Warning: This story contains spoilers about the season 1 finale ofWillow.
The Crone is dead, long live the… Wyrm?
But they did manage to save Airk (Dempsey Bryk), reviving him from his evil transformed state.
Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis).Lucasfilm
“He was such a fan of the movie and understood it and the DNA of it.
I knew he could get the tone and build on it.”
JONATHAN KASDAN:There was some conversation about that.
Lucasfilm
We always called him the Dark Prince in our construction of the show.
As the show progressed, he’s pretty definitively good.
And for her, he felt like that.
Now that Airk has come back to himself, is there any chance he and Elora would reconnect?
Or is her heart fully with Graydonat this point?
She’s not with either of them, frankly, at the moment.
But conversely, Airk is not at all over her.
But I definitely think the bloom is off the rose for Elora.
It would’ve been bad.
They’ve got to get her back to the castle.
She’s going to be okay a little longer.
There’s something about her that is spirit.
It’s in line with George Lucas' philosophical, quasi-religious stuff about the Force.
We’re celestial beings.
Boorman gives his own reasoning for it, but why is Kit finally able to use the armor?
Kit’s journey is about embracing responsibility.
And family and who do I take responsibility for?"
She’s running away from that responsibility all season.
Metaphorically, Elora represents the natural spirit of the world, and Kit represents our human role in that.
She goes from being very selfish to very generous.
It’s that journey that makes her worthy of the armor.
It was always designed to be a three-act story.
These things have to have a finite end to them.
They do end this with the charred remnants of Willow’s staff and Elora’s wand broken.
How much is that going to be an obstacle to them?Will they need to repair those things?
It was a very intentional decision for Willow to sacrifice the conduit for his power to save Airk.
We wanted him to give something up that was meaningful.
Early in the show, we see Willow say a prophecy claims Elora Danan has to die.
We saw her make it through this time, but should we still be worried about that?
The Crone is the Wyrm’s agent.
She’s the producer, but she’s not the talent herself.
The Wyrm is the thing.
We were racing the clock to do it.
And Tony was in position not 10 seconds after Warwick had vacated it.
The final battle reallyreminded me visually of theHarry Potterwand duels.
How much of a visual reference point was that for you?
There’s the promise of a lot of things in that final scene.
Certainly, that conflict is alive in Elora.
The temptation of what the Wyrm represents is powerful.
Ellie communicates it in this almost ecstatic way that she plays out the battle with the Crone.
Something really rather destructive is in her too.
Should we interpret that final version of Elora that Graydon sees as her potential alternate path?
And as the clear statement of intention by the bad guy.
You said before you’d like to haveVal Kilmerappear in a second season.
There’s nothing I would like more.
But you did haveChristian Slater as a guest star.
Is there another 1980s heartthrob you’d love to have on the show?
I’m a huge Billy Zane fan.
If I could find a way to use that man inWillow, I would be very pleased.
He’s under-appreciated, under-loved and brilliant.
I’m not the only one who feels this way.
He’s done some great stuff lately.
So I’m hopeful that he’s someone we could use someday.
Is there some crossover potential there?
(Laughs) No, but we invited them all to the premiere.
They need to sit and do a photo shoot together or something.
It’s too perfect.
That show is unbelievably great.
I would love to have Devery Jacobs guest star on the show.
That would be a really fun idea.
Is there any news you could share on a potential season 2?
Only that I’m sitting in my office and continuing to plan and scheme.
It’s a strange time in the business.
It’s a transformative time for Disney.
Can you tease where you envision it going from here?
I’d love to get these characters out of that desert.
Beyond that, they’re all looking at very clear conflicts that were deeply positioned in season 1.
And that’s far from over.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
