[This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike authorization.]
After more than a year and a half, the fantastical hit based on Robert Jordan’s epic novels (there are 15 of ’em, if you need some new reading material!) is finally rolling in for a second round. The Wheel of TimeSeason 2 picks up shortly after Season 1’s finale, and the drama’s heroes are now in different fascinating, far-flung spots.
Rand (Josha Stradowski)—the humble villager who was revealed to be the reincarnated “Dragon Reborn,” destined to either save or sink mankind—has gone into hiding after his battle with an acolyte (Fares Fares) of the villainous Dark One. And Rand’s beloved Egwene (Madeleine Madden) is training, along with her reluctant fellow villager Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), to join the Aes Sedai, an all-female order that controls magic. Their roguish friend Mat (Dónal Finn, replacing Barney Harris) is holed up with a most unlikely captor, and hulking pal Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) is on the hunt for the Dark One’s devious lackey Padan Fain (Johann Myers).
Thankfully, Perrin’s newly emerging abilities will help in his quest. “In Season 2, he starts to find out more about his wolf-like powers,” Rutherford said (before the actors’ strike), teasing that “a really cool character” enters the picture to help him both unleash and understand “this animalistic side within him.”
Marcus Rutherford as Perrin in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 2 (Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video)
As for Rand’s guardian Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), the once-strong Aes Sedai is reeling from the loss of her powers during the finale’s ill-fated showdown. “It’s about as colossal a trauma as can happen,” Pike said, adding that the twist has also severed Moiraine’s mystical link to companion Lan (Daniel Henney). “They’re both feeling rotten about it.”
Still, they won’t be apart for long. Henney hinted that a new journey for Lan “ultimately leads him back to his partner in crime,” who refuses to give up her mission to destroy the Dark One.
“She will soldier on,” previewed Pike. The ethereal badass must now rely on cunning and her sharpened combat skills. It won’t take long for her to prove her strength either. She’s in hand-to-hand combat with a monstrous Fade by the end of the first episode back. “We see the woman underneath the power, and she’s just as exciting, really,” raved the actress. “Because what she’s made of is pretty formidable.”
The Wheel of Time, Fridays, Prime Video
This is an excerpt from TV Insider‘s September issue. For more in-depth, reported coverage devoted to streaming shows from the publishers of TV Guide Magazine, pick up the issue, currently on newsstands, or purchase it online here. You can also subscribe to TV Insider Magazine here now.
