As the fifth episode of The Wheel of Time begins, Lan (Daniel Henney), Stepin (Peter Franzen), and the others hold a ceremony for the passing of Kerene and the others who died during the battle. Lan Mandragoran watches as Stepin removes Kerene’s ring from her hand and puts it on his necklace. He attempts to comfort his friend. Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) speaks for Kerene before we see all of the bodies that were buried. After the intro, we jump ahead one month and Liandrin Guirale (Kate Fleetwood) leads the group while Stepin guides a riderless horse. Logain Ablar (Alvaro Morte) rides a horse with a rope around his neck to ensure he doesn’t escape. When they see Tar Valon in the distance, Lan tells Moiraine it has been a long time since they got home. Moiraine doesn’t see it as home and suggests her saddle, boots, and cloak are her home.

Since Nynaeve (Zoe Robins) has been eating every night with the Warders, Moiraine believes Lan would know if she is ready for what awaits her in the White City. He isn’t sure although he knows she is worried about Stepin since Warders aren’t supposed to outlive their Aes Sedai. He is told Stepin is a strong man who will deliver Kerene’s ring to the tower. As for the other four, Moiraine is convinced they’ll find them whether or not they’ve reached the White City. Then, we join Rand (Josha Stradowski) and Mat Cauthon (Barney Harris). A little boy runs into Mat who curses him before he blames it on being tired. They walk to the peak of a mountain and see Tar Valon in front of them. Moments later, they find themselves walking through the city’s gates. Rand grabs a treat and offers Mat a bite, but he turns it down. They head for the inn that Thom told Rand about because the innkeeper was Thom’s old friend. Rand says they’re going to the White Tower once they rest and get cleaned up.

Once they get a room, Mat again asks whether he was responsible for the murder of the little girl and her family on the farm. Rand insists it wasn’t him and was instead the Fade. Mat doesn’t want to hear about Thom who he believes is dead, so Rand pleads with him to believe what he says. Moiraine and Lan take Nynaeve to the Warders’ quarters because it is likely the safest place in the Tower. Nyn says she only cares about her people and not the Amyrlin Seat or anything else. Moiraine explains she has people watching the gate and will alert them if they spot any of her friends. Nyn is worried she won’t tell her and contemplates looking around the town, but Moiraine warns her not to underestimate the women in the tower. She explains each woman as their own goal, ambition, and agenda and they’ve spent decades honing their strengths. Nynaeve is told that she will become a novice as soon as people find out about her. She’ll have to be careful or she’ll be destroyed by the politics.

Nynaeve says the Aes Sedai shouldn’t underestimate her if she is as powerful as Moiraine claims. When Lan leaves the room, Moiraine tells her it is okay to be afraid now that she has touched the source and seen how big it is. She knows how Nynaeve feels since she wondered if she could ever return to normal once she felt it the first time too. Moiraine admits the answer is no and nothing will ever be the same. Nynaeve is told to stay there so they can protect her. Before Moiraine leaves, she promises to bring her friends there once she finds them. Next, Egwene (Madeleine Madden), Perrin (Marcus Rutherford), and the party get close to Tar Valon. Perrin tells Aram (Daryl McCormack) it is hypocritical to let their pets ravage whatever they want while they preach nonviolence. Aram says violence is in everyone and they have to accept it. Egwene runs up happily and asks Perrin if he noticed the White Tower in front of them. The party unexpectedly stops when Raen and Ila (Maria Doyle Kennedy) are approached by Eamon Valda (Abdul Salis).

He asks about the false dragon, but quickly moves his attention to Egwene and Perrin when he spots them. He wants both brought to him although Ila says he can’t just take their people. When Eamon asks how they’re going to stop him, Ila and the others lock arms in hopes of preventing him from walking past. He smacks her so Aram, Perrin, and Egwene run for it. As they run through the woods, Aram says there is a village nearby where everyone has been good to them. He is knocked down by a White Cloak on a horse as Perrin and Egwene find themselves surrounded with nowhere to go. Moments later, an Ogier Loial (Hammed Animashaun) approaches Rand and scares him. He tells Rand about the first day around people and how the others treated him. When Rand tells him his name, Loial believes he recognizes the name as an Aielman although Rand suggests otherwise. Loial finds it odd to encounter an Aielman from the Two Rivers and one who refuses to acknowledge what he is. He says he likes oddities before their conversation turns to the book Rand was reading.

Rand admits he had The Travels of Jain Farstrider because a girl he knows used to read it every day. She thought she was Jain reincarnated. When asked where the girl or woman is now, Rand says he doesn’t know but she was coming to Tar Valon. They hear chaos from the streets as Loial says the Aes Sedai are returning from battle with the false dragon. Rand joins Mat on the balcony as the Aes Sedai lead Logain through the streets and people throw food and other items at him. As he passed by Mat, he begins laughing and locks eyes with him. Mat and Rand agree to make a deal that if one of them can channel they won’t let each other become like that. Mat is serious because he doesn’t care about the prophecy or the Aes Sedai. Rand promises him and Mat agrees to do the same for him. Stepin prepares for the upcoming ceremony with help from Ihvon (Emmanuel Imani) and Maksim (Taylor Napier). He tells them about hating his father. After his father died, he started fighting with men at the bar in hopes of one of them being able to stop him for good.

When he met Kerene, he was a stupid young boy with a death wish facing off against an Aes Sedai. She laughed at him, bought him a drink, and they became friends. He was surprised when she picked him to become her Warder although he didn’t think he was worthy. Maksim says his father tried to kill him when he was 12 so Stepin should stop whining. He confesses that the White Tower gave him the first real family he ever had. Lan suggests he could become a Warder for another Aes Sedai although Stepin says it isn’t going to be easy to jump from one woman to another. Next, the ceremony begins. Stepin approaches the fire pit, takes off the ring, and places it into the hot lava. Lan returns to Moiraine while Egwene is stripped naked by Eamon’s men. She cries and groans as they scrub her body clean. Once they’ve finished, she is tied to a chair in front of Eamon. Perrin is brought in and told not to fight if he cares for her. He is tied to a wood torture device of sorts.

Eamon tells Egwene to call him Child Valda and says the authority is in the light. He admits she isn’t who he thought because an Aes Sedai would’ve already have tried to channel and lost their hands. Egwene insists she cannot channel. He wonders why the light would bring her to him twice before she says she is just a girl from a mountain village and should’ve never left. He suspects she can use the One Power believes she’ll use it to save her life. She continues saying she cannot channel. She goes on to say he is a man of the Light so he can’t kill a girl who hasn’t done anything wrong. Eamon wonders why she thinks he is a man who will obey his oaths before she encourages him to just do it and get it over with. She insists she’ll come back in her next life and slaughter him like the pig he is. Eamon laughs and says she would make a good Aes Sedai.

He mentions his ring collection which sits on a table nearby. Then, he covers his blade and rips Perrin’s shirt off before cutting him with the knife. He explains why he is doing it and claims the witches make a mockery of their existence. Eamon says he has been called to stamp it out. Again, he encourages Egwene to channel so he can kill her and let Perrin live. If she doesn’t channel, he’ll kill Perrin and let her go. He leaves the tent to ensure they have time to discuss their options. Stepin visits Nynaeve who asks if he is still having trouble sleeping. He admits he lies there and nearly drifts off as the pain goes away, but the pain is the only thing he has left of Kerene. When he says he isn’t ready to let go of it yet, Nyn promises it will never go away. She gives him something and he promptly thanks her as he leaves. Liandrin approaches Nyn as she looks at the statues and says they represent the tens of thousands of men who bonded themselves to her sisters. Nynaeve mentions that the Reds never have warders and wonders whether they hate men. Liandrin explains that men control much of the world and are usually unkind to women who show a spark of being greater than they are.

She believes Nynaeve should enjoy her freedom so she tells her how to get to the library and garden. Loial approaches Rand and tells him the Ogiers have access to the White Tower grounds. He reveals he found the woman Rand spoke of. Nynaeve enters the room and surprises Rand. He suspects Egwene and Perrin are on their way before she changes the conversation to Mat and whatever is happening to him. She asks him to show his tongue, but he quickly grabs her arm and demands she not touch him. Mat apologizes while arguing he just needs sleep. Rand says Mat is losing himself and he isn’t sure they should tell Moiraine. Nynaeve says he has done well to bring him here, they don’t need the Aes Sedai since she can heal what she can, and they’ll sort things out when Egwene and Perrin arrive. Nyn is confident that Egwene is alive before saying her parents brought her to the Old Wisdom and her when she was young.

She had an infection in her legs that caused painful cramps and her legs to bend backward. Most people die from breakbone fever. Since the old Wisdom didn’t know what to do, she made tea to ease Egwene’s passing. Egwene held Nyn’s hand and told her she wasn’t ready to go. She laid there the entire night, never cried, and refused the tea. The fever had broken by morning so she miraculously survived. Nynaeve described Egwene as unbreakable. Meanwhile, Perrin tells Egwene to stop fighting and if someone is going to die it should be him. He argues he deserves it because he killed Laila. Egwene finally learns what happened to Laila during the Trolloc attack. Eamon enters to see if they’ve made their decision yet, but they haven’t so he says the boy will bleed out. As Eamon approaches him, Egwene tells Perrin it was an accident and not his fault.

She promises he will realize that eventually as Eamon slices his skin open with the knife. Perrin looks at her and tells her not to do it. Egwene hits Eamon with a small flame. He insists she’ll need more than that to kill him. We see the ropes being burned from Perrin’s hands as Eamon admits he was expecting more from Egwene. Perrin gets up and begins growling like a wolf. Eamon turns to him and pleads with the Light to protect him before Egwene grabs the blade and stabs him. Wolves go crazy in the background and attack the soldiers outside. Egwene grabs the Aes Sedai rings and they run away. Back at the tower, Liandrin approaches Moiraine to ask if she is heading to bed. They briefly talk about Nyn. Liandrin tells her she looks worse for wear too. Then, she tells Moiraine that she likely won’t be there to guide Nyn because she is constantly traveling.

They wonder which side she will pick. Moiraine doesn’t think she’ll become a Red since she doesn’t have contempt for men like Liandrin. Lan finds Stepin performing a ritual to ward off the forsaken. Stepin mentions Ishamael the Father of Lies and insists he wants to keep him away. Lan agrees to stay with him until morning. Next, Moiraine asks Alanna (Priyanka Bose) if she thinks Stepin will accept her offer, but she isn’t sure. Moiraine believes there is a way to release the bond although Stepin doesn’t think she should do that. Alanna says Lan has nothing to worry about because Moiraine will be with them for a long time yet. We learn that the Amyrlin is returning from Caemlyn and they’ve been summoned to the hall.

Siuan Sanche might be out for blood although Moiraine doesn’t think she’ll turn on a sister without cause. Alanna reminds her that she is one of the only sisters strong enough to challenge Siuan. Also, Liandrin’s power is growing with Aes Sedai outside of her Red group so Moiraine has two powerful enemies to worry about. Before Moiraine leaves, she is told she’ll have to trust someone with her secrets or they’ll eat her from the inside out. Meanwhile, Stepin tells Lan he doesn’t know what it’ll be like to be with two men when he becomes Alanna’s warder. Lan tells him he is assuming they want him before they begin talking about the Wisdom. Lan calls her stubborn while Stepin argues that she has fallen for him although love is usually a bad thing. They allow it to happen or life would be intolerable. Lan wakes up and finds the substance that Nyn gave Stepin earlier.

Lan suspects something is wrong so he runs up the steps nearby. He finds Stepin on his knees with a blade through his stomach. We jump forward as the lead warder (Mark Fletcher) asks Lan to place his hand on Stepin during the funeral ceremony. Moiraine and Lan cry as the others beat on their chests. They begin hitting themselves while Lan lets out a scream and another.

 

The Wheel Of Time Review

The Wheel of Time is indeed getting better with each episode, but the progressive improvements are coming too slowly. I have to wonder if the season will feel like it wasn’t enough once it is done. The lore behind WOT is pretty intricate and it hasn’t been sufficiently covered at all unless you’ve already read the novels.

They’re only glossed over making them feel insignificant in the bigger scheme of things. There is something missing from The Wheel of Time that leaves me feeling indifferent to everything after each episode. I have no real connection with any of the characters or urge to find out what is going to happen next.

Eamon could’ve killed Perrin, Egwene, or both and I sincerely doubt it would’ve had a lasting impact because the characters are so brittle. The biggest problem is the painfully slow pacing that leads to nothing of importance happening for 40 or 50 minutes at a time.

If the characters were more interested and likable, their conversations would matter. Another issue could be the fact that there are too many characters to begin with and they’re constantly adding new ones. Regardless, I’ve come this far so I might as well finish the season although I expect more suffering again.

The episode was better although disappointing knowing WOT could’ve been so much better. It scores a 6.5 out of 10. The Wheel of Time recaps are available on Reel Mockery here.