The action and emotional power of this two parter really hit home in the second episode (episode 6) named Crimson.  Some very emotional moments hit fans hard and a fan favorite meets his end.  Here are my thoughts on this excellent episode named Crimson.

The Shannara Chronicles definitely stepped up their game in this last episode bringing along a surprising amount of emotional heartbreaks and savagery as well.  Season 2 has not shied away from violence and I find that I liked this darker aspect of this season.  Here was what was going on for the characters in this episode.

Wil, Mareth and Allanon

From where we left off with Wil and Mareth, they had just told Shea his true identity and that he was always going to be hunted by the Mord Wraiths.  It is not just his identity that Wil tells him of.  In this episode, Wil reveals quite a bit about the fact that he is his son and that Shea is destined to stop the Warlock Lord.  Does this push Shea to accept the mission so much more easier?

Now Mareth and Wil know that the skull must be here in this time, but that the current Shea wouldn’t know where it was.  Here’s the kicker: past Shea may have come back to hide the skull. Knowing that the Mord Wraiths are after Shea, Wil and Mareth leave Shea in the secret cave under the waterfall and go out to find the skull despite Shea wanting to go to a harvest festival with Hedde.  He had promised Hedde to go with her and his scarecrow was in a competition to win.

Wil remembers that his father liked to hide stuff he didn’t want Wil to mess with, like the sword and the scarecrow, in the barn.  They surmise that the skull must be in the scarecrow.

Meanwhile back in the modern times, Flick’s illness is getting worse and he confronts Allanon about everything that has happened to him and his family.  We see a very bitter Flick as he blames Allanon for all the heartache his family has had to endure because he came into their lives and changed the course of their destinies.  Allanon doesn’t deny it nor that Flick may have been fated to be a sacrificial lamb all along.  This scene was really sad and I loved the actor who plays Flick Ohmsford (Mark Mitchinson) because I think he did a excellent job delivery this part.

Back in the past, Wil and Mareth go to the festival and find the scarecrow, but not the skull.  It is then that Wil realizes that the skull wasn’t on the scarecrow, but the scarecrow was a marking place for the skull.  They dig under the scarecrow and find the skull. Both of them rush back to the cave to find that Shea is gone.  Terrified of what could happen to Shea since he does not have the elfstones to protect him, they race back to the festival.  They return none too soon as Shea is attacked by a handful of Mord Wraiths.  He is mortally wounded.

Terrified, Wil and Mareth with the help of Hedde, drag a wounded Shea to a barn and Wil uses the elfstones to heal Shea.  Hedde is extremely grateful for Wil’s help. Fans then get a tear jerking moment where Wil tells his mother, who doesn’t know that she is his mother, that Wil was raised by a wonderful woman.  He tells Hedde that her life with Shea will be hard and full of trials, but if she remembers just how much she loves him, they could weather any challenge.  This moment really touched me and is one of my favorite moments in this episode.

Soon after, Wil and Mareth race back to the stone column and pavilion that brought them from the future.  They use the column and take the Warlock Lord’s skull back to their present time where they find Flick near death.  Wil orders Mareth to let Bandon out to which Allanon tries to get her to stop.  For one moment, Mareth is torn between being loyal to her father or to Wil, whom she seems to have a crush on.  In the end, she sees Flick suffering and she lets Bandon out.

Bandon does not make it easy.  He wants the skull before he will cure Flick and holds his sword just above Flick as an added incentive for Wil to do what he says.  Wil is not willing to just give up the skull.  Flick does not want to be used as a form of blackmail against Wil.  In a heart wrenching scene, Flick grabs Bandon’s sword and plunges it into his own chest.  His death was both heroic and heartbreaking, but what I really liked in this part was the reaction of Wil.  I really felt that Austin Butler delivered some truly terrifying hatred at this point.

A fight breaks out over the skull and Wil loses it from his grasp.  Mareth uses her illusion technic to hide it from Bandon as Wil fights him.  She lets Allanon out who fights Bandon while Wil runs to Flick.  Allanon is then wounded by Bandon’s sword and Bandon escapes with the skull.

The last scene we see with these three is at Flick’s burial.  Wil is still angry with Allanon, and they are at a low point for this team. And that is when Allanon collapses from the poison.  Now Mareth has to face the idea that she may lose her father.  What will happen next and will Wil do?  Will he be willingly to risk everything to save Allanon?  Fans will have to find out next episode.

Eretria and Garet Jax

A lot is happening with both characters that will lead to devastating consequences at the end to the episode.  Let’s start with Jax and Queen Tamlin. It seems that Queen Tamlin is not done with all her manipulations.  Last episode, Garet, Ander and Lyria captured General Riga’s lieutenant, Lieutenant Valcaa, but in this episode we learn that he is broken out of the castle.  Coincidence?  It is not confirmed to be, but I do think there are Crimson followers in the castle.

Queen Tamlin is starting to feel that General Riga’s usefulness to her is coming to an end and that he is overstepping his boundaries.  So what does she do?  She calls on Garet Jax and pays him to assassinate General Riga.  Garet is more than glad to go after Riga especially after he learns the news of Valcaa’s escape.

Garet Jax finds Riga in the place where Riga was supposed to meet the Queen, but the General is much harder to kill than Garet imagined.  Garet is taken as a hostage and Valcaa is all to eager to kill him.  General Riga leaves him and believes that his lieutenant has everything under control.  Before he leaves though, he vows vengeance on the Queen.  Well it seems that he sorely under estimated Garet Jax, and in the end, Garet kills Valcaa.

Then the scene switches to Eretria.  Eretria is back in the underground lair where the captured Mord Wraith is being held, but this time she is there with it alone.  Eretria enters the cell with the Mord Wraith and in one horrifying moment, fans see her go to the dark side as she uses her new found power and kills the Mord Wraith.  Her eyes even turn black.  Now why she does this is not explained, but will this have an effect later in the story?  Yes it definitely will.  I hope Eretria does not fall to the dark side.

And who witnesses all of this? Garet Jax, who somehow found this secret lair and sees Eretria’s new power in action.  Now while I like the idea of him seeing her in action, I did think it strange that he found the secret base so easily and how did he find her so fast?  Again I’m not sure of distance or time in this season.  Was Garet in the forest near Eretia when he killed Valcaa and what is the chance of him being right near where she is?  I do think that they need to put in more clarification of where they are at and how much time has passed.

Back to the recap, Garet tells Eretria what happened with General Riga and now they know that the General is going after the Queen as well as Lyria and Ander.  They race back to the kingdom of Leah to warn them.

Ander, Lyria, and General Riga

I think this part is the most tragic and gut wrenching part of this episode.  It shocked me and broke my heart.  This part starts with a beautiful scene between Ander and Lyria as they come to terms with marrying each other.  He asks her if she is all right with marrying out of necessity instead of love and she tells him that by doing this, she will be protecting her people and keeping Eretria safe.  He agrees that he is willing to work with her as a partner and they agree to be honest with each other.  Their relationship may not be built on love, but it is built on something equally strong: trust and respect.  And I truly do think they respected each other.

The wedding is set and the Queen is zealously ordering every detail as she is certain that she has won a great battle and is one step closer to controlling Arbolon.  But she could not be more wrong.  Everything is set and fans watch as a beautiful Lyria walks up to the alter where Ander is waiting.

Everything seems to be going well, until the Priest walks up and lowers his hood.  It is General Riga.

The General and his men have infiltrated the castle and start attacking the guests.  Riga goes after Ander who takes him on. The Queen watches helplessly as Lyria is now in mortal danger and for the first time, I actually got to see her act like a mother as I saw her fear that her daughter may die.

Eretria and Jax enter the fray as well, but not soon enough.  General Riga mortally wounds Ander and then goes after Lyria.  When it looks like he is about to kill her, Ander sacrifices his life to save her.  The episode ends with Ander taking his last breath.

Now Ander’s death shook me and was so sad to watch especially after his heart to heart with Lyria earlier in the episode.  And the consequences of his death are going to be monumental.  I can see chaos erupting over this as Arbolon is left without a King or a Queen since Lyria was not technically his Queen yet.  Does that make Mareth next in line because she is the daughter of Pyria, King Eventine’s sister?  With Allanon out of commission, the elven kingdom on the brink of civil war, it will be a cake walk for Bandon to ressurrect the Warlock Lord with little to no resistance. Queen Tamlin has a lot to answer for as it was her manipulations that led to this tragedy.  It will be interesting to see where the show goes from here.