Hit fantasy series Wheel of Time debuts new sapphic couple, in a change from the original books

The Wheel of Time season 3’s queer relationship is “very much there” in the original books, the show’s actors have said, despite the fact it wasn’t very overt.

*Caution: this article contains spoilers for the season 3 premiere of The Wheel of Time*

Season 3 of the Prime Video fantasy TV series has finally debuted, with episodes one and two airing on Thursday (13 March).

The show’s third season began by introducing a queer relationship between characters Aviendha and Elayne – a relationship which isn’t necessarily concrete in the books.

While some fans have chalked the pair’s bond down to platonic friendship, Ayoola Smart, who plays Aviendha, told Polygon she believes clarification about the pair’s relationship has been a long time coming.

“Their relationship has a very strong structure throughout the books, and is a very beautiful relationship,” she said. “It’s very much there on the page and some people read into it and some people don’t.”

The pair shared a kiss during episode one of season 3 in their very first scene on-screen together, a change from the books which was made by showrunner Rafe Judkins.

In the books, Aviendha and Elayne are drawn to Rand, fall in love with him and agree to share him. They’re portrayed as very close and eventually adopt each other as first-sisters, as is the custom in Aviendha’s culture.

Judkins said that he made the decision to explore Elayne more deeply than in season 2 rather than keeping her as a “princess in waiting.”

“She’s one of the four POV characters that we see throughout the book series,” he said. “You start to see that Elayne is so much more than a princess in waiting. We always talk about the princess that is Elayne, and beneath that, the lion that is Elayne.”

Ceara Coveney, who plays Elayne, said that she agreed upon the immediate “attraction and draw” while adding a “kind of playing coy almost, and waiting for that moment more on Elayne’s side probably to get the confidence to approach and explore what these feelings could be.”

Smart added that she believed the writers to be “keen” to establish the relationship, while maintaining the love triangle between the pair and fellow character Rand.

“I think [the writers] were keen — and we were keen — to establish the throughline of what this relationship is, independently of Rand, and [to have that] not be the focus of why they’re connected,” she said.

The Wheel of Time season 3 will continue on 20th March on Prime Video.