‘The Wheel of Time’s Dain Bornhald Is an Even Bigger Villain Than We Thought

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time Season 3 Episode 7.

The Wheel of Time has plenty of villains, but one has come out of nowhere to become especially terrifying. Dain Bornhald (Jay Duffy) was first introduced in Season 2 when Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) met him in Atuan’s Mill, and initially, Dain was friendly, chatting with him and deducing his home based on his clothes. Dain even offered the caged Aviendha (Ayoola Smart) water, breaking the rules to show her a bit of humanity. Though Perrin had plenty of reason to mistrust the Whitecloaks, Dain’s introduction made him seem like one of the better members of the group. Yet Season 3 changes that, giving him the well-earned title of villain. While he may not be as openly evil as some of the series’ antagonists, Dain Bornhald is consistently deluded and oblivious to the detriment of others.

As his role grows, Dain distinctly becomes an antagonist as he takes the Whitecloaks to the Two Rivers to lure Perrin into a trap for a personal vendetta. While it’s one thing to oppose a hero, Dain takes things too far. He is not fighting for the Dark One, but he earns the title of villain by hurting innocent people and not seeming to care. Admittedly, his band of Whitecloaks did some good, removing Trollocs from the Two Rivers, but they represent a different threat that the people struggle to fight. Having rallied his neighbors, Perrin has set the Two Rivers on a new path, but Dain has his own plans for Perrin. Things come to a head for these two enemies in Season 3, Episode 7, “Goldeneyes,” where Dain proves, once again, that he is not the hero he believes himself to be.

Dain Bornhal Ignores the Facts in His Quest for Revenge in ‘The Wheel of Time’

When Dain first met Perrin, they were not friends, but not enemies either. That changed in the Season 2 finale when Perrin killed Dain’s father, Geofram Bornhald (Stuart Graham), during the battle of Falme. Geofram was an experienced soldier and understood that by charging into an enemy-occupied city, he risked not coming back. Geofram still chooses to go to battle, and somehow, Dain blames others for that risk. If a random Seanchan soldier had killed Geofram, would Dain try to find and kill him? Dain’s actions ignore the fact that Geofram put himself in a dangerous situation and accepted that he might die. While Dain has every right to mourn the father he loved, he should accept that Geofram knew the risks when he joined the battle in Falme.

Having seen the confrontation, Dain blames Perrin for his father’s death, which isn’t entirely wrong, but Dain is unwilling to acknowledge the full situation. He goes to incredible lengths to see justice done to Perrin, using the Two Rivers itself as a weapon and trying to turn the people against him, yet Dain fails to acknowledge that it wasn’t a cold-blooded murder. Perrin did kill Geofram, but he did so while defending himself from the soldier who had killed his ally and friend, Hopper. Dain has deluded himself into thinking Perrin was the aggressor when Geofram and the Whitecloaks attacked Perrin first.

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‘The Wheel of Time’s Dain Bornhald Still Considers Himself a Hero

No matter how his father died, it does not justify Dain’s actions, but Dain still sees himself as fighting for justice. In the name of revenge, Dain has done terrible things to the people of the Two Rivers, who weren’t even involved in the situation. He brought an army to the Two Rivers, occupying a place where Perrin wasn’t even present. Then, he put a price on anyone related to Perrin, forcing his family to flee their home. When none of that worked, Dain held Natti (Juliet Howland), Bode (Litiana Biutanaseva), and Eldrin Cauthon (Lilibet Bituanaseva) hostage because they are related to a man who helped Perrin’s family. Worst of all, he allowed Natti Cauthon to be tortured by Valda (Abdul Salis), yet somehow, Dain continues to believe himself to be a good man.

While mourning his father is one thing, Dain is overreacting by lashing out at people who truly have nothing to do with this situation. He wants Perrin to face “justice,” and nothing that stands in the way of that is too high a price. Despite the reality of Geofram’s death, Dain may never be able to forgive Perrin, but his grief and anger don’t excuse his behavior, especially when he is willing to hurt so many to get to Perrin. Dain’s ability to justify his horrendous actions with a false sense of morality is far more concerning than those who have simply turned to the Dark because he has convinced himself he is in the right despite all the harm he has caused.

Dain Bornhald Lets the Trolloc Army Into the Two Rivers in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3

In Episode 7, Dain is again responsible for terrorizing the Two Rivers, though he isn’t entirely at fault this time. When Perrin offers him a deal in hopes of stopping the invading Trollocs, Dain refuses. However, he and the Whitecloaks come riding in at the last minute to help, bringing the enemy in with them. Though it wasn’t his intention, Dain is the only reason the Trollocs made it inside the Two Rivers’ gate. He was too oblivious to realize Padan Fain (Johann Myers) had manipulated him, and many of the people of the Two Rivers died because of it. His reinforcements show up bloodied and unknown to him while the nearby villages are being ruthlessly attacked, and Dain isn’t suspicious of them in the least. His mistake got people killed, and after the battle, he is too focused on taking Perrin to trial rather than making amends. Innocent people continue to suffer because of Dain Bornhald’s fixation on Perrin, and he seems to be completely unaware of the damage he has done.

Dain Bornhald may not be strictly evil, but his combination of self-righteousness and vengeance makes him more terrifying than a non-magical enemy has a right to be in this world. He can twist reality to justify anything, believing himself to be in the right no matter what he does and demonizing those around him for his own agenda. And the Whitecloaks are willing to follow him, giving him an army he can use to amplify his damage.

New episodes of The Wheel of Time Season 3 premiere Thursdays on Prime Video.

The Wheel of Time

Release Date

November 18, 2021

Network

Prime Video

Showrunner

Rafe Judkins

Directors

Sanaa Hamri, Ciaran Donnelly, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Thomas Napper, Maja Vrvilo, Wayne Che Yip

Writers

Amanda Kate Shuman, Dave Hill, Rohit Kumar, Justine Juel Gillmer, Celine Song, Rammy Park, The Clarksons Twins, Katherine B. McKenna