S01.E08: Children of the Wyrm

[AnimeMania]

(Season Finale)

The Immemorial City awaits -- Refuge of the Wicked Crone and her dark designs.

Streaming on Disney+ January 11th. 

[Cranberry]

I liked that, but I didn't love it.

I felt like Graydon was too easily dispatched -- seeing him use the wand was great, but when he didn't immediately kill the Crone he just kind of slumped and everyone stood there and let the Crone speechify before she "killed" him, which I don't feel they would have.

I liked Boorman giving the motivational speech and the cuirass to Kit, but after that he was absent from the story until the very end and it made me feel like the writers didn't know what to do with him.

I loved the cuirass activating for Kit (it made total sense that it would activate for her once she'd accepted her role as Elora's main protector), but she only got to fight Airk for a couple minutes when the cuirass was designed to protect a single person from an entire army -- and there was an entire (undead?) army right there that she could have battled!

Loved that Willow showed up in the nick of time and broke the Crone's illusion (his magic was strong, and he seems to be getting better at using it without exhausting himself!), but then he went on to face just a couple of enemies... where was that entire army we saw rising up? More of them should have reached the gang by the end.

I have no complaints about Jade's speech at the top of the waterfall and the order in which everyone jumped. That all made total sense, character-wise. Boorman hurling himself off the edge because he can't take a compliment was great. (So was him asking Jade and Graydon if they all wanted to make out.) Also have no complaints about a wand-less Elora powering up (paying off Kit's sarcastic, "How long until she starts shooting lightning bolts out of her fingertips?" from episode two). That magic looked really cool and I felt like she struggled sufficiently before managing to get it together and kill the Crone.

Evil "Elora" seems like she's going to be fun. That could be her dead in Willow's visions (I went back and watched the scene in episode two where he explains his visions to Silas, but it was hard to gauge hair length). I'm glad Graydon isn't gone. I figured too much of his story was still untold for us to lose him this soon.

Overall, I felt like the finale, like the show itself, was somewhat uneven, but I still enjoyed it and I hope we get those teased second and third volumes. It's always good when the showrunners have a plan -- if they know the major story beats in advance, all they have to do is fix the minor issues.

[Tachi Rocinante]

Same here - it was fun but a little uneven.

Not sure I understand what the point of DarkElora is - unless the Wyrm is showing Graydon one possible future.

[thuganomics85]

I was assuming that Evil Elora at the end was actually the Wyrm himself, but he just took the form of what Graydon loves/cares for.  But I guess it's possible that all of it was simply just showing him a possible future.

Fun enough finale, if admittedly predictable.  We get the one fake-out death/sacrifice with Graydon, but everyone else makes it out in one piece, each character has a moment or two to shine, bonds become even stronger, and the Crone and her ilk are taken out.  Obviously bigger threats are now looming, but I'm glad the main arc at least gets a completion.

Totally not surprised that the cutlass would end up working for Kit instead.  Definitely was giving off some Iron Man vibes with the way it came together.  Also, underneath the jokes and smirks, I definitely got the sense that Jade actually thought Kit looked sexy as hell in it, heh.

Again, I really, really want to meet Boorman's mom!

Despite the show's title, Willow himself is really more of a supporting character in this story, but considering his age and whatnot, it makes sense to have him in the mentor role.  Thankfully, after a little rough start, I felt like Warwick Davis was able to find a way to make this version of the character work.

Hope we get more Sorsha/Joanne Whalley if this show comes back.

Final shot teases at least two more volumes, but I guess we'll see.  I've barely heard any buzz for this show, but I have no idea how the actual streaming numbers are doing.  Hope it comes back: it does have potential.

[MissLucas]

Never expected them to go with Dire Straits - though I wish they kept the riff on a loop, with the right visuals it sounds surprisingly menaching. 

I've read somewhere that the show managed to stick the landing with this episode. And I reluctantly agree, though I keep thinking of Orville from the Rescuers. Too many clunky dialogues, a trope heavy scene of temptation, overlong magic battles that made me check for the timestamp, confusing lore and what have you not. But yeah, they pulled off some surprisingly emotional drama in the end.

I liked the fake-out with Kit. When she was told to sacrifice what she loved she must have assumed that she needed to give up Jade. The dawning horror on her face when she realized it meant killing her brother gave Ruby Cruz something to work with. She really came through during the last two episode - too bad the writing for Kit was so one-dimensional for a long time. The flashback to Kit and Airk's past was great and helped establish their bond in almost literally the last minute. I wish the show had done something like that a bit earlier it would have given more momentum to Kit's arc. As for the cuirasse: I hope Jill Bearup will have her say on that.

The set-up with Dark Elora looked great. Timejump? Alternative universe? Who knows - TPTB who'll decide over a possible season 2 I guess.

 

[Bort]

Ditto for me on most of the sentiment. I’ve complained about some stuff but I liked it overall. I never got completely won over by Kit because she was just So Awful to start out, but maybe I’ll have forgotten about it by next season.

Definitely would like to see Boorman’s mom and more Sorsha next season. Although, now that I think about it, Boorman’s mom has gotten so built up in my mind, it might end up being like Maris Crane or Debbie Wolowitz where the character appearing would shatter the illusion.

The Crone had a line that cracked me up. It started out as the typical spiel regurgitated by a Big Bad, “You think you can defeated The Wyrm!? He’s eternal, bitch.” Boorman too. “I’d like to leave this world the way I came in: butt naked and kicking ass.” I’m stealing that one.

I knew as soon as The Crone broke Cherlindrea’s wand that Elora wasn’t going to need it. She IS a wand.

[MrWhyt]

13 hours ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Not sure I understand what the point of DarkElora is

seduction to the dark side is a pretty classic bad-person move

[Mr. Sparkle]

For me, Willow the movie was an average fantasy/quest film with some good parts and some boring parts, clearly borrowing from films that came before it. Willow the series was an average fantasy/quest show with some good parts and some boring parts, clearly borrowing from films and shows that came before it.

Things I liked: Boorman is the top of this list. I hope to see that actor again in other things, he was great. Christian Slater. Jade - a queer character played by a queer actor. Sets and costumes were great. Some of the effects were well done. I generally like Tony Revolori. 

Things I didn't: the twins were both played by bad actors, Kit was a little better. Elora wasn't great either. The pacing was off. I didn't like the modern tone in how the characters spoke, I know it was a deliberate decision by the writers but it didn't work for me. I found the use of modern songs at the ends of the episodes to be gimmicky. 

So overall? Meh. I'd probably watch another season, but I won't cry if it's cancelled. 

[Cranberry]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

Jade - a queer character played by a queer actor.

Ruby Cruz is actually queer as well, so we had a queer couple played by queer actors -- always nice.

Quote

“I think for us, as queer people, it was really awesome to get the chance to explore queer friendships on screen,” said Cruz. “Those can be very confusing. For Kit, she definitely questioned a lot growing up. Do I want to be with this person, or do I want to be that person? That’s something that I feel like so many queer people go through.”

Also, this amused me -- Ruby's shit-eating grin after her joke, and Tony cracking up.

 

[raven]

I was bored for a good part of this one.  Too much speechifying and debating what to do.  Yawn.

It's hard to be invested in Airk and Kit and their relationship because we haven't see one and the other was OTT obnoxious for a good part of the series.  Showing them as kids did help.  The actress playing Elora is still not very good.

Glad Willow showed up to do something important in his namesake show.  I wondered why he didn't get debilitated this time while using magic.  I'd still like to know the details about his family and the Nelwyns, but I guess that's for a future season, if we get one.

2 hours ago, Superclam said:

Things I liked: Boorman is the top of this list. I hope to see that actor again in other things, he was great. Christian Slater. Jade - a queer character played by a queer actor. Sets and costumes were great. Some of the effects were well done. I generally like Tony Revolori. 

Agree with the above and I'll add that though I didn't like Kit for 99% of the show, her relationship and it's progression with Jade felt genuine, so well done to the show there. 

Overall?  It was a pleasant, if uneven, diversion.  I would probably watch another season, though admittedly I would be most curious to see if they could get Val Kilmer involved.  I know they wanted him this season (and that he wanted to be involved) but because of his health and COVID, it didn't happen.   I did like seeing Madmartigan in the end credits/illustrations - I don't think he's been there before.  That artwork is well done BTW.

[iMonrey]

I really enjoyed the season overall but I found the finale a bit unsatisfying. There was a lot of fighting and battle for them to basically wind up back at square one, with the Wyrm still looming as a threat. Did they actually accomplish anything aside from rescuing Airk? 

Quote

I liked Boorman giving the motivational speech and the cuirass to Kit, but after that he was absent from the story until the very end and it made me feel like the writers didn't know what to do with him.

They really didn't, did they? He just sort of disappeared to fight (with who?) offscreen then show up with a quip after it was all over.

Quote

Loved that Willow showed up in the nick of time and broke the Crone's illusion (his magic was strong, and he seems to be getting better at using it without exhausting himself!),

Remember back in an earlier episode when he said he only had a little magic left and had to save it up for the big battle? What happened to that? He was using all sorts of magic in the last episode training Elora. 

I felt like the transition of the harbinger from The Crone to Airk - and its resolution - happened a little too quickly. That felt like something that should have taken place over an episode or two, not within five minutes. 

I'll gladly watch another season of this. But if there doesn't happen to be one I'm going to be even more disappointed with this episode because it didn't really give the story any kind of closure.

[Cranberry]

59 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

They really didn't, did they? He just sort of disappeared to fight (with who?) offscreen then show up with a quip after it was all over.

The three remaining Gales! I wish we'd gotten to see it. I did enjoy the butter joke and the "I want my mom" joke, though.

Quote

Remember back in an earlier episode when he said he only had a little magic left and had to save it up for the big battle? What happened to that? He was using all sorts of magic in the last episode training Elora. 

I can kinda handwave that as the training magic being pretty weak -- it could knock people over, but that was about it. I expected his actions in the finale to take more out of him, though. He shattered an entire illusion, telepathically communicated with Elora, and took out several enemies!

I was fine with how this season ended... the mission they started with was to rescue Airk and defeat the Crone, and they accomplished that. I hope they get their second and third seasons so they can take on The Wyrm and whatever else is out there.

[Bort]

48 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

I was fine with how this season ended... the mission they started with was to rescue Airk and defeat the Crone, and they accomplished that.

Especially since the original mission of rescuing Airk and defeating The Crone did not include Elora as a factor. It was doomed to fail because they wouldn’t have accomplished it without her.

[Tachi Rocinante]

16 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

seduction to the dark side is a pretty classic bad-person move

I am aware, I just think it felt cheap and obvious.

[Glade]

I really liked this show, it was sweet and wholesome modern fantasy storytelling, free of the influence of properties like GOT.  I would compare this in tone/vibe to the recent Dark Crystal reboot that would probably have found it's audience and been renewed if it was on disney+ rather than netflix.  The conclusion was very satisfying, and I hope Boorman's implied bisexuality will be explored more next season; maybe we will bump into an estranged ex-boyfriend next time.  But I thought the characters were great and I have no big criticisms of this show because it gave me what I wanted.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Glade

[GingerPudding]

The whole series felt really uneven, but I kinda liked it. Boorman was my favourite and if this isn’t renewed, I hope the actor is in more things. 
 

My question about this episode is why was Boorman wet when he came out of the room? Was that supposed to be bad guy blood or was he meant to be really sweaty? Very confused. 

[silverstream]

I find a new show I really love and obviously on the day I watch the finale, it gets cancelled, eurgh. Still, at least we got this season, and if they had a plan for two more, maybe we'll get them in book form or something (sure would be nice).

On 1/11/2023 at 9:10 PM, thuganomics85 said:

I was assuming that Evil Elora at the end was actually the Wyrm himself, but he just took the form of what Graydon loves/cares for.  But I guess it's possible that all of it was simply just showing him a possible future.

I can't remember exactly why, but I've had the impression since a couple of episodes before the finale that good vs. evil Elora is a "two sides of the same coin" thing. We're told repeatedly that "Elora Danan" isn't so much a person as an eternal concept that gets reborn again and again as a person with "Elora Danan" powers to save the world, so it would make sense to me that if there is an eternal evil that wants to destroy the world and just happens to look like Elora Danan (whenever it's not a wyrm), it's her opposite-but-same counterpart, rather than a separate evil that made itself look like Elora Danan to trick Graydon.

Poor Graydon, though, now he's never going to get out of there. Not that I had high hopes of him not being one of the big bads in one of the other two volumes, but still. When Boorman went back into the temple, I hoped he was somehow going to end up rescuing Graydon, or at least keeping him company, but alas...

And obviously, the most pressing unanswered question of them all - how are they going to get back UP that waterfall? (Elora's magic. It's going to be Elora's magic.)