‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3 Just Changed Everything With That Major Reveal

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 3 Episodes 1-3.

In The Wheel of Time, a conflict has long been coming. With the Dark One gaining power and the Last Battle looming, the show’s heroes must prepare to face the threat, but sometimes, they don’t know the face of their enemies. The Dark One’s forces may include the Forsaken and monstrous creatures, like trollocs, but they are also full of Darkfriends, who have infiltrated every society, kingdom, and city — including the Aes Sedai. In Season 2, Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okonedo), the Amyrlin Seat, may not have had the best methods, as she planned to cage Rand (Josha Stradowski) and use him as a weapon, but still wanted to fight the Dark One using whatever force she had at her disposal. Yet the eventful opening scene of Season 3 changes that by revealing the corruption that has seeped into the White Tower.

Season 3 of The Wheel of Time begins with the shocking reveal that the White Tower is full of Darkfriends, proving that many Aes Sedai have turned from their purpose to join the secretive Black Ajah. A shocking number of Aes Sedai betray their sisters, attacking before their mass exit. It’s a brutal sequence as the White Tower falls apart from the inside, but beyond the heavy losses is the fact that the Aes Sedai can no longer trust each other. The majority of the Black Ajah may have departed, but after that breach of trust, the White Tower will never be the same.

The Aes Sedai Turn on Each Other in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3

Season 3’s premiere, “To Race the Shadow,” begins with Siuan accusing Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) of being a Darkfriend, after she kidnapped Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), Egwene (Madeleine Madden), and Elayne (Ceara Coveney) and handed them over to the Seanchan in Season 2. With Nynaeve back in the White Tower, Siuan has enough evidence to put Liandrin on trial — and believes that with Liandrin captured, she can learn the names of the other members of the Black Ajah and purge the White Tower, but the situation quickly takes a turn.

When Siuan backs Liandrin into a corner, she calls for help from her allies, and other Darkfriends within the Tower reveal themselves, including many Sitters of the Hall. While no one believed Liandrin to be the only Black Ajah, they certainly don’t expect so many other Aes Sedai to be servants to the Dark One. Both inside the Hall and outside of it, a brutal fight breaks out as members of the Black Ajah kill many loyal Aes Sedai and their Warders without hesitation, and even Siuan is almost overpowered. One unexpected traitor, Nyomi (Rachel Denning), steals several angreal and ter’angreal from the White Tower, promising more power to the treacherous group. While most of those who attack eventually make it out of the city, the question remains: how many Darkfriends stayed behind?

Who Is Part of the Black Ajah in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3?

In the chaos of their exit, not all the members of the Black Ajah are easily identifiable. Four Sitters do come to Liandrin’s aid — Ispan Shefar (Olumide Olorunfemi), Joiya Byir (Joelle), and two unnamed Sitters from the Yellow and White Ajahs, respectively — but they’re not the only ones to join the fight. Jeaine Cadie (Olivia Popica) and Chesmal Emry (Mi Hae Lee) turn on the members of the Red Ajah and Warders waiting outside the door, while Nyomi attacks her Brown sisters. Later, Amico Nagoyin (Zenobia Kloppers), and two who did not appear before (a Gray and a Red) join Liandrin as she leaves Tar Valon, with the total of known Black Ajah members standing at 11, and those are just the ones who appear onscreen.

In the fighting that ensues, Joiya and Amico are captured, and while the Aes Sedai struggle to learn much from them, Amico does explain that they were all members of “hearts,” a section consisting of three sisters, and only directly knew of one other member of the Black Ajah. This structure implies an untold number of Black Ajah members, many of whom didn’t know to defend Liandrin, and others who may not have even been present in Tar Valon. Moreover, the departure of these Black Ajah members is a terrifying indication of how many Aes Sedai are capable of siding with the Shadow. While the women who left pose a threat as they continue to work against the Light, they are not the primary concern. Instead, as she expresses to Nynaeve and Elayne later on, Siuan mostly worries that other Darkfriends have remained behind, continuing to disguise themselves inside the White Tower.

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The White Tower Will Never Be the Same After ‘The Wheel of Time’s Season 3 Premiere

While the White Tower is supposed to be a safe place, the home to the group of powerful women dedicated to fighting the Dark One, the Shadow has seeped in. This reality changes everything for the Aes Sedai. Because of this ordeal, trust among sisters is broken, and no one in the White Tower is safe. Even Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) loses faith in her fellow Aes Sedai, telling Rand and his friends that she doesn’t want them near any of her sisters because of the risk they now represent.

Given how deeply embedded the members of the Black Ajah were in the White Tower, there are sure to be more, but who they are remains a mystery at this point. Because the Black Ajah have broken the Three Oaths by swearing themselves to the Dark One, it is also possible for them to lie, which makes picking out any more potential traitors a near-impossible task. The unrest in the White Tower also jeopardizes Siuan’s authority and, by extension, any alliance Rand and Moiraine could make with her. Knowing there are still more Black Ajah members in the White Tower, Siuan tasks Nynaeve and Elayne with the investigation, choosing them instead of Leane (Jennifer Cheon Garcia) or Verin (Meera Syal) because she doesn’t trust even the people closest to her. While removing the remaining Black Ajah members from the White Tower is the first step, the Aes Sedai have already been shaken to their core and may never successfully rebuild the strong foundation they once had.

New episodes of The Wheel of Time Season 3 premiere Thursdays on Prime Video.

The Wheel of Time

Release Date

November 18, 2021

Network

Prime Video

Showrunner

Rafe Judkins

Directors

Sanaa Hamri, Ciaran Donnelly, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Thomas Napper, Maja Vrvilo, Wayne Che Yip

Writers

Amanda Kate Shuman, Dave Hill, Rohit Kumar, Justine Juel Gillmer, Celine Song, Rammy Park, The Clarksons Twins, Katherine B. McKenna