WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 1, Episode 7, "The Dark Along the Ways," available now on Prime Video.
The Wheel of Time's Josha Stradowski recently opened up about the self-sacrificing love his character Rand al'Thor has for Madeleine Madden's Egwene al'Vere in the Prime Video series.
"I think he has learned it pretty early on, and that lesson only became more obvious as the story continues: that he has to sacrifice himself," the actor recently told Nerdist. "That's what he did in episode one with the relationship he had with Egwene. He realized that she needed something else and that wasn't him, and so he sacrificed himself. He accepted that out of love, because he knew that she needed to become that. And he loved her for who she could become."
Stradowski also discussed another moment in Season 1 of the series when Rand put the needs of others first, explaining, "Then later on in the story, he's trying to protect Mat and he is trying to take care of him, and he's actively trying to reunite with his friends. And then when he realizes that he is the Dragon Reborn."
The actor added that, obviously, Rand would have wanted to share what he's been going through with Egwene, but wouldn't risk endangering her. "He knows what he has to face and he knows he has to go alone," Stradowski continued. "So, he again sacrifices what they have together. That is the thing of Rand I think—it's sacrificing everything, everyone he loves, everything he knows, everything he believes, everything. He is trying to save the world."
It was finally revealed in Season 1, Episode 7 ("The Dark Along the Ways") that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, who is also known as the reincarnation of Lews Therin Telamon and the most powerful male user of the One Power magic. Following a series of misdirects suggesting one of Rand's companions could be the Dragon Reborn, it was revealed to Rand during his time in the Ways that he was indeed the one prophesized about.
Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins previously teased the show would take its time revealing the identity of the Dragon Reborn. "For me, I always have to approach it as if we're going to get to tell the whole story that's in the books. If we don't approach it that way, then we'd set ourselves up to not stick the landing and these books have such a good ending," he said at the time. "I really need to set us up to get there if we're able to. That's not up to me ultimately. If people watch it and Amazon wants to keep doing more, I'd love to continue to expand this world further."
New episodes of The Wheel of Time are released on Saturdays on Prime Video. Production on Season 2 is already underway.
Source: Nerdist