Wheel Of Time: What Was The Point Of Faking Loial’s Death?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Wheel of Time season 1, episode 8.

Contrary to what it looked like, The Wheel of Time only pretended to kill off Loial (Hammed Animashaun). In the season 1 finale, Padan Fain (Johann Myers) seemingly dealt the fan-favorite character a fatal stab wound. However, Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins has confirmed that the Ogier isn’t actually dead.

While it kept the original identity of the Dragon Reborn and a few other major events, Wheel of Time season 1 was littered with significant changes to Robert Jordan’s award-winning books. It made Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) and Egwene (Madeleine Madden) ta’veren, expanded The Eye of the World’s focus to other characters, made it possible for the Dragon to be female, and more. And with the way it ended each main character’s story, the Wheel of Time season 1 finale opened the door for several to receive new or heavily altered arcs in Wheel of Time season 2. Interestingly though, the most glaring change in the episode turned out to be nothing more than a fakeout. Considering how important he was to Jordan’s books, what happened to Loial emerged as one of the episode’s biggest talking points.

Wheel of Time faking out viewers and almost immediately revealing the ruse in an interview with Judkins raises questions about why the show bothered to go there at all. Since the Wheel of Time characters barely know Loial at this point, it clearly had nothing to do with the emotional impact it would have on Moiraine’s group. However, it’s certainly true that it did mean something to those who read the books, which points to the real reason it was included. As noted above, Loial is so integral to the novels that killing him off would have fundamentally changed Jordan’s story. In other words, the show’s very intention was to prompt a response from book fans, who were predictably alarmed by the apparent death of a key character.

Loial’s death won’t stick, but nevertheless, this moment allowed Amazon’s Wheel of Time show accomplish an important goal. By allowing viewers to think Loial was dead (even if it was only a short-lived perception of the scene), Wheel of Time succeeded in creating the impression that it was willing to make major deviations to the source material and write its own story. Up until the finale, there was very little reason for book readers to be concerned about the fates of the show’s main characters, especially at such an early point in the story. As Judkins pointed out in an interview, the fakeout with Loial helped make people “emotionally prepared” for real character deaths in future seasons [via EW].

Despite the fact that the series isn’t following through with its Loial tease, it’s possible that the Wheel of Time finale will generate more tension and excitement surrounding some of its beloved characters going forward. Since Loial didn’t die, it remains to be seen if the show really will kill off a character as important as him. If and when such a change ever happens, it’ll undoubtedly launch all sorts of discussions about The Wheel of Time’s story and lead to much greater levels of uncertainty about its characters’ futures.

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