Elora Danan

Is what this show should have been called. (Spoilers)

In this sequel to the 1988 film of the same name, we learn that the good times following the defeat of evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) didn’t last long because shortly afterward, Willow (Warwick Davis) had a vision of an ancient evil destroying Chosen One Elora Danan. So the baby was put into hiding, with her true identity hidden even from herself. The series then jumps ahead about 16 years into the future.

Sorsha (Joanne Whalley), Bavmorda’s daughter, and Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) have gotten married and had two children. However, Madmartigan has disappeared while on a quest due to his actor’s real-life health problems, leaving Sorsha to raise Kit (Ruby Cruz) and Airk (Dempsey Bryk) alone while ruling an entire kingdom.

Kit is best friends with knight-in-training Jade (Erin Kellyman) and the two have a close rapport. When Jade tells Kit that she’s leaving to finally finish her training, Kit’s reaction is more along the lines of a jilted girlfriend. Then the two of them kiss towards the end of the first episode and you realize that they do like each other like that. Though I was picking up a vibe, I did not think they were actually going to go there.

Meanwhile, Airk is having his own relationship trouble. He’s been seeing one of the kitchen maids, who he’s nicknamed Dove (Elle Bamber). At least, that’s who he’s been seeing lately. Dialogue indicates that Airk’s had a lot of previous relationships, though I don’t think he’s a cad. I think he’s someone who falls in love really easily. And I was really unconvinced by his reassurances to Dove over how their relationship was different.

One night, Airk is abducted by the Order of the Wyrm and taken to the Immemorial City at the behest of the Crone (voiced by Jane Carr). The Crone was the witch who corrupted Bavmorda in the first place. The Order’s whole deal is that they think they’re creating a better world by awakening their master, the Wyrm. An entity that, once free, would cause incredibly vague but awful things to happen.

While in the Immemorial City, Airk meets Lili (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers), who’s seemingly a fellow prisoner. Except she shows up out of nowhere with no foreshadowing or forewarning. From the moment Lili appeared, I, and probably everybody else, knew that she was going to be evil and this was going to be the part where Airk’s loyalty gets tested.

So Lili ends up being the Crone in disguise, and she does try to seduce Airk to her side by playing the classic “we’re not falling in love” ice queen whose heart slowly melts. To Airk’s credit, it doesn’t work, so the Crone ends up corrupting him by appealing to his desire for freedom and the vision of a better world where he gets to marry Elora.

Joining Kit, Jade, and Dove on a quest to rescue Airk are two more main characters. Prince Graydon (Tony Revolori) is Kit’s betrothed, though he quickly develops feelings for Dove. And Thraxus Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel), a formerly imprisoned bandit who serves as the cynical, roguish foil to the more straight-edge, clear-cut heroes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in the second episode, “The High Aldwin,” it’s revealed that he used to be Madmartigan’s squire.

The hero’s first stop in rescuing Airk is recruiting Willow, who doesn’t show up until the final six or seven minutes of the pilot, “The Gales,” despite playing the title character. Flashforward to the finale, “Children of the Wyrm,” where after a long, hard journey, the heroes need to make a “leap of faith” to get into the city, and they all do it except Willow, who says that it’s possible that they were meant to go alone.

Willow then turns around to go home to his daughter Mims, who is now played by Davis’ actual daughter, Annabelle Davis. Willow later returns about midway through the finale to help save the day. The fact that I was genuinely surprised by his reappearance is a testament to how much of a supporting character Warwick Davis has become in this new show.

Of course, Willow’s whole thing was that he was never the Chosen One. He was always the one chosen to protect the Chosen One. Elora Danan, who turns out to be none other than Dove, was always the Chosen One. And now she’s old enough to do all the heavy lifting herself. With Willow’s kind assistance, of course.

Throughout their journey, they meet many memorable side characters. In episode three, “The Battle of the Slaughtered Lamb,” Elora ends up meeting Hubert (Hannah Waddingham), a woodswoman who lives out in the middle of nowhere with another woman named Anne (Caoimhe Farren). Hubert is quite chatty, complementing Elora on her “pleasing aspect and fine complexion,” with Anne going ‘so-so’ in the background.

Wendy Mericle, the episode’s co-writer, has confirmed in an interview that Hubert and Anne are supposed to be a couple, but there’s no explicit sign of that within the show itself. If I were to hazard a guess why, it might have something to do with the fact that neither Hubert nor Anne make it to episode four.

Another memorable guest star is Sarris (Tim Wilton), a troll who abducts Willow and Kit to a Temple of Doom-esque mine shaft. In the film, the trolls appeared to be mindless animals, but Sarris is quite articulate, with a very dry and sardonic sense of humor. The discrepancy seems to stem from Sarris repeatedly taking a swig of the Wyrm’s “milk.” He is the most memorable villain in the season, so it’s a shame that he also dies by the end of his episode.

The worst episode in the show is number four, “The Whispers of Nockmaar,” a bottle episode where the characters spend the night in Bavmorda’s old castle. Despite delving into the show’s lore, I found the episode to be very boring. At first, I thought it was because there was no forward momentum. Except episode five, “Wildwood,” also has the main characters taking a pit stop to delve deeper into the backstory and character development, but there it worked.

So instead, I think the problem with “The Whispers of Nockmaar” is that it was supposed to be scary and it really wasn’t. “Wildwood,” by contrast, is a light-hearted comedy except for the very beginning and the very end. It has some of the series’ funniest moments too. My one issue with the episode is when it starts playing “Crimson & Clover” by Tommy James and the Shondells.

I love that song, but why is it playing in a medieval fantasy show? That’s way more out of place than period pieces whose soundtrack includes modern music, like The Great Gatsby (2013). And they do the same thing in two more episodes. Episode six, “Prisoners of Skellin,” starts playing “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys. Again, that’s a good song, but it shouldn’t be in this show. This isn’t something like Shrek, which is full of modern pop culture.

Each episode has a framing device where it opens with a book whose ‘chapter’ is the episode. The book is put away at the end of the season, right next to a Vol. II and III. Something that they were clearly setting up even before then. The Crone gets defeated and Airk is turned back to the right side, but the Wyrm’s still out there, waiting in the wings. There are a couple of additional plot threads planted that could be followed up on.

The pilot never actually shows Airk’s abduction. We just got Graydon’s account of what happened. So I was expecting a plot twist where it would turn out that he was evil. Especially once Graydon reveals himself to be awfully familiar with the corrupting effects of dark magic and knows how to speak whatever Black Speech the Crone uses.

I ended up being half-right, though not in the way I was expecting. Graydon’s familiarity with the dark arts seems to stem from when he was possessed as a child and murdered his brother. Outside of briefly being possessed again during the present for an episode, Graydon spends the entire season as one of the good guys.

Then, in the finale, Graydon gets sucked into this glowing inner chamber that the Crone previously used to try to corrupt Elora and Kit with their heart’s desire. There, Graydon meets an obviously evil Elora, who asks him to help her conquer the world. So it seems like Graydon’s going to become one of the bad guys in the following season afterall.

Is Willow (2022) even good enough to receive another season? I’m going to have to say yes. It’s certainly entertaining. The show’s plot is so-so, while its true strength is the likable characters and the actor’s performances. For instance, the penultimate episode is full of great character moments, like Kit affirming her belief in Elora. That said, I hope they stick to three seasons and then be done with it.