Warning: Major spoilers for the Wheel of Time books.
The Wheel of Time‘s showrunner confirms that the season 2 finale cut Ingtar’s Darkfriend scene. Ingtar Shinowa (played by A Discovery of Witches alum Gregg Chillin) was one of the new additions in the recently concluded Wheel of Time season 2, a Shienaran warrior in command of the soldiers who are hunting the legendary Horn of Valere. However, in the books on which the Prime Video series is based, Ingtar is also revealed to be a Darkfriend.
As part of a recent Q&A in New York City (per WoT in Color and Winter is Coming), showrunner Rafe Judkins confirmed that a scene focusing on Ingtar’s Darkfriend reveal was cut from the Wheel of Time season 2 finale for one major reason. Still, he suggested that the Darkfriend reveal could still happen down the line and praised Chillin’s portrayal. The full quote is below:
In this finale, there’s a really important sequence from the books where Ingtar, who is the guy who was captured with Perrin and Loial, is revealed to be a Darkfriend. And it’s a big story in the books, it’s something I love in the books. And we shot it. And it just… you couldn’t emotionally connect to it with the number of other things that were going on in the finale. So we ultimately had to pull it in the cut process because it disrupted your ability to follow our lead characters through it. Although I think… that will be a deleted scene that we release eventually so you can see it, ’cause Greg [Greg Chilligirian] who plays Ingtar is fantastic and it’s a great scene. And it’s wonderful from the books and I think it should be in the canon of the world, but it just didn’t make sense in the finale.
The Wheel of Time Is Taking A Patient Approach With Its Biggest Stories
In the Wheel of Time world, Darkfriends are regular humans who have made an oath to serve the Dark One. It’s an oath that can be made by anyone, with those who serve including everyone up to even queens. In the second Wheel of Time book, which is titled The Great Hunt, Ingtar reveals his secret to Rand al’Thor, but it’s not so simple. Ingtar has some regrets.
This comes through during the battle for Falme, as Ingtar changes sides once again at the last minute, sacrificing his own life to help Rand and his friends. It’s unclear whether the Prime Video adaptation will adapt this story in the same way, with Ingtar dying, but it’s a compelling narrative that is not worth burning off and burying in an already busy finale. The Wheel of Time has managed to both further its existing storylines and also carefully set up future plot threads taken from the books.
Elsewhere in the Prime Video series, the show has taken its first steps in building up the crucial relationship between Elayne (Ceara Covene) and Rand (Josha Stradowski) through a quick scene where Elayne saves Rand’s life. The Wheel of Time season 3 is already confirmed, with more installments planned, so hopefully it can continue to avoid running through some of the big emotional beats from the books.
