‘The Wheel of Time’ – “A Place of Safety” – Review
We’re at full speed now with Amazon Prime’s The Wheel of Time, and things and moving fast. Our heroes are now spread out, cast aside from one another and facing darkness at every turn. And it’s everything a fantasy fan could want to see.
Building off of the explosive ending of Episode Two, “Shadow’s Waiting”, Episode Three of The Wheel of Time, “A Place Of Safety” starts off with a bang and delivers one hell of a bold and bloody opening. Rising Kiwi star Zoë Robins is in the thick of all of it as Nynaeve al’Meara, and it’s one hell of an epic scene that evokes the raw power of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now in its setting and is my favourite moment of the series to date. Robins brings Nynaeve to life with a dramatic fierceness and she’s a solid firecracker here as Nynaeve.
Episode Three, “A Place of Safety” also introduces audiences to one of The Wheel of Time’s most important characters in the form of Thom Merrilin (Alexandre Willaume), a gleeman and very enigmatic character who knows far more of what is going on than he lets on about. Willaume gives Thom a rockstar edge to his performance, and channels in my mind the performance and style of the one and only Tom Waits in his performance here as Thom. His’ is an interesting role within the series and audiences will immediately take a liking to Willaume thanks to his performance.
“A Place Of Safety” is also important as it builds up more of the relationship that is shared between Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) her Warder and bodyguard al’Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney). We learn of their backstory together, and how they serve one another within this world. Henney especially has much to do in this episode as al’Lan lets his guard down around Robins’ Nynaeve and he again showcases a samurai’s calm and resolve as the great swordsman.
With some intense action, and strong character moments, “A Place of Safety” is another important chapter to The Wheel of Time and it takes us to a very interesting place as an audience.
The Wheel of Time streams on Amazon Prime on Fridays.
Image: Amazon Prime
