‘‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 2’s Darkest Episode Is Also This Character’s Best

Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time explores a fantasy world plagued by conflict. With supernatural enemies rising and the Seanchan out to conquer, it’s no surprise that the series features violent and dark episodes, but Season 2 Episode 6 is by far the show’s darkest. Egwene al’Vere (Madeleine Madden), Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoë Robins), and Elayne Trakand (Ceara Coveney) were first kidnapped from Tar Valon by the Aes Sedai Liandrin (Kate Fleetwood), who is revealed to be working for the Dark One as a member of the Black Ajah. The three White Tower novices are soon handed over to the Seanchan. The betrayal cuts deep into the relationship between Nynaeve and Liandrin especially, but Liandrin decides at the last minute to free the three novices of the White Tower and gives them a chance to escape. This change of heart allows both Nynaeve and Elayne to flee the Seanchan, but Egwene’s fate is very different.

Before meeting Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) in Season 1, Egwene never thought herself to be powerful. From her life growing up in the Two Rivers, Egwene believed that she could listen to the wind and become a Wisdom, but she never dreamed that she could do great things or wield great power. Even in the White Tower, Egwene is constantly told that she is second best to Nynaeve, but she never stops working hard and trying to improve her magic. She never believed herself to be a very powerful channeler, and she never entertained those ideas. But everything changes for Egwene when Liandrin delivers her to the Dark One and the Seanchan. Egwene is the only one of the three to be captured and collared, becoming a damane. What happens to Egwene in the hands of the Seanchan is horrific.The Seanchan are ruthless people and they will not hesitate to abuse Egwene or her powers for their purposes.

What Happens to Egwene in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 2?

The a’dam that Egwene is collared with is a ter’angreal, an object of the One Power that allows female channelers with the spark to be controlled so they can be used as weapons for the Seanchan. The a’dam forges a brutal connection between a damane, the woman who gets collared in the Seanchan Empire, and the sul’dam, the trainers of the damane who have full control over a damane’s experience of pain and pleasure.

Egwene’s sul’dam is a woman named Renna (Xelia Mendes-Jones), who tries to cultivate a kind of camaraderie between them — but as Renna realizes that Egwene values her autonomy more than this so-called friendship, the sul’dam grows impatient. Therefore, Renna lashes out, using the a’dam to inflict pain on Egwene as a consequence of her resistance. To start, she asks Egwene to complete one simple task: to pick up a jug filled with water and pour some of its contents into a cup. But Egwene is faced with a challenge; as a damane, she is unable to pick up any object she believes to be a weapon without feeling unimaginable pain. Egwene’s unbreakable spirit cannot allow her to lose faith in her capability of freeing herself, so she cannot imagine the jug as anything other than a weapon, fantasizing about using it to hit Renna over the head so she can escape.

Throughout the episode, Egwene suffers unimaginable pain, unwilling to let herself break — but eventually, like every woman who once stood in the same exact position, she does, and picks up the jug with shaking hands. But with the newfound ability to quench her thirst, Egwene realizes she has lost a part of herself. Egwene has accepted that she cannot use anything as a weapon to escape, and this realization comes with great pain.

What Does Egwene Learn About Herself in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 2 Episode 6?

Pain and despair are not the only things that Egwene learns in the city controlled by the Seanchan. Before Renna gives in to the idea that violence is the only viable teacher for a damane, she has other ideas at first. Egwene sees herself as an average channeler, and Renna, through the a’dam, can sense exactly how powerful Egwene is, but how little she believes it. So, through the connection the a’dam provides, Renna tries showing Egwene how powerful she could be by telling her to focus her power on the tree she likes to watch from the window of her cell as a source of comfort. Although she’s not supposed to channel herself as a damane, Renna gives Egwene permission to embrace the One Power — to reach the tree, to feel its roots and leaves. With Renna’s help and direction, Egwene also channels enough power to set fire to the tree herself. For the first time, Egwene views herself as a powerful person, and it is only through destroying the only source of comfort she has in the painful existence she now lives in.

Egwene’s time in Falme is no doubt one of the biggest challenges she will ever face, as well as the worst pain she has ever felt. On the same day that Egwene has lived through her worst nightmares, she also gets to experience herself as a powerful woman. Egwene, for the first time, is confronted by someone who believes in her great power and capabilities — and even if this teacher is far from what Egwene wants, in a way, it’s what she needs in order to embrace her fullest potential. Several episodes later, in the Season 2 finale, Egwene breaks free, using her considerable abilities to overpower the a’dam and kill Renna. But that can only happen because of what she learned during her captivity. The Wheel of Time Season 2, Episode 6 is the darkest story Egwene, or any of the other characters experience, as her spirit breaks. However, it also allows her to catch a glimpse of just how truly capable she is as a woman who can channel, pushing her to do great things in the future.

The Wheel of Time is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.

WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO