Recap / Songs Of War S 1 E 05 Episode 5

What was the Great War like?

Release Date: January 18th 2020

Synopsis: Lucan and Niika have teamed up to solve the Necromancer mystery, Thalleous and Senn discuss the Great War, and Abbigail continues her hunt for the Dragon Stone.

Lucan is once again at a campfire in the jungle, and is once again pursued by an unknown figure, this time however, some zombies come to the campfire and Lucan gets up to defend himself. He soon discovers that he's surrounded by zombies, and a Necromancer approaches him, demanding to know where Niika is. Lucan pretends he doesn't know who she is, which doesn't fool the necromancer. Before the Necromancer can finish his sentence however, Niika ambushes and kills the zombies, revealing the entire thing to be a trap for Necromancers.

They quickly manage to subdue the Necromancer, and demand he answer a few questions, though the Necromancer refuses and goes an a speech about Necromancer superiority before Niika knocks him out with a punch to the face. With their original plan having failed, Niika suggests taking the Necromancer's robes and following their tunnels back to their base. While taking the robes off, Niika finds Obsidian in the Necromancer's inventory, meaning that the Necrobase is near lava, and the only place to find lava around that area is the volcanic Mount Tempus. Before he goes down into the tunnels, Lucan asks Niika to take their Necromancer to the Riverstead Prison, resulting in an exchange where Lucan almost reveals his criminal past. He then descends into the tunnels.

Niika: Hey! Good luck. (about to turn away) Try not to die.

Lucan: (to himself) I'm going to need more than luck.

At an inn in Biggerton, Conchord, Senn is looking at his Protisium Song, when he hears the door to the balcony creak. Senn sees that Thalleous sitting on a balcony chair and joins him. Thalleous explains that prolonged use of Songs has left him hardly able to sleep, and that using Songs for a lifetime can have adverse effects on an Ardoni's health. At this time, Senn asks Thalleous about the Great War, and Thalleous explains how horrific it was, that the Ardoni were almost driven to extinction because of it. He also confirms to Senn that he occasionally fought alongside Achillean Nestoris, the Tidesinger, the greatest Song-wielder he's ever known. Thalleous however, says that it was his ability to unite the people of Ardonia against the Nether and Voltaris armies that was his greatest strength. He then explains that while both he and the Deathsinger, Ingressus Voltaris were killed, nobody really knew what happened, since they fought alone, and that their Songs were recovered, confirming their demise.

Changing the subject, Senn asks Thalleous if he knows where he came from. Thalleous tells him that both his parents were killed by the Voltaris, and that he was the only one of his siblings that Thalleous could save. Thalleous knew for a fact that he couldn't raise him because of his travelling, and tried to find someone who would take Senn in. Only Osivian accepted him, and while Senn may not have been Sendaris, Osivian named him after the clan, so he could find a place he could call home.

(Senn turns his head away, somewhat upset)

Thalleous: Oh I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but perhaps the truth will help you... one day, find peace.

Senn: (choking up) I understand. Thank you, for being honest.

Jalkar and Grim arrive at a farm on the edge of Underwood, intending to take the two horses there for faster transport, but before they can do that, Abbigail starts firing arrows at them. Moaning about Abbigail's tracking, Jalkar tells Grim to take care of Abbigail while he gets the horses (and looks after the egg). Abbigail's arrows don't touch Grim, but as she prepares to engage with him, Sam trips Grim up. Jalkar tells Grim to get on a horse (that isn't the one Jalkar's on), but their owner, Darlene, calls for one of them, leaving Jalkar and Grim without transport yet again, forcing them to flee on foot.

Darlene (a friend of Abbigail) asks her what's happening, and Abbigail apolgises for the trouble, saying that she wanted to get the two thieves before they left Underwood, Darlene however, is glad that her horses weren't stolen. Darlene remarks how long it's been since she last saw Abbigail, and offers to let her rest in the house, and catch up with Jalkar and Grim on horseback later, which Abbigail gladly accepts. While on the horses, Darlene explains that the Dragon Stone is in fact an egg (something that Abbigail was completely unaware of until then), and its association with the Enderknights. Darlene then inquires about something important about Abbigail's current situation:

Darlene: So how did you persuade Mr Finch to let you go on this hunt?

Abbigail: I didn't. I just... left.

Darlene: Hehe. About time. I don't know how you managed to live with him.

Abbigail: He may be a strict old grouch, but he has looked out for me ever since my parents died. I can't just forget that.

The pair then arrive at Tabora Crags, where the trail for Jalkar and Grim goes. Darlene states that the thieves are using the ravines to stay out of Conchord's borders, and that this is as far as she can accompany Abbigail. Abbigail bids Darlene farewell, and she and Sam descend into the ravines.

Senn and Thalleous arrive back in Sendaria, and Senn thanks Thalleous for taking him on his journey. Before they properly arrive at their home however, Timber noticies something wrong ahead, and Thalleous and Senn see Sendaria engulfed in flames.

To Be Continued

Tropes:

• Bow and Sword in Accord: Abbigail fights like this, primarily using her bow, and using her sword whenever the bow in ineffective.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The Necromancer who confronts Lucan at the campfire (actually a trap), is the same one who made cameo appearances in the previous two episodes.
• Cliffhanger: Thalleous and Senn looking over Sendaria when they got back, seeing it up in flames.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Lucan asks Niika to send the Necromancer to the Riverstead prison, where he himself spent some time in before Episode 2.
  • Senn in seen looking at the Protisium Song Thalleous gave him (also from Episode 2).
  • A good look at the Dragon Egg shows that it's glowing, as it started doing back in Episode 3.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The Necromancer who confronts Lucan in the forest seriously loses after being caught in Lucan and Niika's trap, with all of the undead under his command being killed by Niika, getting knocked out and having his robes taken off so that Lucan can follow the tunnels back to the Necrobase, and is then sent to prison in Riverstead.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Thalleous reveals to Senn that the Voltaris killed both his parents, and that he couldn't save the rest of Senn's biological siblings, leaving him orphaned. On top of this, several Ardoni refused to adopt Senn when he was a child, with only Osivian being willing to do so.
• Dressing as the Enemy: Lucan takes the robes of the Necromancer Niika knocked out in order to follow the Necromancer's tunnels back to their base.
• Epic Fail: The attempt by Jalkar and Grim to steal the horses belonging to Darlene goes wrong in so many ways. 1: they got side-tracked by Grim's "shortcut"; 2: Abbigail has caught up with them and delays the theft attempt; 3: Jalkar refuses to share horses with Grim, 4: The commotion alerted the horses' owner Darlene to what was going on, and she moved to call her horses away from the two thieves. Safe to say, they really screwed up on this one.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Timber the horse managed to see the smoke and alert Thalleous about it before Senn could, leaving us with a Cliffhanger (see above).
• Failed Attempt at Drama:
  • The Necromancer Lucan and Niika catch attempts to do a bit of Evil Gloating, but is punched out by Niika before he can finish, since he wasn't saying anything of substance.
  Necromancer: The Necromancers will soon rise, and cover the world in dar- (punched out)
  • After Grim is able to deflect Abbigail's arrows, he attempts to duel her, only to be tripped up by Sam.
• Fantastic Racism: None of the Ardoni were willing to accept Senn due to his clanless status, apart from Osivian.
• Foreshadowing: Thalleous mentions that the fates of the Deathsinger and the Tidesinger were left ambiguous after the battle.
  Thalleous: Some people questioned what really happened, but most were just glad the war was finally over.
• Innocuously Important Episode: There are several scenes of this episode that are guaranteed to have some impact later on in the series.
  • Thalleous mentions that the fates of both the Deathsinger and the Tidesinger after the final battle at the Peak of Mount Velgrin was left unknown. Nobody knows who killed who, only that they died, since their Songs were left behind. This becomes a major Plot Point in the next episode, and the final episode of the season.
  • Senn's past is given some light in this episode. His parents and siblings were (supposedly) killed by the Voltaris, and he received his name from the Sendaris clan, so that he could have a place he could call home.
  • Darlene mentions that the Enderknights, and their dragons have vanished, indicating that something bad may have happened to them. This also means that the Dragon Egg will be very valuable later on.
  • Abbigail mentions that her parents died a number of years ago, and that Mr Finch raised her in the years following their deaths.
• Internal Homage: Lucan's campfire is in a direct reference to the one he used in the previous episode to lure out Necromancers. This time however, with the help of Niika, it's a success.
• Lured into a Trap: Lucan and Niika set a trap for the Necromancers and undead to fall for in order to get information. They succeed with the former, but not the latter, forcing them to improvise on their original plan (Dressing as the Enemy).
• Match Cut: The transition from the Necromancer story segment to the Ardoni story segment is at a shot of the starry night sky.
• Multishot: Abbigail fires two arrows at once towards Grim during their fight on the edge of Underwood, both of which Grim deflects.
• Never Found the Body: While not actually said, Thalleous mentions that the Songs of both the Deathsinger and the Tidesinger were found on Mount Velgrin, yet never mentions their bodies being found.
• Nice Girl: Darlene, Abbigail's only human friend who lives at the edge of Underwood, who offers to help her rest a bit before helping her track down Jalkar and Grim. She even has an Affectionate Nickname for Abbigail (Abbi).
• Noodle Incident: Jalkar mentions that he and Grim took a shortcut on Grim's suggestion, which is implied to have simply sidetracked them from getting out of Underwood before Abbigail caught up to them.
  Jalkar: (to Grim) I told you we got lost on the woods on the way out! Some shortcut you had...
• Parental Substitute: We get more background of how this trope unfolds in the series.
  • Osivian was the only Ardoni willing to raise Senn when no one else would. Bearing in mind the prejudice that Clanless Ardoni get within Ardoni society (as well as having several children already), this was something very brave for him to do.
  Thalleous: He raised you and cared for you, and even though you may not have been Sendaris, he named you after the clan... Senn, so you would always have a place to return to.
  • While it's implied that Abbigail grew up considerably by herself, Mr Finch became a grandfatherly figure to her after the death of her parents, which supposedly happened a long time ago, as shown in previous episodes.
  Abbigail: He may be a strict old grouch... but he has looked out for me ever since my parents died. I can't just forget that...
• Power at a Price: Being able to wield the Songs seems to have a negative effect on the health of Ardoni, and as Thalleous explains, prolonged usage of them can force them into certain habits without control.
• Put on a Bus: The Enderknights have been missing for an incredibly long time (most likely since the end of the Great War).
  Darlene: The Enderknights used to protect the land alongside their dragon. That was years ago... both the Enderknights, and their dragons have vanished.
• Skewed Priorities: Jalkar, for some reason shoved Grim off of the horse he was on, instead of sharing the mount with him to make a quick getaway.
• The Sleepless: One of the side effects of wielding Songs for a long time, as demonstrated by Thalleous (see Power at a Price above).
  Thalleous: A lifetime of wielding Songs has had certain... adverse effects on my health.
• War Is Hell: Thalleous describes the Great War as this.
  Thalleous: They call it the Great War... but few things about it were great. Many lives were lost, and the Ardoni- the Ardoni were nearly brought to extinction.
• Wham Shot: The scene of Sendaria in flames at the end off the episode.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Jalkar and Grim are shown to be this in this episode, they aren't in the mission for the Dragon Egg together, and as shown in Episode 7, this will take a turn for the worse.