The Gales
We follow Willow as she tries to figure out what to do about her vision and the evil that is coming. She meets some new people in this world, including a young girl named Tara who is trying to find her way in the world. Willow also has to deal with her own feelings about being a witch and whether or not she should tell anyone about her vision.
Kit and Jade continue their dueling, but as the day goes on, Kit seems to be losing energy. She falls back to the palace, where she meets her brother Airk for a final time. He tells her that he’s been having a fling with Dove and she’s not happy about it. He also reveals that he knows about Kit’s secret and that she is actually a princess.
Kit is not happy about having to take orders from her mother, including wearing a nice dress for the ball. She scoffs at her, claiming she’s not six anymore, but gets dressed all the same despite how uncomfortable she obviously is. Jade is also dressed up but she’s only doing it for her friend.
Graydon Hatur, the Prince of Galladoorn, is having a dinner with his friends. One of his friends, Kit, is going to marry Graydon’s sister. Graydon’s father is slightly arrogant and dull, which is the direct opposite of Graydon.
Sorsha steps up and gives a speech, pointing out that they’ve maintained a peace between Tir Asleen and Galladoorn for now but that’s about to be taken to the next level. The Prince and Kit are about to be wed and in doing so, would fully unite both realms. It’s a great political move but Sorsha is not happy about her daughter being forced into a loveless marriage but knows there’s no other way.
Kit is annoyed when Jade reveals she’s leaving to train as a Knight of Galladoorn at the Shining Legion. She’s heading south after Kit’s wedding, and she wants to make her own choices. Kit points out that she wants to make her own decisions and even holds the Prince up at knifepoint.
Sorsha immediately takes her aside and points out what a petulant child she is. Thankfully, Airk shows up and deflects the attention away from her, with Sorsha calling him useless. Late at night, Kit decides to leave the realm completely and step out beyond the barrier. She kisses Jade and tells her she’s going to be a great Knight before heading off.
A voice on the air suddenly causes the creatures to stop attacking and leave, according to Graydon. A hawk showed up and took Prince Airk away. Sure would have been nice to see that on-screen though!
Kit decides to leave and search for Airk by heading west. It seems the wedding has been put on hold for now. Sorsha allows this to happen, with Thexus leading the party forward, Jade in attendance as a knight in everything but title, and several others including the Prince of Galladoorn and the released prisoner Boorman. They also need a sorcerer too.
As the group set out to track down Willow, they’re followed by Dove, who wants to find Airk, believing it’s true love. Kit and Jade immediately scoff at this but she manages to prove her worth as a cook for the party.
Dove is successful in crossing the magical barrier and sets off to find help. She comes across a fallen log, but is unsuccessful in going through to the other side.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party find her in the distance and eventually catch up. Unfortunately, Bone Reavers arrive and kill one of their own (not Kit, unfortunately) firing arrows at the group. They manage to make it to safety, inexplicably jumping off a chasm and using the ancient phrase “Hsu-Gala” (which means stop) to make it to the bottom of a cliff-face and to the other side of this shallow sea. ..
Kit learns humility when they get dry and continue on, as Graydon accepts Kit’s apology for being so hard on him originally. Kit shows up along with the others to the Nelwyn village and find Willow, who points out that Airk is still alive. Furthermore, he’s been taken by the Gales and is a prisoner of the Withered Crone. ..
The four who showed up at Tir Asleen actually happen to be the Crone’s servants, explaining their presence. However, the Crone is situated beyond the Shattered Sea and they need to travel further than they ever have before. However, it turns out Kit is not actually the Chosen One as we expected. She’s not Elora.
Dove is the future Empress and High Priestess, and the last hope against the evil. She’s a powerful being with a lot of power and knowledge, and she’s been chosen by fate to be the one who can stop the evil from taking over the world.
The Episode Review
Disney+ is a new streaming service that is set to launch in 2019. It is designed to be more like traditional cable TV, with a library of movies and TV shows that can be streamed at any time. Disney has been reported to have lost 1.5 billion dollars this past quarter, so Willow comes storming onto Disney+ with an episode that’s certainly not going to change those numbers. The characters are generally quite archetypal and poor, while the protagonist of this piece, Kit, acting both arrogant and petulant for large parts of the episode does nothing to make you want to root for her.
The dialogue is disappointing on the whole and there’s an abundance of exposition-heavy riffs throughout. It seems like the show is designed for kids but given those who watched the 80’s movie as children will now be grown, the tone is way off. ..
After the success of House of the Dragon, Willow was released at a bad time and feels like an underwhelming fantasy fare, something more akin to the Shannara Chronicles than a genuine fantasy contender. ..
Disney has been trying to make a new Willow series for years now, but it seems like they just can’t seem to get the idea off the ground. This latest installment in the IP is another unnecessary sequel that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. The ending with Willow and the little twist was a nice way of subverting the usual Disney tropes, but we’ll have to see if this show can keep that up through the series.
