Fantasy Horror House: This is the fourth Willow series.

In the fourth part of the fantasy series, our heroes hide out in Knockmar, the spooky castle of the former evil queen/sorceress Bavmorda, and attempt an exorcism.

What’s the matter?

After evil minions infect Prince Graydon (Tony Revolori), the troupe trudges to Knockmar, once the castle of the evil Queen Bavmorda, to help him. Kit (Ruby Cruz) doesn’t like this very much, as she is Bavmorda’s granddaughter and remembers how her mother told her that evil lurks in Bavmorda’s offspring as well. As Graydon’s condition worsens and evil takes over, Willow (Warwick Davis) and Elora Danan (Ellie Bamber) seek to exorcise the demon within him. Meanwhile, the other members of the troupe roam the eerie walls and face their own demons from the past.

How it was?

After three decent episodes in which we were introduced to the world and characters, the series slows down on the fourth and presents us with the so-called “bottle episode”, i.e. episode in which the action takes place in only one place. and has limited staffing. To spread the feeling of a ghost train, some scary factors have been crossed off the list: Low light and thunderstorms? Check. An abandoned spooky castle? Check. Characters who don’t really know each other and have their own secrets? Check. ghosts and demons? Check.

In fact, you might think that with a spooky atmosphere and cool décor, you could create a captivating episode. Unfortunately, Knockmar’s Whisper is by far the weakest episode. willow. It begins with several scenes at the beginning of the episode as the troupe makes their way through a thunderstorm. We don’t see a cool shot of the castle from the outside, only outlines of the walls in the dark. There isn’t much to see in the castle itself. They don’t seem to have bothered to build more than three or four rooms on the set. So you will never get the feeling that this is a large building, and there is definitely no creepy atmosphere there.

Something more exciting is what you learn about the characters. Much of the episode revolves around Prince Graydon, who has so far been sidelined and rather helpless with the troupe. Now we learn more about his past and why he knows so much about demons. In general, one gets the feeling that many characters carry their dark shadows with them and, in particular, Burman should not be trusted.

The episode also returns several times to the film. willow, shows flashbacks from it and reveals not only what happened to Elora’s mother, but also what the evil actually wants from the young woman. On the one hand, it’s interesting because it makes the connection to the movie work better, but at the same time, you also have the feeling that you’re making life a little easier for yourself and just reworking old material instead of developing the plot further. on your own feet.

Finally, we see Prince Eirk again, stranded in a ruined desert city and feeling a bit miserable in his shirt, while the episode ends with a Soundgarden Black Hole Sun cover.

Conclusion of the fourth episode

The fourth episode promises spooky serial fun, but just can’t keep that promise because of the weak location with overly simple sets and little plot. We learn some interesting information about the characters and their constellations, but overall, The Lights of Nokmar is clearly an in-between episode that, apart from drawing the characters, does little to the overall story, while also relegating the previous main villain to an “average villain” who once became a victim of evil. Either way, we can look forward to the mystery of Prince Airk’s whereabouts and the increasingly complicated relationship between Elora Danan and Willow, and between Elora and Prince Graydon.

Did you know that…?

… Prince Graydon’s older brother Dermot was played by Tony Revolori’s older brother Mario Revolori, who is also an actor and musician?