One of my favorite pieces of media currently airing is The Wheel of Time, the adaptation of the 14-novel book series of the same name by author Robert Jordan—and partly by author Brandon Sanderson, who co-wrote the final three volumes after Jordan sadly passed away in 2007.
While the show has some very marked differences from the original material, some of which have been met favorably by book fans while others were definitely criticized, I find myself tuning into each new episode with massive anticipation. It’s a combo of absolutely fascinating worldbuilding, the charm of a good old-fashioned Chosen One story, and the fact that I love Rosamund Pike as Moiraine Sedai more than everything else. And that’s precisely why I was so happy to witness the turn her character took in the penultimate episode of season 2.
This article contains spoilers for the seventh episode of The Wheel of Time, “Daes Dae’mar.”
Moiraine was the very first Aes Sedai we saw on screen during the show’s first season, a powerful member of this world’s major magical organization, made up of women who have the ability to channel the One Power. Her identity as a channeler has always been one of her chief character traits, which is why it was such a shock to her—and to us on this side of the screen as well, to be honest—when she was seemingly deprived of her powers during the season finale.
Cutting someone off from the One Power is something that actually happens within the world of The Wheel of Time; in season 1 we see the Aes Sedai do it to Logain Ablar, played by Álvaro Morte. Given that Logain is a male channeler, the process of Gentling—that’s the name used when it’s done to a man—is seen as inevitable considering how all male channelers are destined to go insane as a consequence of the past Chosen One poisoning the male side of the One Power.
Gentling changes its name to Stilling when it happens to women, even though it’s not as common, which is why it was not exactly out of the realm of possibility that Moiraine had been Stilled. Rather, it was not out of the realm of possibility for me, given that my knowledge is currently coming from the show only, instead of my usual “annoying book reader” perspective.
However, it seemed unlikely that Moiraine was going to be left completely defenseless, magically-speaking, with so much of the story left to be told and so many powerful enemies popping up left and right. So I spent the entirety of The Wheel of Time season 2 suspecting that what she believed to have been a Stilling was instead something else that could somehow still be reversed—and boy was I happy when I saw I was right, and that Rand restored Moiraine’s connection to the One Power with his very special Dragon Reborn abilities.
And I’m even happier that this resolution came to be mostly because of Lan, Moiraine’s warder and platonic soulmate. Their relationship is one of the most interesting in the entire show and seeing the wedge Moiraine’s supposed Stilling had driven between them was heartbreaking. So, hopefully, things will get better for them—or as better as they can be with an epic war between light and dark in which the fate of the entire world is at stake coming their way.
(featured image: Prime Video)
