Blacktalon is an Age of Sigmar show on WarhammerTV, focusing on Stormcast Eternals. Its lead character is Neave Blacktalon. I thought the previous episode was the final episode, but I was wrong. There was yet one final episode, and this is my review of it. This review contains spoilers, so don't read on if you haven't seen the episode yet.
Well, I like to cut right to the chase. The previous episode should have been the last episode. It's not that this episode was bad, it's just not as powerful an ending as the previous one. Obviously the previous episode would have ended with a lot of plot points left unresolved, but then again is anything ever really resolver in Warhammer? It's not like Neave returning to Hammerhall means the Mortal Realms are safe forever now. The battle, as always, will go on. All the plot devices to threaten the Realms with danger were fine as plot devices leading up to Neave's revelation and decision to return in episode 5. I didn't really need to see her return for the obligatory boss battle against a villain who, to be fair, was really only revealed in episode 4.
Plot
In this episode, the Stormcast Eternals are fighting the servants of Nurgle and Thysis. Hendrick Silverwolf reveals to the others that Neave got herself killed, and she still hasn't been reforged, so they'd have to make do without her. Everyone looks sad for a moment or two, and then go on killing daemons and cultists and things.
The battle is exciting enough. It's a fantasy battle, so there are impossibly beefy enemies against really sincere and powerful heroes. It works well, and if this had been episode 5 I think it would have really felt exciting. As episode 6, though, to me I have to admit it felt like we were here because the "history" of the story demands it, even though the emotion of the story resists.
Returned
In the end, of course, Neave returns. Like in the episode title. She kills a bunch of things, too, and then victory happens, and then all the Stormcast Eternals go back to Azyr to hang out.
As they talk about how great they are, Hendrick welcomes Neave back to the land of the Eternals and asks her, super casually, what she remembers. This is the best scene of the episode. That's not by chance. This is the part of the story that we're actually emotionally invested in. It's basically the entire episode. You can cut the first 14 minutes and the last 1 minute, and just have this. One. Scene.
In response to Hendrick, Neave just stares in silence. I'm not kidding, it feels like a full minute goes by but of course it's mere seconds. It hits hard, though. For a moment you almost (I said almost) feel for Hendrick, just for the sheer social awkwardness of it.
But then he continues his lie, makes up some more lies to cover it up, and everything seems the same as it was.
That's the episode.
End of Blacktalon?
This one is the final episode. I assume and hope it'll be back at some point with a new storyline. I enjoyed the series, and would love to see more of the Realms. I don't even mind if there's no story arc, I'm fine with a monster-of-the-week setup for this one, at least for one series. However it's structured, I did enjoy this, the first series, of Blacktalon, and I'd recommend it to any fan of the Warhammer universe and especially to Age of Sigmar fans.
All images in this post copyright Games Workshop.