Times Two

MOIRAINE DAMODRED IS DOWN BUT NOT OUT IN SEASON TWO OF THE WHEEL OF TIME

- TARA BENNETT

TWO YEARS AGO, READERS of Robert Jordan's beloved high fantasy series The Wheel Of Time were handed a gift that was 30 years in the making. Prime Video bestowed upon them a lavish adaptation of book one, 1990's The Eye Of The World, and cast Rosamund Pike as the embodiment of the intense magic wielder of the Aes Sedai, Moiraine Damodred.

In the sweeping first season, Moiraine travels to a remote village in search of a young channeller who might be the Dragon Reborn, a reincarnation of the champion of the Light, prophesied to either end the world or save it. She collects five young potential candidates in hopes of discovering who it is, and trains them to help her battle primordial evil the Dark One.

Showrunner Rafe Judkins ended season one with a big battle where Moiraine is drained of her power and Rand al' Thor (Josha Stradowski) is revealed as the likely Dragon Reborn. Fearing his powers, he feigns death and escapes into self-exile. 

Season two picks up five months later and covers major storylines that happen in parallel within the next two books: The Great Hunt (1990) and The Dragon Reborn (1991). Executive producer Marigo Kehoe tells SFX that Judkins consulted Brandon Sanderson, who completed the series after Jordan's death, about how best to compress those two beefy tomes into eight episodes.

"They have the same story arc, pretty much," Kehoe explains of how they dovetail together. "Rand goes off on his journey, all the characters split apart, and then they fight [Dark One lieutenant] Ishmael at the end."