Theo & Den Magiske Talisman (Theo & The Magical Talisman) is a Danish Julekalender that first aired on DR1 in 2018.
Theodor is a young boy who is being bullied at school. He has a close bond with his grandfather, Harald, and is helping him try to finish a painting of Thannanaya, another world that Harald believes people travel through when they reach the end of their life to get ready to die. However, when Harald falls off a ladder, and ends up in a coma soon after, Theo refuses to accept the possibility of losing his grandfather. He discovers that a special talisman allows him to travel to Thannanaya through the fireplace in his grandfather's house, and along with Simone, a new girl in his school, he travels through Thannanaya in hopes of finding a way to save his grandfather.
But is trying to meddle with the natural order of things in Thannanaya really such a good idea?
Tropes
- Break the Haughty: After ending up in a coma and getting lost in Thannanaya, M.C. has to face the possibility of dying, gets betrayed by the faun who had told him he could get him back home with the talisman and has to eat the strawberries made from every bad thing he's done up until now. After Theo sets things right and M.C. recovers, it is unclear if he remembers anything of what happened in Thannanaya, but when Theo and Simone check up on him in the hospital, it's clear that the experience left an impact as he apologizes to Theo for the whole "julekalender" thing.
- The Bully: Mads Christian, often called M.C. for short, is this to Theo. He and his friends make their own julekalender of them bothering Theo, mainly by constantly taking off his shoes outside in the snow.
- Cassandra Truth: When Theo tries to tell his parents he went to Thannanaya to try to get Harald back, they of course don't believe him. They gradually begin to consider the idea of it being real after both Theo and Simone go missing after both get stranded in Thannanaya, along with the news reporting that no one has died the past few days. It takes them witnessing Alma disappearing into the fireplace after getting the talisman back from the faun and going to Thannanaya to look for Theo to fully convince them that its real.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: Throughout the show, Theo and Simone keep hearing from Thannanaya's other inhabitants of how scary Thanna is and how they don't want to anger her. When Theo finally meets her near the end of the show when parting ways with Harald, she turns out to actually be pretty friendly and thanks Theo when he returns the talisman to her.
- Equivalent Exchange: Theo makes a deal with Børsten (The Brush) to get his grandfather's shoes back by trading him the shoes of M.C., not realizing the consequences this will have: While Harald recovers, M.C. ends up getting into an accident and ends up in coma.
- Foil: Simone can be considered one to Theo in regards to their reasons for going to Thannanaya. Theo doesn't want to accept the possibility that he might lose his beloved grandfather and wants to find a way to save him. Simone has already lost her parents some time ago and is trying to move on, her reason for insisting on going with Theo to Thannanaya being that she just wants to check in on her parents to make sure they're doing okay in the afterlife.
- For Want Of A Nail: Discussed when Simone talks to Theo about the day her parents died, explaining that she was playing hide and seek with them before the accident. Simone admits that she has since thought about how if she had either left her hiding spot sooner, or stayed there just a little longer, the accident might not have happened.
- The Journey Through Death: Anyone who enters a coma or other state of unconsciousness before death will travel through the magical land of Thannanaya to enter whatever comes after (it's never directly confirmed whether there is an afterlife or not, though the series implies it's a Self-Inflicted Hell). It's not made clear whether people who die more suddenly go to Thannanaya or not.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Theo has this reaction when he hears that M.C. was in an accident and ended up in a coma after Harald recovers from his, since Theo had traded M.C's shoes for his grandfather's without realizing something like that would happen.
- Near-Death Experience: Harald had one when he and his wife was involved in an accident, which he survived and she didn't. This is how he learned of Thannanaya, and how he obtained the talisman, as Thanna accidentally dropped it when she sent Harald back to the world of the living.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Theo finally manages to bring his grandfather back by trading his shoes for M.C's, not only does this result in M.C. ending up in a coma in Harald's place, but Thannanaya ends up nearly disappearing entirely.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Simone tends to call Theo out on some of his more selfish actions in his attempts to save his grandfather.
