Includes MASSIVE SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time season 3, episode 4, and future events from the book series the show is based on.

The Wheel of Time's cast, bringing to life one of the most beloved characters from Robert Jordan's novels. However, the Amazon Prime Video adaptation has made numerous changes in its depiction of the source material, many of which have affected Mat. Mat has essentially been on a different path to his novel counterpart since deciding not to travel through the Ways with his friends in the penultimate episode of season 1.

Once again, Mat is off the mark in season 3. The Wheel of Time's season 3 story is primarily an adaptation of The Shadow Rising, with Rand and Moiraine traveling to the Aiel Waste and Perrin Aybara returning to the Two Rivers. This means that the show is temporarily skipping over the integral parts of The Dragon Reborn. This season has seen Nynaeve, Elayne, Min, and Mat set out on a journey to Tanchico, where they intend to pursue the Black Ajah after the explosive events of the season 3 premiere.

Mat Was The Biggest Omission From Wheel Of Time's Rhuidean Episode

Mat Enters Rhuidean With Rand & Moiraine In The Book

Allowing Mat to travel with Rand, Moiraine, and Egwene would have been a fantastic opportunity to get his story back on track after the departures in the first two seasons, but his trip to Tanchico has already caused him to miss out on one of his most notable book events. In season 3, episode 4, Rand and Moiraine journeyed into Rhuidean, a city on the Aiel Waste, where they were able to experience visions of the past and the future. This episode was based on chapters from The Shadow Rising, though Mat is also present in the books.

Mat steps through a redstone ter'angreal gateway, which has been established as the transportation of the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn

In the show, we see the history of Avenderosa, the tree of life, which plays a pivotal role in the story of the Aiel and the actions that led to Rand al'Thor's birth. In The Shadow Rising, the most memorable moment regarding this tree is when Rand leaves his visions to discover his friend Mat hung by a rope from the tree's branches. Backtracking, though, Rand, Moiraine, and Mat enter Rhuidean, and Mat steps through a redstone ter'angreal gateway, which has been established as the transportation of the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn, two extradimensional species in Robert Jordan's universe.

The Eelfinn species offer a mechanic similar to genies, where they grant wishes in return for a price. Mat makes three wishes to the Eelfinn in The Shadow Rising, though he doesn't fully realize that that's what he's doing. He states that he wants the holes in his memory to be filled, he wants to be free from the Aes Sedai, and he'd like to be returned to Rhuidean. The first two wishes have crucial implications, and the third results in the Eelfinn returning him to Rhuidean on the verge of death, hanging from the tree.

Mat Will Still Be Hung (But Not From Avendesora)

Min Foresaw Mat Being Hung, Just Not In Rhuidean

Min's visions aren't entirely accurate, but when combined with knowledge of events from the books, they can be a fairly reliable source of what's going to happen in the TV show. We saw in one of Min's visions that Mat is still going to be hung, but it obviously isn't going to happen at Avendesora or Rhuidean. The hanging is part of the drama of the moment, temporarily raising the stakes and forcing the audience to believe that Mat is dead, but the importance of this sequence is the other two wishes that he's granted.

It will be interesting to see how The Wheel of Time season 3 compensates for the lack of this moment. Now that the Rhuidean episode is out, we know he's not just going to arrive there late. His hanging will likely happen in Tanchico, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will fulfill the same narrative purposes. Since Mat has already gained the memories of his past lives through the Horn of Valere and Ishamael's tea in season 2, there might not be a need for this scene at all, with Mat's hanging being a separate ordeal.

Another possibility is that Min's vision of Mat being hung won't come true and that this was simply an Easter egg for the book event the show omitted. It's hard to say, but given that the show is planning to circle back around to Rand and Callandor after skipping The Dragon Reborn, it could be assumed that other book events will appear out of order.

Mat's Exclusion From The Rhuidean Episode Makes Another Change More Likely

The Aeelfinn & Eelfinn Might Be Cut From The TV Adaptation

Sadly, Mat not being present in the Rhuidean episode is another indication that the Aeelfinn and the Eelfinn are being cut from the television adaptation entirely. This scene is the first major moment where they would have been included in the story, and though there are more involving Moiraine, there are reasons to believe that that entire plotline will also be cut. Not to mention, the addition of the Aeelfinn and the Eelfinn would mean the display of their world, as well as the prosthetics or CGI for their respective species, which would add a considerable amount to the budget.

Sure, distilling The Wheel of Time will prevent the show from having fourteen seasons, but every change that's made creates a chain reaction of future changes.

This raises yet another question about the merits and pitfalls of changing storylines. Sure, distilling The Wheel of Time will prevent the show from having fourteen seasons, but every change that's made creates a chain reaction of future changes. For example, episode 1 changed Perrin's story so that he had a wife who was killed before he set out from the Two Rivers, which now creates a complication in his return, altering his potential romance with Faile Bashere. The removal of the Aeelfinn and the Eelfinn will mostly affect Moiraine going forward.

In The Fires of Heaven, Moiraine pushes Lanfear into one of the redstone ter'angreal gateways but ultimately falls in with her. It's not until far later in the series that Mat and company travel to the Tower of Ghenjei and rescue her from the land of the Aeelfinn and the Eelfinn. The TV series might not want to cast its lead star and producer, Rosamund Pike, out for multiple seasons, meaning that Moiraine might not die in Prime Video's The Wheel of Time, again, creating a ripple effect of altered narratives for the remainder of the show.