“The Wheel of Time” season 2 finale recap: Rand fulfills his destiny
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The Wheel of Time's season 2 finale is essentially just one big, multi-faceted battle where a ton of storylines come together. The Seanchan hold Falme, and the White Cloaks have decided (for some reason) that they need to take them out, so they march on the city. Defending Falme is the Seanchan army, plus Egwene (Madeleine Madden) and the rest of the enslaved damane, who shoot off magic fireballs from atop a tower, catching many civilians in the crosshairs, to Egwene's horror.
Meanwhile, Rand (Josha Stradowski) travels through the Ways with Lanfear (Natasha O'Keeffe), Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) and Lan (Daniel Henney), but before they reach Falme, Lanfear betrays Moiraine, deserting them on a beach in the middle of nowhere. While they try to figure out where the hell they are, Lanfear takes Rand to Falme and he slips into the city alone, save his unfulfilled potential.
Jan Thijs/Prime Video Madeleine Madden (Egwene al'Vere)
Elsewhere in Falme, Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) is mounting a rescue attempt of her own, having captured and collared a Seanchan sul'dam. Nynaeve disguises herself as a sul'dam and the sul'dam as a damane and makes her move towards the kennels where Egwene is being held… but her progress is halted as the battle begins, her fake damane is killed, and Elayne (Ceara Coveney) is injured. Very quickly, this clever plan goes entirely to s—, and Nynaeve spends pretty much the rest of the episode agonizing over how to heal Elayne. Sigh.
Mat (Donál Finn) has a legitimate role to play in this episode as well (finally!), as Ishamael (Fares Fares) tries to lure him into taking the ruby-hilted dagger that brainwashed him last season. Ishamael knows that Min had a vision of Mat killing Rand with the dagger, and he's trying to make that vision a reality.
But Mat doesn't fall for it, exactly. Instead, he finds a way, without ever touching the knife, to fasten it to a piece of wood, turning the knife into a deadly spear and using it to break free from the room where he's being held.
Jan Thijs/Prime Video Seanchan Army
Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) holds a small bit of space in this episode, too. He enters Falme with his Aiel companions, weaves through the chaos and runs into Loial (Hammed Animashaun), who has… somehow… escaped the Seanchan and stolen the Horn of Valere from under their noses.
Yup – the mythic Horn of Valere. Built up for an entire season as the most powerful object on the face of the Earth. Stolen from the Seanchan leader by a minor character. Offscreen. Sigh.
So logic aside, Loial's got the Horn and now he's got Perrin by his side, and together they attempt to escape the city. On the way, they cross paths with Mat, who tells Perrin of Egwene's predicament. They split up, Perrin and Loial holding off the Seanchan while Mat takes the horn and races across the city towards the tower to help Egwene.
But before he can reach the tower, Mat finds himself on a bridge facing a brigade of charging Seanchan soldiers. Facing death and without another option, Mat blows the horn, this one-shot weapon that, again, has been touted as a nuclear bomb level weapon, and…
A dozen peeps with swords show up at his side. Huh? Yeah… so when the show went to such great lengths to build this horn up as the most powerful object ever to grace this world, I guess I imagined it summoning, like, tens of thousands of immortal soldiers. Or a million zombies. Or something epic. Instead, what we get is a dozen or so people with various melee weapons who help Mat slice through the Seanchan and reach the tower. So… that's quite a damn dud.
Jan Thijs/Prime Video Josha Stradowski as Rand al'Thor
Now all the stories come together atop the tower at Falme. Egwene decides she won't obey her sul'dam Renna (Xelia Mendes-Jones) any longer, and just as Renna's about to execute her, the tower is hit with a blast that knocks them all prone, conveniently killing every sul'dam and damane atop it except our two named characters. Egwene finds a collar that had fallen off a dead damane and manages to force it onto Renna's throat, now making her the damane.
Egwene gains the upper hand on Renna and hangs her from a pillar, choking her until she releases Egwene from her collar. Now a free woman, Egwene makes the choice not to spare Renna, but to mercilessly strangle her to death. A satisfying moment, for sure, but one that will likely not bode well for Egwene's mental health moving forward.
As Renna dies, Rand arrives on the tower to help escort Egwene (who's shocked and confused to see that he's still alive) to safety… but Ishamael blocks their path, knocking Egwene out, and with the help of damane on a ship docked in the ocean nearby, shields Rand from the Source.
In the same way the show ended last season, Ishamael now tries to talk Rand into turning evil. Obvs, Rand refuses, and just as Ishamael's about to kill him, Egwene wakes up and summons all of her power to hold him back. As her strength fades, Perrin, Mat, and Nynaeve arrive to help her defend the Dragon Reborn, who can't do s— 'cause he's being shielded…
And that's where Moiraine comes in. Oh yeah, did you forget that Rosamund Pike, the Oscar-nominated actress on the cover of all the posters, was in this episode? Same. That's because while this battle's been playing out, she's been having a beachside stroll with Lan, debating whether or not to reinstate their bond. Eventually, she gives in (shocker) and restores the bond just as they see the faint outline of Falme in the distance.
And from Moiraine's position on the beach, she's in perfect position to attack the Seanchan ships shielding Rand (which was Lanfear's plan all along, working behind Ishamael's back to protect Rand). Channeling a truly badass surge of fire magic, she blows the ships to bits like it's the Battle of Blackwater, thereby severing the shield holding Rand in place.
Free from his bonds, Rand infuses his heron blade with magic and stabs Ishamael through the heart, dispatching the big bad of the series. And as Rand watches his body turn to dust, Moiraine shoots off a torrent of fire that takes the shape of a dragon and wraps itself around the tower, thereby declaring Rand for all to see as the Dragon Reborn, the savior of the world.
And just as it seems like our crew's got it all in hand… we cut over to Lanfear in some kind of villain HQ, where it's revealed that she's not the only Forsaken Ishamael awoke. He freed them all. And now they're coming for Rand with everything they've got.
Stray Observations:
In the end, Egwene's story in the last three episodes was really the only thing that left me feeling something this season. Rand's rise to power: fun but predictable. Moiraine and Nynaeve: started off very strong before fading into the background. Mat and Perrin: almost nonexistent. Hopefully with everyone together next season it'll be easier to narrow the focus and delve deeper.
I had a hard time believing that Mat, who we've pretty much never seen in combat throughout the entire series, suddenly employs Kill Bill levels of swordplay expertise to easily dispatch seasoned Seanchan guards. 'Twas as entertaining as it was unbelievable.
Perrin's wolf getting killed by a White Cloak leader was truly heartbreaking. Why is it that to me, thousands of humans dying in battle feels thrilling and entertaining, while one animal getting killed shakes me to my very core? Am I alone here? Do I need therapy?
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