Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, Season One, Episode Twelve

After all of the big buildup, it's time to go to war.  Beowulf tries to make peace with Elvina before the battle suggesting that they can work something out but they don't get to into detail because the war horn sounds.  Beowulf, Slean and Brecca go out to meet Abrecan and his wolfling allies.  As they wait for the wolfling army to assemble, Skellan decides to use the time to introduce the people of Herot to the warriors who will kill them.  Skellan doesn't get far into his speech because throws a spear at the wulfling warrior. With the chit chat over, it's time to get down to battle.

Slean runs around swearing to die for his people.  Arla does her best to rehabilitate Slean's image with his mother.  Arla suggests that it was abusive for Rheda to become Jarl and Thane and suggests that she do the right thing and hand over power. We all know that hell is going to freeze over before Rheda does that.

Beowulf has a chat with Rheda, where she questions why he returned, given that she had him banished because of her selfish son. It's clear that Beowulf being Hrothgar's son may not be common knowledge, but Rheda has known all along.  Beowulf responds that he came back for Hrothgar.

The wulflings are distracted by the treasures of Herot and it's Abrecan who pushes to keep them on task.  Despite the efforts of the people of Herot, they keep being pushed back by the combined armies. Rate and Varr arrive together. It seems that Rate has rethought the offer Rheda gave him. Rate agrees to have the Varni join the battle if, and only if, Rheda agrees to marry him and rule the territory jointly. Rheda tries to stall the process repeatedly and urges Rate to send a signal to his people but Rate will not be swayed and demands that they marry.  The ceremony begins and Arla rushes out to find Slean to warn him that his mother is giving away his birth right.  Slean storms in and accuses Rheda of selling her body and his birthright but Rheda is absolutely defiant.  Slean accuses Rheda of never having any intention of handing out power and Rheda concedes that she planned on handing it over at first. An irate Slean followed by Arla storms out.  Arla promises Slean that she will find a way to make him Thane and will take out his enemies. Given her little penchant for poison, I don't doubt Arla for one moment. Slean actually kisses Arla for the first time but says that what matters now is saving Herot. I guess Slean now finally accepts Arla as a partner.

An injured Brinni heads to see Elvina for treatment.  Elvina is attacked by a Wulfling and Grendel comes to her defense.  When a Huscarla moves in to attack Grendel, Elvina kills him to spare her son. It only took 12 episodes but Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands finally got around to naming Grendel. Beowulf sends Brinni away making him promise not to tell anyone what he has seen.  An irate Beowulf then turns his attention to Elvina but she comes to the strong defense of her son before leaving Herot.  Considering that Grendel is such a huge part of Beowulf's story, I cannot believe they waited 12 episodes to name him. It's ridiculous. I get that Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands was trying to put a modern twist on an old story but some things are necessary for the sake of story telling.

Lila is attacked and Brecca comes to her rescue.  Brecca and Lila work together to fight off her attackers but  Skellan sneaks up from behind and stabs Brecca. Lila is distraught at the sight of her downed husband but Brecca asks her to be quiet for his sake.  Skellan asks that Beowulf be told that he did this in revenge for the murder of his brother and that Brecca's death will only make up half of what Beowulf owes him.  Skellan storms out and Lila rushes to Brecca's side.  Finally, the writers get around to showing us that these two people actually care for each other. It is yet another example of how much Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands has failed when it comes to characterisation.  At this point, I didn't actually believe Brecca to be in any real jeopardy because up until this point, Beowulf Return to the Shieldlands has shown fear of actually killing off people.

Lila finds Bewoful and Vishka.  Vishka escorts her mother to main hall while Beowulf heads to see Brecca.  Beowulf tries to help but Brecca makes it clear that he accepts that this is the end of the road for him. Even in death, Brecca is completely unrepentant of the bad that he has done, claiming to have enjoyed it all far too much to express regret. Beowulf confirms that he is indeed Brecca's friend and Brecca is happy because Beowulf is his first and only friend.  Brecca then dies.

There's no time to mourn for Brecca because the people of Herot have been pushed back to the main hall.  Though Rate has sent the signal for his people to join the fight because he has married Rheda, the Varni have not yet arrived.  The Wulflings and the men of Bregan use a battering ram to try and open the door.

Beowulf and Slean reminisce about Hrothgar and Slean calls Beowulf his brother in all but blood. Was the comment supposed to be irony?  Rheda is dressing for her big moment and she is joined by Varr. Outside, Skellan has had enough of trying to get into the great hall and demands that it simply be set on fire.  Abrecan is aghast with this suggestion, pointing out that if they burn down the hall, they will be killing his people. Skellan is quick to point out that the people of Herot have no love for Abrecan anyway suggesting that all Abrecan is going to rule is ash.  Abrecan orders his men to keep using the ram.  The Varni finally show up and Skellan's men peel off to deal with the Varni. Skellan tells Draven that once Abrecan breaches the doors that they are to burn him with his people.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands Season One, Episode Elven

And it's war!  Unfortunately this episode is absolutely anticlimactic but at this point, I don't expect better from Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands.  Abrecan is surrounded by the people of Bregan and of course his Wolfling allies and plots the best way to attack Herot. Already there are frays in the alliance about what is the best way to approach Herot.   Rheda, having escaped her brother is back in Herot and her first action is to question Slean about his role in the uprisings.  A guilty Slean cannot look into his mother's eyes and she demands Hrothgar's  sword be taken from him and then demands his arrest.

Thanks to Slean's betrayal, Herot's closest allies are too far away to be of any real aid.  Compounding the issue, they don't have enough Huscarla to defeat Abrecan's army.  Under Slean's direction, the people of Herot have been training but they are absolutely the last line of defense and certainly no match for a Wolfling army.  It's Beowulf who suggests reaching out to the Varni but Rheda is convinced that any messenger from her will immediately be murdered because she threw the Varni out of the alliance of clans. Varr to the rescue.  As Varni, Varr believes that he can get Rate to listen to Rheda's pleas.

Elvina heads to visit Slean in jail and assures him that because he didn't judge her, she won't judge him.  Elvina then takes off to the woods and finds the mudborn who she has been feeding and warns it away because war is coming.  Razzak has been waiting for her and declares that while he doesn't want to be enemies, he wants to know why it is that Elvina seems to have taken sides with the humans against her own kind.  Elvina being Elvina, does her peacenik routine.

Varr and Beowulf arrive at the Varni land only to find that Hane is already there.  Seeing as how both sides want the Varni, Rate says that his people are happy to let Herot and Bregan fight it out and then swear loyalty which ever side wins.  Rate's supposed neutrality is actually a death sentence to Herot and he's astute enough to know that.  Varr then demands his right to be heard as a member of a Varni which means he has to right Rate's champion. Unfortunately, the fight is way too short but Varr emerges victorious.  Instead of asking Rate to send Varni warriors to defend Herot, he simply asks Rate to read Rheda's letter.  Rate reads Rheda's entreaty but it doesn't sway him.  Beowulf decides to head back to Herot to see what he can do to help, thankful that at least they still have Varr, It's time for Beowulf to look confused because it seems that now that Varr has killed the Varni champion, he is responsible for supporting the man's family and cannot leave.  With a sad smile, Varr hopes that he will find living with the Varni better the second time around.

Arla heads to see Slean, interrupting his bought of self pity.  With everything that he has done, Slean was actually wallowing in his daddy issues.  Arla wants to help and is quick to follow Slean's suggestion that she find a way to get Argat to come and see him.  Arla manages to track down Argat, but with everything going down, he doesn't have time to talk to a pubescent girl, until she invokes her position.  Arla argues that despite what he has done, Slean really cares about the Huscarla and has proven it with his washing of a Huscarla's body. Argat goes to see Slean and actually frees him so that Slean can fight with his men.  A gloating Arla sees Rheda and informs her that Slean has been set free.  Rheda is not the least bit impressed but Arla argues that Slean deserves the right to die in battle and cleanse his honour.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands , Season One, Episode Ten

Beowulf goes to see Rheda to tell her what Brecca learned about her brother.  Rheda immediately goes into a state of denial and decides that she is going to Bregan to question Abrecan herself. Yes, Rheda is now officially too stupid to live. It's one thing to believe her brother innocent and another to decide to ride into Bregan without a single person to protect her.  Slean offers to go instead of his mother but she turns him down.  Watching this scene, I couldn't help but think back to last week when Beowulf went to such lengths to warn Elvina that it was too dangerous to walk in the woods to get supplies.  What Rheda forgot in her zeal for the truth is that even if Abrecan was on her side, the surrounding area was still to dangerous for her to be riding off without anyone to have her back. Yes like I said earlier, far too stupid to live.

A conflicted Slean heads to see Kela and explains the situation.  He's afraid that if he tells the truth that his mother will never trust him again.  Perhaps he should have thought about it while he was flipping his position back and forth.  Kela tries to tell him that if Rheda dies it will automatically make him Thane but Slean has already walked out.  Slean takes comfort in his belief that Abrecan won't hurt his sister.  That makes so much sense.  Abrecan is willing to overthrow Rheda, but he is going to draw the line at murder?

Elvina wakes next to the mudborn and it shies away from her.  Elvina approaches slowly, touches its cheek and promises that no only will she not hurt it, she won't allow anyone else to hurt it either. Elvina makes her way through Herot and when Slean approaches, she explains that she escaped through the woods and that Beowulf now knows her secret.  It seems that Slean has known all along exactly what Elvina is.  When Beowulf sees the two together, he is not impressed and demands a moment in private.  Slean is determined to protect Elvina but Beowulf argues that even if Slean is the Thane's son, the people will still kill Elvina and then kill Slean for sleeping with her.  Slean is prepared to take that risk and questions how exactly the people will know, taking care to point out that the only reason Beowulf knows is that Elvina revealed herself in order to save Beowulf's life. When Slean threatens to bring Beowulf down with them if he talks, Beowulf consents to keeping silent.

Elvina then makes her way to Herot and finds Kela in her home.  Elvina promises Kela that she has nothing to fear form her because things are over between her and Sleen.  Kela suggests that they should be friends. If I were Elvina, I wouldn't drink or eat anything around that woman, particularly given that Slean told her not to kill anyone when he finds her in Elvina's home making potions.

Apparently, this flipping sides thing seems to be something natural to the people of this land.  When Saray welcomes Rheda to Bregan, Saray whispers into Rheda's ear that she should flee, thus confirming what Brecca warned her about.  Before Rheda can act, Abrecan takes her captive and demands that she sign over her position as Jarl.  Rheda is defiant, determined that she will do no such thing because it would be a betrayal of her son.  This is when Abrecan drops the hammer about Slean's duplicitous ways, saying that Rheda is too emotional to lead.  Yes, the sexism is strong with this one.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, Season One, Episode Nine

The mud born have been pushing to get their land back from the invaders.  From early on this season, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands there has been a lot of examination of colonialism and this episode is no different. The huscarls come across a human who claims that he was kept captive by the Warig and though they lose one of their men, they bring the man back with them to Herot completely unaware that they are bringing the leader of the mudborn into their territory.  After having killed Koll, a shifter living in hiding in Herot, one would think that this would make the Huscarls at least  a little bit suspicious of strangers but apparently this is not the case. Nothing like letting the enemy have a look at your defenses I suppose.

This week, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands laid it on pretty thick. It seems as though the mudborn have a chosen one whose birth was foretold. This chosen one will supposedly unite all of the mudborn and defeat the humans, chasing them from their land. Given that the humans are invaders and that they've slaughtered them at will, defiled their holy places and enslaved them, it's hard not to be team mudborn, though Beowulf: Return to the Shieldands is trying to suggest sympathy for both sides.

We finally got a little bit of Beowulf's backstory this week when he and Elvina are captured by the Warig. It seems that while Beowulf went to hunt down some escaped Warig prisoners, the Warig doubled back and slaughtered his wife and child, burning down his home. He clearly feels that all Warig need to die, missing the point that had the humans not invaded, murdered and enslaved perhaps his family might still be alive today.  I don't really expect much nuance from Beowulf at this point given that from what we have seen of his investigative skills  he's not necessarily the brightest person around.

For much of this season of Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, there have been plenty of clues that there's more to Elvina than meets the eye. When she is forced to reveal that she is a shifter in order to save Beowulf from being burned alive by the Wharig, I cannot say that I was surprised.  With all of the hinting the big reveal felt anticlimactic. Throughout most of the episode, Elvina kept stressing the value of all life, something that Beowulf clearly didn't agree with. With her big secret exposed, Beowulf finds that while he cannot kill Elvina, he can no longer see her humanity and demands that she stay away from him and never ever return to Herot. The moment when he tells Slean that Elvina is dead represents his absolute rejection of her.  His failure to see the bridge that Elvina could provide is a stunning example of how small minded Beowulf is and why the conflict will continue to rage. For a better examination of colonialism, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands needs to pull away from Beowulf's perspective.

Beowulf Return to the Shieldlands, Season One, Episode Eight

I very much believe that some of these characters are actually too stupid to be in positions of power; however, I think that this is the best episode of Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands to date. That being said, someone needs to put Grendel on a milk carton because he is still missing.  It seems that Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands has decided to fixate on political intrigue rather than even loosely following the poem.

It's time for Slean and Kela to marry and since this is the marriage which will assure the alliance that Rheda needs to cemenet her role as Jarl, Abrican sends Saray and Hane to represent him.  Not long after their arrival, Hane hands Saray a bottle of poison and informs her that Abrican is counting on her. Saray dutifully gives the bottle of poison to Kela, telling her that it's perfume and since Kela isn't supposed to accept wedding gifts, Saray suggests that it should be their little secret.  Given that Kela poisoned her own sister to get to Herot, she is not one to simple dabble with liquid she doesn't trust. Kela pours the poison on a rodent and watches as it quickly dies. Later, when the women are gathered, Kela picks up the bottle of poison and asks Saray to apply it for her.  Saray then picks up a cloth to apply it but Kela says that the cloth will dilute the scent and suggests that Saray uses her own hands. Knowing that she will die if she touches the poison Saray drops the bottle claiming that she made a mistake and Kela is quick to agree with her. It's a chilling scene because both women are murderers and now both women have a measure of understanding about each other.

 As part of the nuptials, Beowulf and Elvina agree to act as seconds for Slean and Kela, bringing the two together. It's Beowulf and Elvina's job to discuss whether or not they are aware of any reasons why Slean and Kela cannot marry.  It would make sense for these two to have this discussion privately but proving that these characters are not as smart as they are supposed to be and the writers are extremely lazy, Elvina and Beowulf talk about Slean being in love with Elvina, while Kela is in the next room.  They've already made Kela ruthless and intelligent, so why create such a lazy situation to confirm her suspicions regarding Slean and Elvina?

The final step in the nuptials involves Slean and Kela standing in front of stones and telling each other truths in private.  Saray decides to use this moment to kill Kela, and is stopped by none other than Slean, who has switched sides once again.  Slean it seems has a moment of conscience because he doesn't believe that Kela deserves to die because she is caught up in events beyond her understanding.  Kela uses this time to tell Slean who he is really taking as a wife, admitting that she killed to be  there.  Slean is shocked because he thought that Kela's sister had died of fever but Kela explains that when her sister started to get better, she poisoned her. Kela explains that she was tired of always living in her sister's shadow.  Slean doesn't even blink an eye at this. She reveals that she knows about his feelings about Elvina but counters by claiming that Elvina is in love with Beowulf and that the two slept together the night before.  Kela claims that together they can ensure that he becomes Thane adding, "we don't get to choose who we love or who loves us but we can choose who we make our way in the world with." That's all it takes for Slean to become convinced to follow through with his marriage to Kela.

When Saray returns to Bregan, unsurprisingly Abrican is upset by her failure.  When his leadership as Thane is challenged, Abrican is quick to blame his people's lack of failure in him on Saray, adding that he brought an assassin among his people.   Saray is quick to ask when it became their business to kill young girls and suggests that a true leader would come out and declare their intent towards Rheda.  Abrican tries to do that when a council is called but finds himself accused of treason and is removed from his position as Thane.  Luckily for Abrican this is when fish decide to spawn down river and he leads the charge, restoring his people's faith in him.    It was a quick wrap up and now that Abrican has publicly declared his intention to overthrow his sister, perhaps this plot can move along.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, Season One, Episode Seven

Dear Fangs readers, I continue to watch, recap and review this disappointing series so that you don't have to watch it. You're welcome, and yes, I'm BITTER.  It's week seven and Grendel is still missing. I think it's time we put out an amber alert for him, what say you all?  Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands decided to give us an an action packed week with a little bit of intrigue and unsurprisingly failed on both fronts.

Having not been warned by Abrecan, Herot is completely unprepared when the Wulflings attack. The Wulflings come roaring into Herot with a massive dog like creature which tears its way through the people. The Wulflings make off with Kela and some gold which includes King Hrothgar's golden death mask(yeah, it's as creepy as it sounds),  losing one of their own in the process.  This is absolutely a disaster because in order to remain Jarl, Rheda needs the vote of Thane Gorrik to keep her majority vote. Having Kela spend most of her time as a damsel in distress is the least interesting thing they could do with this calculating character. I did however love watching Elvina cringe when Kela questioned why it is that Beowulf is allowed to walk around freely though he struck Slean and if their fight was about her. The only time we see her act with any real agency is when she sneaks out of Elvina's hut to hang out with Brinni, who she has clearly developed an eye for, only to be captured. The lesson in this is that bad things happen if you step out of your lane.

We did get to see some intelligence from Varr, a character who is the only one thus far who has managed to hold my interest.  Varr gives away his swords to Beowulf, claiming that mental acuity is preferable to a weapon or physical strength.  There's so much about Varr that we don't know but it's not surprising given that Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands doesn't seem to believe in character building beyond telling us that he learned a lot from the Varney. This episode we saw an unarmed Varr take on an armed Draven with his bare hands (okay, not his smartest move) and win, as well as trick Draven into admitting he understood the common tongue when they were trying to interrogate him.  This btw is the last bit of sensibility that we saw for this entire episode.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands has made a point of showing that Slean cares very deeply for Elvina, yet he had no problem putting her life at risk by suggesting that the signal fire not be lit.  I guess the possibility of Thane is better than love.  We had two instances of characters actually speaking in earshot of people that lead to disaster.  Elvina and Varr (I suppose two moments of stupidity are allowed) discussed the love triangle between her, Beowulf and Slean, in Kela's earshot. Then we had Beowulf and Rheda discuss the fact that Kela is Thane Gorrik's daughter and the necessity of her marriage to Slean in front of the captured Draven.  Why in the name of heaven would they discuss the importance of Kela within Draven's earshot? Look, I know that the writers wanted to set it up so that at the prisoner exchange Draven had a reason to steal Kela and run away with Jogan but there had to be another way. It's this kind of clumsy writing that makes Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands painful to watch.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, Season One, Episode Six

It's episode six and there's still no sign of Grendel. At this point, I think ITV needs to hire a private detective to find him.  To some degree, it's to be expected that Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands should deviate somewhat from its source material but this has become ridiculous.  The story continues to simply plod along without much excitement and I cannot shake the disappointment I feel with this series.  This should have been epic but it's about as exciting as watching paint dry at this point.  It doesn't matter that they are giving us a better look at the trolls, it's simply not enough.

It looks like things are coming to a head for Herot (it took long enough)  Slean has finally come to terms with his divided loyalties and decided to support his Uncle Abrecan's bid to overthrow his mother.  I don't see the sense that this makes given that should Abrecan have a son by his young wife, who is quite handy with a sword, this would leave Slean out in the cold.  If that were not enough, when Bregan was attacked by raiders, Slean was quick to help out Abrecan but balked at the idea of lighting a warning fire.  In Slean's mind, a successful attack would weaken his mother. He's a real winner isn't he?  Slean wants to rule the Thane of Herot but doesn't care that Herot's people are going to be attacked and potentially die.

What pushes Slean over the edge is catching Beowulf kissing Elvina.  Though Slean promised Elvina that nothing would change who he loved and who he took to his bed, Elvina was certainly not of a like mind.  This didn't mean that she chose Beowulf but Slean didn't give her a chance to explain before throwing a punch over Beowulf supposedly stealing his woman.  Well, that confirms it, no matter how independent the women of Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands are, they are an aberration because when it comes right down to it, women are still viewed as property.  Given the time period that this is set in however, I understand this position even if I don't like it.

Elvina has once again raised my suspicions.  It's clear that she doesn't want to be with Slean now that he is going to be married to Kela but despite her attraction to Beowulf, she is resistant to him.  I think that there might be more going on here than the love triangle that the show seems to be painting for us. To be clear, Slean is not the brightest man and he seems to be ruled by his emotions and easily influenced whereas, the same cannot be said for Beowulf.  Could it be that Elvina doesn't think that she can achieve whatever plan she is hatching with the mudborn by bedding Beowulf instead of Slean?  Yes, Elvina is doing something with the mudborn and this was made plain by the fact that she left food for the mudborn who kidnapped her earlier.  It makes me wonder once again if Elvina herself is mudborn and living in hiding?

Beowulf has been dropped back into his role of investigator and unless he took some classes, he will simply meander around the way he did last time.  A man comes rushing into Herot to report that he has been attacked by a troll. This never should have happened because miners leave salt out for the trolls to feast upon.  When denied salt, the trolls turn to human blood to get the salt they need. Hmmm, who would have thought of humans as salty? Do we taste like bacon? Okay, back to some serious talk now.  Given that the salt comes from Bregan, clearly there is some kind of treachery going on.  Unfortunately, not for one moment does Rheda consider that Abrecan is behind it because she assumes the loyalty of her brother and Slean never bothered to tell her about the plots against her.

Beowulf: Return To The Shieldlands, Season One, Episode 5

I've given this show five episodes and to say that thus far it has been extremely underwhelming is to be kind.  From the moment Breca suggests that nothing else could possibly go wrong, we know that it will and that somehow, and that it will be Beowulf who pulls it all out of the fire. The trouble begins when the foursome are attacked by a giant  sandwyrm, who eats the dowry of weapons for Slean's bride. This means that somehow, Beowulf now has to negotiate a trade for a bride without a dowry and keep the support of Thane Gorrik for Rheda. There's also the issue that Slean's intended bride Mara is in love with Rowan and determined not to be married off.  Sure why not through some star crossed lover nonsense into this already overly typical plot.

When they finally reach the Isle of Dunes, their welcoming is not great to say the least. Thane Gorrik, as desperate as he is for the alliance, is not the least bit impressed that Slean didn't show up to claim his bride and is suspicious when he doesn't immediately see the dowry. Beowulf plays politician and tries to pacify Thane Gorrik.  It all becomes mute however when Mara falls ill.  It seems that sickness has been raging through the Isle of Dunes.  Not to worry though because it's Elvina to the rescue. She's determined that if they can just get something from a sandwyrm, it might save everyone. Breca and Beowulf discuss the situation in the sick area believing Mara to be unconscious.  The moment they leave, Mara wastes no time informing Rowan that the dowry is missing.

Beowulf approaches Thane Gorrik about hunting a sandwyrm but Gorrik believes its too dangerous. Beowulf however is determined because he believes that this might buy him some goodwill for the lost dowry.  Naturally, Rowan informs Gorrik about the lost dowry and together they agree that Rowan shall join Breca and Beowulf to hunt the sandwyrm and that Beowulf and Breca will not return.  This is great for Rowan, because in return for his help with the plan, Gorrik agrees to allow Mara to marry him. Say aww everyone. Of course Rowan has to fail because we all know that Beowulf is not going to return to Herot as anything but the conquering hero.

In a quick showdown, the sandwyrm is defeated and Rowan is quick to take his leave believing that Beowulf and Brecca will never return to the Isle of Dunes because they don't know the safe path back to avoid sandwyrms.  Luckily for Breca and Beowulf, the sandwyrm they killed just happens to be the one who ate the weapons they were trying to deliver as a dowry.  Gee did anyone see that coming? They return to the Isle of Dunes, by simply walking back in Rowan's footsteps. Yeah, Rowan didn't really think his little plan through.

Medicine in hand, it's time to start treating Mara and the rest of the sick people.  What no one counted on was Mara's ambitious little sister Kela, who is happy to let her sister die so that she can take her place.  Mysteriously, Mara is the only one who doesn't get well, leaving Elvina mystified (for now at least) Well, it seems that Kela is just the bride that Slean needs.

Beowulf Return to the Shieldlands, Season One, Episode Four

It's time for the vote to decide who will be the next Jarl.  Rheda is not the least bit certain that the vote will go her way and is worried that should it not, she will be forced to fight to the death.  The only thing that Rheda has determined is that no matter what happens on this day, she will emerge victorious and claim the title of Jarl.  This determination leads to an unexpected alliance.  It seems that while Rheda is not willing to tie herself to a man for the sake of power, she is not above forcing Slean to marry.  Rheda does this with the full knowledge that Slean is in love with Elvina.  Later, Rheda justifies her decision to Beowulf claiming that that she has seen the way that Elvina looks at him and it's certainly not the way that she looks at Slean.

Slean does have one card to play.  He knows that the traitor is actually his uncle Abrecan.  Instead of coming clean with this fact, Slean decides instead to blame Rate and his people.  How this makes any possible sense is beyond me.  At any rate, as far as Slean is concerned, Abrecan now owes him one and Rheda got to have her show of strength by pushing Rate and his people out of the alliance. Abrecan however makes it clear that he is better suited to ensure that Slean becomes Jarl than Rheda. The only that's clear thus far is that Slean is clearly hedging his bets.

To complete her position, Rheda must now send a dowry of swords and so she tasks Beowulf and Elvina with this task.  Naturally. Brecca tags along as Beowulf's second.  After a small run in with Vishka. in which she claims that Brecca is not man enough to be her mother, Brecca is irked to say the least.  Really, for Vishka, this is about the fact that despite being a good fighter her gender keeps her from having any excitement at all.  Vishka decides to follow along behind and not having any experience, stumbles into a sacred burial ground and takes a sacred item. It seems that Vishka took on more than she could handle.  This leads to Vishka being injured and the crew having to go on the run for the offence she unintentionally committed.

On one hand, I think that the fact that Vishka got into so much trouble and is injured evidences that she lacks real life experience.  No matter how skilled she is with a sword, nothing makes up for that. On the other hand, it also feels a bit like punishment for Vishka daring to step outside of her gender role and seek adventure, rather than being content to just listen to the stories and celebrate the male heroes that she is presented.  I hope that as this little journey moves forward,  Vishka will have a chance to show her skills beyond weapons forging.

Now that Rheda is officially Jarl, she is not content to follow Abrecan's lead and this pisses him off to the point that he gets snippy with her and has to apologise.  Rheda is forced to make it clear to her brother that she intends to rule.  For her, this means making a set of standard rules which all will follow.  This will take power away from the Thanes, who are used to presiding over justice in their territories.  It's a bold move considering that her rule hangs by the balance and she has yet to solidify anything, I'm not certain it's the wisest.  At this point, I have really become a fan of Rheda.  She is a strong character who refuses to hide behind a man and intends to leave her own mark.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, Season One, Episode Three

The race is on to see if Rheda can get enough votes to become Yarl and to that end, it's absolutely essential that Beowulf and Rate return with Slean and Than Scorann. Without Thane  Scorann's vote, there seems to be some doubt as to whether Rheda can come out ahead.  This takes Rate and Beowulf into the woods to chase down the captors.  This should have been exciting but I actually found it rather boring and disappointing.  Unfortunately, Slean lives and Thane Scorann dies but not before telling his brother Rate, that his vote goes to Rheda.  Scorann did however whisper a condition into his brother's ear which the audience is not privy to.  The problem of course is that I don't care in the slightest.

As we saw in the last episode, Koll the skinshifter has been captured.  Koll made it very clear that he did what he did to protect his family.  This means that someone figured out who and what he is and blackmailed him to destablize Herot during the time of the Moot.  The people of Herot who are either unaware of the larger plot going on or simply don't care have decided that they want justice from Sylvi, Koll's wife.  Elvina speaks beautifully in Sylvi's defense pointing out that none of them knew what Koll is, including the former Yarl, Hrothgar.  The question of course is, is Elvina sympathetic because she doesn't want to see the woman dead and her child left an orphan or does she have something to hide herself, given that she chose to strip in front of Beowulf last week instead of burning her hand to prove that she isn't Mudborn.

It's clear from the outset that Rheda wants to give Sylvi a pass and says to her people that Sylvi will be judged based on the law.  Rheda is sympathetic to the idea that Sylvi would chose to make a life with Koll, given that her former husband used to beat her and Koll took her away from all of that. I think Rheda knows all too well what it is to be a woman negotiating this hyper masculine world and how vulnerable it would have made Sylvi; however, this does not stop Rheda from tricking Sylvi's daughter into indicting her mother.  I suppose female solidarity only goes so far in the Shieldlands.

In my review last week, I pondered whether or not Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands is attempting to discuss colonization.  This week, we saw that when Brecca taunted Koll, Koll responded by making it clear that he came from a line of priests, who advised the giants, who used to rule the area. Koll is quick to say that his people were important rulers and advisers when the Shieldlanders were living in caves.  Even Sylvi accuses the Shieldlanders of being savages when she is sentenced to death.  Clearly, there's more to the Mudborn than the creatures that we have seen.  They had a society and perhaps even a rule of law.  Calling them savages and depriving them of land is simply the justification of colonization.  I am fascinated by this line and hope that it continues on.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, Season One, Episode Two

They should call this episode no closer to finding Grendel.  Sometimes watching a show based on something as well known as Beowulf can be frustrating because it comes with certain expectations. What we got in this episode was a lot of political intrigue, incompetence on Beowulf's part if you ask me and world building.  We also get to learn more about the mud-born.

The episode begins with the funeral pyre of Hrothgar.  Rheda is quick to exploit this opportunity by telling her people that Hrothgar isn't really dead and in fact lives on in Slean.  Rheda is very direct when she orders Slean to pick up his fathers sword and hold it in the air for the people to see. Unfortunately for Rheda, Slean really does look like the incompetent weasel he is holding Hrothgar's sword. The mourning doesn't last long because it's time to investigate the murder of Bayen.  This is of particular importance because the Thanes are gathering for a Moot at Herot, and there's a concern that if the other Thanes find out that there is a skin-shifter running loose that it will undermine Rheda's chances of being chosen as the next Jarl.  This issue intensifies when the skin-shifter kills an emissary of one of the Thanes.  Rheda decides to ride off with her brother to meet and hopefully slow down some of the incoming Thanes and sends Slean off in the opposite direction to do the same.

Rheda is clearly aware of the power dynamics in her hunt to ensure that she is able to become Jarl. She takes the time to go over the various factions with Slean and this feels very much like the info dump that it is.  I wonder if the writers have heard of the concept of show and not tell because there was a lot of exposition in this episode? That being said, it seems that Rale in particular, is not pleased with the idea of a female Jarl and seeks to have a vote of no confidence, thus forcing Rheda to defend her position in battle - a battle she cannot hope to win.  Rheda is also very aware that some of the other Thanes want to marry her and take power for themselves, or at the very least use the opportunity to their advantage and force her into having sex.  Rheda speaks repeatedly of wanting peace but it's clear that in this testosterone filled world, peace may not actually be what's wanted.

All of the men in this story have agendas.  Beowulf Return to the Shieldlands wants to make sure the audience is aware of this. Yes, I'm talking about the poorly written seen between Slean and Scorann in which Scorann discuss his hatred of Hrothgar. While it's not surprising that there would be people who would want the former Jarl dead, it could have been handled differently.  As aforementioned, we are lead to believe that everyone has an agenda, even Beowulf and Brecca to some degree.  The only exception to this is Rheda's brother Abrecan.  The two seem very close and Rheda clearly trusts and relies on Abrecan.  Under normal conditions, I would not wish for a male character to betray what is clearly a strong female character but the slowly plodding pace of the plot and the plebian political intrigue needs a good shake up.  I can only hope they decide to skip the incest since Beowulf Return to the Shieldands is so determined to copy The Game of Thrones.

Thus begins Beowulf's time as an investigator. For the most part he seems to run in circles with the only benefit for the audience being that we get a really good look at the set. Beyond costuming ( this btw excludes Breca's little leather outfit which had me saying really Beowulf?), clearly some good money we spent on the sets and serves to give the audience a good example of time and place.  When Beowulf headed to the smelting area, I could not help but notice that all of the people of colour were iron workers.  They work extremely hand and most who choose to stay die there. We did get an interesting shot of the smelt workers using trolls to aid their labour.  It's a typical fantasy shot which served to remind us that beyond all of the political drama, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands at its heart is supposed to be a fantastical story.

Beowulf: Return To The Shieldlands, Season, Episode One:

Beowulf is based on an epic 3,000 line old English poem. In the source material, Beowulf is the hero who battles a monster named Grendel, Grendel's mother and a dragon.  Obviously for the sake of television this already long poem is going to be drawn out.

The opening theme quite disappointingly is quite reminiscent of The Game of Thrones.  Given the age of this epic saga, it absolutely has no need to play upon the popularity of The Game of Thrones.  It should be able to stand on its own. Beowulf: Return To The Shieldlands begins with Beowulf travelling with Breca to see king Hrothgar, only to learn that Hrothgar is deceased and that he will not be allowed to see the body.  I must admit to the shock that Hrothgar died so early, particularly because he was played by William Hurt.

King Hrothgar's death does however serve to provide the fuel in the political situation.  It seems, having decided that his son Slean is not up to the job, Hrothgar chose Rheda to succeed him.  It's clearl early on that there is tension between Slean and Beowulf largely because Slean is positioned the lesser man.  Both are sons of Hrothgar but only Beowulf knows this truth of this and if that were not enough, Beowulf is also the better fighter.  For Slean, Hrothgar represents a challenge to what he sees as his birthright and like a conniving little weasel that he is, much of Slean's inferiority is covered by Rheda.  It does however make me wonder if they will move away from the original story and have Beowulf battle Rheda in revenge for his murder of Slean, who I already think needs to die? Even Rheda however is quick to bend when Beowulf returns after injuring the troll/Grendal. If nothing else, it's clear that things are going to come to head between Beowulf and Slean, particularly now that Beowulf, hero that he is, has saved Elvina from the troll, whom I assume to be Grendal.

What I did find interesting about the troll, is that it wasn't mindless. It clearly captures Elvina in search of a mate of sorts and has feelings for her. Unfortunately it had me thinking of King Kong which is not what I should have been thinking about during Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands. I do however hope that the character of the troll/Grendal will be developed as the story goes on. I want to see that he has motivation for actions, rather than acting on instinct alone.