The Shannara Chronicles - General Discussion

[portfino]

I think it's really tough to do outright parallel plots (as opposed to subplots), and I don't think this show is able to pull it off yet. Also, there are characters who are too easy to tune out, because you know the hero's ideas are right. Even though in all stories that's how it ends up, the writers need to be better at the illusion that somehow Arion or the captain guy might be right.

Edited January 27, 2016 by portfino

[GaT]

This show is losing my interest.

[The Kings Foot]

1. Too many commercials.

 

2. Elf guards are useless. They cant defend the Palace. The get ambushed by Rovers. They cant even defend themselves from Marsh wolves in the open. The Elf King should just hire the Rovers as mercenaries.

 

3. Do elves run as fast as horses ?

 

4.  The Demons are scary becuase they are freaking competent ! They dont go chasing after out heroes. They get ahead of them and ambush them. (Same as the rovers did ).  And that whole  scheme send one Prince out with no guards and then replacing the King. Glorious.

 

5. Did they get cheap with the fight choreography all of a sudden ? Suddenly this looks more like Xena.

[that one guy]

I just think making Cephelo a rapist for shock value was a huge mistake. James Remar would be much better used as a more nuanced, morally grey character. The last act of this episode has him working with Will and trying to "redeem" him, but we hate him now. Who thought this was a good idea?

[Trisan]

At this point, I think I'm following half for the regulars laughs at how cliché, cheesy and predictable it is, half because some part of me is totallly in "guilty pleasure" mode.

[CooperTV]

Amberle, Wil and Eretria take shelter in Pykon, a snowy Elvin outpost with a grisly secret; and Ander and Slanter make a discovery about the Dagda Mor's forces.

 

[blackwing]

I think I'm done.  Unfortunately, I find watching this show a chore, and TV is supposed to be entertaining, not work.  I find that I don't really care for any of the characters except Allanon and Prince Ander.  I find myself greatly disliking Surfer Elf, his stupid hair, the way he talks, and his ruby red lipstick lips (I'm convinced they are putting lipstick on him, which is an odd choice).  I don't care for Special Snowflake Princess Amberle.  Why must every show have to have a special snowflake.  And I don't care for the Rover girl.

[Crim]

I'll just take a deep breath before I begin. Right, here it goes.

 

Eritrea needed Cephelo to free her as opposed to just leave, yet when he does free her, it's a private scene ripe with she said/he said potential i.e. she has no assurances beyond his word, unless he gave her something in that a pouch, not just money - and the show just didn't mention it. So everything Eritrea has been doing was not for some hard-earned, provable freedom, just for his good will... so then she comes back and erases all of that. Dramatic moment aside *eyeroll*, this just means that she could have screwed him over from the very start despite the fact that the show made a big deal of showing how much power he has over her. Is the show bad at explaining something here or is the whole thing just this stupid?

 

Similarly, Amberle let that guard guy walk all over her, yet she finds her spine and sword to stop him from beating up her attempted rapist and repeated kidnapper. Why? Eritrea was not even there. Amberle just letting the guy kill Cephelo would have solved that particular issue... except he was needed for plot reasons later on. Show, this is never a good reason. Ever.

 

More romantic nonsense on all fronts. Words cannot express how many fucks I give about the seer guy and the blonde chick having a moment; it is a negative number of fucks. In fact, the more people are fucking or seem to want to, the less fucks I give about the show. This is different from pre-battle release of tension or enjoying the last moments before probable death; it is just lazy and annoying. And is that another love triangle with the elf warrior? But wait, she is leaving... so who cares about her sex life?!

 

Btw, show, if Eritrea goes for one episode without talking about sexing Wil, it's unlikely we will immediately forget it happened. Can they have some breathing room to act like normal people on a quest to save the world?

 

Why was Eritrea riding with the elf guard in armor? Wasn't he bigger and heavier than Wil or Amberle? This is a minor point, but I just didn't get it. Was it just so that she wasn't riding with one or the other? Is everything on the show written and directed with shipper goggles?

 

I thought the flashback fighting scenes were bad. They weren't clumsy, just boring, boring choreography, boring directing, cheesy lighting.

 

The music was the worst. It's been awhile since I heard something this obviously tied to the scenes - I can't even call it "manipulative" because it wasn't emotional, just really, really on the nose, following the editing to a T, like sound effects for jump scares in a generic horror movie. I haven't noticed this in previous episodes. 

[MissL]

I had reservations about watching another show from Gough and Millar who seem to have a talent for destroying an interesting concept (Smallville could have been so good!) in favor of stupid love triangles and poor characterization. I guess if they have Will take his shirt off every ep they may keep the teen girl viewers. Not to insult teen girls! He is very pretty but I think I'm done.

[Netfoot]

I'm renaming this show to The Havarti Chronicles.  Because it is nothing but lightweight, insipid cheese.

[Jordan27]

Wow, that was awful.  Who is writing this?  All the little sayings and speaking is right from our time.  Thousands of years in the future, we shouldn't be able to recognize any of our quips from now. 

 

A lot of these characters are from the clichéd stupid writing school.

 

I'm giving it one more episode and then I may be out. 

 

A l

[arjumand]

I just think making Cephelo a rapist for shock value was a huge mistake. James Remar would be much better used as a more nuanced, morally grey character. The last act of this episode has him working with Will and trying to "redeem" him, but we hate him now. Who thought this was a good idea?

 

I was just coming here to say this - in the last few moments of the episode, I was thinking, "Are you seriously trying to sell this guy to me as a lovable rogue, after making him a rapist? Are you shitting me, show?"

 

The moral event horizon has been crossed, and there's no coming back from this. If they go any further with attempted redemption for this guy, I'm gonna be done with the show.

[Canada]

Did this show use up all of its budget in the first 3 episodes?  Because I really enjoyed them.  But this episode, and the last one, were total crap.  Terrible acting, bad effects, shitty writing.  What happened?  I feel like I've started watching a different show.

[AzureOwl]

So are we thinking that Eretria really plays for both teams or was she trying a new avenue to get under Amberle's skin after the princess digs lost effectiveness?

[blugirlami21]

Maybe both. I think she was mostly just trying to get a rise out of Amberley though. I really like this episode, there were some good emotional beats.

I will say that we better not be giving Cephelo any more opportunities to "help." He never changes.

I felt like I missed something with Bandon now being trapped by the dagda mor. Maybe I need to rewatch. Surprised that Allanon was seemingly just killed off. Why didn't he protect himself and why is no one questioning how ooc the king is acting considering what we know about shapeshifters?

[CooperTV]

Quote

Amberle and Eretria run from bloodthirsty Elf Hunters who relish in cutting off elves’ ears for fun, while Wil searches for them with the help of an unexpected friend. At the palace, the King sends Ander and Arion to assassinate the Dagda Mor - with devastating consequences.

[ihavenoidea]

I have gotten sucked into this show somehow, weird for me because it reminds me of LotR and I hated those movies.  I really like the 3 leads, but when the show shifts to the king and his sons or dead seeing guy and Crixus from Spartacus my attention starts to fade.

 

I think Eretria just likes to annoy Amberle.  

 

Sad the little girl had to die, but I'm happy all the extra characters are gone and we just have the trio alone now.

[justcris]

I want to like this show, I even read the book ahead of the premiere, but I'm still not convinced. 

There's something about Amberle that I just can't take seriously, not sure if it's the costumes or the actress or what. 

[Browncoat]

Could it be that, aside from characters' names and the names of places, it has essentially nothing in common with the book?

[GaT]

I started "watching" this episode, realized I was barely paying attention & that I wasn't interested at all, & decided that was enough. I deleted the episode & canceled the series recording. This show wasn't interesting enough to hold my attention.

[wayne67]

The elves are useless at internal and external security. 

 

It's sad that I'm already sort of rooting for the demons because at least they're semi competent except for the inevitable plot contrived stupidity at the finale from the bad guys. 

 

I'm already bored of Princess and her constant snarking about Will's sex life. Also I'm bored of Rogue girl and her complete nonsense with her non bio dad. If you want to earn your freedom. Leave. 

 

As for Rogue Father/non father. Someone just put a sword in him already. He's already kidnapped the princess 2 to 3 times already. It's getting old. 

[wayne67]

I started "watching" this episode, realized I was barely paying attention & that I wasn't interested at all, & decided that was enough. I deleted the episode & canceled the series recording. This show wasn't interesting enough to hold my attention.

 

Yeah the elves seem too stupid to survive and I just don't care. 

[Crim]

I've been a bit busy lately, so has anyone seen some more recent takes on the show? I think the quality, such as it was, dropped in the latest episodes, and I'm curious what the current talk is. I miss TwoP's snark. (Can you imagine TwoP recapping this? It would have been so hilarious the show would have been worth it.)

[rogueprinzess]

I want to like this show, I even read the book ahead of the premiere, but I'm still not convinced. 

There's something about Amberle that I just can't take seriously, not sure if it's the costumes or the actress or what. 

 

Outside of JRD and Manu Bennett, the acting on the show is atrocious, but I expected as much from MTV. Honestly, if Allanon is dead, this show is a no-go for me. I can't just watch the hormonal fetuses angst over each other for the rest of the season.

[Jordan27]

I think that does it for me.  These characters are mostly dumb and don't deserve to live. 

 

I like the guard defending whatever he was defending, and he has his back to where intruders would enter and gets a sword.  Dumb, dumb..

 

No reason to list all the dumbness from the rest. 

 

The writers are awful.  All the language from this time is silly. 

 

Alanon is the only interesting character and Manu was better in the Arrow.

[waving feather]

How does this show get worse with a seemingly lower budget every week?

I enjoyed the first 3 episodes a lot. It was cheesy but I like some good cheese and the production values were good. Amberlene was not such an idiot then either. It's all been downhill since then. The budget for quality writing, visual effects and set pieces seemed to have been blown in the first three. It would also better serve them to still be in the palace. I hate this whole on-the-road-trip storyline. I only paid attention to like 15% of what was going on in this episode.

Edited February 6, 2016 by waving feather

[Kromm]

I've been a bit busy lately, so has anyone seen some more recent takes on the show? I think the quality, such as it was, dropped in the latest episodes, and I'm curious what the current talk is. I miss TwoP's snark. (Can you imagine TwoP recapping this? It would have been so hilarious the show would have been worth it.)

I doubt TWoP (any more than this site, done by many of the same people) would have recapped this. This show has been badly marketed, with no public buzz at all, so it likely would have flown right past their awareness (as it had Previously.TVs).

[wayne67]

I'm so glad that Prince number 1 is dead and the Changeling is presumably dead dead. 

 

Unfortunately the princes gave the bad guy his sword which probably increases his power somehow. *sigh*

 

These elves aren't doing well. I liked that one eared elf, ruthless but efficient, sliced that elf murderers throat so they could move on. 

[33kaitykaity]

This is growing on me.  I can't wait until they're all out so I can sit and binge-watch from beginning to end.  And I still think that Allanon is badly miscast.  Allanon should be cerebral, older, wiser, not so macho and beefy.  

[CooperTV]

While Wil and Amberle search for her, Eretria stumbles upon a secret settlement of humans.

 

Promo:

 

[Artsda]

Bad boy brother sure became King fast. I was not expecting King and the heir to both die so fast.

[Izeinwinter]

Eh, given that Allanon can heal from everything else, why wouldn't he be in his physical prime? And Manu Bennet is bringing it, so I'm happy on that front. 

Also, Eritrea and Amberlee continue to have a gloriously cliched romance arc, which makes me very happy. It's a love triangle that is actually triangular. 

 

The royal family is sure suffering casualties at a pretty high rate, yes. I'm expecting Amberlee to end up on the throne just because everyone ahead of her in the line of succession bites it. 

[The Kings Foot]

Amberle : Wait this is your ex ?  ........So in the bath......you were ......!!!"  (Though when Eretria would have the time or freedom for an ex she could leave  I dont know. 

 

Leaving aside the  the whole surviving for hundreds/thousands of years bit  Eretria just gave Amberle a Letterman jacket. This means they're going steady.

 

Ok so now that out of the way this episodes is much better than the previous. I've noticed Will is a much better actor when he's not around either of the girls. He just seems so uncomfortable around them.  He's much better getting in wacky hijinks.

 

And Dagda Mor is way better at this whole strategist thing than Allanon. 

Edited February 10, 2016 by The Kings Foot

[wayne67]

And Dagda Mor is way better at this whole strategist thing than Allanon. 

 

To be fair on Allanon, he's relying on teenagers who are all hormonal about each other to finish a quest while the elves ignore everything he says and literally stab him in the back. 

 

It was nice to see Will bonding with One Ear Elfman and using his plant based knowledge to help that guy out. 

 

I wonder if that Ear trade was the original reason that Elfs and gnomes fought. 

[Ravenya003]

I'm not quite sure whether the show is sincere about Eretria/Amberle as a potential couple or not. They went right ahead and confirmed Eretria's bisexuality, but I also get the feeling that all these romantic cliches they keep throwing at the girls (the jacket, the soft music, the pretending not to care about each other) is just MTV playing around with no real intent to follow-through. 

 

Which is a shame, because they're so much more interesting together than either one is with Wil. 

 

As a book reader, I liked their take on Perk and the reveal of his Roc, though the best original addition is the fact Commander Tilton wears armour on her ear-tips.

[33kaitykaity]

Eh, given that Allanon can heal from everything else, why wouldn't he be in his physical prime? And Manu Bennet is bringing it, so I'm happy on that front. 

I don't disagree that the actor is capable.  Maybe I'm just having Gandalf/Dumbledore expectations for my wizard -- oh, sorry, druid guide.  I have always pictured Allanon with the hooded cape and the staff, shrouded in mystery.  

Edited February 11, 2016 by 33kaitykaity

[Netfoot]

The rubber arrow tips bending over at the slightest touch of Amberle's throat, were really scary!

[Irishmaple]

I'm not familiar with the books and I have low tolerance for elves not played by Orlando Bloom or Lee Pace, but I was intrigued by this show. Were it not for Manu Bennett I would have bailed by now. I know the man has bills to pay and so on, but damn. There have got to better ways than this.

[wayne67]

Well... I'm glad that that dude is dead... 

 

That's about all I can say about the episode.

[CooperTV]

Wil, Amberle and Eretria must cross ancient human ruins to reach the Bloodfire, but a nefarious evil tests their friendship.

 

Promo:

http://www.spoilersguide.com/the-shannara-chronicles/episode-9-safehold-promo/

[Swank]

I don't get the geography of the Four Lands. Is Arborlon supposed to be in Seattle (based on the premiere), Utopia near Portland (those humans sure looked like lost hipsters)or further south? Cause it sure looked like Will, Eretria and Amberle just walked into San Francisco from Utopia. Ughh so much laziness

[Artsda]

Bohemian dressed humans clubbing with playing Star Trek and drinking beer? I'm so confused. So the humans have tv? lol 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Artsda

[Writing Wrongs]

I haven't read the books, but the humans past stuff confuses me. The show had me at elves, gnomes, troll, etc., but the weird our human race is the past and the elves and magic is the present baffles me.

[Adira]

I think we're supposed to believe that something happens to us that causes humans to be almost completely wiped out, and then as we continue to evolve, some became elves, gnomes, and trolls, for whatever reason, so now there are four races (each evolved from present-day humans).  Hence why the prom stuff and Star Trek are all relics of the past.

[The Kings Foot]

Bohemian dressed humans clubbing with playing Star Trek and drinking beer? I'm so confused. So the humans have tv? lol 

The dont have tv, they have a film reel of the first Startrek movie.

 

That said , I get what they're trying to present but they are failing at it. And this show being only 38 minutes long and wasting several of those on a ridiculous love triangle  isnt helping.

Edited February 18, 2016 by The Kings Foot

[paulvdb]

Are we to believe that elves, gnomes and trolls evolved naturally or are they the result of some genetic experiment of the humans before whatever happened that wiped out most humans and their civilization?

[wayne67]

Are we to believe that elves, gnomes and trolls evolved naturally or are they the result of some genetic experiment of the humans before whatever happened that wiped out most humans and their civilization?

 

Personally I'm assuming the Elves and the trolls and gnomes emigrated to Modern Earth from the Land of Faerie to escape the demons 300 years ago. Demons lay waste to most of the human population setting back progress to a weird blend of Middle Earth and technology from 21st century. The elves eventually overcame the demons with the help of human weapons and the vast number of humans. Skip forward a few generations and most of that history is more myth than history with deep distrust and dislike of Elves from other races and patchwork technology/magical usage. Or at least that's my fanwank for this nonsense. I don't know I haven't read the source material. 

What I'm more curious about is, are there more elf stones and can only royals wield them ? 

[that one guy]

Are we to believe that elves, gnomes and trolls evolved naturally or are they the result of some genetic experiment of the humans before whatever happened that wiped out most humans and their civilization?

 

I don't think we're supposed to know that. There was a war of some kind, chemical, nuclear, biological and maybe other weapons as yet undreamt of were used - and the credits imply that the races are all evolutionary branches of the human family tree. How humanity could evolve into several species in less time than it takes for the tires to decay on an abandoned truck is beyond me, but there you have it. The existence of guns that still work also seems unlikely, unless considerably less time has passed than I would have thought.

 

I believe the implication is that the war was so destructive that the landscape has been altered and Seattle is closer to San Francisco than it used to be.

 

I have read the source material but I'm not sure how relevant it is to the show, which seems to be charting its own course on alternative history. It's possible that there will be some explanation at a later date, but right now the characters seem pretty unclear on their own history, so we don't know much either.

 

The human colony people seemed unaware that Star Trek was fiction, which is awesome. The jeers at seeing Spock the "elf" made me laugh out loud. Too bad the episode they had wasn't "Balance of Terror."

[CooperTV]

In the Season 1 finale, Wil and Amberle race to reach the Ellcrys while Allanon and Ander lead the Elvin army into battle against the Dagda Mor and his demon horde.

 

Promo:

 

http://www.spoilersguide.com/the-shannara-chronicles/episode-10-ellcrys-promo-season-finale/

[wayne67]

I don't really know what is happening. 

It's good that the new king proved himself. That said, once the demon army has been defeated he should probably ditch that council as they're a bunch of traitors to the royal line.