The penultimate episode of Willow finds the fellowship in dire straits as they journey beyond the shattered sea in their efforts to rescue Prince Arik.
Episode 6 of Willow was filled with intrigue, action and revelations. Episode 7 is an altogether darker instalment, as our adventurers journey “beyond the shattered sea” to where the maps end, and their final test begins.
Which means most of the action takes place on water, with Willow and his cohorts sailing into the unknown intercut with Arik having issues of his own thanks to a mysterious woman.
These two stories finally merge at the end of the episode, setting up next week’s finale in ominous fashion.
Sailing on the shattered sea
First Willow’s band of brothers and sisters find a shack on the open water, wherein an old man demands money from them, and tells stories of quests from his past.
Something seems up from the off however, and soon our heroes are fighting monsters and sea creatures in spectacular fashion, this being one of the best action sequences in the series. They also meet a much cuter creature called Kenneth, who steals every scene he’s in.
Then the group is stuck on the water, and as ever with these characters, doubts creep in, and despair starts to take hold. All while Prince Arik meets a beautiful woman in Immemorial City, who also sows seeds of doubt in his mind.
Willow doubts himself
Willow started the season all confidence and bluster, but fear has filled his mind as proceedings progressed, over his magical abilities, and whether he’s a good teacher.
Destiny has become a major theme in the series, and more specifically whether or not you can change your own. As if various visions are to be believed, tragedy is in their collective futures, and Elora Dana will die.
“I thought I could change it, but I’m not a great sorcerer,” Willow admits, with no little anguish. “I’m a farmer who got lucky, and I can’t keep pretending.”
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We also get glimpses of Willow’s grim past, and potentially painful future, making this the character’s most eventful episode.
Madmartigan casts a long shadow
Madmartigan might not be a major protagonist in small-screen Willow, but the character casts a long shadow over the season, being mentioned and glimpsed, while the decisions he made in the past are constantly called into question.
“I don’t know why Madmartigan did whatever he did,” Elora Danan tells Kit during a particularly low moment for the Princess. “But I don’t believe that he chose me over you, and I don’t believe that he didn’t love you completely.”
That said, the show again alludes to where the character is – “beyond the seal” and “in the light” – yet we still have no real sense of what or where that is. Making one wonder if we ever will.
The Verdict: Is Willow Episode 7 good?
There have been “all is lost” moments peppered throughout Willow, but this feels like an entire episode dedicated to despair, the characters experiencing a lengthy “dark night of the soul” while they are lost at sea.
But – Madmartigan aside – it does feel like relationships are being fixed and loose ends tied up as we enter the home strait.
While that climactic reveal – of our warriors being greeted by a seemingly very different Prince Arik – was the perfect way to set up next week’s finale.
Willow Episode 7
Episode 7 is very much the calm before the storm in Willow, but it skilfully puts pieces in place for the upcoming finale.
