The Wheel of Time season 2 could feature all five of Rand’s love interests. Three principal figures in the Wheel of Time’s world drive Rand’s love story in Robert Jordan’s books, with two others also serving as short-term romantic interests for the character. So far, two of the five have already been introduced in Amazon’s adaptation of Jordan’s novels.
For the most part, Rand’s romantic woes revolve around Elayne Trakand, Aviendha, and Min Farshaw. Of the three, only one - Min - has been used in the show, albeit not as a love interest for Rand. For now, Josha Stradowski’s character only has eyes for Egwene. In the books, though, Rand quickly moves on from Egwene, allowing the books to develop a complex romantic plot that sees Rand fall for three different women, eventually sharing feelings for all of them at the same time. Presumably, the TV series will approach this aspect of Rand al’Thor’s story at some point or another in the show’s future.
Wheel of Time Is Setting Up 3 More Rand Love Interests For Season 2
Wheel of Time may already be headed in that direction. Details regarding its future suggest all five of his love interests will be on hand in some capacity in season 2 alone. Ceara Coveney and Ayoola Smart have been cast as Elayne and Aviendha respectively. There’s also the matter of Selene a.k.a Lanfear, whose introduction was set up by a Wheel of Time season 2 trailer. Talk of the Dark One’s “strongest leftenant” being set free alongside a shot of a woman’s bloody arm suggests that Lanfear, one of the Forsaken, is about to burst onto the scene. Before emerging as a villain, Lanfear presents herself as a love interest to Rand during the events of the second book and goes by the name “Selene.”
Based on these details, The Wheel of Time may have multiple romantic plotlines involving Rand to juggle in season 2. The second book, The Great Hunt, avoided this issue by having Rand slowly get over Egwene, who was depicted as a longtime crush of the character. During his journey to find the Horn of Valere, there was a suggestion of a potential romance between him and Selene, but this dynamic didn’t last. As for the others, romance didn’t blossom until much later, with Rand forming a relationship with Elayne in the beginning of the fourth book.
Wheel of Time’s Story Changes Risk A Huge Romance Problem
In comparison to the source material, Amazon’s take on the story may have a more difficult time keeping Rand’s relationship issues from becoming a mess. The books didn’t let his love story with Egwene grow beyond romantic tension and a betrothal that was implied but never set in stone, whereas the show quickly turned it into a much more serious romance. On account of this change, dropping it and moving on to new love interests for Rand will be more challenging than it needed to be.
Making things more complicated is the fact that Aviendha is showing up in Wheel of Time season 2, in spite of the character not joining the books until the end of the third installment. Rand meeting Aviendha and possibly reuniting with Min will be problematic if Egwene, Elayne, and Selene are already in the equation. To avoid a massive problem, The Wheel of Time will be best served by keeping some of these characters’ stories separate from Rand’s until it properly ends his romance with Egwene and whatever attraction he may have to Selene.