The Big Picture

The Wheel of Time’s face-touching scene between Ishamael and “Rand” in Tel’aran’rhiod was scripted but had additional layers added during filming. Actor Fares Fares discusses the script and intimate scenes between Ishamael and Lanfear, their complicated relationship, and Ishamael’s death scene in Season 2. Fares says that Ishamael breaks Lanfear’s seal despite knowing she will eventually betray him, viewing her as a powerful tool in his plan to manipulate Rand and his friends.

We’re further out now from The Wheel of Time’s Season 2 finale, but given everything that goes down throughout that epic episode, we knew we needed the help of some of the show’s cast to wrap our heads around it all. While Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) finally declares himself as the Dragon Reborn (with an assist from Rosamund Pike’s Moiraine), we finally get our big Two Rivers reunion — with the group overlooking the city of Falme after that epic battle between Seanchan, Whitecloaks, Aiel, and… what about the other Forsaken seals that Ishamael (Fares Fares) has broken in his last-gasp chess move in favor of the Dark One?

Although there’s still a while left before the much-anticipated third season drops, that leaves us with lots of time to revisit Season 2’s biggest moments — and this week into next, we’ll have some of The Wheel of Time’s most recognizable faces offering their perspectives on what their characters faced (as well as preview some of what we can look forward to). Among several others, Collider had the opportunity to sit down with Fares via Zoom for a spoiler-filled conversation about some of his character’s biggest moments this season. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, the actor behind the Father of Lies details whether that face-touching scene in Tel’aran’rhiod was scripted, how he and fellow Forsaken actor Natasha O’Keeffe found the intimacy between Ishamael and Lanfear, why Ishamael frees Lanfear in the first place if he knows she’ll betray him, what Ishamael’s death scene represents, and more.

The Wheel of Time Set in a high fantasy world where magic exists, but only some can access it, a woman named Moiraine crosses paths with five young men and women. This sparks a dangerous, world-spanning journey. Based on the book series by Robert Jordan. Release Date November 19, 2021 Creator Rafe Judkins Main Genre Fantasy Genres Fantasy , Sci-Fi Rating TV-14 Seasons 3

COLLIDER: I feel like I have to ask this question because if I don’t, all the Wheel of Time fans on Twitter will be hounding me later. That scene in Tel’aran’rhiod, where Ishamael is touching who he thinks is potentially Rand, before, of course, it turns out to be Lanfear. Was that a scripted moment, or was that something spontaneous that just kind of happened during the scene?

FARES FARES: Oh, me and Rand… it was scripted. But a lot of that stuff, especially in those scenes, we played around with a lot of… with putting in so many layers to them, and the writers were open to it. So we maybe grew [it] more than it was, but that particular thing was scripted.

Do you remember any of the other things that you played around with in that scene? Anything that you tested out to see how it would go?

FARES: A lot of the relationship with Lanfear, the way we sat and how we drank — and some moments, how close we were to each other and leaning into each other’s shoulders. All that stuff was stuff that we did on the day.

Fares Fares Explains Ishamael and Lanfear’s Complicated, Intimate Relationship
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That relationship has an intimacy to it that isn’t necessarily romantic, but these are two people who have known each other for a very long time. A lot of it comes through in those scenes with you and Natasha together. Was there anything that the two of you talked about in terms of what wasn’t on the page, but you established as your own backstory for them?

FARES: It was very important for us first when we met and started rehearsing and talking about the season and all that stuff. I loved working with Natasha. We had a great chemistry. And we wanted the same thing with the scenes, and the writers and Rafe [Judkins] were very open to the ideas that we had. This is someone who is a really old friend, someone that’s from the same time and understands more than anybody. Although they had different goals, they were very close friends — also with Lews. We imagined them, the three of them, being best friends, and then stuff started to happen and kind of separated Lews from the group.

There is a love — but not romantic, [rather] like a mutual understanding. A little bit of Ishamael knew that he couldn’t trust Lanfear, a hundred percent trust her at least, but he thought it was under control. Because they’re super close friends and really like each other, it made it very human, like the way that you would behave with other friends. You would be very close and just relaxed, and it was fun. They were fun scenes to work on. Lanfear was, I would say, the only character on the show that Ishamael could feel like, “Okay, so we’re from the same place, I can be completely relaxed here, [you’re] not actually wanting something from [me].” Every other scene I had, he was in complete control, and his plan was to turn the character towards a certain goal that he wanted them to, or a certain path that he wanted them to walk.

Related ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 2 Is Making a Case for Me to Join the Dark One Not really seeing a ton of reasons why this wouldn’t be an excellent idea for me, personally.

Ishamael knows at some point that Lanfear’s going to betray him. He says as much by the end of the season. Is that connection between them the reason he breaks her seal — even knowing that she’s unreliable, knowing that she’s probably going to betray him to be with Rand, or for her own motives?

FARES: So that’s one of the reasons, it’s a huge reason. Maybe he just felt lonely, he wanted Lanfear right there. But he also knew that she would be a powerful weapon, and he probably needed her to be able to work on Rand on her own. Ishamael’s plan was to work on all of Rand’s friends, and eventually get Rand. If you have a dangerous animal, you’re in control, but something could go wrong, and Lanfear was something like that.

We’ve seen flashbacks on the show to the Age of Legends before, and the cold open in the Season 2 finale lets us see more of the depth of the relationship between Lews Therin and Ishamael, even as Ishamael is being sealed away. How did you prepare for that very emotional moment, especially since the entire scene is in the Old Tongue?

FARES: We had our dialogue coach. She created the language, you could say. There are 2,000 words or something that was written by the author, and she put stuff together from that and then made the scene, made the language. It was very important to know what we were saying. We were rehearsing, practicing a lot, not just on how stuff would sound, but also what everything would mean. Some of the words have several meanings to it, and then we put them together in a sentence.

Because the scene was so long and, like you said, full of all those emotions, you had to understand what you were saying, not just phonetically speaking it, because it wouldn’t have made any sense otherwise. The only way you can do that is just practice and practice and practice and practice until the day that you film.

Fares Fares on the Meaning of Ishamael’s Death Scene in Season 2
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Ishamael’s death scene, as climactic as that moment is on the tower, there’s something very quiet about it that almost feels like it’s a relief for him in the end. What was your approach to that scene, that moment where he’s looking up at the sky and letting himself slip away?

FARES: There’s definitely a relief. The whole thing with Ishamael is that there’s only one way to end all the suffering. I love the lines when he’s like, “Can you see it? It’s beautiful.” “What do you see? It’s nothing.” It’s just nothing. Because he probably suffered a lot back then and living in all that stuff, seeing a lot of shit, but also having to go through that again and again and again and again, it made it even harder for him. For him, believing that this is the ultimate death and this is for real, it was… yeah, it was a great moment. It was a lovely moment to shoot it as well.

Both seasons of The Wheel of Time are available to stream on Prime Video.

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