Review: Cursed finishes with a bang in Episodes 9 and 10
Episode 10″ “The Sacrifice”
With the future of the Fey hanging in the balance and enemies closing in from all sides, Nimue sets into motion the final pieces of her plan.
The Cursed season finale is a fun rocket of a ride. “The Sacrifice” flies along like a long lit fuse, and when the spark hits the gunpowder we get an explosion of swords, blood and lightning.
Despite Arthur and Merlin’s attempts to dissuade her, Nimue is determined to surrender herself to Uther and see her people transported north to a new life, but she gives the Sword of Power to Morgana to take from the city. Bloody Iris sneaks around the castle. Father Cardin worries that his adopted Fey son, the Weeping Monk, is losing his faith.
Morgana is waylaid by her dead lover, Sister Celia, an agent of the mysterious Cailleach. Nimue surrenders herself to Uther and Father Cardin. Arthur and the departing Fey are ambushed on the beach by Cumber’s Viking raiders, who are secretly allied with Father Cardin. Wroth the Tusk Commander is killed. Viking royal exile Red Spear and her Norse raiders intervene in the nick of time to assist the surviving Fey.
With Nimue imprisoned, Uther attempts to see to the murder of both Merlin and Gawain. Father Cardin prepares to execute Nimue, but Morgana, acting through the Widow, allows Nimue to behead him. The Weeping Monk, who is actually Lancelot, rescues Squirrel and fights his way out of the encampment, slaughtering the Papal Trinity Guard along the way. Nimue, Merlin and Morgana face off with Iris and the grievously wounded Nimue falls into a cataract waterfall.
Cursed Nimue with Pendragon Guards S1 Ep 10 Courtesy of Netflix
There is so much to like in “The Sacrifice,” one wonders if Cursed held most of its story punches until the end, to the detriment of previous episodes. That aside, the finale provides a sturdy launching pad for the story to take off if there is a second season. Episode 10 gives us several of the series’ best battle sequences, together with the magnificent struggle on the stone arch over the waterfall, complete with a CGI feast of special effects with Merlin wielding his ancient sword.
There’s more. The spooky relationship between Morgana and the Widow fascinates, as does her connection to the Cailleach. The linking of Arthur and Red Spear (a potential Guinevere?) has potential, especially if Nimue’s watery end takes her out of the picture — she is the Lady of the Lake, after all. Gawain is likely resurrected by The Hidden, perhaps transforming him into something skin to the mysterious, Fey-style Green Knight of traditional Arthurian lore. The promotion of the diminutive but dangerous Iris to the ranks of the Trinity is interesting, as is the reveal of The Weeping Monk as Lancelot.
“The Sacrifice” is a well-crafted whirlwind of a tale. The show’s carefully planned twists and turns pop like a string of firecrackers, hurling us through the best chapter of Cursed‘s first season. Counting how many cliffhangers the finale offers, it appears the creators are fully confident of coming back for a second season. Let’s hope they are.