The Wheel of Time Season 1 Episode 2 review: Unexpected twist at the end will leave you craving for next episode

Story:

The fantasy series is based on Robert Jordan’s best-selling novels. Adapted for television by executive producer/showrunner Rafe Judkins, it stars Rosamund Pike, Josha Stradowski, Marcus Rutherford, Zoë Robins, Barney Harris, Madeleine Madden and Daniel Henney. The drama follows the story of Moiraine, played by Rosamund Pike, a member of a powerful all-female organisation Aes Sedai as she embarks on a journey to fight the Dark One's army with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the rebirth of the Dragon.   

Review:

The episode opens with Moiraine and others moving towards the East to reach the White Tower and take the help of Aes Sedai. Moiraine helps Egwene realise her power and channel it. Meanwhile, they are stopped by 'Children of light' or 'whitecloaks' and their questioner. The questioner is introduced as an evil person who cuts off Aes Sedai's hands, hangs and burns them and takes away their ring. He is seen drinking out of a brass wine glass with his blood-soaked hands.

The questioner inspects Moiraine and looks for her ring. But Moiraine's warder manages to take it away at the right time. Moiraine truthfully replies to whitecloaks about what happened and where they are headed. They are allowed to leave but the questioner gets suspicious. 

Moiraine and others manage to reach Shadar Logoth, an ancient city where Trolloc Army cannot enter. They take a sigh of relief as they found a refuge but Mat picks up a cursed dagger despite the warning not to touch anything and the entire city gets engulfed in darkness, forcing them to run for their lives and splitting the group. Moiraine is unable to hold it all together after she gets infected with Trolloc poison but her loyal warder tries to help her. 

The dark subtle tone throughout the series not only sets the period the story takes place in but also warns of constant danger in the lives of the five. 

But the makers missed a few continuity elements. In one of the long shots of the six riding towards the East to the White Tower, they used brown horses, while all the other scenes had black horses and a white one which Moiraine rides. Also, even though the series includes beautiful locations with massive sets of dilapidated buildings, some were evident to have been shot in the studio with visual effects.   

The story is fast-paced, trying to cover too many events from the book in an episode. However, the makers have managed to pack all action in such a way that one can follow the narrative well, at least until now.

Verdict:

The second episode is packed with a lot of tales but the twist at the end will get you to wonder what's going to happen next.