Legacy sequels have a tendency to revisit not only the characters and storylines, but also the locations from the original source material. The Mandalorian went back to Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine, Hocus Pocus 2 returned to the Sanderson sisters’ cottage, and TRON: Legacy visited Flynn’s Arcade.
Now Willow, the sequel series to 1988’s fantasy feature from Lucasfilm, has gone back to Nockmaar Castle, which served as a key location (not to mention the home of the evil Queen Bavmorda) in the film.
As the fourth episode of Willow– entitled “The Whispers of Nockmaar”– begins, our troupe of heroes find themselves at the doorstep of the title location with nowhere else to turn as Prince Graydon (played by Tony Revolori) had been injured and cursed to transformation by the Gales in the previous installment. The party seeks refuge within the walls of this ominous place, and once they’re settled in the throne room they discuss the options that lie ahead of them: either they kill Gradon now and put him out of his misery, or they find a way to heal his wound and cure him of the wicked possession that is to follow. At first choice “A” seems like the most logical one, but then they remember they’re in the castle of an evil sorceress and have access to her catalog of potions and ingredients. So Willow (Warwick Davis) and Elora Danan (Ellie Bamber) set about concocting an elixir that will free Graydon from his encroaching conversion to this universe’s version of the dark side, while the rest of the gang bide their time and attempt to evade the haunting ghosts of Nockmaar. Thraxus Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel) has the least amount of success at that, becoming obsessed with opening a supposed room full of treasure that calls out to him with siren-like voices. Meanwhile, Kit (Ruby Cruz), Jade (Erin Kellyman), and Elora must settle their personal differences before they’re at each other’s throats.
Maybe it feels like a little bit of fan service, but I have to admit it’s really cool to spend an entire episode in Nockmaar, especially considering the obvious amount of care and attention to detail that went into recreating the location again for this series. And while this chapter serves as a sort of bottle episode, focusing exclusively on our main cast– with occasional in-universe visions from the movie– it certainly doesn’t look any cheaper than what has come before. I have to wonder how much of this was accomplished by building actual sets and how much was shot on the Volume or using other VFX trickery, but it’s all pretty seamless in the end, and I have to pay special compliments to the production design team for making it all feel so real and lived-in, as it definitely should. As for the characters’ behavior and their dialogue, I’m still seeing people complaining on social media about some of the more anachronistic elements of the show, up to and including the end-credits music (this time it’s a cover of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”), but why not just accept that choice and have fun with it? It hasn’t really bothered me, and in a lot of ways I feel like it makes Willow stand out from the darker, more self-serious fantasy series that have aired recently. Anyway, this episode culminates in a scene that again recalls the climax of the film, and with Elora finally coming to embrace her own abilities in freeing Graydon from his curse– though she discovers another dark secret in the process. There’s some nice character development here, and an eerie mood over everything that’s effectively sold by the twists, turns, and hidden mysteries of Nockmaar Castle.
New episodes of Willow are released Wednesdays, exclusively via Disney+.