The Shannara Chronicles, S1 Ep7

Eretria and Amberle are separated from Wil and pursued by vicious Elf hunters in a strong episode of The Shannara Chronicles.

Meanwhile, King Eventine (still the Changeling) sends both his sons on a futile mission to kill the Dagda Mor. And since we’ve been seeing more of them in the past few episodes we were more invested in their scenes, and the eventual killing of Arion by the Dagda Mor made an impact on the audience as well as on Ander. Allanon arrives just in time to trap the Dagda Mor and prevent him from slaying Ander. The Dagda Mor’s defeat also frees Bandon from his mental prison.

Allanon heals on his magic table, thanks to his old master Bremen. The Druid argues that he is so tired of trying to help these stubborn mortals who refuse to listen to this advice or warnings. He’s lived a long time and he wants to leave them to their own devices. And I sympathize with him there. He’s done as much as he can to help them even when they refused to believe him. Allanon deserves some eternal rest. But this is not to be, so he is healed and lives to save the world another day.

A heartbroken Prince Ander returns to Arborlon and finally slays the Changeling who had been pretending to be King Eventine. With his father and brothers all gone, Ander is now heir to the throne, but this brings him no joy. Seeing how far he has grown since we first met him in the pilot episode, we know that this reluctant king has his priorities straight when it comes to the fate of the world.

Wil wakes up after falling from Pykon, separated from Amberle and Eretria. He meets an elf named Perk, whose left ear was cut off by one of a gang of Elf Hunters who sell elf ears to gnomes. It was great to see the world of The Shannara Chronicles expanding by introducing new characters and new cultures into the mix. This bit of world building always helps to make the show more fascinating and unique.

Speaking of world building, Amberle and Eretria are stuck together and accidentally find an abandoned building from before the wars, which seems to be the set for a high school prom. The girls wander around the remnants of the old world, and we get a greater sense of the post-apocalyptic setting of Shannara. They also stumble upon a map that Amberle remembers from her vision in the Ellcrys, which may help them on their way to Safehold.

This was also a good opportunity to develop the rapport between Amberle and Eretria. So far in the series they have been nothing but antagonistic to each other and seemingly have even been fighting over Wil. But in this episode, they were forced to work together to avoid being caught by the Elf Hunters, and they had some quiet time to talk properly and to discover that they did have certain things in common (both being orphans), despite their vastly different backgrounds.

It is extremely helpful for them to bond since they are on such an important mission together. Eretria helped tend to Amberle’s injury and Amberle shared more details about their quest to her companion. They also spent a lot of time protecting each other, which shows how far they’ve come since their first meeting.

When Wil swoops in (literally) with Perk on the flying creature Roc he manages to grab Amberle and Eretria, but one of the elf hunters, who has a past with Eretria, shoots the latter with a crossbow. The friendship they developed in this episode made Amberle’s determination to rescue Eretria when the latter gets left behind with the elf hunters more believable. Perk takes his leave after thanking Wil for his help, and it looks like the two heroes will have to rescue Eretria on their own in the next episode.

Greater world building, solid character interactions, and game-changing events made this the strongest episode of The Shannara Chronicles so far. We’re more than halfway through the series and there’s still a lot of ground to cover, but if it continues to be this compelling, then there will be much to enjoy.