When I first read the Eye of the World, the ending did not make sense. And my friend Conor McGregor
Nuthugger from the mma community dot com just said that the finale did not make sense. For
what it’s worth though, the Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 8, the Season 1 finale, was better than
the book version. And if you were confused, then this video is for you. I’m going to give you a
lot of extra color in this video without spoiling anything for show-only watchers.
Let’s start with the cold open. This scene was very important. The current story is at
the end of the Third Age. But this scene was 3,000 years ago towards the end of the Second
Age which is also known as the Age of Legends. This guy is Lews Therin Telamon – the Dragon.
He was an Aes Sedai because back then both women and men were Aes Sedai. The male half of the one
power was not yet tainted. In fact, that’s what he was arguing about with the woman. She is Latra
Posae Decume. Another very powerful Aes Sedai. If you watched the scene with subtitles,
Lews told Latra that he wanted to go imprison the Dark One. But Latra advised him against doing
so. Presumably, she wanted to continue fighting the Dark One instead of trying to imprison him.
In this scene, Latra warned Lews that if he tried to imprison the Dark One, the Dark One
might corrupt the male half of the One Power. And she was right. That’s what happened. Lews and the
Hundred Companions sealed the Dark One away in a magical prison, but as a result, the male half
of the One Power was corrupted. That began the Time of Madness also known as the Breaking of the
World. Over the next 300 years in the books or 100 years in the show, male channelers went mad. They
broke the world, setting it back thousands years. Here is one example that is very important in
terms of the ending of this episode. When Lews Therin Telamon went mad, he killed his own family.
But then, this guy, Ishamael healed his madness so that Lews could see what he had done. When he
saw that he had killed his family, he exploded in the One Power. His death created Dragonmount. The
mountain where Rand was born 3,000 years later. So basically, this scene here occurred towards
the end of the Second Age or the Age of Legends. This was the final discussion before Lews Therin
Telamon sealed away the Dark One in a prison and the male half of the power was tainted.
The current story takes places 3,000 years later at the end of the Third Age. And as you saw,
the finale was not the Last Battle. It was the First Battle in the Last Battle.
There are four things to go over. Let’s start with Rand, Moiraine, and this guy. Although Rand kept
calling this guy the Dark One, this guy is not the Dark One. He is a person known as a Forsaken. In
the books, there are 13 Forsaken. But in episode 5, Stepin did a ritual to ward off the Forsaken,
and there were 8 figurines. So the show may just have 8 Forsaken, which won’t be a problem.
When Lews Therin Telamon and the Hundred Companions sealed away the Dark One,
they also sealed away the Forsaken. However, at the end of the episode, Moiraine showed
Lan a piece of cuendillar. Cuendillar is also known as heartstone. It is virtually
unbreakable. If you use the One Power against it, it gets even stronger. But Moiraine was
holding broken cuendillar. So that’s a problem. That means that at least one of the Seven Seals
on the Dark One’s prison has been broken. That explains why the Blight has grown so far south so
fast. And that may also explain why this guy was able to enter the kids dreams. Because he was
almost free of the prison. Almost, but not quite. This man was once known as Elan. And he wasn’t
always a bad guy. He was a philosopher and a theologian. He theorized that if the Wheel
keeps turning an infinite number of times, eventually the Dark One would inevitably win.
As a result, he joined side with the Dark One. That is when he was renamed from Elan
to Ishmael in the show, but please forgive me, I am going to call him Ishamael since that’s
his name in the books and I like putting the proper emphasis of the extra syllable.
Alright, so when Rand got to the Eye of the World, he told Moiraine that he remembered being there.
So he may not fully realize this yet, but what is happening is that the prior dragon - Lews Therin
Telamon – his life and memories are bleeding into Rand’s memories. A form of reincarnation.
Rand told Moiraine that he remembered fighting someone there. First he saw Lews Therin Telamon.
Then he saw Ishamael. So that tells us that Lews fought Ishamael there. And presumably,
Lews was stronger than Ishamael. And he beat him. So the Ishamael that we see now is imprisoned, but
since the seals have begun to break, he is able to enter people’s dreams. And he is the father
of lies. So he is very good at corrupting people. He is the man quarterbacking most of what happened
this season in terms of the Trollocs, Fades, and Darkfriends. As Padan Fain told Perrin, they
didn’t send Trollocs to the Two Rivers to kill the kids. They sent them there to either bring
or lure the kids to the Eye of the World. Because Ishamael’s goal was to use Rand to get free of the
prison. And to get Rand to fight for the Dark One. And he almost did it. Ishamael brought Rand into
a dream with Egwene and a baby named Joiya. While that happened, Moiraine almost killed
Rand because it would be better to kill the Dragon then to let the Dragon join the Dark One.
Nonetheless, Rand knows Egwene well. Rand loves her. And he wants to be with her.
But he knows that she doesn’t feel the same way. Egwene wanted to be a Wisdom. And now,
she wants to be Aes Sedai. So Rand broke free of Ishamael’s lies. Then he channeled the One Power
into the sa’angreal which amplified his power 100 fold, and he killed Ishamael.
But keep in mind, Lews Therin Telamon also fought Ishamael there. So did Rand finish him for good?
Maybe. But maybe not. Only time will tell, but keep in mind, this is a world of reincarnation.
And even if he did finish off Ishamael, there are more Forsaken. As we mentioned earlier, Stepin had
8 figurines. And there are 13 Forsaken in the books. So even if Ishamael is done done, the Dark
One still has more Forsaken to do his bidding. In other words, the Last Battle has just begun.
But Rand is scared. Because he knows that men who can channel the One Power go mad.
He doesn’t want to be gentled like Logain. And he doesn’t know how to control his powers, so he
doesn’t want to hurt those that he loves the way that Lews Therin Telamon killed his own family.
As a result, Rand told Moiraine that he had to go. And he told her to tell everyone that he died.
Moiraine cannot lie, so she told Lan that Rand is gone. Which is true. But a truth an Aes Sedai
tells you is not always the truth you think it is. Speaking of Moiraine, it looked as if Ishamael had
shielded her from the One Power. But it might be worse than that. At the end of the episode,
Moiraine told Lan that she could not touch the Source anymore. And she was very sad,
which is a sign that she has been stilled. Stilling is a term used for women.
Men like Logain are gentled. Women get stilled. Now let’s discuss Tarwin’s Gap. First off,
Agelmar led his men to the fortress at the gap even though he expected to die.
So hat’s off to Agelmar. Just like Moiraine, he went into a battle, expecting to die. And
unfortunately, it looks as if he did. May the last embrace of the Mother welcome you home, Agelmar.
So the Trollocs overran the Gap. But then they ran into his sister Amalisa.
Amalisa trained at the White Tower, but she is very weak in the One Power. So she could not
rise to the level of Aes Sedai. Nonetheless, she is brave. So she went out onto the battlefield
with two other women who could channel. And then, Nynaeve and Egwene went out there to join them.
Not gonna to lie, as a huge Nynaeve fanboy, it got dusty over here seeing their bravery.
Okay. So Nynaeve and Egwene are not trained in the One Power. Therefore, they may not have
been able to do much unless they got lucky. But, they are both very strong. Stronger than almost
every other current Aes Sedai. Definitely stronger than every Aes Sedai that we have
met so far on the show, including Moiraine. So Amalisa formed a circle. Now get ready,
some book readers are going to flip out. Because in truth, how does Amalisa know
how to do that? It’s a little far-fetched because making a circle is advanced stuff.
But with that said, I don’t care. Circles are awesome. And Amalisa knew how to make one.
In case it wasn’t clear, a circle allows a person to use the power of others in the circle.
When Amalisa first created the circled, did you notice her face? Since Nynaeve and Egwene
are so powerful in the One Power, Amalisa was shocked by the amount of power in the circle.
She used that power to rain down lightning on the Trollocs. They saved Fal Dara.
But, the One Power is like a drug. It is very intoxicating, and as a result, she could not
let it go. She began to channel more and more of it. More than they could handle, so her two
buddies burnt out and died. It was too much for even Egwene and Nynaeve. But Nynaeve loves Egwene
so much, that instead of trying to withstand the Power surging through her, she focused on healing
Egwene. So Nynaeve saved Egwene’s life as a child from Breakbone Fever and she saved Egwene’s life
now for the second time. Thankfully, she is incredibly strong in the One Power, so she hung
on to life by a thread. A thread in the Pattern. No pun intended. Amalisa died, but Egwene was able
to return the favor and heal Nynaeve. Very cool. Two more topics to go. Now let’s look at the Horn
of Valere. The Horn of Valere is a very useful magical item. When you blow the Horn of Valere,
great heroes of the Pattern are summoned to fight. It’s another form of reincarnation in this story.
Before Agelmar rode out to Tarwin’s Gap, he told Lord Yakota and Uno that they knew what to do.
So they moved aside the throne, and dug up the hidden Horn of Valere. Meanwhile, Perrin
sat back and did nothing. Because he is scared of hurting people. And he was also brainwashed
by the lovely Tuatha’an people with the Way of the Leaf. But a part of Perrin realized that at times,
you’ve got to fight. Unfortunately, he decided that the time was not now.
Perrin and Loial helped to dig out the Horn of Valere. But there were Darkfriend
inside the walls of Fal Dara. Someone cut ropes to the drawbridge. And someone
told Padan Fain the secret pass code. So Padan Fain tricked his guards into opening the door.
The two then Fades killed the guards, and then Padan Fain distracted Perrin.
So Perrin walked away from the throne room. Padan Fain and the Fades then circled back and
stabbed Lord Yakota, some other topknot dude, Uno, and even Loial. Let’s hope Loial isn’t dead. Uno
too preferably. And in case you missed it, Padan Fain now has Mat’s dagger from Shadar Logoth.
So if Loial survives, he is going to have a wound with the Taint of Shadar Logoth.
Padan Fain chose not to kill Perrin, and there’s a reason.
Perrin is ta’veren just like his other 4 friends. What that means is that Perrin’s thread in the
Pattern is an important one. Think of a ta’veren as someone with a thick thread in the Pattern.
What Perrin chooses to do shapes the path of others around him. And Padan Fain mentioned
balance, which is a key theme in this story. Padan Fain didn’t kill Perrin because Perrin
has a role to play in the Pattern. The Dark One hopes to take over some or all of the kids. Again.
Balance. A key theme in this story in many ways. It’s also worth noting that Padan Fain left
with the Horn of Valere. A horn that summons great heroes to battle. So the
good guys don’t have it to use anymore. And even worse, a Darkfriend may blow it.
For what it’s worth, book two is called the Great Hunt, and it is the hunt for the horn. So that
is going to be one of the main arcs of Season 2. An attempt to get back the Horn of Valere.
In the process of doing so, they are going to run into a new group of people. The Seanchan.
So this is the map here. This is the land upon which most of the story takes place. But it’s
not the only land mass in the world. There is an even bigger huge land across the western ocean.
That land mass is inhabited by a people called the Seanchan. In the final scene
of Season 1, the Seanchan have arrived. That explains the missing ships that
Moiraine’s Blue Sister had told her about. Aes Sedai are not the only people who can
channel. Women everywhere can channel. But they do it a little differently. For instance,
they don’t swear on the Oath Rod, so they can lie.
Another difference is that the Seanchan have a ter’angreal called an a’dam, which in the show
looks to be these things in the girls’ mouths and the collars around their necks. The women
behind them have bracers on their forearms, and they have rings on, too. So presumably,
the bracers or the rings are magically connected to the mouthpieces and collars.
The women in the front are called damane. They are women who can channel, and they are effectively
slaves. The women behind them are called sul’dam. The sul’dam order the damane to use the One Power.
Another fun fact is that the Seanchan are led by an emperor or an empress. They are
very good at battle. And they also have crazy creatures that fight alongside them.
So love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Seanchan are going to make waves in The Wheel of Time Season 2.
In summary, the Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend.
Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave
it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come,
an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are
neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.