Previously on The Shannara Chronicles...
Only the first seven runners become members of the Chosen.
It's time the Four Lands had a female Chosen.
Open it. They're Elfstones.
No, Morn. Don't leave me.
I'm moving to Storlock to train as a Healer.
- I thought Elves were supposed to be smart. - I'm half Elf.
Welcome to the Order of the Chosen.
The Ellcrys called to me.
It shows me horrible visions of the future.
The Ellcrys is sick?
Each leaf represents a single Demon.
Once they begin to fall, the creatures of darkness
will be released from the Forbidding one by one.
Get dressed, Wil.
How do you know my name? Where's Eretria?
Your Rover girl is long gone.
Rover? I don't understand. This is her house.
No, it's not. It's theirs.
Oh... I'm an idiot.
You'll get no argument from me.
You were supposed to be in Shady Vale.
Did my uncle send you to bring me home?
Flick had no intention of telling me your whereabouts.
But his thoughts were never hard to read.
What...?
Who exactly are you?
I am Allanon. We must reach Druid's Keep.
Wait, you're a Druid?
Right before my mom passed away, she told me I needed to find you.
Perhaps you should have listened to her.
You would have saved us both a lot of time.
She gave me these Elfstones...
That...
The Rover stole those too.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
You have put our quest in jeopardy.
What quest?
What quest?!
I can't believe this is the Shannara I've been dealt.
That's my horse!
Hey...
Yes! Hey.
The Four Lands is in grave danger.
Only the last son of Shannara can save it.
My name's Wil Ohmsford. You've got the wrong guy.
You're a Shannara.
Your ancestors were kings and warriors,
heroes who lived and died defending the Four Lands.
Men like your father.
My father was a deadbeat drunk who died alone and destitute.
You've been lied to.
Do you believe in magic, boy?
Of course not.
Well, magic flowed through your father.
And it flows through you too.
It's in the Shannara blood.
If I had magic inside me, why didn't it help me save my mom?
It could have, if you'd known how to unlock it.
I can show you how.
Come.
Your destiny awaits.
Ripped By mstoll
Next one goes straight through your heart!
Who are you?
I mean no harm.
Please.
I saw your fire and was hoping to warm myself.
You're the second Elf I ran into this week.
Actually, the first was a mongrel.
Cute but not too bright.
Where are you headed all by yourself?
To the Elvin mission in Culhaven.
I'm a teacher.
You pack light.
Unlike you.
My husband found work near Balinor.
I had to pack up my stuff and meet him there.
Thank you.
You have no wedding band.
Not that I'm surprised. Who would want to marry a Rover?
Well, your jewellery gave you away too, Princess.
I don't know of any teacher who wears the royal seal of Arborlon
engraved on their cuff.
What was your plan - drug me and then rob me?
I steal to survive.
Don't try and justify your actions.
You and your kind are a blight on the Four Lands.
Ouch. Does the arrogant attitude also come on a silver platter?
You wouldn't know the first thing about my life.
Well, you don't have an escort.
My guess, you're running away,
probably from a guy who either broke your heart or knocked you up.
Whatever your drama, it doesn't even compare to
what you're gonna have to face out there in the real world.
Thanks for that nugget of Rover wisdom.
Amberle, I need you.
Come back.
Afraid of the dark, Princess?
Now who's the thief?
Believe me, you got the better end of that trade.
There it is. Druid's Keep.
I can't believe I rode all night for this.
For hundreds of years, this fortress was the centre of the Four Lands.
The wisest men and women from each race,
they were called here to study and train in the art of magic.
It's just a ruin.
This is sacred ground, Wil.
Don't touch anything.
I don't know what you're hoping to find.
There's not much left.
The Codex of Paranor is here.
What exactly does a codex look like?
It's a book containing the magical history of the Four Lands.
If there is a way of saving the Ellcrys, it will be found within its pages.
Why don't you just call it a book of magic?
Is it a Druid requirement that everything has to sound so mysterious?
I spoke to Lorin.
Amberle told him that the Ellcrys was communicating with her,
giving her visions of the future.
I'd dismissed it until I found this in her room.
Demons.
She sketched them before the Druid showed up.
It can't be a coincidence.
Till we are certain, I want all the Chosen
and the entire Elvin Council taken to the palace for safety.
Black Watch will guard them night and day.
My mentor told me that he hid the Codex in this chamber
before the Keep fell.
When was that?
300 years ago.
Wait - that would make you...
...way too old to be alive.
Uncle Flick was right. This is crazy.
The Codex is here.
Good luck finding it. I'm going to Storlock.
You can't walk away from your destiny, Wil.
Watch me.
You were never going to Storlock.
The Elfstones were guiding you to me.
You know it to be true.
Don't move!
Don't speak.
Let your eyes bear witness!
Now do you believe?
Magic is real.
Yes.
Will I be able to do that?
One day, maybe.
Behold the Codex of Paranor.
Your hand...
Magic always comes with a price, Wil.
Never forget that.
My ancient Druid's a little rusty.
Maybe you could fill me in.
"When the Ellcrys comes to the end of its days,
"a flower will bloom
"that will bear a single seed.
"A member of the Chosen
"must carry that seed to Safehold
"and immerse it in the Bloodfire.
"Only then can the seed be returned to the Sanctuary
"and the Ellcrys be reborn."
That doesn't sound so bad.
It's not like you need a human sacrifice or something.
Where's Safehold?
I've travelled all over these Four Lands
and I've never come across such a place.
Perhaps...
Hey, Allanon! It's me! It's me!
Wil, we must return to Arborlon.
Hurry!
- Amberle. - I'm fine.
Listen, the Ellcrys called to me again.
We're all in great danger.
- There's a Demon headed here. - Demon?
We have to warn the Chosen. Where are they?
The King moved us to the east wing of the palace.
I snuck past the Black Watch to check on the Ellcrys.
I thought I'd lost you. You have no idea.
Demons in Arborlon?
Never thought I would live to see the day.
The Chosen must be protected at all cost.
They alone can save the Ellcrys.
Black Watch should be guarding that door!
The Chosen. They're all dead.
No. One still lives.
This must be the work of Gnomes.
They've struck at the heart of the palace before.
Gnomes had no part in this.
It is the work of the Dagda Mor.
The Dagda what?
He was a powerful Elvin Druid
who was corrupted by dark magic.
He has been plotting his revenge now for thousands of years.
If he's a Druid, can't you find and destroy one of your own?
I tried, but he is cloistered in a black henge which cloaks his location.
I don't understand.
If he really has escaped the Forbidding, why doesn't he attack himself?
According to the Codex, the weaker the Ellcrys gets, the stronger he becomes.
But he will not be truly free to walk this earth until the last leaf has fallen.
Kill the Chosen, kill the Ellcrys.
Until then, he will dispatch his Demons
to carry out his murderous biddings.
Like he has done here.
Can my father and I please have the room?
Father, you need to send this Druid away.
People are starting to talk.
They don't understand why you're under his thrall.
- You mean you don't understand. - No, I don't!
Six innocent lives have been slaughtered inside our walls
and you want to blame Demons and magic.
What would you suggest?
You had planned to step down in a few months.
Do it now.
Let me take control of this situation.
Let me do what I have been training to do.
I will lead the Elvin army and I will root out our real enemy.
My son...
...a true leader does not abdicate
at the start of a crisis.
And as for your training, it is no match for my experience.
By the time I was your age, I had won the War of the Races
and I'd brought peace to the Four Lands.
You are the greatest king since Jerle Shannara.
But...
Think of your legacy.
After everything that you have done for the Elvin people,
do you really want to go down as the mad king who believes in Demons?
If Princess Amberle is the last of the Chosen,
how come the tree can't find her?
The Ellcrys has called to her, but she needs to return voluntarily.
Nobody can be forced into service.
Can't you use your magic, like you did at Druid's Keep?
Finding a dusty old book is much easier than
tracking a wilful girl who doesn't want to be found.
I need you to search the princess's quarters.
Don't tell anyone of your mission.
The Dagda Mor has an agent within these walls.
And, Wil, don't screw up.
If the Dagda Mor finds Amberle before we do...
...the world ends.
Great.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Ignore Iggy.
I use him to scare the bark nuts off any Rover that comes sniffing around.
Aunt Pyria?
You are the spitting image of your mother.
Now, what are you doing out here? You could have been kidnapped or killed.
I'm in trouble.
I need your help.
How far along are you?
I'm not pregnant.
In your letters...
...you said you witnessed magic during the War of the Races.
That was a very long time ago.
But you still believe in it?
What's really going on, Amberle?
I ran the Gauntlet...
...and won.
I became a member of the Chosen.
Your grandfather must be furious.
- Good for you. - No, it's a nightmare.
When I laid my hand on the Ellcrys, I had a vision.
Arborlon in flames,
Demons feasting on the dead.
It was a vision of the future.
A future that's going to happen 'cause I broke the rules.
You need to help me stop it.
Look what I caught.
Come on! Choke!
Eretria! Eretria!
That's enough!
We scouted that house four nights ago.
I was beginning to think you double-crossed me.
And risk you putting a bounty on my head
with every Rover in the Four Lands?
Thanks for the trust.
Where's your haul?
I stripped the place clean, just as you taught me,
but I got ambushed on the way back.
Ambushed?
They stole my haul with my horse.
Trolls would've eaten you. Gnomes would've gutted you.
Who was it? Another Rover clan?
An Elf.
An Elf?
Well, you should have killed the arrogant little snot,
cut off its pointy ears, brought them to me as a souvenir!
Guess you're not cut out for a heist after all.
It was my first time going solo. Just give me another shot.
This is a clan, not a charity.
I'm selling you to Boca Madrid.
He wants a wife, and he's had his eye on you for a while.
Cephelo, wait!
I didn't come back empty-handed. But you've got to promise not to sell me.
They're one of a kind.
I'm sure you could get a good price for them.
- Those are... - Elfstones.
There's nothing rarer.
There may be hope for you.
Come on, sweetheart.
Why don't you tell your dad exactly how you got a hold of these?
My son believes you're leading me astray.
I remember a younger king who wouldn't allow the whispers of doubters
to cloud his judgement.
Well, we can't all fall asleep for decades and...
...forget that the world has moved on without us.
We found him trespassing in the princess's room.
He insisted on seeing the Druid.
Y-Your Highness. Uh...
I think I know where Amberle's hiding.
She's with somebody called Pyria.
Pyria?
No-one has heard from my sister for years.
According to these letters, she lives in Wing Hove.
Amberle was secretly corresponding with her.
I found them hidden in her room.
Why would the princess need to write in secret to her aunt?
We had a falling-out many years ago.
She fell in love with a human.
And when she asked for my blessing, I refused.
Because she didn't love an Elf?
Because she loved you, Allanon.
I thought she understood that there was no future for us.
Well, evidently, she didn't.
However, thanks to your very capable young apprentice here,
we now have our best chance of getting Amberle home safely.
I will instruct the scouts to go to Wing Hove.
No.
Wil and I will go. Alone.
We will?
Inviting a few soldiers might not be a bad idea.
Whatever killed the Chosen could still be inside the city walls.
Nobody else is to know Amberle's location
or her life could be in danger.
As you wish.
What do you think, old boy, hmm?
What do you think?
He said the Elfstones belonged to his father.
But even he didn't believe they were magic.
Maybe he was lying.
Where did this halfling say he was from?
Someplace called Shady Vale.
There used to be stories about...
...an Elf who lived in the Vale.
He'd gladly tell you his wild tale
of how he single-handedly won the War of the Races
with nothing but a magic sword and three humble Elfstones to aid him.
Well, my father taught me not to believe anything
I didn't see with my own eyes.
You think just because those pointy-eared bastards
tell us that magic's dead, that's the truth?
What makes you think I haven't seen it, hmm?
Find the halfling
and I promise not to marry you off.
I find him, you grant me my freedom.
So you and the King's sister. Wow.
I never pictured you as the romantic type.
My relationship with Pyria is none of your concern.
I'm sure the age difference must have been kind of weird.
How old are you - like, 350?
- Stop talking. - I can't.
It's the only thing keeping my mind off the fact
that we could be ripped apart by rampaging Demons at any moment.
Nobody should die like that.
Well, thanks to you, we have a chance
of finding Amberle and stopping them.
Whoa. Was that a compliment?
I'm not much of a conversationalist.
As you can tell, I don't get much practice.
If you don't want to talk about Pyria, at least tell me about my dad.
I met Pyria because she was keeper of the royal archives
when I was tracking down descendants of the Shannara bloodline.
- How come? - They were being murdered.
Of course they were.
I met your father when he was living in Shady Vale with the Ohmsfords.
He and Flick were like brothers.
Brothers? No way!
Uncle Flick refuses to talk about him.
Your father is the only reason this world didn't fall into darkness 30 years ago.
His courage and fortitude inspire me still.
If he's such a hero, how come nobody remembers him?
Why did he die a sad, lonely drunk?
Well, you might recall I told you that magic comes with a price.
Your father mastered the Elfstones,
he defeated a terrible evil,
and the magic... took its toll.
Is that what's gonna happen to me?
Magic affects each person differently.
But you are not your father, Wil.
So I'm supposed to use Elfstones I don't have
to protect a princess who doesn't want to be found
from a Demon horde bent on laying waste to the world.
And even if I succeed, which is entirely doubtful,
my life could still be doomed because magic will have fried my brain.
Mmm.
I liked it better when we didn't talk.
Allanon?
We're here for Princess Amberle.
I can't help you.
She's at the waterfall.
Damn your Druid tricks.
Go now. Time is precious.
That's Shea's boy, isn't it?
I'm not convinced he'll be the man his father was.
After all these years, here you are standing right in front of me,
looking like you haven't aged a day.
How can that be?
The Druid's sleep.
A deep hibernation that restored my magic.
I was depleted after the war.
I had no choice but to leave.
No choice?
You abandoned me to grow old without so much as a goodbye.
And now you return as young and strong as a spring stag.
Amberle told me about the Ellcrys and her visions.
The situation is more dire than she knows.
If you're here, I should have guessed.
And right now, the destiny of the Four Lands
rests upon Wil and Amberle's shoulders.
And once again, you are the puppet master,
manipulating innocent lives as you see fit.
Princess Amberle!
Uh-uh. Eyes up here.
- I'm sorry. - Who are you?
Uh...
- You're an Elf? - Half Elf.
And yes, they're small, so spare me the ear jokes.
How did you find me?
- Your letters to your aunt. - You went through my things?
Look. It's really important you return to Arborlon.
Yeah, that's not gonna happen.
This conversation would be much less awkward if you were dressed.
Turn around.
OK.
Let's start over.
Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here?
My name is Wil Ohmsford.
I'm here because the Ellcrys is dying and you're the only one who can save it.
The Ellcrys is dying?
Yes, and I know the tree speaks to you.
Did Lorin tell you that?
Not exactly.
What aren't you telling me?
I think it's better if the Druid explains everything.
You're here with a Druid?
I thought they were all dead.
This one just took a very long nap.
Are you his errand boy?
Actually, Allanon brought me along to protect you.
You're joking, right?
When the sleep calls, there is no time for goodbyes.
Being a Druid is not a choice.
It's a calling.
You will never know how sorry I am...
...or how much you still mean to me.
A Fury.
Stay behind me.
Aunt Pyria?
I think we should wait for Allanon.
Aunt Pyria!
Amberle!
Amberle! Stay back!
Ripped By mstoll