Egwene Is One of the Dragon Reborn Candidates in 'The Wheel of Time'

Warning: Spoilers for Season 1 of The Wheel of Time ahead!

Who is Egwene in the newest Amazon Prime Video fantasy series The Wheel of Time? Let's start with her full name and the actress playing Egwene. So, Egwene's full name is Egwene al'Vere. She is played by Australian actress Madeleine Madden.

Now that we've gotten the basics out of the way, let's dive into Egwene's character. What role does Egwene play in the main plot of The Wheel of Time?

Every high fantasy tale has an oncoming darkness of some sort that must be defeated. In The Wheel of Time, Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) is searching for the Dragon Reborn, a figure of prophecy destined to save the world from the Dark One. As a member of the powerful magical order the Aes Sedai, Moiraine has the ability to pick out a group of men and women (referred to as ta’veren in the series) who could potentially be the Dragon Reborn.

One of the women Moiraine recognizes as a possible candidate is our girl Egwene. Courageous, kind and independent, Egwene yearns to find fulfillment in her life, to be a part of something important. She lives in Two Rivers along with the other three ta'veren that Moiraine senses has the potential to be the Dragon Reborn.

Egwene has a sisterly bond with Nynaeve al’Meara (Zoe Robins.) Nynaeve is the Wisdom of Two Rivers. A Wisdom is akin to many different roles in our society, but long story short, Nynaeve has magical abilities and a lot of authority in Two Rivers. There's a moment where Nynaeve pushes Egwene off of a cliff and tells her to "Be strong." It may seem like a cruel gesture, but Nynaeve is actually a mentor to Egwene in many ways, trying to help her realize her full potential.

Right now we're only three episodes into Season 1 of The Wheel of Time, so the jury's still out there in regards to Egwene's ultimate fate. However, in the books Egwene didn't even have a chance from the start to be the Dragon Reborn, because in the book series the Dragon Reborn could only be a man. See, sometimes TV adaptation changes can be a good thing!

So based on the book series Egwene isn't the Dragon Reborn. Sadly, in the books Egwene sacrifices herself in a major battle and as a result is turned into crystal. It's a noble way for the heroine to go out, but we do hope that maybe Egwene's fate in The Wheel of Time television series might end differently. We'll just have to wait and see!

Here's even better news. The Wheel of Time has already been renewed for a second season! We can't wait to see how Egwene develops as a character over the remainder of Season 1 and Season 2. New episodes of Season 1 of The Wheel of Time release every Thursday on Amazon Prime.