Five Torches (Out of Five)
Warning: The following review contains spoilers for the “Tears” episode of Legend of the Seeker.
I can’t remember the quote exactly, but at one point during The Lord of the Rings, when hope seems lost and a victory in battle seems all but impossible, stoic King Theoden says something like, “If this truly is the end, let it be such an end.”
That pretty much sums up the season — and yes, probably series — finale of Legend of the Seeker.
That the show will probably not return for a third season is a tragedy, but after having viewed the season finale, shot before the powers that be had knowledge of this fact, I can gladly say that the episode “Tears” serves as a fitting and extremely satisfying series finale.
In a way, the episode serves as a microcosm of the entire series: they proudly display the incredible combat choreography that sets the show miles above most other action shows on television, a great deal of magic is used that never feels like a plot cheat, and while “Tears” incorporates a sizable handful of secondary and tertiary recurring characters, it never skimps on character moments for our four heroic leads, namely Zedd, Cara, Richard, and Kahlan.
Speaking purely as a fan and not a critic, one thing I’ve always appreciated about Legend of the Seeker is that while an abundance of magic is used as plot fodder, the writers always define exactly what the magical properties are, and exactly what a person, spell, or object can and cannot do. Therefore, with the crazy magical battles that occur in “Tears,” everything follows logic and no rules are broken.
Everything that happened with Nicci confessing Kahlan worked because of the rules they so carefully set up. That Zedd’s magic is useless against Mord-Sith is well established, and so the Mord-Sith were a true threat. The episode-opening spell on Dahlia worked given what we learned last week, and the Richard-saving Breath of Life that capped everything off resonated not only for its emotional payoff but because it made sense.
It’s easy to cheat as a writer when you’re working with magic, but the writers of Seeker never did, and I applaud them for it.
The plot of “Tears” is so complex I won’t even try to recap it for you, but suffice it to say that while betrayals and fireballs are flying fast and furious, the core of the show — our four heroes — keep the pace moving, even when Kahlan is under Nicci’s thrall. (And might I say, that was one of the several shocking moments of the episode. Who would have thought Kahlan, the Confessor, could ever be confessed?)
While we begin in the alternate reality that dominated the previous episode, much of the story takes place in the real world, as is befitting a series conclusion, and getting back the good Cara we’ve come to love was a moment of pure joy. Much of Seeker’s underlying arc is the love story of Richard and Kahlan, and for those shippers out there, this was the episode to put all your desires to rest.
I won’t lie — I was terrified the show would end on a cliffhanger, with a confessed Kahlan having killed Richard and the Keeper in possession of the Stone of Tears. Fortunately, such was not the case.
But I’ll tell you what I really loved. I loved that, in spite of the twist-heavy plot that had built by show’s end, they let the camera linger on Kahlan weeping over Richard’s dead body.
That was a moment that needed weight, and that’s what they gave us. With bodies littering the ground and a demonic adversary holding the key to their salvation, it’s Richard’s death and that alone that Kahlan can focus on. Because the writers had the confidence in their story to stay in that moment, we felt that sorrow with Kahlan.
In a way, they couldn’t have made a better series finale if they tried. It would seem somehow dishonest if the episode implied they would never have to face an enemy again, and the tiny scene with Darken Rahl resurrecting Nicci hinted at problems to come.
But that wasn’t the conclusion of the episode. The true ending was the revelation that the love shared between Kahlan and Richard was stronger than any dark magic they might ever face, and we end the show the way all good stories should end.
With a kiss.
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The last episode was great until the last 5 minutes when they had to ruin it by making it into the worst cliche ever. A new stone of tears is magically made from kahlan tears with no explanation how… Oh wait it was made by the power of love.. Seriously cant they make a better ending than that!!
I had to laugh out loud at the little boy keeper doing the classic defeated villian… “Noooooo!” Evil little kids creep me out in general.
This was a great finale. Seeker really went out on a strong run of quality eps, which is more than you can say for plenty of shows that go on too long. The show was definitely just hitting its stride and the fact that there will not be a season 3 of the Legend of Cara (i mean seeker) is just a crime. There is plenty more story to tell regarding the Imperial Order, Richard being the Lord Rahl, etc. And they proved in 2×20 that they can deviate from the source in a compelling way. if you cut down on the cheesiness of people just stumbling right into one another in the woods…and gritted Richard up a bit (or failing that made him wear a costume every bit as skimpy as Cara and Kahlan), it could have been really, scary good.
The only thing I might have liked more? A more group hug ending w/ a classically snarky comment from Cara… very à la her interrupting the R/K “goodbye” from a couple of eps back. My face might have cracked from grinning too hard. It felt just a touch off to have this big R/K kiss in the sun while Zedd and cara looked on with nothing to do. But compared to the last Tapert finale where the heroine was mutilated this was really, really satisfying. Complete resolution to the season’s arc, Cara’s 2nd breaking is undone, the discovery that Richard can’t be confessed by Kahlan and just a hint of what could come w/ Nicci and Darken Rahl.
I am going to miss Seeker more than I would’ve thought. Now what am I supposed to watch for ‘epic’ fantasy. game of thrones had better be great to make up for not having mord’sith.
I want 3 season! PLEASE ;[;[;[
AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME FINALE !!!
I thought that was a really well-written, tightly-packed finale that managed to bring back almost all the major characters and still have them all serve a purpose, rather than just fill in for mere nostalgia.
In fact, my only regret was that we didn’t get a more emotional way of bringing back Cara (ie, her love for Richard serving to break the spell) — instead, all we got was a clinical reset button. However, this still pales in comparison to the amazing last two episodes, and in fact this amazing season as a whole.
Also, thank you Torch Online, for providing us with a reliable place to get well-written, witty reviews of LOTS episodes.
R.I.P Legend of the Seeker :)
Thank you, Torch writers, for 2 years of great reviews. You did a fabulous job serving this fandom.
Thank you, too, to all the LOTS actors - especially Craig, Bruce, Bridget and Tabrett, for delivering, every time. I will miss having you on my television.
Thank YOU! Means a lot to us.
@Agent 86: I thought that would happen too! That Richard would get the Stone back from the Keeper, and right as he gets the Stone in his hand, Cara revives him.
With regards to the episode, I think it was a very good finale, when looking at it as an episode. However, the thing that seriously ruined the episode in my eyes is that this episode went and stomped all over the past two episodes (Unbroken and Eternity), and in the meantime, stomping over the development of my favorite character (I mean, no one else is going to be developing close to as much over the season, and we want character development).
I liked that zedd and cara didnt have a true conclusion because it wouldnt seem right to me if it was all tied up and not left as this journey is over but another begins plus cara may be less slutty because of dahlia not being around maybe she can find dahlia like she found leo in the other reality LEO and ok now I get the breath of life but in that episode one of the sisters of the light said the mord sith would die is she gave the breath of life and I agree the love overcoming magic thing was too predictable I loved when Kahlan stabbed Richard though that was awesome and dramatic and I thought thats how it would end
I loved the season finale of legend of the seeker but I think it should continue to a 3rd season especially since Kahlan & Richard can be together now.the episode Tears was a superb ending which lots of shows don’t have such good endings but legend of the seeker did have a superb ending but it looked like there might be a 3rd season when Darken Rahl told Nicci that he has great plans for her so I hope legend of the seeker goes to a 3rd season.legend of the seeker in season 2 was superb so I think fans should not give up on the show possibly getting to its 3rd season so I hope all fans keep trying to get stations to pick up legend of the seeker for a season 3.ABC & Disney did a superb job with the show legend of the seeker but let all us fans keep trying to help legend of the seeker get picked up by someone for a season 3 which it deserves.
The Dahlia storyline hit the lesbian/gay fandom a lot harder than it hit the rest of the fans. So it’s understandable how this finale has managed to divide the fanbase despite it being a stellar episode in itself.
A great series finale. It had pretty much all the key elements of the series (with the possible exception of the delightful Denna and the dastardly Shota) and they actually all worked well together without seeming like they had been forced into the finale “just because”.
Minor quibbles would be Zedd’s spell. I understood that Mord Sith Dahlia had a pretty big impact on Cara from training right through to a “loving” relationship as adults. If Zedd truly removed Mord Sith Dahlia from existence, then I have to wonder why Cara’s personality wasn’t changed slightly if not dramatically as a result. Instead, she was exactly the same person (or at least appeared to be based on her limited screen-time).
Another minor quibble is Confessed Kahlan instead of the “true” Kahlan, but Confessed Con Dar Kahlan (that’s a mouthful) was so cool that all is forgiven. Blind Richard was also a bit lame. I know that he and Kahlan haven’t been able to be intimate, but I didn’t think attending to your *sword* really made you blind.
I read a suggestion by another fan that it would have been cool to see Dead Richard battling the Keeper in the Underworld (or whatever it was called on LOTS) before he was revived by Cara and I think that would have helped make Richard a tad more heroic than simply stumbling around “blind” for 20 minutes before handing the Stone of Tears to his No.1 enemy. Moron! Then again, Richard has always been too lame … I mean trusting.
The hint as to future battles with Darken Rahl and Nicci was interesting. After all they’ve been through, I really would have liked to have seen how Richard and Darken Rahl would have worked as “enemies” in a third season.
I hope to see more great things from all the cast, especially Bridget Regan and Tabrett Bethell (sp?). I’m also hopeful that Craig Horner and Bruce Spence will be back on the (big or small) screen again soon. At least we can look forward to seeing Darken Rahl, Jensen and the latest “Mord Sith Leader of the Week” on Spartacus.
This was a fantastic episode and a great review, however I am of the opinion that this is the SEASON finale and we will be back for season three. With all the work that the fans are doing how can we not be heard? We won’t give up because Richard and Kahlan never would.
Wow, guess I’m the only one that didn’t love that last episode. I likes it, but it certainly wasn’t my fav episode.
1st of all there was way too little Cara in this very last episode
The fist 3quarters were great, Kahlan in the Con Dar, Cara getting a little sentimental, a little boy being the keeper. And my favorite part: Cara bitch-slapping another mord-sith!
But, and I’m sure I’m the only one, the last parts were just a little cheesy and cliché. Another stone of tears made from Kahlan’s tears an Richard’s sweat? And “your love for each other is stronger than any magic” Sorry, but that was just so predictable. Also, what about Zedd and Cara’s happy ending? They were just standing there!
All in all, it’s a great show and I’m gonna miss it. I don’t think there’ll be more seasons. R/K impossible love made the series so exilerating and now that that’s gone…
I agree. I was a little disappointed with the storyline of the finale. Here’s a question: why didn’t the Keeper kill Richard and take the stone of tears as soon as he encountered him in that ruined village? Of course, because it’s a TV show and the hero can’t die right before the end. But the writers put themselves in a position where they have to make the Keeper make an utterly ridiculous decision because of “prophecy” — a prophecy made by his nemesis, the Creator. Dumb.
I don’t understand how Kahlan gets confessed by Nicci, how a new stone of tears just “Deus ex Machina”s right into the story, and how “love” makes it so Kahlan can’t confess Richard. Come on — that’s weak.
The other parts of the show were evident in the finale. The main actors, as always, are fantastic. The cinematography is awesome. The fight scenes are as good as it gets on TV. And, of course, the cleavage is phenomenal!!
Also, where the setup for Richard being able to fight with his sword even though he’s blind? He can block the flying dacras, too? I don’t remember that ability being hinted at in the show.
Well, I can understand why Necros is furious, they didn’t have Cara as much as in previous episode, and we all love Cara, but we also didn’t have much scene about R&K and the fact that Kahlan didn’t be herself more than half of episode, but played Nicci’s love slave *so looking forward to juicy fanfiction about them he he*, I can say finale was well characters balanced. But I fear that producers and writers all thought that they would be back for season 3, but unfortunately for them and us fans, the potential deal between SyFy and D/ABC broke up. There is so much story to continue and tell, but I guess, in today world, it all about money, and not passion. I will continue fight, just to prove that there is appetite for this kind of story and maybe one day we could get movie or mini serie just to see how life treated them all after Keeper’s demise.
Big kudos to crew and cast for great imagination and talent. New Zealand again proved to be great place to all fantasy lovers and one of my life achievement would be to visit that place.
Great review for indeed great ending! Long Live the Seeker!
“they didn’t have Cara as much as in previous episode”
No, that’s not why I was pissed about this episode. It’s the way they did the last two episodes, wasting Cara’s last storyline and erasing Dahlia from her life. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t be happier if she had more screen time but that’s not the point, if they did things the right way, and didn’t give her a second more screen time in the finale, I wouldn’t really complain. But they messed it up.
And the last shots should’ve included the whole team, not only Richard and Kahlan, even some R&K fans agree with this, so maybe I’m not crazy for saying this. Cara just revived Richard a few minutes ago, but no thanks or anything, she is just standing there, ignored… No wonder she has issues, thinking so low of herself…
Oh, and Cara didn’t have too much time in Unboken either, and Richard and Kahlan had more time than her in Eternity too.
I’ve only recently encountered this website, but I read all the LoTS episode reviews. Normally, I’d agree with the reviews, which were well written. However, I’m going to have to side with Necros on this one.
Don’t get me wrong, this is an excellent episode. I would have rated it 4 stars instead of the 5 though, but that’s just me.
Granted, the writers only had a couple weeks to wrap up the series, so this episode naturally feels rushed. I’m sure if they had another season coming, it might have been a little bit different. This is a no nonesense episode, going straight to the action all the way through without the usual comical/funny moments (okay so there was one, with Cara and the Mord-Sith leader - Wouldn’t it be funny to see a parody - “Cara in Charge” with the theme song slightly altered from “Charles in Charge?”). It still has its signature touching moments for the characters, especially between Zedd and Cara.
My biggest beef of the episode is at the beginning. It continues from the previous episode where Cara is dead and Dahlia and the other Mord-Sith are upon Zedd and Kahlan. Zedd and Kahlan manage to fight off the other Mord-Sith and capture Dahlia. Zedd casts the spell of Undoing on Dahlia. Forgive me, but how can it affect the current alternate reality where Cara is dead and conveniently take Zedd back to the other reality where Cara was never captured? Shouldn’t logic conclude that only the current alternate reality is affected, not the first one, especially since Cara wasn’t a Mord-Sith for that episode? The writers normally do an excellent job, so I guess I can forego logic this one case and not give in to my suspension of disbelief. Or maybe I’m just too confused because it’s almost 3AM…
There were plenty of good moments to make this an excellent episode. I liked the part where Darken Rahl tells Nicci he’s going to draw her “…a nice, warm bath.” (Teehee). Too bad Shota didn’t make an appearance since everyone else seemed to. It would have been awesome to see a Nicci vs. Shota showdown. Oh, and poor Sister Mariana dies yet again. And Richard too, but that was necessary.
If only this one hadn’t felt rush, the other characters would have gotten larger parts and gotten their due screentime. It’s too bad we didn’t see more of them. And it’s a bloody shame that no one has picked up the show for a third season yet. Apparently studio execs know little to nothing of good writing or entertainment. Seriously, who wants to watch Ice Road Truckers or Ax Men for more than one season? I guess it’s better for good shows to die young (like Firefly) than to linger on forever and ever and become stale/ridiculous or a shadow of its former self. Sadly, Legend of the Seeker seems destined to die young. Maybe if there’s enough of an uproar, it could get a movie (like Firely did with Serenity). Maybe the Save Our Seeker campaign will prevail yet. Here’s hoping….
Best wishes and big thank yous to the actors and writers and their crew. Hopefully we’ll see them again in some way, shape, or form.
Ah well, I guess I’ll start reading the books until Trueblood comes back. I’m going to miss the show, characters, actors, and writing. And the red leather.
Totally agree with the 5-Torch rating…Excellent…Great review.
Nice quote from LOTR, by the way. Very fitting indeed for the ending of this episode (and series).
Going to seriously miss this show.
To the powers that be who cancelled such an outstanding show, I have one thing to say to you, “Let me draw YOU a WARM bath!”
So, barring some miracle, I guess this is it. I’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Craig Horner, Bridget Regen, Craig Parker, Bruce Spence, and Tabrett Bethell for bringing these wonderful characters to glorious life for us. You guys are simply the best. Good luck and best wishes to all of you..
Best episode so far.
Best review so far.
I hate that it might be over, but if it is, what a way to go!
“extremely satisfying series finale”
No, it wasn’t… First of all, they’ve completely wasted Cara’s last storyline and only said a few words about her character development. And they also erased Dahlia from Cara’s life. They should’ve brought her back from the dark magic’s grip differently. It was a _huge_ disappointment.
“much of the story takes place in the real world”
No, it’s a different reality, they changed Dahlia’s past. She isn’t a main character and she probably didn’t have a huge effect on Cara but it’s still a different world. We also weren’t told how Cara reacted to Zedd when he told her what happened. After all, he took away someone from her, someone she deeply cared about, and in the alternate reality in Unbroken she had two kids and met Leo again. But they just ignored this too. Maybe the scene will be on the S2 DVD, because I think it could’ve happened right after Richard said they needed to rest. There was a promo picture of them in a cave, maybe that’s where it happened.
“and we end the show the way all good stories should end.
With a kiss.”
Yeah, ignoring the other two heroes, one of whom they fought hard to bring back. Cara is a close friend to them and a strong ally, Zedd is Richard’s grandfather, but they just ignored them. Good job…
But despite these complaints, I still enjoyed the finale. It was epic, Cara had some great moments, Tabrett played her few scenes wonderfully, and even though I was disappointed in some of the story, it was still done very well. It wasn’t as awesome as the first season’s finale but it was close.
I hope we can get a third season but if that won’t happen, I hope Tabrett Bethell will find a good role and I can watch her again every week.
Wow, bitter much?
Wouldn’t you be bitter if they screwed with your favourite character’s storyline?
And I said that I liked the finale, I like it a lot actually. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be disappointed because they wasted a very interesting storyline.
Why couldnt Leo have lived? He is so cute. Anyway, I dont know how to pronounce the title. Is it tears as in tears in the earth or tear from crying? I also dont understand how the breath of life cannot save someone who gets stabbed in the throat but can save someone who was stabbed in the heart by the confessor. Also in that episode where Richard had those headaches the mord sith would have taken on the pain of the seeker so why does she never take on the injuries sustained by the people she revives? Well Kahlan was confessed too early for me and Nicci actually looked pretty this episode. She deserves to get Rahled. So does the keeper die now? The creator wannabe from episodes prior could not have been the real creator because how was she making prophecies if she was in a human body and without memories of being the creator. All that han gone to waste also. This episode kept me on the edge from the beginning to the end I just wish it would have been two hours and not two parts over two weeks would have been awesomer. Leo is hot.
The Breath of Life has to flow into the person’s body and if your windpipe is severed, it can’t do that.
The Mord-Sith can’t take the pain of others… It was a Sister of the Light who took Richard’s pain in Light and it killed her.
It was such an incredible episode!!! I’m still going to fight for this show!
Thank you for reviewing the episode “Tears”.
The fight to keep Legend of The Seeker is far from over. We have many efforts in motion to save this fantastic show–there is hope.
To get involved in our campaigns, go to http://www.saveourseeker
To exchange ideas with other fans from around the world, go to http://www.legendoftheseeker.org
We have put 2 ads in prominent entertainment industry publications, and we have the support of Terry Goodkind. Come join us–be a warrior, fight for our Seeker!
Farewell, Legend of the Seeker. Thank you for a great ride.
That was an epic Greek tragedy ! With prophecies, fate, a blind hero and even the rape of sneaky Nicci perpetrated by Darken Rahl… There’s just one thing that I didn’t get : where were the sisters of the light when Richard gave the Stone of Tears to the kid. Did the old man decide that they couldn’t take the risk to kill a real and innocent child ?
What you say on the rules behind all the magical powers in the universe of the Seeker is very interesting. Since the introduction of a mord-sith in the team, I can’t help but thinking about the fantastic video game they could have made around the series. A RPG, to be more precise, in which all the powers would be well counterbalanced. It could have been an excellent rock, paper, scissors, lizard, spock.
I don’t know if it is because he was the MVP of the Champions League final last night, but this kid reminded me the face of the soccer star of the moment : Diego Milito http://www.futbol91.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/diego-milito.jpg Now I know where he get all his power ! :lol:
that’s why this show cannot end! The show was becoming greater. We should really save the show! Who are with me??
And now they know that they can be together, which really should have been how the first season ended, but it was more satisfying here.
I now assume that the girl about ten episodes ago who claimed to be the Creator actually was the Creator.
Hmmm … interesting!
I am so sad that the series is POSSIBLY over. I hold onto that thread of hope that it may be back, maybe not for season 3, but even a movie will do. I can’t believe that the characters we’ve come to love, stories won’t continue on the small screen. Thank you Seeker for giving me 2 fantastic seasons of my favourite show ever. Can’t wait to see what these actors get up to next. Someone better nab Craig Horner because that Aussie boy better not disappear. Thanx, all the way from South Africa
Very well written review,Thank You!♥