How Wheel Of Time Changes What The Eye Of The World Is

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Wheel of Time season 1, episode 6.

The Wheel of Time episode 6 reveals that Amazon’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s books has made a significant change to what the Eye of the World really is. The Eye of the World was the final destination of Moiraine’s group in the first novel, as well as the book’s title. It served an important role in Wheel of Time’s Dragon Reborn story.

The TV series took a big step toward the first book’s ending when Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) reassembled the group to complete her search for the true Dragon Reborn. With Loial (Hammed Animashaun) acting as a guide, the group will now use the Ways invented by the Ogier race to reach the Eye of the World. Moiraine believes that what comes next will lead to a great revelation regarding the Dragon Reborn’s identity. With two episodes remaining in Wheel of Time season 1, it’s become apparent that the season’s conclusion will be in line with the timeline of the first novel, which culminated in an epic battle at the Eye of the World.

While reaching the Eye of the World being their next goal is accurate to the books, how Moiraine defines it in Wheel of Time episode 6 is fundamentally different from the original story. When questioned by Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), Moiraine called it the Dark One’s prison. According to her, this is where the last Dragon defeated the villain. What’s so striking about this explanation is that it doesn’t come close to what the Eye of the World is in Jordan’s books. It was described in the source material as a pool of pure saidin (the male half of the One Power).

It was explained in the Wheel of Time books that the Eye of the World was created after the Dark One’s decision to corrupt saidin. Somewhere in the Blight (the northern region of Wheel of Time’s world that was tainted by the Dark One’s power), the male and female Aes Sedai hid a well of saidin within a hill. Their intention was for it to be found by the Dragon Reborn, who could then use it to channel the One Power without having to rely on tainted saidin. This place was guarded by a mysterious plant-like character known as the Green Man.

Based on what Moraine said in Wheel of Time episode 6, it’s possible that the show is combining two major locations from the books, the Eye of the World and Shayol Ghul. Shayol Ghul is the place where the Dark One was imprisoned by the Dragon (Lews Therin). It too is located in the Blight, but it isn’t connected to the Eye of the World. As for what this means for TheWheel of Time season 1’s ending, it’s still possible for the Eye of the World to fill a similar role to the one it had in the books (even if the Dark One isn’t supposed to be there). In the original version of the story, this is where Moiraine figured out which one of the Two Rivers villagers is the Dragon Reborn. If Moiraine’s warning in episode 6 is any indication, going to the Eye of the World should finally answer the Dragon Reborn mystery, especially if there’s pure saidin hidden there for the character in question to channel.

The Wheel of Time releases new episodes on Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.

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