Full spoilers follow for The Wheel of Time season 3 episode 8.
The Wheel of Time season 3 has weaved its final episode – and there are plenty of talking points to, well, discuss following its release.
As the dust settles on this season’s closing chapter, titled ‘He Who Comes With The Dawn’, then, let’s break down what happened in the high fantasy show’s latest entry.
If the above warning wasn’t enough, this is your final one: full spoilers immediately follow for the Prime Video Original’s latest episode.
Who dies in The Wheel of Time season 3 finale?
More than enough people, really, but there’s one particularly heart-wrenching death that doesn’t even happen in Robert Jordan’s fantasy book series of the same name.
Before I get into that, though, let’s look at those supporting characters who took their last breath in The Wheel of Time‘s latest installment.
Jeanie, one of the last two remaining remembers Liandrin’s Black Ajah crew, is killed by Elayne. Indeed, she uses Balefire – an incredibly powerful weapon when wielded by those in tune with the One Power – to save Thom Merrilin’s life when Jeanie confronts him in Tanchico.
Balefire is so potent that it destroys a living being’s thread in the Pattern, effectively wiping them out of existence. In fact, such are the dangers posed by it to the Pattern, it was banned among One Power wielders following the conclusion of the War of Power.
Anyway, Chesmal, Jeanie and Liandrin’s fellow Black Ajah, is seemingly killed by Min; the latter bludgeoning Chesmal on the back of the head to rescue Mat (more on him later).
That pair aren’t the only villains to bite the dust in ‘He Who Comes With The Dawn’. Sammael, one of the Forsaken, is murdered by another of his kin Moghedien. The latter uses her spider-like abilities to string him from the ceiling via his own muscles, skin, and blood; Sammael’s body being hung from his cave-based prison via a web of flesh. It’s a disgustingly creative way to kill someone and too gory to post a screenshot of.
Melindhra, a Malkier-born Maiden of the Spear, also perishes. A member of the shaido clan and someone revealed to be a Darkfriend in season 3’s final episode, Melindhra dies when she breaks her oath to The Shadow. Indeed, she warns Lan that Lanfear has not only infiltrated the Aiel camp, but plans on trying to kill Rand after he finally rejected her earlier in episode 8. However, by telling Lan about Lanfear, Melindhra betrays The Shadow, which subsequently claims her life.
The episode’s most noteworthy death, though, belongs to the Amyrlin Seat herself – that being, Siuan Sanche.
At the start of episode 8, we’re transported 10 years into the past and shown how Siuan defeated Elaida to become the Aes Sedai’s leader. Fast-forward to the present and a still seething Elaida manages to overthrow the White Tower’s commander via a vote-based coup.
After stripping Siuan of her ability to channel the One Power – a process known as Stilling for female wielders or Gentling for male channelers –Siuan is tried before Elaida, who’s the new Amyrlin Seat, and her supporters. Her crimes? Working in secret with Moiraine to find the Dragon Reborn, force all Aes Sedai to bend the knee to him, and help him defeat The Dark One during the Last Battle.
However, Siuan does not go gently into that good night. Defiant to the end, she defends herself and her actions before warning that, unless the White Tower follows Rand, the Aes Sedai will stand no chance of defeating The Dark One and his forces. Cue Elaida instructing her right-hand woman Alviarin to behead Siuan for her insubordination.
Siuan’s death is the latest story-based diversion from the plot that unfolds in Jordan’s novels. In ‘The Shadow Rising’, the fourth book in the series, which season 3 of Amazon‘s adaptation is based on, Siuan escapes the White Tower after she’s Stilled. Like so many changes before it in the TV retelling – alterations that showrunner Rafe Judkins says need to be made – then, this moment will surely vex large sections of the fanbase.
Are Moiraine and Lanfear dead in The Wheel of Time?
No. They survive their duel, but both characters come out of it bearing new scars.
For Moiraine, it’s the loss of her lover in Siuan that hurts the most. Sure, she was almost strangled to death by Lanfear and later stabbed with Lan’s sword of Malkier (Lanfear wrestled it from him during her fight with him and Moiraine) by the second-most powerful member of the Forsaken, but that’s nothing compared to the pain she’ll soon feel.
Indeed, as Moiraine prepares to die at Lanfear’s hand, she suddenly feels Siuan’s demise through the One Power. Moiraine’s anguish is so great that it enables her to further tap into the One Power, use it to unimpale herself from Lan’s blade, and turn the tide of her showdown with Lanfear. Summoning all of her might, Moiraine fights off her adversary and even slashes Lanfear’s neck with the sword of Malkier. Before she land the telling blow, though, Lanfear escapes through one of her portals.
So, yes, while the duo live to fight another day, Moiraine is left emotionally devastated by Siuan’s death and Lanfear physically damaged by the wounds inflicted on her by Moiraine. We’ll see them again, then, in one of the best Prime Video shows‘ next season (if it’s renewed, anyway, but more on this later).
How does Rand al’Thor convince the Aiel that he’s the true Car’a’carn?
By making it rain. No, I’m not talking about throwing paper money into the air to shower someone with, I mean he literally makes it rain.
Indeed, during the latest meeting of the Aiel clan chiefs, the shaido warrior known as Colaudin tries to convince his people that he’s the Dragon Reborn. Despite being give temporary dragon tattoos by Lanfear to make his case, though, Colaudin’s plan is foiled when Rand uses the One Power to summon a massive storm and make it rain on the Aiel Waste for the first time in centuries. No bad for someone who’s mocked for being a Wetlander, eh?
By proving himself as the actual Dragon Reborn – the Aiel call him the Car’a’carn, if you’d forgotten – Rand is now in possession of an army that’ll help him fight The Dark One. The next step of his plan, then, should be to locate the legendary sword Callandor. Well, once he manages to convince any still non-believing Aiel tribes that he is the Car’a’carn.
What is the creature that Mat Cauthon meets? The Eelfinn explained
I suspect this is one of the biggest questions you’ll have after the season 3 finale.
First mentioned in passing during a conversation between Elaida and Alviarin during this episode’s flashback sequence, the Eelfinn are one of two inter-dimensional humanoid beings collectively known as the Finn. The other group is known as the Aelfinn but, seeing as they don’t appear in ‘He Who Comes With The Dawn’, we’ll discuss them in more detail once they make their live-action debut.
Anyway, the Eelfinn are fox-like humanoids whose realm can only be reached via a specific Ter’angreal – objects of extraordinary power – known as a twisted redstone doorframe. This is the gate that Elaida exits in this finale’s opening scene and one that Mat stumbles through in Tanchico.
The Eelfinn, who are also known as the “foxy folk” in Jordan’s novels due to their resemblance to the sly mammalian race, have the ability to grant three wishes to anyone who visits their dimension.
However, before these are granted, the Eelfinn set a price that usually pains the person they’re granting the wishes of. They also ask if their visitor is in possession of any light-bearing objects, iron, or instruments that can play music. Anyone who has these items will be banished from their realm or, even worse, killed right there on the spot.
Unfortunately for Mat (in some ways, anyway), he not only makes three wishes that negatively impact him, such as the loss of key memories, but he almost pays the *ahem* price by suffocating to death. Indeed, because Mat makes his wishes before bargaining with the Eelfinn, the latter sets a near-fatal price that results in Mat being hung when he’s transported back to the real world. This is a call back to the vision that Min had of Mat being hung earlier in season 3.
Despite taking some of Mat’s memories, not to mention almost taking his life, too the Eelfinn does gift him something. As Min consoles Mat following his near-death experience, the camera zooms in on a foxhead medallion, which Mat wasn’t in possession of before. No spoilers for Mat’s story from this point on, but this pendant will be an incredibly important item in events yet to come.
Where’s Perrin in The Wheel of Time’s season 3 finale?
Perrin – or, to call him by his new title, Lord Goldeneyes – is nowhere to be seen in the season 3 finale. That’s because he had an entire episode devoted to him last week (April 10), which wrapped up his season 3 character arc.
Heading into a potential fourth season, Perrin will be in a bit of a tight-spot. After leading The Two Rivers folk and successfully defending the town from an army of Trollocs and Darkfriends, he handed himself over to the Children of the Light for murdering their leader’s father in the season 2 finale.
As we see in one of this season’s finale’s final clips, Faile, Bain, and Chiad locate the Children of the Light’s camp before heading back to The Two Rivers. Will they try to spring Perrin out of jail? Or will he eventually be freed by the military organization? Hopefully, we’ll get an answer in season 4.
Are there any end credits scenes in The Wheel of Time season 3 episode 8?
No. If you were sticking it out through seasons 3’s final end credits to see if there’s a mid- and/or post-credits scene, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
Has The Wheel of Time been renewed for a fourth season?
Amazon hasn’t officially announced if The Wheel of Time will return for a fourth season. Prior to this season’s release in mid-March, rumors had circulated online that the e-commerce giant’s entertainment division wouldn’t greenlight another eight-episode installment until it’s pored over season 3’s official viewing figures.
Nevertheless, The Wheel of Time‘s cast told me that they’re “confident” that the series will be renewed for season 4. With each season being received better (on Rotten Tomatoes, anyway) than the one before, the Prime Video TV show deserves another outing. Much will depend on that all-important viewership, though, and whether Amazon can continue to spend millions of dollars on a program that isn’t being watched by the bulk of Prime Video’s global audience.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
