MTV's The Shannara Chronicles offers surprising potential

MTV’s new teenage fantasy show, The Shannara Chronicles, premiered this week after Teen Wolf. Based off of a book trilogy by Terry Brooks, called The Sword of Shannara, that debuted in 1977 and gained enough popularity to boost the fantasy genre at the time. The show, based mostly on the second book of the trilogy, The Elfstones of Shannara, seems to hold some promise and potential despite several glaring flaws.

I had never heard of the book series when I first saw the trailer on MTV. Throughout Teen Wolf, a show which I watch regularly, there was an almost aggressive amount of promos featuring Shannara. The promos did peak my interest at least, with some stunning visuals and a fairly interesting premise. I’ve always been drawn in by the fantasy genre, so I decided to check it out.

The show opened with an action scene, and the action never really stopped. The whole two episodes were relentless to their characters, offering an endless list of problems to solve for this scene. It was like a hydra, once one problem was solved, two more would spring out of it. It seemed like the story moved along a little too fast. For a movie, the pace would be understandable. Squeezing six-hundred pages into two hours requires a lot of rushing and just giving away information; in television, you have the opportunity to slow down a little bit and include details of the novel not offered in a movie. Although I haven’t read the books, I feel like they could have taken a little more time to introduce the characters, and add in some more mystery about the relationships between each one.

Travel in general was a huge plot hole. There have been entire novels written about one journey, see The Lord of the Rings, which largely influenced Brooks’ novels, and yet there is hardly any time spent on travel at all. The different landscapes seem completely disconnected, especially since the world of Shannara is supposed to be North America 1000 years forward. Characters riding horses travel what must be hundreds of miles in seconds, appearing in completely different locations just a scene apart.

Additionally, as the world is supposed to be the US and Canada 1000 years after a nuclear war destroys civilization, I expected to see an excess of destroyed landmarks. This was not realized though; besides the occasional pickup truck or skyscraper base covered in moss, there was very few references to the fact. It may have improved the story if Brooks and the tv writers just made Shannara in a completely new universe... or perhaps a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Despite those issues, for an MTV series, some of the scenery and landscape shots were mind blowing. The different places within the world of Shannara entranced me, the sets must have been especially gorgeous to shoot on. The opening credits in particular featured a long shot slowly flying over a swampy, overgrown Space Needle and were set to “Until We Go Down” by Ruelle. Music is another thing MTV continually gets right; their indie and alternative hits fit both the dark teenage angst of Teen Wolf and the epic action of The Shannara Chronicles.

As an avid viewer of Teen Wolf, I wasn’t surprised at MTV’s skilled special effects. They were quite fantastic set to the surroundings of New Zealand, where they filmed. There were beautiful shots of the Ellcrys tree and its leaves falling to the ground and burning into dust. The magic and demons were also very well-done, even if some of the magic seemed over dramatic and unnecessary to the plot.

One of the most valuable aspects of a show in my opinion is the characters, specifically the villains. A good villain can make or break a story, and from what I’ve seen so far from Shannara, the antagonistic demons are no disappointment. Dagda Mor, the gruesome-looking, first demon released from imprisonment, looks like the main villain for the season. It is revealed very quickly that he’s an ancient druid, or magical being, who was corrupted by the dark magic that turned him into a demon. As a villain-lover, I’m quite looking forward to discovering more about this powerful demon king and his past. Besides him, there was also a shape-shifting demon released, who was effectively terrifying and someone I was definitely left wanting to see more of.

As for the heroes, I was not so impressed. This may be because of my dislike for heroes in general, but that usually just means I can recognize a great protagonist when I see one. Wil Ohmsford, the main protagonist and fated-hero played by Austin Butler, is not my kind of hero. First of all, I’m not a fan of prophetic heroes very often. Besides the necessary prophecy of Harry Potter, and the cryptic visions of Lord of the Rings, they’re a little too set-up for me to get into. I prefer heroes that choose to become heroes, not ones destined to do so. The prophecy concept worked for HP and LotR because their heroes seemed like they would choose to become one regardless of the prophecies, but with Wil I’m not so sure. He doesn’t seem skilled, dedicated, or serious enough to be the kind of hero an epic fantasy needs. But hopefully this is only a show to throw off how powerful and strong this descendant of kings will become.

On the positive side, there are some pretty fierce girls on the scene. Princess Amberle, played by Poppy Drayton, and Eretria, played by Ivana Baquero, are the leading ladies of Shannara. Although they seem to be getting set up with Wil as a dreadful love-triangle, a literary feature that should be left in 2015, the two are fantastic, strong characters on their own. Amberle is rebellious and fiery from the start, running in a males-only race and winning to become one of The Chosen. Eretia is part of a clan of criminals and kicks butt. Not to mention they both look flawless constantly...

...a little too flawless. The makeup department seems to have gone a little overboard. People are not supposed to look like gorgeous runway models while fighting demons, it’s just not realistic. The costumes however were fantastic. They are beautifully done and match each character’s personality and giving each a sense of having their own style.

The elves, trolls, and humans of the world did seem a touch too familiar, resembling J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth exceptionally at times. It was almost like a mix between HBO’s Game of Thrones and The CW’s The 100 but the demons were a nice, unique touch.

The last thing I was a little disappointed with was how much information they just handed you in the first two episodes. They immediately revealed Wil’s parentage, Dagda Mor’s history as a powerful Druid, and other facts that felt rushed out. They probably could have left some of these aspects for later when they could be properly revealed. Plus giving the audience all the answers right away is no fun for anyone; for example, the new Star Wars’ lack of information on the main protagonist’s parents leaves room for speculation and theories which adds to the excitement about the series.

So in conclusion, despite a few glaring issues, The Shannara Chronicles definitely has the potential to become a fun fantasy show and a successful series. Shannara airs on MTV every Tuesday at 10pm after Teen Wolf.