The Wheel of Time: Season 2
Written by:
Amanda Kate Shuman, Katherine B. McKenna, John McCutcheon, Dave Hill, Rohit Kumar, Rammy Park, Justine Juel Gillmer, Rate Lee Judkins, and Timothy Earle
Starring:
Rosamund Pike (Moiraine), Daniel Henney (a'Lan), Zoë Robins (Nynaeve), Madeleine Madden (Egwene), Josha Stradowski (Rand), Marcus Rutherford (Perrin), Dònal Finn (Mat), Kate Fleetwood (Liandrin), Priyanka Bose (Alanna), Hammed Animashaun (Loial), Sophie Okonedo (Siuan), Kae Alexander (Min), Fares Fares (Ishamael), Álvaro Morte (Logain), Johann Myers (Padan Fain), Jennifer Cheon Garcia (Leane Sharif), Taylor Napier (Maksim), Emmanuel Imani (Ihvon), Ceara Coveney (Elayne), Natasha O'Keeffe (Lanfear), Lindsay Duncan (Anvaere), Ayoola Smart (Aviendha), Jay Duffy (Dain), Meera Syal (Verin), Laia Costa (Moghedien) wow!
I enjoyed season 1 quite a bit, but the premiere season had quite a lot of heavy lifting in terms of introducing me to a brand new world with brand new politics, magic, and rules--not to mention introducing the plot.
With all that out of the way, I'm happy to say that I took season 2 more in stride. I felt more connected to the story and characters and invested in where things were going, though I still think I need to do a season 1 rewatch to better remember each character's histories and actions.
Despite that, I gained a new appreciation for each of the main characters. I fell a little out of love with Morraine, our main character; I felt that her actions and attitudes were unreasonably cold even despite having just suffered a trauma. People enduring grief usually recognize their own standoffishness and apologize; Morraine, on the other hand, pushed people away and cut off relationships seemingly unrepentantly. I gained a new respect for Lan, her Warder (non-romantic life partner) as he endured her treatment of him with unceasing loyalty. My view of the White Tower--which the first season presented as idyllic--became increasingly jaded as power an politics were revealed to drive the organization more than ethics. (Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; this tends to be true of any world power.) I came to sympathize more with Mat, revealed in the first season to be the Dragon, as he strove to learn and gain control of his abilities while coping with with the understanding that they very well may lead to his undoing. And overall, I came to appreciate the world--and how much I don't know about it--even more. Like most developed worlds (such as Lord of the Rings), the world of Wheel of Time has huge history and a myriad of developed cultures, each with drastically differing ways viewing each other and the One Power.
With that said, one smaller season 2 plot arc absolutely ripped my heart out of my chest and dragged it through the mud, as any personalized story of slavery should. Egwene, one of the first season's Aes Sedai recruits whom Morraine had suspected of being the Dragon reborn, is given into slavery by a Dark Ajah. Over the course of about three episodes, we glimpse the horrors of Seanchan society as Egwene is literally collared and leashed for her ability to channel the One Power. Under her sul'dam, basically a slave holder, Egwene is considered little more than an animal and magically forced to submit. Under their control, even thoughts of resistance lead to pain. The first episode of this arc was the worst: Egwene is forced into a small, underground cell, beaten harshly, and told that in order to leave the cell, she needed to give up any intention of escape and serve her master willingly. Over the course of the episode, Egwene's consistent strong will and deep-seated resistance lead to continued beatings and magically-induced pain. Her screams echoed in my head over the full hour, surprising even her master as Egwene's heart of rebellion persisted days after other slaves. In the episode's final moments, when her skin is bruised and bloodied and hair sullied after extended beating and starvation, her master again asks for a glass of water--the pouring of which is meant to symbolize full submission. Egwene lifts the pitcher and pours the glass. As her master takes the glass, Egwene's eyes have hollowed, reflecting emptiness. It's a look of complete brokenness, the death of a soul, and it broke mine in return.
The poignancy and personal nature of this arc made it stand out to me more than any other plotline in the series so far. It was something I could connect to on an intimate level, which seems to be a lesson for myself and others in terms of writing. As compelling and deep as the first season was, its grand worldbuilding and complexity lost me to a large degree in the end. Even now, as I'm coming to understand and enjoy the world and characters more, there are few characters I feel I can connect with or sympathize with on a personal level. I think part of the fault of that is the large cast--as seen in my attempt at credits above. It's hard (possible, but hard) to create impactful storylines when there are so many "main" characters at play. Some very successful attempts I've seen of this are Avengers, which introduced its larger cast over multiple solo movies, and (in my opinion) The Eternals which depicted the large team interacting over the entire course of human history, establishing motivations and loyalties.
Books notwithstanding, I've found Wheel of Time to be a very enjoyable adaptation. I do hope personal stories are given more of a focus in coming seasons, even as the fate of the entire world seems to hang in the balance.
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