Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for Legend of the Seeker through the current episode, “Listener,” originally broadcast the weekend of November 22nd, 2008.

I’ve been enjoying Legend of the Seeker so far.  It’s not appointment television by any means but it gives me something to watch Saturday evenings when there is little else to do.  I can’t say its as much fun as earlier action/adventure shows (like The Lost World, for example) but the scenery is spectacular and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of contemplating the complexities of Kahlan’s outfits.

Of the five episodes that have aired thus far, “Listener” is easily my least favorite.  Throwing a child into the mix is rarely a smart move and Legend of the Seeker was no exception.  The child in question, Renn, is a listener.  He can look into anyone’s eyes and hear what is going on inside their mind.  That’s an annoying skill.  When Richard, Kahlan and Zedd come across Renn, he’s been sold to a band of D’Haran soldiers (and even turns in one of them for wanting to kill Darken Rahl).  Richard is impulsive and wants to rescue the boy right away.  Zedd isn’t so sure.  But, they decide swing into action.

Zedd uses magic to disguise himself and infiltrates the D’Harans while Richard and Kahlan snag Renn.  The episode then begins to alternate between these two storylines.  Zedd frees and then captures the D’Haran traitor in order to impress their leader.  But when he turns the traitor into a bird so he can escape being beheaded, the D’Harans turn on him.

Richard and Kahlan, meanwhile, have their hands full with Renn.  He doesn’t want to go anywhere with them and even blackmails Richard into cooking him a fancy meal by threatening to tell Kahlan how Richard feels about her.  Eventually, Renn finally realizes that Richard and Kahlan have his best interests in mind after Richard is wounded fighting off a group of D’Harans.  They hear a rumor that Renn may have been sold by his father.  But when they meet up with Renn’s father, Renn willingly goes with him.

The storylines merge when Richard and Kahlan decide to go after Renn and learn he has been sold back to the D’Harans.  They try to use him to learn what Zedd is up to.  But Renn tricks them into fighting one another.  When Richard and Kahlan show up, the fighting spreads.  Zedd is freed just in time to save Richard.  The D’Harans are routed.

As the episode comes to a close, Richard, Kahlan and Zedd have brought Renn to the women who raised Kahlan and her sister.  The man Zedd turned into a bird shows up and is turned back into a man.  He tells them that Darken Rahl has sent a group of soldiers to a city that, according to Zedd, is buried under tons of rock.  Crazy.

My only real problem was this episode was Renn.  Yes, he has been sold time and time again and has done terrible things using his talent, but he was really just a brat.  And he has a heart of gold and goes with his father to save Richard and Kahlan.  Still, it felt as if Renn was used simply as a way to bring the feelings Richard and Kahlan have for one another to light.  Richard learns that Kahlan and her sister was abused by their father until they were taken in by the women who raised them.  That’s why she didn’t want Renn’s hands tied.  Bad memories.

And, furthermore, although Kahlan has feelings for Richard, she’s also afraid that because she’s a Confessor, she would hurt Richard if they were ever intimate.  Or something like that.  Everyone was very vague but I’m sure we’ll see more about this in future episodes.  Maybe Richard and Kahlan will fall in love.