This article contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time season 3, episode 4.
The Wheel of Timeseason 3, episode 4 answers a huge mystery from the books that I never quite expected to see on screen. Previous seasons ofThe Wheel of Timeintroduced a nomadic group known as the Tuatha’an, wanderers who followed the pacifist philosophy of the Way of the Leaf. Sometimes called the “Tinkers,“the Tuatha’an are desperate to (re)discover a song that had been lost, one they believe will restore the world.
The Wheel of Timeepisode 4 saw Rand al’Thor walk between theglass columns of Rhuidean, powerful ter’angreal that allowed him to see the ancienthistory of the Aiel. It seems the AIel once followed the Way of the Leaf, but ultimately chose to abandon it in order to defend themselves from bandits. The Aiel and the Tuatha’an were once one and the same - and, as he explored the past,Rand unknowingly stumbled upon the song the Tuatha’an revere.
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The glass columns of Rhuidean allow anyone who walks between them to experience the fall of the Aiel, the source of their ancient shame and the reason they are known as oath-breakers by theAes Sedai. As Rand learns, the Aiel were once peaceful harvesters who worked the fields, and who sang a beautiful song as they labored in peace. This was the time before the Breaking of the World, when all seemed suffused with hope rather than violence.
In Robert Jordan’s original novels, Rand does indeed hear a song being sung by the ancient Tuatha’an - butnot until he’s walked between the glass columns several times, learning more history on each occasion. Jordan himself did indeed confirm that the song was the one the Tinkers are seeking, andThe Wheel of Timehas essentially accelerated Rand’s journey of discovery. Somehow, I never actually thought I’d get to hear the Song.
How The Song Of The Tuatha’an Was Lost
Naturally, this raises a curious question; how was the Song of the Tuatha’an lost? As Rand sees, Lanfear’s experiments with the One Power were responsible for unleashing the Dark One, resulting in the Breaking of the World. The Tuatha’an must have been forced to leave their fields, and they simply had no reason to sing the song of growing again. The song has therefore become symbolic, representing a place for the nomads to settle in peace, something they have not known since the Breaking.
Wheel Of Time Season 3’s Rhuidean Episode Confirms A Massive Change To Mat’s Story
The Wheel of Time’s adaptation of The Shadow Rising’s Rhuidean sequence was fairly book-accurate, barring the changes to Mat Cauthon’s story.
Viewed through this lens,the Song the Tuatha’an seek is more symbolic than it is real. It represents their deepest longing, a belief that one day the world will be put to right once again, and the Dark One will be vanquished. The Aiel have forgotten the song completely; they have suppressed their memories of the past out of shame for the breaking of their oaths. The Tuatha’an must have constantly told tales of home, but they gradually forgot what the song had sounded like.
Why Finding The Song Is So Important To The Tuatha’an
Brandon Sanderson completed Jordan’sWheel of Timeseries after the author’s sad passing, and he has revealed the Tinkers will never actually discover the Song. The core problem is that the Song has grown into something far greater than the one Rand heard; as Jordan apparently once put it, “the memories of that song and others like it have become merged, over the years, into the concept of one mystical Song.“The Song has become something unattainable and impossible, representing a perfection of the world that can never truly be.
Sanderson addressed this in a now-deleted discussion on Twitter back in 2013. “The Tinker ‘Song’ is an ideal that goes far beyond any song that has actually ever existed,” he explained. “Rand does not know The Song. Anything he’d try to teach them, they would not accept as The Song.“No song could ever actually represent everything the Song has come to mean for the Tinkers- a thing of nostalgia as well as promise, a song that transforms the world.
There’s something quite tragic in this. It means the Tuatha’an now wander the world in search of a song that never existed and never will, and they wouldn’t even recognize the true song if it were sung in front of their faces. Jordan’sThe Wheel of Timeis always a tale of such fantastic depth, and this only adds to it.
