The Wheel of Time season 2 may add a sixth ta’veren to the core cast of characters – Elayne Trakand. As pointed out by Padan Fain (Johann Myers) in the season 1 finale, there are five confirmed ta’veren in Amazon’s Wheel of Time show. However, the series could be adding one more to the mix in the very near future.
“Ta’veren” is a complex and important term in Wheel of Time’s world. According to Fain, ta’veren are “focal points for the Wheel”. Essentially, a ta’veren is a person who possesses the unique ability to influence the future. The Wheel weaves life-threads around them, thus enabling them to create massive changes in the Pattern and heavily impact the fates of the people around them. The significance of being ta’veren is reflected by how rare they are, which is why Fain was so surprised to discover that the Two Rivers village was the home of not one, but five of them. In the show, Rand (Josha Stradowski), Mat (Barney Harris), Perrin (Marcus Rutherford), Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), and Egwene (Madeleine Madden) are all counted as ta’veren.
When Wheel of Time returns, a sixth character could be established as ta’veren. Confirmed to join the series in season 2 is Ceara Coveney’s Elayne, the daughter-heir of Andor and one of Rand’s three main love interests in Jordan’s books. She wasn’t a ta’veren in the source material, but previous changes made to the story indicate that things will be a bit different for her in Amazon’s adaptation. It’s important to note that in the books, Nynaeve and Egwene weren’t ta’veren either. Possibly in the interest of putting more emphasis on their importance to the story, the show gave them ta’veren status. And based on how Elayne fits into what comes next, it makes sense for her to be ta’veren as well.
In the Wheel of Time books, Elayne is the third member of a major trio of female characters, with the other two being Egwene and Nynaeve. Once Elayne left the royal palace and arrived at the White Tower to receive Aes Sedai training, she befriended the two women and embarked on a number of adventures with them throughout the books. She was almost immediately lumped into the same category as the other two characters, who were considered to be among the most powerful female channelers the Aes Sedai had ever encountered.
When looking at the direction the show is taking with Egwene and Nynaeve being ta’veren, it won’t be surprising at all if Amazon’s The Wheel of Time show makes the same change to Elayne when it introduces her in season 2. Similar to the two aforementioned protagonists, Elayne left a major mark on the story and played a vital role in the battle against the Dark One and the Forsaken. It’s for this reason that the series making her ta’veren won’t feel like too big of a deviation from Jordan’s story.