Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve complained that Lucasfilm’s Willow sequel series had been veering too far into the goofy/silly direction and that I hoped it would start to take itself more seriously as it approached its final two episodes.
Well today I got my wish, as this week’s penultimate installment, entitled “Beyond the Shattered Sea,” finally returned to a much more manageable balance of fantasy/adventure and the humor the original film was known for.
“Beyond the Shattered Sea” begins in the abandoned Immemorial City, where the captive Airk (played by Dempsey Bryk) has found a fellow prisoner with whom to commiserate– her name is Lili (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers) and all we know from the start is that she’s from the kingdom of Cashmere (first mentioned in the 1988 Willow movie), though we learn more about her true origins and nature as the episode goes on. Lili claims she won’t fall in love with Airk, as she’s gone down that path too many times before, but anyone who’s previously seen a TV show or movie knows that that situation will develop as well. Willow then resolves the previous episode’s cliffhanger ending by having Airk and his sister Kit (Ruby Cruz) see haunting visions of each other as the latter drowns in the underground pools of the mines of Skellin. Elora Danan (Ellie Bamber) then rescues Kit by using her still-blossoming magic skills, and the party of heroes escapes to the titular Shattered Sea. There, desperately in need of rest and transportation, they come across the home of an elderly fisherman named Zeb (guest star Julian Glover from The Empire Strikes Back– “Veers Watch” alert!– and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). The old man is full of rambling stories about his youth as an adventurer, but the gang mostly trusts him until the Gales attack his shanty, apparently having been tipped off by Zeb.
Back in the Immemorial City, Lili tries to lure Airk into an eerily glowing passageway, though he resists– eventually fighting off her romantic advances as well, reaffirming his love for Dove (who we now know as Elora Danan). This concludes with Airk realizing that Lili is not who she claims to be, and after a noble effort of running away and refusing her call some more, he finally gives in, entering the temple. On the Shattered Sea, our protagonists have escaped on Zeb’s boat and find themselves on an island in the middle of nowhere, where Graydon (Tony Revolori) bonds with the friendly aquatic creature pulling their vessel– an impressive animatronic puppet, presumably from ILM– and we get an extended training sequence. Elora improves her magical prowess with the help of Willow (Warwick Davis), Kit and Jade (Erin Kellyman) spar and at long last get to make out, and even Prince Graydon discovers he may have some latent mystical abilities of his own.
There are also a couple of nice heart-to-heart conversations between Kit and Elora (who put aside their differences and settle their beef from last week) and Elora and Gradyon, who confesses his love for the would-be Chosen One, though he says she doesn’t have to love him back. Plus, Thraxus Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel) discovers that the fabled Kymerian Cuirass may not actually work for him either, after it failed Allagash in Skellin. Then the party arrives at what appears to be the edge of the world, and pretty much everyone is just about ready to give up, with even Willow turning around and starting to walk back home. But at the last moment Kit expresses her faith in Elora and the two take a dive together off an enormous waterfall, ultimately coming to the surface on the shores of the Immemorial City. There they encounter Airk, now a changed man, giving us another tantalizing cliffhanger leading into the finale. I enjoyed this episode quite a bit– it provided quite a few very nice character moments, some fun action, wonderful production design and visual effects (though that has never been an issue thus far), a great guest appearance by Lucasfilm mainstay Glover, and dialed down the silliness to a more appropriate level. This Willow felt so much more grounded to me than the previous two episodes, and thereby I was able to connect with the story and care about the characters on a far deeper level. If the show can keep up this level of quality in its season (series?) finale next week, I’ll be a happy camper.
The Willow finale will be released next Wednesday, exclusively via Disney+.