At the risk of repeating myself, part of the charm of The Shannara Chronicles is seeing the evolution of a certain style of adventure show set in the context of this era of TV. For myself, there's always some lingering hope that having the show's disparate principal characters come together and head out on their journey together, so it's a bit of a shame to see that as the story starts to develop in that direction, decisions are made to once again divide them. It was one of the things I bemoaned in the first season, especially with the need to quickly separate Allanon from Will, Amberle and Eretria's travels. Near the end of "Wraith", the show begins to signal a grand showdown in the future, but for now, it seems the intervening episodes will quickly involve everyone in the act of reassembling the party. Fortunately they are all drawn to Allanon as a device, but it begs to wonder if that means Allanon himself will be a minor player in the episodes to come.
A lot is spoken about purpose in this episode, and much of the runtime is spent on giving the characters a clear path towards something, especially for those seemingly bereft of one since the events of the first season. Will, especially, is the one who learns of his father's madness was a result not from the price magic exacts from its user, but from an abandonment of purpose. It's an interesting choice, but it lacks any substance behind it when Will has witnessed time and again the opposite - that to him, using magic has always exacted a personal price. By the end though, a purpose is given as Will will have to ally with Allanon's daughter to help rescue his uncle from Bandon's clutches. It's the pairing of Will with Mareth that makes the proceedings interesting, pitting someone wary of using their magic and someone who is on the search to master the art, with the both of them inextricably tied to one man.
Though Eretria never forgets her mission to find Will, she is conveniently sidetracked as the bounty hunter Jax absconds with Lyria after murdering a band of rovers singlehandedly. It's oddly convenient and again, made me hopeful it would band much of the cast back together but it's quickly pulled apart again as Allanon is kidnapped by Riga - who also conveniently strolls into the stables of the human kingdom without anyone batting an eye. It's likely we'll see Lyria again after she summons enough courage to follow Eretria again on her search for Will, though it will likely mean that her mother will have need of Jax again. Lyria on the other hand, I'm a bit more wary about, as the worn-old trope of royalty that wants to mingle with the lower classes seems overplayed. It could be that Lyria just does not seem to display as much agency as the other characters that would ultimately make her interesting, though I do hope for more.
Ander has always been a more interesting character, even though he also falls into the worn-old trope of royalty that shirks responsibility until it is thrust upon them in a moment of utter despair. Perhaps because he's a more familiar face with more history and charisma, that helps carry the character into more interesting heights. There's a kind of underdog feeling to his participation in the show as he now finds himself under attack from all sides and needing to learn quick to keep from going under. Ander is mostly in a holding pattern in "Wraith" as he's mostly reacting to Tamlin's agenda, but will likely have to react as the Crimson threat intensifies and he discovers agents working against him in his own entourage.
- Somewhat sad to see Catania to get murdered, likely to spur Ander getting some motivation and acting as a spark for some political intrigue by the elves, humans, the other races, and the Crimson. Not sure how I felt about pairing the two characters together since it seems the show decided to pair them off in the year between, then quickly killed it off just as it had begun to show.
- Interesting to see where they go if they decided to show the face of Will's father, or if that appearance is fleeting and will never really be followed up on.
- Bandon is interesting as he still has some humanity in him for someone who seems like someone who's about the summon the apocalypse.
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