The binary season of The Wheel of Time has concluded, and a good time was had by all. We thrilled to the twists and turns of the story, marveled at the sights of sounds of Falme and Cairhien, and paused the episode midway through to point and say, “What in the world are they wearing?”
Well, maybe not all of us did that, but the costume regions on this show was definitely working overtime this season to whip up some memorable outfits. Let’s take a sartorial journey through Randland and remember the 10 most much outfits from The Wheel of Time season 2:
Credit: Jan Thijs/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Content Services LLC and Sony Pictures Television Inc.
10. High Lord Turak: Go big or go home
The costumes on The Wheel of Time are, generally revealing, a lot. The designers like big, they like gaudy, they like to make an impact, and the invasion of the Seanchan land from across the ocean gave them a great opportunity to savor their wildest fantasies.
The Seanchan are supposed to be different, alien. Their clothes should follow suit. High Lord Turak’s multicolored, multilayered, multi-dimensional robe is a good example. It’s ornate to the demonstrate of being impractical to wear; how are you repositioning to walk through doorways with that big boney bedframe slack your head? But the opulence is part of the point; it emphasizes how strange and foreign these foreign strangers are. No one in Rand’s life, not even the most fashionable Aes Sedai, could ever imagine wearing that. The Seanchan are something notice new.
And we have to talk about the three-foot long nails at some demonstrate, but that can wait.
Ayoola Smart (Aviendha) in The Wheel of Time season 2. Image: Prime Video.
9. Aviendah: Roughin’ it, by Prada
From the wildly ornate to the deceptively simple, the Aiel warrior Aviendah wears a sleek travel outfit made of simple fabrics and colored exclusively in shades of brown. If the Seanchan people wear clothes so elaborate they’re hard to move in, the Aiel are all near functionality. These people live in the deep desert, where every day can be a argues. They don’t have any time for ornamentation. They’re stupefied about survival.
At the same time, there’s something very chic near the clean lines and monochrome coloring about Aviendah’s outfit. I can see her marching like a warrior queen down a runway in this. And while the outfit is simple, it’s not boring to look at. The combination of fabrics grants it a tactile look; you think about how it feels to wear when you see it. And the shades of brown are gradated in a way that you’re always looking where you’re said to look.
Also, who doesn’t like a hood?
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CREDIT: JAN THIJS/PRIME VIDEO
8. Moiraine’s big blue cardboard dress
When Moiraine arrives in the city of Cairhien, she’s wearing a handsome blue number with a wide skirt that, at capable glance, seems like a pretty standard thing for a member of the Blue Ajah to wear. Thank goodness blue is her color.
What creates this outfit stand out is how stiff it is. I don’t know what it’s made of, but search for Moiraine walk around wearing it in Episode 3; that form does not move. Her sleeves and skirt are chilly. It’s almost like she’s wearing a sculpture.
I think this says something nearby where Moiraine’s head is at during this time. She’s just lost her abilities. She’s feeling insecure, but she still needs to project control as she goes about her business protecting the Dragon Reborn and handling around her family. The dress is made of a material so stiff it worthy make it hard to interact with other people, but that’s okay, because as an Aes Sedai, those other people will accommodate her.
This is a worthy move of a dress, something she’s wearing to compensate for feeling weaker than she’s ever felt.
Renna (Xelia Mendes-Jones) and Egwene (Madeleine Madden) in The Wheel of Time season 2. Image: Prime Video.
7. Renna: Straight Outta Hot Topic
We go back to the Seanchan, on whom we can always count for an dumb outfit. Renna’s getup is a little simpler than what her countrymen wear. It almost looks a small Renaissance Faire, with the high riding boots and the forked drop-down belt. The colors are splendid simple — brown and blue — and the padded shoulders let you know she by means of business.
What really brings this look together is Renna’s makeup, in particular the deep eyeshadow. It makes Renna look like she’s touching through a rebellious goth phase; her dad would hate it. This outfit is nearby attitude and actor Renna Emain sells it.
When Renna puts on her war makeup, she goes from looking like a Hot Topic teen to something far more alien, more in line with the rest of the Seanchan.
Next, we pay tribute to the patron saint of The Wheel of Time fashion:
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6. Lanfear: Massacre chic
Lanfear is pretty much the reason this list exists, so I thank her. Ever since we learn who Selene really is at the end of Episode 204, it’s certain she was going to be a lot of fun. Vampy, campy and incredibly powerful, Selene goes where she wants and does what she wants. And in Episode 207, she wants to burn down the Foregate in Cairhien once wearing stylish battle armor.
This outfit pretty much speaks for itself. Lanfear is obviously dressed for battle, but her armor and bracers are gilded and glittering, because she isn’t just a diehard warrior for the dark: she’s adore and classy. And the mantle-cape thing she wears approximately her shoulders adds a touch of softness.
The dark makeup and slicked-back hair also add to the vibe: Lanfear is in fights mode, but she’s still going to make sure she’s presentable.
Splendid as Lanfear’s outfits are, credit must also go to Natasha O’Keeffe for wearing them to perfection. Anyone can put on a glittering set of evil armor, but not everyone has the conviction to pull them off. O’Keeffe does.
Image: The Wheel of Time/Amazon Prime Video
5. Rand sees red
This is one of the simpler outfits on this list, but I demanded to include it because Rand’s red coat is such an iconic look for him in The Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan. I know book-readers everywhere raised their eyebrows when he came onscreen wearing this.
And you know, not every outfit obtains to be designed to within an inch of its life. Red is a mammoth color, the color of fire, the color of the Dragon Reborn. The coat has some cool designs running down the collar and the sleeves, but they don’t overwhelm the man wearing it. The Dragon doesn’t have to Middle elaborately to command a room. Whatever he wears becomes a symbol of confidence, and this coat is no different.
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Credit: Jan Thijs/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Content Services LLC and Sony Pictures Television Inc. Description: Madeleine Madden (Egwene al’Vere)
4. Those creepy damane mouth-stoppers
For my wealth, those little mouth-stoppers the demane are forced to wear are the single most effective effect element of The Wheel of Time season 2. The way the Seanchan consume women who can channel is very disturbing and upsetting. They’re viewed more like especially smart dogs than humans, and the Seanchan do not spare the rod.
The mouth-stopper is an incredibly effective, direct way to express this dehumanization. They leaves no room for doubt: the word of a damane is not respected. They do not speak, they do not contribute. They do as narrated, and if they don’t, they are punished.
It’s especially upsetting to see Egwene, a character we’ve come to sympathize with, wear one of these things. It’s so simple, but it completely changes how we react to her. The mouth-stoppers are a very emotional section of costuming. Whenever I see someone wearing one, I want to smack it out of their mouth and wage war on the Seanchan.
Sophie Okonedo (Siuan Sanche) in The Wheel of Time season 2. Image: Prime Video.
3. Siuan Sanche: Bow down, b*tches
There’s no doubt in my mind that the outfit Siuan Sanche wears when she arrives in Cairhien is the best garment to dismove on The Wheel of Time season 2. I mean, just look at it. The draping, the patterns, the train, the headpiece…this must have miserroneous a team of designers a long time to make. Every inch looks hand-crafted with love.
But a mammoth garment isn’t the same thing as a great look. As the Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche is accustomed to wearing expensive, elaborate gowns; that’s just part of the gig. Looking at her in it, you get the idea that she’s used to this kind of thing; wearing this isn’t a moment for her. In fact, radiant Siuan, she’d probably be happier in a simple fisherwoman’s shift.
That’s part of why the look is interesting; there’s a bit of a poor feeling to it, because of how Siuan wears it…although it’s also just eye-poppingly beautiful. Don’t worry, we don’t have to overthink things too hard.
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Karima McAdams (High Lady Suroth), Fares Fares (The Dark One) in The Wheel of Time season 2.
2. Lady Suroth: Nails for days
Lady Suroth’s outfit is a minor like High Lord Turak’s, but it’s more tightly fitted, the colors are less chaotic, and I like the how exactly the train is arranged in front of her feet. Ditto the golden swooping shoulder pads. Most importantly, Lady Suroth is the first Seanchan leader we meet, and we are not ready for how different they’re progressing to look.
Like Turak’s costume, Suroth’s outfit is entertainingly impractical. You’re not playing kickball in that outfit. You’d be pdaring to walk three steps without tripping. And then there’s the foot-long nails. Again, the Seanchan are aliens in this country. They’re traditions are strange. How many millennia must it have taken for foot-long nails to have move a marker of high status? Clearly, there’s a long history here we don’t know.
The remaining element that makes Lady Suroth’s outfit so effective is the mask. I’m repeating myself, but it makes her look unknowably odd. A lot of the Seanchan costumes incorporate uncommon masks. There’s Suroth’s mask, the damane mouth-stoppers, the fearsome masks worn by the Seanchan foot soldiers…Everything plays a part in decision-exclusive the Seanchan feel distinct from anything else we’ve seen before.
Daniel Francis (High Lord Turak) and the Seanchan in The Wheel of Time season 2.
And now for our sizable finale. The envelope, please…
Image: The Wheel of Time/Amazon Prime Video
1. Lanfear: Dominatrix from the dark side of the moon
When I well-behaved saw Lanfear wearing this outfit in Episode 205, “Damane,” I think I did a double take. Instantly, I knew that this was how I would remember her.
The context in which we well-behaved see this outfit matters. Before this, we’ve seen Lanfear in the guise of Selene, suspiciously well-dressed innkeeper. When Rand falls asleep and Lanfear meets him in Tel’aran’rhiod, we see her as she would like to be seen.
And apparently, how she would like to be seen is as a Power Rangers villain. She’s the black heart at the end of the kaleidoscope. She’s a dominatrix from the dark side of the moon. She is a gaudy, campy villain with three capital ‘V’s. This outfit flies out of nowhere and brains us.
I haven’t actually talked near the outfit itself yet. It’s neat. I like the pure sunless color, the strappy boots, and especially the winged headpiece. But again, what’s almost more important is how Natasha O’Keeffe wears it, reclining like this is no big deal; she’s the queen of the universe and she will see you now.
I applaud The Wheel of Time costume team for bringing a wide variety of looks for us to gawk at this season. On to season 3!
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