Episode Grade: (7.7/10)
Five months on from Rand’s faceoff against Ishamael, Moiraine & co. are scattered across the continent. Meanwhile, Ishamael is assembling Darkfriends.
Plot (42/50)
The previous season ended in flux as the show’s main characters are each faced with new, unique challenges. Five months later, they are all struggling to make progress. Moiraine has not stopped plotting and planning, but without her powers, she’s falling behind. On the other hand, Ishamael has taken full advantage of his reemergence by actively meeting with Darkfriends as he too plots and plans.
Shifting Tides
Moiraine’s miscalculation in her quest to defeat the Dark One brought upon two unfortunate developments: she lost her powers and Ishamael was released. Five months later, and she’s no closer to regaining her powers. That hasn’t stopped her from continuing her fight against evil, however. She’s set up a base of operations in Verin’s compound. This has provided her with the stability needed to continue scouting Ishamael presumably.
Speaking of Ishamael, he’s wasted no time reintegrating himself amongst Darkfriends. He has his eyes set on Rand, and by the looks of it, he has the support necessary to hunt him down. That doesn’t just go for Darkfriends, for he seems to have control over Trollocs and perhaps Fades. Needless to say, his reach extends across the continent. And Moiraine knows as much after her dealing with Master Domon. Domon is a renowned ship captain who’s come at the request of Moiraine in hopes of selling her a broken heartstone.
In reality, Moiraine was only ever interested in the poem that was discovered recently with the stone. It was written in the old tongue with blood, so Moiraine knows there is something sinister afoot. After acquiring the poem, she advises Domon to sail away as fast and as far as possible. She knows he is being hunted by Fades, and she knows they are close. In an effort to get away before they catch her, she rides off later that night. However, she is ambushed by a small group of Fades. She manages to take one down, but she is quickly overwhelmed. Luckily for her, Lan, Verin, and Tomas make the save just in time.
The Original Five
Perrin’s journey picks up just about where we left it. Having been betrayed by Padan Fain, who stole the Horn of Valere, Perrin has taken it upon himself to find the Horn and bring Fain to justice. To do so, he teams up with the Shienarans. The search party includes Ingtar Shinowa, the group’s commander, Uno Nomesta, the tracker, and a group of soldiers. They are soon joined by Elyas Machera, another tracker. Elyas manages to catch the scent of Padan Fain after Uno had lost it. Of course, we know that Padan Fain has already made his way to Ishamael. With that said, it is unclear where their meeting took place, so he could be nearby.
Egwene and Nynaeve aren’t fairing much better than Perrin at the White Tower. They are both having trouble channeling, albeit for different reasons. As a result, they have been stuck cleaning and serving as novices. While Egwene seeks guidance, Nynaeve outright rejects it. Their diverging attitudes push them towards starkly different mentors. Egwene is partial to her laid-back instructor, Alanna. On the other hand, Nynaeve’s stubbornness is met with Liandrin’s tough love approach. Their powers may be undeniable, but the two have a long way to go before they can take on Ishamael and co.
Finally, we are given brief updates to the whereabouts of both Rand and Mat. Mat has been locked away by Liandrin presumably out of fear that he might let evil take over as he did with the ruby-hilted dagger from Shadar Logoth. Rand, on the other hand, is seen wandering around some unidentified location. Remember, he’s presumed dead. I imagine he wants to keep it that way for the foreseeable future.
Final Thoughts
This was a really solid start to the season. There were a number of loose ends at the end of season one, so for the sake of consistency, it was important that those get addressed sooner rather than later. Luckily, they managed to do so in a way that didn’t overwhelm the viewer. Moiraine’s story remains the most interesting of the lot, so it was nice to see it get a lot of attention. There was a nice bit of suspense in the scene where the Fades attack. There was also some mystery introduced through the poem whose contents have yet to be revealed. Finally, there’s a lack of clarity on the direction ahead, but in this case, that’s OK.
Character Development (12/15)
In addition to the good work done laying the foundations for the season, the writers did a good job of showing how key characters are feeling. The characters’ struggles are relatable but fairly mundane at the same time. Again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing seeing as this is the first episode of the season. Think of the first episode of any season as a sort of check-in. In that sense, this was an effective start.
Moiraine and Lan
Moiraine is clearly devastated by the loss of her powers. The sense of despair is still with her day in, day out. Time has not healed this wound, nor will it. The only remedy will be the restoration of her powers. With that said, Moiraine has an unbreakable spirit. She has not let the despair stop her from being productive. Even without her powers, she is resourceful. Her visitors are no doubt keeping her informed of Ishamael’s movements or presenting her with key information. She is making an effort to stay busy, but that’s not enough to solve her problems.
Her relationship with Lan has been a good indicator of her mental state. Currently, she is cold and distant. She’s decided to shut Lan out as a way of delaying the trauma. She knows that Lan will want to comfort her, but she can not afford to break down now. Her solution to treat him as a de facto man-servant seems to have worked up until now, but that’s more a testament to Lan’s patience than Moiraine’s brilliance. Of course, even Lan’s patience has its limits, as she finds out.
Instead of facing him, and by extension her trauma, she essentially decides to run away. Moiraine doesn’t strike me as the sort to take impulsive actions, but I’m not sure what the plan was in this case. She knows there are Fades lurking nearby and that she’s on their radar, yet she still decides to ride off with nothing more than a dagger. Luckily, Lan intervenes. I know he was taking on multiple Fades at once, but I was surprised to see him struggle to the point of defeat had it not been for Verin and Tomas. These two need to get on the same page right away.
The Original Five
Whereas Moiraine is having to contend with the loss of her powers, Nynaeve is still struggling to digest her newfound powers. She is, by all accounts, the most powerful novice the White Tower has seen in a while, yet she refuses to tap into that power. It’s clear that she is afraid of what her powers might do, so much like Moiraine, she too has chosen to delay the inevitable. I appreciate the parallels there. Anyways, Liandrin has grown tired of waiting. She pushes Nynaeve to her limits in order to get her to tap into her powers, and she does. She then takes her powers away as a warning that her current approach has consequences. This was good stuff.
Nynaeve isn’t the only one struggling to tap into her powers. Egwene is also having trouble channeling, but it’s not for a lack of trying. In fact, it’s because she’s trying too hard. I would argue that her situation is even more dire than that of Nynaeve’s. At least Nynaeve can react when she needs to. Even if she is feeding on negative emotions, it’s better nothing. And nothing is Egwene is getting. She needs to find inspiration if she wants to change that.
Perrin’s not as well-supported as the girls. He’s no closer to controlling his powers or figuring out what he’s even capable of. However, with the introduction of Elyas, that might soon change. Elyas seems to have a similar skillset, and he clearly noticed Perrin’s abilities. Anyways, Perrin’s too busy thinking about Padan Fain right now. He feels deeply betrayed by Fain, and he’s worried that he might not be able to stop himself from killing Fain if they catch him. Well, if he can’t get a grip on his powers, that might be a legitimate concern.
Theme/Messages (4/5)
- “Everyone has a choice, and every choice has a consequence.”
- “Things are messy before they are perfect, nothing worthwhile is neat and tidy.”
- Sometimes you need to do more listening than talking to understand the person in front of you.
Acting (7/15)
Season one featured some of the worst collective acting I had seen in a while. Rosamund Pike (Moiraine) essentially carried the show, and she was fantastic as ever here. Daniel Henney (Lan) remains consistent in his somewhat limited role. To be fair, there are signs of improvement across the board, but that’s not difficult considering the level of acting in the first season. Also, I was disappointed to see Mat recast, thus the low score for this section. Barney Harris was the only member of the Two Rivers’ five that did himself justice. Good luck to Dónal Finn though.
Cinematography (12/15)
- The special effects have been consistently impressive
- Cool shots of the terrain (21:30 onwards)