‘The Wheel of Time’ Star Marcus Rutherford Unpacks the Battle of Emond’s Field, That Unexpected Death

Note: The following story contains spoilers from “The Wheel of Time” Season 3 Episode 7

“The Wheel of Time” went big for the penultimate episode of Season 3 as war came to the Two Rivers.

Season 3, Episode 7 of Prime Video’s fantasy adaptation spent the entire episode brutally bringing to life one of the most iconic battles from Robert Jordan’s novels – the Battle of Emond’s Field. Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) returned home hoping to find some peace and instead found his village beset by Trollocs – vicious animal-like monsters – and Darkfriends, those who support the return of the Dark One. He spent most of the season preparing Emond’s Field’s residents for an inevitable fight – and the show spared no expense bringing the battle to life.

“We’ve done battles before in Season 1 and 2, but there’s a lot of narrative that has to go through them,” Rutherford told TheWrap. “Like we have to get the Horn to Rand (Josha Stradowski), or we have to get this person here. I think what’s actually quite cool about this episode is it’s just the people kind of defending themselves for like, a whole hour and that kind of military aspect of it.”

Below, Rutherford dives deep into the episode to unpack Perrin’s relationship to violence, cuts to the Wolf Dream and Slayer plot and that shocking off-book death.

Perrin the Leader

Perrin returned to the Two Rivers hoping to find some peace and to finally be able to properly grieve the death of his wife. Instead, he found his home wracked with fear for the inbound Trollocs and Darkfriends. He also re-entered town to some trepidation but was also looked to as a leader despite his reluctance. For two seasons, Perrin has fought against his violent tendencies but the Battle of Emond’s Field saw him let loose to protect the people he loves – which Rutherford said was cathartic.

“Because of Perrin’s relationship with violence you can’t fully get involved – even if he’s fighting with the Shienarans or even with Aviendha (Ayoola Smart) – but there’s something quite lovely and quite cathartic I think, for myself, and I hope for the audience, when he picks up the hammer and an ax and starts kind of wielding and hacking away at people,” he said. “That was like a really special moment because I think it’s been like five, six years, really from being in that forge with Laila and that whole storyline. There’s something really cathartic I hope watching it as it felt to film it – that he finally kind lets loose and realizes that there is a time to be violent.”

A Shocking Off-Book Death

While Perrin and the rest of the Two Rivers defend their home, Loial (Hammed Animashaun), Bain (Ragga Ragnars) and Chiad (Maja Simonsen) sneak off to the nearby Waygate to stop Trolloc reinforcements from coming through. After clearing the few left to guard the gate, Loial enters to close the gate from the inside. After struggling to destroy the gate, and seeing reinforcements traversing the Ways and getting closer, Loial makes the heroic choice to destroy the entire platform the gate is on – causing both the entrance and himself to plummet into the darkness. The death is bound to shock book fans especially as Loial is one of the characters who makes it to the end of the series.

“One of my favorite scenes in that episode is actually saying goodbye to Loial, it’s this real kind of brotherly moment that I just find is so lovely,” Rutherford remembered. “I also remember rehearsing the scene where I’m reading his book, and they played Hammed’s voice over and that absolutely ruined me.”

He continued: “So there was something about the actor, but also the character as well, that you were kind of grieving in that moment. But that moment when he kind of roars and he suddenly hums the Manetheren song – I mean, we watched it in a cinema and I was just completely wrecked.”

Cuts to the Wolf Dream and Slayer Plotline

The Battle of Emond’s Field is a fairly accurate adaptation of what plays out in the books with one big exception. Throughout his time in the Two Rivers, Perrin is entering the Wolf Dream – what Wolfbrothers call Tel’aran’rhiod – and chasing a man killing both wolves and people in their dreams. He hunts this mystery man – who he calls Slayer – throughout Book 4 and learns during the battle that Slayer is one of his supposed “allies” Lord Luc.

Lord Luc does appear in Season 3 but the Wolf Dream and Slayer plots are largely abandoned. Rutherford thought some of the cuts came down to pure time restrictions. He was looking forward to seeing how the plotline could have played out but ultimately likes the more grounded approach to Perrin’s story this season.

“I think the Wolf Dream and Slayer stuff and all the Lord Luc things I was really interested about,” he said. “Personally, I think that given perhaps where the show might go, I think that maybe the priority was really believing that village and all those kind of people there.”

Rutherford added: “It’s quite nice to have sort of grounded presence for him in that village amongst channeling and Trollocs and all these kind of fantasy elements. This episode is kind of just about people. I think it’s quite universal, and there’s something really lovely about that. It’s really nice that you can go to the episode before you go to Episode 8 and there’s completely different kind of characters and elements.

“The Wheel of Time” releases new episodes Thursdays on Prime Video.

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