More power to her
New Zealand Listener|August 26, September 1 2023
Lower Hutt's Zoë Robins takes a prominent role in the second series of fantasy epic The Wheel of Time.
RUSSELL BAILLIE
More power to her

The first episodes in the second season of Amazon Prime's other fantasy world epic, The Wheel of Time, deliver some revelations.

First, Rima Te Wiata is in it. She's Sheriam Bayanar, the "Mistress of Novices", a mother superior figure to the young women aspiring to become Aes Sedai. They are channellers of the One Power, the cosmic energy having proved problematic to males with a spark for channelling. Generally speaking, it drives them mad, bad or both. The Aes Sedai, though, bring a female balance to the Force, sorry, the One Power.

It's Te Wiata's first northern hemisphere screen role in the production, which shoots in Prague and the Canary Islands. Dressed in blue, she looks very regal.

Second, the show has got better. The first series based on Robert Jordan's 14 books, which have sold some 90 million copies, certainly may have pleased his many readers, or entertained those with a forgiving love for mildly violent and occasionally sexy though still slightly YA high-fantasy telly. But it wasn't exactly the new Game of Thrones.

It felt like a curtain-raiser for the platform's bigger fantasy deal, The Power of the Ring. Though where that Tolkien extrapolation had Orcs, The Wheel of Time has the not-at-all-related-but-just-as-ugly Trollocs.

Third revelation? Our very own Zoë Robins, possibly Lower Hutt's biggest acting export since Anna Paquin, has a lot to do in this one. More so than the first. If this was another world, her character's surname would be Skywalker or Stark. Which isn't bad considering her character, Nynaeve al'Meara, almost died in her channelling efforts in the big showdown at the end of season one. She was at the middle of a very big, very long One Power-surge.

This story is from the August 26, September 1 2023 edition of New Zealand Listener.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the August 26, September 1 2023 edition of New Zealand Listener.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM NEW ZEALAND LISTENERView All
First-world problem
New Zealand Listener

First-world problem

Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Applying intelligence to AI
New Zealand Listener

Applying intelligence to AI

I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Nazism rears its head
New Zealand Listener

Nazism rears its head

Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Staying ahead of the game
New Zealand Listener

Staying ahead of the game

Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?

time-read
4 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Grasping the nettle
New Zealand Listener

Grasping the nettle

Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Hangry? Eat breakfast
New Zealand Listener

Hangry? Eat breakfast

People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Chemical reaction
New Zealand Listener

Chemical reaction

Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.

time-read
4 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Me and my guitar
New Zealand Listener

Me and my guitar

Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Time is on my side
New Zealand Listener

Time is on my side

Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?

time-read
7 mins  |
September 9, 2024
The kids are not alright
New Zealand Listener

The kids are not alright

Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.

time-read
4 mins  |
September 9, 2024