Willow sticks the landing with a big season-finale showdown
The end of the quest is here and everyone has lessons to learn before it's all over
TV Reviews Willow
We’ve finally arrived at the final chapter of Willow (for this season, at least), and the pieces are in place to pay off everything that’s been set up so far. It’s a shame that that show has only just started to hit its stride as the season comes to a close. I wish it had sorted itself out earlier. If it had been working at this level since the premiere it might have found a bigger audience. Maybe the show will get a second season, since Disney+ isn’t as cutthroat as other streamers (looking at you, Netflix) when it comes to pick ups. Given that cliffhanger ending (and those three volumes on the shelf!), the writers seem to be expecting one.
Before we get to the ending, though, let’s start from the beginning. The episode picks up where we left off last week, with Kit and Elora finally in the Immemorial City facing a very different Airk than the one they expected to find. He’s got short hair, a new leather outfit, and a new attitude to go with the upgraded look. This Airk doesn’t want to be saved at all. Between Airk’s chipper greeting and the Gales blocking the exit, Kit and Elora are more than a little weirded out. This rescue mission is not going great so far.
Airk calls Elora by her real name, not Dove, which surprises her. “She told me. Well, showed me, actually,” he says, by way of explanation. There’s only one person he could be referring to here. Airk has never heard of the Crone, and even if he had it wouldn’t matter; he’s already too far gone. He tells the girls that she’s not so bad, she just wants to talk. He’s definitely not leaving with them, so they have no choice. Airk was never my favorite character, but at least this darker version is more interesting.
You know who wouldn’t throw Elora over for some Crone? Graydon. If she’s thinking about him right now, she wisely keeps it to herself. Airk gushes about how “amazing” and “fascinating” the Crone is. He’s completely obsessed. Whatever attraction she might have once had is quickly slipping away. The quest is much bigger than saving him now. The more epic task at hand is saving the world from the forces of the Wyrm. If they can save Airk in the process too, great, but it’s no longer their primary goal.
The rest of the group is still standing around on the cliffs where Elora and Kit jumped at the end of the last episode. Boorman wants to have a discussion before they do anything irrevocably stupid. Jade doesn’t want to discuss anything. Her girlfriend is down there, and she’s going to save her, damn it. “Ever heard the phrase, ‘If your paramour jumps off the edge of the world, wait and think for one second before you follow her?’” Boorman asks.
Jade surmises that it takes a leap of faith to get to the Immemorial City. Willow agrees it could be possible, but it’s also possible Kit and Elora were supposed to go alone. He brings up Madmartigan again, and explains that he chose to fight the Wyrm from within (so that’s what happened, it wasn’t really clear before), leaving Kit to be Elora’s protector. He sounds sad when he says it, and you can hear all the reasons for that sadness in his voice. Warwick Davis has had to deliver a lot of wonky fantasy exposition this season, so before it’s all over I have to take a moment to give him credit for his performance. It can’t have been easy, on many levels.
Jade is going over the ledge to get her girl back, and there’s no talking her out of it. Willow knows Graydon is going, too. Before he goes, Willow tells him he’s proud of him. That just leaves Boorman and Willow together on the top of the cliff. “Willow and Boorman. The great voyage home.” But they both know Boorman has a huge and squishy heart beneath all that bravado, and he’s going over the edge with the rest of them. Willow’s parting advice is to ask himself what he really loves and give his all to it for as long as he can. For Willow that’s his daughter. The group doesn’t need him anymore, so he leaves. Or it looks like he does, but I’m not fooled. The title character can’t be missing from the climactic final battle.
Airk leads Kit and Elora into the temple to meet the girl he doesn’t mention by name, but we all know is the Crone. Kit notices the pool of glowing evil goo and asks if he’s been “drinking this shit?” Elora puts it more delicately, whispering that it’s, like, really bad for you. He responds with some creepy explanation about a mother giving birth and making milk for the child. You’re not winning anyone over here, Airk. Lili, or whatever she’s calling herself now (Kit is the only one who can call her “the Crone” and live, apparently), arrives all dressed up fancy and tells them the hard part is over. Elora is the Harbinger of the Wyrm. She’s going to awaken him and bring about a new age. It doesn’t sound like a good thing.
Graydon, Jade, and Boorman have now arrived in the Immemorial City too. Putting the “B” in LGBTQ, Boorman points out that a storm is coming and offers to make out with either Graydon or Jade as the world ends. They’re both in love with other people and not really into it, so Boorman is out of luck. They press on into the city and finally come to the door to the temple, just as the storm hits. Graydon tries to open it with magic, but it doesn’t work and they all turn to stone.
Unaware that their friends are outside risking their lives to save them, Kit and Elora walk through a lit up portal and find themselves in a bright wood. They each face their own form of temptation inside this otherworldly realm. For Kit it’s her mother, telling her everything she always wanted to hear. She offers her freedom to find her own path. For Elora it’s a chance to go back to the way things were before they started this adventure, when she was just a kitchen maid in love with a prince. Airk tells her that the Wyrm can make it happen and before she knows it she’s walking down the aisle to marry him.
Kit snaps out of it when she hears the voice of her father calling out to her. Unlike her encounter with Sorsha, this seems real (he’s supposedly in the same realm as the Wyrm, so I’ll buy it). Madmartigan tells her that love is sacrifice, and that she’s got to be willing to give up what she wants for what she believes in. The Crone is not happy with Kit’s defiance. Disappointed not to have gotten both grandkids, she turns Kit to stone.
Elora is inside her own fantasy wedding to Airk, underscored by a slow cover of Bruce Springstein’s “I’m On Fire” (the credits list the artist as Soccer Mommy). She sees her friends in the crowd of guests. Boorman, Graydon, Jade, Kit. Her hair is blond again, a visible sign that she’s lost whatever progress she made on the journey. The Crone made one serious miscalculation, though. Elora has outgrown her infatuation with Airk. This might have been what she once wanted, but it isn’t anymore. She’s grossed out by this new Airk, and tells him that the old version of him would be too.
The Crone asks who she is to choose pain over pleasure, and Willow arrives just in time to answer the question. He lays out all her official titles, then breaks the spell.
Everyone who was turned to stone comes back and the Crone goes into full Crone mode. It’s fighting time! Elora points her wand at the Crone, but Airk steps in to protect her. Then we get what’s possibly the most cringy line of the entire series so far: “You know how it ends. You think you can change it? You think you can defeat the Wyrm? He’s eternal, bitch.” I’m not kidding. That’s really what she says.
Graydon picks up the wand, but he’s not skilled enough yet and the Crone defeats him easily. She is impressed by his passion, though. That’s what Elora is missing. She breaks the wand and tosses Graydon out into the glowing void. That’s it for Graydon? I was hoping for so much more from him, but this series loves to remind its novice sorcerers just how bad they are at magic. Elora, who is no longer a novice, is inspired by Graydon’s sacrifice and is finally able to summon the full strength of her powers without the wand.
While Elora fights the Crone, Willow, Jade, Kit and Boorman take on the Gales. Boorman gives the cuirass to Kit, believing it will work for her. It makes sense, I guess, but I really would have liked to see it go to Jade, the one who actually aspired to be a knight. She tries to talk some sense into Airk, who is becoming more evil by the minute. He even talks in a scary voice now.
Willow gives Elora a nice pep-talk speech telepathically. He used this power before when he tried to contact Mims, but it would have come in really handy in the earlier episodes. Why didn’t he just reach out to her any of the numerous times she went missing? Or did he have to wait for her to become more powerful to make the connection?
Elora and the Crone reach the climax of their showdown. There’s sparks flying everywhere and lots of screaming. Elora strikes one final blow and the Crone falls. Airk flies to her side, pathetically asking how he can help. She tells him this was always the plan, that he would be the Harbinger (I don’t actually believe her). To Airk she looks like the glammed-up version of the girl he met, but Kit and Jade see her for the Crone she is. They look on in disgust (as did I) when he kisses her.
Jade urges Kit to try the Lux Arcana, which she does. The cuirass turns into a full suit of armor. It looks pretty cool, but I still say it would have looked even cooler on Jade. Airk is looking pretty Crone-ish himself now. He lets out an evil growl and lunges for Elora, but Kit, her protector, does her job. Airk says he’ll kill her to get to Elora. She came all this way to save him and this is the thanks she gets? Airk was just annoying before, now he’s fully the worst. Kit wins the fight, but hesitates, because he’s still her brother.
Elora reminds her that love is the most powerful thing in the universe. Willow breaks his staff and gives Kit the glowing stone from inside it. He tells Kit to talk to her brother. If he can see the light he’ll come to her. He wakes up looking normal and boring again. Boorman stumbles out of the temple, looking haggard from the fight and wanting his mum. He gives Elora Graydon’s flute and everyone looks sad. So they’re just going to give up on him that easily? Elora looks back at the temple and for a moment I thought she was going to go back in and save him, but no. They pose for a final character tableau and head off into the sunset.
But it’s not over yet. The Crone was just the big bad of the season; she’s not the final boss of the series. That’s the Wyrm, the dark entity they’ve been talking about all episode. He’s imprisoned in another realm, feeds on magic and never stops planning his escape (please let him be a dragon). Now that the Crone has been defeated, the Wyrm will have to find another corruptible servant.
That might be Graydon, who isn’t dead after all. Surprise! I don’t want him to turn evil (again), but those concerns will have to wait for another season, if Willow gets one. In the final moments of the episode, a fake Elora asks Graydon to help her lead the world into her light as the first few chords of Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” play us into the end credits. It feels like the show is just trolling the haters now, with one last baffling and incongruous rock track. And that’s the season done, folks.
Stray observations
- Sorry Graydon and Elora shippers, you were done dirty in this finale. For a while it looked like there was hope for Graylora, but you’ll have to wait until next season to see if the writers can (or would be willing to) fix them.
- Kit and Jade shippers (do they have an official name?) got a happier ending, with Jade adorably checking out Kit in her armor.
- We still don’t know exactly why Willow moved the Nelwyn village underground. That’s one lingering question I’d like to have an answer for. It’s probably the only one, so credit to the writers for closing those loops.
- One last classic Boorman line for the road: “I’d like to leave this world the way I came in—butt naked and kickin’ ass.” I’m going to miss you, Boorman.
- Thank you all for joining me on this Willow recapping adventure. It was my first time doing regular recaps since joining The A.V. Club, and this opportunity has meant a lot. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing them.
55 Comments
I’m really hoping that the whole Volumes I, II, and III thing at the end isn’t just wishful thinking on the showrunners’ part. Please, Disney Plus, if the series wants three seasons to tell its full story, let it have them. Don’t be like Netflix.
Well, they renewed Invasion and season one of that was a dire slog of a show, so if there’s any justice, they’ll give Willow another season, despite its season one shortcomings.They do need to take some lessons from the writers of Dickinson on how to mix the modern vernacular with their classical fantasy setting, though. That other show did it so effortlessly it was never jarring.
Invasion = Apple+
Most shows need time to find their footing. Willow is no exception. Episode 1 was ok, eps 2-6 we’re varying degrees of God awful. Then, in episode 7 it all came together and things just started working. The director of 7 and 8 knew how to make this show what it needs to be. If they continue to ride that wave, the series will get even better. If not, it will be, overall, a disappointing failure. But the good in this show is too good to give up on.
The series has to be straight up trolling the haters now. Or else, why are we hearing about microwave ovens and color TVs over the end credits of this vaguely fantasytimes-set show? Anyway, great song choice. I enjoyed it. 🙂
Do I want Graydon to be evil? Maybe a little, but not irredeemably so. I mean, Airk came back, so why not? And it’s not like Graydon hasn’t come back from being evil before. (Twice, that we know of!)
The “beautiful lie” meant to seduce Kit and Elora was REALLY beautiful. Like, crazy eye candy! I loved it. I guess, the truth had to be equally disgusting (that Crone kiss!).
I liked that ep and I agree with the grade. Summarized: Jade would have been my “A” choice to receive the magic armor, Kit was the “B” choice – thus the “B” grade. She did good though. Hey, maybe they can share. Plus I get the need for the plot and all to give the armor to Kit. They’re trying to rescue Airk, after all. It would be like if Boorman gave the armor to Jade and said, “Now go rescue Kit’s brother!” (Which would fit both Boorman and the tone of the show, true.) It did look very bad ass. In a way we’re all on Jade’s side checking it out. Very form-fitting. Now if they go fight the Wyrm…I’m going to make a call here and say the proper shipping nomenclature for the two would be “Kitnjade.” “Kitjade” doesn’t work. “Jadekit” doesn’t work. Their last names? No. Thus an “and” must be utilized. “Jadakit” works. But “Kitnjade” has that fun double meaning.Anyone else feeling sparks between Kit and Elora? Jadelorakit?Also mention the tag, where the Book of Willow is closed and returned to the shelf, where it nestles next to volumes II and III. Loved Willow mentioning at the end when looking forward to future adventuring “Well, I’ve got you girls…”Really need to kill off the Gales. Didn’t the Bird-Gale get blown-up last episode? I was so hoping. An “A” episode would have had Boorman going full ham on those assholes.Love love the magic lightning special effects. The arcs, right-angles, and colors. Dudes one-upped Potter.Thank you Ms White, hopefully there will be a Volume two in something like 18 months.
The shippers have settled on using their last names, with “Tanthamore.”
Shoot, I should have got in the game earlier.
Their non-suicide leap is so intense I’d start shipping them if I wasn’t already ride or die for Tanthamore & Graylora.
Graydon killed The Dag. Thraxus slays the remaining three Gales offscreen by asking them for butter.
The backstory for the cuirass was that it was made for a prince to fight his brother, so it finally getting used in the battle between royal siblings made sense.
Ah the ol’ ouroboric dénouement! Gets em every time.Good catch, totally missed that.
“Love love the magic lightning special effects. The arcs, right-angles, and colors. Dudes one-upped Potter.”100% agree. More like Hogwarts School for the Magically Challenged
While I enjoyed the lightning effects, I think I prefer the Harry Potter-style of magic where the excess splatters off like gobs of wet paint.
I think the Gales are essentially immortal beings who after being destroyed need to reconstitute themselves before they an get after their prey again. We’ve seen them blown up, cut into bits and fatally wounded yet they still keep coming. Maybe they’re connection to The Wyrm is that strong they share some of its power.
It seemed like a large amount of CGI battling, a lot of ‘believe in yourself and you’ll win’ pep-talks, and then it was over.
I was really hoping by this point we’d be past stories going “Surprise, this person’s actually UGLY, so of course they’re evil!”
Airk looked better after his evil makeover (end of last ep), but then he went too far (later in this ep).
No honey. They are evil, so of course they are ugly. Beauty comes from the inside. Ugliness too.
It would have been an excellent gag if “The Crone” was just like a normal looking 35-year old woman who stopped getting calls for sorceress auditions.
If there’s a season 2 it better start with Graydon saying ‘nah, I’m good’. It feels like a disservice to his character to have him become the new Crone willingly – plus just repetitive.
Yes, he’s susceptible to darkness but he’s also been freed from it – two times over already let alone having to do it all over again. I’ll begrudgingly accept having him flesh-puppeted, though I still think he’s had his share of that, but him willingly embracing it just doesn’t fit up.
I’d much rather he somehow make it back to bring the dire portents of Wyrm-Elora illuminating the fact that the ‘dead in the apocalypse Elora’ prophecy could really mean either side of the battle.
https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2023/01/11/will-willow-work-as-television/ This new Willow
series is my eckleberry jam; I’ll spread it over my English muffins. I
enjoyed it more than the movie that spawned it. Disney had better commit
to making the next two seasons! Kit’s Kymerian Cuirass magical girl transformation armor is keen!
Kit is… Iron Man.
Make it so Disney/Lucasfilm/Marvel.
I wasn t a big fan of this serise at first. But it grew on me. They could have left out some characters, even ditched an episode. But all in all it is a entertaining show. Funny, even caring. Its obvious they want to be more LGB and all that. Why? It didn’t add or bring anything to the story. Other then that. I hope they continue the show.
a fake Elora asks Graydon to help her lead the world into her light as
the first few chords of Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” play us into
the end credits.
And thus the balance was achieved between weird-song-choice and awesome!
My only issue with the finale was that I don’t believe our heroes would leave Graydon behind if they thought there was even a chance he was still alive.
I got the impression they didn’t know if he was truly dead but left anyway? Just didn’t sit right.
Hurdy Gurdy Man over the plant Elora belatedly grew worked for me, too. And I love that Enter Sandman cover, just not where they put it.
I thought the weirdest one was Beach Boys.. and yet, I didn’t hate it. 😀
I liked the use of “Crimson and Clover” because that’s when it clicked for me that this was less Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones and more Xena: Warrior Princess.
Yes, we need more Xena-like series! 🙂
I don’t mind the rock music inserts during the end credits so much but it really takes me out of the show when it’s used during action sequences or supposedly emotional character moments. This sort of thing is done so much now in shows lately and just makes me cringe more than anything. I know this is a light-hearted fantasy that’s not trying to take itself seriously but I kinda wish it took itself a little bit more seriously.
1899 is another ear-gauging example of this. What terrible mystery box show that was.
I was surprised at Disney using Money for nothing.
I love the song, but I’m amazed it hasn’t been cancelled with its repeated use of a certain “f” slur.
The song gets away with it because it’s making fun of the guy who’s saying it. Granted, the use was controversial when it first came out as well. (And then there’s the punching-down aspect of a rock band writing a song making fun of blue-collar workers who are jealous of rock stars.)
i really feel that every song used in this show makes total sense, either in tone or meaning. Money For Nothing works because she’s offering him to join her, which is taking the easy way — money for nothing. the hard way is to resist and fight her.
To put a button on the review bombing this show faced from the premiere (presumably because it had queer women front and center), as often schlocky as this show was I appreciated the positive messaging for LGBTQ teens who may be watching. Jade goimg through all the reasons why she should go after Kit and Willow adding “and because you love her,” like a loving father, and Kit’s message from Madmartigan in particular.
Best I can spin is that those imbeciles are spending their free time making sure to give thumbs downs on every 10/10 review (and vice versa!). Kept them from spreading delusions elsewhere for a bit atleast…
I don’t think people didn’t like this show because of a queer woman. It’s a very bad show.
Plenty happy with this finale, finally some big budget fireworks to go along with the campy adventure fun.I am genuinely surprised this has been so polarizing & review bombed to hell given the trash the internet zeitgeist tends to gorge on. There can’t be that many OG Willow fans sharing their “personal offenses” via 1-star reviews to tank that IMDb score. The frequent it’s worse than CW shows line is some doody. A real disservice to the quality of the sets production crew, vfx artists, etc (justifiable nitpicking of some quirks included. Id argue it’s more like buffy the vampire slayer crossed with the princess bride with a higher budget. If you can’t get down with that, your loss
Agree. I totally get if this kind of show isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but the hyperbole about it being “the worst thing ever!!!11″ is just so telling how it got dragged into the current online culture war where everything with diverse cast and characters is review bombed to hell. Some shows are good enough that the hate dies down and I hope Disney+ sees the negativity for what it is.Personally, I thought it was funny and charming and I agree with ppl who compared it to various equally light-hearted 90s fantasy. After all the hype about gritty GoT style fantasy I’m happy for some variety in the genre.
It’s a show with a primarily female cast, several queer characters, and a handful of POC. Of course it was going to get review bombed. The CHUDs of the internet are too predictable.
“We still don’t know exactly why Willow moved the Nelwyn village underground. That’s one lingering question I’d like to have an answer for.”I’m guessing whatever attack that killed his wife? Not a huge issue for me to know exactly what that was, but I’m assuming we’ll learn more if there is a season 2. (That being said, this show really tends to fly in the face of narrative structure expectation).I loved this finale and can’t wait to see more. Side note: The two-headed monster in Graydon’s future vision was a fun callback to the film (where Willow made one accidentally out of a troll, probably the most gruesome scene in the franchise).
I really enjoyed this season and hope we get 2 and 3. The Wyrm apparently thinks just like the magic on She Ra. “I’m going to change the world! But first we have to do something about your hair!”
This series wasn’t great, but it was pleasant enough that I’ll keep watching if there’s a second season. Most of the cast was likable enough to keep me going, mostly Revlori, Kellyman, Davis and Chadra- Patel, with Cruz getting an honorable mention. Really the best part of the show was that it introduced me to Chadra-Patel. Unfortunately, Bamber was the weakest link, which hurts the show given she has such a central part. Her acting was just too self conscious, like she was thinking “Acting!” all through her scenes. Now she’s young, so hopefully she can learn from some of the talented people around her (Revlori and Kellyman in particular) to become more natural onscreen. It might help if they hadn’t saddled her with a needless American accent (Why?).
I think the casting director deserves credit. There are scenes over the course of the show where I thought to myself that Ruby Cruz as Kit bore a striking resemblance to a young Val Kilmer; Byrk as well. Boorman was a breakout character, in large part because of Chadra-Patel’s charisma. Revelori and Kellyman I had both seen from their MCU work, and both were able to make the viewer feel emphathy for their characters.My only gripe with Bamber is that from her first scene, she was so Mandy Moore-guest-starring-on-Scrubs -attractive, I knew she was going to end up being Elora.Kit’s cuirass having a built-in sword was another callback to General Kael’s armor in the original movie. 9-year-old me thought it looked cool at the time.
Yes, I was also struck by how Cruz and Bryk easily looked like they could be Kilmer and Whalley’s children. Overall the casting director did a great job.
I haven’t seen Bamber in anything else, but I think as far as this show goes, the bigger problem’s with Elora as a character. The show spends so much time on what Elora means to other characters or circumstances, and almost none on what it means to her, or what she wants (or has ever wanted) aside from Airk.But yes on especially Chadha-Patel and Revolori. Even as much as I think the writing let everybody down, they were great.
That’s a really good point. Hopefully next season gives her a little more depth.
The Dire Straits drop only put me in mind of the Walk Of Life Project:
https://www.youtube.com/@wolproject2952
Like many others i too thought it might have been Jade who would be the one to wear the armour, proving herself worthy by trying to save the life of the one she loves. But i’m fine with it being Kit, she’s a descendant of the Blood of the Six and has a destiny.
*Chanting* Cancel it. Cancel it. Cancel it. Cancel it. Cancel it. Cancel it.Willow is the 2nd worst written show of 2022, in my book, only just slightly behind The Witcher: Blood Origin (and I’m nowhere near alone in holding that opinion).Fear The Walking Dead’s newest season was a failure, The Rings Of Power was kinda meh, and She-Hulk was also a big letdown, but Willow has unequivocally some of the worst writing I’ve ever seen.
For being such a LGBTQ+ friendly show, I REALLY don’t think the younger audience discovering “Money for Nothing” for the first time are going to take too kindly to the full-version of the song that’s available on Spotify.
dat riff though.
As I heard the music swell, I both kind of dreaded that they were going to go out on such an obnoxiously anachronistic song, while admitting that it did make for a badass build to the end credits cut.
Kit and Jade shippers (do they have an official name?) I propose “Jit”
If there was any justice, Disney would renew this but with a 1/10th budget and a 24 episode order, so that it could fully become the Xena-style wacky fantasy adventure it so desperately seems to want to be.Anyway, this was a fun season. I enjoyed it, and loved the young cast. It was much better than I thought a Willow sequel could be, even if the finale did rely too much on the Disney-mandated colored light battle ending.