Big change in “The Wheel of Time”: Have 5(!) villains been removed from the fantasy series on Prime Video?

In the previous episodes of “The Wheel of Time” a lot of attention was paid to the Forsaken or Lost Ones, as they are called in the German translation. So Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) was shocked to discover that she and Rand (Josha Stradowski) had not defeated the Dark One in the Season 1 finale, but instead released the leader of the lost: Ishamael (Rates Rates).

He in turn freed the first of the other lost people at the beginning of episode 4 – and so it turned out at the end of the episode that Rand’s girlfriend Selene (Natasha O’Keeffe) is not a simple innkeeper, but in reality the Lost Lanfear. But who are the other Forsaken and how many actually appear in the “Wheel of Time” series? There was an important note about this in episode 5 of season 2:

Only 3 (instead of 5) females got lost?

In the conversation between Ishamael and Lanfear in Tel’aran’rhiod, the world of dreams, Lanfear mentions two of her colleagues: Moghedien is crazy, Graendal is stupid and the others would not achieve anything even under duress, she says in the German version. In the original version, however, she explicitly distinguishes the lost female Moghedien and Graendal from the others, whom she calls “the boys.”

This makes it clear: apparently in “The Wheel of Time” only three women were lost, viz Lanfear, Moghedien and Graendal. Semirhage and Mesaana were apparently removed during the customization process.

In Robert Jordan’s books, Mesaana goes undercover in the White Castle and the sadistic Semirhage is responsible for some of the most gruesome scenes, but it doesn’t seem impossible to do without both characters. Especially since “The Wheel of Time” showrunner Rafe Judkins has already indicated that the 14 parts of the original book will be adapted into just six to eight seasons.

Only 8 lost in total?

So instead of 13 Lost Ones like in the books, there would only be 11 Forsaken in the series. But that is not everything, because apparently the list of male lost people has also been significantly shortened: There was already a hint in season 1, episode 5 that there are “only” eight lost people in “The Wheel of Time” on Prime Video because there are eight small statues of the Forsaken were shown. However, there appear to be four male and four female lost people.

In the scene described above, Lanfear can obscure or forget one of her colleagues or rivals, after all, the Forsaken are also partly enemies among themselves. Or the numbers simply don’t add up, after all, many thousands of years have passed since the defeat of the Lost. In any case, it is clear that some of the male ones can also be removed quite easily:

Balthamel and Aginor play an important role, especially at the end of the first “Wheel of Time” book, which was heavily changed for the series. Since they didn’t appear there, they’re definitely out completely. Also the abandoned Bel’al or Rahvin can be painted or folded quite easily.

And there are clues that in “The Wheel of Time” you will find the lost one Asmodean who primarily acts as Rand’s teacher in the use of the One Power. This role in the series may be filled by Logain (Álvaro Morte).

We may find out more in the next episode: “The Wheel of Time” Season 2, Episode 6 will be released on September 22, 2023 on Amazon Prime Video.