Wheel of Time's Make-Up and Costume Designers Explain Season 2's Most Menacing Outfits

The Seanchan empire’s High Lady Suroth (center) with her alarming manicure.Photo: Jan Thijs/Prime Video

Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time brings Robert Jordan’s fantasy realm to life with striking detail. Season two, which just kicked off last week, opens the story even wider, revealing new characters who bring menace to the screen just by the fierce way they dress—and accessorize.

At a recent press day, io9 got a chance to ask Wheel of Time costume designer Sharon Gilham and make-up and hair designer Davina Lamont about one very memorable new villain: the High Lady Suroth (Karima McAdams), a noblewoman from the Seanchan empire whose army is almost as scary as she is. Almost. Considering she barely speaks, the presence she brings to every scene is formidable, and a lot of that has to do with her outfit (including an elaborate mask) and the eerily long nails she uses to signal her minions to do her bidding.

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“That’s the idea,” Gilham laughed when told how nightmarish those characters look. “In the Seanchan world, the idea is that the highest-level people don’t speak. They have someone to speak for them, which is called their voice. So the power of speech and talking is very important in that world. And the young women who can channel who’ve been taken prisoner by the Seanchan, [called the ‘damane’ in The Wheel of Time], are used as a weapon. And my idea there—the mouth stoppers were not in the books, but it was part of some research that I did about the culture, which is Mesoamerican and imperial Chinese. And there was a reference picture I found from a pre-Aztec community that had actually had these gold stoppers in their mouths. And I thought, ‘That’s very cool. That’s very symbolic of the powerlessness of the damane,’ and it’s going to be a very strong image, which clearly it is. I’m glad it worked.”

The first three Wheel of Time season two episodes are now streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes arriving Fridays.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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