Wheel of Time Season 3, Episode 6: The Shadow in the Night

[primeideal]

• • I understand why there's this focus on minor characters in the backstory and stuff, but every time we talk about Aludran (Liandrin's son) I am disappointed we are not talking about Aludra (canon-era woman who I suspect will not make the adaptation given how similar their names are). Like, she's from Tarabon, which is where Tanchico is! Maybe it's purposeful! Those rings of fire during one of the market scenes could be something! But no.
  • Nynaeve to Min: "just use your visions." Elayne: "and we'll handle the subtlety." Lol, classic Nynaeve+Elayne shenanigans dynamic.
  • More of Aiel agriculture (which I feel like might be more detailed than the books, but I could also be conflating them with the Outskirters from Steerswoman haha, I have a type) making me have Liet Kynes feelings again. Rand talking about ji'e'toh with the little kid and Aviendha's reaction! :D
  • Perrin/Faile infodumping! Perrin's reactions to talking about Laila actually seem...healthy and mature? Which kind of leads to the issue of "if he has too much character development too fast, what happens next for him, we gotta give him something else to do." Faile's quick backstory dump didn't really work for me--we've seen a little bit with Dana the barmaid in season 1 about "some people are just really nihilists," but "oh my mom was a Darkfriend and tried to recruit me" didn't land, just felt too flippant.
  • Haha and after "...yeah I know a horse named Mandarb" we get the "...yeah my buddy found the Horn of Valere." Curious how the "...yeah our other friend is the Dragon Reborn" conversation will play out in this version.
  • Rand trying to Heal the kid is great, and really benefits from the snippets of their relationship we got to see in this episode and the last--something similar happens in book 3, but without the buildup, so it's more pathos. A little backstory goes a long way.

Edit because I forgot some things:

• • I didn't expect my "how old is Liandrin" musings to be answered so directly but here we are.
  • Liandrin being like "forget working for the Forsaken, I'm going to become one" is a nice setup for potential dynamism/changes among the Forsaken.
  • Is Luc (Faile's Hunter friend) still around? Did he get bored and leave (please say yes?)