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The Wheel of Time turns again for the stars of Prime Video’s adaptation of the beloved book series as Season Two starts September 1, debuting with a three-episode premiere. Daniel Henney, Marcus Rutherford, Madeleine Madden, and Zoe Robbins are returning to reprise their respective roles as the Warder Lan, former blacksmith Perrin, and Aes Sedais in training Egwene and Nynaeve. Donal Finn joined the cast as Mat Cauthon (replacing Barney Harris, who quit during the show’s initial airing for unspecified reasons) and newcomer Ceara Coveney as the princess Elayne Trakand.
GameSpot spoke to the actors about their characters’ journeys for the upcoming season and what fans can expect this time around. You can read our interview with Rosamund Pike and Josha Stradowski here for more information on how they think the series differs from other fantasy show offerings.
Lan (Daniel Henney)
Going into Season 2, we find Lan becoming borderline listless and his relationship with Moiraine (Pike) is crumbling at the foundation. “I treat his relationship with Moiraine very much like a marriage,” Henney said. “They’ve been on this journey for so long that, even though she’s an Aes Sedai and she can do all these incredible things, he thought that after everything they had found some equal ground. So he’s finding himself spinning and asking questions. I don’t think he doubts Moiraine entirely, but it’s almost like a new formative period for him. Both of his parents have been killed and Moiraine has been his rock and he’s asking some existential questions.”
In the book series, Lan is seen as a stone-faced and stoic man. In Season 1, though, we saw a more emotional character, a man who finally feels like he can grieve and does so openly at a Warder mourning ritual. Henney said that Lan is still trying to figure out who he is without having to be Moiraine’s Warder.
“I don’t think he knows himself to be honest with you. Being raised by Shienaran soldiers doesn’t help you develop any sort of sensitivity or who you are as a man, you know what I mean? It’s more than fighting and stoicism because that’s what he got from those guys. He has these conversations with [Heikko Deutschmann’s] Tomas and I really do love the Warder culture and how it shows they do lean on each other and that’s helping me develop a little more.”
Egwene and Nynaeve (Madeleine Madden and Zoe Robbins)
While at the White Tower, where women train to be Aes Sedai, Egwene and Nynaeve are on their own journey of self-discovery within the society of the Aes Sedai as well as their own sense of womanhood.
“Obviously, this initiation to this institution and social hierarchy being at the White Tower is something they’re both struggling with in different ways,” said Madden. “For Egwene, who is an idealist, going to the White Tower she expected to be an A-grade student. Unfortunately, though, it’s actually been the opposite. She’s become sort of invisible during her time here and Nynaeve has excelled at such an extraordinary pace.” Madden said it was interesting to explore these emotions with Robbins because that sort of scene wasn’t something they had in Season 1.
“I think for Nyaeve she’s on the opposite side of things as she’s just running. Running from herself, running from her powers, where she’s found herself. The only reason she’s in the White Tower is because Egwene is there,” Robbins added. “I think there is this push and pull for her as she just desperately wants to go home, but she knows deep inside of herself that’s pretty much impossible. So there’s this continuous struggle that will remain there for quite some time of Nynaeve learning what to accept what is and letting go of what once was. We see that manifest as Egwene and Nynaeve interact with one another as they’re going through massive moments in their lives at opposite ends and can’t seem to meet each other because they don’t talk each other’s language at the moment.”
Mat (Donal Finn)
In Season 2, Mat is a prisoner in the Aes Sedai capitol of Tar Valon, with Elayne also donning the white garb of an Aes Sedai novice, and Perrin becoming something more than human. Finn mentioned that some time has passed between seasons, but all three are feeling the same thing.
“I think, like Marcus has said previously in such a concise way, that they are pining for home and that sets up some sort of growth among them all,” added Finn. “Also because there’s so much world-building and so much context that is given to the audience in Season 1, you sort of understand the rules of this world on a macro level, this season allows a bit more growth for them and their relationships to each other. We get to know them a bit more personally.”
Elayne (Ceara Coveney)
Elayne, coming from a place at being at the top of the social hierarchy finds herself in unfamiliar territory as she’s at the bottom of the food chain in the Tower, which Coveney had fun playing with.
“We meet her at a very interesting time in her life as she’s very much a fish out of water. She’s in a situation that’s so new to her but she’s so knowledgeable, but she’s now in this position of having to put everything into practice. So she’s starting to realize that maybe she doesn’t know as much as she thought she did and is being challenged by these powerful women around her so she’s learning that she still has a lot of growing up to do if she is to be the sort of queen she wants to be one day.”
Perrin (Marcus Rutherford)
Rutherford explained he thought that the stakes had been raised this time around and what the characters now face had to become even greater as well. While not getting into deep specifics, he touched on Perrin’s great change that he encounters this season.
“There’s a new culture that comes into Perrin’s life that’s almost an alien-like culture that he knows nothing about.” The actor went on to praise Thomas Napper, who directed the first three episodes of the new season and set the tone for things to come. “He wanted the stunts to be bigger, the costumes more extravagant, and we travel to different countries as well. So as we come to Season 2, I think it warranted that bigger scale to match the magnitude of the world we’re trying to represent. Hopefully, we might have done that.”
These interviews were conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike.
