Scariest Moments from The Wheel of Time

[@billnolte8644]

This may be skewed by claustrophobia, but the description of Rand being trapped inside the box before the wells imparted the most horror to me.

[@TheWheelTurns]

yeah I shudder at the thought. what that would be like. yikes!

[@pearse9116]

I love how we see how it affects him when he's brought on the seafolk ship and feels very confined and does anything possible to get out of the cabin quarters. A very small thing, but Jordan KNEW trauma.

[@ciaran2745]

And then Dumai's Wells actually happens, and that ain't exactly pleasant either

[@felipevitorino7745]

Me too

[@bholdr----0]

Well, if one didn't have claustrophobia when they were put in the box... they sure would afterwards! I've never had a problem caving in tight spots in small, dark spaces. .. But Rand's experience in the box gave me chills for real. He develops some serious PSTD from that experience- naturally; The experience literally changed his entire personality and behavior. Yeah that is terrifying AF...

[@bobbydebruyn9384]

Rands failed ressurection attempt in Tear have too be one of the most gruesome scene in the series.

[@kyanperry8786]

When the Myrddraal came to punish Mesaana in the tower. One of the most twisted scenes in the series.

[@NaeBlis]

Agreed

[@stephencruickshank3868]

Came here to say this one. And it’s the perfect scene because it provides all the details you don’t need and then cuts to black…so your imagination takes over.

[@maddiebarrow5876]

Yep this was horrific. Especially (as Nae'blis says in this video) as sexual acts are generally not talked about directly in the WoT so I was shocked that RJ would include this kind of scene, even by implication...Mesaana and Moghedien really get the worst punishments of the Forsaken

[@LesSimsJr]

Dumai’s Wells. This had to be absolutely horrifying to witness. This truly shows what the power used as a weapon is capable of and how defenseless you can be against it. It also touches on the twisted possibilities of “what if’s “ for other “creative” ways the power could be used as a weapon if users just happen to think of it. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility. It really drives home the point of why the 3 oaths exist

[@TheWheelTurns]

still most horrific battle scene I have read after a reading a lot of other series.

[@mattgreen7692]

@@TheWheelTurns the entirety of the Battle of the Heroes in "The Heroes" by Joe Abercrombie doesn't even compare

[@lauramcmillan9592]

Absolutely. Maybe more horrifying than “scary,” exactly, but it’s the single thing that’s stuck with me most when I had forgotten half the things on this list. After 20 years, just thinking “Asha’man, kill” gives me chills and makes me want to cry.

[@kalrandom7387]

That battle made me realize, or at least have a clue about, how devastating the war of power must have been.

[@ArmyGuyClaude]

I agree, but literally any of the battles in this world would have been terrifying

[@gagem6906]

The nightmare that Elayne and Nynaeve almost get stuck in was a pretty scary scene (FoH I think?). And that time Moghedien stripped and contorted Nynaeve like one of Graendal's slaves was super creepy. There's a lot of good horror stuff in TAR in the early books

[@NaeBlis]

Agreed. That’s a good one

[@stephencruickshank3868]

The borderlanders taken to the Thak’andar smiths. Because they totally know what’s coming. Also, and of the human for food camps Aginor had. You could get a terrifying cameo out of that.

[@stevenhernandeznon-profitf968]

For me it was when Sammael calmly retells to Bors how he witnessed several Myrdrall torture a rich and powerful man in the AOL until he gave up his family members one by one and then was mutilated and eventually tossed to be eaten by the trollocs

[@gearomkologenas5458]

No argument with any of these, but for me, the scariest moments came early in the series, when both as reader and seeing the scenes through inexperienced characters eyes, made what was happening even scarier. The Trolloc attack on al’Thor farm. Rand’s journey from the farm to Emond’s Field afterwards. The flight of Perrin; Egwene and Elyas from the Ravens. The Dreams in Baerlon, leading to the Rats with broken backs, leading to the encounter with the Myrddraal. Four Kings. The Dream Rand has while still recovering from his ‘illness’ when you get double tapped by the horror. At this stage, I was still so unsure of what was happening, I had no expectations of plot armour to allow me perspective, or a level of detachment that I felt in most of the examples you cited. The horror and fear was not just appreciative, but wholeheartedly visceral. -g

[@ugglah]

You are completely correct, although I was like 15 back then and felt it to be cool

[@belaswhicker2033]

In The Dragon Reborn during Perrin’s dream, a shadow from above reaches down and rips a man’s skin off whole. The way Robert Jordan describes it is shockingly horrific. I was not expecting that!

[@bholdr----0]

Aw s***- I had forgotten about that! For me, that was legitimately creepy/horrific-! Just like when Lanfear shows up at the docks in TFOH, displaying and inflating Hadnan Kadere's flayed skin while raging at Rand... one just knew that that interaction between Lanfear and Rand, Moraine, et. al. was going to end badly. (And it did!) Cheers!

[@khanktinga]

My pick for a top 10 scary scene was in the same town as the Myrddraal nailed to the door. It was when Rand had gone into a room, saw some flies on the meals set still on the table, and then started experience a vision of the family sitting down to eat when Trollocs came in.IIRC, the vision kept repeating and more and more flies were in the room and eventually crawling all over Rand. The spell was broken when someone came across Rand and kind of woke him up, but it was pretty freaky and horrifying to think about being trapped in a vision of that family's doom like that. (Knowing what must have happened to all of them makes it that much worse.)

[@NaeBlis]

That’s a good one

[@bigal6274]

From a personal perspective, Rand being locked in the box for days makes me itch under my skin.. also I would say that the first trolloc attack on Rand and his father at their house has many earmarks of classic horror.

[@belaswhicker2033]

In keeping with the scary moments theme, Pedron Niall’s bare feet would be the stuff of nightmares.

[@TheWheelTurns]

whoever the whitecloak is that chooses the short straw and has gaurd duty with Child Biar

[@Znatnhos]

Oh man, the whole concept of having someone else, especially an insane man, living in your head and fighting to take over your mind and body is way scarier than anything on this list... How did the dragon's possession of Rand not even make the list?

[@NaeBlis]

That’s a good one too

[@mattgreen7692]

I'm surprised there's no Darth Rand scenes in this list. Between Natrin's Borough and "Do you think that I could stop your heart by simply willing it, Cadsuane Sedai?" Darth Rand is more horrifying than any forsaken

[@Rye_Toast]

Haven't read all the books yet so I'm going to bail and come back, but I thought the scene with Padan Fain in the basement staring up smiling in the direction towards Rand. And of course the mess he left behind, but that staring upwards was freaky.

[@GodFirstnl]

I missed the Black Tower turning storyline. Not being able to escape, seeing friends being turned, 13 myrdraal... Wow

[@NaeBlis]

That’s a good one

[@teebee7769]

Demandred’s entrance into the last battle and subsequent showing of power.. especially after it seemed like the light was winning. Definitely one of the scariest scenes to me.

[@findbinnu]

For me, the Domination Band on Rand was the most horrible sequence, because of the consequences that could have come from it, and I couldn't work out how Rand could possibly escape. Truly scary.

[@BranceCrantly]

Cool video, dude. Even though it was in the 10 spot, I think Egwene's capture hits really hard no matter how many times I've read it. I think it's because it could happen in real life. Being somewhere unfamiliar, being captured, and having your autonomy taken from you. It's terrifying. While the other examples are extremely scary, they are supernatural in nature. So, I don't get that feeling in my gut like when Egwene was captured.

[@maddiebarrow5876]

I agree. For me it was also the scariest scenario in the books due to the knowledge that this happens in our own world - magical curses, monsters etc are scary and imaginative in their own way but slavery is a very real parallel, sadly. I felt such rage and anguish reading Egwene's Damane chapters

[@tristandukes5548]

The scene with the rats in the wall trying to escape the heat got me

[@jabbott6748]

"If selling feet pics was a thing in Randland, who's feel would you pay to see?" There is only one acceptable answer for this question. Bela.

[@HeavyTopspin]

I still find the single most unsettling scene in the entire series to be the Gholam's first appearance. Not knowing anything about it but the name (which had been teased earlier when Forsaken were discussing Aginor's creations), the fact that it "squeezed under the door", and that it literally tore Harid Fel apart. Then add in RJ making us wait a year and a half until the next book, giving me all that time to obsess over what exactly a Gholam was... to the point that on the newly arising early forms of social media including various forums, IRC, AOL IM, etc., I chose "Gholam" as my user ID despite having no knowledge whatsoever of what it actually was, and I'll admit that one of my theories was something akin to a Shoggoth.

[@breaker6683]

One of my favorite things about the show is how much they showed some of the more horror elements from the book. There's tons of scary things that happen in EotW and it was nice that they didn't shy away from it.

[@ugglah]

Good list and good points from viewers! I must say that I believe that the shear horror that Rand faced with using the one power, knowing that he would become insane and constantly questioning if he was; that is truly dark and sad. Another example is Shadar Logoth and the effects the dagger had on Mat! Or what about the dream sequence everyone had when they Rand with Verins help used the portal stones to travel to Falme in the great hunt? Mat vomited from it, and I don't remember exactly if they both promised to never betray Rand... but it feels like they did. This storytelling from Jordan was insane! 25 years after first read and after a number of re-reads I still wonder what kinds of lifes they had experienced! I wonder how many times they had given Rand up to the Red's and then seen him killing himself as a result of the stilling

[@TheWheelTurns]

When after Thom eats and has to clean his mustaches. Vanin's socks. Talmanes Laughing.. The block mason's meeting with Elaida when he learns how big she wants her palace to be.

[@ArmyGuyClaude]

That time Rand wiped an entire castle full of people out of existence and watch him explain to nynaeve why he did it.

[@jutmagt2587]

I never really felt terrified by the bubbles of evil. To me they were always put in the books to artificially raise-the suspense in single chapters in the books, in which the real threats were far away. Because of the one-chapter-only nature, they would never feel dangerous to any main characters, because they would never go out that way. I honestly hope they stay away from all of them in the show. (Hinderstap obviously the exception, the surprise when the villagers actually came back for the last battle made it one of the most satisfying moments of the entire series) On the list I definitely miss the Moiraine rescue mission (ToM), the first trip through the blight (EoftW) and the last one (aMoL with Faile)- Great video!

[@natebrown4689]

I would wish to see Hopper's paws.

[@faithrefer9852]

Mine was Padan Fain in Fal Dara in TGH, he was staring directly at the celing from his cell beneath the keep. You find out he can sense Rand and was probably looking directly at him the whole time, following his movements through the floor and Rand had no idea.

[@tannergeldart9434]

On Padain Fains death. I thought it was appropriate. It had made clear he was almost untouchable at this point. He knew the dark ones and the lights capabilities it seemed. The only way for him to die was to make a mistake. To overlook something in arrogance l.

[@jacfalle27]

I thought that in the “vision battle” that Rand had with the Dark One, the vision where everything was too perfect in a world without the Dark One was real creepy. It felt very Stepford Wives-ish.

[@kght222]

i knew fel was killed, but it was the gholam? wow, a theory i had never even thought of, the gholam was in cairhien and didn't go for rand. i figured it was moridin or maybe slayer. having the gholam so close to rand seems like a waste, rand would have been destroyed at that point in time. the first time his weave snapped back he would have fallen.

[@hannaclay]

Actually, Nae'blis left out the killing of Barthanes Damodred, who was also torn to pieces, with his head stuck on the post of his bed. We know that Sammael used the Gholam and sent it after Elayne and Nynaeve (it just went after Mat originally as a side trip Sammael added (a kind of "kill him if you can, don't worry about it if you can't" moment), and then as a personal vendetta), but did HE actually free it, or did Ishamael? Someone sent it to kill Barthanes, either that or James forgot about how he had Barthanes killed.

[@TheKyfe]

As to the let down of Padan Fain's death, the way I viewed it was that both Mat and Perrin had two conflicts during The Last Battle: A Major one, and a Minor one. Perrin's Major conflict was against Slayer, and his Minor was against Lanfear. He fought all book against Slayer, but then simply snapped Lanfear's neck from behind. In the same vein, Mat's major conflict was the war itself which he fought against most of the book, and his Minor conflict was against Padan Fain. Both characters had a supreme struggle and an easy one.

[@scottbishop9144]

You may want to re-assess the Lanfear bit. She played him.

[@Einungbrekke]

I have two. The lesser first. When I got the the point in a memory of light where Elayne are about to get her babies cut out of her while she watches. The babies live on, she will not, making the viewing true. Egwene was killed off and I thought Elayne also was going to die, so I stopped to read the book for a few months, since I liked Elayne so much. The grater horror was Rands journey to power. How he went from that normal boy to become the person who used balefire to rip Natrin's Barrow, with everyone in it, from the pattern. None of the persons in there ever existed and the journey culminating in him almost killing his father by just mention a certain Aes Sedai.

[@hannaclay]

Both VERY good points! I "wanted" the baby scene because it was something the Shadow would do, and always felt Elayne being saved as a cop out, but I also knew, given Nicola's foretelling of the Three women on the boat with Rand, that she would be safe. Rand has always been like my little brother to me. And all that was done to him was horrible beyond belief. (One bright light for you, @Einungbrekke , is this: read up on Balefire. James elaborated more on its' effects as time passed.)

[@LightHalcyon]

The reflection scene with Rand always sticks with me.

[@dead_slime1915]

One would defiantly be the journey into the blight in order to bring the horn which is are first really look into the blight with everything being able to kill you and how even the ground isn’t even safe. When reading those chapters it feels like your in a different world were nowhere is safe what’s worse the group new there was a traitor among them meaning they can’t even trust each other. I think this the only chapter where there is not a spec of goodness or hope but only distrust and wariness it would truly be a terrifying place to be.

[@lancethomas2331]

Tuon's feet. Are they lacquered or not?

[@rainbowsprinklez]

Just made my first top 10 video... MAN do I have a lot of respect for you now.

[@davidmathias7124]

Some of the battles, particularly involving the Channelers could look horrific on screen. Some have already mentioned Dumi Wells, I’ve just read the scene in the Manor House where Rand, Logain and others rip apart 10s of thousands of Trollocks using using Death Gates and Blossoms of Fire and other Weaves. Some of the off handed killing done by Fain is pretty horrific, with the victims turning black as the infection creeps over their bodies. Torturing the Shadio that’s staked out on the ground with hot coals, that eventually leads to Perrin cutting off his hand. There is quite a lot of potential of turning WoT tv show quite horrific.

[@AzoiatheCobra]

the bubble of evil that turned a part of a town (cant recall which) to dust... was a bit terrifying.

[@bholdr----0]

For me a scary (more accurately, horrifying) passage from AMOL, about Fain/ Mordeth/ Mashadar/ SHISAM and his motivations and action is: 'He knew well that he was mad, but, being mad, he didn't care' (paraphasing)... DANG that line gave me chills! +"What a wonderful reunion!" (*shudder*)

[@CJB787]

Semirhage torturing Cabriana Mecandes is top of the list for me.

[@Whiteman6644]

Bela’s. No contest. Thank you for the video as always, Nae’blis sir! Request for a ‘Who Would Win’ video if you have time: Myrddraal Vs Predator. Happy Holidays and happy new year!

[@andrewberenson5717]

Nae'Blis. How did you rank the 10 scenes. I would like to have seen your rankings like you tell us in your other top 10 lists. Great video. Nae'Blis. Next Thanksgiving, you should do a video on the 10 most potential appetizing Randland side dishes if that land celebrated Thanksgiving. I bet one of the top 10 would include a recipe with ice peppers 🌶️. I have a small bone to pick with you. We the reader have enough information to realize that Fain nailed the Fade to the door (or at least we do by the end of TGH). However, I do not think Ingtar, Rand and the Sheinarans have info info to know it was Fain who nailed the Fade to the door. If you included Egwene's capture, I would have also included Rand's capture by the Aes Sedai and being beaten and stuffed in the chest every day. Another scary scene is in TGH when everyone sees how quickly and painfully the Seanchan servant dies after being nicked by the Shadar Logath dagger.

[@pearse9116]

I was expecting this to just be Padan Fains top 10 moments, awesome that you didn't just flood the list with him and his . . . deeds.

[@falx94]

I think Therava's entire existence could count as a scary moment. Galina is the only Black Ajah Aes Sedai that I come pretty close to feeling sorry for. Imagine being stuck with THAT for the rest of your insanely long Aes Sedai lifespan.

[@mark7166]

I can't remember: was the fog monster in Cairhien determined to be a bubble of evil, or is it something Fain did, similar to at the Last Battle?

[@wolfbrother795]

Great video! I was hoping bubbles of evil would make it on the list. I really think the tv series has an excellent chance to come up with some very creative, very dark, bubbles of evil.

[@andrewberenson5717]

I think Graendal has the best feet. I bet they would be good enough for Lars Strong in the House of Dragons to get off seeing them.

[@tylerjones8082]

I was looking for "Lanfear killing Hadere" in this one. But otherwise I'll agree with all choices.

[@briangemmet3567]

Scariest moment for me is in book one when the party enters Shadar Logoth, the boys venture out and meet mordeth and then run back as the sun is going down and the “eyes” are watching them, creepy asf

[@MrBallardbuddy]

Top scariest scene is when lews therin seizes the source from Rand Al Thor, You could kinda tell it was gunna happen as the series progressed but i was at work qhen i heard this part for the first time. I was so hyped up i had to litteraly take a break to listen to it with no distractions

[@mtriplett5568]

Quenching of swords in people at Thankandor. Ugh

[@angiestaudt4883]

These, book based videos are my favorite

[@ArmyGuyClaude]

What it must have been like living in the black tower at the end as one of the last sane people left

[@Dayarus]

"Do you wish to know why one of the chosen must be punished? Do you wish to watch? Many have fallen from great heights for wanting to know too much. Find who hunts my creatures here. Go now if you want to live another hour.

[@pstandlee]

One part where Trollocks were eating borderlanders and fades doing other things. Also the description of Shayol Ghul as a maw closing and distorting reality was bad.

[@ZlothZloth]

And it happens so early in the books! (RELATIVELY speaking, anyway. Was it about 1000 pages in? ;)

[@ArmyGuyClaude]

The scene where Matt gets the dagger

[@tylinspiglet4676]

Hi Nae'Blis! Always a good day when you upload a vid. I agree with your list 9/10, the only one that I don't find creepy enough is Machin Shin. My problem with MS is that the fear is mainly theoretical but we never really see people going mad or losing their soul etc... so it is a bit meh for me. A scary moment I would add is when Rand loses it and almost kills Tam. It's the culmination of Rand's descent into near madness and is a creepy WTF moment in itself.

[@ugglah]

Yes, when I read that I truly understood that Rand had lost it completely... but later when he is Zen-Rand and apologise... I cry like a baby every time I read it!

[@philippscholze2547]

For me the scariest and darkest scene was when sheidar'haran frees semirrhage. The way he enters her cell in red light was such a good read!

[@richardwhite7994]

These are all good. I also think Rànd in the box was scary too!

[@ArmyGuyClaude]

Unsung horrors: when Rand meets someone real and friendly for the first time in dreams he automatically assumes it’s a trick. The amount of horrible dreams he must have had at this point

[@ArmyGuyClaude]

Literally anything with the foxes and snakes

[@cyanbloodbane1]

Paidin Fain in the dungeon of FalDara

[@j.s.173]

For me the "worst" moments are when Rand destroys everything without even remembering what he did. In two different battles..

[@kght222]

i wouldn't pay to see any feet, it would be pretty easy to see any of them by being in the right place at the right time....shienar in the first book would have been awesome. min had her feet sized for her boots on many occasions, pretty sure there are many chances to see every character without their shoes on. not really into it but i always find you background white board intriguing.

[@dracobruhma]

God. So many. Most horrific, id say when Rafe jenkins was hired as showrunner.

[@michael_swardh]

I hope they do these in the show just as scary, and not just a PG13 version or just talk about it. Press X to doubt..

[@FraenkischeRep]

Tuon or Graendals 😏🤨

[@Al_Ellisande]

Narg's.

[@monkbunk1396]

I used to be on the wheel of dime in my early twenties. But now I'm more of a half ounce man.

[@kene6954]

There's alot of swear words.

[@tankrides]

Biden as president best as "1

[@NaeBlis]

Huh?

[@tcantrell5301]

Scariest thing to happen in my life , we have these elections stolen and no one stands !?

[@Rye_Toast]

Scariest thing to happen in my lifetime is the shared psychosis infecting this country.

[@Hillel75]

Hey, I'm goth, wear black everyday and Practice the Occult... it's Halloween everywhere that I am! I'm all for this! I love dark topics.