After a promising premiere,The Shannara Chroniclescontinues to be a fleet-footed feast for the eyes.
Let’s get to it.
While traveling, Allanon lets it slip that the other Chosen were murdered.
Credit: MTV
Naturally, Amberle’s horrified, leading her and Wil to doing some pretty-elf bonding.
“I caused this,” she says.
Before anybody can pull a Robin-Williams-in-Good Will Hunting,though, Allanon collapses.
He insists the duo leave him in a Druid cave and continue to Arborlon.
En route,Wil and Amberle get to know each other.
So he fesses up that he’s from the Shannara bloodline.
Oh ho, we shall see, little elves.
But surprise, surprise, when Wil emerges from the water, there’s Eretria!
Amberle and Wil are each surprised that the other has already met Eretria.
“I can’t believe that you fell for some half-baked Rover seduction,” Amberle hisses to Wil.
Wait, you guys.
Do you hear that?
Welcome to the show, love triangle.
Not sure yet if we’re glad to meet you; let’s see how angsty you get.
Hey, did you forget about Allanon?
He’s having a no good, very bad day, amirite?
The good news is he inhales the runes' red sparks, which magically erase his wound.
Guess Wil didn’t need that mud after all.
And see, I blame Amberle and Wil’s predicament on the taciturn Druid.
But noooo, Allanon had to be all, “Leave me.
Save yourselves,” and that activated Wil’s healer instincts.
Communication: It’s not just for PR departments, guys.
He claims that elves drove them from their homes, leaving the Rovers with no choice but to steal.
After that, she’ll actually kill Amberle.
So Eretria finds Amberle, tells her Cephelo’s plan, and gives her the chance to run.
But Amberle has a better idea: headbutting Eretria and holding a knife toherthroat.
Lots of knives to throats in this episode.
Then Amberle drags Eretria out at knifepoint, thinking this will get Cephelo to cave.
But of course, he breaks into mocking laughter, and Eretria gets the upper hand on Amberle.
And then another Fury swoops down on the camp, murder-mode activated.
At first, nothing happens as Wil struggles to harness the power.
Good work, Halfling!
He drops, unconscious and hand badly burned.
Magic, price, etc.
tries to strangle Amberle.
It’s Allanon to the rescue again.
He knocks Cephelo around with magic and whisks the elves to safety.
But Cephelo tells her, “Elfstones equal freedom,” so Eretria’s back on the hunt.
Meanwhile, Allanon tends to an unconscious Wil and finally has a conversation with Amberle.
He tells her that she and Wil share a destiny and says the Ellcrysis is happeningtoher, notbecauseof her.
He’s her Robin Williams!
Then Wil wakes up, only to be yelled at for not going to Arborlon.
“I’m feeling fine, thanks,” Wil mutters.
And off they go, stopping when they come to a field full of dead…horses?
Whatever, they’re mutilated, along with the farmers.
Wil vomits profusely, which is the appropriate response.
Then he hears something in the barn, padlocked behind a door.
Wil agrees with me, but Amberle doesn’t.
Inside is a chained, crazed person in a mask.
Amberle frees him, which makes me nervous.
Bandon says heard his parents die but couldn’t save them.
“It’s not your fault,” Amberle soothes, which hopefully means she absorbed Allanon’s words.
NEXT: We’ve got a second elf with visions, people
And we end this week in Arborlon.
Also, Uncle Ander warns her that the Council blames her for the Ellcrysis.
Come on, man, we just got her over that!
Wil announces that now that Amberle’s in Arborlon, he’s off like a prom dress.
Amberle’s obviously disappointed but stiff-upper-lips a goodbye to him.
In the end, it’s Bandon who convinces Wil to stay.
So now we have a second elf with visions.
(Ha ha, no.
None of these visions are fun.)
Amberle’s meeting with the grim-faced Elven Council isn’t going well.
Then lil' ol' Wil Ohmsford strolls into this high-stakes meeting.
Arion wants him bounced, but Allanon dramatically declares Wil to be the last son of Shannara.
“Let him speak,” the king orders.
Wil speechifies about magic and demons and the bravery of Amberle.
It’s a bubbling layer of Velveeta, but darned if it doesn’t work.
Allanon hands him the Elfstones.
“I think these belong to you.”
Now errbody’s accepting their destiny up in here.
If she fails, she dies.
“Are you willing to enter the tree?”
Eventine asks, and sometimes I wonder how the actors keep a straight face on set.
The Brooks Nook:
Okay, so this week hewed a little more closely to the book, yes?
We’ve got the Rover camp attack and Wil’s first, difficult use of the Elfstones.
What’s he going to add?
Gotta say, I’m not hating the changes.
Are you feeling the changes so far?
