‘Wheel of Time’ Star Marcus Rutherford Teases Perrin’s Season 3 Storyline: “The Eyes Are Fully Changed Now”

The Wheel of Time Season 2 challenged its ragtag band of young heroes like never before, placing them in the path of the invading Seanchan and introducing them to the machinations of the Forsaken. However one of the Two Rivers crew got to embrace a side of themselves they had hitherto tried to lock away. Over the course of The Wheel of Time Season 2, Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford) learned to not only harness his Wolfbrother powers, but to embrace them. The former smithy ended the second season of the Prime Video show by avenging the death of Hopper, his best wolf bro, and embracing the call to fight for his friends.

Perrin’s evolution in The Wheel of Time Season 2 was spurred on by a number of new friends. There was the aforementioned Hopper, of course, but also elder Wolfbrother Elyas (Gary Beadle), the Aiel maiden of the spear Aviendha (Ayoola Smart), and a certain Whitecloak named Dain Bornhold (Jay Duffy).

Decider recently chatted with Marcus Rutherford about Perrin’s Season 2 journey and how all these new relationships affected the budding warrior. He spilled on what it was like trying to “eavesdrop” on Aiel handtalk, the bond he created with the wolf dog who played Hopper, and how will his decision to kill Hopper’s killer, Geoffram Bornhold (Stuart Graham), could affect Perrin going forward…

DECIDER: I went to an event where [Wheel of Time showrunner] Rafe Judkins had a Q&A after a screening and he talked about how you and Ka Lupinka, the dog actor who played Hopper, really bonded to the point where when you reunited for this new season, she came right up to you. She remembered you. Can you talk about working with the dog actor? And how difficult it was to shoot Hopper’s death scene?

MARCUS RUTHERFORD: Yeah, it’s really interesting. It’s like Rafe said. At the start, I asked — it’s quite an integral part of the story — and I was just asking, you know, “We’re using real animals, right? That’s what we’re doing?”  And he was just like, “Yeah!” I sat and thought about it. There’s elements of scale and danger that they just don’t bring because they’re just lovely little animals. But I think what was really important is that you have a real connection with a real animal and you just can’t cheat that in any way. I think people really resonate and relate to Ka Lupinka with their own animals and that kind of bond. I think that was what was really important. That language and communication and that kind of bond with a real animal that I just think comes across on the screen.

And she was incredible, man. Like we sort of met again recently and she ran through the whole crew and came up to me. I’m not going to lie. It was really sweet. It was like, it was so sweet. I was just like, “Oh my God.”

I think that moment at the end of [Season 2] Episode 8, like summarizes or epitomizes the work of the trainer, Monica, and the dog, Ka Lupinka, herself. Because I think you kind of forget there’s so much going on. There’s people fighting. There’s a boom guy. There’s like a first A.D. shouting. You’re just getting a dog — but it’s still like half wolf.  You know, it’s like a wolf dog essentially. And you know, it’s lying on its side, looking at me off camera and it’s … Yeah, it was insane, man. They didn’t really have to do much. And I think that’s a testament to the trainer and, yeah, the best supporting actor on the show, man.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marcus Rutherford (@marcus_rudda)

Well, in the books, you know, Perrin doesn’t kill Geoffram Bornhold, but he does in the show. So I’m curious how you think that decision will change Perrin’s character, what happens further in the TV show… Because it is kind of a sticking point in the books that Perrin was framed for the murder, but in the show he does kill Bornhold.

Yeah, I think it’s really interesting. Obviously knowing how, you know, the relationship with Dain, how that develops moving forward in stuff we’ve been doing. I think it’s really interesting. I think that loss of a life that he’s experienced, and then taking a life, and how that sits with him moving forward. How that interaction with the Whitecloaks goes moving forward. I think it is really, really interesting. I think it kind of elevates an element of jeopardy and severity there that is really, really exciting. I think there’s just meaning to people’s actions now because there’s been consequences. I think that elevates stuff a lot.

Well, speaking of Dain Bornhold — without getting into any spoilers — but like, having read the books, I didn’t find him very sympathetic or likable in the books until much later on. Jay Duffy makes him so much more relatable from the get go. What was it like filming with him? And, you know, Perrin met Whitecloaks in the first season, didn’t like them much. Do you think that Perrin’s view is changed at all by those interactions with Dain early on in Season 2? 

Yeah, I think what’s really interesting is Perrin goes back to Atuan’s Mill and this guy comes out of the mist. I don’t know, he almost looks religious. He has these robes on. You can’t really see. I think he still finds that any prospect of being around Whitecloaks incredibly daunting. You know, last time, one was trying to cut his back open and stuff. 

But I think there’s something in particular about Dain that is quite interesting. It’s maybe the first time he sees — are the Whitecloaks a monolith? They’re all the same. Or can you have different people within that branch who have different outlooks and stuff? I think Dain’s a very interesting character for that.

That interaction leads into Perrin meeting Aviendha, who’s one of my faves. You get to spend a lot of time with the Maidens of the Spear this season. You’re the first cast member to spend time with the Aiel. What was it like shooting with those ladies? And did you manage to pick up any hand talk when you’re with them or did they keep that very secret?

No. Do you know what? They actually would do it around me. It was like really annoying. They just threw it around like: [Mimes handtalk] I was just like, “Wait, what’s going on?” I think “Goldeneyes” was like this or something. [Mimes more handtalk] I was picking it up. Then like “Wetlander” was something else. I would just watch them, like, when we had lunch. “What are they actually talking about?”

No, it’s amazing. I think Aviendha’s introduction was very smartly adapted, obviously using Gaul’s introduction from the books. Which is amazing. I think it was such a really cool way to bring her. And I think it’s a character that’s so different to Perrin. It kind of exposes some of the questions [he’s asking himself]. He’s gone from Season 1, talking to the Tuatha’an and thinking violence is a thing that we can just not get involved in to now someone being like, “It’s a dance.” Like, let’s have fun. I think that’s such a stark difference in terms of the philosophies. There’s an inevitability to fighting that I think Aviendha teaches Perrin. I think he’s learned from everyone on that journey, but I think that friendship that he has with Aviendha  is something particularly that he holds moving forward as well.

Another important relationship that develops is between your character and Elyas. What was it like for Perrin to be forced to explore and confront his wolf nature? And did you ever find it difficult trying to film the wolf dream or wolf visions on camera? Because I can imagine it’s a little bit unwieldy to take from page to screen.

Yeah, Gary [Beadle] was amazing, man. He was so cool. I think he kind of embodied a lot of that stuff. It’s really nice to have a character who teaches you that stuff. So it’s not particularly just visions or just animals. You have someone who can articulate or experience it alongside Perrin and kind of embody that culture.

I think it’s the first time he stops trying to — it’s not something you can kind of run away from anymore. I think that’s a real kind of significant moment. There’s glimpses of it in Season 1, and then at the start of Season 2, Elyas can see him pretending that he’s not a part of it. And he’s like, “No, this is who you are.” So I think that’s a real seminal moment for him.

The wolf visions… Yeah, it’s quite hard to do something that’s particularly different in this world. [Director] Thomas [Napper] had this really cool idea of kind of just seeing what had happened. They tie different things together. There’s characters like Hurin in the books who smell violence and warfare and stuff. Coalescing some of those abilities with the Wolfbrothers meant that there’s a camera on a 360 track. They play out the action. So you’d have Padan Fain go in and kill everyone, and I’d see that, which is really helpful. Then I’d go in and it would just be an empty thing, but the camera would go around and then layer it over the top. So it was quite, you know, technical, but also there’s a lot that you can react to. I think it was really, really nicely done.

At the same event where Rafe talked about you and the dog, Ka Lupinka, he also talked about how in the next season, your character is going to have at least one standout episode or arc, Knowing that the third season is basically based on the fourth book, is there anything that you’re really excited for fans to see anything you can tease without getting into spoilers? What are you most excited for people to see in the third season?

It’s cool, man, because obviously in Season 2, I remember reading the books and saying to Maddy, “You’ve got some heavy stuff, man, coming around the corner.” I thought the Arches were done exquisitely well by the writing and by Zoë’s performance. But it’s cool. I think all the characters have different weight at different times, as in the books. And I think Rand and Perrin definitely have a lot in Season 3, I think.

It’s hard. I can’t go in too much, but I think for the people who know the storyline and know the books, I think what’s been so lovely having read that and then gone through it, and, you know, dissected so many elements of it, seeing it brought to life. I think it warranted its moment. I hope that’s what we’ve done effectively.

I think that image of Perrin at the end of Season 2, when like the eyes are fully changed now, that is kind of where we’re going with him. Which is really exciting. I’ve always known where he needs to go and where he starts and stuff. I think all the characters go on and develop even more. That jump you see from Season 1 to Season 2, I hope it just keeps doing that.

So you mentioned that the eyes, do you find that the contacts or a hindrance or a help on set?

You know what? I’ve gotten used to them now. Like I genuinely — you know, it sounds a bit actor-y, but you feel like something’s in your eyes and you feel like something’s changed. That always helps. And you have people come up to you and be like, “Oh, my God.” There’s people who  haven’t acted with for ages. They saw me when I didn’t have them in and I come back and meet them and they’re like, “Oh, my God.” So all of that, I think, personally, just helps. You can get into character and out of character. I found it really interesting that it changed the way a smile or stare can be read and I had to work with it because sometimes it can just look really intense. But, yeah, it’s been really cool. I’m really glad, actually, that I wore them for Season 2 and Season 3.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.