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The Shannara Chronicles

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54%
Rotten Tomatoes

Country of origin
  
United States

Network
  
MTV

Language
  
English

7.4/10
IMDb

8.4/10
TV

First episode date
  
5 January 2016

Genre
  
Fantasy

The Shannara Chronicles wwwgstaticcomtvthumbtvbanners12394356p12394

Created by
  
Alfred GoughMiles Millar

Based on
  
The Sword of Shannara Trilogyby Terry Brooks

Starring
  
Austin ButlerPoppy DraytonIvana BaqueroManu BennettAaron JakubenkoJohn Rhys-Davies

Opening theme
  
"Until We Go Down"by Ruelle

Composer(s)
  
Felix ErskineLukas Burton

Program creators
  
Alfred Gough, Miles Millar

Similar
  
Shadowhunters, Game of Thrones, Legend of the Seeker, The Magicians, True Blood

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The Shannara Chronicles is an American fantasy drama television series created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. It is an adaptation of the Shannara series of fantasy novels by Terry Brooks, primarily The Elfstones of Shannara.

Contents

It is filmed in the Auckland Film Studios and on location elsewhere in New Zealand, and premiered on MTV, MTV2, TeenNick and TV Land in the United States on January 5, 2016. The first season aired from January 5, 2016, to March 1, 2016 on MTV and consisted of 10 episodes. On April 20, 2016, MTV ordered a second season of The Shannara Chronicles.

The shannara chronicles season 1 nycc trailer 2015 mtv fantasy series


Plot

The Shannara Chronicles roughly follows the storylines set out in The Elfstones of Shannara, set in the fictional Four Lands. As the series opens, demons start to return after being banished from this world to a place known as the Forbidding—locked by an ancient tree called the Ellcrys. The series chronicles the journey of Wil, Amberle and Eretria who, with the guidance of the last druid Allanon, must go on a quest to protect the Ellcrys from dying and releasing all the banished demons back into the Four Lands.

Human-Elf Hybrids

  • Austin Butler as Wil Ohmsford, a half-human/half-elf who is the last of the bloodline of the ancient Shannara family. He is destined to help save the Four Lands from demons. He possesses three Elfstones, which belonged to his late father.

    • Humans

  • Ivana Baquero as Eretria, a human who was raised by Rovers, a band of thieves. Although at first untrustworthy, she later becomes a stalwart ally of the group.
  • Manu Bennett as Allanon, a human and the last druid who has been alive for more than 300 years through the use of Druid Sleep. He guides and mentors the group on their quest to protect the Ellcrys.
  • Malese Jow as Mareth Ravenlock, a powerful young woman with magical powers who helps Wil find his way back to his companions and escape The Crimson.
  • Vanessa Morgan as Lyria, a young woman romantically linked to Eretria.
  • Gentry White as Garet, the wise-cracking Weapons Master of the Four Lands.
  • Caroline Chikezie as Queen Tamlin of Leah, the only human kingdom in the Four Lands. Will be introduced in Season two
  • Desmond Chiam as General Riga, leader of the extremist soldier group the Crimson, dedicated to wiping out all magic in the Four Lands.

    • Elves

  • Poppy Drayton as Amberle Elessedil, the Elven Princess and the first female to be accepted as one of the Chosen, a group of elves responsible for protecting and caring for the Ellcrys tree. Amberle briefly becomes the lover of Wil before being written out at the conclusion of Season 1.
  • Aaron Jakubenko as Ander Elessedil, the youngest son of King Eventine who has a reputation for being irresponsible, due to the death of older brother Aine, as he blames himself his brother's death, despite the fact it was not his fault. However, after the death of his father and his brother Arion respectively, Ander becomes the new king of the elves; finally abandoning his irresponsible party boy nature, becoming the responsible ruler his kingdom needs.

    • Elves

  • Daniel MacPherson as Arion Elessedil, oldest living son of King Eventine and heir to the Elven throne. Arion is known to be hot-tempered and often disagrees with his father's commands.
  • James Trevena-Brown as Captain Crispin Edensong, captain of the Home Guard, the personal corps of Elven Hunters beholden to the King or Queen of the Elves.
  • Emelia Burns as Commander Diana Tilton the captain of the black watch, the elite unit of the Elven military whose sworn duty is to protect the Ellcrys. She is romantically involved with Arion and was previously in love with Ander
  • Brooke Williams as Catania, an elf who is Amberle's handmaiden. She later becomes the love interest of Bandon.
  • John Rhys-Davies as Eventine Elessedil, Amberle's grandfather who has ruled the Elven Kingdom of Arborlon for decades. After the death of his oldest son (Amberle's father), Eventine began grooming his son Arion for the throne. However, In the wake of the demon threat, he decides that the hot-headed Arion is not yet ready to rule.
  • Marcus Vanco as Bandon, an Elven boy with the gift of a seer, meaning that he can see possible futures when he touches someone.

    • Rovers

  • James Remar as Cephelo, the leader of the Rovers and adoptive father of Eretria. Upon first seeing Wil's Elfstones, Cephalo becomes obsessed with them. Despite his self-serving nature, he later helps Amberle on her quest.

    • Druid

  • Jed Brophy as The Dagda Mor, an ancient elvish druid who turned into a demon. His powers increase as the Ellcrys dies, and as such he uses lesser demons as henchmen and proxies.

    • Gnome

  • Jared Turner as Slanter, the Gnome resistance leader who murdered Amberle's father 10 years previously. He reluctantly agrees to help Ander & Commander Tilton find the source of the demons in exchange for his release from prison. Slanter shares his name with a character from The Wishsong of Shannara.

    • Conception and development

    Sonar Entertainment and Farah Films acquired the TV rights to the Shannara universe in 2012. In December 2013 it was announced that a series based on the book series was being produced for MTV.

    The series is produced by Dan Farah, Jon Favreau, Miles Millar, Al Gough, Jonathan Liebesman, and author Terry Brooks. Brooks has stated in an interview that he is happy with the way his story has been adapted.

    Much like the television adaption of A Song of Ice and Fire, the series will not be adapted following the books' order, but rather a mix of contents. The first book of the series to be adapted is The Elfstones of Shannara, the second book in the trilogy, with some elements of the other novels being gradually adapted to the show.

    Casting

    In December 2014, it was announced that Manu Bennett would star as Allanon and in January 2015 Ivana Baquero, Austin Butler, Poppy Drayton, Emelia Burns and John Rhys-Davies joined the show. Malese Jow, Vanessa Morgan, Gentry White, Desmond Chiam and Caroline Chikezie joined the cast as series regulars in season two.

    Filming

    The filming of the 10-episode season wrapped in New Zealand at Auckland Film Studios in June 2015, and the first trailer debuted on July 10, 2015. Filming for season 2 began January 31, 2017 in New Zealand.

    Music

    The opening theme song, "Until We Go Down", from the EP "Up in Flames", is performed by Ruelle. The band also worked on the opening theme song for the Freeform television series Shadowhunters.

    Other songs featured in the show's first season include "Midnight" by Coldplay, "You Are a Memory" by Message to Bears, "Wave" by Beck and Run Boy Run by Woodkid.

    Release

    During the Shannara Chronicles panel at San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2015, a teaser trailer was revealed, giving audiences a first look at the sets and characters. A television version of the trailer was shown during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.

    Broadcast

    The Shannara Chronicles premiered on MTV, MTV2, TeenNick and TV Land in the United States on January 5, 2016 with a two-hour series premiere, right after the Teen Wolf season 5B premiere on MTV. New episodes were broadcast every Tuesday at 10 pm ET. The third and fourth episodes were released online after the first two episodes aired on January 5, 2016, prior to their original broadcast schedule.

    The series is simulcast on MTV in Canada. The two-hour pilot also aired on Bell Media sister network CTV on Wednesday, January 6, 2016. No future episodes of the series appear on CTV's schedule. The series has also been licensed to a number of different countries, including the United Kingdom (airing on 5STAR), Australia (Syfy) and New Zealand (Sky TV). In Thailand aired on Channel 7 in 2017.

    Critical response

    The Shannara Chronicles has received mixed or average reviews, receiving a 52/100 score on Metacritic, based on 15 reviews and a 54% for season 1 on Rotten Tomatoes based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The critics' consensus reads: "The Shannara Chronicles wears its influences heavily on its sleeve and needs to find surer footing before it can tap its true potential, but it still might suffice for viewers in search of a teen-friendly Game of Thrones." The New York Times wrote the following: "So give this reasonably absorbing series a little credit, even though it often seems to be merely reworking various fantasy formulas. It moves quickly and does a nice job of weaving together two story lines involving an elfin world that is threatened when a giant tree, known as the Ellcrys, begins to die." Variety wrote: "Sure, Shannara, which harks back to the golden age of syndicated genre fare, is a standard quest journey in which there are trolls, gnomes, living trees and magic books, and characters say things like, 'If Allanon is here, there are dark days ahead.' But there’s conviction in the show’s execution."

    Accolades

    The series was nominated to a 42nd Saturn Awards for "Best Fantasy TV Series" for the 2015–16 season.

    References

    The Shannara Chronicles Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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