Inside Zedd's Robes: Vacation Edition

Upcoming Events: One more new episode this week. After that we get two replays. The first is Elixir and the other is Denna. As for this week, TV Guide has the following:

Richard goes undercover and infiltrates a D'Haran camp to save innocent lives after he and Kahlan discover that Darken Rahl has been using dark magic to fight the resistance.

There has been a split again with Kahlan and Richard heading off on their own. While alone they were almost trapped in Westland, came face to face with Darken Rahl, and started the dubious practice of practice fighting with their weapons. Best of luck you crazy kids.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs: Enough interviews already. The New Zealand Herald has a pretty interesting article about the show. There is a lot about the backgrounds of the cast and crew. Also Craig Horner apparently took this role in no small part due to his love for sword play:

"I really, really enjoy the fight scenes. It's like a childhood obsessions. The kid in me can't believe I get to do swordfighting every day."

Blog News: So as the IMP reported, we are now on Twitter. You can find us @HopeHasAWarrior. We will try to post all blog updates there as well as if some really crazy Breaking News hits. (How did the Illiterate Midlands Peasant know about Twitter?)

I will be traveling in Europe until April 7, starting tomorrow, so I will likely not be able to post. Sorry about that. You will have to wait until later that week for the Legend of the Weeker for this upcoming episode. Try to make it through.

Roles in Bruce Spence's Career: Let this load and then go to minute 6:45 in this clip to see a creepy performance by Bruce Spence (Caution: Parts NSFW):

His character's name in Dark City: Mr. Wall. Fantastic.

The Illiterate Midlands Peasant

The IMP is back. That's right, your favorite non-book reading Legend of the Seeker-watching reviewer is here to share his insights on the latest episode. Or should I say webisode, since I had to stream the episode from Hulu onto my tv. Apparently my local cable company has decided to innacurately label the rerun episode of the Legend of the Seeker as the "new" episode, messing up my DVR recording schedule. Therefore Comcast gets the first WTF!? of this week.

Turning to the episode, I did not have too many complaints or moments of confusion...OK, that's a lie. The frequency of precisely those types of moments is what makes the show so damn fun to watch.

First up, WTF?! is up with "the Pristinely Ungifted" sister of Richard? I get that she was sheltered and simple (as Misha gently put it in the Legend of the Weeker), but she comes across as "pristinely halfwitted." I thought she was going to start drooling at one point as she stared blankly back at Richard.

Second, WTF?! is up with Zedd's sperm that he is the grandfather of both the Seeker and the Pristinely Ungifted? Nice work you creepy bastard. Seriously though, I hope they run with this whole "who is Richard's father" plot line so we can see what kind of twist they stoop to using. Is it Darken Rahl? Darken Rahl's brother? Zedd?!! Ok, that would be too creepy, even for Zedd. Regardless, it does leave the door open for some character growth and depth--something this show could use. Still, you gotta wonder what Zedd has been up to, siring such weird people.

Third, WTF?! is up with Darken Rahl's protection of the boxes of Orden? He knows that somewhere out there is the Pristinely Ungifted One. He has to know because he sent Denna to go get her. He knows that she could walk past his magical protections and grab the box, yet all he has is one dumb guard (nice face-smashing at the end of the episode, by the way) pacing around? Not even LOCKED UP?!! Darken Rahl has to have heard of the concept of a locked door. WTF?! It's not like Jennsen is a trained ninja thief. She walked into the palace and grabbed it. Good work Darken.

Finally, WTF?! is up with the plan to send Jennsen away with 2 of the 3 boxes. It's bad enough that Darken Rahl knows she exists, but if he suspects that she has the boxes (which he might since he knows she took them from him) then she will now have a huge bullseye on her. And while she is not effected by magic, she can't use magic to protect herself. And along with not being a ninja thief, Jennsen is not much of a fighter. Who could she protect the boxes from? I guess she could stare at any D'Haran soldier with her dead eyes and scare them off. Beyond that, she is pretty worthless as a protector of the boxes. WTF?!

That's all for now kids. See you next week. O, and check us out on Twitter (o, what the nerds come up with) at: @HopeHasAWarrior

Legend of the Weeker: Bloodline

Synopsis: The episode opens with Zedd leaving the Box of Orden in the Plains of Morrow. Darken Rahl sends his troops to retreat it but it is protected by the magic of Zedd and the remains of wizards that lie dead there. Zedd then meets up with Kahlan and Richard who are playfighting. He explains that the box is a trap for Rahl that they plan to spring.

Darken Rahl has been torturing Denna for letting the Seeker escape. He sends Denna after it but first she must capture a girl named Jennsen. She grabs Jennsen's mother and makes Jennsen grab the box. Apparently magic has absolutely no effect on the girl. When Denna touches the box, it sets off an alarm and Zedd, Richard and Kahlan see it. They take off after it and find everyone after Jennsen throws the box away.

They find out the girl is Pristinely Ungifted and she can't use magic. A fight breaks out and while they rescue Jennsen and the box, Denna gets away with Jennsen's mother. Turns out the girl is Richard's sister. And Zedd is Richard's grandfather. We already knew that. Richard is mad and he takes off after Denna to get his mom. Zedd tries to stop him but can't because of Jennsen. They all go together to get Denna.

Richard comes up with a plan to give Denna the box but have Denna help them steal the other two Boxes of Orden. Denna goes and kills the mother and threatens them that she will not revive her unless she gets the box before sunrise. Jennsen sneaks into the palace and steals the boxes from right under Rahl's nose. She is immune to magic so all his protection is worthless. She gets the boxes back to the crew and they are ambushed by Denna and a bunch of soldiers.

Richard tricks Denna and uses the power of Orden on himself. He now commands everyone. Unfortunately when Denna killed the mother she knew that she would not be able to revive her. He has Kahlan kill Denna slowly with her bare hands. He also has the soldiers kill each other. Zedd tries to talk him out of it but is unsuccessful. Jennsen then breaks up the boxes and Richard loses the power of Orden. Denna is told to run away. They split up again with Zedd going to hide one box and Jennsen taking care of other two with the resistance. Richard and Kahlan go to spy on Rahl's movements. Rahl understandably freaks out when all the boxes are gone. He plans a rampage one village at a time.

Commentary: This was another exciting episode. We saw the return of Denna who apparently has been getting tortured by Rahl. This whole theme of torture is pretty dark for what is otherwise a pretty light show. I like that despite her getting run through with the Sword of Truth, Darken Rahl was still furious enough to torture Denna for a while. I was kind of happy to see Denna not killed at the end. She is definitely a three dimensional character which are pretty lacking in the show.

They did a good job presenting Jennsen as kind of simple. You can tell she was raised as a sheltered child without much social interaction. I guess losing Richard really affected her mother. Richard and Jennsen's mother met kind of a sad end without much resolution. There are still plenty of questions to be answered with the remainder of Richard's family.

This was another one of these "All in the family" episodes where it turns out everyone is related. It will be interesting to see how Zedd's relationship with Richard changes now that it is in the open that he is his grandfather. We got a preview of that with the beginning of Zedd's story about Richard's mother. Also how will this affect Kahlan and Richard's relationship?

Darken Rahl is not going to gain much pathos from the people after ordering this rampage. If the resistance was getting strong before, there will surely be even more volunteers now. Also how stretched out is the D'haran army going to be after this? They clearly had trouble with maintaining the outposts in Westland and now they plan to raze villages. It begs the question of whether the army can keep this up.

Richard and Kahlan Romance Index: 3 out of 10.

Richard and Kahlan did not have much interaction in this episode. I am giving two points for that incredibly flirtatious fight in the beginning of the episode. The other point is for Kahlan calming Richard down after he left the power of Orden. Even after he came to, she kept her hands on his face.

Zedd's Creepiness Factor: 5 out of 10.

Zedd is back. He is creepy. He constantly goes back and forth between being able to sacrifice his daughter and then trying to be a great relative. I'm not sure I would want to be related to him. On the other hand he did have that over-the-top throw of the final Box of Orden to Richard. Way to be cool, gramps.

Notable Quotes:

Richard: "That's easy for you to say. She's not your mother."
Zedd: "No. She's my daughter."

Richard: "Over the past few months I've been attacked by flying monsters, tracked by bounty hunters, tortured by Denna, and beaten bloody by Darken Rahl himself. I'm still here. All in one piece. I think."

Richard: "Kill her. Slowly."

Richard: "Can I call you gramps?"
Zedd: "Not if you value your life."

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: March Madness Edition

Upcoming Events: Another new episode this week. As the action ramps up towards the end of the season the episodes have definitely been getting more and more intense. TV Guide about the goings-on this week:

While trying to keep Box of Orden out of Darken Rahl's hands, Richard learns something new about his ties to Zedd.

If you remember the end of Brennidon, you know exactly what Richard's ties to Zedd are. Should be interesting to see how Richard reacts.

Cool Stuff on the Interwebs: Craig Horner has done yet another interview with Torch Online. It's pretty typical stuff but I love this anecdote about how Craig stays in shape:

You know what I did yesterday? I said to my runner, he drives Bridget and me home, she was running late, and I said to my runner, “Greg, pick me up, matey, I’m running down the road now, I’m getting some exercise!” And he was like, “Are you mad?” And I’m like, “Yup,” and I started running. The crew’s seeing the lead actor running down the road and going, “What the hell? Dude, do you need a lift?” And I’m saying, “No, I’m fine!”

Well the impromptu runs have been working. It's great how this gives the fans an intimate view of life on the set. I've said it before, this level of fan access is always refreshing.

Blog News: Sorry I have been swept up in March Madness so Zedd's Robes are a little empty. My roommate has also been swept up by the Madness and he has not been able to post as much as he would like. We are gonna do our best to get back on track. MADNESS!

Legend of the Weeker: Conversion

Synopsis: The episode opens with Darken Rahl upset at an advisor. He's mad that they have not been able to get the final Box of Orden. They have a different plan at the Keep of Edron. Giller the Wizard is there torturing some people. That happens to be where Chase's family is being held and Richard and Kahlan's next destination. A resistance soldier named Devlin comes along to help him.

Inside the Keep an uncle and nephew are fomenting resistance against Darken Rahl. The nephew knows Rahl and is going to try to stab him. The gang attacks a trio of soldiers and Kahlan confesses one of them. Their plan is to cut off the oil and lighting in the Keep and sneak in to grab the prisoners. This goes off without a hitch as they get in, get out and release all the prisoners.

Chase has a heartfelt reunion with his family that is cut short after he kisses his wife. He falls over sick with something akin to being confessed. They head off in search of a healer. On the way there they are attacked by D'harans and kill the nephew that had his own plan to kill Rahl. They learn from the uncle that Giller is doing experiments to create a Confessor. Their new plan is to get Kahlan in and confess Giller, escape with him, and then blow up the Keep with Rahl inside. Complicated.

Kahlan is brought in as a prisoner and tries to confess Giller but fails. He apparently made a potion that blocks confession. Kahlan is captured and Darken Rahl gets beamed into the Keep. Richard, not being one to let harm come to Kahlan, abandons the original plan and bursts into the Keep. He fights Rahl and is defeated with the help of a Mord-Sith. Rahl brings him in with Kahlan and mocks them a bit. He also takes the potion and makes creepy passes at Kahlan.

Giller uses magic to try to get Kahlan's power. Rahl plans to confess Richard and make him his slave. Unfortunately Kahlan gets something called the Blood Rage and confesses everyone without touching them. Giller is killed and Rahl runs off. Richard tries to kill him but misses him by a hair. There is one unbroken potion left but it is of course given to Chase so he can be with his family. Chase goes along with Devlin to lead the resistance. Richard and Kahlan have a nice moment where he promises that he will both kill Rahl and be with her.

Commentary: Another exciting episode. They are definitely ramping up the action. We got some awesome sword action and we finally saw Richard fight Darken Rahl. He should have just jabbed the sword through him. Richard pretty much dominated the fight. I do have to say that those were some wild swings by Richard. I'm pretty sure that if Darken Rahl had a quick parry and stab there, then he would have just buried the Seeker right there.

We got a scary look at Kahlan's power. She apparently can call upon this power in times of extreme duress. This power was manifested in extreme strength and also the ability to confess people without touching them. She also lost some control and grabbed Richard by the throat. Kahlan does not have the control on her power that she once believes. There was the episode where she put a man to death and now this new power. She needs to get a grip on her abilities.

Man, Darken Rahl just does not take necessary precautions. He takes off and beams into this Keep. It clearly does not have enough security as the gang is able to break in just by killing the lights. Turns out the Seeker is there and instead of alerting his armies and having them descend down on the Keep, he tries to take out the Seeker by himself. The only reason he managed to escape was some last minute shenanigans. He isn't going to make it too long if he keeps this up.

It's interesting to see what they did with Chase to bring him across the boundary. Now the resistance has a great leader, although his family has some rebuilding to do. We should definitely see some more of him over the course of Seeker's adventure. The resistance is definitely becoming more and more of a force to be reckoned with. Darken Rahl really worries about this, as is evident from his early freakout about not being able to find the final Box of Orden.

Richard and Kahlan Romance Index: 7 out of 10.

The two kids got into a lot of trouble this weekend. They speak pretty openly about their feelings for one another. This is a little different from earlier in the season. I guess everything is pretty much out in the open. Richard has also gotten a lot more bold when telling Kahlan how he feels. He doesn't care about the prophecies and he is sure in himself. With the look that Kahlan gave him at the end, it's becoming pretty clear that she is starting to believe in him too.

Zedd's Creepiness Factor: 1 out of 10.

Another Zedd-less episode. He is off being creepy in D'hara apparently. He did send them a pretty creepy note. They either understood the message correctly, or they intercepted a creepy riddle written by a stalker. Weird.

Notable Quotes:

Richard: "We just saved her life."
Darken Rahl: "And apparently, you just saved mine."

Darken Rahl: "It will take more than prophecy to defeat me, Richard Cypher."

Devlin: "It was an honor to fight alongside the Seeker."
Richard: "The honor was all mine."

Richard: "Rahl was wrong when he said our fate was unimaginable. The only unimaginable fate is one without you."

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: 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.

Legend of the Weeker: Listener

Synopsis: The episode opens with Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd sneaking by the D'haran Dragon Corps. The Corps is buying a boy from a peddler. The boy can read people's mind, a true listener. They plan to rescue the kid but try to get the Dragon Corps to lead them to Rahl. Zedd disguises himself and releases a bunch of shadow people near the D'harans. He then kills the shadows to make nice with the Corps.

Ren, the listener, escapes with Richard and Kahlan during the distraction. They take the kid home to his house where another family lives. The kid's father sold him. Since they can't leave him there they decide to take him to a hidden valley with the Sisters of Light. The kid runs off. To keep him from escaping Richard tries to tie his hands but Kahlan doesn't let him.

The kid acts like a little punk and alerts the D'harans to their presence. Richard gets wounded in the ensuing battle. The kid feels bad and seems more amenable to going to the hidden valley. Kahlan tells a sad story to Richard about how she was used by her father. He used to tie and her sister up if they didn't do as he said. She was eventually taken to the Sisters of Light.

Ren tells Richard that Kahlan has the same feelings for him that he does. Kahlan sings the kid a song to put him to sleep. Ren's dad finds them and convinces him to join him. He sells him to the D'harans. While all this is happening, Zedd helps a traitor to the D'harans escape but then captures him again. The traitor angers the soldiers enough so they decide to kill him. Zedd rescues the prisoner by turning him into a crow, and is thus captured.

The D'harans tell Ren to listen in on Zedd. He does but makes up a story about more traitors amidst the D'harans. A fight breaks out and Richard and Kahlan show up in the nick of time. Richard is saved by Zedd's Wizard Fire. They defeat the Dragon Corps. The gang takes Ren to the Sisters of Light and promise to come back when the Midlands are free. The traitor is turned back into a human and he tells them of something important happening in the city of Calabra.

Commentary: I think it took me so long to do this Legend of the Weeker because I remember not loving this episode. On a second watch-through, I thought it was a lot better than I remember. There was a lot of action and several high stakes fight scenes. Plus Richard almost gets killed twice. I also enjoy episodes that explain the past. The little bit about Kahlan really explains who she is as a character.

The thing that I remember hating was the kid. He was still annoying the second time around. I mean the pheasant and blackberries. If I was Richard I would tell the kid that I could kill him, and then not have to deal with this problem. Also Kahlan could confess the kid and then also not have to deal with the problem. They were way too nice. On the other hand the kid that played Ren was fantastic. He played that role as perfect as possible.

This was the first we saw of discontent in the D'haran camp. Hard to believe with all the magic that Darken Rahl has control over he couldn't see a traitor in his personal guard. I mean he's supposed to be so powerful. If he keeps this up by the time Richard gets to meet him, he will already get stabbed in the back. Also this guy's family is gonna have a tough life. He was an elite soldier and now they are going to have to go on the run.

The plot had a split up of the three that I actually enjoyed. Zedd, Richard and Kahlan were going for the same goal but just approaching it from different ways. Their plan seemed really simplistic though. Like did they think that Rahl would just let them into his castle. Also is it really a mystery where Darken Rahl lives? Like can't you just ask a random stranger where the capital of the empire is? What are they going to do when they get there?

Richard and Kahlan Romance Index: 6 out of 10.

This was the first episode that really explored the feelings that Richard and Kahlan have for one another. Ren quickly reads into both of them and quickly deciphers their longing. He then has to be the one that tells each of them what they already know. Lastly we get a preview of Kahlan's problem with her feelings for Richard. Oh and how groanworthy was the "when we are parents" quote by Richard. I love how he realizes it's bad after he says it.

Zedd's Creepiness Factor: 7 out of 10.

Oh Zedd, you are a trickster. I love that to trick the D'harans all you had to do was get an emo haircut. Well as emo as Zedd can get. It was great how he let the traitor escape, then helped capture him, then let him escape again. What was the point of all that? Also he let that guy get beat up a lot before saving him. Thanks you jerk.

Notable Quotes:

Ren: "You don't have to be scared. She feels the same way you do."

Zedd: "Give the boy too many lessons, he won't have time to learn anything."
Richard: "As if you ever let up on me."

Ren: "Tell him what you feel about him. It will be okay."

Richard: "Well if we ever get to be parents, I guess we will have had some practice."

Traitor: "Darken Rahl just sent two hundred men to a city called Calabra on a mission of great importance."
Kahlan: "To Calabra then."

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.