SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time season 3 episodes 3 & 4.The Wheel of Timeseason three has arguably brought moments from Robert Jordan’s iconic fantasy book series to life more faithfully than the two seasons that preceded it. In episodes 3 and 4, the series adapted fan-favorite moments and sequences like Mat’s quarterstaff spar against the royal family of Andor and Rand’s journey through the history of the Aiel in the sacred city of Rhuidean. While some changes were made to both of those sequences, they kept intact the core of what made them standout moments in Jordan’s booksThe Dragon RebornandThe Shadow Rising.
One commonality between both of those moments is that they were brought to the screen by director Thomas Napper. Napper is a veteran of the series, having directedThe Wheel of Timeseason 2episodes 1 and 2. Napper’s rapport with actors like Dónal Finn (Mat) and Josha Stradowski (Rand) helped take those scenes to new heights and create a strong sense of payoff for book fans and newcomers to this world alike.
ScreenRantspoke with Thomas Napper about his work directingThe Wheel of Timeseason 3’s standout episode 4and its predecessor. Napper shared the immense amount of work that went into bringing Rand’s Rhuidean journey to life and reflected on the casting of Marcus Rutherford and Dónal Finn as Aiel in that episode. Plus, Napper revealed how instrumental he was in casting Dónal Finn as Mat, and what he hopes to see from the actor moving forward.
Regarding His Current Book: “I Desperately Want To See That On The Screen”
Image via Prime Video
Director Thomas Napper isn’t as far throughThe Wheel of Timebook series as you might imagine, but it’s for a very specific reason, he said in conversation:“I choose to stay close to where we are.”But for what he has read–especially as it pertained to directing the soon-to-be fan favoriteThe Wheel of Timeseason 3 episode 4, Napper went deep:“I listened to ‘The Road to the Spear’ and ‘The Dedicated’ probably about 30 times.”
That’s because, in Napper’s words,“I couldn’t understand it. And I’d read the book, but when Rafe said, ‘We’d like you to do episode four’ and I got the script, I was like, ‘Oh, gosh. I need to go back and really understand what’s going on here.’ And it took me ages before I felt like ‘I get it’, but then when I got it, I was like, ‘How are we going to do this? How is this going to work?’”
That said, althoughThe Wheel of Timeseason 4 has not been confirmed, Napper is currently reading Jordan’s follow-up toThe Shadow Rising:“I am currently reading The Fires of Heaven because I wanted to get ahead of The Shadow Rising. Obviously, that depends on what happens, [but] I desperately want to see that on screen.”
Josha Stradowski Was The Key To Inviting Audiences Into Episode 4
“The Thing That I Felt Was Most Important … Was Josha”
“The thing that I felt was most important, fundamentally, to all [of the episode] was Josha,”Napper said about episode 4, which took Rand al’Thor back through the eyes of his ancestors to cover thousands of years of history.“In the books, they are separate characters,”the director said,“but Rand can feel the world through their eyes, and he sees through their eyes. I love the idea that his feet become their feet and his hands become their hands. That felt, to me, like the touchstone”
Honing Josha’s performance was about far more than nailing the lines, with the actor and director figuring out how to link the many characters Stradowski played as much as possible.“‘There’s still going to be some Rand in there, but you are going to get to step through their steps’,”the director revealed he said to Stradowski,“That was the first thing we ever talked about.”
“What is [the character] doing when that happens? What’s the physical position of this person?”Napper wondered when shooting the scenes. This was key, as physical movements helped create clear transitions between characters.“At the end of the first one, he looks at his hands and he’s got blood on his hands,”the director continued,“He’d been touching Tigraine, and then he screams and looks up, and we matched the scream. We did a link through the action so that we knew [what] these windows were going to be.”
Different prosthetics and wardrobe options were designed to help Stradowski give his best performance, but even then, Napper said,“That was quite scary at the beginning because it was quite a big task to give to Josha.”Thankfully for audiences,“He was committed to it,”the director said:“He wanted it so badly, to kind of spread his wings, and we felt the same.”
There was one subtle choice inThe Wheel of Timeseason 3 episode 4 that could have had huge ramifications for the series’ lore. During one of the flashback sequences, young Aiel with striking resemblances to Mat and Perrin–played by Ferdinand McKay and Kiren Kebaili-Dwyer, respectively–were shown to be companions of one of Rand’s ancestors. Given thatThe Wheel of Timeis known for having a deep and rich in-world history, the show could have been teasing a longer connection between Rand and his best friends. But, in the words of Thomas Napper,“I think that was just a bit of fun, really.”
“I mean, Rafe was really keen for there to be an echo, but not to be right on the nose. [Those are] different characters, and I think there’s a distinction between Rand going back through his ancestors and the other idea of the show, which was past lives. I think it was quite important [with Rand] not to feel that it was the kind of Lews Therin past lives version of The Wheel of Time–that it was this direct throughline on his ancestors. It’s like a crazy psychedelic history lesson.”
Napper Was Key To Getting Dónal Finn Cast As Mat
“That Was Kind Of One Of My Main Challenges”
When asked about the experience of bringing a beloved Mat moment to life inThe Wheel of Timeseason 3 episode 3, Napper went even farther back, revealing he was instrumental to Dónal Finn taking over the role from Barney Harris after the latter had to quit production of season 1 late in the process:“To be honest, when he was recast, I was involved in that process.”
“I was starting season 2 at the beginning,”Napper said,“[and] that was kind of one of my main challenges–to find the new Mat, obviously working with the team and Rafe and Justine [Juel Gillmer] and Marigo [Kehoe] to do that.” But I was involved in all the castings and directing the scenes with Dónal. I think he’s a fantastic actor. I think Dónal’s, like, the perfect Mat. He’s so funny, but he’s also quicksilver. He’s got an amazing energy and personality–[he’s] really, really fun to be with. He feels very Mat. I want to go dicing with him.”
The director also shared the tipping point in his decision to advocate for Finn’s casting, saying,“When he came to Prague to do chemistry casting, that was where it was really clear.”Casting for the season, was“all during the Covid times,”so it was mostly remote:“Remote casting is obviously really helpful … but when I was in the room with Dónal, I just had the feeling that he was the one, and I know Rafe had it as well.”
As for directing Mat’s sparring match against the princes of Andor, Napper was thrilled:“I know that scene with Gawyn and Galad is a fan favorite and people were really looking forward to it. That’s an honor, to get to actually do the quarterstaff scene and kick their Andoran butts, as we say, and also to have Nyneave there watching, being slightly impressed with Matt’s skills.”
Napper Reveals One Thing He Wants From Mat In The Wheel Of TIme
“I Can’t Wait To Do More With Dónal”
“I would love to do more with Dónal,’Napper said while reflecting on the actor’s casting, continuing,“I saw him in the theater in London years before he did the show, and he’s immensely talented. He’s just done Hadestown in London [and] absolutely smashed it.”Then, Napper revealed the one thing he wants Finn to do on the show:“We need him to sing in the show please. He’s got some serious pipes.”
New episodes ofThe Wheel of Timeseason 3 release Thursdays on Prime Video.
The Wheel of Time
Cast
The Wheel of Time follows Moiraine, a member of the powerful all-female organization Aes Sedai, as she leads a perilous quest with five young individuals. Moiraine suspects one among them could be the prophesized reincarnation of a mighty figure destined to either save or doom humanity.
