Whilesaidinmight have been tainted by the Dark One,saidarremains clean, and thusThe Wheel of Timespins to produce some of the most powerful females in the fantasy genre… The Aes Sedai. Able to channel the One Power without going mad like men, the Aes Sedai had risen to great influence across the land, albeit that influence has gradually begun to diminish as the Shadow stirs. Previous seasons of the show had showcased, in detail, the powers available to the Aes Sedai, withRosamund Pike’s Moraine Sedai the usual conduit of that power. Now, Pike reveals her excitement at the Aes Sedai being women whom female audiences might actually be able to see themselves in.
“I mean, it’s something I’m very proud of in the show,” Pike tellsDecider. “Robert Jordan wrote this fantasy series that people, namely women, who had never previously been able to read themselves into fantasy so easily,suddenly had role models everywhere in this series.” Pike doesn’t mean women have been written out of fantasy genres in the past, characters likeEowyn inThe Lord of the RingsandDaenerys Targaryen inA Song of Ice and Firewould obliterate such an argument. The executive producer refers to the fact that traditional gender roles are reversed in the world created byRobert Jordan’sThe Wheel of Timein the many matriarchal societies it features. Pike adds:
“I mean, [Jordan] wrote a very, very modern tale, which we know. But I think the way the show’s been cast and what we’ve looked for in the diversity and even, you know, on all fronts — whether it’s in terms of ability or neurodiversity or race — we’ve really wanted to be inclusive in the Aes Sedai because power is everywhere. I think that’s the message we want to set forth. That power is — beauty, yes — but also power is another thing that isn’t governed by one particular look.”
No scene in Prime Video’s adaptation ofThe Wheel of Timeso far has so ferociously depicted the powers of the Aes Sedai as the recentlyreleased first 11 minutes of the Season 3 premiere. ShowrunnerRafe Judkinshad previously teased it as “One of the most bonkers set pieces I’ve ever seen on television." And boy was he right. It’s just 11 minutes of pure carnage, as the White Tower tears itself apart, limb by limb, sister by sister. The women of the Aes Sedai square off against one another, as Red Sister Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) is brought before the Amyrlin Seat (Sophie Okonedo) to answer for her crimes as a Darkfriend. Her allies within the Aes Sedai, members of the Black Ajah, turn on their sisters and war erupts.
Yes, the Aes Sedai Are Ageless
One key point which Judkins' representation of the Aes Sedai has achieved is its representation ofwomen of all ages, races, shapes, and sizes. While some readers of Jordan’s works where the Aes Sedai were described as having an “ageless” look, forever beautiful, glowing and wise, have taken issue with the series' interpretation. Pike backs it, saying:
“I know what Robert Jordan describes as an ‘ageless-ness’ in an Aes Sedai face. I mean, that’s always problematic when casting a show because in order to convey the depth of experience of these women, you can’t have an entire cast of twenty-something women playing the Aes Sedai. It it doesn’t work. So we have to interpret ‘ageless’ as something to do with spirit, I think. Not to do with conventions of appearance.“
The Wheel of TimeSeason 3 premieres March 13 onPrime Video. Stay with Collider for the latest updates. You can catch up on the last two seasons now on Prime Video.
The Wheel of Time
Source:Decider
