Warning: Contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time episode 3.
In adapting Robert Jordan’s book series, Amazon’s The Wheel of Time TV series shows several differences to the original story, but a key change has been made to Mat’s parents that could impact the character’s future. Mat Cauthon (Barney Harris) is one of the central figures for The Wheel of Time who comes from the Two Rivers. His storyline throughout the first book is already complicated, and his recasting for The Wheel of Time season 2 could complicate it further.
In Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series, Mat’s parents, Abell and Natti Cauthon are shown to be kind, wholesome people who care for their children and are important parts of the community. Notably, Abell Cauthon is close friends with Rand al’Thor’s father, Tam. However, in The Wheel of Time, Mat’s parents have been changed dramatically. Abell Cauthon neglects his family and appears to sleep around on his wife. Natti Cauthon, meanwhile, appears to struggle with alcoholism, neglects her two young daughters, and speaks harshly about Mat.
Jordan’s initial version of Mat Cauthon is a young person who has had relatively few serious consequences for his puckish behavior, which leaves him with a happy, if impish, sense of humor and kindness. However, because his parents are much less pleasant figures in The Wheel of Time television adaptation, he has had much more responsibility thrust upon him and has had to take care of his younger sisters. His parents’ failure to care for their family, combined with Mat Cauthon being aged up for the show, makes Mat into a much grimmer, more brooding figure which, while still allowing him an occasional jape, hints at the darker turn that his character will take in The Wheel of Time season 1.
The advantage of The Wheel of Time making this change is that it fits in with the sped-up version of events that season 1 is telling to get into the meat of the story faster than Robert Jordan’s “Eye of The World” did. Because Mat is so eager to help his sisters, his kind and caring side is immediately shown as he continues to worry about them and brings that protective element of the character to the forefront much earlier than would otherwise have been possible. This, in turn, will mean that the character’s transition after claiming the cursed dagger in Shadar Logoth will be that much starker of a contrast, despite the short time period that The Wheel of Time season 1 is working within.
This change to Mat Cauthon’s parents will pose an interesting problem for The Wheel of Time in a later storyline (assuming that the series continues to follow the original books closely). In book 4, “The Shadow Rising,” Perrin and Faile return to the Two Rivers to find it under threat from the Whitecloaks with Tam al’Thor and Abell Cauthon mounting a resistance together from the woods. With the extreme change to Abell’s character, this pairing seems less likely, as he is now not the sort of person that Tam would be close friends with. This could mean that this storyline will serve as a redemption arc for Abell Cauthon, or he may be written out of that storyline and The Wheel of Time’s cast entirely. It is possible that that storyline, if kept, will have to see other major changes in The Wheel of Time TV series, given that Tam and Abell work together to rescue Master Luhhan from the Whitecloaks, a character who was not introduced in the Two Rivers during the community-establishing first episode.
The Wheel of Time releases new episodes Fridays on Amazon Prime.
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