What We Know About The Wheel of Time Season 3 Storylines

It has long been known that season 3 of Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time would mainly focus on adapting the story of book 4, The Shadow Rising. This story can largely be broken up into four main plotlines occurring in different locations: the Aiel Waste, the Two Rivers, Tanchico, and the White Tower. With the revelation of the teaser trailer at CCXP, we can dive a little deeper into what we think will unfold on our screens in a few short months.

Though much of this is speculation, be advised that there are spoilers ahead!

Opening Season 3

Previously, showrunner Rafe Judkins said that we would know “right up top, season 3, what Liandrin’s been up to” while she was off-screen during the season 2 finale and that the first 15 minutes of season 3 would be “just a bunch of women in their 40s and 50s shredding each other.” This led to us theorizing that we would see Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) fleeing the White Tower with some of the Black Ajah sisters.

Well, the first 5 minutes of season 3 were shown to audiences at CCXP, and thanks to a break down by O Povo do Dragão, we know that season 3 does indeed start with Liandrin being revealed as a Black Ajah in front of the Hall of the Sitters. Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) is presented as a witness to this, and Liandrin fights back alongside other Black Ajah sisters who reveal themselves.

The Shadow Rising begins with all our main characters in the same location, and during an interview on the Omelete stage at CCXP, Josha confirmed that our heroes will start the season together again. This is wonderful news for fans who want to see a reunion for Nynaeve and Lan (Daniel Henney) and more interaction between Rand (Josha Stradowski) and Elayne (Ceara Coveney). With Nynaeve back in the Tower, and Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) and Rand presumably hiding out in the city during the opening 5 minutes, it seems Tar Valon will be where our characters start their journey for season 3.

The Aiel Waste

A major plot for The Shadow Rising is Rand’s journey to the Aiel Waste. He will be joined by Moiraine, Lan, Egwene, and Aviendha (Ayoola Smart). One departure from the books is that Mat (Dónal Finn) will not be part of this journey according to information obtained from youtuber WoT Up! He will reportedly be joining the Tanchico plot line instead.

Rand journeys to the ancient city of Rhuidean and learns more about the history of the Aiel and his place in everything. Egwene will learn about Dreamwalking from the Aiel Wise Ones. Aviendha will be learning right alongside Egwene as she accepts her fate and becomes a Wise One’s apprentice. Finally, as we see hinted in the teaser trailer, Moiraine goes on her own journey to Rhuidean to learn how Rand can succeed in his role as the Dragon Reborn.

Along the way, expect to meet prominent Wise Ones and at least one clan chief, to learn about how the Shaido are a threat, and to stop at Cold Rocks Hold.

Based off of episode titles, the writers for the season, and casting information, we expect Rand to enter Rhuidean during episode 4. The end of the season will likely be the conflict between Rand and Couladin at Alcair Dal.

The Two Rivers

Another major plot is Perrin’s (Marcus Rutherford) return to the Two Rivers with Loial (Hammed Animashaun), Bain (Ragga Ragnars), and Chiad (Maja Simonsen) to help the townspeople caught between trollocs and Whitecloaks. We anticipate seeing a number of returning Two Rivers folk from season 1. Alanna and her remaining warder are expected to take part in this storyline, as well. Also returning will be Whitecloaks such as Dain Bornhald (Jay Duffy) and Eamon Valda (Abdul Salis). Verin (Meera Syal) is with Alanna in The Shadow Rising, so it would make sense to see Verin and Tomas (Heikko Deutschmann) in the Two Rivers in the show.

Perrin will meet Faile, and, judging from the teaser, they will develop romantic feelings for each other at least by the end of the season. For this to happen, Perrin will need to make peace with what happened to Laila the last time he was home. He started this process in season 2, but knowing Perrin, he still has quite a bit of soul searching to do before he’s ready to forgive himself.

Another new character hinted at from audition tapes is that of Lord Luc. Perrin’s adversarial relationship with this character begins in The Shadow Rising and continues through the rest of the books, so it will be interesting to see how season 3 chooses to utilize him.

This story is expected to end this season with the beloved and highly anticipated Battle of the Two Rivers and with Perrin becoming a leader in his own right.

The White Tower

It appears from the teaser trailer that Egwene will be taking her Accepted test, which means that it’s very likely that Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve will be at the Tower at the start of the season. This will be a good opportunity to introduce Elaida (Shohreh Aghdashloo), Galad (Callum Kerr) and Gawyn, as well.

Additionally, if Mat is brought back to the Tower at the start of season 3 — possibly to research his connection to the Horn? — this would present the perfect opportunity for him to have his famous face-off against Elayne’s brothers.

Since Nynaeve was the witness that Liandrin was a member of the Black Ajah, it makes sense for Siuan (Sophie Okonedo) to enlist Nynaeve and Elayne (and possibly Egwene) as Black Ajah hunters, sending them after Liandrin to Tanchico.

However, even after they leave, expect to see Elaida build up her case against Siuan until she finally wrests power away in the Tower Coup.

Tanchico

In The Shadow Rising, Elayne and Nynaeve question captured Black Ajah and discover that the city of Tanchico contains a threat to Rand. Similarly, it seems that at least one of Liandrin’s Black Ajah will be captured and questioned in the show. We have learned from WoT Up! that Min (Kae Alexander) and Mat will join Elayne and Nynaeve in their journey to Tanchico. Thom Merrilin (Alexandre Willaume) will also make his reappearance in this story thread, though exactly where they meet him is a mystery. It’s possible Mat and or Thom join the party because they’re asked to help keep Elayne and Nynaeve safe, similar to The Shadow Rising, or because Mat was tricked into accompanying the girls to Tanchico like he was tricked into going to Ebou Dar in Lord of Chaos.

In the books, Nynaeve and Moghedien (Laia Costa) face off against each other at the Panarch’s Palace, and we’re very much looking forward to seeing this showdown in season 3.

A Question of Mat

Moving Mat from the Aiel Waste story line to Tanchico raises some interesting questions about if some pivotal moments from the book will be included. One of the end results of Mat going to the Waste was to have the holes in his memory filled. One potential path the show may take to reach that destination is for Mat to have memories from his past lives as a Hero of the Horn. The weapon he made out of the Shadar Logoth dagger at the end of season 2 may take the place of his ashandarei from the books. He still needs his foxhead medallion, but there are other ways the show could give it to him.

Speaking of alternate possibilities, if Mat still does go through the red door frame in the show, it doesn’t have to take place where it does in the books. Perhaps one of the frames is moved to Tanchico? Or maybe even to the White Tower? Or perhaps he enters a frame in one location and comes out in another location? We won’t know exactly how the show will approach Mat obtaining some of his most defining features until we see it on our screens, but previous seasons have shown us that the writers have been able to take elements of plots from the book and blend them into other existing locations or stories in a way that feels familiar but also fresh.

Other Story Points

In the books, the Forsaken Asmodean plays an important role in Rand’s journey and first appears in The Shadow Rising. However, despite our best efforts, we have yet to hear any word about Asmodean appearing in season 3. We do know that the Forsaken Sammael will be appearing this season. This doesn’t mean that Asmodean was cut, but it does make us wonder how the Forsaken might laying out their plans differently in the show.

Intriguingly, Ryma from season 2 will be returning this season. Actor Nyokabi Gethaiga was in Prague early during filming of season 3, and also returned towards the end. Ryma is a character who experienced severe trauma and loss last season. She will likely still be feeling the effects of losing her warder Basan, but we hope she has the opportunity to heal and regain her agency and maybe to continue in her mentoring role to Nynaeve. Additionally, because she learned about the Black Ajah from Nynaeve and Elayne, she is in a good position to potentially root out even more Black Ajah from within the White Tower while it remains whole.

There’s so much that happens in The Shadow Rising that it’s hard to cover every detail that may possible make its way into the show. We definitely don’t envy the monumental task of adapting such a hefty tome to a single season of television, but we are looking forward to the final result in March!