5 New THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES Character Videos

37 responses to “5 New THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES Character Videos”

1. Having watched the videos and listening to the cast. I will have to temper my expectations.

   “Will meeting Eretria after being unhorsed by a demon.”

   This is the one thing that stood out the most. Seems like MTV has taken a lot of liberties with the source material. Can only assume that Mr. Brooks approved of these changes since he was involved with the production.
   Seems a shame they had to muck with the source material to “make a better story” just to get it on TV. Should have just left it alone, but that is my opinion.

   • Yes, Terry approves of the 99% of the changes made. Most of them, he had a hand in directly.

     When it comes to Wil and Eretria, most fans forget that Wil, Amberle, and Eretria don’t appear at the beginning of the novel. And in TV, that is a huge no-no. Your main characters have to appear in episode one. Therefore, some things have been rearranged up front to make that happen. I can tell you, having seen it, that it doesn’t really change anything beyond the characters being introduced earlier. It doesn’t change the overall story at all. And that’s why Terry was so involved — keeping the integrity of the novel intact.

     • I figured as much, but I like the opening with the failing of the Ellcrys, followed by the slaying of the Chosen, but then being a fan since Sword was first released, I probably not the targeted audience. Haven’t watched MTV since the late 80s, early 90s when they still did 90% music videos.
       Old and cantankerous, but looking forward to it.

       • If you are a fan of the Ellcrys failing, you’ll see that. If you are a fan of the slaying of the Chosen, you’ll see that.

         • I actually feel better after seeing this. The older trailer with the gauntlet gave me the impression that they were turning Amberle in Katniss (really, everything about that clip looked and felt like The Hunger Games to me), but seeing her video gives me renewed faith that she’s the same character despite that.

           It was looking from the earlier trailers like Amberle never left Arborlon, so I was expecting that Allanon and Wil’s trip to fetch her and take her to Arborlon would get cut. I’m a little disappointed that Wil apparently hasn’t yet had any training as a healer though. Still, cutting that part out won’t change the core of the plot, so I’m ok with that. I am curious though — does this mean we won’t see the King of the Silver River?

           I was also surprised at how many scenes from previous trailers involved Allanon without me knowing it. I didn’t realize that it was Allanon who knocked the guard back — you only see his hand — or that he hurled the boulder in the cave (I assumed that took place in the soul chamber near the end of book).

           Spirits raised! I feel better now!

         • Glad. 🙂

2. Though I wasn’t even around yet when Elfstones was published, I’ve been a fan literally since childhood, so I feel like I’m in the same boat with Andrew. I was so excited when I saw the trailer, but these clips make me doubt, too. Wil never makes it to the Stors? The clips also made it sound like Shea’s not in the picture and Amberle never ran away.

   I just hope this isn’t a repeat of the crushing disappointment I suffered when ABC butchered Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” almost beyond recognition.

   Guess I shouldn’t have re-read the book. Having it fresh in my mind for comparison was a bad idea, haha!

   • “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?” — Chris Tucker, Rush Hour

     Seriously, you guys need to listen to me. And Terry. We’ve seen the actual show. To your points, Shea wasn’t in Elfstones. At all. And Amberle runs away in the TV series just like the book.

     You need to relax and wait for the show. You guys are psyching yourselves out.

     • Ack, I wasn’t clear in what I meant.

       Yeah, Shea didn’t actually appear in the book. He was sick, so Flick came to Storlock in his place. But his presence and influence in Wil’s life is made clear. In that sense he is in the book. That’s what I meant. What the actor said seemed to imply that Shea wasn’t in the picture in that sense. Which is probably misinterpretation on my part. But if we’re backing Wil up to Shady Vale, where Shea presumably was during the entirety of the events of Elfstones…

       On a side note, it absolutely tickles me that Eventine is played by the same actor as Gimli from Lord of the Rings. That’s probably been pointed out a million times though.

       • That actually brings up a new question for me: the clip says he was raised by his uncle. Is that still Flick even though he’s technically a great-uncle or a new character entirely. And if it is Flick, I wonder if he’ll hint at the events from Sword.

         • In the book, he’s not called Great Uncle Flick. Wil calls him “Uncle Flick,” despite being a great uncle. 🙂

3. So Shawn, what you are saying is that there has been some ‘prequel’ (for lack of a better word) scenes added to bring the story into context with the book? I’m not psyching out, but I think most of Terry’s fans can say they have seen Hollywood do a great job bringing a novel to film and they have seen Hollywood do a great job at ruining a great novel by bringing it to film. Its a risk, and that is what has Shannara fans on edge. Personally I hope to watch and judge for myself on January 5th.

   • Yes, many fans seem to have forgotten that Wil, Amberle, and Eretria don’t appear at the beginning of the novel. They appear in Chapters 7, 10, and 14 respectively. If adapted word-for-word, they wouldn’t appear until Episode 3/4. That is far too deep into TV storytelling for it to work with viewing audiences. Therefore, their stories had to be moved up. All three were given prequels.

     Judge for yourself on January 5th. Until then, worrying about things doesn’t make sense, especially with Terry so involved in the creation and production of the show. If he’s happy, which he is, the least his fans can do is show him a wee bit of respect — at least until the show comes out and the fans can judge his work for themselves.

     • Shawn, I haven’t been following this closely as I probably should have. I was just surprised by the amount of information that was presented in the videos; most of which could be considered spoilers for those unfamiliar with the novels.
       I didn’t know Terry had that much control or input on the series. This gives me hope, I do look forward to watching it and hope that it will allow more of his novels be brought to the screen be it the TV or movie.

4. Shawn you just made me spit out my coffee I was laughing so hard! Nice one there!

   I for one am waiting til showtime and have stopped second guessing everything. I’m sure we’re the reason Shawn now has ulcers from continually telling us to relax and wait.

   If Terry has 99% control as we are being told do we REALLY thing he is going to lead us astray? Yes things are changing, but there is a reason for all of it. There is NO WAY that we will all be satisfied completely by what we will see. We all have our own vision of how the story looks in our individual heads and folks, it’s not going to be that way no matter how badly we want it or how much we complain. Let’s all enjoy it as the way they adapted. Its not going to ruin the book by any means. The books are they way they are. This is an adaptation of it.

   Put your trust in Terry!

5. Shawn, thanks for all your information and patience so far, apologies if I missed it somewhere, but do you know when this will air in the UK?

   • No, we do not know dates or times for international releases. I do know that Sky bought the rights for the UK though. Details on the other information will be known by year’s end and it will be shared here for sure. Stay tuned.

6. Shawn
   I have been a fan for what seems like one hundred years. I have some very cool collectibles and I was wondering if there is a place to buy them? I see the maps and the different things on the website but where can we see and possibly buy the cool collectibles.

   Mark

   • There are no cool collectibles yet unfortunately. The show likely has to do well first before that happens. So spread word about the TV premiere and let’s see if we can grow this thing!

     • I would recommend The Noble Collection sell the high quality collectables. They sell some of the best collectables for adults.

       • lol, I apparently can’t spell collectibles.

         • Allen excellent recommendation. I was asking because we all say the box of dirt with the hollow book that held the first 2 episodes. I was wondering what else is out there and can we get one of those.

7. I think that Allanon’s story looks the coolest. I’m sure excited to see what Manu Bennet does with it.

   The changes are concerning for me too, but I’ve decided to wait to make any more judgement about the show. I won’t really know if the changes work until I watch the season in its entirety. I’m super excited though. I can’t wait to see the Reaper.

   • I agree. They may not be presenting him in exactly the way I pictured, but he certainly looks like a strong and interesting character all the same. He seems like a real anchor for everything and everyone else around him.

8. 😀 Everything still looks great! However I have one question. This might have been answered somewhere before, but I can’t find it: Will Flick make an appearance? From what I understand with how they’ve had to change the story to introduce everyone, we won’t be seeing him at all.

   • Flick is in the TV show.

     • I’m glad to hear that! Thanks for replying.

9. All five trailers just blew me away and I feel the characters will play their parts with ease. Also the music sounds great, which leads me to another question. Is their a lot of music in this tv show and if so, is their any plan for a music soundtrack cd or digital release of any kind?

10. What intrigues me is how touchy you are, Shawn, when people are a bit critical of the series. Different people have different opinions, different apprehensions about what hasn’t been revealed about the show, how the show will be played out and so on and so forth. So here am I saying, chill dude. If TB wants to sell the show, well he did. Is he willing to disappoint die-hard fans that love the book JUST THE WAY IT IS? Probably. Maybe he doesn’t care, or maybe he’s content with the show, as it is. Is he interested in attracting more people to buying his books. Probably. However, it really irritates me when your responses seem extremely touchy and defensive. People are entitled to apprehension as well as interest in the show. Relax. Maybe you should learn to appreciate and accept that people might be disappointed. Just because they might not mold themselves to your one-sided opinion doesn’t mean you have to react the way you do. Me personally? I’m disappointed already. The interpretations of the characters is laughable to me. Allanon is disappointing. I’m expecting a giant, dominating, cloaked and enigmatic force of a man. Instead we get the dude from Spartacus with glyphs on his head. And what’s with the sword? Allanon was never depicted utilizing a sword in any combat in any of TB’s books. My other issue is the annoyance of the overabundance of feministic themes in this show. Eretria and Amberle will, I’m sure, be over the top, dominating a cowering wimp Wil Ohmsford (again, a big selling point to the audience, female audience that is). In the book, Eretria was aggressive but she was no warrioress. And where is Stee Jans? Next to Allanon, he was such a force to be reckoned with and a great character in the book. Absent and disappointing. I fear this show is gonna suck. I’m not afraid to say it and maybe I won’t see it. But I’m certainly gonna state my opinions regardless of your reaction. Those that haven’t read the book and are looking for the standard progressive format of tv shows this day and age will like it I’m sure. Die hard fans that loved TB’s book as it was, like myself, will probably be disappointed, TV format notwithstanding.

    • I appreciate everything you have to say, Jackson. I do. It’s important that all opinions have a voice as long as they are founded in real issues and not simply the mad rambling of fear through a keyboard. Candice did this very thing, posting worries that simply do not exist in the TV show. I rebutted those opinions and fear with facts and she is okay now. That’s my role. It’s to ensure that if people aren’t happy with something that they are not happy for a real reason. I can give you dozens of examples where people think one thing about the show and they are absolutely and factually wrong. I’ve seen the show. I know what it does and what it does not and how it matches up with the novel and how it doesn’t. It is my job to correct that misinformation by the readers so they don’t spread. I’m not correcting people’s fact-based opinions; I’m correcting the non-fact-based opinions. If that makes me defensive, so be it. It is the role I’ve been given.

      I will say this though. For months and months, Terry worked hard every single day to maintain the integrity of his novel in this adaptation. He feels he has done that. He fought when they tried to change things too much and he won 99% of those fights. It is important to understand though that he did not want a word-for-word adaptation of his book. That’s not his philosophy. In his view, if people want that, they can simply re-read the book. It will always be there.

      But because of that, he understands that this TV show will not be for every fan out there. He has said it numerous times on the website. Some fans are capable of giving leeway to the adaptation and equally enjoying how it matches to the novel as well as how it doesn’t match to the novel. Some are not able to do that. Both are fine.

      I’ve been telling people one simple thing though: If these changes bother the reader so much that they are actually angry, they should really think about not watching the show. Because there is no reason for a person to be upset over a TV show of all things. Life’s too short. If you know my past, then you know what I mean.

      Hope you’ll stick around for the 5th. Cheers.

      • I need to correct a misconception there Shawn: you didn’the put me at ease. Quite the opposite. The new trailers are what reassured me. In fact, I feel the same way as Jackson when it comes to how defensive you are. I frequently see you use some variation of “if you are expecting a paint-by-numbers retelling you will be disappointed.” I don’the think you get it. Most of us aren’t expecting or even asking for an exact retelling; we just want to know that we’ll be getting the same basic story with the same characters. To quote Ursula Le Guin, “Of course a movie shouldn’t try to follow a novel exactly — they’re different arts, very different forms of narrative. There may have to be massive changes. But it is reasonable to expect some fidelity to the characters and general story in a film named for and said to be based on books that have been in print for 40 years.” That’s what we want to see, and when we express concern that the show appears to be deviating too far it’s just that: concern. It’s not “I hate this now, they’ve ruined it, I’m not going to watch it” (not for most of us anyway), and it would be nice if you would at least try to understand where we’re coming from, why we got the impression they changed things too far, and treat our comments as valid and “not simply the mad rambling of fear through a keyboard.”

        PS: screw you very much

        • Candice, this is exactly what you wrote after you replied to a comment of mine: “I actually feel better after seeing this.”

          Your “this” is ambiguous. I see now that you didn’t mean that my comment made you feel better but the trailer made you feel better. Many apologies for bringing you into it. I do hope you understand my side after you replied to my comment and why I thought I had helped you understand. As far as your comment about “concern,” that may be true of you. But I see far too many people saying that Terry is a “sell out” — they use those exact words or derivations of them — and that goes far beyond “concern.” That goes into questioning Terry’s character and integrity, is a personal attack, and he is not okay with that. Nor should he be.

          My job here is to dispel any worries that come up from things that are not true about the TV show (example: People thinking that Wil and Allanon don’t have to go find Amberle because it looks like she never leaves Arborlon). I do treat your comments as valid. But as you said, they are “impressions” and, when I comment, they are actually “incorrect impressions.” Too many people are getting incorrect impressions from a tiny amount of footage. It is my job to correct those impressions if they do not fall in line with what is true. If you feel my answering and correcting those “impressions” is “defensive” and I should just let you guys go on feeling the same way you do without helping you understand, that isn’t going to happen here or on Terry’s social media presences. “Incorrect impressions” have a way of snowballing with other readers if not addressed early. Terry asked me specifically to clear the air when someone posts something that is wrong. That won’t stop.

          I am a resource you should be using instead of fighting against. Someone like Jackson is more than welcome to be disappointed because his points about Allanon and Stee Jans are valid. They have an actual basis in fact and are not incorrect impressions — and I agree with them full-heartedly. It is now his decision whether to watch the show or not and that responsibility lies with him. Just like it lies with you and every other fan, me included.

          In short, my job is to stop the spread of examples like the incorrect impression above. To help people understand why Terry chose to do things the way he chose to do them. To lay blame correctly with the creators if needed and praise when earned by those same creators. I hope you can appreciate that.

          And if you can’t, that’s fine too. I’m not here to argue, only illuminate. Cheers.

          • Hi shawn man you are in a very tough place my friend but i applaude you for defending terry and his work,people who think he will sell out on his characters are foolish!!!!! my question is is the part where allannon goes back to paranor to search the druid histories for the location of thr bloodfire,and is attacked by the furies and the dagda mor? that was one of my favorite parts of the book!!!! merry christmas shawn keep fighting the good fight!!!

          • Allanon is attacked by the Dagda Mor but not in the same way as the book. You’ll see. Stay tuned.

11. I do understand how you mistook the meaning of my comment, I accept your apology and I apologize in turn.

    In regards to dispelling worries based on stuff that’s not true, that’s all well and good when that’s what’s actually going on. But those instances are not what I’m referring to. Go back and read some old posts. You seem to spend as much time defending the differences as you do correcting wrong impressions, and nearly every post that isn’t gushing with enthusiasm gets a reply from you. I noticed this before I posted a single comment of my own, and it made me hesitant to say anything at all. I’ve even noticed people saying things like “Please know this is not a negative comment” or “I’m going to watch the show anyway” as though trying to placate you before the fact. I even did a bit of that myself. I’m not saying you’re wrong, just that you can come across as aggressively defensive about all aspects of this show. And knowing that Terry approves of a change isn’t always very comforting, and getting that kind of “well Terry likes it” dismissal can be insulting.

    As for the “sell-out” comments, you’re right that that’s not ok. But I’ve seen very few of those in the comments to these posts. Maybe the forum is different, I don’t know.

12. I’ll just throw in my two cents here. I’ve stated criticism regarding the trailers and such, but I really don’t care if things are changed from the book. I am first and foremost a fan of epic fantasy, and as such, I want this show to succeed so there will be many more epic fantasy offerings on both the big and small screens to chose from in the future. And I do realize that trailers are a poor way of judging things, but I can’t think of a single instance in which a good movie (or in this case TV show) had a poor trailer. So when I see issues that will affect the show’s overall appeal to people who have never read the book, that concerns me. I can’t be certain until I’ve seen the first episode (and I am absolutely planning to watch it!), but here is my prediction. It will do okay, kind of middle of the road in success. It will have its moments, and people will coo over the special effects, but it sadly won’t have lasting and meaningful success. It will probably do well enough for a second season just based on the eye candy alone, maybe even a third, but after that all bets are off. Now that’s just me reading my own personal tea leaves. Of course, if I’m right, I expect everyone to bow down before me in awe. Lol.

13. I’ll be honest I’ve had fairly low expectations. I usually do when it comes to book adaptions for films and TV shows. But with what (very) limited information we’ve had in the form of trailers, interviews, and promo I’m much more optimistic about this show than I was. The look and production quality appear to be significantly better than what I anticipated. I won’t say I’m sold on the cast yet but I am cautiously encouraged. I was expecting worse. Let’s just hope there’s substance to go with the polish. 10 episodes feels about right. I just hope sufficient time is given to each of the critical and poignant parts of the story.

    My main concern at this point is the script quality. I hope the dialogue won’t be full of unnatural clunky exposition or conversations that underestimate the intelligence of the viewer. You can aim at the older audience and keep the younger viewers but I doubt you can do the reverse. I don’t want Gilmore Girls or Whedonesque humor/flippancy. I don’t want faux-clever speak. I just want substance and meaning between the characters. Not scripts that spend an inordinate amount of time having the characters explain things to the audience on the pretense of engaging one another. Exposition may be necessary but it shouldn’t be conspicuous. Terry and all the producers putting the show together seem to have put plenty of time, effort, and money into it all. I just hope the product of that work goes well beyond the pretty scenery, pretty effects, and pretty people.