The Wheel Of Time episode 6 is a little bit dull and feels overstretched with the amount of information thrust at us. Already, there are too many characters in the show, and at every turn, there’s a new one joining the mix, making it really hard to keep up. I’m sure readers of the book will not feel the same way, although they might not agree with the pattern of the show or how it’s been woven thus far. But for the uninitiated like myself, there’s way too much going on. Given that it is a fantasy series, we’re already overstimulated with the world-building, the names of places, the types of people, etc. The big problem with the show is the fact that everything feels squeezed in and half-baked. As we’re starting to understand why one thing or the other is coming together, there’s a hard cut to a different storyline, making it hard to follow.
Spoilers Ahead
Rand and Lanfear
At the end of episode 5, Rand falls asleep and lets Lanfear into his dream. She now knows where he is and who he is with. Lanfear tries to sway Rand into believing that Moiraine is the problem and that she’s the reason Rand hasn’t been able to do the right thing and find his friends. Lanfear says she’s been the one protecting Rand from Ishamael in his dreams. Lanfear has one condition, and when he wakes up, he tells Moriaine that it’s to stay away from her because if he’s with her, Lanfear will kill Moiraine. Rand is falling for Lanfear’s manipulation, but Moiraine tells him why she needed Logain to teach him. Rand asks Lanfear to show him where Egwene is, and she does, just for a second. He decides to go to Falme, but he has an unexpected encounter on the way.
Rand meets Logain and tries to learn from him, but he gives up rather early because there isn’t much time. Logain tells Rand that he has enough power to fight anyone; there’s no need for him to learn.
Mat and Min
Mat finds himself in Cairhien thanks to Mal, but what he doesn’t know is that Ishamael is the reason she brought him there. In her dream, Ishamael tells Min to send Mat with Rand because he knows he’s going to kill Rand with the dagger, but Mal refuses to do so. She was blinded by the need to get rid of her power, but now she sees that she can’t side with the Dark. When Mat meets Rand and hears everything about where he’s been and how he told everyone that he was dead because he thought they were better off without him, Mat tells Rand that that’s not true. Rand reminds Mat that they need him as well and asks if he will join him on the journey to Falme to get Egwene. Mat is overexcited to be reunited with his people, but Min stops him, and he realizes that he was being set up this whole time. She tells him that he’ll kill Rand, and Mat has no choice but to let Rand go alone, even if it hurts both of them deeply.
Egwene and her capture
Egwene has been captured by the Shienarans and collared by them. It’s a special collar that prevents her from using the One Power to escape in any way. She’s treated like a slave dog by the woman in charge of her. She is what they call a Sul’dam, and Egwene is a damane. They’re connected to each other by the collar and a bangle that the Sul’dam wears. Egwene’s Sul’dam is named Renne, and Egwene can’t hurt her because whatever pain she feels, Egwene will feel twice ad much. There’s a jar of water in the room that Egwene is in, but she can’t touch it because she thinks it’s a weapon she can use against Renne.
Egwene’s health deteriorates gradually, and Renne pushes her to her limits, and she can’t drink any water. Renne decides to use a different method and tries to appeal to Egwene through her powers. Renne makes Egwene use the One Power to light a tree on fire. Of course, this makes Egwene more wary of her rather than letting her see how well they work together, which was what Renne had hoped. Instead, Egwene shows no sign of accepting Renne, and in her furious state, Renne beats Egwene up and hangs her up on a nail with the collar, choking her.
Renne reminds Egwene that she’s not a woman but just a damane, whose world is the empty glass that Renne holds for her to fill with the water from the jug she cannot touch. Egwene’s strength has receded, and she gives up at this moment. Renne puts her down and asks her to pour the water into the glass. Egwene is able to do it with her dampened spirits, and Renne pours out the water from the glass in front of her and leaves. On the other hand, Loial is also trying to stay put in order to free Egwene. He shows off his powerful singing, known as treesong, to the Shienarans because he’s forced to obey.
There’s an Aes Sedai in the room next to Egwene. She’s the one Ryma told Nynaeve and Elayne about, the sitter of the blue Ajah. When Egwene drinks water from the jar after Renne leaves her, the other woman tells Egwene that she is strong because she lasted longer than the Aes Sedai herself. It’s possible that the two of them will together manage to escape and work their way out of the kennel.
Ryma Sedai
Nynaeve and Elayne find themselves in safety with Ryma Sedai and her warder. She tells them to go to the white tower and inform the Amyrlin Seat of the Black Ajah. Specifically, the fact that Liandrin is a part of the Black Ajah. Nynaeve and Elayne refuse to leave without Egwene, and so Ryma tells them they must help her then. She has a collar and bracelet used by the Shienaran channelers, and they try to break the collar. They can’t use much power because then the damanes would be able to sense them.
Nynaeve still doesn’t know how to control her powers, but Ryma tells her to think about it like healing; there are no thoughts involved. Nynaeve manages to do it, but she uses too much power, sensing that the collar can’t be broken but only healed when a woman wears it. Unfortunately, they get caught by the demon because of Nynaeve, and to save the girls, Ryma makes a sacrifice. She gives Nynaeve the rings of the other Sedai who were lost in the battle against the Shienarans who want to take over the whole world. Ryma trusts Nynaeve to put her ring into the flame. Nynaeve reluctantly accepts. Nynaeve and Elayne watch as Ryma and her warder lose in the fight against the damanes. If they are to save Egwene, there’s nothing they can do, so they watch Ryma get captured and collared too.
Liandrin and Lanfear
Lanfear visits Liandrin and takes her son Aludran’s life because she needs to leave behind the girl she once was.
Alanna and Lan
Alanna thinks that Lan is consorting with the Forsaken and demands answers from him. Lan tells her that it’s about Moiraine and finally admits they’ve found the dragon reborn. Lan must tell Amyrlin Seat what’s happened so he can try to save Moiraine. At the same time, back home, Moiraine is trying to write a letter to Siuan herself because she needs to tell her she can’t channel anymore. Her sister is tired of her behavior towards them and asks her to leave Cairhien. Lan finds Siuan and brings her to Cairhien, where she is joined by 14 other sisters because something big is about to happen. To the shock of the Damodreds, the Amyrlin Seat wants an audience with Moiraine, meaning she has to stay in Cairhien at least for a little while longer. Lan then finds Rand and stops him from leaving Cairhien, too. It’s possible that he wants to bring him to the seat, too, but what Lan doesn’t know is that Liandrin is a Darkfriend, and she’s in Cairhien, too.
Final Thoughts
This episode was a little bit of a drag, and I really hope that now that more people are together, the story doesn’t get split up into a dozen tiny pieces. There’s a lot of ground to cover with only 2 episodes remaining, making it a little bit difficult to find one direction in which the show is taking us. This episode felt more like a 3rd or 4th episode, and this close to the finale, we were definitely expecting more. I really hope things are sorted out for the finale because we can’t have it ending in such an unbalanced position.
