Willow journeys into the past with “The Whispers of Nockmaar”

We’re halfway through the first season of Willow on Disney+, and this week’s episode is here to remind us where it all started. “The Whispers of Nockmaar” has tons of callbacks to the 1988 movie as our band of heroes struggle to save one of their own from a grisly demise within the very same castle where the original film’s villain, Queen Bavmorda, met her demise.

As always, there will be SPOILERS below for the latest episode of Willow.

Willow Episode 4 review: “The Whispers of Nockmaar”

Thus far, Willow on Disney+ has been a fun follow-up to the cult classic movie without over-relying on references to it for its own success. “The Whispers of Nockmaar” changes that formula up a bit, leaning much harder into the film’s mythology. Fortunately, all the callbacks are balanced by the fact that the episode is also the most focused of the show’s run so far, taking place entirely in one location while it explores the various personal struggles facing our band of heroes.

Last week’s episode ended with the revelation that Graydon (Tony Revolori) had suffered a wound in battle that would turn him into a corrupted pawn for one of the Gales known as The Lich. “The Whispers of Nockmaar” picks up immediately where that left off, with Willow (Warwick Davis), Elora Danon (Eli Bamber), and the rest of their allies taking shelter from a storm in a ruined castle. But this isn’t any castle: it’s the very same one where the evil Queen Bavmorda ruled from during the 1988 film.

This is both a boon and a danger. Bavmorda’s castle is believed to be cursed, meaning it was never looted after her death and therefore still has her vast stores of alchemical reagents, which could prove useful in the efforts to heal Graydon. However, there’s also that whole curse thing. While Willow holds that it’s not cursed per se, the tower where Bavmorda died is still a portal to another dimension and there’s some magical goop leftover from her reign that will mess up anyone who comes into contact with it. So it’s not smooth sailing either.

The group’s efforts to heal Graydon before he becomes an evil shadow of his former self are intercut with various personal stories as each member of the fellowship struggles with their own demons. This works really well, allowing each their own moments to shine. Jade (Erin Kellyman) is haunted by killing her old mentor Ballantine (Ralph Ineson), Kit (Ruby Cruz) is both dealing with her own heritage as the granddaughter of Bavmorda as well as her own proclamation that if Graydon doesn’t recover she’ll kill him so the group can continue on their quest; and Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel) learns to prioritize his own thieving ways with his new role as a mentor of sorts for the younger warriors of the group. It’s a lot of fun and also compelling enough to make watching the episode feel like a breeze.

Elora Danon also receives a pretty large focus in the episode, which feels just right considering that she and Willow are the only two characters who’ve been in the castle before. Once the Lich fully possess Graydon, everyone starts receiving visions of past events. For Kit that means fighting off a warrior who appeared in the 1988 film, but for Elora they’re much more meaningful. She is shown scenes of her mother dying in the castle after giving birth to her, of the climactic events of the movie, and of her own near-death experience as a baby when her soul was almost banished from the world to allow darkness to reign.

The final showdown in the tower is a great callback to the film that also functions as a way to clue new viewers into those events. While Willow has grown a reputation as having slain Bavmorda with powerful magic, the Lich reveals the truth: that he did it with sleight-of-hand, basically agitating Bavmorda into accidentally killing herself. It’s a reveal that really isn’t one if you’ve seen the movie, but for the show it works. Willow’s reputation as a sorcerer has been interesting during the series, since he does do actual magic, but is known for doing far greater magical works than he’s actually capable.

In the end, Elora finally unlocks her powers on a greater level and exorcises the Lich from Graydon. Kit telling her the truth, that Elora was actually successful in growing the plant she’d been practicing her magic on a few episodes back, was a solid moment that hit at just the right time.

The episode finishes out with our crew leaving the castle, continuing their journey to find Prince Airk (Dempsey Bryk) before the Gales can corrupt him to use his blood — the blood of Bavmorda — for their own dark ends.

As they depart, the scene shifts to Airk, who we haven’t seen since the season premiere. He stumbles out of a cell which has been left suspiciously open, while a haunting cover of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” plays in the background. The camera zooms out to reveal a gorgeous ruin. Here’s to hoping we see more of it next week!

Willow Bullet Points

• The brewing romantic tension between Graydon and Elora took an interesting turn in this episode. During the exorcism, Elora saw a vision from Graydon’s youth where he was seemingly possessed and pushed his older brother out of a tree to his death. Graydon seems totally oblivious to the fact that Elora now knows this, but she’s shooting him some untrusting looks by the end of the episode.
• And what exactly was the deal with Graydon’s “chilldhood illness”? We got a glimpse of it in that flashback moment, but still don’t know the details. Given that this episode pulled back the curtain a little bit more on it and his mysterious scars, that’s something I’m expecting to be addresse din the back half of the season.
• Kit’s turn in this episode was another highlight. She descended into some of her most annoyingly petty behaviors, only to turn around by the end.
• “I think Bavmorda would be very proud of her granddaughter,” Bormund says to Kit as she ruminates on killing Graydon. What a burn.
• Jade’s heart-to-heart with Boorman on the ramparts was another wonderful piece of this episode. Though Kit talks a big game, Boorman and Jade are the only two real warriors of the group. It’s nice that “The Whispers of Nockmaar” took the time to explore their dynamic.
• Those first lines that Graydon has once he’s fully possessed by the Lich, “give me water, peck, or die,” were spoken by Val Kilmer’s Madmartigan in the 1988 film. A wonderful nod that continues to keep the spirit of Kilmer’s character in the series even though he wasn’t able to take part in filming season 1.

Verdict

“The Whispers of Nockmaar” continues Willow’s hot streak. The show has been all-around solid thus far, tapping into that oldschool Lucasfilm magic in a way that feels extremely genuine. And while the episode did lean a little heavily on the film, it also came at just the right moment to feel necessary to the plot as opposed to just needless fan service. The journey continues!

Episode Grade: B+

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