Legend of the Seeker: Deception

The one with the good D’Haran...

So in my last review I said that we were heading into a comedic episode on the heels of the darker Bloodlines and Conversion... which isn’t exactly true. That’s the next episode. This one keeps the tone consistent with its predecessors, by starting off with a massacred village and continuing into a genuinely complex moral conundrum.

It begins with some adorable little munchkins playing hide and seek, with one of them finding a strange capsule of some kind, making ominous ticking noises as one half of it revolves atop the other. Kids being kids, they gather around to look at it more closely, though we’re spared the inevitable explosion.

This is Rahl’s retribution for the events of the last episode and the successful retrieval of the Boxes of Orden: decimating any village known to have given shelter to the Seeker.

Richard and Kahlan arrive too late to be of any good, though Richard helpfully announces: “dead” over what is clearly a pile of dead bodies. Sarcasm aside, I did like the fact that Richard notes there’s no birdsong prior to reaching the village and that nobody has any weapons drawn, discounting the possibility of a fight.

The basic logic and problem-solving in this show was always pretty good, so hats off to the person in the writer’s room who had an eye for that. Of course, then the couple discover the proclamation left by the D’Harans that takes responsibility for the dead village after they gave food and assistance to the Seeker, so mystery solved.

We’re treated to the chilling sight of the dead children laid out in a circle around what will soon be identified as a Whisperer, a cylinder filled with dark magic that can kill everyone within a league. And dead kids mean that emotions are understandably running high in the story that’s to come.

The setup continues: while in the forest Richard and Kahlan spot a convoy of D’Haran soldiers, which tracker Richard is quick to point out can’t be the same ones as those that were in the village, as these guys are on horseback. A cell of Resistance fighters leaps out to confront the soldiers, and the Seeker and Confessor join in. We haven’t had a slow-motion fight in a while! They overpower the D’Harans, Richard is introduced to the Resistance’s leader Garrick, and Kahlan doesn’t hesitate to confess a D’Haran who tries to make a run for it.

And hey, it’s Dean O’Gorman! He’s probably one of our most recognizable kiwi actors, though you’ll know him best as Fili from The Hobbit trilogy.

I'm not sure who made the call to make him wear his shirt like this though.

Once he’s confessed he spills his guts, telling the Resistance that his garrison were heading to a nearby fort as reinforcements, given that the Resistance fighting in this particular valley is proving difficult to quell. That’s why no less than four villages have fallen victim to “compliance missions”, a euphemism for throwing a Whisperer into their midst. Garrick and Kahlan are horrified, but Richard has deduced that because all the Whisperers are being used in the same general area, they must be stored nearby – like the fort that the D’Harans were heading for.

If they can get their hands on one, they can easily wipe out the garrison.... though the confessed soldier, Carver Dunn, doesn’t believe he has the intelligence or ruthlessness to successfully get his hands on one. We’re never actually seen a confessed individual argue against any of Kahlan’s orders before (most of them are near-suicidal in their desperation to please her) but it neatly leads to the real grit of the episode: Richard will go undercover as the D’Haran and steal a Whisperer for himself.

Is this an incredible stretch? Sure – it relies on no one knowing what Carver looks like (conveniently he’s never been to this fort before, though this doesn’t discount the possibility of running into someone who could recognize him) but more implausibly, that no one would know what the Seeker looks like, even though we know there are fliers bearing a pretty good likeness of Richard floating around everywhere. But hey, sometimes you just have to go with it for the sake of the story. And Kahlan at least points out the ludicrousness of the whole thing.

So Richard stumbles up to the not-very-impressive fort and identifies himself as Carver Dunn. Things go south pretty quickly as the sergeant wants him executed immediately for cowardice in not fighting to the death with the rest of his squad, but thankfully Captain Ensor notices the kerfuffle and steps in.

Finally, we come to our first sympathetic D’Haran character, here to muddy the waters of this entire conflict with shades of grey. And yeah, he’s also kinda a dish. So let’s leap into this moral conundrum!

To save his life and continue the mission, Richard announces that he knows the location of the Resistance hideout. Ensor orders him to give the coordinates to his men, and they’ll check it out to see if he’s telling the truth. He’s locked in the stockade until they get back, where Richard is somewhat shocked to see a fellow prisoner (it's Garrick's brother, though he doesn't know that yet), and takes the opportunity to mock him in front of the guard. Never say this man can’t think on his feet.

Back at the rebel base, Carver tells Kahlan that he feels guilty – and did so long before he was confessed. Though Garrick responds with disgust, Kahlan (who naturally feels responsible for the people she’s confessed) hears his story about how he hasn’t been sending his wages back to his wife Maris, and that he was forcibly conscripted into Rahl’s army despite only wanting to be a cook. Yet on being given the chance to desert with one of his friends, he refused. There are some tears, and Kahlan visibly softens.

Meanwhile, Richard is hanging on by the skin of his teeth when the D’Harans return from his coordinates, having found nothing. Knowing that his only chance is to bluff it out by being as antagonistic as possible, he takes Refuge in Audacity and accuses the sergeant of cowardice. In the scrum that follows, he manages to overpower most of the men that attack him, winning some degree of respect from Ensor.

Unfortunately, he plays his hand a bit too soon and asks for a Whisperer. Ensor instead asks him to accompany him on a private mission, after which he’ll decide whether he’s trustworthy or not.  

Turns out that Ensor has a very lovely family who live in an unfortified village nearby. Richard is naturally profoundly relived that he’s not going to have to kill any civilians to prove himself, and... okay, here it comes. The pinnacle of this show, the best thing you’ve ever seen, the absolute epitome of both Richard as a character and the cheesy gooey centre that lies at the heart of Legend of the Seeker:

Richard carves a flute out of wood and then plays it for Ensor’s mute son, who smiles for what is apparently the first time in months.

Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh man, I’m pretty sure I cried with laughter the first time I saw this. I mean, how LONG did it even take him to carve that thing?? Out of a solid block of wood??!!

Moving on. With Ensor properly humanized as a loving family man who deliberately took a shitty post to be closer to them, we head into the next level of moral ambiguity.

Carver is wandering around the rebel camp, offering what looks like blueberry muffins to everyone (*eye roll*) and Garrick points out that no one really wants him there. I’m afraid I’m not on Kahlan’s side in the argument that follows, as she pulls rank and plays the “justice, not vengeance” card, even though – come on, SHE may know that Carver is harmless, but Garrick is right in pointing out that there’s no need for him to be there, and his presence is making people twitchy. And it’s not even a matter of executing him; Kahlan could have easily sent him away to another village somewhere.

Ensor and Richard are now best buddies, only for the latter to learn that the garrison is expecting a new shipment of Whisperers. He promptly frees Garrick’s brother Dror and sends him away with the information about how the D’Harans are transporting the Whisperers to the fort... which, yeah – the fallout to this isn’t going to be suspicious at all. You really should have just let this one play out, Richard.

(He does however, cover very nicely for his absence in the barracks by distracting everyone with a flagon of wine for everyone).

The Resistance returns with the crate of Whisperers, but when Carver approaches Dror promptly kills him in retaliation for the losses they sustained on the mission. And honestly, I can’t judge them too harshly. The only reason Carver isn’t a threat is because Kahlan confessed him, and it’s remarkably stupid of her not to have told the guy to stay out of sight for a while. 

Much like Richard earlier in the episode, she helpfully remarks: “he’s dead!” She’s pissed off, but also completely deluded for thinking that Garrick is going to let her punish a. his brother, for b. killing an enemy soldier, regardless of whether or not he was armed. This whole thing would have worked a better if he had actually sought out Carver with intent to kill, instead of doing it in a pique of anger and frustration.

What does work, is that Garrick naturally wants to use the Whisperers on loyalist villages (such as the one where Ensor’s family lives) in order to have his revenge on what the D’Harans have done to them. Now this is something for Kahlan to be rightfully upset at.

Meanwhile, a soldier steps forward claiming that he met Carver at another outpost and that Richard most certainly isn’t him. Again Richard tries to bluff his way through it, but when word comes that Carver’s wife Maris (yes, she’s been repeatedly mentioned throughout this episode for a reason) is at the front gate, Ensor sees the opportunity to resolve the question once and for all.

Now comes the episode’s other great moment, though this time it’s actually great and not just pure Narm. A woman is standing at the gate with her head covered... Richard nervously approaches, knowing his cover is about to be blown... she turns around and it’s Kahlan... and the two immediately throw themselves into the roles of a squabbling married couple.

It’s truly one of my favourite moments in the entire show.

Unfortunately they don’t get much time to continue the charade, as Kahlan tells him about what Garrick plans to do and they make their escape. The pursuing D’Harans and the Resistance fighters meet just outside the village, and Garrick uses one of the activated Whisperers to try and make everyone back off. But Kahlan has had quite enough for one day and barely hesitates before throwing a dagger into his chest.

Richard prevents the Whisperer from going off, and Ensor attacks him in the name of Lord Rahl. It's an interesting way for this to play out: obviously the two men were going to confront each other after Richard’s deception wore off, but rather than have Ensor let him go after a crisis of conscience, it’s Richard that overpowers him and then shows him mercy. So despite winning Ensor’s respect, he didn’t get the proverbial heart and mind. It’s a shame that we never see this character again, as it would have been interesting to see where he went from here.

It's an episode that ends with no easy answers. Kahlan and Richard look out over the bonfire that’s destroying the Whisperers (are they sure it’s safe to do that?) and sadly discuss the ambiguity of their lives. Should they have kept one of the Whisperers? Should Richard have let Ensor go? Should Kahlan have tried to protect Carver? They don’t verbalize it, but what all three choices have in common was that they tried to preserve life instead of take it, regardless of who was on the receiving end of their mercy.

Miscellaneous Observations:

Kahlan is now confessing people in her stride, which we can chalk down to her just getting better at it, but which is clearly more to do with the inconvenience to the narrative of her fainting every time she does it.

Given this show’s interest in the theme of pain and domination, there’s no way that Kahlan stepping forward to be the one to brand Richard with the mark of the D’Harans is a coincidence. I mean, we can all agree it would have made more sense for the blacksmith to do it, right?  

That said, Richard doesn’t even flinch (I suppose we can thank Denna for that)... but wouldn’t the D’Harans notice that the brand was freshly burned? Conveniently it isn’t remotely inflamed by the time he gets to the fort.

Richard uses the term: “Rebel scum!” which made me smile. Later he gets a sword and says: “It’s not the sword of truth, but it’ll do.” Man, what a troll. This is a great Richard episode.  

Just to add to the episode’s moral shades of grey, we also learned that the Resistance attacked the loyalist village on a couple of occasions – that was why Ensor’s son was so traumatized. Whew, good thing he’s got that wooden flute now.

What happened to Garrick's brother Dror? And why was he given a name that sounded like "drawer"?

There’s a cute little character note when Ensor makes Richard swear on his father’s soul that he’s telling the truth about his identity, and although Richard goes ahead and swears, he looks unwholesomely guilty about it. He’s such an upstanding guy that even this completely inconsequential lie is a big deal for him.

But like I said, this is a great episode for Richard. Too many people labour under the delusion that Good is Dumb, but throughout this Richard is whipsmart: drawing on his tracking experience, coming to correct conclusions, thinking on his feet, using sheer audacity to bluff his way through – all without crossing a line and retaining his position as hero. Kahlan... had a not so great episode. Bringing a confessed D’Haran into the midst of a Resistance cell was just asking for trouble, and when things inevitably took a turn for the worst, her shock only made her look incredibly naïve. Remember those dead kids at the start of the episode, Kahlan? That’s why these men are so angry.

Still, her ploy to go to the fort as Maris was great, especially since she worked what information she had about the woman (that Carver had left her destitute) into her cover story. Since the audience was aware of this background, it meant that for a hot second there was the possibility that Carver’s wife had just shown up. I wonder where she really is...

This show had already Grown the Beard with Denna, but this one dives right into the moral ambiguity of warfare and choses not to provide any answers. Despite Kahlan’s weaker subplot, it was a much better episode than I remembered... and of course, it gave us Richard carving a log into a flute for a scared little boy and then playing it.