Magic, mutiny, and a mission that could save – or doom – the world: The Wheel of Time is back, and the new hotly-anticipated season promises to be bigger, bolder, and, as its star Rosamund Pike explains, at least four times better than even before.
Prime Video’s epic fantasy juggernaut returns for a third season this March, and according to Pike, it’s the most intense yet. Based on Robert Jordan’s beloved novels, The Wheel of Time has carved out its own space as a sprawling, character-driven saga packed with political intrigue, breath-taking battles, and one hell of a prophecy. At its core lies Pike’s Moiraine Damodred: a powerful yet enigmatic leader whose unwavering mission to guide the Dragon Reborn to his destiny is about to get a lot more complicated.
We sat down with Pike to talk about raising the stakes, embracing five years in this magical, intense world, and the challenge of making high fantasy feel as urgent as real-world geopolitics. Here, she reveals all…
Image courtesy of Prime Video | Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
Hi Rosamund! The new season of The Wheel of Time returns to Prime Video soon – what can we expect from Moiraine’s journey in season three?
Rosamund Pike: Season three of The Wheel of Time, is a season that we’re immensely proud of. We have wanted to grow this show season by season. We delivered a season two that was better than season one, which is always the hope – you know, it’s disappointing if your season two is leaves people feeling that you kind of fell off the cliff a bit. I think season three is maybe four times as good as our last one. It’s something I’m really proud of. We’ve intensified all the relationship, we’ve intensified the jeopardy.
We know that the seat of power in the White Tower is crumbling – that some institution that we thought was sacrosanct has a mutiny at its core. And if the most stable thing in the world seems to be crumbling, then where on earth is the world going? Moiraine is still banished from the White Tower, but she has, of course, found the Dragon Reborn, as she knew it was around at the end of season one. But now the world knows who the Dragon Reborn is, and news is spreading fast. There are other people who want to take control of him, who want to influence him, who want to guide him, who want to control him, who want to perhaps kill him, and that is what Moiraine is up against as she continues to try and fulfill her mission, which is to deliver him to the last battle and prepare him for it.
But that is becoming more problematic, because Rand is gaining agency. He is answering back to her. He’s reading the prophecies. He’s looking to make his own decisions; he doesn’t want to feel like a puppet on a string, which is something he’s mentioned before. And while Moiraine wants him to go to Tear, Rand, wants to go against what Moiraine wants and go to The Aiel Waste, which is where he knows that his people come from… so Moiraine does travel with Rand and Egwene into The Aiel Waste and they have a life-changing journey there together.
It’s been five years since you’ve been working on this project. How has your relationship with Wheel of Time developed and grown over these years?
RP: I have immersed myself in The Wheel of Time in the last five years – since first signing on to play Moiraine Damodred in March of 2019 my knowledge of Robert Jordan’s world has deepened. I’ve read four books on audiobook which has consumed hundreds and hundreds of hours of time, of prepping them, of creating voices for all the characters, trying to represent the characters who appear in our show as authentically as I can in relation to the actors who play them. Hundreds of hours of recording time, as well as developing the show – thinking of casting ideas; how we can keep being bold in our choices of of cast members; who is going to be most exciting for the fans. Working on Moiraine’s skill sets, whether that’s her movement when it comes to channeling or riding, or any of the things she needs to do – she has a brief moment with her knife fight with the Fade.
Image courtesy of Prime Video | Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
What have been some of the biggest challenges for you when it comes to bringing Robert Jordan’s books to life?
RP: I think with anything fantasy, it’s making a world that is so different from ours feel incredibly relatable. And that’s our job – to make these big statements, these dangers that don’t relate to our world, feel relatable. I remember, in season one, I had to say that the Dark One was starting to move the Trollocs through the waves. Now that is something that means nothing to people who don’t know anything about the Wheel of Time, but the stakes have got to feel like North Korea is making moves; that they are going to deploy the atomic bomb – you have to find something in our life that relates, that is something that makes you understand what the stakes are. Then, when you deliver those lines they carry meaning and weight and an intensity that feels real.
The Wheel of Time Season 3 premieres on Prime Video on 13 March 2025.
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Magic, mutiny, and a mission that could save – or doom – the world: The Wheel of Time is back, and the new hotly-anticipated season promises to be bigger, bolder, and, as its star Rosamund Pike explains, at least four times better than even before.
Prime Video’s epic fantasy juggernaut returns for a third season this March, and according to Pike, it’s the most intense yet. Based on Robert Jordan’s beloved novels, The Wheel of Time has carved out its own space as a sprawling, character-driven saga packed with political intrigue, breath-taking battles, and one hell of a prophecy. At its core lies Pike’s Moiraine Damodred: a powerful yet enigmatic leader whose unwavering mission to guide the Dragon Reborn to his destiny is about to get a lot more complicated.
We sat down with Pike to talk about raising the stakes, embracing five years in this magical, intense world, and the challenge of making high fantasy feel as urgent as real-world geopolitics. Here, she reveals all…
Hi Rosamund! The new season of The Wheel of Time returns to Prime Video soon – what can we expect from Moiraine’s journey in season three?
Rosamund Pike: Season three of The Wheel of Time, is a season that we’re immensely proud of. We have wanted to grow this show season by season. We delivered a season two that was better than season one, which is always the hope – you know, it’s disappointing if your season two is leaves people feeling that you kind of fell off the cliff a bit. I think season three is maybe four times as good as our last one. It’s something I’m really proud of. We’ve intensified all the relationship, we’ve intensified the jeopardy.
We know that the seat of power in the White Tower is crumbling – that some institution that we thought was sacrosanct has a mutiny at its core. And if the most stable thing in the world seems to be crumbling, then where on earth is the world going? Moiraine is still banished from the White Tower, but she has, of course, found the Dragon Reborn, as she knew it was around at the end of season one. But now the world knows who the Dragon Reborn is, and news is spreading fast. There are other people who want to take control of him, who want to influence him, who want to guide him, who want to control him, who want to perhaps kill him, and that is what Moiraine is up against as she continues to try and fulfill her mission, which is to deliver him to the last battle and prepare him for it.
But that is becoming more problematic, because Rand is gaining agency. He is answering back to her. He’s reading the prophecies. He’s looking to make his own decisions; he doesn’t want to feel like a puppet on a string, which is something he’s mentioned before. And while Moiraine wants him to go to Tear, Rand, wants to go against what Moiraine wants and go to The Aiel Waste, which is where he knows that his people come from… so Moiraine does travel with Rand and Egwene into The Aiel Waste and they have a life-changing journey there together.
It’s been five years since you’ve been working on this project. How has your relationship with Wheel of Time developed and grown over these years?
RP: I have immersed myself in The Wheel of Time in the last five years – since first signing on to play Moiraine Damodred in March of 2019 my knowledge of Robert Jordan’s world has deepened. I’ve read four books on audiobook which has consumed hundreds and hundreds of hours of time, of prepping them, of creating voices for all the characters, trying to represent the characters who appear in our show as authentically as I can in relation to the actors who play them. Hundreds of hours of recording time, as well as developing the show – thinking of casting ideas; how we can keep being bold in our choices of of cast members; who is going to be most exciting for the fans. Working on Moiraine’s skill sets, whether that’s her movement when it comes to channeling or riding, or any of the things she needs to do – she has a brief moment with her knife fight with the Fade.
What have been some of the biggest challenges for you when it comes to bringing Robert Jordan’s books to life?
RP: I think with anything fantasy, it’s making a world that is so different from ours feel incredibly relatable. And that’s our job – to make these big statements, these dangers that don’t relate to our world, feel relatable. I remember, in season one, I had to say that the Dark One was starting to move the Trollocs through the waves. Now that is something that means nothing to people who don’t know anything about the Wheel of Time, but the stakes have got to feel like North Korea is making moves; that they are going to deploy the atomic bomb – you have to find something in our life that relates, that is something that makes you understand what the stakes are. Then, when you deliver those lines they carry meaning and weight and an intensity that feels real.
The Wheel of Time Season 3 premieres on Prime Video on 13 March 2025.
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