Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Wheel of Time, “A Taste of Solitude”, Review!

The quiet of the Edmond's Fields village is disrupted by the arrival of two strangers, the enigmatic Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike), basically the Gandalf of the story.  She wields the One Power, a form of magic that can only be channeled by women, as an Aes Sedai. Moiraine is accompanied by Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney), her Warder, read: bodyguard), to whom she is bonded through the One Power. They have come to find the Dragon Reborn, the reincarnation of the male channeler. The Dragon fought the Dark One whose exile tainted the One Power to drive male channelers insane. The Dark One is destined to return with his evil Trollocs, basically bestial Uruk-hai, the Fades, faceless leaders of the Trollocs, like Nazghul, and Darkfriends, corrupted people working for the Dark One.  

A group of the villagers go along with Moiraine and Lan after a Trolloc attack. These include Rand al’Thor (Josh Stradowski), who was given a heron-mark sword by his father who died, he is in love with Egwene al’Vere (Madeleine Madden) who is training to be an Aes Sedai. Her mentor, the village Wisdom, is Nynaeve al’Maera (Zoe Robins) who has fallen for Lan. Rand's other friends are the former blacksmith, Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford), who turns out to be a Wolfbrother, connected to wolves, and Mat Cauthon (Donal Finn, recast), who unfortunately has found a cursed dagger that corrupts him. They encounter Loial (Hammed Animashaun), an Ogier, a massive person who collects knowledge, Loial had taken the group through a Waygate.  Rand goes with Moiraine to confront the Dark One at the Eye of the World. Rand leaves with Moiraine no longer able to use the One Power!  


The others face armies of thousands of Trollocs at Tarwin’s Gap. Egwene and Nynaeve tap into the One Power to destroy the armies! A Darkfriend, Padain Fain (Johann Myers), has stolen the Horn Of Valere, an artifact that can summon the heroes of the past to fight against the Dark One. Then, we had the invasion by the Seanchan who use the One Power in strange ways! The episode begins at night within a star-shaped building there is a young girl (Amy Sharp). She goes to move a seal on a floor, sees three torches in the night, and then hears the roaring of a Trolloc. The girl rushes into a door that is slammed by the Trolloc. She hides under a table and hears a discussion of people who plan to kill Rand al’Thor! The girl crawls over to her mother.



This is when the well dressed Ishmael (Fares Fares), the Dark One, ducks under the table to tell her that she is interrupting them! He calmly says she saw monsters and walks her past the table of the silent Chosen, I’m getting serious Death Eater vibes! He mentions all of the names he has been called and then asks the girl if they knew what he really was, then they would not be afraid. Gotta use that name he was called, Father of Lies. One of the Chosen, takes off his hood, it is Padain Fain, and he smiles. He was the Darkfriend who killed the protectors of the Horn of Valere and stole it! The Dark One takes her outside to show her the waiting Trollocs. Then, he says they are only hungry(!) and has the girl look at him to see if he is a monster. His calm tone makes this all creepy! 


The Dark One picks her up, strokes the side of the Trolloc face, eeek!, and then has her do the same! The girl giggles. What part does this innocent girl(?) have to play in the Last Battle? A rocky hillside in the morning, Moiraine draws water from a well. She carries two buckets up the hill, Moiraine uses the water to fill a hot bath, she regards her hands, no longer able to channel. Moiraine was `gentled’ by the Dark One! We saw this with a false Dragon gentled by the Aes Sedai. Gentled males will go insane and die. Lan by a tree practices with his sword. Henney was recently was Agent Park in the thriller, Missing. He hears the approach of a horse rider. They are at the household of an Aes Sedai, Verin Sedai (Meera Syal). Her Warder, Tomas (Heikko Deutchmann). 


Another Aes Sedai, Adeleas (Nila Aalia) wonders about the messages to Moiraine, but Lan says Moiraine tells him nothing. As Moiraine is studying papers, Lan admits in the messenger, Bayle Domon (Julian Lewis Jones). Lan is just a butler now. Egwene is also acting as a servant to an Aes Sedai at the White Tower. The White Tower is the base of power for the Aes Sedai at Tar Valon. Leane Sharif (Jennifer Cheon Garcia) casually drops a cup into her bucket. As Egwene is cleaning, she sees Leane in bed with her Warder. She walks with her bucket past the Warders training ground and to the kitchens where she puts her bucket next to Nynaeve. The former Wisdom says that they only clean as Novices. Alanna Mosvani (Priyanka Bose) enters and has them clear the table. 


She asks a Novice about the threads of the One Power; air, earth, fire, water, and spirit. Alanna takes out cups of dirty water from the bucket for them to drink. She weaves earth from the tower and water from a cup. Alanna instructs them to pour the glass through the weave that purifies it! She drinks it and then has the other Novices practice the weave. Alanna has Nynaeve picture a flower with her eyes closed, but she is angry that she cannot do so. This disturbs the other Novices so Alanna sends them away. She says that Lady Amalisa used their power at Fal Dara to stop the Trollocs. Alanna says that they can control that power with years of work. Nynaeve says that such power is dangerous. Alanna tells her that it has been give months since they have channeled. 


She forbids them to leave without drinking the water so Nynaeve drinks the dirty water. Stubborn. Later, Alanna meets with Sheriam Bayanar (Rima Te Wiata), the Mistress of Novices, about their progress. Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood), the Red Aes Sedai, wants to take over their training. Sheriam says that a Novice died under Liandrin’s training and that fewer girls come to the tower to train. Liandrin notes that there are more threats with the loss of the Horn of Valere, Trolloc raids, and a new False Dragon! She just wants to talk to Nynaeve and Sheriam sends them all away. Perrin is writing letters at a camp when Loial says the horses are ready. He asks if Perrin is writing to Egwene and Nynaeve. He feels alone with Rand dead and Mat lost. 


Loial says the Lord Ingtar may have found something on the Hunt for the Horn of Valere!  They ride, the eye patched Uno Nomesta (Guy Roberts), Ingtar Shinowa (Gregg Chilingirian), along with Loial, Perrin, and others. Uno rides alongside Loial and Perrin, he has a “sniffer” ability, but they still do not have the trail of Padan Fain. Lord Ingtar silences him as they see a man (Gary Beadle) ahead of them. Uno blames him, Elyas Machera, for a signal fire that alerted Padain Fain. He has yellow eyes! Elyas shows them the bodies, Perrin’s eyes flash yellow, and there are visions of Padain Fain’s attack. The girl runs and Perrin reaches out for her. Elyas says she escaped. They find the traitor who led Padain into Fal Dara. Lord Ingtar orders the bodies to be buried. 



Bayles takes out what he says is a heartstone, made by the One Power and said to be unbreakable, still this is broken piece of stone! Lan walks with Tomas talking about the bond. He could know what Moiraine wanted and how she felt, but now it is severed. Lan admits that Moiraine wants him to leave. Tomas picking fruit says he will protect Verin Sedai and also Moiraine. Lan refuses to leave. Moiraine asks Bayles where he got the heartstone. He replies it was a few months ago outside Cairhein, a country that is in the eastern part of the Westlands. Bayles says he is being followed and Moiraine says they are his own enemies. She sees writing on the stone and Bayles says it is part of a poem. He has a copy, but wants payment of 50 marks, a fortune, and goes down to a single mark for the poem. 


She pays him for the poem and doesn’t want the heartstone. Moiraine asks about the men who are following Bayles. He says they wear black cloaks and their hoods hid their faces. Fades. She tells him to take his boat to Illian. Moirain unfolds the poem. Nynaeve duels with two Warders; Maksim (Taylor Napier) and Ihvon (Emmanuel Imani). Maksim brings up the first month of Warder training which is to face ten men. The only thing that keeps them going is one thing. Maksim says he fell in love with a Warder and Ihvon says he fell in love with an Aes Sedai, Alanna. He asks Nynaeve the question of why she has come to the White Tower. It is fascinating to see these characters; Moiriane and Lan, Nynaeve and Egwene, and Perrin with the hunters, all trying to understand themselves and what they will face. Wheel of Time has a great beginning for season two!


Five Ter’angreal out of Five!


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