Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 3 Episodes 1-3.The much-anticipated third season of The Wheel of Time has finally premiered, and fans of the Prime Video adaptation were rewarded for their patience with a jam-packed three-episode drop that didn’t waste any time in setting up where our favorite characters are going to be. While Episode 1 establishes that the Emond’s Field gang will be going their separate ways once more, one character who actually decides to go back to the Two Rivers is Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford), but he quickly discovers that much about his home has changed, with the people dealing with dual threats in the form of both Whitecloaks and trollocs. Meanwhile, Mat Cauthon (Dónal Finn) has seemingly returned to being the flirtatious gambler we all know and love, but it’s clear that he’s dealing with some aftereffects from blowing the Horn of Valere in the Season 2 finale — including voices in his head and unconsciously speaking in the Old Tongue.
While their characters do split up after the premiere, Rutherford and Finn were able to tease what to expect from Perrin and Mat’s respective storylines on The Wheel of Time Season 3 when Collider spoke to several members of the cast, as well as showrunner Rafe Judkins, ahead of the premiere. Over the course of the interview, which you can watch above or read below, Finn discusses how Mat is learning to open up and trust more people this season, while Rutherford reflects on the surreal experience of returning to the Two Rivers set after so many changes both on and offscreen, as well as what he enjoyed about getting to bounce off of newcomer Isabella Bucceri, who joins The Wheel of Time Season 3 as Faile.
COLLIDER: Dónal, I feel like I should start with you. Mat finally got a new wardrobe.
DÓNAL FINN: You saw that? [Laughs] I know there were fans that were excited about that. I was pretty excited myself to change my socks and my shoes and not be trudging around in a big coat/carpet. But I really love my costume, actually, this season.
Dónal Finn Discusses How Mat Learns To Open Up in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3

Image via Prime Video

On a more serious note, when we pick up with Mat, it does feel like, to a point, he has come back to his old self. We see him flirting with the ladies, gambling, playing Maiden’s Kiss with Bain and Chiad. What was it like to balance that playful side of Mat that we all know versus the side of him that is definitely dealing with some effects from the Horn from the end of last season?
FINN: It’s a great gift as an actor to have such a clear contrast between what’s going on externally and what’s going on internally. What’s great about it is you can understand the motivation behind how he presents himself to his friends. He wants to encourage everyone to enjoy the day that they’re in and hopefully not worry too much about what’s in store for them, because I think the moments of connection for them as friends are so fleeting and so precious. I think he can understand that, and I think it helps motivate all of the Emond’s Field gang to remember where they’re coming from and why they’re friends in the first place.
Then internally, what it reveals is that he either contains it, and then the only space in which he explores this is privately, or you see him learn to trust people and to open up to Nynaeve or Min. He’s selective about opening that cavern, because, naturally, I think that’s the modus operandi of people who work in the world that way. Their job is to go, “Don’t worry about me. What’s going on with you?” It might be an avoidance thing of, like, they don’t want to get into that conversation, but also they’re normally pretty generous, as well, and they recognize that in Mat’s character of just wanting to hold space.

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The beginning of this premiere sees this group really forced to think about what they want to do next, I think they’re all at a turning point. Marcus, for Perrin, we see him make the decision to go back to the Two Rivers, but it’s safe to say he’s going to be met with some challenges once he gets there. What was it like to actually go back to that for this part of Perrin’s story, especially while he’s wrestling with how he sees himself or whether he even sees himself as a natural leader?
MARCUS RUTHERFORD: The experiences, the duality of returning as a cast member and knowing that we filmed that in 2019 and how much has changed now on the show and the world and everything before COVID and all this kind of stuff, that was really surreal. Someone showed me a picture of myself in 2019 on set, and it was kind of just like, “Wow.” So, there were all these emotions going back, obviously. Then, as the character, going back and wanting your home, your safe haven to be the same thing and then realizing that actually, it can’t exactly be the same, and a lot has changed. He has to deal with all the trauma. There’s a very visceral reaction to going back to certain places when he goes to the Two Rivers that might be sort of like a finite moment that can actually cause this grief that he’s been taking with him on this journey. Going back to the Two Rivers might be a moment that helps him get over it.
Also, there are people there that he needs to meet and there are a lot of challenges with the Whitecloaks and the Trollocs encroaching. So I think that idea of this peaceful life of returning back home quickly doesn’t come to fruition. But I think he’s become this different person now, whether he likes it or not. A bit like Mat, he’s slowly becoming someone that he might not be able to see, but hopefully, some of the others can start to point out. There’s a reason why people are looking to him, or there’s a reason why people look up to him to help. That evolves throughout the season.
Marcus Rutherford Teases What Fans Can Look Forward To From Perrin and Faile’s Relationship in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3

Image via Prime Video

Speaking of people that Perrin meets, in the lead-up to us talking about Season 3, the news broke about casting for a character that book fans know is very important, who becomes very important in Perrin’s life. What can you tease about working with Isabella [Bucceri] as Faile and how we will see that relationship develop over Season 3?
RUTHERFORD: Isabella is incredible. I was just saying, there’s a lot of characters he meets throughout, especially for Season 2, whether it be the Shienarans or Elyas or Aviendha. There’s a scene with Aviendha where she has a little flirty, playful moment with him in Season 2, but it’s almost like he can’t comprehend that. He’s nowhere near that. By the time that Faile comes in, he starts to lift his head up a little bit. There’s a little bit more open to this something, whoever it is.
Isabella is incredible. She brought a completely new energy to the show, which I think, on the third season, is very hard to do. There’s a yin-yang. I’m this gentle giant, she’s like this little feisty machine, and I think they just work with each other. I think that naturally happened through the casting process. I kept on saying to Rafe, “It’s a real opportunity to see someone that we haven’t met before. I know it’s hard on a third season, but there’s a character here that I think offers something different.” And, yeah, she brought that in this season. I’m so excited for everyone to see her performance.
The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time Season 3 are now streaming. New episodes premiere Thursdays on Prime Video.

The Wheel of Time

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

Writers

Amanda Kate Shuman, Dave Hill, Rohit Kumar, Justine Juel Gillmer, Celine Song, Rammy Park, The Clarksons Twins, Katherine B. McKenna