Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 3 Episode 4.
One of the most fascinating aspects of The Wheel of Time’s world is the argument that it could equally be categorized as post-futuristic and fantasy. After the event known in canon as the Breaking of the World changed everything, the previous era, known as the Age of Legends, ended, resulting in many technological developments becoming either destroyed or lost to time. The Prime Video series, adapted from the late Robert Jordan’s books, has given us glimpses of the Age of Legends before — chiefly during the Season 1 finale, where we meet the previous Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon (Alexander Karim), for the first time. Since then, there are hints of The Wheel of Time’s previous age everywhere if you know where to look for them — overgrown skeletons of former skyscrapers that once towered over everything, or precious artifacts of a different time that now contain great power.
This week’s episode of Season 3, “The Road to the Spear,” written by showrunner Rafe Judkins and directed by Thomas Napper, takes us to yet another remnant of the Age of Legends in the ancient city of Rhuidean, also known as the “City in the Clouds,” where Rand (Josha Stradowski) must confront his past in order to embrace his destiny as Car’a’aarn. He’s not the only one who has to face a dangerous trial, however, as the episode quickly reveals — but more on that later.
It’s the Night Before the Trial in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3 Episode 4

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Now in the Waste, Rand and Lan (Daniel Henney) are still keeping up with their sword training. A skilled Warder like Lan automatically knows when Rand’s head isn’t in it, but Rand says he’s just using a technique his father, Tam (Michael McElhatton), once taught him — to picture a single flame in his mind, feeding every emotion into it until nothing remains but “the flame and the void.” Rand admits he doesn’t know much about the man who raised him as his own son, but he also doesn’t feel like one of the Aiel, either, even if he shares blood with them. Good thing he’s about to take a walk through his own family tree in short order, huh? As night falls, Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) and Egwene (Madeleine Madden) enjoy some “water and shade” with the Aiel Wise Ones, Bair (Nukâka Coster-Waldau) and Melaine (Salóme Gunnarsdóttir), who admit that while Rand’s arrival in the Waste was foreseen, others, like Egwene, weren’t. Bair even goes so far as to say that if Rand hadn’t come to the Waste, he would have died, presumably based on whatever vision they had — and if he survives Rhuidean, at least some of the Aiel will survive along with him. Melaine also lets it slip at one point that Moiraine needs to go to Rhuidean too, but Bair quickly shushes her before she can say any more on that front.
As Rand and Lan make their way back to the Aiel camp, the former is quickly confronted by Aviendha (Ayoola Smart) — who, as it turns out, still feels some kind of way about Rand carrying a sword around, and knocks him to the ground. Rand points out that she also can’t seem to make up her mind about whether he’s even Aiel or not, but Aviendha’s insistence also extends to Lan, as she points one of her spears in his direction. When Lan brandishes his own sword, Aviendha laughs at the thought that the Warder is asking her to “dance,” but she’s clearly not going to reject the invitation either. The two engage in a clash of blades where neither is holding back, but both of them seem to be enjoying taking on a worthy opponent — right up until the Wise Ones interrupt them. “You have run with the spears as long as you can,” Melaine says to Aviendha. “Longer than you should have.” It seems that being a Wise One was always Aviendha’s destiny, but instead of answering her true calling, she disappeared in search of the Dragon instead, trying to remain a Maiden of the Spear as long as she could. Coming back home isn’t just about delivering Rand as the possible Car’a’carn; it’s about confronting what she’s always been running from. Reluctantly, Aviendha hands over her spears, and Bair breaks them over her knee. (On a related note, now we know why Bair was dressed like a Maiden in the dream Egwene interrupted; it’s because she was once one herself!) After removing her cadin’sor, Aviendha asks the Wise Ones for leave to enter Rhuidean and face the trial that will name her one of them. See? Told you Rand wasn’t the only one headed there this week.
Later on, Moiraine and Rand sit in front of the fire, where we learn that Rand is planning to enter Rhuidean the following day — even though many of the men who have come before him have waited on the slopes for weeks before venturing into the city. Moiraine’s concerned about Rand’s arrogance in this matter, while Rand’s unconvinced that the Aes Sedai has ever done anything for him without some kind of ulterior motive. When morning dawns, it’s off to Rhuidean, where Rand leans from Rhuarc (Björn Landberg) that all clan chiefs who return are permanently marked with a dragon on their left forearm. As for the Car’a’carn? He’ll earn two marks, one on each arm, so that the Aiel will know He Who Comes With the Dawn when they see him. Unfortunately, the group trekking to Rhuidean isn’t alone; they soon encounter members of the Shaido, with spears drawn and veils raised. One of their Wise Ones, Sevanna (Natasha Culzac), steps forward and orders that no blood be spilled; they’ve already sent one of their own warriors, Muradin (Fredrik Wagner), into the ancient city for his own trial. His brother, Couladin (Set Sjöstrand), vows to venture in if Muradin doesn’t make it back, and gets even more fired up about a “wetlander” asking formal permission from Bair and Melaine to enter Rhuidean. When Egwene tries to accompany Rand, she is denied, but when Moiraine steps forward to ask the Wise Ones’ leave, permission is granted. As Rand prepares to face his past through the eyes of his ancestors, and truly understand where he came from, Moiraine will bear witness to a thousand thousand futures, some that might come to pass and some that might not. “Ready?” Moiraine asks, after they discard their weapons outside the city and prepare to go in. “No,” Rand replies, in a way that feels fitting for both him and all of us who happen to be watching this episode.
Each Step Forward Is a Step Backward for Rand in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3 Episode 4

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Despite the desert surrounding it, Rhuidean is completely covered in a strange fog, giving the whole city a surrealness that makes it feel like it exists outside of time itself. Moiraine notes that the fog almost seems to be made up of threads of the One Power itself, visible in one instant and gone the next. At the heart of Rhuidean is Avendesora, the Tree of Life, said to be almost 3,000 years old, and Moiraine briefly recounts a story about how the Aiel once entrusted a sapling from it to Cairhien hundreds of years ago — but when her uncle Laman became king, he cut it down to build a throne that could never be copied. In response to Laman breaking his oath, the Aiel came over the Spine, leading to a war that culminated in Laman being hunted down at Dragonmount, where he was ultimately killed. Of course, we know that the slopes of that mountain are where Rand’s mother gave birth to him; if Moiraine’s uncle hadn’t cut down that tree and kickstarted the entire Aiel War, would the Dragon Reborn prophecy have been fulfilled? It seems that the fates of these two characters have been linked since before Rand was even born — but for now, at least, they need to go their separate ways.
As Rand ventures toward the groaning glass columns of Rhuidean, he spots Muradin up ahead of him, but the man doesn’t seem to hear him, and we soon discover why. With each step, those strange groans become screams and cries, and as Rand bends low to touch the ground, it turns into snow beneath his hands. Now, he isn’t Rand, but his own father, Janduin, an Aiel warrior fighting King Laman’s men on the slopes of Dragonmount. Unfortunately, no matter how many men he cuts down — including Laman — Janduin is still too late in reaching Tigraine (Magdalena Sittova), and there’s no sign of the baby she gave birth to in the heat of battle. As Janduin cries out in grief at the loss of his wife and child, we’re plunged back to Rhuidean as Rand continues to fight his way forward; another blink, and he goes back further.
This time, he’s seeing the world through the eyes of Mandein, an Aiel clan chief standing outside Rhuidean. As the strange fog settles over the city for the first time, we learn that he’s been summoned to a meeting with an Aes Sedai named Latra Posae Decume, who we first met in that Season 1 finale cold open during the Age of Legends. It’s by the order of the Aes Sedai that no weapons can enter Rhuidean, and Mandein enters with other clan chiefs to find Latra (Ania Marson) channeling with Avendesora to remove the sa’angreal known as Sakarnen from the heart of the tree. The Aes Sedai says that any Aiel clan chiefs and Wise Ones who wish to lead must enter Rhuidean and learn about their people’s history so that it’s never truly forgotten — and to learn why the Aes Sedai call them “oathbreakers.” Using Sakarnen, Latra creates the same glass columns that Rand is moving through now — and Mandein volunteers to be the first clan chief to enter them.
Another step forward, and Rand is witnessing the story of Lewin, a younger Aiel man who’s snuck into the back of a wagon to get a good look at a much smaller version of Avendesora (with Sakarnen still nestled in its branches). Interestingly, this version of the Aiel looks a lot closer to the Tuatha’an than the spear-brandishing warriors we’ve met, traveling in colorful wagons and following the Way of the Leaf. Lewin soon learns from his mother that his sister Maigran (Tereza Dušková) and another girl were taken by bandits while washing clothes in the stream. Against orders not to retaliate, since the Aiel can’t pick up a weapon or embrace violence, Lewin and his friends, Charlin (Kiren Kebaili-Dwyer) and Alijha (Ferdinand McKay), follow the bandits’ tracks and sneak into their camp once night falls, keeping their dust veils up to hide their faces. Before they can rescue the girls and slip away quietly, one of their captors wakes up and sounds the alarm for the others, and in the chaos that results, Lewin grabs a spear from the ground and delivers one bandit a fatal blow. Charlin has also suffered a mortal wound, and is too late to save him; by the time Lewin and the others make it back to camp with their friend’s body on a litter, Lewin’s mother is horrified to learn that her son has claimed a life, even as he insists that it was in self-defense. As a result, the young men are deemed outcasts, “oathbreakers,” and Lewin’s mother orders him to use his dust veil to hide his face from her.
Moiraine Sees a Thousand Thousand Futures in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3 Episode 4

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Another step forward, and Rand has caught up to Muradin in the glass columns — but whatever the Aiel warrior is witnessing, it’s horrifying enough that he resorts to scratching out his own eyes. There’s little time for Rand to react, though, when he has to press forward. Meanwhile, Moiraine, standing at Avendesora, channels the One Power until the roots open to expose Sakarnen, which she carefully pockets before continuing on. When she reaches the three rings of Rhuidean, she discovers someone already floating within them — Aviendha, still in the grips of her own trial. When Moiraine crosses into one of the rings, she levitates into the air, floating in place, and there bears witness to the many futures that may or may not happen. She’s in Siuan’s (Sophie Okonedo) hut, knitting a fishing net; she’s the Amyrlin Seat, circling Rand on his knees before the Sitters in the Great Hall, before she slits his throat with the One Power. She’s standing with Lan in a field, releasing him from his bond as her Warder; she’s bonding Rand as her Warder in the streets of Tar Valon. She’s the Amyrlin Seat cradling Rand’s lifeless body; she’s the Amyrlin Seat killing Rand herself, with Lan by her side. There are other flickers of potential futures too — all of our heroes having sworn to the Shadow and looming over Moiraine in the Ways before Lanfear cuts her throat, Moiraine and Rand getting it on in that room in the Foregate, Moiraine and Lanfear making out before Lanfear tries to strangle her. The remaining futures she sees amount to a montage of Moiraine’s death at Lanfear’s hands — in the White Tower, on the streets of Tar Valon, in the middle of the desert, over and over again.
Back in the columns, Rand steps forward again, and this time we jump back to a young boy named Adan (Atom Uniacke) and his grandfather, Jonai, standing among burned remnants of Aiel wagons and bodies strewn across an open field. The other survivors of their group are tired, professing they can’t go on, but Jonai repeats a sentiment we’ve heard before, this time in the Old Tongue: “We bury our dead and go on. What else is there?” Other Aiel are buzzing about the fact that the Aes Sedai have apparently killed the last male channeler who might prove a threat, and the earth is settling again. Maybe then, their people be able to sing the song of harvest — the same song the Tuatha’an are searching for, thousands of years later. While their party officially splits, with many leaving the circle of burned wagons, Jonai and Adan bury the dead, while Jonai speaks of a place in the desert where they can find safety. It turns out that his wagon is the one that still carries a small sapling, so grandfather and grandson begin their weary trek to the Spine.
The further Rand gets through the columns, the more evidence he finds that others have not survived the trial, with decaying bodies and skeletons strewn across the ground — but then the ground turns to pavement beneath his feet. It’s a younger version of Jonai, in the Age of Legends, meeting a much younger version of Latra (Katie Brayden). They’ve taken 10,000 cuttings from Chora trees and put each one into a single wagon in the hopes of preserving them somehow. Before Jonai leaves, Latra tasks him with securing Sakarnen, even though one of her Aes Sedai sisters points out that the Aiel can’t even defend it when they refrain from violence. Yet letting it fall into the wrong hands — especially the female channeler who bore a hole into the Dark One’s prison and set him free — is out of the question. Jonai and the other Aiel swear to Latra that they will always follow the Way of the Leaf in protecting Sakarnen, but we know they don’t keep that oath.

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“It’s a Double-Edged Sword”: ‘The Wheel of Time’s Rosamund Pike and Josha Stradowski Discuss Moiraine and Rand’s Changing Relationship in Season 3

They also discuss getting to play out futures that may or may not happen and Moiraine’s tenuous alliance with Lanfear.

As Rand continues to fight his way through the columns, falling to his knees before getting back on his feet, Muradin collapses on the ground behind him, dead — and we cut to a young Aiel man named Charn, as he fondly watches a group of other Aiel singing the harvesting song in the fields below. He also works in service to the Aes Sedai Mierin Eronaile (Natasha O’Keeffe), the name once held by the woman we now know as Lanfear. As they talk, we learn that Mierin has discovered the thinnest part of the Pattern and plans to break through to the “True Power” that’s on the other side — power that can be used by men and women, not just Lews Therin and the Aes Sedai. “It will change everything,” Mierin excitedly tells Charn, but he’s not so certain he wants to give up the personal satisfaction of tilling a wheat field with his own two hands. After Mierin encourages him to be with his family, Charn leaves her to pick up a scythe and joins the other Aiel in the field, but their song is suddenly drowned out by a booming explosion. Punching through the Pattern at its weakest point has allowed for something awful and terrible to break through, as lightning cracks and thunder booms.
With images of the past flashing through his mind, Rand collapses just outside the columns — and the dragon markings appear on both of his forearms. He finds Aviendha lying unconscious in front of Avendesora, and when she wakes, she’s shocked to see the marks on his arms. Rand apologizes to her for his previous insensitivity about Aiel culture: “I understand enough to know I’ll never fully understand.” When Aviendha turns to leave, though, Rand insists on waiting for Moiraine. Back at the Aiel camp, the sun is coming up, and Lan and Egwene are sitting in wait. Apparently, Aviendha returned two days ago, but the others still haven’t emerged. Despite Egwene’s urgings, Lan refuses to go in after them, but he doesn’t need to; just like the prophecy foretold, Rand comes back from Rhuidean with the dawn, carrying a weakened Moiraine in his arms, both of them at a loss for words after all they’ve just seen. It’s a stunning experience for both of them, and a stunning episode that showcases the absolute best of what The Wheel of Time has to offer.
New episodes of The Wheel of Time Season 3 premiere Thursdays on Prime Video.

The Wheel of Time

The Wheel of Time Season 3 Episode 4 takes us to the Rhuidean, where Rand takes a trip through the past and Moiraine glimpses a thousand futures.

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

Pros & Cons

Josha Stradowski has the most difficult job to do this week in portraying all of Rand’s ancestors, and he pulls it off phenomenally.
The city of Rhuidean is a stunning visual feat.
The countless futures Moiraine witnesses utilize an interesting filming technique.
Mierin FREAKING Eronaile!