Summary
- Lan may have betrayed Rand to the Amyrlin Seat after leaving Moiraine.
- Moiraine may need the Amyrlin's help to reconnect to the One Power.
- Rand and Moiraine need to hope Lan still has the same goal as them.
The following contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 2, Episode 6 "Eyes Without Pity," which is now streaming on Prime Video.
Moiraine Sedai and her Warder Lan Mandragoran have been a central focus of The Wheel of TIme Season 2. While in the books the two are inseparable, the show has gone a different direction. Moiraine has been stilled, and she abandoned Lan because of that. This has lead to a far more unique conflict between the two characters as they both pursue the goal of protecting the Dragon Reborn, yet now they do it separately. This is what may have led Lan to betray Rand to the Aes Sedai and more importantly to the Amyrlin Seat.
For decades Lan has been bonded with Moiraine Sedai. They have traveled the world together in search of the Dragon Reborn. This goes directly against everything that the White Tower of the Aes Sedai stands for. Working together in this goal has always made it seem like Moiraine and Lan were the perfect duo. Yet, Season 2 has broken the pair up, with Moiraine purposely pushing Lan away. This has caused Lan a lot of pain, and it made have pushed him to betray not only just Moiraine, but also Rand, the Dragon Reborn that he has searched for.
Lan May Betray Rand to the Amyrlin Seat
Season 1 of The Wheel of Time showed fans that Moiraine and Suian Sanche, the Amyrlin Seat, were not only working together, but they were also lovers. Even though Suian knew that Moiraine was looking for the Dragon Reborn, Moiraine never confirmed that they found him. After the events of Rand fighting Ishmael at the Eye of the World, Moiraine never contacted the White Tower. Suian had to banish Moiraine from the Tower, which meant that Moiraine was effectively separated from the Amyrlin Seat. Suian was completely ignorant to the fact that Moiraine had been stilled or that Rand was the Dragon Reborn. Which left Lan with only a few options.
"Eyes Without Pity" saw Lan tell the Amyrlin that they had found the Dragon. The episode then ends with Lan confronting Rand and refusing to let him leave Cairhien. This coincides with Suian arriving in Cairhien with 14 other Aes Sedai. There are a few options as to what these two events could mean. The first one that fans may be being lead to believe is that Suian has brought together the Aes Sedai to gentle Rand. This would mean that Lan betrayed Rand and betrayed everything that him and Moiraine worked towards. This would seem a little out of character for the Lan, as loyalty is one of his main traits. Lan would have to have been truly broken by Moiraine's actions in order for him to turn on her so utterly. Lan would also know that gentling Rand may mean that the Dark One will take over the world.
One of the other options that the show may be building towards is something that would be a huge divergence from the books. Moiraine being stilled is not something that ever took place in the books. Being stilled means that an Aes Sedai has been cut off from the One Power. With it not happening in the books, some fans are lead to believe that the show will have to find a way to rectify this situation. Some audience members believe that Moiraine isn't fully stilled due to the fact that she is still bound by the Three Oaths. It also may be that she is not actually stilled since only Ishmael was there, and it usually takes several Aes Sedai to still someone. With Suian being a 'mother' to all Aes Sedai and deeply invested in Moiraine's life then she may want to help fix the situation, which could lead to one of the biggest changes to the source material.
Suian and the Aes Sedai May Heal Moiraine
In The Wheel of Time books, it's impossible to Heal someone from being stilled, that is until Nynaeve discovers a forgotten Healing technique. Nynaeve is able to discover how to Heal people from being stilled, even if they come back less powerful. But this event doesn't take place till much later in the series. Suian has requested an appearance with Moiraine, and she has brought multiple Aes Sedai with her. The show may be looking to simply do a reverse-stilling. The Wheel of Time may take concepts from the books and use them in the opposite way in order to heal Moiraine. Multiple Aes Sedai could link together to reverse her stilling, in the same way the Egwene brought back Nynaeve from being burnt out.
Even if the Aes Sedai have only gathered together in an attempt to gentle Rand, this would still be a big change from books as Rand steers clear of Aes Sedai as much as he can. Rand is still learning the One Power, and he will need all his strength in order to fight against the rest of the Forsaken. This is what makes it much less likely that the Aes Sedai are in the city for Rand and more likely that they are there for Moiraine. Moiraine needs to regain the One Power so that she can continue to guide Rand along his journey as the Dragon Reborn.
The Wheel of Time Season 2 has been a fantastic ride for fans so far. The season has made huge improvements over Season 1 and fans are responding very positively. As The Wheel of Time moves into the final episodes of the season, audiences are eager to see if Lan truly betrayed Rand, and he is bringing him to be stilled, or if Suian has come to help her friend become connected with the One Power once again.
The Wheel of Time Season 2 streams new episodes every Friday on Prime Video.