A Taste Of Solitude – The episode opens with Niko (Amy Sharp) outside playing. When an escaped trolloc approaches, she flees inside under a table where a meeting is taking place. She overhears a discussion about the Dragon’s rebirth. The Dark One (Fares Fares) surprises her on the other end by asking if something scared her. Taking her by the hand, he leads her outside while telling her about good and evil. Seeing several trollocs standing at attention, he hoists her into his arms and shows her it’s safe to touch their face.

Filling two buckets of water from the well, Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) carries them to a cabin where she heats them for a bath. She weeps while looking at her hands. Elsewhere, Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney) is sword training when he spots a visitor, Bayle Domon (Julian Lewis Jones), on horseback. He immediately alerts Verin Mathwin (Meera Syal) and Adeleas (Nila Aalia). Verin points out that Moiraine has now received 20 visitors. Lan alerts Moraine of Bayle’s arrival.

Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoe Robins) complains about cleaning. Egwene Al’Vere (Madeleine Madden) says it’s a rite of passage for all Novice when Alanna Mosvani (Priyanka Bose) approaches. Alanna orders them to purify a glass of water before they leave. Noticing Nynaeve not taking the assignment serious enough, Alanna says her powers are ten times that of all the other girls. Nynaeve suggests no one should have that much power before drinking the dirty water and storming off.

Alanna tells the Mistress of Novices, Sheriam Bayanar (Rima Te Wiata), and other high-ranking members of Aes Sedai that Egwene needs to loosen up. She says Nynaeve hasn’t channeled since her arrival at the Tower. The Red Sister, Liandrin Guirale (Kate Fleetwood) suggests another teacher. Sheriam reminds her of a Novice dying under her training. Liandrin ensures her that the One Power is dangerous before asking for permission to speak with Nynaeve.

Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford) writes a letter to Egwene and Nynaeve when Loial (Hammed Animashaun) alerts of Lord Ingtar Shinowa’s new tracker leaving a signal fire. Riding on horseback to the signal fire, Uno Nomesta (Guy Roberts) fears the fire will lead Padan Fain (Johann Myers) and the Darkfriends right to them. Knowing little of the new tracker, Loial suggests Nomesta’s skills are more powerful. A short time later, Nomesta tells the tracker, Elyas Machera (Gary Beadle) to put out the fire. Nomesta denies the fire is his. They soon discover the charred remains of a caravan. Perrin envisions a child surviving the attack. When they find the bodies of a Shienaran and a Darkfriend, who may be a trader, Ingtar insists on a proper burial.

Giving Moiraine a piece of a heartstone, Domon says cuendillar is believed to be unbreakable.

While working in the garden, Lan tells Tomas (Heikko Deutschmann) that Moiraine probably wants him to leave.

Domon claims to have found the heartstone near Cairhien when the moon dial shattered. He accuses Moiraine of having him followed. He offers to sell the heartstone for 50 marks and the poem for an additional 5 marks. She points out that he is asking enough to buy a racehorse. He reduces his offer to 1 mark. She asks about the people following him. He says they were wearing black robes. She urges him to return to Illiana without delay.

Nynaeve While dueling with Maksim (Taylor Napier) and Ihvon (Emmanuel Imani), Mynaeve claims to get down in the Tower. Makism says once she recognizes what brought her to the Tower, it will get easier. Ihvon and Maksim admit it was love that brought them there. Later, Nynaeve arrives at Egwene’s room to find it empty. Elsewhere, Egwene complains about her inability to focus on more than one thing at a time. Alanna suggests focusing on just the two weaves needed for purifying water.

Nynaeve tries to overcome her channeling block when Liandrin interrupts. Liandrin suggests she’s wasting time dueling because swords are for men and the weak. Nynaeve boasts of learning more from the Warders than the sisters. Liandrin uses her powers to pin her against the wall. Nynaeve demands to be freed. Liandrin taunts her by insulting Warders. Nynaeve draws on her power to pin Liandrin across the room. Once free, Liandrin contributes her ability to overcome her channeling block to anger.

During the burial, Perrin asks why waste time on a trader. Lord Ingtar assures him that all men deserve a proper burial. Perrin questions why he isn’t angry that the Shienaran man is responsible for hundreds of men. Ingtar assures him if Shienarans wanted revenge for the wrongs done to them, they would no longer exist. Perrin voices concern about his growing rage. Ingtar suggests Fain had reason to do what he did.

Lan and Moiraine get into a spat when he questions why she doesn’t take him seriously.

Egwene and Nynaeve read Perrin’s letter. Perrin reflects on his rapport with the soldiers. He misses them, Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski), and Lila Dearn (Helena Westerman) with Bel Tine so near. He suggests the four of them promise to celebrate together next year.

Liandrin shows a copy of Perrin’s letter to Mat Cauthon (Barney Harris). She teases him about omitting Perrin’s name. He asks what she expects from him. She assures him that Perrin is no longer a threat.

Lan asks Verin, Adeleas, and Tomas to wait for Moiraine. Adeleas suggests Tomas is taking Moiraine’s problems too personally. Tomas points out that she isn’t her Warder. Verin says it only affects him because he lets it. She says losing One Power is the most brutal form of assault. He assures her that the bond is how a Warder communicates with an Aes Sedai. Lan takes Moiraine a plate as she is riding away on her horse. Encountering a creature, she is thrown from her horse. She takes refuge behind a rock until the creature is near enough to kill it. She soon finds herself under attack when Lan intervenes and is stabbed. Verin and Tomas approach as Lan is about to be killed. As Moiraine is near to fainting, Lan grills her for information. The episode ends.

 

Wheel Of Time Review

Not a bad way to kick off a new exciting season. There will certainly be no shortage of story arcs. Not being familiar with the book, I can’t make a comparison. I will, however, add that I found each potential story arc intriguing. The one complaint I would make is all the information. For someone just coming into the series, there is an overwhelming amount of information to process. That’s typical with a lot of fantasy series and learning is half the fun. I would give the premiere a 5.7.

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