A Cliffhanger on THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES!

Episode 6, “Pykon”

OK. I get that this show is not geared toward my particular demographic. And I get that the MTV series is apparently way off base when it comes to any faithfulness to the books by Terry Brooks.

But at what point does an OK not-bad-but-not-good show become a guilty pleasure for people? I’m not there yet; doubt I will be with this show. However…. on the other hand… there were some not-terrible character moments in this hour, so I guess we’re not completely off the rails yet.

After a completely obvious dream sequence that only serves to telegraph to everyone that Amberle (Poppy Drayton) actually has feelings for the hafling Hobbit half-elf Will (Austin Butler), we get a pretty straight-up retelling of the Mines of Moria segment of The Lord of the Rings.

In a nutshell: Team Safehold gets caught in a snow storm. Cephelo (James Remar) suggests a short cut through the mountain using a tunnel inside the fortress of Pykon. Of course, everyone else thinks Pykon’s a myth. But it’s not.

And in the absolute worst scene of the entire episode, Team Safehold manages to get all the way up the side of the mountain before being surprised by the Very Big Winged Statue and the Mighty Fortress all out in the open right in front of them the whole time they’re climbing.

Really, show, you have to do better than that. You really do.

Inside Pykon, they meet a little girl named Newt Mag, and the caretaker of the facility, Remo (sadly, not Williams…), who takes them prisoner in order to torture them for … reasons. It’s never really clear that Remo’s got any motivation other than enjoyment. It’s a way to pass the time, I guess.

Hey, everyone needs a hobby.

The multiple comparisons to Saw and The Lord of the Rings aside, the time in the fortress only served the purpose of getting our leading ladies to step out of their respective boxes a bit (as well as their clothes) and think more about the bigger picture. And yes, twentysomething young ladies in a bath flirting may be a fine visual for most, but underneath the titillation is a couple of moments that may have more meaning later in the show:

First, Amberle recognizes that there are roles she and Eretria are expected to play because of their stations in life, and she actually comments on the fact that she should say something derogatory about the Rover, but brushes it off like it’s beneath her. This actually says a lot about Amberle’s sense of self and her slowly growing — and grudging — respect for Eretria.

Second, the scene gives us a look at the brand on Eretria’s shoulder. She brushes it off as insignificant, but if that were the case we wouldn’t have gotten a close-up shot in the edit. There’s more to it than she’s letting on. So shall we call that “Chekhov’s Tattoo” for now?

Outside of that, it’s a little long, and Eretria’s flirting with Amberle doesn’t seem like it’s really something she’s doing for anything other than to fluster the princess. Don’t look for anything beyond what it was: a moment of PG-13 teasing for the adolescents in the crowd.

So Remo is planning to kill them all, in a fit of vengeance over a perceived slight on the part of King Eventine (John Rhys-Davies). As Remo’s torturing Amberle, he reveals that Eventine’s soldiers had killed his wife when they came to shut down the fortress. Remo considers it his personal keep now, and everyone who ventures inside is forfeit.

Mag, of course, is the One On The Inside who makes things better, helping Will escape and distracting Remo so Will can jump him and save Amberle just in time. Of course, when Mag comes into the room, she’s got a bloody knife with her, making Remo and Amberle both think the halfling is dead. Amberle is of a mind that she’s lost him for all time, so when he comes to her rescue, of course she’s going to kiss him. Because she realizes she cares about him and has just been playing the spiteful jealous minx because the Ellcrys Tree told her to … right?

Enter the rest of the team just as the snogging gets good and heated. Eretria barely reacts, but it’s enough to know she knows they know how they feel about each other.

Which makes her effort to rescue Will and Amberle from the Reaper actually mean something. This is Rover Girl’s moment of growth, when she decides to go back across the zip line to help Will and Amberle not because it will make Will like her more, but because it’s the right thing to do.

Amberle’s moment comes when she kills Remo in a fit of rage after a stray arrow from his crossbow finds Mag’s back; she’s moved to protect Will from getting shot.

So the young ladies have each had their moments to realize they’ve got to be more than what they’ve been in order to accomplish the mission.

Meanwhile, back at Stately Wayne Manor Arborlon, Changeling Eventine — or as we now designate, Eventine* — has convinced the Prince Man-Bun Arion (Daniel MacPherson) that “the Druid” Allanon (Manu Bennett) is a liar and a good-for-nothing scoundrel who’s been deceiving everyone. His real goal, Eventine* says, is to retrieve the Blade of the Warlock Lord™ from beneath the castle. According to the Codex™ this blade can defeat the Dagda Mor.

Two things: Eventine* calls his long-time friend “the Druid” and the dog is nowhere to be found. Those two things, plus Eventine*’s treatment of Arion as “the one one I can trust”, should have Arion on his guard. But alas and alack, yon prince doth think naught. And when he finds Allanon, the Druid’s been temporarily overcome by the Dagda Mor’s spirit in a Jedi mind trance Allanon was using to retrieve Bandon from his spiritual imprisonment.

So Arion rescues the fair handmaiden Catania (Brooke Williams) from Evil Allanon, who recovers and realizes what’s happening. Arion and Catania head to the bowels of the dungeons to search out the blade. Which they find in the pedestal set in the center of the room that looks remarkably well-preserved for being abandoned and forgotten and buried under the castle…

Arion brings the blade to Eventine* and finds Allanon there, and there’s a spat. Allanon says the blade is “the talisman of evil” and dangerous, and that Eventine* is lying about its use. He even recognizes that Eventine* is not Eventine — does he sense the Changeling? Methinks he doth. — but by then it’s too late. Arion runs the Druid through with the Evil Pig-Sticker, twice for good measure, and Allanon disappears in a puff of smoke and flame.

So, is the Druid dead? Or was it a ruse devised by the Druid and Prince Man-Bun to expose Eventine* as not-Eventine?

And are our fine young heroes dead? For as they make their way across the zip line, the Reaper hot on their heels, Cephalo cuts the line! and they all! fall! down! into the deep crevice…

Oh, and Slanter the Gnome and Prince Guilt? They’ve found the Demon Horde. Ander follows in the footsteps of Dr. Smith and C-3PO: “We’re doomed…”

So’s the show, unless they really hit their stride in the next two episodes.

 

The Shannara Chronicles airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on MTV.