The Wheel Of Time & Their Witcher Counterparts | Screen Rant
After the conclusion of HBO’s Game of Thrones, many other studios and streaming services decided to find their own fantasy juggernaut, and two of the most notable are Netflix’s The Witcher and Amazon’s The Wheel of Time. Though these two series are very different approaches to the fantasy genre--with the former being more cynical and the latter being more of an homage--they both make use of similar types of characters.
Both of these fantasy universes are filled with men and women attempting to do their best when confronted with earth-shattering changes that challenge them in ways they never expected.
When Wheel of Time begins, Egwene has just begun to walk the path that will allow her to become a Wisdom. However, she is soon thrust into a far more sinister world when Trollocs and other monsters invade her small town and send her fleeing with Moiraine into an uncertain future.
A similar dynamic is at work with the character of Ciri, who also watches as her home is destroyed by the armies of Nilfgaard and subsequently has to try to survive in a world that she barely understands.
Nynaeve, as she has shown time and again, is a very proud and prickly person, but she also has an inner steel and determination that allows her to be a powerful character in her own right. She has a purpose, and she’s not going to let anything stand in the way of her achieving it.
Yennefer is a similar sort, for as she shows time and again in The Witcher, she knows that her only chance of fulfilling her destiny is by reaching out and taking what it is hers, and she consistently shows that she is one of the series’ bravest characters.
Lan is the quintessential protector, determined to keep Moiraine safe at any cost, even when his own safety may be at risk. He is also something of an enigma, and he usually keeps a fair amount of his personality and his history hidden from all but those who are closest to him.
Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher, is a similar sort of character (and he happens to be one of Henry Cavill's best roles), and he might even be more mysterious than Lan. Like the Warder, he has a rather sinister history, even if he is also a very moral character with his own code of honor.
Even though she is one of the heroes, Moiraine consistently makes it clear that she’s not the type of person to let feelings get in the way of her mission, which in this case is to find the Dragon Reborn. She is willing to put even her own health at risk as she pursues this goal.
Tissaia de Vries is one of the more compelling and powerful characters in The Witcher and, like Moiraine, she believes that her mission--to create powerful young sorceresses--trumps whatever sympathy or compassion she might have for them.
Rand, like the other youths that Moiraine takes from the Two Rivers, might be the one prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, the savior who could also be the world’s destroyer. And, like them, he sometimes doesn’t quite know what to do with this dangerous new world that they’ve all been thrust into.
Like Egwene, he has a lot in common with Ciri, who is not only linked to Geralt by the mysterious forces of destiny, but is clearly also someone who has a grand future in front of her.
Perrin is one of the most sympathetic characters in the series since he endures tremendous loss almost from the very beginning. While many others might have given up, he nevertheless continues to do everything that he can to help and protect his fellow Two Rivers folk, including and especially Egwene. He’s the type of person who will never give up once he has a mission in mind.
This aligns him very well with Cahir of The Witcher, who is similarly indomitable in his efforts to recover Ciri, though his motivations aren’t quite as noble as Perrin’s.
Every fantasy story needs a character who doesn’t take things too seriously, and that fits Mat perfectly. Though he has a strong moral compass, he is also a bit more playful than either Rand or Perrin, and this leads him into quite a few scrapes.
He thus has a lot in common with Jaskier, the rakish bard of The Witcher, who similarly takes a rather cynical approach to life and its mysteries (it’s no wonder he ends up being one of the best characters in the show).
Despite the fact that he appears to be little more than a gleeman, there’s quite a lot going on with Thom Merrillin, far more than he shows on the outside. He has clearly led a very eventful life, and this makes him a bit more cynical than the other characters.
In that sense, he has a lot in common with Vesemir, Geralt’s mentor among the Witchers, who endures quite a lot of heartache in his life and ends up becoming more than a little jaded as a result, even as he is also one of The Witcher's strongest fighters.
As she shows time and again, Alanna Mosvani is one of the most formidable warriors among the Aes Sedai (small wonder, given that she is a member of the Green Ajah). There are few who can really stand against her when she turns the Power against them.
Queen Calanthe is also one of the most powerful fighters in The Witcher, as she reveals when she takes the battle to Nilfgaard, even though doing so means that her own life will be forfeit.
Liandrin is one of The Wheel of Time’s most dangerous characters, for as a member of the Red Ajah she has committed her life to finding men who can channel and gentling them (even if that means killing them in the process). She is committed to her vision of the world, no matter how much harm might come of it.
That’s a sentiment that is very similar to that expressed by Deglan of The Witcher, because he too is willing to do some very unsavory things for what he believes is the greater good.