town. The One Power-wielding Moiraine reveals she believes one of them is the Dragon Reborn, a long-awaited reincarnation of the greatest One Power-user to ever live. Whoever the Dragon Reborn is will be feared, followed, hunted, exalted, and expected to save or destroy the world. Good thing, then, the Two Rivers kids have each other’s backs, huh?
Decider caught up with Madeleine Madden, Zoë Robins, Marcus Rutherford, and Josha Stradowski over Zoom last month to talk about bringing those tight-knit Two Rivers kids to life, injecting some steam into the series’s earliest moments, and how it’s been welcoming Barney Harris’s Season 2 replacement, Dónal Finn, into the fold as the new Mat Cauthon. (SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST THREE EPISODES OF THE WHEEL OF TIME AHEAD!)
After briefly (and adorably) gawking at the author’s attention-seeking cat jumping into view, Marcus Rutherford and Josha Stradowski broke down what they were so specifically excited for Robert Jordan fans to see in the show. “Episode 1 kind of sets the tone, I think, well. Episode 1, it kind of kicks off and I think hopefully that will give people an idea of what kind of show they are watching,” Marcus Rutherford said. “From there it’s just constantly meeting new cultures, new worlds, new sets, new characters…so it just keeps on going up and up and up, which is really exciting.”
“And I think that’s what’s so good about The Wheel Of Time,” Josha Stradowski said, jumping in. (Last Decider checked, Stradowski was the furthest along in the cast’s book-reading race; Book 11, The Knife of Dreams.) “As these characters go on the journey, the world of The Wheel Of Time just becomes bigger and complexity comes in and more layers are being added.”
Robert Jordan’s complex world-building is certainly considered one of The Wheel of Time‘s hallmarks, but so is the series’ love of its ensemble cast. In particular, it is the bond shared between the Emond’s Field five — Rand, Egwene, Perrin, Mat, and Nynaeve — that is the beating heart of the series. We meet all five as sheltered, stubborn youths and we watch as they conquer both real and metaphoric demons to become five of the most fascinating heroes in all of fantasy.
Amazon’s The Wheel of Time ages the Two Rivers kids up a few years from the books, making Rand, Egwene, Perrin, and Mat all about 20 years old instead of 16. (Town Wisdom Nynaeve is still about 25.) The ramifications of this shift are that Rand and Egwene’s relationship has shifted from puppy love on the page to a more realistically intimate one on screen. Actors Josha Stradowski and Madeline Madden appreciated the complexity of their character’s romance in the show.
“In our adaptation the relationship with Rand and Egwene is much more physical and complex and there already is an established romantic relationship,” Madeleine Madden said. “So, we have these wonderful scenes together that are so intimate and passionate and wonderful, and then these absolutely heartbreaking scenes where she has to make some very difficult choices which, you know, I think a lot of people will be able to relate to.”
Stradowski concurred. “I guess what we can learn from that relationship is that love is not jealousy and dependency and insecurity. Rand is willing to sacrifice himself to give her what she needs and what she wants in life and I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
Madden stressed that no matter what happens to Rand and Egwene over the course of The Wheel of Time, “I feel like they will forever be an anchor for each other.” And it sounded like Stradowski and Madden were each other’s anchors on set.
“It was lovely to work with Maddie. We had so much fun and she’s someone that, when they say action she delivers and when it’s cut she can make jokes and fool around in between,” Stradowski said. “For her it’s like, she really is good at that.”
Madden said, “Working with Josha has been amazing and I’m really proud of how we’ve been able to bring this Rand and Egwene relationship to life and that’s a massive testament to how [showrunner] Rafe [Judkins] has also handled this version of their relationship in the series.”
Egwene and Rand’s isn’t the only relationship that gets to be more complex in Amazon’s The Wheel of Time than it initially appears on the pages of Robert Jordan’s first novel, The Eye of the World. After watching the first three episodes that premiered today, Wheel of Time fans will note that a relationship that we mostly see through Rand’s confused eyes in the book gets a whole lot more fight and fire in the series. The Wheel of Time Episode 2 ends with Zoë Robins’s Nynaeve cornering al’Lan Mandragoran in the woods. Episode 3 continues with the feisty Wisdom and battle-hardened Warder’s tense tête-à-têtes.
“Dan is such a professional on set but we have a lot of fun together. It was a joy, honestly,” Zoë Robins told Decider. “I think al’Lan and Nynaeve’s relationship…is so specific? You know, I’ve known a relationship like that. Like you wanna rip each other’s heads off but also, you know. It’s been really fun to play and yeah, I think it’s an interesting dynamic that’s on screen for people.”
“It doesn’t make sense all the time, but then, you’re like, I can’t imagine them not being around each other,” Robins said.
Someone Nynaeve definitely does not like being around — at all, in the slightest — is Lan’s beloved and bonded Aes Sedai, Moiraine. Nynaeve’s loathing of Moiraine, whom she blames for every foul thing to befall her friends, is a recurring theme in the early Wheel of Time books. Here, showrunner Rafe Judkins introduces the acrimony between the two formidable women with an original scene where Moiraine interviews an unwitting Nynaeve. Moiraine is testing to see if the younger woman could be the Dragon Reborn while Nynaeve takes the opportunity to share the source of her grievances towards the Aes Sedai.
While Nynaeve doesn’t balk for one second to let Moiraine hear her opinion of the Aes Sedai, Robins admitted to Decider that she was “intimidated,” considering it was one of her very first shoot days and it was opposite series star and EP Rosamund Pike.
“I mean, Rosamund is Rosamund. She’s one of the most magnificent actors I’ve ever shared space with. Honestly, after a scene with her I need to go home and rethink my entire life choices, she’s just that good,” Robins said.
“But I think [that scene’s] really important to understand Nynaeve’s motivations. I know when I originally researched Nynaeve and fans’ opinions of her, there was a lot of controversy. Some fans really dislike Nynaeve and don’t get her. But oftentimes after a second or third read or spending more time getting to know who she is and why she is the way she is, people start rooting for her. So, I think it was really important that we had that scene in Episode 1.”
Luckily, Robins had no problem bonding with Madden. Nynaeve and Egwene have a sisterly relationship, with the slightly older Wisdom taking the younger woman under her wing. Both Robins and Madden were effusive about working with each other and how The Wheel of Time celebrates the complex bonds women share.
“Working with Zoë has just been an absolute dream. I think it was like the first week we had met, people would come up to us and be like, ‘How long have you known each other for?’ And we were like, ‘Oh, we just met on Wednesday,’” Madden said. “I think we just kind of connected pretty instantly and that’s a massive testament to the casting gods of what amazing work that they do.”
“I think it was really lovely for us to be able to establish Egwene and Nynaeve from the beginning and the true, raw, pure love that they have for each other,” Robins said. “They just want the best for each other, which I think is really beautiful to start the series off with these characters that just want the best for one another, they have no agenda. They really love each other as a family.”
“You know, the connection between women is something that we don’t usually see in this genre. Women that are just friends that support each other and lift each other up. Once you travel to the White Tower then obviously dynamics change and there’s a bit more politics that comes into those relationships,” Madden teased. “But, in a whole, it is a society of women that do celebrate each other and embrace each other and we see that whether we are looking at the organization that is the Aes Sedai or whether you’re looking at the Wisdom of the Two Rivers, who is you know, the leader of the Women’s Circle.”
The bond between the Two Rivers gang is wildly important to the success of The Wheel of Time, which is why it’s surprising that Amazon has already recast the role of Mat Cauthon for Season 2. Season 1 Mat, Barney Harris, wasn’t available to press, nor were there any straight answers explaining why the casting change happened. But everyone in the cast was quick to sing the praises of both Harris and his replacement, Dónal Finn.
“Yeah, Barney [Harris] does wicked work in Season 1 which I think people will like,” Rutherford continued, “but equally exciting is that Dónal [Finn] is gonna bring something really, really exciting as well. He’s an absolute joy to work with and I think he’s going to, yeah, make the fans really happy moving forward.”
Stradowski said, “I agree. I worked with Dónal one day on Season 2 and he’s brilliant. I think people will love him.”
Madden said, “Barney made an amazing contribution to season 1 and we’ve now got the amazing Dónal Finn who is joining us for season 2 and I’m really excited to see what he brings to life with Mat and you know, Mat’s such a fan favorite. [Dónal Finn] and I had a scene the other day and he’s just brilliant. We all love each other very much.”
The Wheel of Time Episodes 1-3 are now streaming on Prime Video. The Wheel of Time Episode 4 premieres Friday, November 24.
Where to stream The Wheel of Time
This post first appeared on Nypost.com
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