Wheel Of Time Season 3's Shocking Character Death Explains A Weird S1 Moment

The Wheel of Timeseason 3's most recent episode ended with a shocking character death, and it harkens back to a bizarre moment from season 1. The Wheel of Time season 3, episode 7's ending saw Loial dying to protect the Two Rivers from Trolloc reinforcements, sacrificing his life to destroy the Waygate from the inside. The heroic choice saved the day, resulting in Padan Fain's defeat at the hands of Perrin, Alanna, Faile, and the rest, but it was a surprising moment for those who have read the books.

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books are immense, with fifteen volumes and millions of words. In that magnitude of story, it's much more possible to provide time for an enormous cast of characters. The Wheel of Time season 3's cast, on the other hand, shares time across eight-hour seasons of television with numerous pivotal events that book readers are expecting. With that comes an expectation that the series will have premature deaths, with characters like Loial passing long before their book counterparts.

Loial's Fate Explains Why The Show Faked His Death In Season 1

Loial's Death Was Meant To Prepare Audiences For Actual Premature Deaths

The Wheel of Time got off to a rocky start, with season 1 being met with mixed reviews. "The Eye of the World" adapted the climactic events of Robert Jordan's novel of the same name but with a hefty number of changes, including a seemingly fatal injury to Loial. However, as many fans have noted and poked fun at, Loial returned in the season 2 premiere as if he was never harmed. This was to be expected as, speaking with CBRafter the finale aired, showrunner Rafe Judkins shared that Loial wasn't dead, saying:

Essentially, Rafe's claim was that, though Loial wasn't dead then, viewers should prepare themselves for unexpected deaths, with the series diverting drastically from its source material. This quote is rather bizarre, as though there might be practical reasons for killing off a prosthetic-heavy character like Loial to make room for other cast members; killing off characters just to trigger emotions from book fans is bound to rub viewers the wrong way. That said, no one can say they weren't warned now that Loial has actually been killed off. This is precisely what he was hinting at.

This Wheel of Time Season 3 Character Was Supposed To Be The Real Villain Of Perrin's Two Rivers Story

As impressive as the Battle of Two Rivers may have been, The Wheel of Time appears to have cut the main villain - with massive implications for Perrin

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Season 1's Fakeout Makes It More Likely That Loial Is Really Dead This Time

It Would Be Insane To Fake Loial's Death Twice

If there's one thing that can be said about the Loial fakeout death in season 1, it's that they wouldn't do it twice. At least, I hope not. There's a possible way for Loial to return somewhere down the line, but if he were to show up in the season 4 premiere unscathed, it would be a pretty egregious play on audiences' (particularly book fans') emotions. Loial is likely gone for the time being in The Wheel of Time.