Willow season 1 episode 3 recap & review: The Battle of the Slaughtered Lamb

In episode 3 of Willow, the group of heroes pursue Ballantine to save Elora before she is taken to the Crone. The episode is streaming on Disney+.

Recap

Boorman begins narrating the story of how the Kymerian cuirass was made but Kit is too impatient and just wants him to get to the part about her father. They’re interrupted by the others who have noticed that Elora is missing.

Kit sees the plant that has arisen from Elora’s final desperate attempt to cast a spell. Jade sees Ballantine trying Elora to his horse and tells him to let her go.

Everyone converges on that spot as a fight breaks out between the heroes and the soldiers. Graydon tries to untie Elora but is unable to do it successfully and after Willow throws a smoke bomb as a distraction, Ballantine and the others escape.

Kit and Jade notice that the soldiers were not themselves and ask Willow about it. Graydon showcases a surprising bit of knowledge about bad magic and says that they were possessed.

They head out in pursuit of Elora and stop when they notice a terrifying-looking vortex filling up the sky. They also hear the voice of the Crone speaking Pnakotic and Graydon translates the words that state an ominous prophecy.

When Graydon asks if they’re going to kill her, Willow says that their actual goal is to banish Elora to trap her soul in eternity.

As the soldiers approach a forest, Elora cuts herself free and runs into the safety of the trees. The heroes are derailed when a wheel comes off their wagon and they’re forced to stop to repair it.

Kit and Jade argue because Kit is still not bothered about the importance of Elora and just wants to be her rash, impulsive self, facing a problem head-on without planning too much.

Elora finds a dwelling in a brighter part of the forest where two women, Hubert and Anne just laying back. They welcome Elora and brush off her warnings of oncoming danger until they sit down and listen to her entire story of being the long-lost princess.

Ballantine shows up and warns them against fighting back but Hubert swings her axe at him and gets a hit but he immediately stabs and kills her. Elora and Anne run away but are cornered by the others.

They kill Anne and Elora agrees to go with them because she feels guilty that others have to die because of her. The group reaches a fork in the path and Boorman suggests going over a more treacherous path while Silas wants to go the other way.

Kit notices that Boorman knows something the others don’t and agrees to split up and accompany him on the more dangerous path. He continues to tell her about the magical significance of the cuirass but isn’t exactly clear about what happened to her father.

The others are stopped once again when their cart gets stuck in the mud and Jade and Graydon wonder why Willow doesn’t just use his magic to set them free.

At that very moment, Willow and Silas reminisce about their past and Willow mentions that he needs to save his magic for when things get perilously worse, implying that his magic is in limited supply.

Boorman and Kit arrive at the Slaughtered Lamb inn and find a graveyard. Kit wonders if anything Boorman told her is true and he says that the owner of the inn was someone that he and Madmartigan trusted and there must be something hidden around his grave.

They go inside a structure and Boorman jumps down a well, telling Kit to pull him up later and watch out for wererats. The soldiers arrive at the Slaughtered Lamb and wonder why Kit and Boorman’s horses are just left in the open.

They look up at the castle on the mountain nearby and claim that they’re close to their destination. Elora says that they’re not surviving the journey and the odds are they will end up dead by the looks of things.

Willow gets a vision earlier of where they’re headed and tells the others. Elora decides to stand her ground and when one of the soldiers tries to grab her, she touches his skin and it burns at that place.

She gets a rush of confidence and tells them that she’s going to cast a spell that will call her allies to her aid. She booms out the growing spell and right then, Willow and the others show up.

Boorman finds a scroll or key of sorts hidden within the walls of the well and Kit sees a wererat and kills it. He tells her that he hasn’t found anything and after she pulls him out, they are surrounded by dozens of wererats.

Jade fights with Ballantine as Silas and Graydon fight the others with Elora stranded in the middle with no way of helping. Kit and Boorman break out through a wall and join the fight but they appear to be getting overwhelmed.

Willow suggests getting in the cart and running away lightning strikes the cart and destroys it. When Silas is thrown to the wall and defeat seems near, Willow bellows out a spell and slams his staff on the ground which knocks back the soldiers.

Silas tells Willow not to waste his magic trying to heal and save it for more important things. He passes and Boorman buries him amongst the other graves. Ballantine tells Jade that he’s proud of her and she must continue on her journey to defeat The Crone.

She is then forced to strike the final blow and put him out of his misery which she does with great grief and reluctance. They continue on their journey without any horses and Willow tells Elora that she needs to continue her training.

Graydon collapses and reveals that he was hurt by dark magic and when Boorman claims that they have no idea where they are, Willow corrects him and says that they are at Nockmaar, as he looks across to a huge scary-looking castle.

Review

• The darkness begins enveloping the world quite literally in this episode, making it extremely difficult to watch it. The illumination of the sets is very poor and that is a huge turn-off.
• Silas and Ballantine are new characters who barely got a chance to establish themselves but there has been enough of it that their deaths are quite emotional and dramatic moments in the episode.
• Graydon’s casual revelations of his extensive knowledge of magic and cursed languages is an intriguing character trait and with him being affected by bad magic, he will be one to keep an eye on.

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Also Read: Willow season 1 episodes 1 and 2 recap & review