Wednesday 27 October 2021

Amazon release new WHEEL OF TIME trailer

With only three (and a bit) weeks until transmission, Amazon has released a new trailer for its adaptation of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time novels.


The new trailer opens with Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) swearing the Three Oaths that all Aes Sedai sisters have to take upon completing their trailer: to speak no word that is not true, to not make a weapon which may be used by one person to kill another, and to never use the One Power as a weapon (the caveat that Aes Sedai may use the One Power in defence of their own lives or others' is omitted by the trailer, presumably for dramatic purposes). We see Moiraine in the White Tower, possibly a flashback to taking the Oaths.

We then see Moiraine, flanked by Alanna Mosvani (Priyanka Bose) and Liandrin Guirale (Kate Fleetwood), using the One Power to apparently imprison or question the captive false Dragon, Logain Ablar (Álvaro Morte). A Warder, Steppin (Peter Franzén), then reveals that in the Old Tongue, "Aes Sedai" means "Servants of All," meaning that the Aes Sedai serve the world. Moiraine then stands atop the White Tower, considering her mission, and tells her Warder, Lan (Daniel Henney) they must go to the Two Rivers, where the Old Blood still runs strong.

In the Two Rivers we see the Women's Circle walking through mountainous foothills; Egwene (Madeleine Madden) enduring her coming of age ceremony whilst Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) watches on; Egwene in a ruined building in Shadar Logoth; and Rand (Josha Stradowski) and Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) enjoying a drink with Mat (Barney Harris) outside the Winespring Inn.

We then see a Myrddraal or Fade arriving in the village; Lan leading the party into the ruins of Shadar Logoth via massive crack in the walls; Egwene and Rand in the ruined village; Perrin in his forge; Nynaeve dramatically flicking her braid in face of an unknown danger; Mat unsheathing his sword; Rand practising his bow in the courtyard of Fal Dara castle; Moiraine telling the Two Rivers youngsters that one of "the five"* of them will save the world; various scenes of travelling and looking dramatically over impressive vistas; scenes of the attack on the Two Rivers; Tam fighting the Trolloc book fans know as Narg; a sweeping camera shot of Fal Dara Keep and what might be the mountainous pass of Tarwin's Gap beyond (apparently massively compressed from the hundred-mile-long valley from the book); our heroes arriving in Fal Dara and meeting Lord Agelmar Jagad (whose actor has so far not been identified).

We also see Lord Captain Eamon Valda (Abdul Salis) drinking wine whilst apparently burning an Aes Sedai at the stake and taking her Great Serpent Ring as a symbol of victory; Lan and Moiraine partaking in a ceremony of apparent grief; Rand telling Egwene he can't lose her and Egwene promising he won't; three Whitecloak soldiers taking Egwene and Perrin captive; the gang gathering at a Waygate**; a Fade battling an unknown soldier; more scenes of combat during the Trolloc attack; Moiraine weaving Fire and Air to deliver a horrendous firestorm against attacking Trollocs; Logain apparently escaping his prison and (in an earlier scene) using the One Power to stop a Ghealdanin soldier from striking him (in a nice touch, the dagger has the three star sigil of Ghealdan on the hilt); Alanna channelling a massive amount of the Power to fend off an attack; and apparently a Trolloc attack on Fal Dara, with Shienaran soldiers defending the walls.

In an exciting scene, we get a brief flashback to the Battle of the Shining Walls, known as the Blood Snows, with Aiel fighting Westland soldiers at the feet of Dragonmount; Logain marching through a Ghealdanin town; Rand drawing his bow; and Moiraine intoning one of her famous sayings, the "Wheel weaves as Wheel wills." The trailer ends with Perrin asking if they will ever go home and Egwene saying no.

Epic music - apparently the final score by Lorne Balfe - then plays over the logo.

The first three episodes of the first season of The Wheel of Time drop on Amazon Prime on Friday 19 November, with five more episodes to follow at weekly intervals. Season 2 of The Wheel of Time is already in production.


* Interestingly this is a change from the version of the same scene which recently aired at MCM London, where Moiraine says "four."

** Alas, our apparent first glimpse of Loial (Hammed Animashaun) is denied by him being behind the other characters with his back turned.

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