'Willow' Episode 8:"Children of the Wyrm" Recap and Review
The finale brings a test of wills, a test of skills, and a knockdown, dragout slugfest between good and evil
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
They did it, those crazy showrunners did it. The ups and downs of the season that preceded this finale didn’t exactly inspire too much hope in the quality of the finale. However, it seems as the showrunners saved their best efforts for the finale. The major character threads were all resolved in a way that seemed to compound on one another that made each more meaningful and resulting in some powerful moments. There was even a moment which felt slightly unceremonious at the moment was made up for with a compelling and interesting final sting, setting up the second season and making up for the ever so slight disrespect for the moment in question. Overall, the finale lives up to the potential glimpsed in the premiering episodes, it’s just unfortunate the rest of the season couldn’t follow.
The finale begins with new look Prince Arik (Dempsey Bryk) facing down Elora (Ellie Bamber) and Kit (Ruby Cruz). Immediately they notice that standing behind them are the remaining members of the Gale. Arik approaches them like if everything is ok but neither Kit nor Elora trust him. Kit tries to talk Arik into leaving with them but he insists they stay and meet the Crone. Still at the edge of the Shattered Sea, the rest of the group discuss whether or not to go after Kit and Elora. Jade (Erin Kellyman) and Graydon (Tony Revolori) are convinced they need to follow while Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel) and Willow (Warwick Davis) warn against it. Unmoved by their concerns, Jade and Graydon jump over the edge while Boorman takes longer to convince himself to jump and Willow stays behind. Arik leads Kit and Elora into the chamber and quickly they are joined by the Crone (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers). Arik and The Crone do their best to convince Kit and Elora to join them but they are not convinced. Graydon and Jade come to the outskirts of the Immemorial City as Boorman finally catches up to them. In the distance they notice a massive sandstorm on its way to swallowing up the city. Kit and Elora face down the portal with seemingly no other option other than to enter, so they do so together. They are transported to a beautifully green forest where they are greeted by Kit’s mother, Queen Sorsha (Joanne Whalley). Arik is there with them and Elora casts doubt on the paradise they are seeing. Arik tells Elora that this is their wedding and takes her off to talk alone while Sorsha does the same with Kit. Graydon, Jade, and Boorman slowly sneak into the city but it is immediately clear that they are not alone. They find the well and the chamber and try to enter as the storm quickly approaches. Their attempts to open the door fail but Graydon tries magic as the storm engulfs them and Boorman starts to turn into stone. Alone, Sorsha apologizes to Kit and basically tells her all the things she wants to hear. Arik and Elora lounge together under a tree as Elora talks about her adventure. Arik offers her a life without being Elora, saying that the Wyrm can provide it and offering her a drink of the Evil liquid that he has been living off of. Sorsha offers Kit the same thing, a better life, as long as she gives into the Wyrm. But a voice calls to Kit, the voice of her father Madmartigan. He tells her that she is destined to protect Elora and to reject the Crone, she snaps out of the trance and goes to find Elora but finds only the Crone. The Crone tells Kit that it is too late and the army of the dead is rising, suddenly Kit herself turns to stone. Arik and Elora begin their wedding ceremony, with all her friends in attendance. Just before they kiss, Elora stops the ceremony and rejects him. The Crone warns again of the incoming doom but Elora doesn’t care. Suddenly Willow arrives and breaks the Crone’s hold on them and releases them from their stone prisons. The Gale surrounds them, ready to fight.
Swords cross, and Elora attacks the Crone with magic but Arik protects the Crone and is knocked out from the blast. The fight ensues as the Crone squares off against Elora, but she isn’t alone. Graydon taunts the Crone and has the wand with him. He attacks the Crone with powerful magic her resolve is too much for him and he collapses. The Crone takes the wand from him and snapps it in half before Elora’s eyes. The Crone then turns to Graydon, shatters him into dust and banishes him into the portal. The group is devastated and Elora runs to the portal only to see nothing but a raging hellscape. The magic crackles in Elora’s fingers and she launches the Crone out of the chamber with a powerful blow. Willow goes off to fend off the army of dead as Arik wakes up. Boorman, Kit and Jade regroup for another round of fighting. Boorman takes off the Cuirass and puts it on Jade, promising that it will work for her. He sends Kit and Jade out of the chamber and closes the door to take on the Gale himself, Elora follows the Crone into the city and they face off against each other. Kit and Jade find Arik and confront him but he attacks them. Elora is pinned down by the Crone but some encouraging words from willow gives her the strength to keep fighting. Ellora and the Crone clash with powerful spells and it is too much for the Crone. Her heart explodes and she collapses to the ground. Arik rushes to the Crones side and she gives him the power. In desperation, Kit activates the Cuirass and a magical suit of armor covers her. Aric grabs his sword and attacks Elora but kit is right there and the two siblings cross swords. Kit gets the better of Arik and has a chance to end it once and for all but Elora stops her. Willow breaks his staff and gives Kit the glowing stone within it. Kit uses the stone to call out to Arik, to reject the evil within him. Suddenly he wakes up, scarred but alive. Boorman emerges from the chamber victorious. he hands Elora Graydon’s flute, promising to tell the world of his bravery. The group leaves the city and into the sunsetting desert. But somthing stirs in the chamber, inside the portal Graydon wakes up on what looks to be the aftermath of a huge battle. He explores the devastation and finds Elora standing alone, but she looks different. She tells him that they are at the Dawn of the New Age and offers him a place next to her as ruler and leader of the undead army.
Poor Graydon. To be honest, the message would have been “Justice for Graydon” had not we see him in the final sting of the episode. His character arc of the season led him in two ways. One, his confidence and self worth improve to overcome his past history and settle into his role as a sorcerer. Two, his blossoming love Elora coupled with his confidence led him to standing up to the Crone and taking her on. Unfortunately for him it wasn’t enough and he is seemingly killed, or so it seemed. In the final sting of the episode, he basically gets what he wants with a twist. He is either in an alternate reality or future where Elora has accepted the Crone’s influence and taken control of the evil army. How he reacts to this next season will be very interesting given all the different ways it could go. Boorman, Jade and Kit have their stories intertwined at this point, although, Jade has been relegated to Kit’s love interest and the muscle so to speak. Boorman has basically realized that he is not the main character of the story and he must do what he can to help Kit instead of himself. This is symbolized by him giving the Cuirass to Kit and staying behind to take on the Gale by himself. It would have been nice to see the fight but after what happened to Graydon there was some nice tension added as to whether or not he would come out alive. Kit has completed her journey and accepted the role bestowed upon her by her father as a protector for Elora. In the end she protects Elora from her brother after activating the Cuirass and eventually willing her brother back to the side of the light. Speaking of the Cuirass, it works for Kit after being nothing more than a heavy tunic for most of the season. It came dangerously close to being cheesy for activating for Kit right as the plot needed it to but the writing actually explained how this happened without actually explaining it. The Cuirass was built and used by a mother trying to protect her son out of love. Thus far the only people attempting to activate it were doing so for selfish reasons, Boorman and Allagash. In Kit’s case, the person putting it on her and activating it was Jade, who loves Kit deeply. While the power of love may be a tad on the cheeze side but it’s a nice subtle addition. Kit finally accepts that her father did not just up and leave her for no reason and that protecting Elora is more important to the world. This was a nice moment between her and her father’s voice provided by Val Kilmer’s son Jack Kilmer. She was ready to take out her brother if it meant saving Elora and the rest of the group. Elora’s story isn’t over but a chapter had definitely concluded. In her moment she rejects the life she has seemingly desired since the beginning of the series. She resists the temptation to marry Arik and thanks to the sacrifice made by Graydon, she finds the strength inside her to match power with the Crone. Since they completed their mission, Arik is now free from the Crone’s influence so it would be interesting to see if she continues her relationship with him or not. Willow seems to be the odd man out as his presence is more to move the story along than anything. He comes in just after Elora rejects Arik to help her escape the trance. He comes in and provides the stone in his staff to help Kit save Arik’s soul. Mostly he is just there. Strange to see as he is whom the series is named after but it is not all bad as him taking a back seat allows the younger cast to take the spotlight. So while he is used as a writing tool, he does enough to help the other cast shine more than they have so far.
For all the good will earned in this final episode, it still may not be enough to earn another season from Disney. The final sting gives a very compelling reason to watch the second season, however, the rest of the season did not and ultimately it is the reception of the entire season that will be judged. The pacing of this season worked against it as well as strange shifts character progress. What does work is the writing, dialogue to be specific. Even though there are modern references and the speech patterns are not exactly Victorian, the way they speak adds to the individualism of the series. Coupled that with the interesting tone and fun subversions to the genre, the series has carved out a very unique characteristic to itself. If the series does get a second season, it would be nice to see the series double down on this uniqueness and maybe it can carve itself a nice little space in the fantasy genre.