Season 1 Episode 8: The Eye of the World

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The Eye of the World
Season	1
Episode	8
Director	Ciaran Donnelly
Previous Episode	The Dark Along the Ways
Next Episode	A Taste of Solitude

Author: Taelinn Dolivras

Cast

Main Characters	Supporting Characters	Minor Characters
Rosamund Pike - Moiraine Damodred	Hammed Animashaun - Loial son of Arent son of Halan	Amar Chadha-Patel - Lord Yakota
Daniel Henney - al'Lan Mandragoran	Kae Alexander - Min Farshaw	Guy Roberts - Uno Nomesta
Zoë Robins - Nynaeve al'Meara	Fares Fares - "The Dark One"	Alexander Karim - Lews Therin Telamon
Madeleine Madden - Egwene al'Vere	Johann Myers - Padan Fain	Katie Brayben - Latra Posae Decume
Josha Stradowski - Rand al'Thor	Thomas Chaanhing - Lord Agelmar
Marcus Rutherford - Perrin Aybara	Sandra Yi Sencindiver - Lady Amalisa
Barney Harris - Mat Cauthon

Summary

The final episode of season one begins in the past, with a glimpse of what happened 3000 years before the present day. Lews Therin Telamon and Latra Posae Decume, speaking in the Old Tongue, discuss the future of the Aes Sedai. Latra worries that the male Aes Sedai's mission to imprison the Dark One is too dangerous and that their mission will set society back a millennia. Lews Therin, however, remains convinced that this is their only real chance to save the world from the Dark One. At the end of their discussion, it is revealed that the two are friends, but also that Lews Therin is the "Dragon Reborn," and that Latra is the Tamyrlin Seat. As Latra leaves, Lews Therin leans over a cradle and tells his infant child that he will make the world a safer place. Outside the window, flying vehicles and tall buildings made of stone and glass shine in the sunlight.

In the present, Rand and Moiraine walk through the Blight and encounter a corpse. Moiraine explains that it is most likely a boy from the Borderlands who decided to test himself against the Blight. She warns Rand not to touch anything as they travel through to the Eye of the World, as the Blight is a rot spreading from the Dark One’s prison and consuming everything in its path.

Back in Fal Dara, Egwene is packing her things, intending on following Moiraine and Rand into the Blight. Perrin tries to dissuade her, saying that they do not know where the pair are going. Egwene tells Perrin that she loves Rand, and Perrin replies that he does too.

Rand and Moiraine continue through the Blight. When Moiraine spots the seven towers of Malkier, she declares that they are getting closer and can stop to rest for half an hour. Rand comments that the towers look like they have been in such a state for thousands of years, and Moiraine replies that it has been at most 40 years. Malkier was once located miles from Tarwin's Gap and the fact that it is so close is another sign that the Dark One's power is building. Rand asks Moiraine if it was hard to leave Lan behind, but instead of answering, Moiraine tells him to eat to keep up his strength.

Lan stands on a balcony looking out at the Blight. Nynaeve asks him if he can feel anything through his bond with Moiraine, and Lan replies that Moiraine does not want to be followed. Nynaeve admits to Lan that she had been in fact tracking Moiraine after the Trolloc attack in the Two Rivers, not Lan. Moiraine has a Tell. Nynaeve offers to show Lan how to follow his Aes Sedai. Lan holds her hands, calls her a remarkable woman, and tells Nynaeve that he hopes she finds happiness, though it will not be with him. He then sets out to track down Moiraine and Rand.

Rand awakens to find that the Blight is trying to crawl over his hand. Moiraine asks him what he dreamed, and tells him that dreams have great meaning, especially in the Blight, so close to the touch of the Dark One. Rand believes that this means that the Dark One knows where they are and is coming. Suddenly, a sword pierces through Moiraine's mouth and she falls dead at his feet, revealing as she falls the man who killed her: a man with fire for eyes. He tells Rand that he had not expected it to be him, and Rand responds by shooting him through the eye with an arrow. The man responds by pushing the arrow through his eye, which reveals the face underneath. The man remarks that physically Rand looks nothing like the Dragon Reborn except in his eyes, and calls him Lews Therin. He berates Rand for coming at him with just one Aes Sedai instead of the 99 companions he brought before. When Rand brandishes his sword, the man wonders where he got a heron-marked blade. The man laughs when Rand proclaims he got it from his father and taunts him about his true ancestry. He promises to tell Rand about the Dragon. Rand angrily insists that he is dreaming and stabs himself with his own sword to wake himself up. When he wakes, Moiraine asks him to tell her about his dream. Rand tells her he dreamed of the Dark One, and insists he does not believe anything he heard in his dream. The pair continue through the Blight, and Rand asks what their plan is when they arrive. Moiraine hesitates, then brings an object out of her pouch: a sa'angreal made before the Breaking. She tells Rand a thousand male channelers put their power into the object, and that channeling into it will increase his power one hundred fold. Rand asks what to do with the power, and Moiraine tells him to use it to imprison the Dark One again. Rand confronts Moiraine about who she thought the Dragon Reborn might be and Moiraine does not deny that she thought it might be Egwene.

In Fal Dara, Nynaeve is standing on the balcony, listening to the wind. When Egwene asks her what she hears, she reveals that she has heard nothing on the wind since she channeled. Nynaeve asks Egwene if she hears anything, and Egwene closes her eyes to listen. After a few moments she opens them with a gasp: she hears something "wrong," just like on Bel Tine, but louder and more intense.

Rand and Moiraine continue through the Blight and hear something. Rand raises his bow and Moiraine prepares to channel. A branch falls in front of them. Rand asks Moiraine to teach him to channel, but she refuses, saying it will bring him closer to madness. She then tells him about an Aes Sedai she knew as a novice who took her under her wing when she was having trouble channeling. Moiraine reveals that the Aes Sedai beat her with the One Power and would not stop until Moiraine was able to grab the Power and stop her. All this to explain to Rand that when his life is on the line, the Power will be there.

At the tavern, Loial, Nynaeve, Perrin, and Egwene confront Min. She refuses to tell them what she told Moiraine about Rand, though she does let them know that everything she sees, good and bad, always comes true. Min then looks around the tavern and sees a shadow of Nynaeve fall to her knees with a burning face, and soldiers dying. A horn sounds, and the soldiers spring up from their table as the group looks on.

Moiraine and Rand see Trollocs through a gap in the Blight, heading towards the city. When Rand worries about his friends back in the city, Moiraine tells him the only way to stop the attack is to stop the Dark One himself. The two continue on, though Rand looks back with pain in his eyes.

Lady Amalisa and Lord Agelmar prepare for battle, determined to hold The Gap. Their scouts estimate that thousands of Trollocs and 60 Fades are coming towards them. Angelmar decides to send their forces to help hold the Gap and tells Uno and Yakota that they know what they need to do. But as they leave, Amalisa insists that the Gap will not hold.

Moiraine and Rand press on, eventually making it to a gaping hole, complete with stairs leading down. Upon arriving, Rand claims to know the place. As they begin their descent, Rand asks if Moiraine's earlier warning about those accompanying the Dragon to the Eye of the World dying there also includes her. When she does not answer, he tells her to stay, but she presses onward without a word. Lan follows their trail through the Blight, pausing only to look briefly on the Towers of Malkier.

Amalisa helps Agelmar put on his armor and they reminisce about the past. Amalisa tries to convince her brother to wear their father's armor, claiming that it helped him survive many battles, but Agelmar refuses. Amalisa tries to tell Agelmar again that the Gap will not hold, but he tells her he will go to the Gap and fight anyway. If the men cannot hold the Gap, then the women will hold the city. This confidence is but a façade though, as Agelmar knows that the Dark One's power is too great, too immeasurable to stop. Agelmar believes that the Last Battle is upon them and that the Gap and the city will fall. Still, he will head into battle and face the enormous army, in the hopes of at least slowing down the army to give his messengers time to warn everyone else.

Rand and Moiraine descend the stairs and find the Eye, a Ying-Yang symbol on the floor surrounded by a pool of water. Rand asks what this place was, and Moiraine answers that all record of it has been removed from the White Tower's libraries by Darkfriends. Moiraine asks Rand what he remembers of the Eye, and he replies that the pieces of his memories do not fit together. He has a brief vision of Lews Therin and remembers that he fought someone at the Eye. As he touches it, Rand descends into a vision of life back in the Two Rivers with Egwene. With Rand stuck in this dream world, the Dark One materializes before Moiraine and taunts her with his power, cutting her off from the Power.

Agelmar rides out to join the forces at the Gap as the Trollocs approach. Back at Fal Dara, the Shienaran women prepare to defend in case the Gap should fall, and Amalisa opens the gates to allow foreigners to leave. We see Min leaving the city, and Amalisa calls for all women who can channel the One Power to come to her. Uno and Yakota take pickaxes to the stone under the throne. Nynaeve tries to convince Egwene and Perrin to leave the city but they prefer to stay and help.

Production

• Directed by: Ciaran Donnelly
• Written for television by: Rafe Lee Judkins
• Aired on: December 24, 2021
• Duration: 57 minutes

Deviations from the Books

This section contains spoilers relating to The Wheel of Time Books. Please expand to view.

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