Legend of the Seeker: Perdition

Back to it! I’m hoping that I can get through this season before the end of the year, but I’m not even halfway through these episodes and life isn’t getting any less busy. Plus, I don’t want to rush it. Once this season is over, that’s it. Show’s over.

This episode starts with Verna waking up Richard, who is very confused to find himself back at the Palace of the Prophets. Naturally there’s some weird shit going on, and though Verna has an easy explanation about what’s happening (his wizard powers are messing with his head) Richard isn’t remotely convinced that this is reality.

Neither is the audience, who has seen this scenario play out in countless television shows: Xena, Buffy, Angel, Charmed... they’ve all done a “trapped in a false reality” episode. Heck, I’ve just watched one on The Wheel of Time with Nynaeve!

Thankfully the show doesn’t insult our intelligence by trying to make us believe any of this is really happening. In fact, they reveal Richard’s true circumstances before the first ad-break, and instead chose to use the illusion as a chance to delve into his psyche and explore what he fears the most.

So, let’s have a run-through of what exactly that is...

Kahlan has arrived at the Palace of the Prophets, but she’s not alone: with her is a little girl called Sonya and another man called Phillip, who she introduces as the Seeker – in fact, the third one since Richard disappeared. They’re married, and Sonya is their daughter.

Richard refuses to believe this, pointing out that Kahlan would never confess a Seeker, only for her to inform him that she lost her powers some time ago, and that she married/procreated with Philip of her own volition.

In other words, Richard doesn’t fear that Kahlan will die or betray him, but that she’ll simply move on and start a family with someone else. It makes for an interesting contrast with his reaction to what she did in “Reckoning,” knowing that she had no choice but to marry Darken Rahl and have his child if she wanted to save Richard from that Bad Future (in that sense, it's important that Phillip is clearly a good, honourable man). To Richard, this is a much worse scenario.

According to Kahlan, the short time that has passed for Richard has been the equivalent of seven years in the outside world. The rift opened, the Stone of Tears was destroyed, Aydindril fell, and the remaining survivors have made for the Palace as a final refuge. Cara was cut off by Banelings on the way, and Zed is dead (poor Bruce Spence, he’s never allowed to appear in any of these alternate realities).

Kahlan asks Richard to use his wizard powers to mount a final defense, and though he doesn’t believe for a second that any of this is real, he agrees to help. He has so much faith in Kahlan, even a facsimile of her, that he’ll still do whatever she asks of him.

Elsewhere, the Prelate backs up Verna’s story: that Richard has never left the Palace, and has mastered his wizard powers – as he finds out firsthand when Banelings break through the doors and he takes out half-a-dozen with lightning from his fingertips. Despite seeing Kahlan and Philip embrace their daughter, he makes one of those rousing speeches he’s so good at to the assembled survivors.

Unfortunately, things are about to get worse. The food stores are inaccessible, the priestesses commit mass suicide, and Cara betrays him when she turns up at the door, uses their friendship to trick Richard into opening it, and promptly starts slaughtering everyone.

Kahlan watches as Sonya and Phillip are murdered, kills Cara herself, and then refuses to let Richard heal her so she can die with her husband and daughter.

Again, this provides much deeper insight into Richard’s fears than just a simplistic portrayal of “everyone dies and that’s sad.” In truth, Richard fears that everyone around him just gives up, that his instincts regarding the relationships he has with other people are wrong, and finally, that he’s left all alone in the world. 

This is a guy who defines himself through his ability to help others, and on his circle of trusted friends. Now he’s suffering through an illusion that’s taken these things from him in the cruellest way possible. Kahlan would rather die than be saved by him, Cara betrays him despite their history together, and no one is remotely inspired by his determination to save them all.

And it turns out there’s a Coup de Grâce to this psychological torture. Darken Rahl turns up in a small cameo to mock his current state: as the last survivor left on earth, there’s no one left to kill him, and Richard will have to live out his days alone. Richard staggers out into the wasteland, where he sees a vision of Kahlan urging him to kill himself...

***

Long before the end of this particular “alt-world” narrative, the audience has been clued in on what’s actually happening. All this time Richard has been wandering aimlessly in a place called the Desert of Perdition, which was designed as a defence mechanism for the Palace of the Prophets.

Verna and the Prelate are watching him from a safe vantage point, and because the latter is so fixated on the prophecy that states Richard will end up helping the Keeper, she decides to leave him there. If he dies in the desert, he can’t deliver the Stone of Tears to their enemy. Neat, clean, easy.

(She also states that leaving him there is the will of the Creator, which is always how you can spot the religious fanatic. Their own beliefs and decisions always conveniently happen to match up with their deity’s will. Funny that).

The pair return to where Nicci has been chained up the palace dungeons, still wearing the Rada Han to tamp down Richard’s powers. Some barbs are exchanged, but just before the torture gets serious, Nicci goes ahead and lists the names of all the Dark Sisters who were in league with her... and adds that they’ve already left the building to go find and assist Richard.

I do like the inherent irony in this scenario: that the ostensible good guys who are trying to protect the world are leaving Richard to die, while the baddies intent on the world’s destruction are trying to save him.

In any case, the other Dark Sisters have gathered in a circle to call upon the Keeper for aid in freeing Nicci. And the Keeper sends to them... a cute little spider! In what is the funniest part of the whole episode, one of the sisters solemnly tells the spider to free Nicci, and so it crawls into her cell, climbs up to the Rada Han, and... blows itself up to open it? I guess? You probably should have left some guards in that room, Prelate.

Nicci breaks through the prison walls with all the strength of Richard’s power and rejoins with her sisters, who clue her in on the new prophecy concerning Kahlan: "As long as the Mother Confessor's pure heart beats, the Keeper is doomed to fail." Ergo, they must find and kill Kahlan.

(I’m left wondering if the writers came up with this new prophecy so that Nicci and the Dark Sisters could act aggressively towards our heroes instead of trying to help them. I suppose we’ll see in future episodes if the prophecy concerning Kahlan has any further relevance, but it’s a shame that they cut short the interesting incongruity of the Keeper’s minions trying to save Richard’s life).

I’m also left wondering: what exactly is the motivation of these women? Are they aware that if the Keeper is triumphant, all life on earth will be eradicated? What are they hoping to get out of that scenario?

***

Over in our third plot, the team of Kahlan, Cara, Zed and Leo enter the Old World (I still have no idea what this is) by following the new direction the compass is giving them. Presumably it wants them to reach Richard, but they’re all feeling a little bewildered about what exactly they’re meant to be doing, as demonstrated by this truly awful line of dialogue, said by Kahlan to Zed: “You're wondering what you might've done differently so that Richard never would have gone off with the Sisters of the Light?”

Oof, what a mouthful. Bridget Regan must have struggled with that one.

But Kahlan is as tentatively hopeful as Zed is pensive, while Cara and Leo continue with their banal flirting. This time around it’s a game of “what kind of bird would you be?” which Cara apparently finds such a turn-on that she jumps Leo the first chance she gets. Which is when the four travellers take shelter in a cave and Kahlan and Zed just sort of... move off-screen a little. I mean, they’re in a cave, which aren’t generally known for their privacy. Perhaps it was a network of caves and the two of them at least got out of Cara and Leo’s line of sight, but honestly! What was stopping them from just wandering back in? And how awkward would it have been if they realized the two of them were screwing just a few feet away? How are you supposed to sleep with that going on?

Did anyone think this one through?

Okay, so they finally reach the Palace of the Prophets, seemingly untraumatized, where the Prelate starts lying through her teeth as to Richard’s whereabouts. Her plan is to seal them into the building so that they can’t assist Richard, but Verna is finally having second thoughts – which has taken her long enough considering that she’s literally been searching for him for twenty-three years. You’d think that level of investment would have instilled a protectiveness right from the word go, but hey – at least she’s on board now.

The ruse is over very quickly, what Kahlan being able to tell that a young handmaiden is lying about Richard’s presence in the building (apparently the Prelate was powerful enough to bypass Kahlan lie-detecting skills) and there’s a good, old-fashioned stalemate between our heroes and the Sisters of the Light.

Zed tries to pull down the magical barrier with his own power and the Prelate throws one of her dacras into his shoulder. Kahlan retaliates by grabbing another sister by the neck, threatening to confess her. But Verna comes through for them, disarming the Prelate and calling her out on her self-righteousness: “[is this] the Creator’s will or yours?”

All parties converge on the Desert of Perdition, where Kahlan and her allies are attacked by Nicci and her sisters. Yes, it’s that fight scene, the one we’ve all seen a million times as gif-sets, and for good reason. They knew they had a great visual here and milked it for all it was worth, with the Sisters of the Dark advancing in slow-motion with their billowy red sleeves and veils, dacras and firebolts flying everywhere, Kahlan’s hair swirling around dramatically, and everyone getting the chance to do something cool and heroic-looking.

"Are you posing?"
"Google Earth. Always taking pictures."

It's at this point that Richard manages to wake himself up from the illusion he’s been trapped in, after realizing that Kahlan would never ask him to kill himself. He rejoins his friends and reclaims his sword, though sadly not soon enough to save Leo, who pulls off a classic Taking the Bullet dive in front of Kahlan, who Nicci has targeted on account of the new prophecy.

Richard uses his sword to deflect Nicci’s power back upon her, and she’s a goner as well.

Uh, really? That’s really it for Leo and Nicci? They just got here, and they’ve already been written out? Okay, I’m sure we’ll see the pair of them again in some capacity since this season is all about bringing people back from the dead, but still – that’s very anticlimactic. They’ve only been around for two episodes!

So with the sword and compass back in Richard’s hands, the team cremate Leo’s remains and Cara quietly admits her feelings for him... even though it’s too late. I can’t say I’m sad to see an end to this particular “romance”, but it was still a nasty way to get rid of the poor guy. I expected a lot more from his introduction. Ditto Nicci, especially on the heels of Denna’s death. Is it too much to ask for a sexy, power-hungry villainess to stick around long-term?

Miscellaneous Observations:

The Prelate tells Kahlan that she knew her as a little girl, and that: “my dear sister who raised you always said you were destined to become a great woman.” Uh, what? I’m going to assume that the term “sister” is figurative, referring to another one of the Confessors as opposed to any biological connection, but it still seems odd that the Prelate would have this connection to Kahlan. These women are a completely different sect from the Confessors, and have been in the Old World this whole time. How is any of this possible?

There’s been a lot of discussion about the formatting and pacing of television these days, specifically the loss of filler episodes and the drastically shortened seasons. Watching Legend of the Seeker has been a reminder of how shows used to be structured: a whopping twenty-two episodes per season, with some episodes providing forward momentum in the overarching storylines, and some just playing around with the characters in comedic situations (with a dollop of characterization stirred in).

These were the days when you watched things on a weekly basis, in which the story was carefully metered out in the writer’s room, and not conceived as an eight-or-ten-hour movie divided into segments, designed to be binge-watched in one big go. It’s fascinating to (re)experience the difference.