‘The Wheel of Time’ Recap: ‘Blood Calls Blood’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘The Wheel of Time’.
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Something that is genuinely fascinating about fantasy adaptations, is that they truly tend to lean heavy into the majesty and wonder of the worlds they bring to life on the small or silver screen, and it makes sense as to why. After all, this is it, the audience’s chance to see the incredible landscapes and creatures that were relegated to imagination for ages on end… so why not let loose and show us everything we’ve dreamed of? But while that does make for some epic moments for certain and a visual feast, there is a slight flaw in going this route. In that, sometimes sticking with the hardcore fantasy elements in an adaptation… removes the human element from the equation. 
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Because a big reason that fantasy is so popular, is because it really does find a way to reflect upon the human condition. A feat that is often accomplished in this genre by allowing for us to share in some supremely intimate moments with the dynamic characters that populate these stories. Granted, that’s not to say there isn’t depth and complexity to the characters in other fantasy adaptations… but they simply don’t go as deep as the books do and it would seem, that the team behind The Wheel of Time, is looking to change that. For the next episode in this fascinating and dynamic series, figured out a way to inject some powerful humanity into this grand and sweeping world and one way it pulled that off, was by adding a supremely relatable concept into the fabric of this episode… grief.

For when we catch up with Moiraine and Lan and Nynaeve in ‘Blood Calls Blood’, they’ve arrived at last at Tar Valon and are eager to enter the White Tower to figure out the next steps for Nynaeve… and to grieve for their fallen friends. An act that Stepin struggles with mightily since he and Kerene were so incredibly close. Which means that for a great deal of time in this tale, he’s listless and broken and in a dark place and that made for some powerful and tragic moments. The kind that we can relate to on a fundamental level since grief is something we will all experience at some point. But we would be remiss to not point out that this journey also reminded us of grief's dangers. Since Stepin couldn’t survive its power, and eventually took his own life and well, while this was a tragic and devastating plot line for certain… it really did add depth and gravity and realism to this story since there are some in this world who lose themselves to grief and it did accurately portray its power.

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But what was amazing, is that this episode’s quest to inject real humanity into this story, didn’t end there. For while grief surged through the Tower, Rand and Mat did their best to collect their bearings in the city below… with mixed results. For they were worn down and emotionally broken over their journey and over the fact that not everyone in their party completed it. Since Thom died somewhere along the way and what made their journey so striking and relatable, is the sheer fact that they are lost and worried about what comes next. Which we all go through that when we’ve sacrificed a great deal for a goal that we aren’t sold on, and we too just sometimes need to live in the moment and let our minds process everything that’s happened so we can figure out a way forward, and kudos to the show for injecting so much realism into both of these storylines since it genuinely helped to attach us to these characters.
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However, while that was refreshing and intimate for certain, this is still a fantasy story and big moments are indeed a given in this world and Perrin and Egwene took part in those. For they found themselves in quite the harrowing situation in this tale, courtesy of the Children of the Light. Because these brutal purists stopped the Tinkers mere miles from the city and once Child Valda noticed some old friends, he brought them into his fold and demanded they channel for him or face some twisted consequences. Since he was convinced, they could harness the One Power and well… he came to regret that demand. For his torture of the both of them, did indeed allow for them to tap into the One Power and show him their ability to wield it. Which thankfully, allowed for them escape and once again… we are left with more questions than answers regarding this story.

For now, we have to worry about Perrin, since his ability to channel could in fact drive him mad and of course… if Egwene can channel as well, is she the Dragon Reborn or merely talented and well, while we wait to receive answers to those questions… we can bask in the wonder of one quality tale. One that really did do the seemingly impossible and add wonderful depth and meaning and drama to a medium that sometimes forgets to keep that rolling and oddly enough… the intimacy present here really does compel the viewer to continue this journey. So that we can see how these powerful moments will grow these characters and how that growth will play into the challenges that lie ahead in the weeks to come. Until next time.

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