Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 3 Episodes 1-3.
The Wheel of Timehas finally returned, and the jam-packed third season has so much to dive into. From the major reveal that the White Tower has been infiltrated by the infamous Black Ajah — Aes Sedai who have sworn themselves to the Dark One — to our heroes splitting up to venture to many new locations, Season 3 covers a lot of ground, so much so that when Collider sat down for pre-premiere conversations with the cast and showrunner, we didn’t have enough time to cover it all.
Ahead of the three-episode premiere, we spoke with showrunnerRafe Judkinsas well asNatasha O’Keeffe, who plays the Forsaken Lanfear, to discuss some of the biggest moments within the show’s return. Over the course of the interview, which you can watch above or read below, O’Keeffe explains why Lanfear is willing to ally herself with Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), as well as how her character’s mastery of Tel’aran’rhiod, the dream world, comes into play in Season 3, while Judkins reveals why the writers wanted to kick off the series' return withthat “bonkers” opening sequence in the White Tower.
COLLIDER: Natasha, this is the first time we’re speaking, so I feel compelled to let you know thatI am a proud Lanfear defender. Rafe knows this already, but she has never done anything wrong in my eyes.
NATASHA O’KEEFFE: [Laughs] Thank you!
RAFE JUDKINS: The best articles about Lanfear and the Forsaken really did come from Carly. She understands you on a deep level.
O’KEEFFE: At least there’s somebody on my side.
Why Is Lanfear Teaming Up With Moiraine in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3?
What the end of Season 2 hints at, and what we see continue, is this tenuous partnership between Lanfear and Moiraine. Natasha, how much of Lanfear’s willingness to work with Moiraine is about trying to make sure her own neck doesn’t end up on the chopping block, metaphorically speaking? What do you feel like [Lanfear’s] angle is in working with her?
O’KEEFFE: It’s total using. I don’t think Lanfear has any reason to form a true friendship or strike a true relationship with this woman other than getting Rand where they need him to be. But saying that, I think these women, in the meeting with one another and in these scenes that you’ll see more of from the season,together there is a respect for one another. The headspace and the things that we get up to, they’re both equally intelligent women on the front foot.
JUDKINS: They’re both willing to use some pretty nefarious means to get to the ends that they want, and I think they see that in each other.Sometimes you’re most threatened by someone who’s most similar to you, and I think you see a little bit of that in the Moiraine and Lanfear relationship.
O’KEEFFE: Yeah, definitely. Ultimate nemesis.
That Season 3 Opening Sequence Could “Only Be on ‘The Wheel of Time,'” According to Showrunner Rafe Judkins
I did want to jump back, Rafe, and ask about the scene that you once called “a bunch of women in their 40s and 50s just shredding each other" — this incredible White Tower sequence, which I think clocks in at around 15 minutes, start to finish, of this episode. From a writing standpoint, did it feel like you had more freedom, three seasons in, to really go for something this big, this long, this arguably pretty violent as this sequence is?
JUDKINS: We feel quite skewed in what we’re doing by Season 3.The network has a lot of confidence in us, as well, to just hop on board. They were just as excited about opening with something like this as we were and just saying, “Let’s throw new audience members into it. Let’s just take the old audience members back and not coddle them, and remind everyone of exactly where we were and where we left off, and just go for it and follow it through the action.”
Even when we’re doing action, we’re trying to stay emotionally connected to the charactersso that you’re really following what each of them wants through this sequence — the Moiraine/Siuan relationship, you see Alanna and Maksim and Ihvon. You’re following a lot of relationships and desires still through this, but you’re also on this really fun ride to start the season. One reason we liked it [is] it’s not just for the action, but it’s a sequence that could only be onThe Wheel of Time. There are no other shows that can have a sequence like this…
O’KEEFFE: Before the opening credits.
JUDKINS: [Laughs] Yeah, before the opening credits. When you do seeThe Wheel of Timelogo come up, you’re like, “Jesus, what just happened to me?” And I do think that it’s something we can only really do with this group of women doing that to each other.We want to do the things that we can do best.
How To Watch ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3: Premiere Date, Time, and More
Rosamund Pike returns to the Westlands with her all-powerful Aes Sedai.
Speaking of one thing that can only happen inThe Wheel of Time—Tel’aran’rhiod, which, as we know, Lanfear’s always held a very strong power in. It’s also a place where the mind can really transform anything in the blink of an eye — setting, clothing, you name it. Natasha, I want to ask you about getting to play in that world a little bit more this season, especially because in these first couple of episodes, we already see Lanfear using Tel’aran’rhiod to mess with different characters in their dreams.
O’KEEFFE: Yeah, it’s straight in there, isn’t it, with the mind-bending, to put it politely, that Lanfear is putting upon the Two Rivers folk, and what she does Egwene, that’s really something.It carries on throughout the season.
JUDKINS: Yeah,you really see her mastery of this place.
O’KEEFFE: Moghedien is fierce competition in that area, and that’s why she’s sweating about it so much. So, that’s in the back of her mind always.
JUDKINS: I think that seeing Lanfear be afraid for the first time, this character that’s never been threatened by anyone we’ve seen on screen, and so once Moghedien comes into her world, and you see the threat these other Forsaken pose and how it affects her,you start to feel for her and empathize with herand kind of want to see her succeed, I think, within the world of the Forsaken. Meanwhile, she’s doing the most absolutely horrific things to some of our most beloved characters in the dream world.
To be able to walk that line and be both of those people, as Natasha is able to do at the same time, is really a skill.You never lose the sense of fun she has with it, too. She enjoys being alive. That was her big opposite from Ishamael in the last season is that she likes being alive. She likes experience. She likes love. She likes feeling things. She likes all the things that are to be human and to be alive, and you get to see her enjoy a lot of them this season.
The first three episodes ofThe Wheel of TimeSeason 3 are now streaming on Prime Video. New episodes premiere Thursdays.
