"Blood" is the tenth episode of Season 2 of The Shannara Chronicles, and the twentieth episode of the series overall.
Synopsis[]
Garet Jax leads the remnants of the Crimson and the soldiers of Leah in defending the palace against the Warlock Lord. The Warlock Lord uses Lyria to open Heaven's Well. Eretria goes to Leah to take control of the dam. Wil and Mareth face down the Warlock Lord.
Plot[]
The Warlock Lord is about to kill Mareth when a weakened Allanon musters enough strength to force the villain back with his magic. The Druid urges Mareth to find Wil as he is their only hope. He assures Mareth that he will always be with her and throws Druid fire at the Warlock Lord, who strikes back with his own magic. As the Warlock Lord gains the upper hand on Allanon Mareth flees, looking for Wil. The last of the runes carved into Allanon's skin disappears, and along with it the last of his magic.
Wil runs into Mareth seconds later, and they rush back to where the Warlock Lord and Allanon were dueling to find the Druid immobilized and helpless. As they watch, the Warlock Lord runs the Druid through with the Warlock Sword and condemns him to eternal suffering in the third ring of the Forbidding.
Wil rushes forward but is cut off when the Warlock Lord throws the remains of an old car into the entranceway. When they manage to get through they find the room abandoned but for Allanon and Mareth's swords. Cogline arrives and says that the Warlock Lord must be on his way to Heaven's Well and that they need to stop him.
Mareth mourns, saying her father died for nothing, but Cogline says it was to protect her and urges her not to let Allanon’s sacrifice be in vain. Wil promises Mareth that they will do what Allanon wished and carry on his fight. As they leave, Cogline momentarily kneels in tribute to Allanon. The three ride out to Leah, where they see no apparent signs of siege or distress. In the palace, Garet is giving orders to Grandal and the Crimson on fortifying the palace in anticipation of the Warlock Lord’s attack.
Cogline leads Wil and Mareth to a waterfall and says Heaven’s Well lies in a temple behind the falls. He tells them to go to the Well while he returns to Leah to protect the dam. If the Warlock Lord poisons the Well and his blood gets into the reservoir, the dam would be the only thing holding back the darkness from the Silver River.
Wil and Mareth make their way to the Well and Mareth expresses doubts about the burden they are carrying, saying she was wrong not to listen to Wil and Allanon when they told her magic has a price. Wil reassures her, telling her that she is the reason he was able to get out of the funk he was in when she met him at Storlock, and that he would rather no one else be by his side on their quest.
The Warlock Lord meets a possessed Eretria in the woods, where she has Lyria held captive. Eretria hands him the Golden Elfstone, which begins to glow, indicating the awakening of Heaven’s Well. Lyria continues to plead with Eretria, calling to the good person still inside her. However, the Warlock Lord knocks Lyria out and send Eretria to the palace.
At the palace, Eretria tells Garet Jax that the Warlock Lord has Lyria and is heading to Heaven’s Well. She says the dam must be protected at all costs and asks if there's a control room that manages the dam's spillways. Grandal takes her and Garet to the control room. There, Eretria says that if Wil and Mareth fail it is up to them to keep the dam secure. Grandal says the locks to the dams can be shut manually, and Eretria tells Garet to keep the control room heavily guarded, with no one allowed to come in and out to disturb her and Grandal.
The Warlock Lord takes Lyria to Heaven's Well and places the Golden Elfstone into a notch in a boulder. He has Lyria face the Elfstone, which shines and scans her eye, unlocking the door to the Well. He says Lyria is now free to go and slams her head against the stone, knocking her out. Once at the Well, the villain uses the Codex of Paranor to curse the waters. He cuts himself with his sword and lets his blood run into the well.
Wil and Mareth find Lyria outside the Well. She tells them that the Warlock Lord gained entrance into the Well and that Eretria has gone to Leah to sabotage the dam. Wil tells Lyria to head back to Leah to assist Cogline while he and Mareth face the Warlock Lord. However, when they enter they see that the waters have turned blood red and that they are too late.
The Warlock Lord knocks Mareth down and Wil counters with the Elfstones, knocking him back. The Warlock Lord tells them that his blood now runs through the Silver River and that Wil will fail just like his father did, but Mareth says that Wil is stronger than Shea. The Warlock Lord taunts her with visions of her own inner pain, and they duel. When Mareth's sword gets knocked out of her hand, Wil assists with the Elfstones.
Cogline and Garet watch as the waters of the lake turn red. Cogline warns that if the water gets through the dam, it will turn everyone living in the nearby lands into soulless slaves. Garet reassures him, saying that Eretria is in the control room securing the spillways, but Cogline says that they may be too late then, as she has become a pawn of the Warlock Lord.
Blood-red waters begin pouring out of the dam, indicating that the spillways are compromised. Garet and Cogline rush to the doors of the control room, which are bolted shut. Cogline blasts open the doors using a grenade. Inside, they found that Eretria has killed Grandal and broken the mechanism that closes the locks of the dam. Eretria knocks out Cogline and duels with Garet, but Cogline manages to come to and shock Eretria into unconsciousness with a bolt of electricity from his staff.
Cogline says the Mord Wraith inside Eretria must be removed and performs a Druid ritual, speaking an incantation and touching a knife to Eretria's tattoo. The Wraith exits Eretria's body through her mouth, and Cogline opens a Druid portal. Together, he and Garet use Cogline's weapons to immobilize the Wraith with electricity, and Cogline banishes the monster into the Forbidding through the portal.
The Warlock Lord grabs Mareth's sword and waits for Wil and Mareth to come out of hiding. Wil says that the Sword of Shannara is the only thing that can conquer the Warlock Lord, and Mareth offers to create a diversion so that Wil can get close to their enemy with the sword. She steps out and faces the Warlock Lord, throwing her magic at him, but he repels it easily and knocks her back with her own power.
Wil rushes in but is quickly immobilized by the Warlock Lord's magic. The Sword glows, and Wil hears Shea's voice telling him that the Warlock Lord will die if he is stabbed in the heart with the Sword. However, the Warlock Lord knocks the talisman out of Wil's hand with his magic and grabs the Valeman. He runs Wil through with the Warlock Sword.
Mareth hears Allanon's voice and awakens. Seeing Wil in trouble, she uses her own magic to throw the Sword of Shannara back towards Wil, who grabs it and runs it through the Warlock Lord's chest. The monster disintegrates and dies.
Wil pulls the Warlock Sword out of his body and staggers to the Well, wondering why the waters have not been cleansed. He notices as his blood drips into the Well that the waters are reverting back to clarity, and he remembers Shea's saying that the magic of the Shannara bloodline can defeat the Warlock Lord's magic.
Wil realizes he needs to sacrifice himself to heal the Four Lands. Mareth protests, but he insists, passing the Elfstones to Mareth. He declares that he is giving them freely to her and that she should use them to protect the Four Lands. They kiss and Wil falls into the Well, taking the Sword with him. Mareth watches as the waters are cleansed. Lyria, Garet, Eretria, and Cogline watch as the waters turn clear and realize that Wil and Mareth must have been successful.
Lyria is crowned Queen of Leah in the presence of Eretria, Cogline, Mareth, and her new general, Garet Jax. At her coronation, she pays tribute to those who fell in defense of the Four Lands, such as her mother Tamlin, the Elven King Ander Elessedil, Allanon, and Wil. She urges everyone to remember that good will triumph over evil and that love conquers all.
Later, Eretria speaks to Lyria alone and says that although she loves Lyria, she can't be with her yet as the darkness is still inside her and she doesn't want to hurt Lyria again. She takes Lyria's rings off her fingers and gives them back to the new Queen. Lyria tells Eretria to go do what she needs to do and then come back to her.
Before Eretria, Mareth, and Cogline leave Leah, Garet offers his condolences over Wil to Mareth, and Eretria asks Garet to keep Lyria safe. The trio then ride out to Paranor. There, Mareth mourns and pays tribute to Allanon. Cogline tells her and Eretria that they still have much to learn, and that they must continue their training so as to continue the Druid Order. As they walk away, Mareth stops, saying she senses the presence of Wil. She pulls out the Elfstones, which begin to glow. She realizes he must still be alive.
Wil awakens in a desolate, bone-strewn landscape. Furies circle in the sky above him. As he watches in horror, one of them descends to attack.
Gallery[]
