In The Wheel of Time season 2, Rand has gone into hiding, and Moiraine has lost her connection to the One Power after they faced the Dark One. Now, the young heroes from the Two Rivers are scattered across the globe, searching for their own connections to power in preparation for the coming Last Battle. With threats both familiar and new, they will discover their power in the most unexpected of places.
Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney, Zoë Robins, Madeleine Madden, Josha Stradowski, and Marcus Rutherford star in The Wheel of Time. Dònal Finn joins the cast in season 2, replacing Barney Harris as Mat Cauthon. Rafe Judkins developed The Wheel of Time for television based on the novels of the same name written by Robert Jordan and completed by Brandon Sanderson.
Stunt coordinator Jan Petrina spoke with Screen Rant about the second season of The Wheel of Time. He explained why it helps that he and his team worked on the first season and how they balance inspiration from the books, the scripts, and what is actually possible. Petrina also showed off the many weapons used in The Wheel of Time.
Jan Petrina Talks The Wheel Of Time Season 2
Screen Rant: Can you tell us a little bit about where we’re standing right now, and how this is used in the production?
Jan Petrina: At the moment, we are in the stand area, where we start creating some of the action for Wheel of Time, some of the choreographies for Wheel of Time, some of the wire work, and sometimes we bring the actors also to practice in here, or to another place that they go through the choreographies.
Obviously, the Wheel of Time universe offers a variety of unique combat styles. How much time do you and the team get to prepare in advance of the production?
Jan Petrina: Usually we have about six to eight weeks prior the production gets into the shooting period. But also, because we worked on Season 1, it gives us already few years on the show. So you kind of carry the experience from the first one, and also the progression, and the cast knowing you, you knowing them and where you can connect from Season 1 and what they can do. So, it’s actually a lot easier than what it was on Season 1.
Also the styles are a little bit more established. But again, you need to push them a little bit harder because they need to show more skill, because it’s Season 2, and the action is heavier as well, and so a lot more work.
Yeah, the characters are more experienced, but we’re also meeting some new factions and new antagonists. Can you talk about how you scaled up the action, to meet the new enemies we’re going to be fighting against?
Jan Petrina: Yeah, you read the script and you check with the book, what is the good balance between script, book, and what we can actually show on the screen for real, what we have the time for, and what we can allow the cast go through. And then you feel … okay, let’s do this kind of style, and then you start building up before we start shooting, and you start to do your first stunt base videos, and you speak with Rafe and with the directors. We had Tomas, Anna, and Mayon on scene, too, and you show them, “Do you like the kind of movement we do?”
We say, “Okay, for the army they’re supposed to be a bit more in sync, so let’s make them a little bit more robotic and keep the same style,” so you also helps us, because in the battles we get a hundred people fighting the cars, but you can only allow for so many stunts.” So basically you end up having the same person fighting three different actors in one battle, but because we don’t see them in one camera at the same time, we reposition the camera and then, “Okay, you now move to this guy.” So it helps when we have kind of united style for, let’s say, the Seanchen army, and then different styles for the guy.
Speaking of the Seanchan army, in the first season we dealt with Trollocs and Fades, essentially monsters. Now, we’re dealing with a more human type of army. How do you keep them a greater threat, even though they’re somewhat more relatable and style?
Jan Petrina: Well, I think with that it helped the great design of the armor and the helmets. It feels kind of scary, and they do darken the face under, so you don’t really see the face of when you fight, so I think that helps, that kind of design. And also because they’re good, and the armor is kind of strong, they hit them, they don’t really die straight away. So I think that’s what’s scary. If they die and straight away there is another one there, and it gives you so many of them, you feel like that’s never going to end, and there’s no way to fight them.
Their costumes are quite elaborate and large, like you say. Is there feedback sometimes, where the costumes have to adjust so you can do what you need to do?
Jan Petrina: I can show you later, we’ve got some of the costumes here so you can feel the weight, and then you can see the helmet, the vision. And so it is hard. It is hard, and also it’s not only the stunts wearing this costume, we also have the cast wearing the costume. So sometimes we go back to Sharon and say, “Hey, can we do a little lighter version? Can we make it a little bit more flexible? Can we loosen up this strap?” And they’re so good with us. They know that we do destroy their work, but they still try to help, and then make the action also work. So a lot of the times it is a compromise between the looks, but it’s a teamwork.
For the cast members who return from Season 1, you may push them a little bit, they’re evolving their skills. Do they have input on their styles of fighting and what they want to do?
Jan Petrina: Yeah, definitely they do, because they now already know what’s … they’ve been through some training, they know what’s better for them, what they feel better to do. So we always talk to them, and whenever we create anything we say, “Okay, let us know how it feels. We don’t want to push you somewhere that doesn’t feel natural for you, because then it’s going to not going too look great.”
We want something to come from them and to be their natural movement. So we always talk with them, and we create things, and when we create things and we teach them and we see that doesn’t look right, and you can see sometimes they struggle with the things we come up with. We always try to adjust it, so it flows better, and it works the best for the action.
What do we have here?
Jan Petrina: Here we’ve got some of the weapons. Some of them are real time weapons, some of them are just the training weapons. So here you can see some of the Aiel weapons, so you can check the weight. It’s really light.
You can really fight the whole day, and not do any damage to your muscles and joints and stuff. And even for the cast, sometimes some of the Aiels are really tiny girls, and you don’t want them to really hurt and do some damage, because you want them to be ready for the full season. Because the fight just keeps going on, and it’s like every episode is more and more, so you want them to make sure that they make it through the season.
When you’re designing fights, you have a variety of weapons here. Is it very clear from the beginning, based on the scripts, who has what type of weapons?
Jan Petrina: We try to get something that what we think that could work for the character, and then we run it through Rafe and the directors, and say, “Okay, are you happy with that kind of weapon? And does that match to the original idea as per the book, or the fans?” They kind of say, “Yeah, kind of, it’s okay,” or, “Can we adjust it, make it a little bit bigger, smaller, a little different designs and stuff.”
Do you ever pitch crazy weapons, like, “You should use this.”
Jan Petrina: Sometimes you give them, because they say, “Oh, can you show us something? Or can you find a weapon that doesn’t look as a normal weapon, that is more from a fantasy world.” So you kind of, “Okay, let’s do a weapon that is based on something.” But for that we’ve got the Art Department, it’s great, and they do actually draw some design, that when we speak to them or the director speaks to them, so they come up with something and then when we look at it, we kind of say, “Okay, so we’ll make it this size and let’s make it balance this way, so it actually works as a weapon.” So then after they do get some of the drawing and design, we work together with them, and with the Props.
Right. Is there a difference in the weapons between what they rehearse with versus what they use on set?
Jan Petrina: Yeah, usually we got some of the foam weapons that are from a martial art shops and stuff. So if you hit them in the head, nothing happens. So that’s what we start with, and it’s super light and it’s super safe. And once we see that the skills are there, and they memorize the choreo and something, we start using more weapons that they’re going to use on the day. So basically we use some of these weapons that have soft tips, they’re not sharp.
And of course, here you can see some of the swords, they’re made of bamboo. It’s a little bit of probably blood from the battle still on that … so they’re light, and then of course, depending on the performer, you get shorter ones, longer ones, because some of the soldiers are played by smaller performers or even girls in the episode. We want to make sure that it does look balanced, so you don’t end up having someone smaller having a massive long sword and getting around. So, it’s a lot of variety in there as well.
Which weapons are the most challenging to design a sequence for?
Jan Petrina: I think, I would say that for us was the Aiel fight, just to make it unique. You can see that in Season 1 with Tigraine during the fight. That was for us challenging, and also the most fun probably.
But of course, later, you get all these kind of axes that allow you to hit, cut, and also hook and do things – which is quite cool. Also, they’re a little bit heavier. We aim to have these for Perrin, or bigger guys and stuff.
And then of course you get some of the hammers and stuff that are super heavy that you think, “Okay, that’s good for Perrin, or someone big like the Trollocs or maybe Loial can have it,” and things like that.
A big part of the action is also the powers themselves. And I think just from seeing the first three episodes, the visuals and the weave and the power levels of the characters are increasing. How complicated does it get to design sequences with things exploding and people flying?
Jan Petrina: Well, it’s again, you work together with special effects, and with the construction, and with the Art Department, so they design the set for breakaway, so we can then put maybe an explosion behind the wall and have it blown out, so you have the pieces flying around. So special effects showing us some versions of safe explosions, safe soft debris and stuff, so we know how far we can push it with using the cast and where we need to swap for the standable. So it’s all in the process, like when we do the preps, so we test everything. And of course for flying I can take you here. We got the stunt harnesses.
For a lot of the flying, we use these harnesses that’s hidden under the costume, which a lot of the times you have the harness, but you also have some stunt protection like pads and stuff, and the costume, so you get a lot of layers on you that limit your movement.
Does the cast use some of this too?
Jan Petrina: Some of them, yeah. The cast uses that one. So, we also aim them to practice with these things, and so also we’ve got the small ones, so that does not make the costume look too bad because we get the girls coming to me, saying, “Do they really need to wear this? Because that doesn’t make our costume look good.” “Okay, let’s go with something small, which is less comfortable, but it’s a balance between those.”
And then you’ve got the armor here. I can show you, and you can check the weight of it. And then just imagine to wear that for 10, 12 hours a day, with the helmet, and sometimes the harness and the pads, and then it’s rainy, so it is quite physically demanding.
What are you most excited for fans to see from the action stunts in season 2?
Jan Petrina: Well, I think I’m excited to see the difference that they find in the characters, and also in the stars and also the action. It’s all over, it’s a lot bigger, so it’s going to be interesting what they say. Also, as the season progresses, when we get to see some of the Aiels back. And then we get towards the end, with the big fighting, so [I’m excited to see] how they find it.
About Wheel Of Time Season 2
In Season 2, threats new and very old seek out the young friends from the Two Rivers, now scattered over the world. The woman who found and guided them is now powerless to help, and so they must find other sources of strength. In each other, or themselves. In the Light … or the Dark.
Check out our other Wheel of Time season 2 interviews here:
- Sharon Gilham (Costume Deisgn)
- Davina Lamont (Hair & Makeup Design)
- Ondrej Nekvasil (Production Design) & Ondrej Nierostek (Special Effects)
- Holger Reibiger, Marigo Kehoe & Mike Weber (Producers)
- Sanaa Hamri & Thomas Napper (Direction)
The first three episodes of Wheel of Time season 2 are available on Prime Video now, with new episodes dropping on Fridays.
