The Shannara Chronicles: – Season 2 (15) | Home Ents Review
Dir. Jon Favreau, Jonathan Liebesman, Terry Brooks, US, 2018, 406 mins (DVD) 423 (Blu-ray)
Cast: Austin Butler, Ivana Baquero, Manu Bennett, Malese Jow, Marcus Vanco
Review by Michelle Moore
The Shannara Chronicles started as an adaptation of The Sword of Shannara – a trilogy of novels written by Terry Brooks.
It has since been turned into a two season show. Season one centered on protecting the Ellcrys tree – a sacred tree that holds the demons at bay in a place known as the Forbidding. As the leaves fall to the ground the demons begin escaping. It is up to three individuals to stop this from happening.
The Elven Princess and the first female responsible for protecting and caring for tree, Eretria (Baquero), a human raised by thieves and must ignore her past and help protect the future of the lands and Wil Ohmsfor (Butler), a half human/half elf and the last of the bloodline of the ancient Shannara family; it is his destiny to save the Four Lands from demons. These three are helped along their travels by Allanon, the last druid.
As the first season came to an end, Eretria scarified herself so that Will and Amberle could continue on their journey, Amberle then does the same to protect the tree, and in fact becomes part of it. With the help from the kingdom and its guards, a battle in the forest against the demons results in some sense of peace…for a little while at least.
Season Two occurs one year later and the four lands are on the brink of falling apart…again. As magic has reappeared, a group that call themselves The Crimson are hunting down magic users. Wil has disowned his magical heritage and is now on the path to become a healer until he becomes a target of The Crimson and is dragged back into the fight. He is reunited with Eretria, who has been living in the ruins of San Fransico and together with Allanon and a few other acquaintances they make along the way they try and stop Bandon (Vanco), who is on a mission to resurrect the Warlock Lord.
In comparison to the last season, this one is much more action packed and there are many more twists along the way including the appearance of Allanon’s daughter (Jow), betrayal on many accounts, time travel and plotting together to overcome a common enemy. As each episode closes you are left on the edge of your seat pondering what will happen next to the characters involved. They manner in which each episode concludes as well as the way the story is set up for forthcoming events is remarkable.
When it comes to the scenery of this season it is extraordinary. The waterfalls, desert lands and grass wooden spaces are extremely impressive. In addition there are the astounding castles and buildings. Although set in New Zealand, it is like being on vacation somewhere unbelievably exotic and magical – yet with the impending death and evil that awaits around every tree or cloud.
The characters are able to develop so much as the season progresses and those we have already met we come to see in a new light; Allanon has a daughter he never knew about it and therefore doesn’t want to get to know, Wil has lost his true love Amberle and Eretria has a new love interest with an unexpected heritage.
As the season concludes views get to see that Wil may not be lost after his sacrifice to save the people of the four lands from The Warlock Lord. Unfortunately word on the web may have The Shannara Chronicles being cancelled after these two seasons so we may never know what happens to Wil Ohmsfor and whether he can escape a world full of furies. Only time will tell…
Season Two of the Sci-Fi adventure drama The Shannara Chronicles is now released on DVD and Blu-ray
