Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 3 finale.
It’s hard to even comprehend that we’re here at the end of The Wheel of Time Season 3 already. (Maybe it wouldn’t feel so sudden if longer seasons could be ordered for this show, but I digress!) While last week’s penultimate episode was confined exclusively to the Two Rivers, following Perrin’s (Marcus Rutherford) battle to save his home from the Dark One’s forces, “He Who Comes With the Dawn,” written by Justine Juel Gillmer and directed by Ciaran Donnelly, plunges us back into the remainder of the story — and all the drama we last left off on elsewhere in the world of The Wheel of Time.
Admittedly, there’s a lot to catch up with, so bear with me. In the Aiel Waste, Rand (Josha Stradowski) finds himself grappling with his destructive connection to the One Power, just around the time that his secret dream affair with Lanfear (Natasha O’Keeffe) has been unearthed. Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) has her own reasons for stepping lightly around the Forsaken, given the countless futures she glimpsed in Rhuidean, many of which ended with her dying by Lanfear’s hand. In the treacherous coastal city of Tanchico, Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) and Elayne (Ceara Coveney) are still trying to get their hands on the Seanchan collar before Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) can, while Mat (Dónal Finn) is wrestling with the knowledge that Min’s (Kae Alexander) visions have all but pointed to his death. Meanwhile, in the White Tower, Siuan (Sophie Okonedo) is facing a potential coup from within the ranks of the Aes Sedai, led by Elaida (Shohreh Aghdashloo).
It’s clear that the rivalry between these two women well precedes the present day, and as the episode begins, we’re dropped back 10 years ago into Tar Valon, where Elaida is emerging from a red archway that looks suspiciously like the one Min’s been seeing in her visions. Confronted on the outside by Alviarin (Claire-Hope Ashitey), who immediately demands to know what sort of deal Elaida made with the “Eelfinn,” the Red simply replies that she bargained for the title of Amyrlin Seat itself. Yet Alviarin warns Elaida not to trust anything that “the Finns” have to offer, and as the vote begins in the Great Hall, with Elaida and Siuan both being considered to assume the Amyrlin Seat, the White’s concern is soon justified. At first, the count seems to be heading in Elaida’s favor, but then, Alviarin throws her vote behind Siuan, and other Sitters follow, as Moiraine looks on from the rafters above.
The White Tower Raises a New Amyrlin Seat in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3 Finale

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Back in the present, it seems that Siuan has had a difficult time convincing her fellow Aes Sedai of the importance of declaring for Rand. Even Leane (Jennifer Cheon Garcia) privately questions the Amyrlin in her office about how she came by this information, but Siuan refuses to betray the specifics of her rendezvous in Tel’aran’rhiod with Moiraine. Leane warns her that the longer she hedges around the truth, the more opportunity Elaida will have to sow doubt within those who remain in the Tower — so if Siuan wants to have any hope of convincing the others that allying with the Dragon Reborn is the right move, she needs to put the matter to a vote.
It seems Elaida has a plan of her own up those draping sleeves of hers, though, because Verin (Meera Syal) receives word that eight Red sisters have left the Tower without so much as a hint about where they’re headed. The easy conclusion is that they’ve taken off to find the Dragon Reborn and gentle him themselves, so Siuan orders Verin and other sisters to follow in pursuit. But the whole thing is a trap to lure all of them out of the Tower so that Elaida can barricade herself in the Hall, along with Alviarin and the required number of Sitters to conduct a vote of her own: to depose Siuan as the Amyrlin Seat and raise Elaida in her place. For attempting to hide the Dragon Reborn’s existence from the Tower so that the Aes Sedai could control him, rather than ally with him, she has also been declared a Darkfriend, and sentenced to be stilled for her crimes. When Leane immediately tries to fight the ruling, she is shielded by Alviarin and the other Sitters. As the Keeper of the Hall helplessly looks on, the One Power is ripped from Siuan’s body, leaving her numbed and collapsed on the ground before Elaida orders her to be dragged away for questioning.
Mat Makes a Deal and Nynaeve Breaks Her Block in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3 Finale

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In Tanchico, Moghedien’s (Laia Costa) move to secure the missing Seanchan bracelet has paid off for Liandrin, who currently has her hands full trying to stop Jeaine (Olivia Popica) from blowing herself up with a ter’angreal rod that can apparently summon balefire. Liandrin’s so busy, in fact, that she barely stops to thank Moggy or even ask for her name — something the Forsaken has to seriously curb her annoyance over. With both bracelets secured, though, Liandrin’s timetable for retrieving the matching collar has moved up to today, and as she and the surviving members of the Black Ajah make their way through the city streets, they catch the attention of Nynaeve and Mat, who are currently slurping noodles down at a stall. The two split up, with Nynaeve trailing the Black Ajah to the Panarch’s Palace while Mat gathers the rest of the group, including Thom Merrilin (Alexandre Willaume), who reluctantly admits that he’s tagging along so they don’t get themselves killed. The mission is to grab the collar before the Black Ajah can, especially now that they know there’s also a Forsaken in the picture after Moghedien’s meet-cute with Nynaeve and Elayne.
When they enter the Palace, Liandrin has already made quick work of the Panarch’s guards, and as the group splits up, there are only more bodies to discover along the way. But Thom still has time to reminisce about his previous time in Caemlyn, when Elayne was no higher than his knee. What he’s more suspicious of is this Lord Gaebril (Nuno Lopes), whom he’s never heard of, even though Elayne claims he’s been by her mother’s side as long as she can remember. They’re interrupted by Jeaine, still wielding that ter’angreal — only now, she’s turning the balefire on them. As Thom and Elayne run for cover, he offers to create a distraction so she can get away safely. Elayne refuses to let the gleeman die for her, but Thom admits he made a promise to Morgase (Olivia Williams), a long time ago, that he would protect her daughter. Knowing that a Forsaken has tampered with everyone’s memories, the Lion Throne of Andor — and Elayne’s destiny — is now in great danger. Once Thom confronts Jeaine with his throwing knives, however, it’s clear she barely knows how to wield the ter’angreal, let alone control it, leaving Elayne with the perfect opening to catch her off guard, swipe the rod for herself, and blast Jeaine with balefire, evaporating her completely.
Meanwhile, Mat and Min discover a room filled with various statues and artifacts — including a very familiar-looking red archway. Before Mat can heed Min’s warning, he stumbles through it and into some kind of other dimension, where a terrifying, fox-like being known as the Eelfinn (Robert Strange) is standing in wait for him. Wearing what appears to be a harness made from the remnants of human bodies, the Eelfinn peppers Mat with questions about himself, but Mat only wants to get out of this strange place as quickly as possible. The Eelfinn ominously offers to satisfy whatever three needs he might have, and Mat, rather unthinkingly, rattles them off: to stop “getting bollocksed about by every bloody magical force on this bloody planet,” to remove the memories running through his head after blowing the Horn of Valere, and to find the nearest exit. But the Eelfinn chillingly adds that he hasn’t set the price for the fulfillment of this deal, and although Mat is sent back through the archway, he’s left hanging by the neck, just as Min saw in her visions. She does manage to revive him, but now he’s sporting a shiny new fox medallion around his neck, and while the voices in his head are gone, other pieces — other memories — are missing along with them.
Liandrin and Nynaeve are each searching through various rooms to find the collar, Liandrin’s haste results in her overlooking it after she ransacks various chests — but Nynaeve, hiding in a corner of the same room, recognizes it from her own brief time attempting to figure out the inner workings of a Seanchan collar. While waiting for the others at their rendezvous point, however, Nynaeve is soon confronted by Liandrin, and, despite her appeals to whatever part of the Aes Sedai’s good nature might still be left inside, Liandrin takes advantage of Nynaeve’s blocked state to wrap her up in chains and swipe the collar from her possession before throwing her into the water. As Nynaeve sinks to the bottom, the last voice she hears is her own, the promise she once made to her daughter that everything would be alright. In that moment, Nynaeve both breaks her physical chains and the mental block that’s kept her from being able to tap into the One Power, literally parting the sea as she walks back up to the shore. Liandrin might be long gone, but the most powerful channeler in 1,000 years has finally stopped getting in her own way.
The Aiel Waste Brings Death and Rebirth in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3 Finale

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True to his word, Rand is busy meeting his toh by harvesting Alsera’s (Julie Van Leeuwen) garden when Egwene (Madeleine Madden) finds him. The mood is distinctly awkward between them now, but Egwene’s not here for her own reasons; she’s been sent to collect Rand and bring him to the Wise Ones. Meanwhile, it turns out Sammael (Cameron Jack) survived his little brush with a rockslide in Cold Rocks Hold, but now he’s being held captive by Moiraine, who’s tied off a shield around him to keep him from channeling. The Forsaken is understandably furious about his current predicament, and threatens to kill Rand immediately after escaping, but Moiraine has a different mission in mind for the ornery Sammael: he’s going to train Rand in how to use the One Power, unless he wants to end up buried in a cave so deep that no one will find him for a thousand years.
It seems that Moiraine and Lanfear’s interests are still somewhat aligned in this regard; when the Forsaken meets Rand in Tel’aran’rhiod later on, she admits that Sammael might be a “shit teacher,” but he’s the best they can do, given the circumstances. Rand, however, isn’t in the mood for Lanfear’s brand of coy, and doesn’t waste time in revealing that he knows the truth about what she’s been doing to Egwene in the dream realm. Lanfear tries to claim she was doing Egwene a favor by making her stronger — an interesting way to reframe torture — and insists that she still wants what she’s always wanted: to take out the Dark One. But when Rand posits the theory that what Lanfear really desires is that same level of power for herself, Lanfear can’t deny it. What really tips her over the edge, however, is when Rand vows to dump her for the same reasons his previous incarnation did: “You’re jealous, and petty, and just cruel.” With the Forsaken in his arms, Rand delivers the crushing blow as a whisper in her ear. “I finally, finally see the real you. You’re a monster, Lanfear.” She rips herself free, overcome with rage, dark, inky tendrils of saidar swirling around her, but before she can unleash it, Egwene appears in front of Rand, driving Lanfear out of the dream with the power of her mind.
Everyone is on guard back in the waking world, but when Lanfear doesn’t show herself to pick up where she left off, Moiraine’s unconvinced the fight is over. “Don’t assume you’re the only thing she wants. If we underestimate her, we die.” It’s off to Alcair Dal to meet with the Aiel clan chiefs, and sooner than anyone planned. In the meantime, Sammael is visited by none other than Moghedien, who takes advantage of his shielded status to tear him apart, piece by bloody piece. Lanfear’s plan also begins to reveal itself, as she visits Melindhra (Synnøve Macody Lund) to call in the debt the Malkieri woman apparently owes her, and also sneaks into the Shaido Aiel camp, where she uses her power to create false dragon marks on Couladin’s (Set Sjöstrand) arms, all in the name of casting doubt on Rand’s claim. One part of Lanfear’s plan doesn’t go accordingly, though, when Melindhra immediately breaks her Dark Oaths rather than give in and kill Lan (Daniel Henney) — and end the line of Malkier along with him. But that doesn’t mean Lanfear’s done making moves, as she takes steps to definitively ally herself with Rahvin moving forward (over Sammael’s dead body, literally), and vows to kill Rand by any means necessary.

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In a separate tent, Rand and Moiraine have the conversation they’ve been building to, not just since the beginning of Season 3 but the start of this story. Rand’s figured out that Moiraine was in league with Lanfear at least for a portion of events, up to and including splitting up the Emond’s Field gang, but he’s not all that mad about it. On the contrary, he’s come to the conclusion that out of everyone who has come and gone, she’s the only one who has remained by his side, and it’s not because she wants him to fail; she wants him to succeed. Moiraine counters with the insistence that she’s been prepared to act as the knife at his throat if he falters or starts showing signs of madness, but Rand understands why. She wants the same thing he does when all is said and done: to win the Last Battle for the Light. He even goes on to thank her for all she’s done to help him, a sentiment that nearly brings Moiraine to tears with the knowledge that she won’t be there at the very end of it all. The two part ways — Rand heading to his meeting with the Aiel clan chiefs, Moiraine for her date with destiny and Lanfear — with a “good luck” that feels much closer to a goodbye.
At Alcair Dal, Rand faces off with Couladin, who’s sporting his Temu-brand marks from Lanfear, while Moiraine channels with Sakarnen in anticipation of the Forsaken’s next attack. Rand points out that he’s the one who satisfies the prophecy of Rhuidean, being born of the blood but not raised by the blood. But the Aiel are distinctly resistant to the idea of a wetlander being declared their Car’a’carn, especially when Rand reveals the truth of their origins as shown to him through the glass columns — that they once followed the Way of the Leaf, and became Oathbreakers. Despite Rhuarc’s (Björn Landberg) insistence that such knowledge will destroy their people, this part fulfills the prophecy of the Car’a’carn, too.
Across the world, in the White Tower, a beaten and bloodied Siuan refuses to give in to Elaida’s brutal interrogation methods, and instead confesses to her devotion to Moiraine, insisting she would rather die than give up the whereabouts of her lover — but Moiraine is also, at that same moment, fighting for her life against Lanfear. Lan enters the fray when the Forsaken gains the upper hand, giving his Aes Sedai time to rally, but Lanfear knocks him away and steals his sword, plunging it into Moiraine’s belly. No wound hurts more, though, than the pain that cuts deepest when the oath Moiraine once swore to her deepest love is severed. Despite a rousing speech in her own defense to Elaida and the other Aes Sedai who deposed her, a sentence has already been passed, and Siuan Sanche, daughter of the river, lies dead. In her grief and rage, Moiraine channels Sakarnen’s power to not only heal herself but strike out against Lanfear, landing a blow that sends the Forsaken scrambling to retreat via portal.
As Couladin, Sevanna (Natasha Culzac), and the Shaido Aiel depart, Rand begins to channel in front of the remaining clans and their chiefs, a display of the One Power that can’t possibly be ignored — especially when he brings forth a rainstorm the likes of which the Waste has never seen. The Aiel kneel, and across the world, the sky darkens. While Elaida is already hard at work redecorating the Amyrlin Seat’s quarters, Moghedien, sensing the surge of the Dragon Reborn’s power all the way in Tanchico, looks visibly taken aback. Equally concerned, however, is Egwene, who begs Rand to let go of his grip on the One Power — and in response, Rand simply stares back at her, expression inscrutable, before the episode cuts to black.
All episodes of The Wheel of Time are available to stream on Prime Video.

The Wheel of Time

The Wheel of Time Season 3 ends in epic fashion, with small victories and significant losses for our heroes.

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

Sophie Okonedo gives the most incredible performance of her time on the series with Siuan’s final speech…
The battle between Moiraine and Lanfear is packed with striking visuals.
Nynaeve finally breaks her block!
The Eelfinn encounter is as unsettling as it is thrilling.

… even if it is a damn shame to lose her on the series altogether.