Legend of the Seeker – What do Nicci and Kahlan’s dad have in common?

You know what’s nice about Legend of the Seeker being so different from the Terry Goodkind books? I never know what they’re going to change next. Everything I know about the characters and events could be turned upside down. Hey, all I’m expecting is to be entertained, and Seeker succeeds in that department. Take tonight’s episode, “Bound,” for example. We met Kahlan’s parents, learned more about Nicci, enjoyed two whole scenes with His Royal Darken Rahlness, and encountered more fantasy tripe than usual (maternity spells? snake vines? dragon’s breath fireballs? moonflower blossoms? Bahahahaha. I love fantasy).

I had a blast with this episode, even though the writers threw Kahlan’s history out the window. Due to the “maternity spell” (which didn’t make sense, but we’ll let that slide), Kahlan needed to find an object that belonged to her mother so Zedd can break the spell. This provides an opportunity for us to meet Frederick Amnell, Kahlan’s dishonest, greedy father (whose dream was to be a stone carver).

Just for the sake of contrast, let’s recall that in the books, Kahlan’s father was Wyborn Amnell, the king of Galea. Kahlan’s mother, as ruler of the Midlands, could select any mate that she wanted, even one that was already married. And she selected Wyborn not only because he was noble and in an unhappy marriage but because he could teach Kahlan how to fight and wage war. Kahlan’s parents both were dead by the time the books begin.

Okay, so back to “Bound.” Besides having a different name, Frederick is not a king, and he never taught Kahlan to fight or wage war. That’s a shortcoming. I think if Kahlan’s father had been played by an unremarkable actor, I might have been annoyed by this whole story. Fortunately, I really loved Michael Nouri’s performance. He made Frederick fascinating — magnetic — and to be honest, it was his rich, deep voice that instantly won me over. I really enjoyed his scenes with Kahlan.

Obviously, we saw a lot of Nicci this episode. She’s kind of nuts, huh? The new Nicci has a harder edge than the Jolene Blalock model. Her mouth tends to make a little sneer/snarl (snearl?), and since she’s still got Richard’s Han, she likes to stalk around and blast objects and people with lightning bolts. Nicci reveals to Richard that she became a Sister of the Dark after killing a man for raping her. That’s dark territory for Seeker – in fact, Nicci never actually uses the word “rape.” But this episode continues the show’s trend toward darker content. The violence included a beheading and (more disturbing) the aftermath of a snake vine massacre.

I wonder if the writers deliberately created a parallel between Nicci’s and Frederick’s situations — but I thought it was interesting that both of them were taken against their wills, and that’s partly what led to them becoming bad, angry people later.

Next week’s episode, “Creator,” guest stars Oscar nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes as Maia, a.k.a. the Creator. In the books, Goodkind refers to the Creator as a “he,” so this is another example of the Seeker team putting their own twist on the source material. In any case, I’m looking forward to what will hopefully be an epic showdown between the Creator and the Keeper.

So what did you think of “Bound”? Leave a comment, and share your thoughts.

Clacked by Ruby T.
on Mar 21, 2010 @ 12:15 EST5EDT