Prime Video drops Wheel of Time S2 trailer ahead of San Diego Comic-Con

[Karlston]

"You're not a spoke, boy. You are the water that turns the wheel itself."

The Wheel of Time, starring Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, returns to Prime Video for its second season in September.

 

The planned Wheel of Time panel at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend has understandably been canceled in light of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in Hollywood. So Prime Video released the first full trailer for the show's second season today, and it's full of the eye-popping visuals we've come to expect from this lavish adaptation of Robert Jordan's series of fantasy novels.

 

(Spoilers for the first season below.)

 

As I've written previously, the series centers on Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of a powerful, all-woman organization called the Aes Sedai. Magic, known as the One Power, is divided into male (saidin) and female (saidar) flavors. The latter is the province of the Aes Sedai. Long ago, a great evil called the Dark One caused the saidin to become tainted, such that most men who show an ability to channel that magic go mad. It's the job of the Aes Sedai to track down such men and strip them of their powers. There is also an ancient prophecy concerning the Dragon Reborn: the reincarnation of a person who will save or destroy humanity.

 

As in the book, Pike's Moiraine befriended a group of five young people—Egwene (Madeleine Madden), Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), Rand (Josha Stradowski), Mat (Barney Harris in S1), and Perrin (Marcus Rutherford)—whose small village has been attacked by monsters called Trollocs. The two women (Egwene and Nynaeve) showed some promise as future members of the Aes Sedai. But Moiraine also suspected one of the young people (especially the men) might be the Dragon Reborn. Moiraine was accompanied on this quest by her Warder and companion, al'Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney), and had to avoid the Children of the Light, aka Whitecloaks, among other dangers, during her travels.

 

Ars Senior Technology Editor Lee Hutchinson and Senior Technology Reporter Andrew Cunningham are mega-fans of the book series and devoted themselves to recapping every S1 episode in great detail and giving frank assessments of how well the series adapted the source material. Their overall verdict after the S1 finale: Despite some massive divergences from the books, the series was mostly entertaining, although they would have liked the show to spend more time on the story to let the main characters develop more fully. And they disliked "miserable butthead" Mat (who will be played by Donal Finn in S2), even though the book version is a fan favorite. Still, as Andrew observed, "If my biggest complaint about your show is that there wasn’t enough of it, I don’t think that’s a bad place to be coming out of your first season."

 

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  Moiraine must deal with the consequences of her choices in S1.

  YouTube/Prime Video

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  Daniel Henney returns as Moiraine's Warder and companion, al'Lan Mandragoran.

  YouTube/Prime Video

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  Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) has his own issues to deal with.

  YouTube/Prime Video

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  Egwene al’Vere (Madeleine Madden) and Elayne Trakand (Ceara Coveney).

  Prime Video

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  Rand (Josha Stradowski) is tired of being a spoke in the wheel.

  YouTube/Prime Video

A great deal happened in S1, far too much to summarize here. But the big news (for those unfamiliar with the books) is that Rand was identified as the Dragon Reborn and went into hiding to avoid his destiny and/or harming his friends—but not before he may have accidentally released the Dark One. We learned in the finale that there's an armada of ships ominously heading their way. Moiraine was captured by the Dark One and either stilled or shielded to keep her from channeling, leaving her in a tight spot. And Perrin helped dig up the flaming Horn of Valere, which plays a big role in the second book in the series.

 

In addition to Finn (who will hopefully make Mat less of a miserable butthead), there are several other additions to the cast: Clara Cogency as Elayne Trakand, Guy Roberts as Uno Nomesta, Arnas Federavicius as Masema Dagar, Gregg Chilingirian as Ingtar Shinowa, Amar Chadha-Patel as Lord Yakota, Thomas Chaanhing as Lord Agelmar, Sandra Yi Sencindiver as Lady Amalisa, and Ayoola Smart as Aviendha. Also joining the cast are Natasha O'Keeffe and Meera Syal in as-yet-undisclosed roles. Per the official premise, "Threats new and very old seek out the young friends from the Two Rivers, now scattered over the world. The woman who found and guided them is now powerless to help, and so they must find other sources of strength. In each other or themselves. In the Light… or the Dark."

 

The second season of Wheel of Time premieres on Prime Video on September 1, 2023.

 

Listing image by Prime Video

 

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