The Wheel Of Time Season 3 Episode 5 Ending Explained By Egwene Actor: "I Felt Like The Biggest Creep"

SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time season 3 episode 5.The Wheel of Time season 3 episode 5 may have spelled the beginning of the end for the show’s relationship between Rand and Egwene thanks to an absolutely diabolical ending that saw Egwene learning something she won’t soon forget. The episode furthered Egwene’s most anticipated storyline of the season (by fans of Robert Jordan’s original book series, anyway) in her exploration of Tel’aran’rhiod, or the World of Dreams. Unfortunately for her, her joy at exploring the dream world quickly turned to terror as she discovered the Forsaken Lanfear kissing the not-so-innocent farmboy Rand.

It is a huge revelation for Egwene who, in an exciting change from The Wheel of Time books, has been tortured all season by Lanfear under the guise of her dead Seanchan tormenter Renna from The Wheel of Time season 2. With Egwene and Rand’s relationship already rocky after much time spent apart and Rand’s side relationship with Lanfear, this latest development is a massive one. On the positive side, Egwene’s growing skills with Tel’aran’rhiod put her a step closer to realizing her full potential as a powerful dreamwalker.

ScreenRant spoke with Egwene actor Madeleine Madden about her character’s journey, particularly in The Wheel of Time season 3 episode 5. Madden spoke about the status of Egwene and Rand’s relationship and how she felt filming her scenes in Tel’aran’rhiod. Plus, Madden teased a Rand and Egwene moment to come in The Wheel of Time season 3 episode 6.

Madeleine Madden Reflects On Egwene & Rand’s Relationship

“It’s A Shell Of Its Former Self”

Bair (Nukâka Coster-Waldau), Egwene Al'Vere (Madeleine Madden), and Melaine (Salóme Gunnarsdóttir) looking puzzled in The Wheel of Time Season 3 Ep 5

In broad strokes at least, Rand and Egwene started The Wheel of Time season 1 as lovers dreaming of a future together. Madeline Madden described their relationship in The Wheel of Time season 3, however, as “fractured,” and “a shell of its former self.” She continued: “They’ve obviously experienced wildly different things, and experienced that with other people in more ways than one.” According to Madden, in this season, “They’re just trying to lean back into the familiarity and the comfort that they had in season one, and that sense of home.”

Madden did defend one aspect of their dynamic: “Even though there’s so much they’re not saying to each other,” she said, “they’re also showing themselves most vulnerably to each other. In episode one, Egwene has a complex around her neck and being touched there, and Rand’s got his wound from the battle at Falme. They’re still caring for each other in that way, connectin, and giving themselves to each other physically.” “Emotionally,” she added, “they’re light years apart.”

Egwene’s Dreamwalking Gave Madden One Of Her Favorite Moments To Shoot

It Was Thanks To The Fact That Season 3 Is “The Closest Season To The Books So Far”

Egwene Al'Vere (Madeleine Madden) looking very bewildered in The Wheel of Time Season 3 Ep 5

“You never really know how we can articulate or translate these big moments onscreen,” Madden shared, talking about diving into the world of Tel’aran’rhiod. She expressed her excitement in bringing Egwene’s dreamwalking to life, however, saying, “Season three is actually the closest season to the books so far in the series, [and] we do pull a lot from the books in the scenes of Egwene dreamwalking, and the elements of your clothes changing depending on how you’re feeling. That was really exciting to shoot, because that was one of my favorite moments from those books.”

Egwene Wants To Either Support Rand Or “Be One Of The People To Take Him Out”

Madden Also Teases A Big Conversation In Episode 6

Bair (Nukâka Coster-Waldau), Egwene Al'Vere (Madeleine Madden), and Melaine (Salóme Gunnarsdóttir) meditating for a bit in The Wheel of Time Season 3 Ep 5

At this point in the story, Rand al’Thor is the Dragon Reborn, essentially dooming him to a future of going mad from channeling the male half of the One Power–hopefully after the advent of the potentially world-ending Last Battle. As for how that affects Egwene, Madden revealed, “She’s wanting her skills to evolve, and she’s wanting to advance as soon as she can and as quickly as she can, because she knows that it’s an impending doom of the Last Battle coming.”

“Like Moiraine,” Madden continued, “she wants to be there by Rand’s side, to either support him to save the world or, if he’s going to break it, be one of the people to take him out, essentially. Which is something that, I think, haunts her. So, everything she’s doing this season is to grow her strength [and] advance her skills so she can be prepared. Her going off and doing this, and wanting to train with the Wise Ones… that’s where that comes from.”

This is especially evident in one episode 5 scene in which Egwene and Rand share an incredibly awkward kiss before Egwene goes to train with the Wise Ones. “Because they still have that relationship that they did in season one,” Madden said about that scene, “I think Rand’s interpreting it as choosing my own thing over you, like ‘I want to spend time with them over you,’ which they clash over. But, really, he doesn’t know what her real motive [is] for training as much as she is.”

Madden even shared how that affects Rand and Egwene moving forward: “We see them have that conversation in episode six, and it’s a very explosive conversation and a sad conversation, but a really important one, because it definitely informs where they go from then on.”

Madeline Madden Explains The End Of Episode 4 & Egwene’s Voyeuristic Journey

“Rand’s Dream–That’s Where I Felt Like The Biggest Creep”

At the end of the episode, Egwene takes a journey through the dreams of her closest friends. It’s a touching moment for many reasons–at least until it ends with her discovering Rand kissing Lanfear in his own dream. Madden reflected on that sequence, and whether or not it was difficult to act out those scenes without coming off as too creepy: “I think with Rand’s dream–that’s where I felt like the biggest creep, obviously, knowing what was going on.”

“But,” Madden continued, “it was really moving [otherwise], because we’re seeing these characters in their most authentic [and] honest selves, and they have none of their guards up. In a way, it’s where they’re happiest. I think [with] this ability that she has, in this moment, she’s really able to see her friends for who they are.”

“Even though so much time has passed and all of them have experienced so many different things on their journeys,” Madden said, “they haven’t really spoken about it. But she can feel what they feel in those moments. I feel like she can see where they’ve gone and where they’ve come from in the time that they’ve spent apart, and that’s one of the beautiful things about this ability and this gift.”

The actor also shared her favorite moment to see: “A particularly moving moment was with Zoë (Robins, who plays Nyneave). Watching Zoë with her daughter from the arches was just [heartbreaking]. But I loved that. I’m a massive voyeur in real life anyway. I’m like, ‘Ah, love a good people-watching moment.’”

New episodes of The Wheel of Time drop Thursdays on Prime Video.

Source: Screen Rant Plus