The Wheel Of Time Season 2 Premiere Recap: The Journey (Slowly) Continues — Grade The First Episode

"You and I both know its one defining trait. It's unbreakable."

In the Season 2 premiere episodes of Prime Video's The Wheel of Time, these words are uttered by Bayle Domon — a sea captain who haggles over a cuendillar, or heartstone — with the series' de facto protagonist, Moiraine Sedai (Rosamund Pike).

In many ways, this line speaks to the underlying nature of this fantasy world and how the Prime Video series has chosen to grapple with it dramatically. Certain events and powers are insurmountable. The Dark One (Fares Fares) wasn't really defeated in the Season 1 finale. Evil doesn't always break. The conflict comes in when a small group of young folk shows signs of being the exception to a rule that otherwise placates the masses.

In terms of power, Moiraine is no longer the fountain of destruction she was in Season 1. Her powers have been stilled, or blocked, by the Dark One. Perhaps for good. And six months later, she finds herself in a rut as a result. Her loyal Warder, Lan (Daniel Henney), has about reached his breaking point with her, arguing that they need to take action, not just sit around scheming. He might be right, and that's the true source of consternation between him and Moiraine as they plod into the next few episodes. (The first three are now streaming on Prime Video.)

There's more to unpack in "A Taste of Solitude," which is pretty much all set-up for the hopefully more exciting sequences to come. We catch up, of course, with the Emond's Field Five, though the bulk of the attention goes to Egwene (Madeleine Madden) and Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) learning to harness their powers at the White Tower, as burgeoning Aes Sedai novices. While Egwene wants to push her training to new limits, Nynaeve utterly shuns the experience, as is true to the books.

We also spend some time with Perrin (Marcus Rutherford), who in Season 1 easily received the worst treatment as a main character, but this episode at least teases redemption. We finally get to see more of his latent wolf powers in action, as well as a fan-favorite character from the books, Elyas (Gary Beadle), who is poised to become Perrin's much-needed mentor. As many of us predicted, showrunner Rafe Judkins decided to save a lot of Perrin's material with Elyas for Season 2, even though it should've come into play much earlier.

Also as promised in our interview with Judkins after the Season 1 finale, good old Loial (Hammed Animashaun) is still alive, thank the Pattern, despite being seemingly killed by Darkfriends in the finale. Loial is accompanying Perrin, along with some Shienarans, on a quest to track down Padan Fain (Johann Myers), who stole the Horn of Valere and is aiding in the Dark One's, well, dark plans. (No, we don't get many details besides all that.)

Strangely, we get very little of Mat (recast with Dónal Finn) and even less of Rand (Josha Stradowski) in Season 2's first episode. Turns out Mat has been captured by Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood) and is in the White Tower, perhaps right under the feet of his old friends Egwene and Nyneave. He hasn't even touched the dagger that was corrupting him since he separated from the group, yet the grumpiest of all the Red Ajah has seen fit to keep him under lock and key. Aside from this one scene, we'll have to wait and see what happens to Mat next and if he's truly been freed from the dagger's curse (though unlikely).

The good news is that Season 2 benefits greatly from what must be an expanded budget, because the locations, costumes and special effects have all leveled up, particularly when we see the One Power in action. Weaving has a far more visceral and tactile flavor to it now, helped in no small part by the handful of training exercises we get to see with Egwene and Nynaeve. The show is being a little less coy about how this world works and what really makes these powers tick, and that's a seriously welcome change.

Unfortunately, the big issue with "A Taste of Solitude" is its slow-start approach to getting us back up to speed — not just in terms of how the episode meanders with its chosen plots, but in how it does very little to make us feel the stakes for each character in each location. Yes, it's easy to see why it's important for Egwene and Nynaeve to grow stronger. But what happens if they don't? It's important for Moiraine to reclaim her powers. But what if she doesn't? What if Perrin doesn't get the Horn of Valere back? The answer to all these questions pretty much amount to... well, the Dark One will win, and that's bad. Frankly, we need a little more enticement.

To be fair, it's not like Robert Jordan's novels were always the best at establishing these kinds of stakes and tension in a very consistent and convincing manner. But one of the reasons he got away with it, for the most part, is because he always tied these characters' journeys to a broader, relatable lesson about having to grow up when you feel like you aren't quite ready. The characters themselves don't fully appreciate the stakes, either, and you're right there with them trying to parse out the nuts and bolts of a prophecy that you can apparently shatter by virtue of your own existence.

Perhaps that's why Prime Video decided to release the first three episodes all at once, as "A Taste of Solitude" (ironically, given the title) shouldn't be experienced on its own. But as a premiere designed to hook an audience that has had a long, long time since Season 1 to lose interest, it doesn't manage to get its own powers back all the way.

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