As the second episode of The Wheel of Time begins, we see a camp of people in white cloaks and a young boy brings Eamon Valda (Abdul Salis) a meal from the lord. He talks about how the duck cuts the inside of your mouth as you eat it so there is a brutality to the dish. He takes a ring from the severed hand of one of the Aes Sedai as she is tied up and burned. He claims that brutality is sometimes the only path to mercy as the woman is covered in flames. After the intro, Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) and the others flee from the large group of Trollocs following them. As they approach a ferry, Moiraine tells Mat Cauthon (Barney Harris) that the Trollocs only fear deep water and not walls. The man in charge agrees to take them across the Taren, but he wants to wait for his son to get there. They give him enough money that he can’t refuse. Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney) leads them onto the ferry before it begins sailing to the other side.

The Trollocs arrive too late and have to watch Lan and his group sail into the distance. One Trolloc falls into the water and drowns so the others decide to stay back. A Fade arrives, joins the Trollics, and screeches at Moiraine and her group. Moiraine tells the ferryman that they’re servants of the dark and riders of the Fade. Although a Fade can force a Trolloc to do most things, it can’t force them to cross the river. Rand (Josha Stradowski) and the others listen as the man demands to go back to get his son. Lan cuts the rope and Moiraine uses her magic to sink the ferry, but the man swims out to it and drowns anyway. Before he does, he tells Moiraine that the white cloaks are right and the Aes Sedai are monsters. With the man gone, Moiraine encourages them to move quickly because this won’t stop the Trollocs. Once they lose the Trollocs, Moiraine encourages them to find a safe place to rest and be careful because there are things more dangerous than Trollocs in the world.

They stop and Lan tells Moiraine she needs rest as well. Mat wonders what Nynaeve (Zoe Robins) would do if she was there and whether she would constantly argue with the Aes Sedai. When Egwene (Madeleine Madden) says she saw the Trolloc take Nyn, Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) suggests she felt nothing since it happened so quickly. Rand argues they need a plan in case Moiraine comes after one of them and Mat agrees since one of them could be the Dragon Reborn. They discuss the dragon breaking the world and saving it before Moiraine interrupts and tells them to forget what they heard about the dragon. Later that night, Rand wakes up and sees Moiraine paying particularly close attention to Egwene before they step outside together. Egwene asks if she is going to kill them like she did the ferryman. Moiraine tells her about the Three Oaths which include to speak no word that is not true, to make no weapon with which one person may kill another, and to never use the One Power as a weapon unless in the defense of her life.

She goes on to say that they cannot break the Oaths and the ferryman killed himself on a foolish cause, but Egwene questions that. Moiraine explains what would’ve happened if the ferryman went back before telling Egwene that her mind is powerful. Then, they discuss her ability to listen to the wind and predict the weather. Moiraine believes she could be an Aes Sedai and says touching the source will come to her whether she wants it or not. Moiraine puts a stone in Egwene’s hand and tells her to look at the stone’s surface. She encourages Egwene to let the stone take her. Once they stop, Egwene says she thought she felt something, but she isn’t sure. Moiraine says the first two were hers although the last was Egwene’s. She suspects Egwene doesn’t listen to the wind and instead it listens to her. After the conversation ends, Egwene joins Rand who has moved outside to sleep. When she wakes him, Rand tells her he came out here to be alone. She understands and leaves while Rand goes back to sleep.

Perrin feels of the deep cuts on his leg until Egwene interrupts. They discuss whether they’ll ever get to go back home although Egwene doubts it. Rand has a nightmare in which he pulls a dead bat from his throat. Then, he sees a shadowy figure staring at him from the distance and abruptly wakes up. When he gets up, he finds the others looking at the dead bats on the ground and immediately questions whether Moiraine did this. Lan gets between them before Mat says he saw the bats get their necks snapped in midair. Perrin tells her about the man with eyes like embers in his dream. Moiraine wants to know about the dreams straight away because they have powers. She is ready to leave, but Rand wants to know more. He asks why they should trust her. She encourages him to go where he will although Rand doesn’t think she’ll let that happen. Once she rides off, Rand questions why Egwene is on her side after one conversation.

He wonders whether Moiraine is any better than the things chasing them. Egwene says she does because the monsters killed Laila and Nynaeve. She goes on to say that Moiraine is protecting them and using her One Power to protect everyone else. She admits she’d leave Rand behind as well, so he reminds her that she already did. Mat agrees with Rand and suspects Moiraine is keeping them alive for a reason and they’ll be dead when that reason is gone. Still, he believes they should stay on her good side since she shoots fireballs. When they leave, Lan warns them Whitecloaks are in the distance. He takes Moiraine’s ring and they concoct a story to stay out of trouble. Moiraine gets off her horse and tells Geofram Bornhald (Stuart Graham) they’re going to Whitebridge in hopes of staying with her sister. Before they’re allowed to leave, the Questioner Eamon decides to question them, and they notice the rings he has.

Although Lan says it isn’t their land, Eamon says Children of the Light hold sway wherever men walk in the light. When Lan tells him he comes from a place where men know to keep their hands to themselves, Eamon orders for his men to search the horses. Eamon tells them about the White Tower dispatching eight Sisters to deal with Logain’s army in the south. He soon finds out about Moiraine’s injury which was caused by a monster. Geofram checks her wound and learns they encountered the Trollocs near Taren Ferry. He instructs her to find one of the Aes Sedai when she gets to Whitebridge because they’ll be able to heal her wound. Once they’re allowed to go, Eamon decides to go South because the Questioners are not meant for battle like Geofram. Egwene rushes up next to Moiraine to ask about lying to the Whitecloak, but Moiraine denies it because they can’t heal themselves.

Since all Aes Sedai are sisters, she does have a sister in Whitebridge. They rush onward before singing about Manetheren which Moiraine explains means Mountain Home in the Old Tongue. It used to be the name of the place called the Two Rivers now. During the Trolloc Wars, the Dark One sent his entire forces to Manetheren to destroy the small force there. The people were ready to fight and their king Aemon sent for help. They were promised aid if they could hold out for three days. Although they did, help never arrived. They fought on alone for 10 days so Queen Eldrene organized people to take the children to find refuge in the mountain keeps. Many joined the army to fight for their homes. By the 13th day, the Army of Manetheren was gone. When the Queen felt her husband die, she hurled the One Power at the Trolloc Army and a hurricane of fire washed the land.

The Dark One’s host ran like beasts, but the flames caught and consumed them. Eldrene was burnt from the inside out because she used too much of the One Power. The kids came down and held the lands that were theirs although there was nothing there. Moirainie says the old blood runs deep in them and they’ll need it in the days to come. As they get closer to Shadar Logoth, they decide to stop and rest. Moiraine tells Lan they canot go there. Then, they discuss the Whitecloak that likely killed her sisters. Lan returns her ring as she says she’ll remember Eamon’s face as well. He recommends finding a sister who can heal her tomorrow. Meanwhile, Rand gets into an argument with Egwene who made her decision. She reminds him she can’t be Nyn’s apprentice because she is dead now.

Rand tells her that he could never hate her. While filling canteens, Perrin’s leg begins hurting and he soon finds himself surrounded by wolves. He manages to calm the wolves as one walks up and licks the blood from his leg. The wolves continue. Later, the others ask Lan whether Moiraine is going to be okay. He says she needs sleep and they do as well. Later that night, Egwene wakes up and sees the Fade standing on the cliff’s edge above them. Lan quickly tells everyone they have to go. Moiraine is thrown onto a horse with Perrin who is told to ride to the fallen city of Shadar Logoth. Once they get close to the fallen city, the horses stop and do not want to continue. Lan tells everyone the Trollocs won’t follow them inside so they continue in. As they ride inside, they realize there are no birds, bugs, or anything. Moiraine is in bad shape so they find a place to stay for a bit.

Once they stop, Lan says the city’s name means Shadow’s Waiting although it was once called Aridhol. It was the richest and most powerful city in the world during the Trolloc Wars. The locals build a wall without a gate and locked themselves inside while the other nations burned. They promised the Manetheren aid, but instead let them die. When the war was over, survivors came to the city to look for food and shelter. No one answered so they broke through the wall and nobody was found inside. The city has been abandoned and even Trollocs won’t enter the city’s walls. Lan makes it clear that they shouldn’t touch anything and should only eat the food they brought. Rand walks around the city alone until Egwene joins him and they hold hands. Back inside, Mat sits with Perrin and tries to give him the knife that Laila made. He says she only made tools and thought he’d use it for chopping apples and whittling wood before defending himself with it.

He suspects she thought he’d have to use the knife to save Perrin’s life since she seemed to believe he’d get Perrin into trouble. He isn’t sure anyone could blame him for any of this though. Perrin thanks him and promises the girls will be fine. Later, Perrin gets up and goes outside where he watches a shadow enter a building nearby. He goes inside and finds a small wooden chest that contains a knife. When he pulls out the knife, the horses go crazy outside. Egwene and the others come outside just in time to watch one of the horses turn into ash. Moiraine wakes up and immediately asks Lan where they’re at. She complains that he has killed them all. Outside, the characters are surrounded by shadows and separated. Egwene and Perrin are chased while Rand and Mat run in the opposite direction. Lan tries to escape with Moiraine. Rand and Mat try to escape through a hole in the wall while Egwene and Perrin have to jump from the wall into the water below.

Out front, Lan gives Moiraine water before Nynaeve arrives and puts her blade next to his neck. She threatens to slit his throat if he doesn’t take her to the others right away.

 

The Wheel Of Time Review

After the second episode of The Wheel of Time, it seems the wheel is stuck in second gear without any intention of picking up the pace. We’re starting to get the same old formula of the group sitting around, talking, running from monsters, and repeating the whole process. It doesn’t help that we know nothing about the characters or their backstories.

I need more to keep me interested in The Wheel of Time. I need more character development, more action, more mythology, more backstories, and more effort from the show. At this point, the best thing about the show is the gorgeous scenery and moody atmosphere. There really isn’t much else going on although I hope they’ll flip the switch and change this pretty soon.

I am not confident this is going to happen since the show hasn’t proven it can break out of mediocracy. The second episode seemed to be going through the motions without striving for anything more. It scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Wheel of Time will be available on Reel Mockery here.