Editor's note: The below interview contains spoilers for Episode 5 of The Wheel of Time, "Blood Calls Blood."
The Wheel of Time, which finally premiered on Prime Video earlier this month, is adapted from the long-enduring fantasy novels by the late author Robert Jordan. The series takes place in a world where magic is ever-present, though it is typically wielded by an organization consisting of women known as the Aes Sedai. One among their ranks, Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), has been on a secret quest of her own for many years for someone called the Dragon Reborn, an overwhelmingly powerful individual who is prophesized to either save the world or lead it into destruction. Accompanied by her loyal Warder Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney), Moiraine travels to the region known as the Two Rivers, where it's possible that the reincarnation of the Dragon might exist from within a small group — sheepherder Rand al'Thor (Josha Stradowski), blacksmith Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford), innkeepers' daughter Egwene al'Vere (Madeleine Madden), gambler and thief Mat Cauthon (Barney Harris), and town Wisdom Nynaeve al'Meara (Zoë Robins). After the Two Rivers are attacked by a band of vicious creatures called Trollocs, the five find themselves on the run with one destination in mind — the city of Tar Valon, where the White Tower and the rest of the Aes Sedai might be able to help.
Ahead of this week's episode, Collider had the chance to chat with Madden about some of her character's most pivotal moments in "Blood Calls Blood," including the experience of filming some particularly intense scenes for Egwene and Perrin (Rutherford) and how they found levity in between takes. She also spoke about how the episode ultimately strengths the bond between characters who are already friends, and how the Nynaeve and Rand scene is a testament to understanding Egwene and her motives.
Collider: First off, I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. I know you all are busy filming right now, and congratulations on Season 2. I'm sure that's a little bit of a relief.
MADELEINE MADDEN: Yeah, absolutely. It's wonderful to just have that reassurance from straight out of the gate. And it's been great to film while the show has come out. Definitely, the anticipation of the release was quite nerve-wracking. So it's been great to kind of lose ourselves in the work and keep trucking along.
It's been a long wait too, to get this first season out finally.
MADDEN: Oh my god, seriously.
I'm sure it's probably having to think back on everything is probably a lot of work. But I appreciate you breaking down this episode with me, and I'll try to help jog your memory as much as I can. But I definitely want to start at the beginning of this week, which is Perrin and Egwene unfortunately encountering some of our least favorite people in this show, the Whitecloaks. How was it for you to sort of be removed from the rest of the main cast? Because everybody basically splits up at one point and it's you and Marcus for a good portion of the season.
MADDEN: Paired up with the most boring, untalented person in the world. (laughs) No, he's the complete opposite of that. Look, I mean, it was wonderful. Marcus is like a brother to me. So we had a lot of fun on the road, literally. It's one of those shows and stories that, when we're all together, we have such an amazing time. And then we all get split up in the show and in real life, and the moments that we come back together are so special and we were really relish them as a cast.
And I think that's the same for our characters. What's so wonderful about [it], when our characters split up, even though it's really traumatic for them, they bring out the best within each other, particularly Egwene and Perrin, and we see the new dynamics of these relationships. And just the bonds, the unique bonds that they form, which will be with them for the rest of their lives. That's something that our heroes are always striving for and fighting for is to fight to be back together. And that's something that connects them throughout the course of this entire series.
Everybody gets tested, for sure. But this week, Perrin and Egwene really get a trial. For the intensity of the scenes with Valda, was there any advanced conversation between the three of you on an acting level in terms of how to play it? Or was it more like you were trying to be removed from each other, given what the character dynamic was supposed to be?
MADDEN: Marcus and I, we're very goofy on set and always just having a bit of banter and taking it easy. So there's quite a juxtaposition between having jokes and watching videos on our phones together, and then we'll go into the tent and do these absolutely horrific scenes.
But that was a way of also... Really, there's so much darkness and heaviness in this show and it would just be too much, just for me personally, to just stay in that all the time. So I think balancing the light of having a bit of fun, and then the darkness of the world and what these characters go through, is really important.
Obviously, I had a really great chat with Justine Gillmer, who is one of our writers, and Rafe Judkins, our showrunner, about this episode, particularly as Egwene gets stripped naked by three Whitecloaks with Valda watching them. And that was something that, obviously, needed to be handled quite sensitively. I think this violation shows just how relentless and awful these Whitecloaks are, particularly to women who they think can channel.
You get the brutality of the moment, without it feeling gratuitous.
MADDEN: Absolutely. That is something, that there's no glorification of violence or sexual violence in this for shock value. I think this is a story where there's no need for it. And there are ways that you can get that across, through brilliant filmmaking, the power of suggestive shots and implication and performance. And that can be really powerful like you said, that there isn't just this gruesome... yeah. There's none of that just for the sake of it, which I'm thankful for.
I definitely do feel, extreme as the scene is, and the places that it calls on you all as actors to go to, it is a moment that not only tests Perrin and Egwene's strength, but it also strengthens their friendship — because, I believe, she's the first person that Perrin tells about what happened with Laila.
MADDEN: Absolutely. This is something that Egwene has noticed. Everyone's noticed that there is this secret or this darkness within Perrin and we understand that this guilt has been killing him and eating him alive. And we know that when they get split up, obviously Perrin is physically larger and stronger than Egwene, but it's really her that is protecting him. They're each other's reason for surviving and they find hope within each other. I think, obviously, it's horrifying for Egwene to hear what has happened to Laila, and that it was at the hands of Perrin, but I think what really upsets her is seeing how broken he is and how much he blames himself and this guilt that he's been carrying by himself. And I think that him being able to trust her with this, this secret means a lot to Egwene, and she's fiercely loyal. And that's something that will always bond them.
I love that, towards the end, we get not just Perrin and Egwene's powers, the manifestation moment under these extreme circumstances. But it's also juxtaposed with that really great scene of Nynaeve speaking to Rand about how badass Egwene is, how she's unbreakable.
MADDEN: Absolutely. Yeah. That's a massive testament to Zoë's [Robins] performance and her ability to storytell. Hearing that story about Egwene as a child, and how unbreakable she is and determined that something that's always existed within her, she will continue to have for the rest of her life. For me, that was a really crucial element to understanding Egwene and realizing how determined she is, ever since she was a child. And so I think that's something really inspiring. She is literally unbreakable and a force to be reckoned with.
Episodes 1 through 5 of The Wheel of Time are available to stream now on Prime Video, with new episodes releasing weekly every Friday.