Non show watcher, Im confused, all these vague posts about an ending of th season. I know the show has changed alot alot, but did they hve siuan die durng the lanfear moraine disappearance? Because thatll be a big departure if they exclude the stilling plot. I guess since they made them active lesbians, from what ive heard, they may give the stilling/garreth bryne subplot to a different character. sorry if im misunderstanding, just the posts have been pretty vague on what actually happened just people have strong feelings apparently
Hello! Sorry for vague-blogging, I think people were trying to not spoil the ending in case anyone didn't have a chance to watch it yet but it's been a few days so I'm sure the cat is out of the bag for most people that follow the series. (this ended up being longer than I anticipated but I do love to yap and this is one of my obsessions right now!)
Anyway, to answer you question, the show ended up killing off Siuan immediately following Elaida's Tower coup. This stirred up a lot of emotions for some people and there's been some people saying that now the show should be cancelled, or the show is playing into the "kill the gays" trope, or that they are just killing off POC characters etc etc... There is definitely a less positive vibe from Tumblr after the season 3 finale than before, but I will give you my thoughts on why I thought it was a good season finale, and you can parse them as you will.
It is definitely a big departure from the books, as you said, but it seems that they are setting up at least part of Siuan's post-stilling storyline to be continued on by Leanne (it was unclear in the season finale if she was actually stilled or just shielded, but it's fairly certain that she survived). The Gareth Brynne relationship would fit in well with Leanne's post-stilling storyline from the book series, as she became more interested in men and (if I'm remembering right) ended up choosing Green as her second ajah later on. I think it would add a really good martyr aspect to the rebel Aes Sedai/Salidar crew, and having Leanne be the rallying point would fit well.
Also the writing REALLY amped up the Moiraine/Siuan relationship from "pillow friends as novices" with maybe a little more subtext in the book series, to "in a committed relationship for 20+ years" in the show, and there are many wonderful, emotional scenes in the show that solidify this. To have Siuan follow the Gareth Brynne relationship arc after building up her relationship with Moiraine for three seasons would have been weird at best, and a big slap in the face to wlw relationships at worst. Another BIG thing to keep in mind is that it was confirmed that Sophie Okonedo (Who played Siuan), had other acting opportunities that she had to move on to, and they wanted to give her a well-written exit without just disappearing the character for 1-2 seasons without explanation.
A lot of people have fears that the show is using POC and LGBT characters as cannon fodder/convenient death plot advancement, and it is not a completely unreasonable fear. Most people in their late 20s/30s can remember when TV (in America at least, I can't speak for other countries) rarely had LGBT or POC characters, and the few characters that were shown were typically portrayed as comic relief, or stereotypical trope side characters, or characters that were killed off quickly to advance the plot for the straight white main characters. The fear that your queer/POC fav is going to die randomly is pretty deeply ingrained in a lot of people, and it's hard to shake off. That being said, I don't think that is happening with Wheel of Time AT ALL. For the entirety of season 3, there have been signs that the Moiraine/Siuan relationship was not going to end happily. Moiraine's visions in Rhuidean showed that only one possible turning of the wheel among dozens/hundreds of possibilities ended with her and Siuan happy together. Scenes at the tower have been showing that Siuan's approval was slipping and that Elaida wanted revenge for being overlooked when the Amyrlin was decided. Killing Siuan when they did cemented the Moiraine/Siuan relationship as being something worth dying for in the viewers mind, and they did it in such a powerful way that it felt much more uplifting of LGBT relationships than if they had just let it fizzle out to make way for another romance plot with Siuan/Gareth.
Siuan is not the only POC/LGBT death this season either, Loial was killed in Episode 7, and Ihvon in the season 3 premier. From what I gather, Emmanuel Imani (who played Ihvon) also had other work opportunities and had to move on from the show. The Ihvon/Alanna/Maksim poly relationship was excellent to see, and I am glad that they did not shy away from the poly representation. It was a real relationship that had real ups and downs, just like any relationship, and I thought they did it justice. Loial's death was unfortunate, but I can understand it from the plot of the books why it happened. He was a good character, but his story arc did not necessarily add a lot to the main plot. That being said, Hammed Animashaun did a wonderful job portraying him and suffered through what I can only imagine as hundreds of hours of makeup and prosthetic work to create the character.
The majority of the cast are POC, and that is huge, even today. I have posted previously about, as a young teen who grew up in a 95%+ white community, I just assumed when reading the books that pretty much everyone was white. That obviously doesn't make sense, as the books have characters from every corner of the WoT universe, and the characters travel all over the world. It says right in the beginning of The Eye of The World that the other folks in Emond's Field often commenting that Rand was only one around with light skin and red hair. That being said, characters die in the series. LOTS of characters die. And to say that none of the POC characters should be dying off because we need to keep representation in the show is just plain ridiculous. The death of a character doesn't erase their narrative in the series, or erase the actor's work, and certainly not every character is going to survive in a post-apocalyptic series.
I often have this conversation with my group of friends when an example comes up: a lot of people lack emotional maturity when consuming media. The Siuan situation and how some WoT fans have responded is an excellent example of this. Siuan was a fan favorite, and the moment she died, some people reacted as if the entire series was ruined. The series that they were SO excited about just one week ago for being an excellent adaptation from their favorite book series that they have read and enjoyed for years, that they loved because of the POC representation and the LGBT romances and the likeable, relatable character..... And they are ready to burn it down because their wlw fav was killed. Threatening to review bomb the series, trashing it on social media, going as far to blame Sophie Okonedo for "ruining the series" by requesting to be written out of the show. I understand that Siuan's death hurt. She was a great character and she had a lot longer story arc in the books but.... Grow up. Not only do you look incredibly childish with these opinions, but you are also hurting the future of television networks doing large scale future productions of fan-favorite shows for fear that if they make the tiniest change, the fanbase will turn on the show. I have posted in the past about how some people hate the Elder Scrolls games because they depict rampant racism and how it "promotes racism" by doing so. But in the premise of the game setting, racism is realistic, especially in Morrowind, where they are so secluded from the empire and their ways are so different from the other provinces. That doesn't mean it's GOOD or that you should defend racism because it's present, but it's believable in the context that it is written and helps to build a fictional world and explain the characters' actions. Writing a good story doesn't mean that the author agrees with the ethics presented in the story, or wants to promote the idea that they are conveying to the reader/viewer. It is up to YOU to parse this out.
I'm sure I could probably go on at even greater lengths, but I want to end with my thoughts so far on the series as a whole. I think every season so far has been a massive improvement on the previous season, and I think it has the opportunity to get even better. The acting has improved every season, and though the story doesn't follow the books very closely, I've enjoyed it immensely. The representation of POC/LGBT folks remains excellent. The special effects are excellent. I am ABSOLUTELY biased because I have read the book series several times over the last 15 years, but it is probably the best fantasy/scifi series I have ever watched.
In conclusion, the real problem here is Amazon and their refusal to renew the show in a timely manner. Unfortunately, if Amazon continues to wait a year (or two years, or more) in between greenlighting the next season renewal, the show will suffer for it. Actors are people that need to buy food and clothing and housing just like everyone else, and while the main characters probably make a pretty decent wage for their work and could hold on a yar or two between paychecks, I doubt that the side character actors are getting paid enough money to live on for several years while waiting for the possibility of another season whenever Amazon feels like renewing. They will be forced to leave and take other positions because, unfortunately, money makes the world go round. The same goes for the hundreds of makeup/styling/setbuilding crew. Amazon needs to stop dragging their feet if they want to retain the amazing actors and the team of people who work hard to make this show a reality.
Thank you for the ask!! I really didn't expect this to get so out of hand but I did enjoy writing it out :)
