#3 NOV 30, 2017 · 8 yr ago
Some of the best episodes in the whole series here.
These two pairs of episodes aren't exactly two-parters, but they do belong next to each other. The first two are by Buzz Dixon, the other two by Flint Dille.
Lion Hunt
This shares themes with "The Price Of Freedom", where Darkstorm again takes advantage of a group who are struggling in this age of magic. This time, it's not pride but fear and superstition that makes them putty in his hands. And beautifully done.
There's a few lines in the original script that it was a pity to lose as they clarified a few things, especially concerning the peasants' superstitions about magic. Ectar suggested to Leoric that he or Feryl should drive him to the village, but Leoric said no as they didn't want to alarm them. Also, Reekon asks Darkstorm why they are chasing Leoric around when all they have to do is wait until the last sun has set, and Darkstorm explains they don't want Leoric getting to the Spectral Knights and making them understand the problem.
Between them, it's Arzon and Witterquick who save the day, the former by identifying Heskedor and where to find her, the latter by reaching her and forcing her to make the antidote. Witterquick is also the one keeping the others in line here.
This is a significant episode as it introduces Fletchen, with whom Leoric quickly falls in love, and Heskedor, who would surely have become a recurring character if the show had continued.
Horn Of Unicorn, Claw Of Dragon
Following on from the previous episode, we now know what the quest was that Merklynn wanted the Darkling Lords to go on. This episode for me is the high point of the series. It's one of the most perfectly constructed episodes of any cartoon. Firstly, the moral dilemma aspect. Normally in this sort of episode, it's a question of "should we take one life to save another?" - to which the answer is always no. But here, it's a different ballgame. One unicorn and one dragon to save fourteen knights, and maybe a load of wizards and witches as well (it's described as affecting the users of magic). Mathematically, it's a very different proposition. The greatest good of the greatest number comes into play here, and so the question is not as clear-cut as it might be in most other cartoons.
The choice of characters to centre this episode on is also perfect. Not only are the Spectral Knights deprived of all their offensive magic (Cryotek's staff, Feryl and Ectar's vehicles), but the pairing of Witterquick and Arzon are absolutely natural to take both sides of the debate. Witterquick showed in the previous episode that he's prepared to use extreme measures if it's for a greater good, while Arzon's pacific nature from "The Price Of Freedom" makes him the natural choice to argue against killing the dragon. On the Darkling Lords' side, Lexor and Cindarr have a similar debate, but more in the background. Their hunt for the unicorn horn is much more comical, and these two were used as a double act again in the series. Of course, if they had gone on the opposite quests, the episode would have been very short! Cindarr's beast would have made short work of the dragon, and the Spectral Knights would have explained their position to the Wood Nymphs immediately on arriving on the island. And speaking of explaining to the Wood Nymphs, when Cindarr explains about the plague, that is beautifully done, brings a lump to the throat every time.
In any event, five stars for both of these two episodes! The series' high point without a shadow of a doubt!
The Overthrow Of Merklynn
This is another pretty good episode. The Darkling Lords finally getting round to Falkhama, the wizard they caught at the end of "Quest For The Dragon's Eye". Darkstorm really takes centre stage here, his ego knows no bounds. We get some real insight into the individual Darkling Lords' personalities here too. The ending is a bit of a cop-out, but I guess they had to get Merklynn back again some way, and I can't think of another way to do it. A similar trick is used in a later episode which we'll cover next week. This episode and the next one are in some ways the best exploration of the magic world that the characters inhabit. Basically, this is what the show is all about, and what separates it from the standard goodies v baddies shows.
The Trail Of Three Wizards
The title is clearly based on Charles Dickens' Tale Of Two Cities, but ignoring that, well, let's see. This had some truly epic ideas, but also some truly epic plot holes, which do spoil for me what could have been the series' high point.
Firstly, how did the Darkling Lords find out that the Spectral Knights were in the Anarchy Zone? There was nothing until they get to the perimeter and the attack happens. Benny The Con says Reekon set him up, but that doesn't really tie in. It doesn't make sense. Just one shot of a Darkling Lord listening in at Iron Mountain would have solved this one.
Secondly and thirdly, two issues with the monastery sequence. Where did Witterquick and Ectar hide their armour? It's shown they're not wearing it. They're in a hotbed of criminals and lowlifes, so again, a quick reference to how they had managed to hide their armour somewhere safe would have been nice. But more importantly, why didn't they have a look at the map to the Lost Shrine when Bogavas found it? They knew the wizards were all looking for it, it would make sense for them to see for themselves where they might need to go. It would have removed the need for that silly muddy monster that briefly ate them all in the middle of the episode. I know they needed a cliffhanger for that point, but they could have done better than that.
Fourthly, and biggest of all, when the large zookeeper creatures are going after the Spectral Knights and Darkling Lords, it's ultimately revealed, when Leoric is the only knight not captured, that they don't cage knights in human form. So where are Galadria and Virulina? There was no scope for them to use their totem forms, they should still be free to go after the wizard! Plus, it's highly dodgy that none of the others were able to escape the clutches of these things.
It annoys me because this episode could have and should have been so much better. Oh well, it's still a good idea.
Overall though, four essential episodes.
