I personally suspect that people who haven't watched Season 1 will be able to follow Season 2 if they were to just "jump in"; having said that, though, I agree with the idea of finishing Season 1 first before diving into Season 2.
The Shannara Chronicles
- Thread starter Sparkle Fabulosa
- Start date
Good first episode.
Bandon is really getting in touch with his evil side. I didn’t recognize him until Allanon interrupted the ritual.
I forgot that Eretria has no idea what happened to Wil or Amberle.
New interesting characters too.
I’m also really happy they kept the same opening credits theme, because I really like it.
Bandon is really getting in touch with his evil side. I didn’t recognize him until Allanon interrupted the ritual.
I forgot that Eretria has no idea what happened to Wil or Amberle.
New interesting characters too.
I’m also really happy they kept the same opening credits theme, because I really like it.
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Malese Jow really raises the prettiness levels of an already very pretty show.
I thought the move to Spike would eliminate one annoying problem for me, but alas it didn't...the commercials are still at least 3 times LOUDER than the show! 
I have to turn the volume up just to hear the show and grab the remote to fast forward in order to avoid getting blasted during the breaks. None of the other basic cable channels have this problem.
I have to turn the volume up just to hear the show and grab the remote to fast forward in order to avoid getting blasted during the breaks. None of the other basic cable channels have this problem.
I had the chance to watch the Season 2 premiere tonight, and have to say that the show is better than it was before.
By abandoning the format of adapting any one specific Shannara novel and instead forging its own story that borrows elements from across the breadth of the series, the writers and producers have given us something that can be enjoyed both on its own merits and as an expansion of the Shannara franchise and its mythos.
I was slightly confused as to the context of some of what was going on since I don't think I saw the Season 1 finale, but, thankfully, there wasn't anything in Druid that was specifically plot-related that was directly continued from the S1 finale, meaning that I was able to follow what was going on in spite of not totally understanding everything about why certain characters were where they were when this episode started.
Seeing Amberle reach out to Eretria psychically was neat, although I'm slightly unsure what Eretria thinks made said contact possible, or why she thinks Will and Amberle are together in Arborlon.
I wish we'd gotten more info about the history between Eretria and Cogline, and more about Lyria and how she and Eretria ended up as friends and lovers, but hopefully those details are coming.
Will going to Storlock was a nice continuity callback to Season 1 since that's what his plans for the future were before fate and Allanon dragged him into the conflict with the Dagda Mor and into contact with Amberle and Eretria. I was getting major flashbacks to Season 1 as well in regards to his interactions with that Elf girl who says she's Allanon's daughter ( I know what her name is, but since it wasn't said in the episode, I'm not using it right now), and it'll be interesting to see where their story goes.
I'm not entirely sure why or how Bandon ended up on the dark side or as a disciple of the Warlock Lord, but I like it anyway, and it'll be interesting to see how, or if, this storyline ends up intertwined with the subplot of this anti-magic "Crimson" group.
Like I said at the start of this post, I think Season 2 has started out better than Season 1, and I can't wait to see where we head next.
By abandoning the format of adapting any one specific Shannara novel and instead forging its own story that borrows elements from across the breadth of the series, the writers and producers have given us something that can be enjoyed both on its own merits and as an expansion of the Shannara franchise and its mythos.
I was slightly confused as to the context of some of what was going on since I don't think I saw the Season 1 finale, but, thankfully, there wasn't anything in Druid that was specifically plot-related that was directly continued from the S1 finale, meaning that I was able to follow what was going on in spite of not totally understanding everything about why certain characters were where they were when this episode started.
Seeing Amberle reach out to Eretria psychically was neat, although I'm slightly unsure what Eretria thinks made said contact possible, or why she thinks Will and Amberle are together in Arborlon.
I wish we'd gotten more info about the history between Eretria and Cogline, and more about Lyria and how she and Eretria ended up as friends and lovers, but hopefully those details are coming.
Will going to Storlock was a nice continuity callback to Season 1 since that's what his plans for the future were before fate and Allanon dragged him into the conflict with the Dagda Mor and into contact with Amberle and Eretria. I was getting major flashbacks to Season 1 as well in regards to his interactions with that Elf girl who says she's Allanon's daughter ( I know what her name is, but since it wasn't said in the episode, I'm not using it right now), and it'll be interesting to see where their story goes.
I'm not entirely sure why or how Bandon ended up on the dark side or as a disciple of the Warlock Lord, but I like it anyway, and it'll be interesting to see how, or if, this storyline ends up intertwined with the subplot of this anti-magic "Crimson" group.
Like I said at the start of this post, I think Season 2 has started out better than Season 1, and I can't wait to see where we head next.
Sorry for the double post.
I just finished Episode 2, Wraith, and where Episode 1 was largely about setting up the characters and broader conflicts for the season, this one was about building characters and setting the board for where the season's narrative is headed and how Wil, Eretria, Allanon, etc. are going to fit into the progression of that narrative.
I'm not sure what Bandon's motivations for resurrecting the Warlock Lord actually are, but I do like that the writers are setting up that agenda as being in conflict with whatever The Crimson's ultimate goals are, since it would've been really easy to just combine the two antagonistic plotlines into one.
I liked getting to see a side of Wil and Flick's relationship that wasn't just "stern protector and rebellious teenager", and bringing back his history with the Warlock Lord is a nice callback that simultaneously gives Wil another personal stake in this conflict.
The "I'm a secret princess" thing has been done before, but by setting up Eretria and Lyria's relationship last episode without telegraphing anything about her past actually made it work better. I did like the subtle mirroring to the scenes between Wil and Eretria last season that the writers put into Eretria and Lyria's scenes, and I can already tell that her journey as we slide closer to another War of the Races is going to be fun to follow.
I liked the way we were introduced to Garet Jax, and can already tell that they're setting him up to be the "reluctant rogue" who ends up helping our hero characters almost by accident.
Somebody online last week postulated that Mareth's mother was Pyria, so it was neat to see that confirmed this week. I also liked that we got to see how extensive her magic is this week, and to find out that it's innate. I'm also interested to see if the writers bring in some more overt elements of the novel version of her character or if they stick with the more straightforward story of Allanon and Pyria actually being her parents.
I like Queen Tamlin, but agree with Lyria that there's something more to her actions than just forging an alliance with the Elves, and am going to keep "waiting for the other show to drop" in terms of what she really wants.
Wraith did a really great job of building on the foundation set by Druid while also focusing on developing the ways in which our major hero characters are going to interact with and play off one another and help progress the overall story for the season... and I can't wait til next week to see what happens next.
I just finished Episode 2, Wraith, and where Episode 1 was largely about setting up the characters and broader conflicts for the season, this one was about building characters and setting the board for where the season's narrative is headed and how Wil, Eretria, Allanon, etc. are going to fit into the progression of that narrative.
I'm not sure what Bandon's motivations for resurrecting the Warlock Lord actually are, but I do like that the writers are setting up that agenda as being in conflict with whatever The Crimson's ultimate goals are, since it would've been really easy to just combine the two antagonistic plotlines into one.
I liked getting to see a side of Wil and Flick's relationship that wasn't just "stern protector and rebellious teenager", and bringing back his history with the Warlock Lord is a nice callback that simultaneously gives Wil another personal stake in this conflict.
The "I'm a secret princess" thing has been done before, but by setting up Eretria and Lyria's relationship last episode without telegraphing anything about her past actually made it work better. I did like the subtle mirroring to the scenes between Wil and Eretria last season that the writers put into Eretria and Lyria's scenes, and I can already tell that her journey as we slide closer to another War of the Races is going to be fun to follow.
I liked the way we were introduced to Garet Jax, and can already tell that they're setting him up to be the "reluctant rogue" who ends up helping our hero characters almost by accident.
Somebody online last week postulated that Mareth's mother was Pyria, so it was neat to see that confirmed this week. I also liked that we got to see how extensive her magic is this week, and to find out that it's innate. I'm also interested to see if the writers bring in some more overt elements of the novel version of her character or if they stick with the more straightforward story of Allanon and Pyria actually being her parents.
I like Queen Tamlin, but agree with Lyria that there's something more to her actions than just forging an alliance with the Elves, and am going to keep "waiting for the other show to drop" in terms of what she really wants.
Wraith did a really great job of building on the foundation set by Druid while also focusing on developing the ways in which our major hero characters are going to interact with and play off one another and help progress the overall story for the season... and I can't wait til next week to see what happens next.
Garet Jax was fine, nothing to complain about there really, but in general it remains frustrating how close, and yet how far this series is away from the source material.
I agree with the idea of not following a book, and just borrowing from the whole series to tell what they want, and it will be less uncomfortable when they borrow bits of a book but then slaughter other parts of it. If they're just grabbing bits, it's less bad of a remake.
All that said, when you DO borrow bits, why mangle them so badly? If you want the new castle to look like that, and you're going to make up characters for it, why not make up a name instead of calling it Leah? Leah was very obviously the Scottish Highlands, that was not. No Morgan/Menion/Other M named hero companion to borrow from there, no sword of Leah, etc. Why call it that?
And remain frustrated in general by the timeframe. Was 'our' time thousands of years ago, or 20 years ago? Show can't seem to decide, even though the backstory and different races really want to imply that it was a long time ago. And then they're using electric lights, or scavenging an aircraft carrier, or seeing metal artifacts at the bottom of a lake. Recent or Ancient past, please choose one! (and choose ancient)
I agree with the idea of not following a book, and just borrowing from the whole series to tell what they want, and it will be less uncomfortable when they borrow bits of a book but then slaughter other parts of it. If they're just grabbing bits, it's less bad of a remake.
All that said, when you DO borrow bits, why mangle them so badly? If you want the new castle to look like that, and you're going to make up characters for it, why not make up a name instead of calling it Leah? Leah was very obviously the Scottish Highlands, that was not. No Morgan/Menion/Other M named hero companion to borrow from there, no sword of Leah, etc. Why call it that?
And remain frustrated in general by the timeframe. Was 'our' time thousands of years ago, or 20 years ago? Show can't seem to decide, even though the backstory and different races really want to imply that it was a long time ago. And then they're using electric lights, or scavenging an aircraft carrier, or seeing metal artifacts at the bottom of a lake. Recent or Ancient past, please choose one! (and choose ancient)
Given that the Four Lands are Canonically the Pacific Northwest region of the former United States and Canada, Leigh was decidedly not based on the "Scottish Highlands".
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eh, that’s become true over time, but not sure if it was that way when it was all originally set up. Maybe it was even in his head that way, but took him about 30 years to get that in there.
Point remains, why bother to call it Leah if you aren’t going to keep any of the elements? Just make up a name.
Point remains, why bother to call it Leah if you aren’t going to keep any of the elements? Just make up a name.
Here's how the Kingdom of Leah is described in the novels:
Leah, also known as the Kingdom of Leah and the Highlands of Leah, is a small highland country in the Southland that lies just south of Rainbow Lake and east of the Lowlands of Clete and the Black Oaks. The name refer to both the country and its capital.
How did The Shannara Chronicles deviate from that description, exactly?
Leah, also known as the Kingdom of Leah and the Highlands of Leah, is a small highland country in the Southland that lies just south of Rainbow Lake and east of the Lowlands of Clete and the Black Oaks. The name refer to both the country and its capital.
How did The Shannara Chronicles deviate from that description, exactly?
Ok, bravo, you managed to sum it up in a one-liner that is generic enough that just about anything fits. After probably tens of thousands of pages, though, it's never really come across as that big fancy to-do that looked more elven than anything. Maybe a problem with my imagination, I suppose, but it's always been a smaller, more 'grounded' kingdom; more hunter/fisher/casual rather than that castle they showed. And even in the writeup you used, it was south of the lake, not so much ON the lake. Maybe that's a random tributary or something, but there was always a bit of a journey after leaving Leah and before getting to the marshes or the lake itself. I dunno, was just disappointed by what I saw.
For fun, here's the counter-point to your quote, from the exact sake Wiki site you used:
But mostly, annoyed that they 'burned' this resource as a random name drop, and without utilizing the only couple things that ever made Leah important to the story (their sword and plucky male member that's a friend of the family and joins the party).
For fun, here's the counter-point to your quote, from the exact sake Wiki site you used:
- In The Shannara Chronicles, Leah is presented as an opulent, lush kingdom with a massive, gilded palace. In the novels, Leah is portrayed as a small-time, unassuming kingdom, with members of the royal family behaving and being treated no differently than average middle-class folk.
But mostly, annoyed that they 'burned' this resource as a random name drop, and without utilizing the only couple things that ever made Leah important to the story (their sword and plucky male member that's a friend of the family and joins the party).
You are aware that Terry personally gave the producers of the series his full approval to take the blueprints of his novels and descriptions and build on them as they saw fit, right?
How The Shannara Chronicles chooses to visually depict or utilize the characters and locations of Terry's world has zero bearing on the way he described such things in the novels.
How The Shannara Chronicles chooses to visually depict or utilize the characters and locations of Terry's world has zero bearing on the way he described such things in the novels.
I watched the first two episodes of the season this morning and I thought they were great.
The new storyline is off to a good start, with two interesting antagonists in Bandon and the Crimson Guard. I'm curious to see if those two plot threads are going to stay seperate or end up tying into each other. Usually when two bad guys are set up like that, I would expect them to team up eventually, but given The Crimson Guard's stance I can't see that happening. If anything it seems like a team up between the heroes and Bandon is more likely, and they even seemed to set that up as a possibility at the end of Wraith.
The new characters have all been good so far, I'm liking both Mareth and Lyria a lot. The two big reveals with them were both pretty good. It will be interesting to see what Mareth and her father's first encounter will be like. They also seem to be setting some interesting intrigue with the addition of the human kingdom of Leah.
The new storyline is off to a good start, with two interesting antagonists in Bandon and the Crimson Guard. I'm curious to see if those two plot threads are going to stay seperate or end up tying into each other. Usually when two bad guys are set up like that, I would expect them to team up eventually, but given The Crimson Guard's stance I can't see that happening. If anything it seems like a team up between the heroes and Bandon is more likely, and they even seemed to set that up as a possibility at the end of Wraith.
The new characters have all been good so far, I'm liking both Mareth and Lyria a lot. The two big reveals with them were both pretty good. It will be interesting to see what Mareth and her father's first encounter will be like. They also seem to be setting some interesting intrigue with the addition of the human kingdom of Leah.
Yes,very much so, but you're aware that that doesn't force me to agree with the decisions they make, right? Since I'm disagreeing with the decisions the writers made, guess you know how I feel about their choices. Not sure what your point was...
Now you're all over the map. You used the novel depiction to try and refute my complaint, and since that didn't pan out (they're pretty different, and it was in your source quote), the show has zero to do with novels? Come on, man.
I understand that it's an adaptation, and that they are doing things differently on purpose (story-wise) rather than a blow by blow of a book this time. I said that in my first post on this one. I just don't like it when they 'waste' a bit of source material on a name drop when the thing they use it for has nothing to do with the source material. Why bother to call it Leah when it had zero to do with how it's been used for thousands of pages, and you don't introduce the only characters that mattered from Leah in favor of the teen angst/mommy issues thing in the pretty castle they replaced it with?
That reminds me, I still need to finish season 2. How conclusive was the ending?
EDIT: Thinking about it, I just remembered something that made me suspicious a few days ago. I saw an ad for the change from Spike to The Paramount Network, and while they were going through all of The Paramount Network shows, I noticed that Shannara wasn't one of them.
EDIT: Thinking about it, I just remembered something that made me suspicious a few days ago. I saw an ad for the change from Spike to The Paramount Network, and while they were going through all of The Paramount Network shows, I noticed that Shannara wasn't one of them.
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I mean, concluded that chapter, but definitely a cliffhanger/setup for the next season. Could they stop there without breaking the show? probably. Don't want to spoil the ending by saying more, but they left themselves a story to pick up.
Still shopping it around, so never know I guess, but those efforts are usually not very successful.
In general, underwhelmed by the show. Great source material to work from, and tens of thousands of pages to pull from, but they were (IMO) way too loose with it. Not convinced they really 'got it', and while I get artistic license and wanting to tweak things to tell your own story, they really screwed with a lot of the really basic parts of this one that changed what it was. Some of that was to fit on MTV, some of it just random. It settled down some more on Spike, and while it still wasn't the book series, at least it felt a little more familiar.
Biggest minor annoyance was timeline. they couldn't figure out if the apocalypse was thousands of years ago, or 50 years ago. Book says thousands, and evolution of several species (or even mutations) should support that timeline. Whole new ancient kingdoms, mythos, etc. Really needs to be a long time back to support the new world being built. And then they showed WAY too many relics of our time to demonstrate the connection, including stuff that would have long since been dust/rust unless it was just recently destroyed. I struggled to make those two opposites fit with each other with any regularity. Timeline-wise, it was forcing a time jump that was about in line with something like NBC's Revolution, but again, with new species, and time for myths, castles, massive changes to geography, etc. If it was 5-10k years ago, much easier to sell. But then you can't put neat pictures of the space needle or golden gate bridge or whatnot...
Still shopping it around, so never know I guess, but those efforts are usually not very successful.
In general, underwhelmed by the show. Great source material to work from, and tens of thousands of pages to pull from, but they were (IMO) way too loose with it. Not convinced they really 'got it', and while I get artistic license and wanting to tweak things to tell your own story, they really screwed with a lot of the really basic parts of this one that changed what it was. Some of that was to fit on MTV, some of it just random. It settled down some more on Spike, and while it still wasn't the book series, at least it felt a little more familiar.
Biggest minor annoyance was timeline. they couldn't figure out if the apocalypse was thousands of years ago, or 50 years ago. Book says thousands, and evolution of several species (or even mutations) should support that timeline. Whole new ancient kingdoms, mythos, etc. Really needs to be a long time back to support the new world being built. And then they showed WAY too many relics of our time to demonstrate the connection, including stuff that would have long since been dust/rust unless it was just recently destroyed. I struggled to make those two opposites fit with each other with any regularity. Timeline-wise, it was forcing a time jump that was about in line with something like NBC's Revolution, but again, with new species, and time for myths, castles, massive changes to geography, etc. If it was 5-10k years ago, much easier to sell. But then you can't put neat pictures of the space needle or golden gate bridge or whatnot...
Terry Brooks ENCOURAGED the producers of The Shannara Chronicles to be "loose" (to use your term) with his novels, just as George Lucas had done with him when he wrote the novelization to The Phantom Menace.
I feel like we already had that discussion and agreed to disagree. I understand Terry Brooks was attached to the project. Doesn't mean I cared for what they came up with, which is why I gave my opinion on that result. Unless they made a mockery of the property, Terry was also probably down with anything that got visibility to his life's work and also got him paid. He can love how they cast Allanon but not love the high school dance episode idea, right? But he's not going to pull the plug over it, and the check still cleared, so... Not like he's going to trash his own show and kill the golden goose.
Obviously changes were going to happen (old 'movie wasn't as good as the book' trope), but just didn't care for a lot of the more pointless changes when mining the actual source material would have been just as easy. Season 2 was better by far, but still a lot of odd liberties taken when there are tens of thousands of pages worth of material they could have worked with instead.
Obviously changes were going to happen (old 'movie wasn't as good as the book' trope), but just didn't care for a lot of the more pointless changes when mining the actual source material would have been just as easy. Season 2 was better by far, but still a lot of odd liberties taken when there are tens of thousands of pages worth of material they could have worked with instead.
