Midlands Bulletin: Legend of the Seeker Cancelled

Sad as it is for me to report it looks like after two seasons, Legend of the Seeker has been cancelled. Michael Ausiello from EW.com is reporting that he has multiple sources confirming that the show has been cancelled. Sorry to hear that our friends will not be returning. I am not sure whether the show can end up somewhere like the SyFy channel. Hopefully this ends up being the case but this does not look good at all.

As far as this blog goes, should the worse happen, I will finish recapping all the episodes and then leave the blog as is. As long as Blogger stands, you can come back here and check out old times. Again sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Sad times indeed.

- Misha

Legend of the Weeker: Vengeance

Plot Synopsis: The episode opens with a monk passing away in a winter castle. The other monks worry that he will reveal their location to Darken Rahl. Sure enough Darken Rahl interrogates the old man on the location of his father. Apparently these monks knew all about him. The episode shifts to Thaddicus who is accosted by Darken Rahl. He tells him the location of his father since apparently Panis Rahl has killed Zedd and Thaddicus's father. Thaddicus heads out to convince Zedd to go after him.

He meets up with them using the Mapmaker's cool map. We watch a flashback on how Panis Rahl deceived their father and killed him using a Zedd disguise. Zedd apparently took an oath to kill him with Thaddicus. They head off on a revenge road trip. We then watch a flashback, on how Panis Rahl and young Zedd used to be friends, and how Zedd's father tried to tell him that teaching magic to a Rahl was a bad idea. Zedd didn't listen. Panis later convinced Zedd not to go home to make peace with his father, using some hot princess.

Meanwhile Richard, Kahlan, and Cara run into some old guy, all of whose papers have floated away. He tries to join Richard on his quest since apparently he knows how to use the Stone of Tears. Cara seems suspicious. Apparently this instructive scroll is locked away in a wall and only this guy knows where it is. On top of that snowy mountain, Zedd and Thaddicus kill a bunch of monks. They think they kill Panis but unfortunately it was another monk's disguise. While they are burning bodies, Darken Rahl appears and lets them know where Panis Rahl is. He is disguised as old scholar helping out Richard.

Richard has a nice fireside chat with the guy who we now know is Panis Rahl. Panis tells him that he is proud of him. In the morning Zedd and Thaddicus ride in and try to kill Panis, Richard protects him in the confusion. We then have an Empire like moment of Panis admitting he is Richard's father. Panis tries to convince everyone that he is not a bad guy. Apparently, Panis's baby was cursed by a wizard. He let it die and then had a Mord Sith revive it. That was why he went to Zedd's father dressed as Zedd. Zedd's father had been convinced by Shota's vision of Darken Rahl's patricidal rise to power.

Thus what Panis did was just an act of revenge. He also admits how much he admired Zedd and could not sacrifice his first born son. Panis decided that the way to make everything better was to sire Richard. Nice. Darken Rahl, worried that they might get the instruction scroll gets the Sisters of the Dark to steal the scroll from Richard. He also tells them to kill Panis.

Panis opens the wall and gets the scroll and then gives it to Richard. Panis suggests they kill him, but Zedd stops him to stop all the murdering. Just then the Sisters of the Dark attack. Most of them are slaughtered but the leader manages to get the scroll, and another one throws a dacra at Zedd. Panis steps in its way sacrificing himself. Everyone is really sad as he dies. It's very moving. He goes to the underworld where Darken Rahl forgives him and hugs him. Thaddicus leaves everyone, strangely only saying goodbye to Zedd. Zedd also tells Richard that the greatest sin one can commit is to do the work of the Creator. Zedd apparently cast the fertility spell on Panis. Basically this is all Zedd's fault. Thanks a lot. Richard then gives him some good old fashioned self confidence and they head off on their way.

Commentary: I love how family of the main characters shows up for one episode to get killed. Are there any episodes where a family member shows up and is not murdered? Though I suppose siblings are safe as Thaddicus, Jennsen, and Kahlan's sister are still around. Parents though... Done. We found out that Panis Rahl actually wasn't that bad of a guy. He just made bad decisions. It was clear how killing his own son would be difficult. I love how his resolution was just to have another son. Yeah that will do it. Also it was pretty clear how the scholar was going to be Panis Rahl since the guy playing him was John Rhys-Davies. He was great though. He belongs in a fantasy universe.

Alright my knitpicking with this episode has to do with the Sisters of the Dark. How many of these women are there? Every single episode a dozen of them get destroyed. I thought this was like an exclusive club. Apparently you just sign up in some forest stand in the Midlands and they hand you a dacra and a red dress and let you go fight the Seeker. Also when that one was on the roof above Kahlan, why didn't she just throw her dacra instead of slowly jumping at her allowing Richard a jump save. They also probably want to upgrade those dacras for something that flies faster. How many time is someone going to step in front of one. Maybe just some regular daggers. Or anything that doesn't fly with the velocity of a beach ball.

I liked how they brought Young Zedd back. Did anyone notice whether Panis Rahl was the same actor? The whole flashback thing had a pretty cool continuity feel to it. I feel like when they skip forward or back there is certain disconnect with the present but this felt right on. I also like that we are just not going to talk about how Zedd and Thaddicus slaughtered those innocent monks. Never happened. Panis Rahl was a strong character due in no small part to Rhys-Davies acting chops. I thought the relationship between Zedd and Panis in both the past and the future was very believable. Young Zedd totally would have bailed on his wizard duties to hook up with some princesses. Everyone is having a good time.

Richard and Kahlan Romance Index: 4 out of 10.

They held hands. She uncomfortably smiled when Panis suggested how great it is to save the world with someone you love. Does he have experience here? Bet he never had to deal with the Confessor Conundrum. He probably wouldn't have resisted like Richard. How terrible it must have been for a pretty girl to grow up in D'Hara with Panis and Zedd running around. They didn't have an abstinent role model like Richard. I guess things are better?

Zedd's Creepiness Factor: 5 out of 10.

He wasn't outwardly creepy but I just can't get over those poor monks. They had knives Zedd. You burned them to a crisp. All they were doing is serving the Creator in the wintry castle. Now they are rewarded with Darken Rahl's torture in the Underworld. Yeah Zedd... you're a great guy!

Notable Quotes:

Thaddicus: "Please Zedd. While father was being killed, I just stood there like a trembling lamb and did nothing. Don't make me do nothing now."

Panis Rahl: "Zedd is telling the truth. I am a scholar, but I am also Panis Rahl... your father."

Panis Rahl: "I want you to know son, you have been in my heart from the moment I heard the prophecy of your coming."

Darken Rahl: "I forgive you father. Do you forgive me?"

Richard: "All we can do is make the best choices we can... and keep putting one foot in front of the other."

Editor's Note: Have your own favorite quote from the episode? Did we forget to mention your favorite moment and now you're angry? Leave it in the comments and we'll update with the best of. Like the blog? Sign up to receive our Feed through Feedburner.

Legend of the Weeker: Desecrated

Editor's Note: So once again real life has gotten in the way of my blogging. I apologize everyone. I will try to get posts about the episodes I missed to have the whole compilation. Reader's Digest version, I liked Bound and did not like Creator.

Plot Synopsis: The episode opens with Cara complaining about the food or lack thereof to Richard. Kahlan runs up and tells them that Zedd has been attacked by gars in the town. When the gang gets there, it turns out it was all a surprise birthday party for Richard. They town has declared this a day to honor the Seeker. Richard and Kahlan dance. The gang also catches a show from a magician.

The magician does a trick where he makes Kahlan and Cara disappear. He then makes five guys stand up and orders Richard to kill them over the course of a day or else Kahlan and Cara will die. He disappears using some magic dust leaving a journey book to make sure they are still alive. Richard learns that apparently the five guys did not fight in the war while the five sons of the magician all died. It was a lottery to decide the military draft.

They figure out that Kahlan and Cara are in a tomb and try to search them but there are too many tombs. Zedd goes to the magician's house to search for clues. At his house they realize that the magician has gone crazy over the death of his sons. Richard also figures out that the lottery has been rigged so that the five people could not be picked. Kahlan and Cara try to get a message to Richard that their tomb has no marking. However the magician intercepts it and sends them to another tomb. There they unleash a freaking mummy.

The creature is apparently called a Nygax. It is a creature created by a sorcerer to take revenge on someone's enemies. The magician sends it after his victims. I'm going to call it "Revenge Mummy." Kahlan and Cara try to put out the torch which Kahlan tries to do by getting half naked. The duke of the province tries to justify his actions via utilitarianism but everyone is not buying it. They try to set a trap but one guy fled the scene and is attacked by Revenge Mummy. Richard stops him and kills Revenge Mummy. Unfortunately Revenge Mummy consisted of bandages and they take control of Zedd who grabs the dude who tried to escape and heads off.

Revenge Mummy aka Zedd brings the body to the magician and Richard tracks him. Kahlan and Cara complain about the air and talk about Kahlan talks about killing herself and letting Cara bring her back with the breath of life. Cara talks about killing herself. Awkward. The duke's son complains that he was paid for keeping friends safe. Another son is being a jerk but Revenge Mummy Zedd kills him. Richard confronts the magician and tries to convince him to stop the mummy tomb madness. The magician decides to kill himself instead.

Richard finds both books and the wondering dust. He also finds a map of the necropolis and the map for the tomb where Kahlan and Cara are. Meanwhile Kahlan and Cara are talking about their feelings. Everyone is having a good time. They consider each other friends and hug. Aw. Then Cara tries to kill herself and a girl fight starts. The duke now tries to booby trap the palace to kill Revenge Mummy Zedd. Man what an ass. The air in the tomb runs out just as Richard breaks into the tomb.

Richard stops the duke from blowing up Revenge Mummy Zedd. Cara then uses her agiels to free Zedd. Revenge Mummy then takes control of the duke. His son takes off for the crypt to bait Revenge Mummy duke. Richard locks himself in the crypt with the Revenge Mummy duke, the duke's son, and then uses the magic dust to transport himself and the duke's son outside leaving Revenge Mummy duke trapped in the tomb forever. As they walk away Cara tells Kahlan that she actually doesn't mean anything to her. Richard then complains about her poor party planning abilities. Poor Kahlan.

Commentary: Someone had posted earlier that they were upset with the lack of progress with the main mission and I agree to an extent. My problem is with their whole mission in general. First of all it seems like if they actually went through with it, it would not take all too long to find the Stone of Tears. Some episodes they are just about to find it and then you have episodes like this where there is a freaking Revenge Mummy. Additionally, the main problem that the Keeper presents, the banelings, only occur when it is convenient. All this can be explained away by the location of the rifts and the prophecy about Kahlan but I just feel as if the plot last season was more conducive to an epic quest. Then again, I am the person who didn't like Lord of the Rings because I always wondered why they didn't use those giant Eagles to just fly the ring to Mordor. But I digress.

This kind of stuff seems to flow naturally for the show. If it wasn't for the fact that we have forgotten about the Stone of Tears, the plot was a bit of fun. It does seem like a retread of other stories I have read or seen but then again so is pretty much everything in this show. I don't think that anyone watches Legend of the Seeker for new groundbreaking fantasy stories. Episodes like this are campy without being cliche. Plus I am a fan of cross genre adventures. How awesome would Lord of the Rings had been if at one point Frodo had to fight Dracula? Also I like how we are going through standard monsters. We have the mummy and we had the wolfman last season. Who's next? Frankenstein?

Cara admits that she considers Kahlan a good friend. Good I thought that there was some doubt there. I mean they have only been fighting together forever, saving each others lives, and Kahlan even spared Cara's life at one point when she had all the reasons to have her killed. I guess pretty soon we are going to find that Kahlan and Richard have feelings for each other. I suppose we aren't really going to see significant character development but this whole bit felt forced. I do suppose it was important for Cara to admit but I would rather have the development focused on new facets of characters.

I feel like my favorite part of this episode is that apart from the ridiculous Revenge Mummy, there was at least some thinking behind the general theme of the episode. We had to consider the fairness of a draft, the powers of the rich and privileged, and the theory of utilitarianism. Granted these were handled in a rather simple fashion but at least these felt like real characters that may inhabit this world. What was the point of the margrave in Princess? Try to be attractive?

Richard and Kahlan Romance Index: 6 out of 10.

Despite Kahlan's aforementioned poor party planning abilities, (No cake?) she and Richard shared some tender moments. There was the dancing, the dramatic rescue, and they kiss a lot and act like a couple. Man Richard has the patience of a monk. Mad props.

Zedd's Creepiness Factor: 4 out of 10.

His body was taken over by the Revenge Mummy. I don't know how many creepy points I can assign for this. Technically it is the Revenge Mummy being creepy. Then again you really couldn't tell. For all I know, the Revenge Mummy had no effect and it was Zedd the whole time. Who knows. Also the points don't matter and I decide he gets 4 points of creepiness.

Notable Quotes:

Cara: "What does it say?"
Kahlan: "You have one day until the sands run out. And when they do, so does your air."
Cara: "You were right... This party is lots of fun."

Richard: "There's only one reason to make some tiles weigh more than the others."
Zedd: "To know which ones not to pick."

Duke: "How can you judge me Wizard? When you learned of the impending massacre at Brennidon, did you save every child that was in danger? Of course not. You saved the most important one. Him!"

Cara: "There's noone a Mord Sith should hate more than a Confessor. I was trained to hate you... but I don't. And I don't want to die without you knowing that I consider you to be my friend."

Kahlan: "I'm sorry you didn't get a night of fun... not even on your birthday."
Richard: "Well you sure know how to throw a party. Can't wait to see what you do next year."

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Legend of the Weeker: Princess

Editor's Note: Sorry this is so late. Will try to catch up in the coming week.

Plot Synopsis: The episode opens with the Sisters of the Dark killing Sister Portia. A Mord Sith then reinvigorates her with the Breath of Life. Sister Nicci takes her place in an underworld switcheroo. Meanwhile as the gang sits around a fire, two gars take Kahlan away. Apparently some rich lord captured her. He is really rich and in his castle, magic has no effect. He declares that he has plans for her and puts her in a cell with his wife.

Sister Nicci summons Darken Rahl and demands an oath of immunity from death for her and her friends. Zedd decides that Cara will take place of a princess that the lord wants to replace his aformentioned dungeoned wife. She has to act like a princess. Meanwhile Richard will act as her brother, and Zedd takes the place of her aunt. She also has to answer every question in poetic verse. It is as painful as it sounds. She completely screws it up when meeting the Margrave. Zedd pretending to be the Duchess tells the lord that Cara is weary.

Meanwhile Kahlan is hanging out with the former Queen in the dungeon. She keeps trying to build up the queen's confidence, but she is completely subservient to the rule of the Margrave. Zedd keeps trying to train Cara, but to no avail. The Margrave's assistant develops a crush on Richard and he uses it to explore the grounds. Richard tries to get in the dungeon but it is locked solidly with the Margrave's key. Zedd tells Richard to seduce the Margrave's sister. Who happens to be quite homely.

Richard is unable to get to the dungeon and then is stopped from hooking up with the sister because the other girl in competition for the Margrave's heart tells on him. Cara recites some poetry about how she tortured and killed a slave and Zedd offers for her to take the Margrave on a hunt. The Margrave offers to spare Richard's life if he promises to marry his sister.

Cara decides to ignore all the rules set for her and kills the Shardrin and eats his raw liver. She decides to seduce the Margrave the old fashioned way. He seems pleased. Later as they are having dinner, Sister Nicci and her friends interrupt the banquet. She gives the Margrave her contract with the Keeper. Kahlan tries to convince the queen to fight back against her captors but she seems hesitant. Cara interrupts the Margrave's meeting with Nicci to get him into the bedchambers. She attacks him but he is able to fend her off.

Just then Nicci discovers Richard and Zedd's ruse about who they are. A fight breaks out and she heads to the dungeon. Kahlan breaks free as well and they kill all of the Sisters save Nicci who decides to jump out the window. They all leave the palace and the former queen comes with them. The Margrave awakens and realized that all the women left and he is alone. Kahlan makes fun of everybody because they look silly. Yay, everyone is having a good time.

Commentary: Ugh. I waited for a while to watch this episode, and it really wasn't that great. The scenes where Cara was trying to recite poetry was wince inducing. The whole Zedd as a woman thing did really not work for me. I mean I guess it would be possible that he could be a women, although not really. There was no way I could believe that someone would fall in love with him. Also the fat princess was a bit cliche. All these things kind of made the show distracting to watch.

Replacing Sister Nicci's character with the blonde who looks like she would be astounded by simple facts was also a bit distracting. She was pretty enough but lacked the gravitas that Jolene Blaylock carried. I understand that acting schedules don't always work out but I wish they would have thought this out earlier. On the other hand, Nicci and her massive powers are now back. I wonder if this means that Richard will one day get all his Han back.

I don't really have a lot to write about in this episode. Short of the return of Sister Nicci, the plot was not advanced in the slightest. It really wasn't clear how the Margrave gained that much power nor did he lose anything short of his pride. A bunch of the Sisters of the Dark were killed. How many of them can there be? It seems like every episode they figure in, a dozen end up dead. They should look into new careers. Plus we got to see Cara wearing something different than her Mord Sith outfit. Nice.

Richard and Kahlan Romance Index: 3 out of 10.

No time for romance when Kahlan is captured by a creepy dude and kept in his inescapable dungeon. Kahlan also took time off from pining for Richard to teach the Margrave's wife how to believe in herself. Richard did take the time to stop his quest to go after her, but then again he has to keep her alive at all costs anyways.

Zedd's Creepiness Factor: 10 out of 10.

Zedd cross-dressed for the majority of the episode. He also spoke in pentameter. Lastly he pretty much seduced the Margrave's right hand man. Excellent work Zedd. I can't really think of anything he could do that would be creepier than his work in this episode. Zedd has set the bar very high.

Notable Quotes: Zedd's Poetry:

The night was a tumult
of thunder and storm.
But ever since then,
it's been lovely and warm.

If I may request your,
permission to speak,
Oh great one before whom,
the mighty are meek.

When her mother was killed
in a fall from the saddle,
She was raised by her father
on the trail of [UNCLEAR].
Though deficient perhaps
in the making of lace,
She has mastered the arts of
of the hunt and the chase.
The forests of Rothemberg,
so I am told,
Are teeming with Shadrins,
ferocious and bold.
Would it be asking a favor
too terribly blunt,
If I begged you to give us
the thrill of the hunt.

Anyone figure out what Zedd said in the UNCLEAR section above?

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