Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Wizards: Tales of Arcadia.
Wizards, the final show in Guillermo del Toro's Tales of Arcadia series, is only one season long, but its ending sets the stage for what's to come in the movie, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans. Following after the Trollhunters series and its sequel, 3Below, Wizards returns to Arcadia for another adventure. It follows Douxie, a minor character from the previous shows who just so happens to be Merlin's wizard apprentice.
Along with Archie, his familiar, Douxie had been busy keeping Arcadia safe from magical threats, and presumably has been doing so while the stories seen in both Trollhunters and 3Below were taking place. In Wizards, Douxie's true purpose is revealed to Jim, Claire, and Steve, as the three flee into the past to escape the newest and most dangerous magical threat yet: the Arcane Order.
While in the past they meet King Arthur, learn the truth about Morgana's turn to evil, and experience the Battle of Killahead Bridge firsthand. Once they return to the present, however, the threat posed by the Arcane Order still exists, and Douxie, Claire, and the rest of Arcadia's heroes must rally together to stop them. Here's how the ending of Wizards season 1 shakes out, and what fans can expect in the upcoming Trollhunters movie, Rise of the Titans.
As its main threat of the season, Wizards introduces the Arcane Order, a trio of extremely powerful magical beings who were originally tasked with maintaining the balance between the magical and mortal worlds, but are now hellbent on destroying everything. They seek the Genesis Seals, artifacts that contain the essence of magic itself, and if destroyed - an act that requires all three members of the order to be present - will unleash raw magical energy across the world and bring about the apocalypse. Knowing this, Merlin hid the seals somewhere only he (or his apprentice) could find. In time, one of the Arcane Order's members, Nari, abandoned them and their wish to destroy the world.
Throughout Wizards, the Arcane Order's two remaining members, Bellroc and Skrael, are hunting for Nari and the seals, both of which are under Merlin's (and later Douxie's) protection. In the final episode, however, they capture Nari, forcing Douxie to gamble with the seals in order to keep her safe. He devises a plan in where he hands over the seals to Bellroc and Skrael, but in doing so traps them in a time loop to buy him the time needed to rescue Nari. It works and Nari (as well as everyone else) is saved, but the Arcane Order are too powerful to remain in the time loop for long, eventually breaking free.
Following a huge battle that sees the Arcane Order's castle ship destroyed, Douxie and Nari leave Arcadia, needing to stay on the move lest the order catches up with them. Wizards then ends with a scene of Douxie, Nari, and Archie in some unknown metropolis, walking the streets in disguise while Bellroc spies on them from atop a nearby building. The scene is clearly setting up where Tales of Arcadia's story is going next, teasing the big finale that is now expected in the Trollhunters movie, Rise of the Titans. Obviously Skrael and Bellroc are not giving up on their world-ending plan, and as they've located where Nari is hiding, they'll soon come for her. Luckily, Douxie has already proven he can hold his own against the Arcane Order, and with even more allies likely to join them in Rise of the Titans, they should be ready for whatever the order throws their way.
Wizards kicks off with Jim being attacked by a mysterious enemy, the Green Knight, who lodges a corrupted crystal into his heart that's slowly poisoning him. In time, it's revealed the Green Knight is actually a resurrected King Arthur under the control of the Arcane Order. During the finale, Morgana - who throughout Wizards has had a change of heart, realizing the error of her earlier, evil ways and seeking redemption - fights with the corrupted Arthur, her brother. Their duel ends with both of them perishing, but not before Arthur's sword, Excalibur, is wrenched from his hands and lands thrust into a stone in the ground.
The placement of the sword is not subtle. Clearly, it's waiting for someone to pull it out - but who? Jim and Toby both give it a go, but neither are successful, leaving Excalibur to sit and wait until Tales of Arcadia's next chapter. Of the possible candidates, Jim would make the most sense, especially since he now appears to be without his Trollhunter amulet and sword. However, he already tried and failed to pull the sword out, proving he isn't worthy of it. That could always change, but then again, it may be Rise of the Titans will reveal the sword is actually meant for someone else.
There are plenty of heroes who could wield Excalibur, but one interesting candidate is Steve. While he hasn't changed too much since his introduction as the high school bully in Trollhunters, Steve's time with Lancelot and the other knights taught him a few things, and even Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, recognized his wish for validation. It's by no means guaranteed, but it'd make for an interesting arc if the dimwitted jock could prove himself worthy of a sword like Excalibur.
Perhaps the biggest moment in Wizards' finale comes when Jim is transformed back into his human self. Trollhunters season 3 saw Jim become part troll, but in Wizards, the Green Knight's corruption makes him go full troll and places him under the Arcane Order's thrall. While Douxie fights the order and Morgana fights Arthur, Jim's friends attempt to break the spell, and although he appears to free himself from the Order's control, the sun soon rises and turns Jim to stone. Devastated, Claire cries over his statue but when her tears hit the stone, it crumbles apart and a human Jim emerges.
Jim again becoming human is a big shock since his transformation into being part-troll seemed like a natural progression of his role as the Trollhunter, bridging the two worlds. However, Jim may not actually be the Trollhunter anymore. The Amulet of Daylight - the object that gives a Trollhunter their power and what Wizards shows Merlin and Douxie first constructing - is destroyed when Jim is transformed fully into a troll. Without it, even Jim questions if he's still the Trollhunter, and his inability to wield Excalibur isn't helping.
If the Amulet of Daylight is really gone, then it may not even be as simple as Jim no longer being the Trollhunter; there may no longer be a Trollhunter at all. It's the amulet that chooses the Trollhunter, after all, and gives them their armor and sword. Without it, those items don't exist. The upcoming movie, however, is using the Trollhunter name for the first time since that first TV series, and while possibly a decision made purely for marketing reasons, it also stands to reason that Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans will have an answer about not just Jim's future, but that of the Trollhunter in general.
On the day that Wizards dropped on Netflix, it was announced that Tales of Arcadia would conclude not with another season but a movie, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans. The movie will see the many different heroes of Arcadia join together to (hopefully) defeat the Arcane Order once and for all. Given that, there's a good chance Rise of the Titans will begin shortly after the tease of Bellroc finding Douxie and Nari at the very end of Wizards, setting off another chase and eventual battle for Nari and the Genesis Seals. Additionally, the questions about Excalibur and Jim's future will need to be answered, but there's even more to expect from Rise of the Titans.
First, there's the movie's subtitle. It's a hint at some new group arriving, but whether these Titans are friend or foe is unclear. Titans could just refer to the different shows' many heroes, now finally all banding together, or it could be some new evil the Arcane Order unleash. Whatever the Titans are, the prominence of being in the title means they're significant.
Since all of Arcadia's heroes are expected to be in Rise of the Titans, that means a few who did not appear in Wizards will likely return. From 3Below, Krel and DadBlank made brief appearances in the final episodes of Wizards, but Aja, Varvatos Vex, and any of the other alien characters did not. For the film, however, their return is almost certain. The same is likely true of Eli Pepperjack, Steve's fellow Creepslayerz, who went with Aja back to Akiridian-5 in the 3Below season 2 finale.
Lastly, as Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans is to be the grand finale for Tales of Arcadia, it'll be expected to deliver a satisfying end to the long-running series. That's something that even the best stories can often fail to deliver, but Tales of Arcadia's track record is solid when it comes not only to thrilling storytelling, but in building out a huge cast of characters and managing to give them all meaningful arcs to explore. The journeys of Arcadia's many characters comes to close next year with Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, and fans will not want to miss how this tale ends.
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August 10, 2020 at 06:02AM
