Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 3 Episode 4.
The Wheel of Time‘s universe is steeped in rich history and in Season 3’s latest episode, the show spotlights the history of the Aiel people, specifically Rand al’Thor’s (Josha Stradowski) influential ancestry. He is tested in the trial of Rhuidean, where every step forward through the glass columns in the city of clouds is a step backwards in time. The purpose of this trial is to ensure that every Aiel leader is intimately acquainted with their history, walking in the footsteps of their ancestors so they will know why they are cursed as oathbreakers and to understand how little they truly do understand.
Rand’s ancestry in particular is intriguing, born from generations of figures who were pivotal in shaping Aiel traditions and culture, including the future of the Car’a’carn or the Dragon Reborn. As Rand takes each excruciating step forward, he sees the past through the eyes of his ancestors; the series formats these as segments where Stradowski plays each historical figure. So, who does Stradowski play in each era in order of appearance, and how are they significant in forming Rand’s story?
Janduin: Rand’s Aiel Father in the Battle on Dragonmount
First, we see Stradowski covered in torn, bloody rags, grime covering his face, and two swords at the ready. Stradowski steps into the role of Rand’s father, Janduin, as he is fighting in the last battle of the Aiel War against King Laman’s oath-breaking ways on the snowy mountaintops of Dragonmount. They have just killed King Laman, Moiraine’s (Rosamund Pike) uncle, for cutting down a sacred, gifted chora sapling and have essentially won the war. After cutting down enemies, exhibiting a fighting prowess that Rand clearly inherited, he finds Rand’s mother, Tigraine (Magdalena Sittova), bleeding out after having given birth.
From prior knowledge of Season 1, we know that it was Tam al’Thor (Michael McElhatton) who had helped Rand’s mother give birth and taken Rand away to raise him, fulfilling the Dragon Reborn prophecy: being born on Dragonmount, and the Car’a’carn one: “of the blood, but not raised by the blood.” Naturally, Janduin has a huge impact on Rand by directly contributing to his birth, but this vision allows Rand to see precisely the moment his fate as the Dragon Reborn is sealed.
Mandein: The First Aiel Chief to Take the Trials of Rhuidean
An unknown number of generations pass when we enter the next segment, where Stradowski now plays Mandein, an Aiel chief from when Rhuidean was being completed. As the fog eclipses the city, Mandein, along with other Aiel clan chiefs, are summoned into the city without their weapons to speak to Aes Sedai Latra Posae Decume (Ania Marson). She recounts the prophecy of the Car’a’carn and demands that every Aiel leader needs to undergo a trial to remember their cultural past, including the Way of the Leaf and why they are called “oathbreakers.”
Latra also creates the glass columns using Sakarnen, a powerful sa’angreal that looks like a cloudy, glass orb, cementing Rand’s own fate with the trial. However, the most significant part of the segment is that Mandein volunteers to be the first chief to undertake the trial, claiming he isn’t afraid of the past. Even among the chiefs, he is a leader, foreshadowing Rand’s own position as the leader of leaders — it was always in his blood.
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“Nothing is more dangerous than a man who knows the past.”
Lewin: The Aiel’s First Oathbreaker
A few more generations into the past, and we see Stradowski step into the more light-hearted, boyish role of Lewin. He lived during the Breaking, when his Aiel clan were transporting Avendesora to the Waste. When he learns his sister has been abducted by bandits, a forbidden rescue attempt fronted by Lewin, and his friends, Charlin (Kiren Kebaili-Dwyer) and Alijha (Ferdinand McKay), goes horribly wrong. Charlin becomes a fatality in the fight that ensues, where Lewin defends himself and kills one of the bandits. As the ragged crew returns to the camp, Lewin and Alijha are branded “oathbreakers” for committing murder, which is the ultimate sin in light of the pacifist virtues of the Way of the Leaf.
Lewin turns around, covers the lower half of his face with his dust veil, and promises to protect the Aiel, who were forbidden from fighting. This is where the “oathbreaking” monikers originate, as many of the Aiel people we see now are fierce warriors, including the Maidens of the Spear. Even the way he wears the dust veil has continued in his line of fighters. Through this segment, we learn why the need for the Rhuidean trial came to be, while further demonstrating how Rand’s lineage truly defined the roles and traditions of today’s Aiel culture.
Jonai and Rhodric: Dedicated to the Way of the Leaf
If Lewin was the paragon of breaking tradition, Jonai, Stradowski’s next role, is the embodiment of the Way of the Leaf. Towards the end of his life, he and his grandson, Adan (Atom Uniacke), show the ultimate commitment to that oath. After a bloody attack where Adan’s parents died, the Aiel people decide to return home instead of making the arduous journey to the Waste, as per Adan’s mother’s vision. Reports of the Aes Sedai completing their mission of eliminating male channelers inflicted with madness have made their way to them, and thus, they abandon their mission, urging Jonai and Adan to join them. However, the latter two refuse, with Jonai reciting an adage of the Way of the Leaf, “we bury our dead and move on,” and continue to drag the wagon carrying Avendesora on.
We learn about what their specific mission is in the next segment, where we see Jonai’s grandfather, Rhodric. He is also joined by the younger version of Latra (Katie Brayden). Rhodric leads one of the group of Aiel who are taking choppings of chora away from the capital to preserve them, but Latra also assigns him with the task of keeping the most powerful female sa’angreal safe, the Sakarnen. It is the sa’angreal we see her use to create the glass columns of Rhuidean, indicating that, despite the fact his troupe abandoned him and the mission earlier, Rhodric’s dedication, and the one he imbues in his grandson Jonai (and his grandson), eventually leads to the Waste. Together, the segments demonstrate how the Aiel committed their lives to this mission and the Way of the Leaf, forging the traditions of obligations and honor that the Aiel hold so high, while also being the reason the trials existed in the first place.
Charn: Witness To the Dark One’s Prison Breaking
So far, each of Rand’s predecessors has played a key role in fulfilling aspects of the Dragon Reborn’s and the Car’a’carn’s prophecy, from dragging the Sakarnen through treacherous lands to protecting the Aiel who couldn’t defend themselves so they could make the trip. However, Stradowski’s final historical role is a bit more enigmatic. We are transported to the moments before the Dark One’s cage is impaired, where Stradowski now plays Charn. In terms of Aiel’s history, we learn where their peaceful tenets originate from, as they sing and harvest wheat together in an easy and harmonious rhythm. Charn is no different, but we do see that he serves a scientist, Aes Sedai Mierin Eronaile (Natasha O’Keeffe), who we now know as Lanfear. She is excited about her experiments to find True Power by breaking through the Pattern, but in doing so, she accidentally breaches the Dark One’s cage.
When this happens, Charn is tending to the fields and witnessing the spherical building collapse as a dark tear rips into the atmosphere. Unlike the other ancestors, Charn is more of a conduit to seeing how the Dark One’s terror in the world started and why the Dragon Reborn was needed in the first place. His intriguing relationship with Lanfear feels cyclical, especially given Rand’s own conflicted relationship with her during these two recent seasons. Perhaps the fact that Charn witnessed the monumental event symbolically sealed his lineage’s fate to create the perfect conditions for the Dragon Reborn’s prophecy to be fulfilled, leaving Rand with no choice but to accept his fate, one that has been in the making for generations.
New episodes of The Wheel of Time Season 3 premiere Thursdays on Prime Video.
- Release Date
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November 18, 2021
- Network
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Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Rafe Judkins
- Directors
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Sanaa Hamri, Ciaran Donnelly, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Thomas Napper, Maja Vrvilo, Wayne Che Yip
- Writers
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Amanda Kate Shuman, Dave Hill, Rohit Kumar, Justine Juel Gillmer, Celine Song, Rammy Park, The Clarksons Twins, Katherine B. McKenna
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