History WesternAnimation / Wizards2020

* AmbiguouslyGay: [[spoiler: Morgana seems to have been just as in love with Guinevere as Arthur was.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Jim regains his humanity, albeit without the amulet but he might be worthy of wielding Excalibur, and Douxie finally becomes a wizard but sadly, Merlin and Morgana are now dead with the latter in a RedemptionEqualsDeath battle against her brother, Douxie leaves Arcadia to protect Nari and the Arcane Order are still at large.]]

* CainAndAbel: Morgana and Arthur. [[spoiler: Though which one is Cain and which one is Abel flips around a few times before finally settling on a repentant Morgana as the Abel to Arthur's CameBackWrong Cain]].
* TheCameo: A few characters from Trollhunters show up in bit parts. [[spoiler: Angor Rot gets a single scene where he saves Morgana from the sea and delivers her to the Arcane Order without knowing who she is (unintentionally saving the woman who'd later enslave him) and Gnome Chompsky shows up briefly during the finale when Douxie is playing a game of cups with the Arcane Order.]]

** [[spoiler: They resurrect Morgana after Arthur kills her, turning her into the unstoppable monster she is in ''Trollhunters''. Though when they do it again they keep her at her normal level before she died, possibly not trusting she wouldn't turn on them.]]
** [[spoiler: They later do this with Arthur but with a lot more CameBackWrong to make him easier to control.]]

* GenreShift: While previous stories went more for an Urban Fantasy approach, this one is more straight-up High Fantasy without any WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld aspects, with most of it being set in Camelot and the entire plot being concerned with battling evil.

* {{Magitech}}: We get a couple of instances of this.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: [[spoiler:Jim's human side is completely suppressed by the Green Knight's dark magic, causing him to grow into a full-blooded troll even bigger than AAARRRGGHH, but semi-feral and under the Order's control.]]

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: In the series finale, when [[spoiler:Jim dies/turns to stone]], he does so in the same pose as [=AAARRRGGHH=] at the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'' Season 1 and Draal in the episode ''[[Recap/TrollhuntersS2E11Unbecoming Unbecoming]]'', neither of which were [[spoiler:permanent deaths]].

* OminousFloatingCastle: The Arcane Order fly around in a giant, skull-faced castle. Merlin also retrofitted Camelot's castle for flight and time travel.

* SequelNonEntity: Pretty much everyone of ''Trollhunters'' continuity comes back or makes an appearance here, but Kanjigar the Courageous (Jim's most recent predecessor) is strangely completely absent. It wouldn't be as strange if Draal (his ''son'') didn't show up.

** Invoked by Douxie; he says he has to slow down their fall into the past so that he, Claire, and Steve just have the wind knocked out of them. As he explains it, NotTheFallThatKillsYou is not in effect for human beings; he had to use unwieldy antigravity spells so they wouldn't be killed on impact. This comes back in the last episode, tragically: [[spoiler:Douxie pulls a HeroicSuicide and blows himself up with the two remaining Arcane Order members. This knocks them all out of the sky, and Douxie falls unconscious thousands of feet in the air. No one catches him in time, and we hear a SickeningCrunch as he hits the ground. When the Trollhunters, Steve, Nari and Archie reach him, Douxie is dead, for real. Even when Merlin orders him to return to life, Douxie is coughing and struggling to breathe, implying that his ribs got cracked]].

* ApatheticCitizens: Now on their third apocalypse less than a week after the last, [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror the people of Arcadia don't run from the Order's floating fortress as much as they groan and walk home]].
* AscendedExtra: Douxie, who has never had more than a few small speaking parts in ''Trollhunters'' and ''3Below'', is now the main character. Though it's always been heavily implied he's more than he seems.

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Bellroc not only resurrected and empowered Morgana, but she also killed Arthur in front of her so Morgana would remain loyal to her and the Arcane Order, making her responsible for everything that Morgana did past that]].

* BigBad: Bellroc, the leader of the Arcane Order, [[spoiler:who counts as this for the entire franchise as it's revealed that she's ultimately the one who turned Morgana evil. Not only did she and Skrael turn Morgana into the Eldritch Queen, but right after Morgana and King Arthur were about to reconcile, Bellroc personally intervenes to kill Arthur herself so Morgana would be completely consumed by her hatred of humanity]]. After Nari pulls a HeelFaceTurn, Skrael continues as Bellroc's right-hand while the Green Knight, [[spoiler:a resurrected King Arthur brought back to life by Bellroc and Skrael]], functions as the Arcane Order's [[TheHeavy champion]].

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:The Arcane Order resurrected and empowered Morgana, making them responsible for everything that she did past that]].

* BigBadDuumvirate: The Arcane Order (mostly Bellroc and Skrael, after Nari pulls a HeelFaceTurn), [[spoiler:who could count for this as the entire franchise as it's revealed that they're the ones who turned Morgana evil]]. The Green Knight, [[spoiler: a resurrected King Arthur]], turns it into somewhat of a Big Bad Triumvirate as the Arcane Order's [[TheHeavy champion]].

** Steve and Lancelot: Both are quite egotistical and boastful. However, while Lancelot follows Arthur's prejudice without question, Steve is willing to blow his validation of knighthood to protect his friends, even protect half-troll Jim and Claire's magic secret. Lancelot was clearly outraged when Steve purposely made him miss Troll Jim with an arrow once (unaware that said troll is actually one of Steve's friend).

* StartOfDarkness: "History in the Making" and "Witch Hunt" delve into how Morgana became who she is in ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}''. "Killahead, Part Two" also reveals why Morgana ''hated'' Merlin so much and wanted to destroy everything related to him; [[spoiler:as she grievingly blamed her former master for Arthur's death, even though [[MisplacedRetribution she knew Bellroc was really to blame since she]] ''[[MisplacedRetribution saw]]'' [[MisplacedRetribution the demigod god him for herself]].]]

* StartOfDarkness: "History in the Making" and "Witch Hunt" delve into how Morgana became who she is in ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}''.

''Wizards'' is a 2020 American computer-animated television series created for Netflix by Creator/GuillermoDelToro, produced by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation and Double Dare You. It is the third and final series in the Franchise/TalesOfArcadia anthology.

Trouble is afoot in Arcadia once again, but this time it's not Trolls, or Aliens, but Wizards who threaten the seemingly peaceful town. It's up to Merlin's very own apprentice, Douxie, to gather the heroes of the town together to once again fight to save the world. Things don't go well from the start though when during a battle the team is sent to the past, to the time of Camelot.

The series premiered August 7th, 2020. You can see the first trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6adVDTR79n4 Here]].

* ExcaliburInTheStone: [[spoiler:Arthur's defeat leaves Excalibur without a wielder, embedded into a rock. Nobody is able make the sword budge, leaving it without a wielder, [[SequelHook for now.]]]]
* {{Familiar}}: Archie is Douxie's shape shifting talking cat dragon familiar.

** Jim and Arthur: Both Jim and Arthur were chosen to wield magical weapons (Daylight and Excalibur respectively) and destined for greatness. However, unlike Jim, who continued to care for the magical beings around him, sacrificed himself to protect his friends from Morgana when she was still evil, never gave into the beliefs of evil beings, and moved on from his losses, King Arthur came to the conclusion that trollkind should be wiped out, sliced off Morgana's hand which would lead her to fall to her first death, gave into Skrael and Bellroc's belief that the world must be wiped out and made anew, and never moved on from his loss of Guinevere. [[spoiler:Both were also resurrected from death. However, while Arthur was brought back by the Arcane Order as a vile anti-sorcerer bent on destroying the universe, Jim returns to his old human form and is free to relive his normal life.]] Ultimately, King Arthur is an example of who Jim could've become if he let his emotions control him instead of the other way around. [[spoiler:It's even hinted that Jim can one day wield Excalibur after Arthur's demise to make it his own and fix Arthur's past mistakes]].

* GenreShift: While previous stories went more for a Urban Fantasy approach, this one is more straight up High Fantasy without any WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld aspects, with most of it being set in Camelot and the entire plot being concerned with battling evil.

* GoryDiscretionShot: Any time a human is killed the shot will quickly jump to reactions instead of showing what happened.

* {{Magitech}}: We get a couple instances of this.

* MentorOccupationalHazard: [[spoiler:Merlin for Douxie, Lancelot for Steve, and (to a lesser extent) Morgana for Claire, whom all meet their ends.]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Morgana ends up killing herself and her brother in the final fight realizing there was no saving Arthur from what he had become. Its slightly ambiguous if Morgana actually killed herself or if as she died she just made sure her brother didn't live much longer as she can be seen slumping over just before a tower of Camelot falls on them both. Either way, she ends up joining Merlin in the afterlife.]]

* SequelNonEntity: Pretty much everyone of Trollhunters continuity come back or makes an appearance here, but Kanjigar the Courageous (Jim's most recent predecessor) is strangely completely absent. It wouldn't be as strange if Draal (his ''son'') didn't show up.
* ShoutOut: A few.

''Wizards'' is a 2020 American computer-animated television series created for Netflix by Guillermo del Toro, produced by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation and Double Dare You. It is the third and final series in the Franchise/TalesOfArcadia anthology.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: [[CastingAShadow Shadow Magic]] is referred to as being sinister and to be looked at with caution, it being the only form of magic Merlin apparently never uses or teaches. Morgana and Claire are shown to possess a natural affinity to it and its use is looked at with fear and skepticism. While Morgana ''did'' turn evil, it had nothing to do with her affinity to it. In the case of Claire, she has only ever used it for altruistic purposes, helping the escaping trolls by blocking out the sun and later learning how to conjure portals without a staff under Douxie's tutelage.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Jim regains his humanity, albeit without the amulet but he might be worthy of wielding Excalibur, and Douxie finally becomes a wizard but sadly, Merlin, Arthur and Morgana are now dead with the latter in a RedemptionEqualsDeath battle against her brother, Douxie leaves Arcadia to protect Nari and the Arcane Order are still at large.]]

-->'''Merlin:''' I empathize, Miss Claire, but we cannot go back to save him.\\
'''Claire:''' Come on, this is our friend we're talking about! ''Your'' Trollhunter! You want us to just forget about him? No way!\\
'''Douxie:''' ''[Uneasily]'' Surely there's something that we can do--\\
'''Merlin:''' The risk is too great for a rescue! ''[Douxie [[{{Facepalm}} facepalms]]]'' We must keep Nari safe from the Order. The fate of existence is at stake!\\
'''Toby:''' [[CallingTheOldManOut This is why nobody likes you, dude!]]\\
'''Merlin:''' I care not for your "likes." James Lake is corrupted, gone! There is no bringing him back!\\
'''Claire:''' Or you're just too stubborn to try!\\
'''Douxie:''' Please, [[LampshadeHanging you both have solid points]].

** Jim and Arthur: Both Jim and Arthur were chosen to wield magical weapons (Daylight and Excalibur respectively) and destined for greatness. However, unlike Jim, who continued to care for the magical beings around him, sacrificed himself to protect his friends from Morgana when she was still evil, never gave into the beliefs of evil beings, and moved on from his losses, King Arthur came to the conclusion that trollkind should be wiped out, sliced off Morgana's hand which would lead her to fall to her first death, gave into Skrael and Bellroc's belief that the world must be wiped out and made anew, and never moved on from his loss of Guinevere. Ultimately, King Arthur is an example of who Jim could've become if he let his emotions control him instead of the other way around. [[spoiler:It's even hinted that Jim can one day wield Excalibur after Arthur's demise to make it his own and fix Arthur's past mistakes]].
** Steve and Lancelot: Somewhat subverted. Both are quite egotistical and boastful. However, while Lancelot follows Arthur's prejudice without question, Steve is willing to blow his validation of knighthood to protect his friends, even protect half-troll Jim and Claire's magic secret. Lancelot was clearly outraged when Steve purposely made him miss Troll Jim with an arrow once (unaware that said troll is actually one of Steve's friend).

* BigBadDuumvirate: The Arcane Order (mostly Bellroc and Skrael, after Nari pulls a HeelFaceTurn), [[spoiler:who could count for this as the entire franchise as it's revealed that they're the ones who turned Morgana evil]]. The Green Knight, [[spoiler: a resurrected King Arthur]], serves as somewhat of a third member as TheHeavy.

* TimeTravel: Douxie and his team end up stuck in the past during the time of King Arthur and Camelot, before the creation of the Trollhunters and the famous Battle of Killahead Bridge (which has been mentioned most often throughout ''Trollhunters'').

[[caption-width-right:350:]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Invoked by Douxie; he says he has to slow down their fall into the past so that he, Claire, and Steve just have the wind knocked out of them. As he explains it, NotTheFallThatKillsYou is not in effect for human beings; he had to use unwieldy antigravity spells so they wouldn't be killed on impact. This comes back in the last episode, tragically: [[spoiler:Douxie pulls a HeroicSuicide and blows himself up with the two remaining Arcane Order members. This knocks them all out of the sky, and Douxie falls unconscious thousands of feet in the air. No one catches him in time, and we hear a SickeningCrunch as he hits the ground. When the Trollhunters, Steve, Nari and Archie reach him, Douxie is dead, for real. Even when Merlin orders him to return to life, Douxie is coughing and struggling to breathe, implying that his ribs got cracked]].

* YankTheDogsChain: [[spoiler:Arthur's death frees Jim from his control, only for him to petrify almost instantly. Thankfully, Claire's tears restore Jim to his human form.]]

---> '''Douxie:''' I can't help but think... what if Merlin was more like Charlie? If he hadn't saved me in that alley? Would I be a completely different wizard?\\
'''Archie:''' We don't get to choose everyone that comes into our lives.\\
'''Douxie:''' Or when they leave.

---> '''Claire:''' Morgana tried to help me save Jim, but what I saw was... anger and darkness. We share the same magic, but what does that say about ''me?''\\
''[Later]''\\
'''Claire:''' What if the darkness takes over, like Morgana?\\
'''Douxie:''' Claire, look, I know you're scared, but you're NOT her. You can make the magic you're own.

** Steve and Lancelot: Both are quite egotistical and boastful, and they're more-or-less subverted as being ''complete'' foils to each other. However, while Lancelot follows Arthur's prejudice without question, Steve is willing to blow his validation of knighthood to protect his friends, even protect half-troll Jim and Claire's magic secret. Lancelot was clearly outraged when Steve purposely made him miss Troll Jim with an arrow once (unaware that said troll is actually one of Steve's friend).
---> '''Steve:''' What if we... let this one go?\\
'''Lancelot:''' You NEVER let them go!

* MentorOccupationalHazard: [[spoiler: Merlin for Douxie, Lancelot for Steve, and to a lesser extent Morgana for Claire all meet their ends.]]

* SequelHook: [[spoiler: The Arcane Order is still around and looking for Nari, which was announced the same day the series dropped will be concluded in ''Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans''. Excalibur is also stuck in a stone, awaiting a wielder once more.]]
* SequelNonEntity: Pretty much everyone of Trollhunters continuity come back or makes an appearance here, but Kanjigar the Courageous (Jim's Trollhunter predecessor) is strangely completely absent. It wouldn't be as strange if Draal (his ''son'') didn't show up.

* TimeTravel: Douxie and his team end up stuck in the past during the time of King Arthur and Camelot.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Archie calls one of the rock head doors a knobhead. Which, for any non-British viewers, is like calling someone a dickhead.

'''Douxie:''' Please, [[LampshadeHanging you both have solid points]].\\
'''Merlin:''' [[TheNeedsOfTheMany I will not jeopardize the mortal plane for one Troll!]]\\
'''Claire:''' [[TrueCompanions It's what he'd do for us.]]\\
'''Merlin:''' And look where that got him!\\
'''Claire:''' [[BigWhat WHAT?!?!]] ''[Blacks out the screens]''

* OhNoNotAgain: Steve, Toby & Krel are basically ''annoyed'' that the world is ending ''again'' and it's up to them to save it ''again''.

* BigBadDummvirate: The Arcane Order (mostly Bellroc and Skrael, after Nari pulls a HeelFaceTurn), [[spoiler:who could count for this as the entire franchise as it's revealed that they're the ones who turned Morgana evil]]. The Green Knight, [[spoiler: a resurrected King Arthur]], serves as somewhat of a third member as TheHeavy.

'''Douxie:''' Please, [[LampshadeHanging you both have solid points]].

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Claire and the Guardians arguing with Merlin about [[spoiler:saving Jim and protecting Nari from the Arcane Order]]. Merlin believes that there's no way to bring Jim back as the corruption in his heart is too powerful, yet Claire believes that Merlin is just being too stubborn, due to his strong belief in TheNeedsOfTheMany.

* {{Foil}}: ''Wizards'' ultimately shows many foils between the time-traveling heroes and the people of Arthurian legends being opposites to each other, despite their similarities.
** Douxie and Merlin: Douxie and Merlin are both wizards who fight for the good of magic and mortals alike. However, while Douxie cares about all life, as well as his friends', and is willing to risk one life for countless others, Merlin fights for the greater good of the world and believes that risking one life is a necessary sacrifice. Douxie lampshades to Archie what he would've been like if Merlin were a different person like Charlemagne, or even if he himself actually became much like Merlin if the said wizard had never found him.

* {{Foil}}: ''Wizards'' ultimate shows many foils between the time-traveling heroes and the people of Arthurian legends being opposites to each other, despite their similarities.

** Steve and Lancelot: Both are quite egotistical and boastful, and they're more-or-less subverted as being complete foils to each other. However, while Lancelot follows Arthur's prejudice without question, Steve is willing to nearly blow his validation to protect his friends, even protect half-troll Jim and Claire's magic. Lancelot was clearly outraged when Steve purposely made him miss Troll Jim with an arrow.