By all indications, The Wheel of Time season 3 is secretly an adaptation of not one, but three books in the series. Both the setup for the story in The Wheel of Time season 2’s ending and the marketing indicated that it would bring The Shadow Rising to life on the small screen. And while that notion is not disputed by the third season’s first three episodes, it’s starting to look like the scope of the season is much greater than originally anticipated.

The fourth installment in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time book series, The Shadow Rising took Rand deep into the home of his ancestors, brought Perrin back to the Two Rivers, and sent Nynaeve and Elayne on a hunt for the Black Ajah. All three of these storylines have been set in motion, and are on track to receive significant attention going forward in the remaining episodes. However, there are also signs that season 3 has allowed room for the biggest plot points in two additional books.

The Wheel Of Time Season 3 Clearly Isn’t Just An Adaptation Of The Shadow Rising

The Dragon Reborn & The Fires Of Heaven Have A Huge Influence On Season 3

Certain developments in its first three episodes provide strong evidence that season 3 will cover book 3 (The Dragon Reborn), book 4 (The Shadow Rising), and book 5 (The Fires of Heaven). The series seemed to jump past The Dragon Reborn when it had Rand choose going to the Aiel Waste over Tear, as the Aiel Waste is the setting of book 4 and Tear is his ultimate destination in book 3. That said, there was significant discussion of Tear and the importance of Rand eventually going there to claim Callandor, which strengthens the long-held theory that it’ll be visited sooner rather than later.

This demonstrates that instead of skipping The Dragon Reborn, the show has simply altered the chronology of events. The book version of Rand took the Stone of Tear and claimed Callandor in The Dragon Reborn before heading for the Aiel Waste in The Shadow Rising, whereas his TV counterpart looks set to earn the title of Car’a’carn first, and pursue Callandor once he has an army to back him.

The Stone of Tear isn’t the only part of The Dragon Reborn that’s seemingly getting roped into season 3’s story. There’s also the matter of Rahvin and his conspiracy to take the Lion Throne from Queen Morgase. The books began this plotline in The Dragon Reborn with Mat Cauthon visiting Caemlyn and finding out the secret plans of “Lord Gaebril,” but the consequences of this didn’t drive the main story until The Fires of Heaven, given that it was overlooked completely by The Shadow Rising. From the looks of things, season 3 will differ from The Shadow Rising in that respect.

If this means that Rahvin and his efforts to oust Morgase will play a significant role in season 3, that’ll pave the way for The Wheel of Time to advance all the way through The Fires of Heaven.

Season 3 has only released three episodes, and yet it’s already clear that Gaebril is one of Wheel of Time’s Forsaken and that he’s using Compulsion on Morgase. If this means that Rahvin and his efforts to oust Morgase will play a significant role in season 3, that’ll pave the way for The Wheel of Time to advance all the way through The Fires of Heaven. After all, Rahvin was the main antagonist of the book.

Why Wheel Of Time Combining Books 3, 4, & 5 Would Be A Good Move

The Wheel Of Time Can Quickly Advance Through The Books’ Timeline

On the surface, packing three books into one season may not seem like a reasonable approach, but given the circumstances, such a move would make a lot of sense. First of all, The Wheel of Time has 14 books to cover, and devoting a season to each like it did with its first two seasons was not a formula the show could maintain consistently, especially when eight seasons feels like the maximum number the show could reach. Combining books runs the risk of the show missing out on fan-favorite moments, but in the long run, it’s the most practical method of ensuring the entire story gets told.

What’s more, the specific combination that season 3 seems to be going for is one that’s not incredibly difficult to pull off. Rand’s biggest contribution to The Dragon Reborn is its ending, given that he’s missing for most of the book. What happens at the Stone of Tear is the most important development in the book, and if it gets its due in season 3, it won’t necessarily need a full-season adaptation.

Something similar can be said of The Fires of Heaven. Nynaeve and Elayne’s arc is essentially “part two” of their Shadow Rising story, and Perrin missed out on that book entirely. Because of this, it may not be necessary for The Wheel of Time to commit to an eight-episode adaptation of the book in season 4. It would be more practical for it to take the developments it deems essential to the narrative and work them into season 3, thus enabling season 4 to move on to book 6 (Lord of Chaos) or book 7 (A Crown of Swords).

How Covering All Three Books Could Work For The Wheel Of Time Season 3

Of course, getting through all three books in one season would come with a multitude of challenges, but there are ways for it to be implemented. For Perrin, the most important thing that happened in The Dragon Reborn was meeting Faile Bashere, and season 3 has already made that happen. How her relationship with Perrin developed in The Dragon Reborn can be reworked so that it occurs in the context of The Shadow Rising’s events.

Another example is Nynaeve and Elayne’s story; since their arc in The Fires of Heaven also focuses heavily on Moghedien, season 3 can speed up the timeline so that the entire ordeal is covered within season 3. That could keep things streamlined, and perhaps enable both to be on hand for a final confrontation with Rahvin – not unlike what happened at the end of The Fires of Heaven. Rahvin could ultimately be what bridges all three stories together, with him being the one Rand has to face at season’s conclusion..

Having Rand to unite the Aiel, take Callandor from the Stone of Tear, and battle Rahvin all in the span of eight episodes certainly seems messy, but the One Power ability known as Traveling makes this scenario feasible. If Rand learns to Travel (teleportation), he can accomplish a great deal in a short timeframe in The Wheel of Time.