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Warning: Spoilers for The Wheel of Time season 3, episode 8
In an easy-to-miss moment, The Wheel of Time season 3 introduced Mat Cauthon’s iconic weapon from the source material. The Wheel of Time season 3 finale adapted a massive moment from Mat’s journey in Robert Jordan’s novels when it brought him face-to-face with a member of the Eelfinn, a mystical race in The Wheel of Time’s world. Through the three wishes that Mat made to the Eelfinn in the episode, the show has brought the character much closer to the path of his counterpart in The Wheel of Time books.
Though Mat was hanged as a result, two of the three wishes seemingly helped Mat immensely. One gave him the silver foxhead medallion that protects him from the One Power in the book, and the other will supposedly “fix” the problem with the jumbled memories he gained in The Wheel of Time season 2’s ending. At first glance, it would be easy to assume that the show glossed over the third piece of assistance that the Eelfinn offered to Mat in the books – the ashandarai. However, a more careful look at the hanging scene reveals otherwise.
The Wheel Of Time Season 3 Finale Secretly Included The Ashanderei
The Ashandarei Is Mat’s Weapon Of Choice In The Books
When Mat was hanging from the red ter’angreal doorway, a spear could be spotted toward the top of the screen. Stuck inside the doorway, the spear was what was holding up the rope used to hang Mat in The Wheel of Time. This pays homage to the book version of the scene; in The Shadow Rising, Rand found Mat hanging from a rope tied to a spear. After Mat recovered, that spear – known in the books as an “ashanderei” – became his go-to weapon throughout his adventures in the book series.
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Since the spear was only featured in a quick shot and never shown being taken out of the doorway, it’s not made immediately clear if the ashandarei will become a part of Mat’s permanent arsenal in the TV show. However, it’s important to note that the series didn’t fully showcase their departure from the area, so it is indeed possible that Mat, Min, and the others took the ashandarei with them when they left Tanchico. If so, Mat could be wielding it when he returns in The Wheel of Time’s fourth season.
Why The Eelfinn Gave Mat The Ashandarei
It Was The Answer To His Third Wish
Image via Prime Video
On the surface, there isn’t an obvious connection between any of Mat’s three wishes and the ashandarei, but later books in the series do shed light on where the spear fits into the equation. Mat’s final wish was to be able to leave, and in the books at least, the ashandarei was the Eelfinn’s way of fulfilling that request, though not one he needed at the time since they sent him out themselves. As Mat discovered in Towers of Midnight when he re-entered the dimension of the Eelfinn, the ashandarei can be used as a key of sorts.
The thirteenth installment in the series, Towers of Midnight, is the penultimate book in The Wheel of Time.
In other words, the Eelfinn used the ashanderei to give Mat what he wanted: a way out of their domain. He doesn’t need it for that purpose now, but if Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time show ever sends Mat back to their world, he’ll already possess the means to facilitate his escape.
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