Shoreh Aghdashloo was spotted on the set of The wheel of time Season 3 which has recently started filming. However, is she playing Cadsuane as fans have requested? We a little. do not know yet.
You may remember that Aghdashloo was chosen by many as an Aes Sedai character called Cadsuane. However, we do know that the plan for season 3 was to more closely follow the plot of book 4 of the series, The rising shadow. Therefore, we have a slight problem when it comes to Aghdashloo playing Cadsuane as the fans wanted. In the books, Cadsuane, though present elsewhere canonically, is only created and introduced by creator Robert Jordan in Book 7.
We picked up Shoreh Aghdashloo’s story from WOTSeries and they had similar speculations to me. Let’s first look at the sighting and where it comes from. Check out the message below from a fan close to where filming is underway on Season 3.
During my lunch break, I met Emmy Award winner and Oscar nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo. I love his game in the range. An incredibly charismatic and empathetic woman. Thanks for the picture 🙂 #extent #thewheeloftimeseries #larouedutemps #twitteroftime pic.twitter.com/XBHpsA4cud
— Vladimir Strokatov (@Vstrokatov) May 17, 2023
As you can see the fan says Cadsuane, but neither WOTSeries or I’m convinced it’s 100% locked.
Cadsuane or Elaïda?
Could the series choose to introduce Cadsuane earlier in the story? Absolutely, and I can even think of a proper way to do it if you keep reading. However, at the same time, WOTSeries underlines, as I did above, that it is perhaps too early for Cadsuane? If so, is there a possibility that Aghdashloo was hired as another character? The answer must be yes. Let’s take a look at the old exchange that happened between Aghdashloo and The wheel of time showrunner Rafe Judkins returning in 2021.
Honey, I’m on it. I don’t know how to use Twitter but if I did I would DM you. You’ve been on my moodboard for a certain character since 2018 haha.
— Rafe Judkins (@rafejudkins) December 19, 2021
Is it possible that Judkins thought of Aghdashloo for another role? A character sadly absent from Season 1 was Elaida, another Aes Sedai. I really like WoT fans were worried that Elaida would be dropped and merged with Liandrin, a character we met in season 1. However, it’s possible that Elaida won’t be revealed until season 2 as it’s the first time we’ll go to the town of Caemlyn. Caemlyn appears in Book 1, but we know those scenes were held back for Season 2 of the show. It is there, in the books, that we also meet Elaida for the first time. Elaida is also Aes Sedai, whose role is an advisor to Queen Morgase of Caemlyn. I would say that Elaida also sees herself as a mentor to Morgase’s daughter, Elayne, who is groomed to join the White Tower and train as Aes Sedai.
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I’m not saying that’s the case by the way, and neither is the outlet linked above. However, there is no way Aghdashloo is randomly playing Aes Sedai’s number 23. Therefore, in my mind, there are only three possibilities that work. Cadsuane is the best solution because, like Aes Sedai, she is quite old. Elaida is less well suited to the “book version”, as Aghdashloo is a bit too old. However, Aes Sedai’s “ageless” was always going to be difficult to pull off on screen, so Elaida would continue to work for me. The last option would be for one of the villains that will start to be introduced more in Season 2. There are several Forsaken that Aghdashloo could play. However, I feel like they would have given themselves a younger look, and I won’t explain why at this point.
So I will say this, I still think Cadsuane is the call. I’m thinking of season 3 can show us a flashback of Cadsuane bringing a fake dragon to scroll past Siuan Sanche, the seat of Amyrlin. This particular fake dragon appeared in Volume 4, so could it be a small cameo from Aghdashloo teasing her joining the main cast in Season 4 or 5? Otherwise, my second choice is Elaida, and I’m not going to say much more about these characters to avoid any spoilers for non-book readers.
As a reminder, Shoreh Aghdashloo was seen on the set of The wheel of time Season 3. However, despite all the fan casting after season 1, we still can’t answer the question of whether she’s playing Cadsuane? As always, please share your thoughts on this news and my reasoning in the usual place below.