The latest trailer for Amazon's Wheel of Time season 3 trailer shows that Mat Cauthon, the show's token incorrigible rogue, will be accompanying Nyneave and the other main cast of aspiring Aes Sedai to the city of Tanchico – something that definitively does not happen in The Shadow Rising, the book this season is nominally adapting.
Mat Cauthon, in The Shadow Rising, is supposed to tag along with Rand to the Aiel Waste and visit the holy city of Rhuidean. Nyneave and Elayne do go to Tanchico, paving the way for the explosive White Tower Schism. However, their bodyguard isn't Mat. Instead, it's a young thief-catcher named Juilin Sandar, who is barely known in Wheel of Time season 3.
What Mat Being In Tanchico Could Mean For Juilin Sandar
The Noble Thief-Catcher From Tear Likely Won't Be Found In Season 3
Juilin Sandar, a thief-catcher from the city of Tear, first appears in The Dragon Reborn when Egwene, Nyneave, and Elayne hire him to help them apprehend the Black Ajah, who fled to Tear after their explosive departure from Tar Valon. After Liandrin uses the One Power to Compel him to lead Egwene and the others into a trap, Juilin runs into Mat and the two work together to free the Accepted from the fortress. Afterward, Juilin accompanies them, first to Tanchico in The Shadow Rising, and then on to Ebou Dar and beyond, even to The Last Battle.
Although Juilin Sandar could well appear in Tanchico instead, Mat's presence there in the trailer indicates that the shifty young ta'veren may take Sandar's place in the narrative.
The Amazon fantastical show has already skipped well past the events that should have happened in Tear, and despite rumors and theories about Wheel of Time time-skips or even the One Power might see Rand visit the fortress called the Stone of Tear to claim the powerful sa'angreal known as Callandor, all signs indicate the show won't be visiting the coastal fortress any time soon. Although Juilin Sandar could well appear in Tanchico instead, Mat's presence there in the trailer indicates that the shifty young ta'veren may take Sandar's place in the narrative.
Why Mat Cauthon Getting Juilin Sandar's Shadow Rising Role Makes Sense
Replacing One Archetypal Swashbuckler With Another Might Work, Or It Might Narratively Backfire
There's a certain logic to having Mat replace Juilin in season 3. Since the Tear story arc was skipped, which is where Sandar is forced to betray the Accepted and then redeem himself, there's no emotional investment in Sandar's story to warrant him tagging along to Tanchico. Moreover, much of Sandar's role in the narrative there, someone with street smarts and fighting skills, but not a channeler, and ideally gets along well with Thom Merrilin, who is also supposed to tag along on the journey, comes down to skills that Mat also has.
In the face of fulfilling Mat's narrative arc from the books, however, this may only continue to complicate things.
Of course, Mat replacing Sandar only makes sense in of ensuring Elayne and Nyneave have another character with them. In the face of fulfilling Mat's narrative arc from the books, however, this may only continue to complicate things. In the books, Mat is supposed to accompany Rand to the Aiel Waste. His encounter with the cryptic Aelfinn in Tear sends him to Rhuidean, where he is granted wishes by the equally strange Eelfinn, including the memories of past battles and the tools that he needs to lead the forces of the Light to victory at the Last Battle.
Yet Amazon's series, in giving Mat those memories when he blew the Horn of Valere, and by skipping the Tear arc, seems poised to remove the Eelfinn and Aelfinn entirely. This might make the story seem less convoluted to showrunners, but will require them to also possibly make good on Wheel of Time season 3's implied threat of killing Moiraine permanently – to say nothing of how Mat hanging from Avendesora is integral to his character arc (and his deeply symbolic link with the Norse god Odin), and so cutting it intrinsically weakens his character.
Where Juilin Sandar Could Appear If It Doesn't Happen In Tanchico
There Aren't Many Other Places The Thief-Catcher Could Make Much Of An Appearance
If Sandar is not involved in Tanchico, or anywhere else in Wheel of Time season 3, he could still make some kind of appearance in later seasons. In the books, when Nyneave and company leave Tanchico, they do so by ing up with a traveling circus. Sandar poses as a tight-rope walker there, and could still be introduced that way, likely as a preexisting member of the circus.
The Wheel Of Time Season 3 Needs More Than Its Release Date Advantage To Turn Things Around
Wheel of Time's advantage can’t make up for how the adaptation has left critics and fans alike feeling like it doesn’t respect the original books.
While initial perception implied that season 3 of The fate of the Wheel, and if it either continues to turn or comes to a screeching halt, will be determined once The Wheel of Time season 3 premieres on Prime Video on March 13, 2025.
The Wheel of Time
- Release Date
- November 18, 2021
- Network
- Prime Video
- Showrunner
- Rafe Judkins
Cast
Moiraine Damodred
al'Lan Mandragoran
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Sanaa Hamri, Ciaran Donnelly, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Thomas Napper, Maja Vrvilo, Wayne Che Yip
- Writers
- Amanda Kate Shuman, Dave Hill, Rohit Kumar, Justine Juel Gillmer, Celine Song, Rammy Park, The Clarksons Twins, Katherine B. McKenna
- Franchise(s)
- The Wheel of Time
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