Inside Zedd's Robes: Posting Quota Edition

Blog News: I downloaded a new blog editor which I should be able to use to get faster and newer posts up. However I do expect some hiccups so if anything appears weird, either shoot me an email or leave something in the comments.

I also hope to get some guest posters from IMP and DharanSoldier. Look for those in the coming weeks.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs: Craig Horner and Bridget Regan did a slew of interviews to promote the new season. I can't post them all here but most of them are very similar. They love the show, love New Zealand, love the story, and stay tuned to see what happens. I will post the interview from G4's hit Attack of the Show because I watch this show a lot. (read: I am a nerd)

Game Trailers - E3 2010 - Movies and TV

Generally good stuff. Also Ted Raimi, who you may remember from his role in Bounty as the mapmaker returns to the show. He also has a twitter page devoted to Legend of the Seeker. Pretty interesting to hear his thoughts (read his tweets?) about the show.

Upcoming Events: There's a new episode this weekend. TV Guide has the following blurb about the show:

Cara goes on trial for past crimes, and finds her fate in Kahlen's (sic) hands.

I guess the whole Cara vs. Kahlan thing is coming to a head. What I wonder is whether Kahlan will ever be able to trust Cara or are they going to with this distrust dynamic for a long while?

Moments in Bruce Spence's Career: Already referenced but I turn to Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left for one of Mr. Spence's most terrifying roles:

Let that burn into your mind for this week. You watched it. You can't unwatch it. Hope to get the recap Monday night again. See you then.

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Inside Zedd's Robes: Still Here Edition

Upcoming Events: Been real slow while we wait for November 7 to come. Here is a promo image to whet your appetite courtesy of the Official Legend of the Seeker Site:

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs: The three leads of Legend of the Seeker did pretty standard interviews with Sci Fi UK. There isn't too much groundbreaking materials here but it's always interesting to hear what the stars have to say about the show. Here they are: Craig Horner's interview, Bridget Regan's interview, and Bruce Spence's interview. Also if you're bored you can take a "quiz" from Sci Fi UK. Only take it if you're very bored, it's not incredibly enlightening.

Recently Kal commented on a blog post with a link to his own blog. Snark level high but in these slow times it's a pretty interesting look at the show.

Legend of the Seeker is also coming out on DVD on October 13. You can preorder the DVD from Amazon. A Blu-ray version is in the works but it isn't likely to be out until the holiday season. If I hear any more I will report it.

Roles in Bruce Spence's Career An actual serious role is presented here. This was an award winning short film called Australian Summer. The range of roles that Bruce Spence can play is incredible.

Well that's about all I have. If anything interesting comes up, I will be sure to report, until then keep yourself sane by watching reruns. Like the blog? Sign up to receive our Feed through Feedburner.

Inside Zedd's Robes: Next Season Edition

Upcoming Events: News out of Comic-Con on the upcoming season. First of all here's a sneak peak:

Video courtesy of the Official Legend of the Seeker Site. There are a bunch of spoilers about the show's second season out there. Highlights include that Cara from the first season finale will be a prominent recurring character, the Stone of Tears will be a major theme, and of course the show is going to kick ass!

Oh wait a minute... one more thing. Season premiere date has been announced. Set your calendar for November 7. We can see our heroes fight evil once again.

Cast News: Bridget Regan has started a Twitter account. Sounds like she is having a blast filming the new season. You can read her Twitter page here. If you're on the Twitter checking out Bridget, make sure to check out our page where I try to update with news about the blog. Find us at our Twitter page.

Roles in Bruce Spence's Career: I know I posted a picture of this last time. But this is just too good to pass up. An encore performance of Stork, Bruce Spence's first major role.

The shirt he is wearing at 0:15 is pretty priceless.

Inside Zedd's Robes: Still Having Fun Edition

Blog News: Okay so I have had to deal with moving so I haven't had a lot of time to work on the blog. Fortunately it is the off season so there is not much to report on. I want to do some design stuff for the blog so expect posting to be light.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs: Watch with Kristin on E!Online has an article telling people to watch Legend of the Seeker. The article has interesting points of view about the show. Always nice to see publicity for the show. There is also the following interview with Bridget Regan and Craig Horner:

Speaking of Bridget Regan there has been a lot of talk about her in the role of Wonder Woman in an upcoming movie. Fans have created an online petition. All this talk was even picked up by Splash Page on MTV.com. Sounds pretty cool and FWIW I think she would be perfect for the role.

Additionally Digital Spy Reports Sci-Fi UK has picked up Legend of the Seeker which should start August 13. Fans in the UK should be delighted.

Roles in Bruce Spence's Career: This is one of his first films called Stork. His character's name is Graham "Stork" Wallace. Alright!

Inside Zedd's Robes: End of Beginning Edition

Upcoming Events: Well the season is over. If you head over to the Official Legend of the Seeker site you can read what the order of repeats will be. The new season should start up again in the fall.

Blog News: First order of business is to get the Legend of the Weeker for Denna up. I should be getting that up on Wednesday or Thursday. I totally forgot about it.

I also want to do some housekeeping on the blog so look for posting to be light early on in the summer. Also if you have any ideas on what you would like to see on this blog, then please leave your ideas in the comments. One thing that I plan to change in the off-season is to report on news as soon as I get it. When the season starts up again, I will go back to the weekly Inside Zedd's Robes post. I think though it would be better to get immediate news as opposed to waiting a week for it.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs: The gaming and entertainment website IGN has a review of season one. It has a pretty cool analysis so have a read through.

Bridget Regan is doing a movie that has Neil Patrick Harris as its lead. Philadelphia Inquirer reports about this movie and it sounds awesome. There have definitely been some episodes this season where Bridget got to show off her comedy acting chops and it will be interesting to see her in a purely comic role.

Off from their show Bridget Regan and Craig Horner are making the interview circuit. Here is Craig on KTLA morning news;

Interesting tidbits include Craig talking in an Australian accent. He apparently learned to speak with the American accent by mimicking Leonardo Decaprio. I kind of wonder why they made him get rid of the Australian accent. Lastly apparently his stunt double has an incredibly strong punch and collapsed someone's lung on the show. Uhh terrifying.

Not to be outdone by her costar, Bridget Regan stopped by the morning show with Regis and Kelly. Here is the clip:

Hopefully interviews like this will generate more buzz on the show. Good stuff.

Roles in Bruce Spence's Career: Thanks goes out to Johanna who runs a Bruce Spence fanclub who provided me with tons of links to pictures and clips of Bruce Spence's movies. This clip is simply awesome. Forward to 4:15 for Bruce Spence's role.

FANTASTIC!!!

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Legend of the Weeker: Reckoning

Synopsis: The episode opens with Darken Rahl talking to a bunch of Mord Sith. One of the Mord Sith, Cara tells him that he will be hard to find. The show cuts to Zedd talking to Kahlan about whether they should try the Confession/Power of Orden canceling out thing. Richard comes over and convinces her to try it. While he gets the power of Orden, Kahlan confesses him. Before it has a chance to work, Rahl and the Mord Sith interrupt him. Zedd tries to stop them but his Wizard's fire is turned against him. When Kahlan comes to, Rahl tells her that the Wizard is dead and the Seeker is no more.

Rahl takes Kahlan prisoner and tells her that he wants her to be her queen. She refuses and he tells her that Richard could not have survived. Meanwhile Shota watches as Richard fights with Cara in some desolate place. Shota is then apprehended by the other Mord Sith. Richard is fighting Cara while some men attack them. As Richard chases them down he is approached by someone who lets him know that it has been 60 years since he disappeared and Darken Rahl's son, a confessor, rules like a tyrant. He is also told that Kahlan, Darken Rahl's wife has died a long time ago.

Kahlan is trapped in a dungeon but she can communicate with Shota who tells her that Richard is in the future. Cara attacks Richard but he lets her know that they are in the future. They decide to work together for a little while. Kahlan, despondent over Zedd's death and Richard's disappearance tries to figure out a way to send a message to Shota. She talks to Darken Rahl and agrees to be his queen.

The show flashes a year into the future. Kahlan is pregnant with Rahl's child. She tells her chambermaid that she needs her help. She tells her to tell Richard in the future that he needs a Confession, Power of Orden, and Agiel to get back to their time. Kahlan gives birth to a son. Darken Rahl convinces her to not kill the baby. She raises the boy as the years go by. Meanwhile Richard and Cara decide to try and kill the Master Rahl together. They spend time eating worms and hanging out naked in bed together.

Kahlan begins seeing that her son is horrible and she must kill him. She tries but is stopped by a boy that he confessed. Her chambermaid is killed by Rahl and she is to be executed by her willing son. Richard and Cara enter the palace but find it in ruins. They run into Shota who tells him the story of the Master Rahl who is afraid the ghost of Kahlan. Turns out that as soon as Kahlan was executed, the kid killed Darken Rahl.

Shota goes to be confessed by the Master Rahl. She tells him that Richard needs the power of all three things. Richard uses the power of the Boxes of Orden while Master Rahl runs in to confess him. His soldier shoot Cara but she is still able to hit Richard with the Agiel. She comes to and hits the other Mord Sith with an Agiel preventing her from killing Zedd. Darken Rahl appears but is too late. He tries to break up the Boxes of Orden and is consumed by their power. Richard tells Kahlan and Zedd everything that happened in the future that he prevented. He also agrees to stick around to help take care of the Midlands so that evil doesn't take hold in the vacuum of power caused by Rahl's death.

Commentary: Wow. What a way to finish the season. Richard travels 60 years into the future and must figure out how to get back. We also get an introduction to Cara who seems incredibly badass even for a Mord Sith. Her time travel induced truce with Richard was played out in an incredibly authentic way. On the other hand I wasn't incredibly impressed with Kahlan's story. I understand that they wanted to how much she loved Richard, but it was a little hard to believe that she would live this whole life just to get him a message. I think she could have thought the whole thing through a little better. Though she did manage to make the lives of the people in the Midlands better.

As much as I didn't buy the whole Kahlan lives a crazy life with Darken Rahl story, I was floored with Bridget Regan's performance. Watching that episode again it astounded me that this was a woman who just got into acting. The episode required her to showcase her entire range of emotions and she nails pretty much everything from the start of the episode where Kahlan worries about confessing Richard to the end scene on the beach. I really hope that there are more episodes in the future that allow this kind of range in the characters.

Kahlan sure made a gamble that Richard would be able to return to her time. Rahl had already said that the explosion should have killed him. Then Shota warns her that he needs to perfectly recreate the types of magic or else he is going to die. Kahlan's reaction? Yeah let's go have a kid with Darken Rahl and be his queen until he kills me. Also why didn't Darken Rahl kill Shota? What possible use could she have to him. He already defeated the Seeker. Did he also forget that she cannot die of old age.

Not only did this episode have solid performances by the main characters, the secondary characters were awesome too. Darken Rahl goes from creepy to menacing as he cares about his kid. The kid is a perfect Children of the Corn type and that moment when he has his friend give him his thumb as a gift made my skin crawl. I also loved Cara's attempted seduction of Richard. The whole thing felt pretty realistic even with Richard having a moment of doubt. My only question was 'Why was she naked?' The answer is probably 'Why not?'

Richard and Kahlan's Romance Index: 9 out of 10.

I can't give it a 10 out of 10 because they didn't get to roll in the hay. Other than that it was about as romantic as it gets between the two. She lived a life with Darken Rahl solely on the hope that Richard would find her message and figure out a way to return to his original time. When he came back to the world and defeated Rahl his first reaction was to kiss her. Awesome.

Zedd's Creepiness Factor: 3 out of 10.

Short of getting roasted to a crisp he didn't really do anything creepy. He did backhandedly suggest that Richard stick around and help them keep evil out of the Midlands.

Notable Quotes:

Kahlan: "What if... what if we're wrong? What if this is some kind of trick?"
Zedd: "You've always put your faith in the Seeker. Even before you knew his smile or the sound of his voice. And that faith has been rewarded time and again. Now is not the time to waver."

Darken Rahl: "If I was simply to take what I wanted, you would already be in my bedchamber."

Richard: "I'm sorry. I'm in love with someone else."
Cara: "Who said anything about love? I'm talking about pleasure."

Darken Rahl: "It's just you and me now Nicholas."
Nicholas Rahl: "No father. It's just me."

Richard: "Kahlan, when we first met you told you'd give your life for the Seeker... and that's what you did... even when it looked like you had no hope... you loved me across time."

Kahlan: "Richard, you've done everything we've asked of you... and more. No one can blame you if you want to go home."
Richard: "I am home."

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.

Inside Zedd's Robes: Final Stretch Edition

Upcoming Events: Another new episode this weekend and it should be a good one. We learned last episode that it should be a high stakes race. TV Guide has the following to say:

Richard, Kahlan and Zedd race to find a duplicate copy of the Book of Counted Shadows before Darken Rahl gets his hands on it.

I know some people were worried about departures from the books where the Book of Counted Shadows was important throughout Richard's quest against Darken Rahl. This is a way for the writers to resolve that problem.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs: Bridget Regan is back from what I assume is the end of the season and she did an interview with a local New York TV station:

It's mostly fluff and girl talk. Like the "what would you say to the following celebrities" part? What the hell was that? Bridget did mention how much she gets along with Craig Horner. You can definitely tell these two get along great. Like "peas and carrots".

Moments in Bruce Spence's Career: This is a picture of Bruce Spence from the movie Solo. Presented without commentary:

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Inside Zedd's Robes: We're Back Edition

Blog News: Aaand we're back. Sorry about the vacation break but we're up and running again. I will try to watch the latest new episode tonight and get the Legend of the Weeker up tomorrow. We have also found out the titles for the final episodes of the season. You can find them in the Episode Guide.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs: Guess who did an interview with the Sunday Star Times from New Zealand? Craig Parker. Darken Rahl himself. He has some pretty interesting stuff to say since he is a veteran of fantasy shows from New Zealand. Read up.

Bridget Regan and Craig Horner also did an interview for Fancast News. There is a spoiler about the season finale. Also from what Bridget says it is going to be a doozy:

“We start [filming] next week. And everybody on set – literally all the makeup girls and the crew, everyone was reading the script and flying through the pages and every once in a while someone will look up and go, “Oh my GOD!” and everyone is like, “I know!” So much crazy stuff goes down in the finale.

Lastly there is a pretty cool article in the New Zealand Herald. Basically it talks about what's prettier to look at, Bridget and Craig or the New Zealand scenery. In HD I would be hard pressed to pick a winner.

Inside Zedd's Robes: More Interviews Edition

Upcoming Events: I am excited for the all new episode this week. Although my excitement is going to have to wait extra long since the new episode won't air until midnight on Monday. We should get to see more of Chase and a get a glimpse of the showdown that we have all been waiting to see. TV Guide has the following:

While attempting to rescue Chase's family from captivity, Richard encounters Darken Rahl for the first time.

If no part of that excites you for this weekend then you have no soul. No soul.

Blog News: As you may or may not have noticed I have added the Legend of the Weeker for Listener, the fifth episode in the season. Hopefully I will get all caught up before this season ends. No promises. I also added the new episode titles in the Episode Guide for two new episodes that we should see in April. Lastly I removed the old Get Updates widget and added a Feedburner link on the right side. Let me know if you have any problems with the feed.

My next projects are going to be a Links page (simple) and a new banner (hard). Most likely the banner will look like stick figures drawn with Paint but I'll do my best.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs: Craig Horner and Bridget Regan, love doing interviews. It is really great to have actors that give this amount of attention to fans.

Craig did an interview with Starpulse.com last week. I missed it. He refutes internet speculation that he is involved with the Hobbit movie. Craig's second interview was from this week with Chud.com. It has a lot more meat and this wonderful tidbit on working with Bruce Spence:

Bruce is a really chill kind of guy you know and it’s just so great and it really rings true. He’d much prefer to talk about the cup of tea that he just had five minutes ago and how nice it is compared to some other brand of tea...He’s really humble and I admire him. I really look up to him.

I guess this is a case of life imitating art. I can really see this conversation happening. Not to be outdone by Craig, Bridget Regan also did an interview with SFUniverse.com. While Craig and Bridget are relatively new players in the world of big stars, let's hope that this level of fan access continues. It really gives us a window into their life of creating the world we all love.

Roles in Bruce Spence's Career: Search for our favorite wizard in this classic trailer:

He's there somewhere.

Inside Zedd's Robes: Traveling Edition

Upcoming Events: Another all new episode and we get to see the return of Chase. No offense to the lead actors because I love them, but Jay Laga'aia, the actor that plays him, gives one of the most believable performances I have seen in a while. I'm pretty sure he was born to play this role. TV Guide has the following to say about the episode:

After Richard and Kahlen reunite with Chase, whose family has gone missing, the three travel back to Hartland, where they discover that things aren't what they seem.

Blog News: A few new things going on in Hope Has a Warrior land. First of all I got a few complaints that the feed wasn't working for people. We now broadcast through Feedburner which is a bit better. Let me know if you have any problems. Also if you like our blog, subscribe to the feed. Always nice to know we have fans out there.

I also have added a Contact Us page so that you can contact the creators of this blog. By that I mean me and my roommate. We're good people. Kind of... One final note, I will be gone this weekend so you'll have to wait for the Legend of the Weeker until Tuesday. Sorry.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs:

Both Bridget Regan and Craig Horner have done interviews recently. Bridget Regan's interview was with Daemon's TV, a pretty cool blog about TV shows. It's pretty long but a worthwhile read. A lot about what she draws her inspiration from. Give it a lookthrough.

The Craig Horner interview was with the TV Addict, another cool TV blog. Craig on what it's like to work with Bridget:

It’s great. We’re both Aquarians and Aquarians tend to get along together. We’re both fans of the book, similar ages, both love acting and really try and make our scenes together really sincere. It’s great to work with an actress who’s not just showing up to collect a paycheck.

Roles in Bruce Spence's Career:

I couldn't find any video of this moment but this is Bruce Spence playing some terrifying dude in Star Wars Episode III. I think I actually prefer Zedd to any of the other characters that Bruce usually plays. While pretty creepy, at least Zedd doesn't give the average person night terrors if they see him.

Legend of the Weeker: Revenant

Synopsis: We are treated with a cold open with two thieves breaking into a crypt. One is trapped inside attacked by something. Elsewhere, Richard is reading a story of how the last great seeker Kieran met his end in battle. Turns out that he was in love with his Confessor too. As he lay dying, his Confessor, also mortally wounded, came to be with him. They make the vow to go to the underworld together.

Zedd then takes the gang to Kieran's tomb to hide the Box of Orden. They enter the tomb and are quickly trapped inside. Richard follows someone he believes to be Kahlan. They also find Kieran's coffin which is empty. Vivian who was Kieran's confessor beckons them to go through a door but the possessed body of that thief from earlier tries to stop them. After killing him Richard decides to proceed through the door.

There they find a drab coffin containing the body of Kieran. He has apparently been trapped there by a wizard. They decide to release him so he can be with Vivian. Unfortunately, he immediately possesses Richard and locks himself in a room with Kahlan. He intends to insert the spirit of Vivian into Kahlan's body and do stuff to her.

Sexual stuff.

Zedd is approached by the mutilated body of the thief who has been possessed by Amfortas, Kieran's wizard (played by Michael Hurst. You might remember him as Iolaus from Hercules). Turns out Kieran was kind of a jerk. He slept with Vivian and was confessed by her. Amfortas convinced her to kill herself to destroy the spell but that doesn't work with Seekers and Confessors. Kieran went kind of nuts kills a bunch of people and Amfortas has to kill him.

Zedd breaks into the tomb and threatens to kill Kahlan/Vivian unless Kieran leaves Richard's body. He does as does Vivian. They get out of the tomb. A cloud is now tracking the Box of Orden. Zedd leaves Richard and Kahlan with the box to go hide it. Richard and Kahlan are worried about their love as the episode ends.

Commentary: I have mixed feelings about this episode. First of all it didn't record properly on the DVR so I had to rig my laptop to play it from Hulu. That kind of ruined my Sunday and made Monday night slightly hectic and caused this post to be late.

Anyways back to the episode. I don't know if I like them butchering Kieran's legend like that. Seekers are supposed to fight evil and this one kind of blew it. I guess it makes sense that some Seekers take the wrong path but it's still a little disconcerting. He really went berserk.

So the theme of characters getting possessed by someone else seems to be getting some play. We had Gryff becoming Richard and now Kieran and Vivian taking over our protagonists. If you read the Bridget Regan interviews that I mentioned recently you know that this is going to continue. I understand magic and all that but aren't there other spells that we can get some play from?

We had a pretty ominous foreshadowing of what could happen to Richard and Kahlan if they let the emotions get the better of them. On the other hand we are shown that this is not necessarily the fate that will befall Richard and Kahlan. Richard may be naive but he has never been anything but moral. It's hard to imagine flipping out and killing everyone.

Richard and Kahlan Romance Index: 3 out of 10. We got a couple of looks between the two of them and her little half smile that she gives them. They were also possessed for a lot of the time so I can't count that. Also the conversation at the end of the episode was kind of a downer.

Seeker and Confessor Romance Index: 10 out of 10. So apparently every Seeker falls in love with his Confessor. Shouldn't they figure out something for that. Like maybe get some ugly Confessors. At least someone more unpleasant to look at than Bridget Regan... like... literally anyone else.

Zedd's Creepiness Factor: 3 out of 10. I can't really place my finger on anything creepy he did. I guess threaten to kill Kahlan.

He was also kind of annoying by not letting Amfortas finish his story. The man had a thousand heartbeats to tell you a complicated tale. Listen!

Notable Quotes:

Richard: "The prophecy says I will defeat Rahl. It doesn't say what will happen to us."

Zedd: "Well obviously we can't leave the box in this cursed place."

Richard: "I don't like it when Zedd goes off by himself."

Richard: "Love isn't something to fear, Kahlan."
Kahlan: "For me it is."

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.

Inside Zedd's Robes: So Much Stuff Edition

Upcoming Events: All new episode this weekend. Hopefully not another clip show. As always I am mum on any previews but the TV Guide one. Coincindentally, TV Guide has the following to say about the episode:

Facts behind the thousand-year legend of heroic ancient Seeker Kieran.

If you remember this was the Seeker that was mentioned by Gryff who pretended to be Richard in Identity. It will be interesting to find out more about him.

Blog News: I decided that it is too hard to read all of the Legend of the Weekers. Especially since I'm not creating them in order. That's why I have decided to create this fancy-shmancy Legend of the Seeker Episode Guide. It has all the episodes in order and it shows you what episodes that I have yet to do. You can access it from the Episode Guide link under Through the Boundary in the upper left corner.

In terms of near future for this blog, I plan to add a links page and a contacts page. I also want to create a banner for the blog and obviously catch up on the Legend of the Weekers. How fast will this happen? Probably not very fast, but keep checking back for updates.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs:

The always lovely Bridget Regan did a pair of interviews recently. The first one is for the AMC blog SciFi Scanner. A few interesting tidbits in there about what it's like to play Kahlan. Also she is apparently not a fan of George Bush.

Bridget's second interview was with SciFi Wire. In it she talks a lot more about what's coming up for her and Richard's character. Also makes two suggestions about what she would like to see. The first is a dragon. The second:

And I'd like to maybe get Kahlan into a shorter dress, because it's hot in the middle of the summer.

Your humble blogger respectfully seconds this motion.

Roles in Bruce Spence's Career:

Check out this little clip from Matrix: Revolutions.

Ah Bruce Spence. How skillfully you play a vagrant with handgun. Almost as skillfully as you play a wizard creepily hanging out with two star-crossed lovers fighting evil. Well done sir... well done.

Legend of the Weeker: Destiny

Synopsis: Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd have to find the Book of Counted Shadows which has fallen into enemy hands. Richard claims that he will find the soldier who has it. Meanwhile, Darken Rahl orders his men to break through the boundary. Chase meets Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd and listens to their story. He decides to help them, but first they go to his house to rest.

Chase's daughter sews a woods outfit for Kahlan who is thankful. However, seeing the family reminds Kahlan that she has no family left. Richard talks to her and she shows him Shar, the night wisp that Kahlan used to get through the boundary. They then head out to find the D'haran but are stopped by Michael and the townspeople. Richard tries to talk people down but they are unimpressed and an arrow is fired at him in the scuffle. Shar dies blocking the arrow and Zedd uses his Wizard's Fire to disperse the people.

Chase leaves to check up on his family, but when he gets home he finds the D'haran with his daugher. He tells him where to find the Bone Woman who knows how to get across the boundary. Richard tries to touch the boundary and is pulled back by Zedd who is poisoned by the shadows. Chase meets up with Richard and Kahlan and they head for the Bone Woman's house. There the D'haran uses Chase's daughter as bait for a Gar, that Richard promptly slays.

Richard and Kahlan chase the D'haran to the boundary and Richard gets the book back. Darken Rahl's forces break through the boundary and out of fear of letting the book into enemy hands, Richard burns the Book of Counted Shadows. Richard and Kahlan fight off the D'harans and upon Zedd's return from the Bone Woman who healed him, they embark into the Midlands to search for Darken Rahl.

Commentary: This episode is jam-packed with action. There are a few great fight scenes and the entire hour has a great racing against the clock theme. All the gang seems to be doing is trying to catch someone before something happens. The tension is a pretty solid plot device and I found myself cheering for the heroes.

At the same time there is plenty of character development going on. The overarching theme here is Richard winning the respect of people around him. Shar is given a reason to hope thanks to the Seeker. Chase is astounded when Richard kills the Gar. Finally Kahlan is awestruck at Richard in the final fight scene. Richard continues to prove himself in this episode and we can see how people start to believe in the Seeker.

The final fight scene gives us some great shots of Richard and Kahlan in action. First of all the whole thing seems to be set in an exploding forest. I understand the initial explosion but why are there repeated explosions? Also I don't think jumping in the air with the sword behind you is a very effective fighting technique.

This is the episode that got me and my roommate into Legend of the Seeker. You really get it all here. Awesome fight scenes. Great special effects. A budding romance. New Zealand. It really is one of the best episodes in the series and a great prelude to the adventures to come.

Richard and Kahlan Romance Index: 6 out of 10. In this episode we see the beginnings of Richard and Kahlan having feelings for each other. There is the obvious moment when he watches her bent over prepping her horse. (I think another thing I need to keep track of is the amount of cleavage that they have Bridget Regan show off on this show.)

The scene at the end when Richard jumps to save her in front of the exploding tree also is pretty indicative of their relationship. Badass as she is, Kahlan still needs Richard by her side. He helps her out not only in battle but also helps her deal with her own problems. A good example of this is the scene on the porch where Richard comforts her.

Zedd's Creepiness Factor: 3 out of 10. Not too much Zedd creepiness though after the first half of the two hour premiere, maybe the producers didn't want to scare the children too much. A few points are gained by the eating scene in Chase's house where he devours the spice soup.

There is also the moment at the end when Richard says he will be ready for the fight ahead and Zedd laughs and says "I have no doubt."

Notable Quotes:

Kahlan: "Shar says that for the first time she can remember, her people have a reason to hope."
Richard: "I'll try not to let her down."

Richard: "One sword. Against an army?"
Zedd: "Not just any sword. It holds the strength of all the ancient seekers who wielded it before you."
Kahlan: "The people will rise up and follow you when they hear the seeker has returned."

Richard: "My destiny. My decision."

Chase: "If I believed in fairy tales I'd say I just saw my friend Richard Cypher slay a dragon. Thank you."

Richard: "Like a wise man once told me: In this life you can't go back... only forward."