In Prime Video's The Wheel of Time, Rosamund Pike will play the story's guide, Moiraine Sedai. True to the series' theme of a world out of balance, Moiraine's complexity has to do with her internal oppositions, Pike says.
Pike discussed becoming an Aes Sedai in an interview with The Dusty Wheel on YouTube. Like her co-star Daniel Henney, playing Lan, Pike described a certain stillness to her character which may seem at odds with her command of magical energy. "I think the interesting thing about playing Moiraine is you always have to know the oppositions of her," she explained. "If she's still, it's in opposition to the power that she can unleash. And I've always thought that it's about that balance, that a character is is only interesting in her stillness if we understand what the opposite does. And I find that very, very exciting."
In The Wheel of Time, the all-female order of Aes Sedai are essentially the most powerful people in the world, as they're the ones who can wield the One Power. However, Pike suggested that there's a trade-off in being an Aes Sedai, referencing the Three Oaths that make them incapable of lying, using the Power as a weapon or using it to create weapons. "I think what's strange about the way Robert Jordan [the late author of The Wheel of Time books] writes, about becoming an Aes Sedai and having that bond put on you in swearing the Oaths, is they feel like your skin is tight, a physical thing," said Pike.
"...It's not just magic that's at someone's fingertips," she added. "It's power that courses through a person. And that's what makes it distinct and terribly exciting. Because I think, what is the cost? You know, what is the majesty of wielding that power, but also, what is the cost of it?"
The wait for The Wheel of Time has been longer than expected, due to initial difficulties in securing rights to the property and then delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the series is now well underway, with Season 2 announced in May this year and production on it having begun in July.
The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time Season 1 will premiere on Amazon on November 19.
Source: The Dusty Wheel