Will Amazon’s Wheel of Time show adapt the prequel novel New Spring?
Even if production on Amazon’s?Wheel of Time?show is stalled?thanks to the coronavirus, an adaptation of Robert Jordan’s mammoth, 14-book fantasy series is well on the way, and we’re still teasing out new details.
The Wheel of Time?tells a sweeping tale full of adventure, magic and battle. It begins in the peaceful Two Rivers, where a group of young men and women are completely unaware they’re about to embark on an epic quest. Their guide, whether they like it or not, is Moiraine Damodred, a member of the shadowy Aes Sedai organization of sorceresses. She’s been searching across the land for the Dragon Reborn, a figure of legend prophesied to come again and save the world from a great calamity. It’s important this person be found.
The first season will likely cover the events of?The Eye of the World, the first book in the series. But will it stop there? It’s possible season 1 could spill over into?The Great Hunt, the second book. We may also get some material from?New Spring, a prequel book that focuses on Moiraine long before she arrives in the Two Rivers, when she’s a newly minted Aes Sedai and her search for the Dragon Reborn has just begun.
How do we know we’ll be getting stuff from New Spring??Let’s look at the evidence. Moiraine isn’t the only character in that book. It also involves her warder (a kind of magically bonded bodyguard) Lan, another?Aes Sedai named?Kerene Nagashi, and many more. Like Moiraine,?Kerene Nagashi is sent to find the Dragon Reborn after it becomes clear that this crucial figure is once again out in the world.
We know that Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike is going to play Moiraine and that?Daniel Henney will play Lan. Although the info has now been scrubbed from her CV on her talent agency’s website, it looks like actor?Clare Perkins will be playing Nagashi, according to fansite?The Wheel of Time TV Series. And she’s up front about being in?The Wheel of Time?on her Instagram:
“Loved this job, me and my warder #wheeloftime,”?Perkins writes. Mentioning a warder confirms that she’s playing an Aes Sedai, at least. Beside her in that picture is?Peter Fraz?n, a?Finnish actor known for playing King Harald Finehair on Vikings; we’ve know he would be in the show since January, when Amazon released photos of the official script reading in Prague.
In?New Spring, Nagashi has two warders:?Karile and Stepin. We’re willing to bet?Fraz?n plays one of them, or maybe the characters have been collapsed into one person.
Finally, notice that Perkins says she “loved” her job with The Wheel of Time. She doesn’t say she “loves” it, implying that her time on the show is over. Kerene Nagashi doesn’t appear outside?New Spring, which takes place before any of the other books. So if Perkins is?playing Nagashi, it makes sense that she would show up early on and never again.
So we’re pretty sure we’re getting part of?New Spring?in the first season of?The Eye of the World. But how much, and how will the show depict it?
One possibility is that the show will simply start with the events of?New Spring, which kicks off some 20 years before?The Eye of the World, when armies are besieging the Aes Sedai city of Tar Valon. Two newly anointed Aes Sedai — Moiraine and Siuan Sanche?– happen to be on duty when an elder Aes Sedai foretells the rebirth of the Dragon,?the world’s only hope of winning the coming fight against the Dark One, and their quest begins.
But that seems pretty far back to start the show, unless it’s part of a prologue or something. It’s also possible we could see some of the events of?New Spring?through flashbacks, which is how I’m betting it will happen, probably in the middle of the season after we’ve gotten to know Moiraine a bit.
One final clue that we’ll be getting bits of New Spring, as if we needed more: we know that actor?Jennifer Cheon Garcia?has been cast as the Aes Sedai Leane Sharif. Leane is in?New Spring, but doesn’t appear in?The Eye of the World?at all. We wouldn’t be surprised if someone had been cast as?Siuan Sanche, as well, although we haven’t heard word of it.
However it happens, we’re glad it looks like the first season of?The Wheel of Time?will dive into the series’ rich history. For all the details, we’ll have to wait until it?premieres on Amazon, probably in 2021. Until then, those of us familiar with the series should follow the advice of?Wheel of Time show consultant Sarah Nakamura?and try to avoid spoiling the secrets for newbies. And for everyone else, the books are out there if you’re interested…
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