Series / Willow (2022)

aka: Willow

Spoilers for the 1988 film will be left unmarked.

"Into the unknown. That's where we must go."

Willow is a 2022 Heroic Fantasy series which debuted on Disney+ on November 30, 2022. A direct sequel to the 1988 film of the same name, it again follows Nelwynn farmer-turned-sorcerer Willow Ufgood as he has to once more leave his home and try saving the world from the forces of evil twenty years after banishing Queen Bavmorda.

The original film's stars Warwick Davis, Joanne Whalley, Kevin Pollak, and Rick Overton reprise their roles as Willow, Sorsha, Rool, and Franjean, respectively, while new cast members include Ruby Cruz as Sorsha's daughter Kit, Erin Kellyman as trainee knight Jade, Ellie Bamber as a kitchen maid named Dove, Tony Revolori as prince/scholar Graydon, and Amer Chadha-Patel as Boorman, a thief offered freedom if he assists the group in their quest. Original director Ron Howard serves an an executive producer on the series.

At least two more seasons were initially planned, although following a report of cancelation, writer and executive producer Jon Kasdan explained on Twitter that the cast had simply been released for the time being, due to streaming series production slowing down across the industry. Production on season two was not expected to begin in the next twelve months, but the show had not officially been canceled. Despite this, it was subsequently announced the series would be removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, less than six months after its premiere.

Previews: Teaser, Trailer

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This series provides examples of:

• Action Girl: Kit and Jade are both dab hands with swords, and Jade has a talent for throwing shuriken. This is demonstrated in the first episode when they practise fighting on a rocky mountain and again while running away from bandits.
• Affably Evil: The head troll Sarris is a genuinely pleasant fellow to the heroes, always talking politely and even sometimes chastising his more brutish underlings. He seems to believe that a little thing like imprisoning, enslaving or trying to kill people isn't anything to be mean about. When he's stabbed by Kit in the end, he acts humorously upset, saying he'd felt they were getting along.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: It's clear that part of Jade's attraction to Kit is the princess's willingness to flout social norms, being bolder about this than Jade.
• Almost Kiss: In Episode 5, "Wildwood", Jade and Kit are about to kiss after finally coming clean on their feelings for each other. Then a troll comes out of nowhere, grabs Kit and takes off with her right before their lips could meet.
• Altar Diplomacy: In the first episode, Queen Sorsha of Tir Asleen and King Hastur of Galladoorn have arranged a marriage between their heirs, Kit and Graydon, to solidify the alliance between their realms and pave the way to the realms becoming a single kingdom. The wedding is postponed when the plot kicks off.
• Alternative Calendar: In everyday conversation, the characters measure the passage of time in terms of "moons" instead of months or years. For instance, it is stated in the first episode that 200 moons have passed since Queen Bavmorda's defeat. If a "moon" lasts roughly a month as it does on Earth, that adds up to 16 years and 8 months (Extrapolating from this, that would make Elora just shy of 17, Airk and Kit — presuming Sorsha and Madmartigan married immediately in the wake of the movie and Sorsha became pregnant right after — just under 16, and Jade around 16 and a half, since her father General Kael was killed at the end of the movie. For the record, Ellie Bamber (Elora) and Dempsy Bryk (Airk) are 26, while Ruby Cruz (Kit) and Erin Kellyman (Jade) are 24). Years are only used when referring to truly ancient times, like the 10,000 years since the forging of the Kymerian Cuirass.
• Ambiguous Situation: Sorsha says Cherlindrea and Fin Raziel are both "gone" by the time of the series. It's not clear if they're dead or if they just left (Maria Holvoe, who played Chelindria, hasn't been in a film since 1989; while Patricia Hayes, who played Raziel, died in 1998). Played for laughs when Rool explains that Franjean is "no longer with us" before clarifying he "headed south, said it was for the weather, but we know it was because his wife left him - for me." and said wife is also "no longer with us" - she actually is dead. "Further south."
• Ambiguously Bi: Boorman is consistently depicted as definitely attracted to women, but in the first season finale, when he, Jade, and Graydon find themselves facing almost-certain death, he proposes a quick makeout session before they're all killed, if anyone's interested. Given that the people he makes this suggestion to are a presumably straight man and a confirmed gay woman, there are no takers.
• Ambiguously Gay: Hubert, the woodswoman, is not technically confirmed to be gay. She might just be wearing masculine clothing, platonically living with another woman, using a double-headed axe, complimenting Dove's beauty and generally fulfilling every butch lesbian cliche ever while being completely heterosexual. No one in the fandom believes this to be the case.
• And I'm the Queen of Sheba: The group is understandably astonished when Willow reveals that Dove is actually Elora Danan, though none moreso than Dove herself.
• Anti-Villain: The Bone Reavers are bandits, but they are also former slaves who are trying to build a life for themselves the only way they can. Furthermore, General Kael was their leader. He and his people were originally slaves, but Bavmorda offered them a chance to be free... if they served her instead.
• The Apprentice: Dove becomes Willow's apprentice in the art of sorcery. Graydon later becomes his apprentice too.
• Armor of Invincibility: The legendary Kymerian Cuirass, forged out of pure Khromium 10,000 years (and 3 weeks) before the events of the series by a fay of the Grove. It is magical and supposed to make the wearer invincible.
• Arranged Marriage: A plot point during the first episode is Kit being wed to Graydon as part of a tightening of bonds between Tir Asleen and Gallodoorn, and how much Kit is opposed to the idea. It creates a lot of tension between her and her mother. Graydon later admits to her that he wasn't thrilled by the idea either, because he believes people who get married should, you know, actually be in love first.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Boorman talks quite a bit of smack, but backs it up every time. Airk is likewise rather full of himself, but willingly heads into battle to try and protect his family.
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: The four monsters who invade Tir Asleen only do so to kidnap Airk, and once they have him, they skedaddle.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Kit and Jade team up, and after Jade is injured, Kit and Sorsha do the same.
• Badass Boast: Airk demurs that he's not the best swordsman in the kingdom. He's second-best.
• Balance Between Good and Evil: According to Willow, a balance exists between Light and Shadow, Good and Evil, and when that balance is broken, the Universe itself steps in to correct it.
• Ban on Magic: Sorsha forbade magic in hopes of hiding Elora's identity and preventing the Order of the Wyrm from gaining a foothold in her kingdom.
• Bandit Clan: The Bone Reavers, a gang of horse-riding bandits who wear masks made from the skulls of their victims. They accost our heroes during Episode 1, and one of the new heroes (Boorman) is confirmed in Episode Four to be a former member.
• BFS: Boorman wields a massive sword which he's got to use two-handed.
• Big Damn Heroes: Willow swoops in to help Elora bust out of the Crone's illusory world, which causes the others to be freed from their petrification.
• The Big Damn Kiss: Two, but the first one shows up relatively early: in the first episode, when Kit decides she'd rather go beyond The Barrier than marry Graydon, she gives Jade a quite passionate kiss before leaving. They later share a much more intimate one on an island of the Shattering Sea after affirming their love for each other.
• Birds of a Feather: During the journey to find Airk, Grayson bonds with Kit (due to their shared struggling with parental issues and chafing against their Arranged Marriage) and Elora (due to their shared talent for magic and struggles with self-image).
• Birthmark of Destiny: Dove doesn't have Elora's distinctive trident birthmark...until Willow cancels the illusion spell hiding it, proving her identity.
• Blade Below the Shoulder:
  • After Boorman cuts off The Scourge's left arm at the elbow in the first episode, the next time he shows up, his stump has been fitted with an axe.
  • The Kymerian Cuirass lets Kit summon a pata-like blade from her left gauntlet, echoing how her father Madmartigan fought General Kael with a pata on his left hand and a regular longsword in his right.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Respectively Dove, Kit and Jade among the main heroes. This is a subverted trope; Dove is a redhead whose hair has been dyed blonde from a young age by her guardian. In the second episode, Willow's vision of the future shows Dove with her natural red hair. By the end of the fourth episode, her natural red color begins to show, and when she fully embraces her power in episode six, the rest of her hair turns red in an instant.
• Boyish Short Hair: Kit, a tomboy and lesbian warrior, has very short hair for a princess. Airk's is roughly twice as long, though under The Crone's influence, he cuts it by the last two episodes.
• Break the Haughty: Kit is something of a Spoiled Brat. Everything she goes through during the quest knocks her down a peg or two, culminating in an Anguished Declaration of Love to Jade.
• Breather Episode: Episode 5 is mostly the heroes partying with a Bone Reaver Wacky Wayside Tribe. It follows the dark and intense Episode 4, with the heroes trapped in Nockmaar castle.
• Call A Human A Smeerp: It's unclear in the original film if "Daikini" is simply the Nelwyn word for larger humans or if it's a more general word for them in-setting, but the series includes Daikini characters using the word themselves a couple of times, suggesting it's indeed the general word and that the blanket word of "human" either may not exist or simply not see frequent use in the Willow setting.
• Call-Back
  • In the first episode when the fog descends on Tir Asleen, Prince Airk flourishes his sword much like his father Madmartigan did as he leaves Dove in the bedchambers to defend the castle.
  • In Episode 2, the Nelwyns call for Willow to perform the Finger Test on Dove. In the film, the High Aldwyn used this Secret Test of Character to choose his next apprentice. Willow's lack of confidence was the only reason he failed. Unhappy to be performing the test on Dove, the older Willow tries to secretly guide her into choosing correctly, but she still fails the test. Willow grumpily declares the test means nothing, but the Nelwyns have already lost interest.
  • In Episode 3, Willow reiterates the previously-established reason the Gales and their servants can't just kill Elora if they get their hands on her; she'd just be reborn. Instead, they have to banish her just as Bavmorda tried and failed to do.
  • In the last shot of the finale, the Crone's army seems to include several Eborsisks, the two-headed dragon from the movie.
• Canon Discontinuity: The movie was originally followed up by a book series called the Chronicles of the Shadow War Trilogy featuring teenage Elora Danan written by George Lucas and Chris Claremont, but this series has effectively been rendered non-canon by the Disney+ series, though Word of God has described the books as 'tangential' to the show.invoked
• The Casanova: Airk, much like his father, is a ladies' man with a long string of lovers and a reputation as an unreliable fop. Despite this, he forms a genuine attachment to Dove.
• Cast from Hit Points: It is strongly implied that some of a mage's lifeforce is needed to power their magic. Willow has to be judicious with his spellcasting, because he has to save his strength for the quest and the Wicked Witch waiting for them in the Immemorial City.
• The Cavalry:
  • In the first episode, when Kit is about to be lashed by one of The Doom's steel whips, Sorsha shows up sword in hand to defend her daughter.
  • Soon after, Jade is pinned against a wall being choked by The Scourge, then Boorman cuts off its left arm and frees her.
• Changed My Mind, Kid: In the season finale, Willow refuses to go into the Immemorial City with the others, saying that he's reconsidered what's most important to him and wants to go home and protect what's left of his family. He changes his mind offscreen and shows up later just in time to tip the odds back in favor of the heroes.
• Chekhov's Skill: The party is missing one ingredient for the potion needed to save Graydon's life. Dove is able to come up with a way to get that ingredient from other things lying around. This is because, as a Supreme Chef, she knows how to improvise with what she has on hand.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Kit and Jade have been best friends for years, indicated to be since they were both girls, which grew into a mutual attraction.
• Closed Circle: Airk tries to escape the Immemorial City. He only ends up coming right back to where he'd left.
• Closet Key: Kit and Jade both serve as this for each other, with them realizing over time that they're in love. Boorman already saw the two's feelings, but they didn't lay it out until Jade confesses she loves Kit (Kit's passionately kissing her before preparing to leave though was a sign in retrospect).
• Continuity Nod: Several references to the original movie.
  • Willow tells the story of how Bavmorda turned an entire army into pigs. He's pretty sure he and Fin Raziel changed all of them back. The party look nervously at the pork they're eating, and Boorman actually spits his out.
  • While possessed, Graydon demands that the "peck" give him water. These were also Madmartigan's first words to Willow.
  • The Wizard Duel between Elora and the Crone devolves into Good Old Fisticuffs just like the fight between Fin Raziel and Bavmorda.
  • Willow recounts Madmartigan turning into a Human Snowball.
• The Corruption:
  • Commander Ballantine is wounded by The Lich during The Gales' attack on Tir Asleen, and this is shown to infect him. He turns into a servant of the Crone, then infects other guards in his party to be the same.
  • Graydon suffers this too after getting infected in episode 3, though he's able to be exorcised.
• Covered with Scars: There is a large mass of scars on Graydon's chest, the result of some kind of treatment he had as a child. It may have had something to do with the apparent Demonic Possession he suffered when he killed his brother.
• Damsel in Distress: Happens quite often to Elora, almost to the point of it being a particularly dark Running Gag.
  • Elora gets kidnapped by Ballantine. She escapes briefly, but is recaptured. She's rescued later by the others.
  • Elora later frees herself and Kit through a spell when they're captured by the Bone Reavers. Then, while they're coming to rescue her (but instead get captured again) Jade manages to slip out of her bonds.
  • Elora rescues Kit when she's sucked down inside a strange liquid in the mines.
• Dark Action Girl: Scorpia, leader of the Bone Reavers, is skilled with a knife and unarmed combat. Downplayed however as it turns out she's more of an Anti-Villain.
• Dead Guy Junior: Airk, son of Madmartigan and Sorsha, is presumably named after Madmartigan's friend Airk, who'd died in the war with Bavmorda.
• Demonic Possession:
  • Ballantine is possessed by The Lich due to being touched by its staff, then spreads this to his men as well, turning evil while The Lich controls them.
  • Graydon is also infected in episode 3 and gets fully possessed in episode 4. Also it is revealed in episode 4 that Graydon was apparently demonically possessed as a child which caused him to kill his older brother by shoving him out of a tree.
• Designated Girl Fight: Jade, the best woman warrior in the heroes' party fights Scorpia, leader of the Bone Reavers, who's a good fighter herself. This ends when Scorpia realizes Jade's her long-lost younger sister.
• Disappeared Dad: Madmartigan has been missing for years after he went on a mission Sorsha tasked him with, leaving her and their children behind. A flashback of her talking with Willow reveals that she fears she sent him on a Suicide Mission.
• Distant Sequel: The series starts almost 17 years (200 Moons) after the events of the film.
• Distinguishing Mark: Scorpia recognizes Jade as her long-lost sister by a tattoo on the back of her neck which they share. Their father was Kael; all his children got this as infants, thought Scorpia and Jade are the only surviving ones.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Played with. During an early conversation, Jade looks at Kit before losing her train of thought, but it turns out this was because she's been accepted for knight training and was worried how Kit would react.
• Distressed Dude: The plot is set in motion by the abduction of Airk, son of Sorsha and Madmartigan. If renewed it looks like season 2 will be about the rescue of the kidnapped and potentially brainwashed Graydon.
• Dressing as the Enemy: Boorman, Elora, Jade and Graydon disguise themselves as trolls in totally concealing mining gear that some wear while evading them.
• Dual Wielding: While fighting Ballantine, Jade wields two swords at once for a time. She does it skillfully, holding her own against him doing so. Kit wields Madmartigan's longsword and a chromiam pata when fighting Airk in the final episode.
• Dying as Yourself: Willow's spell allows Ballantine to regain control of himself, but it's too late to save him.
• Endless Daytime: There's no night in the Immemorial City, so Airk can't tell time while there. As the heroes cross the Shattered Sea to rescue him, they note that the days get longer and the nights shorter as they draw near it.
• Everyone Can See It: Absolutely nobody misses the fact that Jade and Kit are in love, except the two of them.
• Exactly Exty Years Ago: Played for laughs when Boorman is telling the story of the Kymerian Cuirass, as he says it was forged "ten thousand years... and about 3 weeks ago".
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Boorman's answer when Kit asks him what a "wererat" is.
• Failed a Spot Check: People are constantly surprised by foes sneaking up on them Behind the Black in featureless terrain.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Nelwyns are referred to by the derogatory term "peck" several times.
  • When she was a baby, Jade's family was slaughtered by Bone Reavers and she was raised to hate them. Turns out she was lied to. She is a Bone Reaver and she was stolen from her people as a baby.
  • Sarris the troll dislikes Nelwyns and insists that Willow only speak when spoken to. Though, as with everything else, he says this in the most polite and friendly way possible.
• Fauns and Satyrs: Satyrs are mentioned but not seen. The skin of a satyr was used to bind a Tome of Eldritch Lore found in Bavmorda's old castle.
• Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Sorsha has long hair and always wears an elegant, beautiful gown. Her daughter Kit on the other hand is a short-haired tomboy who wears very masculine clothing (extremely reminiscent of what Sorsha wore as a soldier, in fact), eschewing the more feminine things that were expected of her as a princess. The illusion of Sorsha Kit meets in the Immemorial City apologizes for trying to make Kit something she's not, as part of the Crone's temptation.
• First-Episode Twist: At the beginning of the series, Elora Danan and Madmartigan have disappeared. Kit theorises Madmartigan secreted Elora away and chose to stay with her rather than return to his family. She finds out whether that theory's true at the end of the episode. Elora has been secretly living in the castle all along as the fake-blonde kitchen maid, Dove. Madmartigan's disappearance is due to something else.
• Flat "What": Dove's reaction is this when Willow drops the First-Episode Twist revelation that she is, unbeknownst to her, Elora Danan.
• Foreshadowing: In episode 2, Kit is skeptical that Elora's Birthmark of Destiny is real and suggests that Bavmorda marked a bunch of babies. She tells Jade "Maybe you have a mark." It's later revealed that Jade has a tattoo that marks her as General Kael's long-lost daughter.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Kase knew Airk and Kit ever since they were babies. He dies in the first episode and he's never mentioned again.
• Four Is Death: The Crone has four servants: The Lich (a sorcerer), The Doom (a cloaked whip-wielder), The Dag (an avian-humanoid shapeshifter), and The Scourge (a huge musclebound brawler).
• Functional Magic: Willow and Graydon's magic is "Rules Magic", focused more on the correct pronunciation of magic words and the proper use of ingredients. Elora's magic is of the "Inherent Gift" variety. She struggles with Willow's style of magic but is most powerful when she stops thinking about it so hard.
• Gender-Blender Name:
  • Hubert, played by Hannah Waddingham.
  • One of the Bone Reavers is named Lori. Most people just call him by his last name, Toth.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: The party that goes after Airk has three men and three women (Willow, Graydon, Boorman vs Kit, Jade, Dove).
• Greater-Scope Villain: The Crone it turns out is The Man Behind the Man to Queen Bavmorda, the main villain of the original film. She indoctrinated Bavmorda and turned her evil to begin with, and Willow outright says The Crone has a master of her own, The Wyrm.
• Green Thumb: The very first spell Willow teaches Dove is one to make a plant grow from the ground. She succeeds finally after much struggle, but doesn't see it since she's been kidnapped.
• Hallucinations: The characters experience a number of these while sheltering in Nockmaar castle, seeing visions of the past and other things, indicated to be a result of the residual evil magic there.
• Happily Adopted: Jade was adopted, raised and trained by Ballantine. Prior to him being possessed and corrupted, it seems they have a loving father-daughter relationship. Before he dies from her mercy stroke, Ballantine tells Jade how much raising her meant, along with his pride in her. Jade is heartbroken after having killed him, even if it was to spare him pain. The "happily" is further put into question when it turns out that Jade wasn't rescued from the Bone Reavers, she was abducted by Tir Asleen after her Bone Reaver father was killed.
• Healing Magic Is the Hardest: Willow is perfectly capable of it, but it drains him significantly. This is why Silas tells Willow to let him die, so that he can save his strength for the quest.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Zigzagged. The corrupted knights sent after the heroes all wear helmets (usually putting the visors down just before fighting). Meanwhile the heroes are bareheaded, except for Jade putting on a dueling helmet briefly before she fights Ballantine. It's quickly knocked off though.
• Hereditary Homosexuality: Scorpia flirts with Jade as they fight and calls her "gorgeous", while she's been with Boorman in the past. They turn out to be half-sisters. On her part, Jade proclaims her love for her female best friend Kit after this.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Allagash dies holding off what looks like around twenty trolls as the others escape, going down after he kills many.
• Hidden Backup Prince: Elora Danan, who's the True Empress, is hidden under an alias to protect her, without her even knowing of her status at first.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Due to a vision Willow had that she would be killed and leave the world in ruins when the forces of evil took over, Sorsha determined she would hide Elora Danan as a simple servant in her castle, Brünhilde (nicknamed Dove), who at first has no idea about this.
• Horse Archer: The Bone Reavers chasing the heroes in episode 1 use bows while riding on horseback, fitting for a Bandit Clan.
• I Am Spartacus: Jade says she's Elora along with the real Elora when the trolls come to get her. So does Boorman. Sarris, their leader, is more practical than most and says they'll take both of them.
• I Call It "Vera": Hubert, the woodswoman that helps Elora, has an axe that she named Roargoth after her father.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: In episode 8, Kit has to face a corrupted Airk.
• Implausible Deniability: Kit tries to deny twice that she's in love with Jade as Boorman and then Dove take note of it, with not even momentary plausibility with how she reacts.
• Internal Reveal: Episode 4 has quite a few of them. Elora learns that Willow used trickery to hide her from Bavmorda and her freaking out took care of the rest, Kit reveals that Elora really did make the bush grow, Boorman reveals that he found the Lux Arcanum after all, and Elora discovers that Graydon was apparently possessed by something as a child and killed his older brother.
• It's All About Me: Kit has a self-centeredness akin to her father before he found his reason for being. Downplayed slightly, because she raises some valid complaints, but ultimately upheld because she handles them in a bratty manner. She's not that gracious about her friend Jade getting to live her dream of becoming a knight, and it doesn't occur to her that Graydon may not be any more interested in their arranged marriage than she is.
• It's All My Fault:
  • Jade is wrestling with her guilt over mercy-killing Ballantine, her adopted father, in the next episode.
  • Dove similarly blames herself for the two woodcutters getting killed by the cursed Ballantine, saying she caused it.
• Last of Her Kind: Willow mentions that Elora Danan is the "last blood of Kymeria". As of yet, it is not clear whether this means that she is the last of the Kymerian people or the last member of the ruling dynasty of the Kymerian Empire.
• Light Is Not Good: The Crone dwells in the Immemorial City, an eerie place with no night. The entrance into the lair of The Wyrm, the being that she serves, is bathed in light too, while its "milk" also glows. At the end of Season 1 as well she claims The Wyrm will usher in "new light" to the world. None of it makes her less clearly evil.
• Long-Lost Relative: Scorpia, leader of the Bone Reavers, is revealed as Jade's long-lost older half-sister, their father having been General Kael. Jade previously had believed her entire birth family was dead.
• Lotus-Eater Machine: Elora and Kit are tempted through an illusionary garden The Crone created where they are happy with their loved ones, to tempt them onto her side. Kit gets the acceptance she wants from her mother Sorsha, and Elora is set to marry Airk. They break out only after Madmartigan calls out to Kit, who stops Elora drinking the Wyrm's "milk", which it's indicated would corrupt her like Airk and make her join The Crone.
• Love Confession:
  • Jade confesses she loves Kit in Episode 5, "Wildwood".
  • In Episode 7, "Beyond the Shattered Sea" Graydon also tells Dove he loves her.
  • In episode 8, Kit tells Jade she loves her back.
• Made a Slave: The trolls have enslaved many people for work in the mines of Skellin on the Crone's behalf.
• Magical Incantation: Willow teaches Dove one to make a plant grow that she struggles with before it finally works.
• Malevolent Masked Men: The Bone Reavers, a Bandit Clan, wear skulls for masks. Downplayed however as they are more anti villains, it's revealed, and this is largely just for intimidation.
• Master of Illusion: The Crone is capable of creating highly realistic, pleasing illusions that tempt people to forget everything they face and join her side.
• Medieval Stasis: If Boorman's story regarding the history of the Kymerian Cuirass is to be believed, the world of Willow has been stuck at the same level of technology for at least 10,000 years.
• Mercy Kill: Ballantine is exorcised of The Lich which possessed him, but severely wounded by it being inside him and realizes he'll die. He has Jade kill him to spare him from a slow death.
• More Diverse Sequel: The series has four people of color in main roles, Ruby Cruz (Mexican-American) as Kit, Erin Kellyman (Jamaican/Irish Englishwoman) as Jade, Tony Revolori (Guatemalan-American) playing Prince Graydon and Amar Chadha-Patel (an Englishman of Indian descent) as Boorman. Additionally, Kit and Jade are both queer women revealed as in love with each other, and Boorman is implied to be bi (or at least bicurious). Scorpia also flirts with Jade before learning she's her sister. Adwoa Aboah, who's biracial (with Ghanaian and white English parentage), plays her. This contrasts with the film, which had only white main characters, and none were LGBT+.
• My Greatest Failure: Willow still went on quests from time to time. He wasn't there when his wife died, and his son blamed him for it and left home in anger. It's implied that this is connected to the incident that drove the Nelwyns underground.
• My Nayme Is: Prince Airk, which is pronounced just like the real-world name Eric. This contrasts the Airk from the first film, whose name was pronounced exactly as spelled, like "air" with a "k" at the end.
• Mythology Gag: The series' episode guide canonizes the name "Andowyne" for the world of Willow, which was first used in an April Fools' Day gag where entries about Willow were added to the Star Wars online database in a faked attempt at Canon Welding presenting it as a planet in the Star Wars galaxy.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: Airk is both at once. He's a shameless flirt and braggart with a devil-may-care attitude, but shows hints of being surprisingly diplomatic when he attempts to smoothe things over after Kit nearly insults Galadorn. He also proposes to Dove in pretty much every way except actually asking her to marry him, and doesn't hesitate to enter the battle in the courtyard to help defend Tir Asleen.
• Non-Action Guy: Prince Graydon has little to no combat ability, to the point where he stayed out of the fighting during the raid on Tir Asleen and had to be badgered into joining the quest. However, his education gives him a skill set his companions lack, and when he gets past his shyness, he's able to give Dove an effective pep-talk. He also proves to have the ability to learn and cast magic, becoming strong enough in a short period of time that he's able to strain The Crone's magical shield before his stamina gives out.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Sorsha promises to pardon all of Boorman's crimes if he guides them beyond the barrier. Boorman asks if that includes something he did in a haberdashery, with the only explanation being that he "loves the feeling of velvet on my — ".
  • A more dramatic instance with Graydon's Demonic Possession as a child. Presumably this would be fleshed out in more detail if the show is renewed, but for now, we know nothing about how it happened or how he was exorcised, only that he pushed his brother out of a tree under the demon's influence.
• No-Sell: Woodswoman Hubert appears to kill Ballantine, axing him in the back. However, he shrugs off this after a moment and then kills her.
• Not Now, Kiddo: Hubert makes Dove explain the full story of why she's out in the wilderness and how she's really Elora Danan. If the woodswomen had heeded her warnings and had her explain on the way, they could perhaps have escaped the knights.
• Not Quite Dead: The Crone appears to kill Graydon by disintegrating his body. However, he awakens on the battlefield from Willow's vision of the future, and sees a version of Elora (really The Wyrm masquerading as her) who tells him that she needs him and that she wants him at her side.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: After spending several episodes being contemptuous toward Elora, Kit sees an unambiguous demonstration that Elora really does have the powerful magical gift legend attributes to her, but doesn't tell anyone about it because she's not ready to admit she was wrong. Shortly afterward, during a conversation with Boorman, he remarks that he understands her attitude because Elora hasn't really done anything yet and it would be different if she'd ever seen evidence that Elora's magic was real.
• Obviously Evil: When The Crone attempts to lure Airk inside a doorway in the Immemorial City, he immediately turns away from her creepy whispering saying this is obviously bad.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Boorman shoves Kit and Elora out of The Wyrm's antechamber, locking himself in with The Lich, The Doom, and The Scourge. Some time later, he emerges unharmed. None of them can say the same.
• Parental Issues: Kit hero-worships Madmartigan, and is still upset that he seemingly abandoned his family. She later grouses that Sorsha isn't the mother she wanted, but Sorsha brushes this off by saying that as bad as Kit thinks she is, Bavmorda was much worse. As Kit is around Elora more, she gets even more upset, at one point demanding to know why Madmartigan seemingly chose to help Elora over staying with his own daughter.
• Patricide: Poor Jade has to not only fight Ballantine, her adopted father, but then euthanize him at his request because he's so gravely wounded by The Lich's possession of him, crying afterward over his body.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Willow and Silas are both Nelwyn. Willow is a sorcerer and Silas is a Hot-Blooded knife fighter.
• Power Dyes Your Hair: Inverted. The more Elora uses her magic, the more her natural red hair reappears.
• The Power of Love: Played for laughs, with Elora invoking it in the context of immediate physical threats in a way that confuses or irritates the person she's talking to.
  Elora: Let our love be your strength!
  Airk: Right. Definitely gonna do that.
• The Queenpin: Scorpia, a female warrior, is the leader of the Bone Reavers Bandit Clan in the Wildwood.
• Queer Establishing Moment:
  • The pilot "The Gales" showed Kit and Jade were more than just friends with the former kissing the latter passionately before leaving.
  • When the strange storm approaches the Immemorial City, Boorman asks both Jade and Graydon if they want to make out before the end.
• Really Royalty Reveal: Dove, who seems to be just a commoner kitchen maid at first, is soon revealed as Elora Danan, who's the True Empress.
• Rebellious Princess: Kit is a tomboy who is unhappy with her arranged marriage to Prince Graydon and uninterested in the traditional ladylike things expected of her. She gets ready to run away and then goes off on a quest when her brother's kidnapped.
• Recycled Title: The series is simply titled Willow and nothing else, just like the original film.
• Rescue Romance: Graydon starts to have feelings for Elora after she helps free him from Demonic Possession.
• The Remnant: The Bone Reavers are remnants of Bavmorda's forces, who were originally Galladoornian slaves. While they are still enemies of Tir Asleen and Galladoorn, they no longer have any loyalty to Bavmorda or the Ancient Evil she served.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Hubert and Anne are killed by the corrupted knights in the third episode.
• Sacrificial Lion: Kase is killed in the first episode. Silas is killed in the third episode. Sir Ballantine also qualifies, because he might have been saved had he been healed before The Corruption progressed too far.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • When the knights catch up to the fleeing Elora and Anne, Anne immediately leaves Elora to them. Elora understands completely and immediately, begging Sir Ballantine to just let her go. He doesn't, using her death to manipulate Elora into surrendering to them.
  • When Airk hears the Crone calling to him through an open door in the Immemorial City, he immediately decides to walk in the opposite direction, even if it's into a lifeless ruin.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: On their journey to the Immemorial City, Willow tells Boorman that The Wyrm is an ancient creature which feeds on magic (the very bloodstream of the universe) and it was imprisoned Beneath the Earth a long time ago, where it's still sleeping. The Crone worships The Wyrm and, it's strongly implied, wants it freed.
• Sequel Hook: The party plus Airk and minus Graydon because he was apparently killed still have to find a way out of the Immemorial City and back across the Shattered Sea. Also, it's clear that Madmartigan is out there somewhere. Meanwhile, as revealed in Not Quite Dead, Graydon is being tempted by The Wyrm who wants him as its new Harbinger. Further, after the Creative Closing Credits, we see the book that served as each episode's Framing Device put back onto a bookshelf. Volume I is on the spine, and beside it is Volume II and Volume III.
• Sequel Series: It's the sequel to the film, picking up some 20 years on with several of the film's characters returning plus new ones being introduced on another adventure. Willow himself is naturally one of them.
• Series Continuity Error: Prince Airk is named after Madmartigan's old friend Airk from the original film, who died fighting Kale. In the film, his name was pronounced "AIR-k", with no vowel sound between the R and the K. In the series, everyone says it like "Erik."
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Hubert, the woodswoman that helps Elora, peppers her speech with a lot of big words and grandiose phrasing.
• Shared Family Quirks: Each of Madmartigan's children inherited traits of his: Kit is a gifted swordswoman (who's attracted to a red-haired swordswoman like he was) and has some issues truly caring about things greater than herself, while Airk is also a gifted swordsman, but also a charismatic womanizer. He falls for a woman whose natural hair color is shown as red too.
• She's Back: When Tir Asleen comes under attack, Sorsha, who up to this point has only been seen in 'queen mode', opens a hidden cabinet and retrieves her sword before heading down to join the battle.
• Shout-Out:
  • In the second episode, Boorman gets the group away from the Bone Reavers by yelling a command in an obscure language and goading their horses to jump off a ledge. When questioned what the word means, he says it means "stop". This is taken nearly word-for-word from Young Guns II.
  • In the fourth episode, Kit gets into a drinking contest with a much larger man, just like Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Just like Marion, she wins.
  • The Wyrm's tendency to appear to people as their loved ones recalls the The First Evil.
  • Several to the Cthulhu Mythos. A language of magic in the 'Verse is Pnakotic, The Pnakotic Manuscripts are a Tome of Eldritch Lore in the Cthulhu Mythos (one among several). Graydon's royal family shares a name with Great Old One Hastur. A Pnakotic spell Elora casts is "fungi yuggoth", Fungi of Yuggoth are another Mythos reference. Shub-Niggurath and Yog Sothoth are also invoked as part of some magic incantations.
• Shower Scene: Boorman has one in his flashback after he escapes the trolls via the refuse barrel, shown under a waterfall as he happily gets clean, tossing around his long hair.
• Slave Liberation: On finding that many Reavers have been enslaved inside of the Skellin mines, Scorpia departs the party and goes to rescue all those that she can.
• The Smurfette Principle: Discussed. As we learn in "The Gales", Jade has been admitted to being trained as a knight by the Knights of Galladorn. This is the first time they have ever accepted a female trainee in their ranks-they had made a special exception for Jade, establishing that she must be quite good.
• Something Only They Would Say: Jade and Kit demand Boorman verify it's him as a result of the many magical hallucinations they've experienced in Nockmaar castle. Boorman shows that it's him by making a flippant comment revealing he knows they're attracted to each other.
• So Proud of You: Ballantine says this to a tearful Jade, right before urging her to finish him off. Later, Willow does the same to Graydon, telling him that he's on his way to becoming a great sorcerer and an even better man right before Graydon and Jade go off to save Elora and Kit.
• Spell Book: Willow finds one called the Malatrium in Bavmorda's former fortress that contains a spell to save Graydon from the Gales' possession.
• Spin-Offspring:
  • Sorsha and Madmartigan, who were central characters in the film, are consigned to supporting roles in the series; instead much of the focus is instead placed on their children, Kit and Airk.
  • Jade later discovers that she is the daughter of General Kael.
• Special Edition Title: "The Whispers of Nockmaar" opens with Bavmorda's Tome of Eldritch Lore rather than the usual storybook, and instead of the opening illustration getting filled in watercolour-style, the colours drip from the top of the page like blood.
• Stealth Pun: Kit is kidnapped by trolls at the end of the fifth episode, interrupting her intimate moment with Jade. This led fans to jokingly call them homophobic, before realizing that this trope was in play.
• Storybook Opening: Each episode opening shows a leather-bound book with Elora Danan's rune on the cover opening to a chapter heading that matches the episode title. At the end of the season finale, the book is closed and the hand of an unseen character places it on a shelf next to two similarly bound books labeled "Volume II" and "Volume III".
• Strong Family Resemblance: After the reveal of Jade and Scorpia being half-sisters, it's not surprising as the two have similar looks (e.g. their features, skin color etc).
• Supreme Chef: Dove grew up working as a maid in the royal kitchens and easily charmed Prince Airk with her delicious, buttery muffins. Later on, when she runs off to join the search for Airk, she earns her place in Kit's adventuring party by whipping up an amazing possum stew out of whatever she was able to scrounge up in the forest.
• Surprise Incest: Scorpia briefly flirts with Jade and calls her "gorgeous" while they fight before finding out they're half-sisters.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Boorman is the tallest and darkest-skinned member of the rescue party, he's very quick with a quip, and doesn't hesitate to call out things (or people) he sees as foolish.
• Take Up My Sword: After the battle in the courtyard ends, Kit picks up her injured mother's sword. She later uses Madmartigan's as well.
• Taking the Kids: A platonic version. Between the movie and the show, Willow and Sorsha have fallen out due to a disagreement on how to raise Elora. Willow wanted to tell her about her destiny and train her in magic. Sorsha hid her true identity from her and banned magic throughout her kingdom.
• Talent vs. Training: Willow and Graydon's approach to magic is more intellectual and scientific, focused on careful study of languages and substances. Elora's approach to magic is more instinctive and emotional. She's most successful when she isn't thinking about it too hard.
• Tomboyish Name: Hubert, one of the rather butch woodswomen whom Dove runs into, has a name that's been traditionally male.
• Tomboy Princess: Kit, in a nutshell. She has Boyish Short Hair, a distaste for dresses, wears quite boyish clothing, is better at swordsmanship than social graces and also has a very irreverent attitude to everything around her.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Willow's powers seem to have increased significantly in the years since he rescued Elora Danan. However, this is also played with, as when under the influence of the Bone Reavers truth plums, he says he's only "mediocre".
  • All the time Graydon spent hanging around listening during Willow and Elora's magic lessons unlocked his own magical potential.
• Training Montage: Elora and Willow have one while the party travels on the Shattered Sea. This causes Kit to ask Jade to train with her, to bring her up to her level, and even the budding sorcerer Graydon gets some lessons in combat magic.
• Training the Gift of Magic: Elora and Graydon have aptitude for magic but need proper training from Willow.
• Transparent Closet: Jade and Kit haven't told anyone (not even each other) that they have a mutual attraction when Boorman, it turns out, easily picked up on the fact. Kit later weakly attempts to deny that she feels anything but friendship for Jade, which Elora sees through at once.
• Trauma Conga Line: Graydon was possessed by a demon and killed his brother as a child, got blamed for the death by his father, is being forced to marry a woman he doesn't know, pressured into joining a dangerous quest to protect that woman, fell in love with a woman who's in love with someone else, possessed again, almost gets killed fighting The Crone, and wakes up in a possible Bad Future filled with corpses.
• Truth Serum: The truth plums growing in the Wildwood have this effect on people eating them, making them always tell the full truth (although they're able to briefly hold this back).
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Scorpia's full name and title is Her Sublime Eminence Mistress Magnificus Venoma Scorpia.
• Underground City: Or rather an underground village. Between the events of the movie and the series, the Nelwyns moved their village underground for safety's sake.
• The Unfavorite: Kit plaintively tells Elora that she feels like this in comparison with her, as her father Madmartigan always went to help Elora but left her behind. Though they aren't sisters, it had the same effect on her.
• Unreliable Voiceover: Boorman tells Scorpia about escaping the mines, with his dialogue being heard over visuals showing the less-heroic truth of what happened.
• Unnaturally Looping Location: Airk sets off away from the Immemorial City, but finds himself staggering out of the desert right back where he started.
• Unto Us a Son and Daughter Are Born: Prince Airk and Princess Kit are fraternal twins, with him being a minute older.
• Upper-Class Twit: Subverted. Very few people respect Airk other than Dove. He may be a bit of a skirt-chaser, and he's not the warrior his parents and sister are, but when Kit humiliated Graydon he was the only member of the royal family to try and smooth things over.
• Uptown Girl:
  • Prince Airk is shown to be involved with Dove, a kitchen maid in the palace. Zigzagged however as it turns out she's The Chosen One Elora Danan, and thus very important herself as the True Empress (though she doesn't yet have any official authority).
  • Princess Kit (Airk's sister) and Jade (a commoner) are in love as well.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: According to Willow, Bavmorda was much like Dove/Elora when she was young: bright, curious, and full of promise. Then she was abducted and indoctrinated by The Crone, twisting her into doing evil.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: The Crone is heard saying to Bavmorda while she's initiated that their goal is ending all suffering in the world. Judging by the acts of her servants, the Crone is willing to kill or imprison anybody that she believes stands in the way of that.
• Villainous Legacy: Sorsha warned Kit and Airk that they all have the potential to be like Bavmorda as they're descendants of a long-ago evil sorceress. Bavmorda's acts overshadow the story as well; her allies attempt to finish what she began by sending Elora into a damned dimension for them to seize control over the world.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Crone is ghastly, looking like a walking corpse, but can make herself look like a young, beautiful woman. In the Season 1 finale, a being who's possibly The Wyrm also takes on Elora's appearance as well. The Dag, one of the Gales, can shapeshift between a slightly-feathered humanoid woman to a giant bird of prey.
• Waterfall Shower: When Boorman is describing how he escaped from trolls to an unimpressed Scorpia, the flashback cuts show the awesome shower he took under a waterfall after the escape, complete with him showing off his shirtless bod and swinging his long, wet hair around like he's in a shampoo commercial.
• We Used to Be Friends: Flashbacks in Episode 2 show that Willow and Sorsha's friendship ended acrimoniously because of differences in opinion on how to protect and/or train Elora against future threats. Despite this, Willow doesn't hold anything against her children and gladly agrees to help find Airk when Kit comes to him for help.
• Wham Shot: Elora (and the viewers) get one when she sees the moment Graydon's brother Dermot died. One second he was giving his younger brother Graydon a pep-talk, the next Graydon's face contorted, his eyes turned red, and then Graydon shoved Dermot to his death.
• Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: We see Willow eliminate some of The Crone's mooks, but we don't see the fates of The Lich, The Doom, or The Scourge. All we know is that Boorman apparently killed all three by himself.
• Willfully Weak: It turns out that Jade was holding back during her sparring matches with Kit, training with her on Sorsha's orders. Kit is not at all happy to learn Jade was letting her win, and demands that Jade begin training her for real.
• The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Kase is sent to guide the party in the lands outside the Barrier. He gives them a lecture on being vigilant at all times right before he's shot in the back with an arrow.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: In Episode 8, Madmartigan somehow reaches out to Kit again, telling her that she has to be the one to protect Elora now, and that she's better than he was.
• Youthful Freckles: Jade has brown freckles all over her face which serve as a mark of her youth.

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