‘The Wheel of Time’: Does Moiraine Get Her Power Back?

The second season of The Wheel of Time has humbled the great Aes Sedai Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) like nothing before. After becoming stilled by the Forsaken Ishamael (Fares Fares) in the Season 1 finale of the Prime Video show, Moiraine has been unable to channel, unable to feel her bond with Warder Lan (Daniel Henney), and unable to truly do much for the Dragon Reborn, Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski).

Since Moiraine is never stilled in Robert Jordan’s epic 14+ book series, fans wondered if this was a forever change to the books or if Moiraine would get her connection to the One Power restored. Now, after The Wheel of Time Season 2 Episode 7 “Daes Dae’mar,” we know the answer to the question of does Moiraine get her powers back… and the reveal has big implications for the future of The Wheel of Time…

**Spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 2 Episode 7 “Daes Dae’mar,” now streaming on Prime Video**

The good news is, yes, Moiraine does get her ability to channel the One Power back in The Wheel of Time Season 2. That’s not only huge for the fight against the Darkness, but it’s also great for Moiraine’s mental state.

When Decider asked Rosamund Pike about Moiraine’s state of mind at the start of The Wheel of Time Season 2 (in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strikes), she said, “I think Moiraine is feeling deeply ashamed and she’s feeling this kind of aching belly loss of a depression, and we all know, people who when they feel ashamed, they fight, they lash out, because shame is one of the worst emotions.”

Moiraine isn’t just restored as a power player on the board, but no longer is burdened by the feeling that she can’t be of help to Rand, Lan, or the others fighting the good fight against the Dark One. But how exactly did Moiraine get her powers back?

How Does Moiraine Get Her Powers Back in The Wheel of Time?

By the end of The Wheel of Time Season 2 Episode 7 “Daes Dae’mar” — a title that translates to the “Game of Houses,” aka the complex political game that the noble houses of Cairhien play — we learn that Moiraine was not actually “stilled” by Ishamael at the Eye of the World. Rather, she was “shielded.”

Stilling is the act of using the One Power to cut off an Aes Sedai’s connection to that same magical force forever. Most women fall into despair and suicidal ideation when this happens. Shielding, on the other hand, is the weave that temporarily cuts off that connection for a channeler. Until now, we’ve seen that at least one, if not multiple, Aes Sedai need to focus their power on shielding a fellow channeler. They have to keep the One Power flowing through the weaves. That is, that was what they thought.

Thanks to the help of Logain (Álvaro Morte), who can still see the weaves a fellow male channeler makes, Lan figures out that Moiraine hasn’t been stilled, but shielded. Ishamael possesses an ancient power lost during the Age of Legends to “tie off” a weave. Basically he tied the weaves of the One Power off in a knot, holding his spell in place. Rand, using the One Power, is able to see these weaves and cut through the knot, thus reconnecting Moiraine to the Source and giving her back her powers.

It’s a long-winded way of saying that Moiraine was never cut off from the One Power, but shielded using a nifty trick of Ishamael’s. (It would be cool if some of our heroes and heroines could also learn how to tie off weaves, huh?) So Moiraine is now restored to her full power… but she’s lost something else: Siuan (Sophie Okonedo).

Does Lanfear Kill Siuan Sanche at the End of The Wheel of Time Season 2 Episode 7?

The Wheel of Time Season 2 Episode 7 ends with Lanfear (Natasha O’Keeffe) arriving in the nick of time to help Moiraine, Rand, and Lan open the Waygate in Cairhien so they can get to Falme. The one person stopping them at this point isn’t a Darkfriend, but none other than Moiraine’s true love, Siuan Sanche.

Moiraine might have the ability to channel, but in choosing to devote herself to Rand’s service, she has also cut ties with her love. Siuan wants to cage the Dragon Reborn, per the laws of the White Tower, and use him like a damane in the war to come. This is not what Moiraine nor Rand wants.

In the final moments of this week’s episode, Siuan discovers the group at the Waygate. The Amyrlin Seat uses Moiraine’s own oaths against her to force Moiraine against her will to close the Waygate she has just opened. Siuan would have succeeded in keeping Rand under her thumb were it not for Lanfear’s arrival. Lanfear attacks the Amyrlin Seat, leaving her not dead, but “broken,” and opens the Waygate with a flick of her hands. Last we see of Moiraine, she’s following the Forsaken with Rand and Lan to Falme. Siuan is on the ground, bleeding.

So is Siuan dead? Hardly. She also is probably not stilled and shielded. Instead, Moiraine, Rand, and Lanfear have made an ass of her in front of both the assembled Aes Sedai and the cutthroat noble houses of Cairhien (who now conveniently know about the Black Ajah thanks to Anveare [Lindsay Duncan] eavesdropping on her Darkfriend son’s convo with Liandrin [Kate Fleetwood]). Moiraine mentions in this episode that Siuan already has many enemies in the White Tower. How do you think her failure to stop Moiraine, imprison Rand, or stand up to a Forsaken is going to look politically, huh? Siuan’s broken.

The Season 2 finale of The Wheel of Time premieres on Prime Video next Thursday night.