The Shannara Chronicles

Thengel · Mar 4, 2016

Yeah it was really just WTF story. I am not sure if I read these books or not - I read some Shannara, but it was so memorable that I have no idea if the books I read are these ones. Doesn't change the fact that some of the writing was just terrible. I am still wondering why the oracle guy was even in the show at all, his story was more or less pointless. The elfstones were such a minor part of the story, they might as well have been written out. Obviously the love triangle and that montage - wtf.

dechire · Mar 4, 2016

ugh. overall it was bad (omfg that song) though some decent-ish production values. I'll probably watch season 2.

Drakain · Mar 4, 2016

The use of the Elfstones in this show was more like how Wil's dad, Shea, used them in LotR... I mean Sword of Shannara. Wil's use of them in the book is similar, but after removing a mental block, his overuse of them towards the end to protect Amberle effectively saturates his body with the magic forever altering his progeny with the Wishsong.

And for the record, I watched this show with optimism that it would snap back towards the end. Plus my stubbornness/OCD to finish something once it's started. The reason my dumb ass still reads Bleach and the reason I still have the last 3 episodes of Heroes Reborn on my DVR. Even though I know it's going to be dumb, I can't delete them.

Column_sl · Mar 5, 2016

This would be in the category of guilty pleasure shows for me. I know it's crappy but I still watch it because I like the whole group on a quest thing.

I wonder who Eretria saw at the end.

Gavinmad · Mar 5, 2016

The shit with Eretria ended up being some cobbled together nonsense from the prequels, which I'm vaguely familiar with but haven't actually read. The first book in the series that connects Word and the Void trilogy with Shannara is actually called Armageddon's Children, Morag or Mallenroh directly call Eretria that, and the book that Eretria was reading from had the phrase 'fili apocalypsi'. Fili is the root of the latin word for both son and daughter (filius/filia). Apocalypsis is latin for revelation (and also the Book of Revelations), so apocalypsi could refer to a singular revelation or it could just be a word that happens to sound like apocalypse.

PosterOfStuff_sl · Mar 21, 2016

I really would have to put this in the category of low brow Fantasy.

Issues with the casting, acting and dialogue, yet so starved of any good fantasy on T.V I had to see this through to the very end. I don't expect movie level CGI so I am fine with what I got to see.

For me it was an ok series, hopefully they can improve come season two.

Tirant · Mar 24, 2016

ToeMissile_sl said:
Same here except went with Brona Jax for a little good/evil mix.

Allanon was the reason I played a druid all through EQ. Although I did have a warrior named Balinorr too. EQ type feels about this series

And now I want to gouge my eyes out.

Dandai · Mar 29, 2016

I read two or three of the Shannara books when I was in high school, and even then I thought they were pre-teen smut novels set in a future fantasy world. The TV show had an opportunity to improve on the writing and plot of the books and somehow made it even worse than I remember.

No intellectually honest person expected this series to be Game of Thrones, but that doesn't mean they had to go all in on targeting the 13-16 year old demographic.

Siliconemelons · Jul 27, 2016

Finished it up, will watch S2 to see what happens. Never personally read the books but knew of them and talked a lot about books with friends back in the day that did- so I had some vague recollections of this and that. Very WTF with the song at the end - and littlefinger must have lent everyone his teleporter. Other than that, cant complain really for a MTV show and the obvious target demographic.

Also, they didn't show dwarves did they? only mentioned. They had gnomes and trolls. Having not read the books, and assuming from the intro - but trolls, gnomes and dwarfs are just descendants of humans effected by the war/fallout/madmaxing of the world - but where did elves come from? and I still don't get how entire races of people forget that something exists, such as magic in only 30 years. And the typical "Prove magic still exists!" - "no" - "can I ask the guard you just knocked over with magic? nah"

Jait · Jul 27, 2016

xadion_sl said:
And the typical "Prove magic still exists!" - "no" - "can I ask the guard you just knocked over with magic? nah"

If it's on Tv it must be good, right? This is an overcooked steak with peanut butter on top of it and everyone is standing around saying we're in a nice restaurant so it has some reedeeming quality?

It doesn't. It's as bad as WWF writing. We're 8 again wondering why the ref hadn't noticed Hulk Hogan was hit with a chair over the head while his back was turned. It's such a miscarriage of justice. The Iron Sheik is now the Worlds Champion. How could this happen?!?

Dandai · Jul 27, 2016

Lol, that analogy worked way better than I thought it would when I started reading it.

Drakain · Jul 27, 2016

xadion_sl said:
Finished it up, will watch S2 to see what happens. Never personally read the books but knew of them and talked a lot about books with friends back in the day that did- so I had some vague recollections of this and that. Very WTF with the song at the end - and littlefinger must have lent everyone his teleporter. Other than that, cant complain really for a MTV show and the obvious target demographic.

Also, they didn't show dwarves did they? only mentioned. They had gnomes and trolls. Having not read the books, and assuming from the intro - but trolls, gnomes and dwarfs are just descendants of humans effected by the war/fallout/madmaxing of the world - but where did elves come from? and I still don't get how entire races of people forget that something exists, such as magic in only 30 years. And the typical "Prove magic still exists!" - "no" - "can I ask the guard you just knocked over with magic? nah"

Elves were always around, hidden from Humans. Dwarves were humans who fled underground to escape radiation. I can't remember what happened with the humans who became the trolls and gnomes, but in the books the trolls actually look like trolls and the gnomes are dwarf sized with yellow skin and don't look like mutant human rat hybrids.

Greyform · Jul 28, 2016

Interestingly I just started watching this, I tried to watch it when it first came out but it couldn't hold my attention past the pilot. But with nothing to watch over the summer and seeing it on NetFlix I gave it another shot. It's not as bad as I remembered it. I am about halfway through and so far I've found it on par with most of what I find on SyFy and CW.

Izo · Aug 22, 2016

Shit, I thought this was some cancelled fantasy show. Then I remembered reading druids of shannara way back. Is this show worth watching? Is it as cheesy as all the other teeny shows now a days?

Drakain · Aug 23, 2016

Izo said:
Shit, I thought this was some cancelled fantasy show. Then I remembered reading druids of shannara way back. Is this show worth watching? Is it as cheesy as all the other teeny shows now a days?

It is what it is. There are good things they did really well and some WTF things that make you question why you're watching. If you never read the original trilogy then you might have a better time. They really overplayed the post apocalyptic world thing. It's true in the books but there arent freaking cars just sitting around.

Gavinmad · Aug 23, 2016

Right, in the books it's so far post-apocalyptic that the apocalypse is essentially irrelevant. In the first 7 books there are only 3 actual references to pre-apocalypse stuff, the ruined city from Sword where some monster almost kills Shea and Flick, the knowledge of science preserved by Paranor (Explosive powder Cogline uses, the knowledge of metallurgy Bremen uses during the forging of the sword in First King), and the Eldwist in Druid which is probably supposed to be Manhattan. It's left super vague though, nothing more specific in the description than 'old world city with impossibly tall buildings'.

Certainly nothing as in your face as the still clearly recognizable remnants of a helicopter from the initial teasers, or the very clear 'THIS IS POST APOCALYPTIC EARTH' images from the opening sequence of every episode.

Valderen · Aug 23, 2016

I enjoyed it enough to finish season 1, but not enough to make me want to watch more of it. Unless somehow the reviews for season 2 are way better, I'll be skipping it.

Ladro · Aug 23, 2016

I also finished this recently and am honestly not sure why i did. I think because I read Sword of Shannara when I was a kid I thought it might be interesting and I just stuck through it. Probably won't watch the second season, way too much like a bad CW soap and definitely geared towards the younger MTV crowd. Some parts were okay, but the dialog was fucking terrible most of the time.

Void · Aug 24, 2016

If they put it on a network that shows titties, I will watch Season 2. Some of those bitches were smoking.

Drakain · Aug 24, 2016

Void said:
If they put it on a network that shows titties, I will watch Season 2. Some of those bitches were smoking.

This made me think of the cute blonde elf... and that made me think of Bandon. I had omitted him from my brain. Thanks a lot a-hole lol

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