While I enjoyed the lighthearted Adventures of Young Zeddicus, I was more than ready for a return to the dark intensity that has defined Seeker this season. “Fury” brought it, further developing the mythology of the show by expanding on the nature of the Sword of Truth and the magic that Richard has inherited as a Rahl. This may be one of the bloodiest episodes of the series, but the violence serves to highlight the fact that rage makes the Sword of Truth work.
Most fantasy/sci-fi shows have at least one episode that features a bunch of gentle villagers who refuse to defend themselves because they are so peaceful. More often than not, I can’t stand the villagers. In quantitative terms, I would give the Minders a 4 out of 7 on the obnoxious scale (i.e., moderately obnoxious). Cara at least had some nice moments with Roga, the leader of the Minders. She provides an interesting contrast to the Minders’ philosophy.
When Richard’s compass points him to the Minders’ camp, he returns and discovers that they are connected to him through one of his Rahl ancestors. Magic binds them to him, so when he goes berserk, they go berserk too. This development seems to be a watered down version of a concept from the books (the D’Harans being bound to the Lord Rahl through magic). I wonder if they will expand on this idea in future episodes. Though Zedd helps Richard master his rage, the wizard’s conversation with Kahlan at the end of the hour strongly hints that we will see more of Richard’s dark side and probably learn more about the magic that he has inherited through his Rahl bloodline.
I suppose the moral of the story was supposed to be something like “Peace is the way,” but actually it sent a mixed message. Roga tells Cara that the Minders defeated an army without spilling a drop of blood … but that’s not really true. Yes, Roga’s act of mercy is partly what saved them, but their enemies hesitated to attack because the Minders, led by Richard, had just slaughtered a whole bunch of them. So it was a combination of both approaches — Roga’s peaceful gesture plus Richard’s strong retaliation — that saved the Minders. Peace is certainly desirable, but I don’t think Richard will be beating his sword into a plowshare anytime soon.
A few more observations:
Sword of Truth fans, do you like Season 2 so far? What did you think of “Fury”?
Clacked by Ruby T.
on Dec 13, 2009 @ 08:51 EST5EDT
You should definitely read the books. I started reading the books after the show and they are so addicting and so good. They’re very graphic, nothing like the show (Disney-produced, I think) and so the adult-themed nature that should be in the show would have been better served on a cable channel like HBO or Showtime. But onto the episode…
I did like the story although when Roga mentioned the whole ‘we won without spilling a rain drop’s worth of blood’ thing I thought the same exact thing you did. I’m loving Cara more and more and her character here is pretty close to the books in her ruthless mission to protect Richard. Personality-wise, they’re a little different but it suits the show better the way Tabrett portrays her.
I’m hoping for more episodes that don’t have Richard helping a village terrorized by D’Haran soldiers or banelings or slavers in this case. I want more Stone of Tears missions and story lines, but I guess I have the rest of the season for that so these type of episodes are okay for now. I do like that they sprinkle in some big picture details into it, though, like this week’s Sword of Truth-rage storyline, last week’s story of Richard being prophesied to fail, etc.
Overall the episode was great though. I like episodes that focus on Richard and his magic (which means pretty much most episodes…)
Thanks for reviewing the show full time, though, and giving it the love it deserves! (I know I might’ve sounded critical but I’m in love with this series, believe me.)
I also really liked the dark intensity, violence and gore of “Fury.” And it was great to see this episode explore the nature of the Sword of Truth and the magic that Richard has inherited from the Rahl bloodline.
But I don’t think that I agree with you that the last episode “Wizard” was lighthearted. It had a couple of humorous moments at the beginning when Zedd first lost his memory but hadn’t been transformed into a young man by Shota yet. However, after that I thought that the episode was pretty serious.
Teleholic, thanks – it’s my pleasure reviewing this show because I’m loving it too! I agree with your observation that the books are much more graphic. For that reason, I imagine fans of the books will appreciate Season 2, which has stepped up the fight scenes and “grown up” from the (usually) kid-friendly show it was last season.
MG, I guess something about the music and the situations Young Zedd got himself into seemed very comical to me. Zedd was putting the whole world in grave danger and yet I was grinning.
i love this show, its hard to get over that this is so different then the books. its a good show and i hope that soon he’ll learn that he is a wizard. its so so strange but great lol
I totally agree. It’s going to be interesting to watch as they incorporate the anger of the sword into the series. In the books they don’t really tell “Richard” calm down or you’ll hurt someone. The anger is accepted and left to him to handle which he does. He realizes it’s the power of the sword and he has to learn to control it to be the true seeker and be it’s master and not the other way around. I hope this is not the last time we see the Minders. I’m reminded of something my 2 year old cousin once said to another little cousin, “Hit me again and see what happens.” The army didn’t want to see what happened if they ignored Roga’s plee for peace.