Hot on the heels of the season two trailer, we have two castings to report: one new and one previously unknown role. This article will contain minor book spoilers through Lord of Chaos.
Galad…Who?
According to his CV, actor Callum Kerr will play “Galad Trakand” in an unspecified season of The Wheel of Time, with Sanaa Hamri listed as the director. Kerr is a Scottish actor and musician who currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Most of his work is in television, including Flowers In The Attic: The Origin, Monarch, and Hollyoaks.
Now for some speculation. First, we have no confirmation that Sanaa Hamri is returning as a director for season three; given that directors are frequently inaccurate on actor CVs, take it with a grain of salt. Second, Instagram posts place Kerr in Prague for around a month during May to June 2023, although it’s possible he was there outside that timeframe.
But possibly the biggest question is: Galad Trakand? As book readers know, Galad’s last name in the books is Damodred, not Trakand. He is the son of Taringail Damodred and Tigraine Mantear, making him half-brother to Gawyn and Elayne Trakand (through his father) as well as Rand al’Thor (through his mother). It’s possible this name is a mistake on his CV, as it wouldn’t be the first time an agency has misspelled a name or put an audition code name on a CV. It’s also possible the production decided to change Galad’s parentage, or had him take Morgase’s name instead of keeping his father’s.
And just to add a little more confusion into the mix: Last year, we reported on an audition tape for what appeared to be the role of Gawyn, and speculated it was for a season two casting since the audition tape was originally uploaded in mid-2021. Does this mean Gawyn will be introduced a season before his half-brother? Or was his character rewritten to appear in season three?
Luckily, we’ll find out in a few short months when season two is completely aired.
Aes Sedai Turned Damane
We previously reported that Nyokabi Gethaiga will appear in seasons two and three in an unknown role. Her CV has been updated to show the role of Ryma. Ryma is a Yellow Aes Sedai who is captured by the Seanchan offscreen in The Great Hunt, turned into a damane, and renamed Pura.
Gethaiga is an award-winning Kenyan actress most known for her starring role in the film Kati Kati, as well as roles in Going Bongo, and I am Slave.
Season Two Trailer and Beyond
In case you somehow missed it, watch the season two trailer here.
Season two will release on September 1, 2023, and will contain eight episodes written by Rafe Judkins, Amanda Kate Shuman, Justine Juel Gillmer, Dave Hill, Katherine B McKenna, Rammy Park, John McCutcheon, Rohit Kumar, and Timothy Earle. WoTSeries.com is a news site by fans, for fans, and is not affiliated with any paid sponsors or brands. We stand in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA and encourage donations to the Entertainment Community Fund to support those affected during the work stoppage.
I'm a longtime SFF fan but Wheel of Time will always be my first love. I want to call myself Green Ajah, but--let's be real--I'm probably a Brown. In my spare time I enjoy cooking, writing, and getting lost in the wilderness.
If they aren’t going to follow the half-brother thing (it doesn’t really play out in the books, there’s no big reveal or anything), it makes sense to just make all three of them siblings.
Actually it does
Demandred would disagree with you
Honestly, they could cut Cairhien out entirely. It all could be streamlined and switched to Andor.
Honestly they could cancel the show all the way and real WoT fans will be overjoyed.
Real fans? Oh boy, here we go with the gatekeeping. I love the series and have read though it multiple times and I enjoy the show. Sure, some of the book to show changes are frustrating, but it’s still entertaining.
No cairhien is there for a reason everything ties in
Things like this is the reason I refuse to watch the show. If you going to change everything about it then why even call it the same thing? Stop changing everything from a book and leave it as it is.
Because Galad’s last name is so critical to the story?
Yeah, I know of Rand’s Andor connection and how Elaida messed up her foretelling, but the show doesnt have the time to explain the whole Andor family tree and why he’s a half brother. It’s not important.
If a change like this gets you all upset, best not watch any TV adaptation ever. Game of Thrones had hundreds of changes like this
They’re not changing everything. Calm down.
As a reader/superfan of 32 years, I’ve read the series everytime a new book came out but overall at least 20 times. When I heard this was going to be put on screen I knew there is no possible way to put 12000 pages on screen, I mean comon your just jipping yourself of a good show that still follows the story to a degree. I’m enjoying it even if they cut Kamarile a.k.a. Graendal… My personal favorite. I’ll still watch and buy it for my WoT shelf.
Even Brandon Sanderson said this is not necessarily the same story, but a different turning of the wheel. It has happened before and will happen again
Even legend is forgotten, when the age that birthed it comes again.
The wheel weaves as the wheel wills.
The people who say only “real WOT fans” would hate this and want it canceled sound stupid and entitled. I am a real WOT fan and I enjoy both the books and the show. This article does point out the when actors and thier representation start listing things there is often inaccuracy, but as many real fans in the post have already said, this really isn’t a big deal. I am excited for season 2 and then 3.
I am also excited for fantasy shows on ama,on, I love the genre and viewership of what they have will encourage more.
Lord of the Rings super fans were spitting pissed at all the changes done in the movies that to them left out crucial plot points and characters, yes nearly 90 percent of the movie made it to screen out of reverence for the author but that didn’t make the book fans any happier. Fans will always seethe at the live action stuff, hasn’t changed since the wizard of oz.
There will always be differences between books and TV.
I was more disappointed in the poor script, acting and trollocs looked like they were straight from a cheap 80’s tv movie too.
I’m kind of routing for the dark one in the TV series after the 5 main actors performances 🤣🤣🤣
In my opinion if they are not going to put in any of the Forsaken then there is no reason for me to watch.
Happy to those that love the show, but its not for me.
I watched season 1 never having even heard of the books. I was really confused. It just didn’t make sense to me. I’m now in book 6 and I see now why the series wasn’t cohesive enough. You can’t kill off characters, change places, mix up locations, etc, without careful planning. I have to blame the writers, etc, for not weaving the threads cohesively. I’m not blaming the actors because it’s the material they were given. Just do better because this story needs to be treated with care.
Did anyone expect them to make the movies an exact replication of the books? I have been listening to and reading about how readers are all upset because they changed it. How the hell do you think they could adapt the books into a movie and not change, condense, and delete a lot of it? It would take at least 15 seasons to adequately portray it as written. Probably more. The actors would be 15 years older or be replaced regularly to keep the timelines intact. And the middle years would be low rated with top characters vanish for a season or two while another pov was pursued. I forget the exact number but there are a LOT of pov characters. Changes are necessary if they are going to make the series. So if you want it “by the book” don’t watch, because it’s impossible. The story as written would make no sense with half the material skipped over to squeeze it into 6 or 8 seasons. They had to condense it, combine characters and alter the story to make it work. So either watch it or don’t watch it but try to be open to the fact its not going to be the same story. And madman is totally correct. Diehard Tolkien fans had the same old complaints. Hell, Tom Clancy fans didnt approve of the adaptations of his books. Game of Thrones, well, that is a little different. The author screwed everyone over by abandoning the story to soak up the spotlight. And the producers/writers could have made another season but were more interested in making some other spinoffs (wasn t it star wars, i got so disgusted i dont remember for sure) and rushed thru the last season and id say the last two seasons to be honest. Now if you want to complain, there is the one to complain about. That was tragic. Or even better complain about the idiots at Prime who put close to $500 million into the Rings of Power and $80 million in WOT. Hmmm. Wonder why the trollics looked amateurish? The Rings series was beautifully presented, but poorly written and acted in my opinion. Not worth what they put into it. Imagine what they could have done with WOT with that budget. Anyways, I’m tired of typing and my opinion isn’t going to change any minds I’m sure. So peace, out.
the last of the first season was done during the beginning of the pandemic also. Thanks Gary for this and to those that don’t wana watch don’t. But if you care for the books you should I’m sure Ms Harriet would appreciate it.
Maybe I missed it, but did they announce that they cast Tuon?? (or has she NOT been cast yet) I’m really curious who they get for her and of course her eventual interactions with the group and well… You know lol
Not sure what all the complaints are about. There is no way they could have adapted Jordan’s books to the big or little screen without a major reworking of the events. The first book alone would have taken up a year to watch if they had tried that and would have been canceled before it came close to completion. They have kept the heart of the story and the characters. As far as “real WOT” fans not liking the series – really?? Geez!