First Things First…
Is Willow now the High Aldwin of his village? I wonder if this episode title is about him.
And after the Elora Danan reveal at the end of the premiere, I’m anxious to see how it affects the group dynamic. “Dove” was the (mostly) unwanted, expendable member of the group, who might’ve been more of a liability than anything. But now, she’s the future Empress—the one who must be protected at ANY cost. She suddenly has a LOT more weight to throw around, if she wants to use it.
3 Things I Like
3. All Grown Up
It’s cool to see Willow’s daughter from the movie come into the story—and even cooler to discover she’s played by Warwick Davis’ real-life daughter, Annabelle.
Mims is brave, and kind, and super-excited to see Elora after all these years. She’s practically bursting to tell Elora she was the one who found her by the river when Elora was a baby. If you watched the movie, Mims has grown up to be exactly who you’d expect her to be.
2. News on Madmartigan
“Death wouldn’t keep Mads from coming back to you, only delay him a bit.”
Willow
It looks like I was right to reserve judgment after the premiere about how they did Madmartigan wrong. In a flashback, we learn Sorsha sent Madmartigan in search of the Kymerian Cuirass—a magical piece of armor—but because he’s never returned, she’s afraid she sent him to his death. (I still find it weird she lets her kids think their father ran out on them instead of telling them the truth.)
But that wasn’t just a throwaway line to explain his absence. Boorman tells Kit he used to be a squire to her father. He says he knows what happened to Madmartigan—and that Mads found the Cuirass.
Even if there’s no way Val Kilmer can appear in the show, I hope we find out more about Madmartigan’s heroics.
1. Elora’s Struggles and Doubts
“Of course I’m afraid. I couldn’t even pass the damn finger test. What if I can’t do magic? What if I can’t save him?”
Elora
Learning you’re someone other than who you always thought you were as a late teen or early-20-something would be hard for anyone.
But it’s got to be infinitely harder if the person you discover you really are is the one potential savior of your kingdom—the one everyone knows about and has been learning the name of since they were children. (It has a very Harry Potter feel to it, now that I think about it…)
It’s no wonder Elora is struggling and doubting herself so much. She always believed she was a nobody… just a kitchen maid whose one claim to fame was that she makes phenomenal muffins.
She even says to Graydon…
“When Willow said I was Elora Danan, part of me thought, ‘Yes. This is it.’ The answer to a question I’ve been asking my whole life. ‘Who am I?’ But this other part of me, this little voice in my head, just didn’t believe it. The truth is, I’m not special. I’m just… ordinary.”
But her struggles go beyond the natural doubt she’s feeling when this new discovery about herself seems so surreal…
Trying to learn magic from Willow is compounding her struggles. He claims that if someone has magical gifts but stifles them for long enough, the magic will be extinguished. And with Elora struggling with the most basic of spells, they both believe that might’ve happened.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Just an OK Sorcerer?
“My dear friend, you are the bravest man I’ve ever known. And you have the truest heart I ever will. But you’re not a great sorcerer, and you never will be.”
Sorsha
Considering Sorsha’s history with Willow, I expected them to think of each other as old friends.
I guess they did at one time. But we see through flashbacks that they had a falling out when Elora was just a little girl. Willow wanted to train her early, before her magic was extinguished.
Sorsha was actually good with Elora never having to practice magic, or fulfill her destiny, or know anything about her true identity. Knowing how evil Sorsha’s mother was, who can blame her for having a tense relationship with magic.
The killer line, though, is Sorsha telling Willow he never became a great sorcerer. That’s at the heart of their argument, and it’s what caused Willow to walk out.
As hurtful as her words were, I have to agree—at least so far. It’s unclear just how good Willow is. His struggles teaching Elora have as much to do with her as with him. But what about when he “consults the bones”? That seems as ridiculous as when the High Aldwin did it in the movie—and I questioned his magical ability, too.
The truth is, we haven’t seen Willow do much of anything to show he’s progressed as a sorcerer in the years since the movie.
3 Things I Don’t Like
3. Ballantine’s Sudden Turn
Ballantine’s injury from the Gales in the first episode has turned him evil.
I don’t mind that happening. We saw right away that he was marked—defiled, in a way—by the injury he suffered. But the turn comes so suddenly. I would’ve liked to see it take more time, and see him struggle with it, instead of just wincing and looking at it a couple of times before he loses his mind.
2. Misreading Willow’s Vision
In Willow’s vision, he sees Elora dead on the battlefield. He interprets that as her needing to die for their world to survive. But it sure doesn’t look in that vision like their world is going to survive with her gone.
To me, it looks more like a vision of what will happen in the future based on where things stand right now—with Elora having been in hiding all her life, and just now learning her true identity and beginning her magical journey.
I’d take that to mean there’s still hope. If he can train her well enough, that vision will change.
I’d understand his interpretation if he saw the aftermath of her death—that the world survived and the Crone was defeated. Then it would lead to some real conflict, because this young woman he loves MUST die to save the world. But his interpretation doesn’t match what we’ve seen of his vision so far.
1. Overshadowed
Because this episode focuses so heavily on Willow and Elora, no one else gets much chance to shine.
Graydon at least has one good scene with Elora, where he tells her she’s extraordinary. I’ve got my eyes on that as a potential romance, even though Elora is engaged to Airk, and Graydon to Kit..
Boorman is amusing again, but he doesn’t have as much to do as he did in the premiere, either.
Jade feels like she’s barely there. And Kit gets a little more time than the rest, but she’s constantly whining and complaining about Elora and how they’re wasting time. The story isn’t doing her any favors so far.
Elora gets kidnapped at the end of the episode, so the next one won’t be able to focus on Willow training her. Hopefully this works to everyone else’s benefit.
Tim Matassa
