b)Not-Enrique and Gnome Chompsky do not encounter any Gumm-Gumms in the Darklands.
But most important, c) There is a giant Monster from the Darklands right in Arcadia! This is even lampshaded.
- In darkest tide when Daylight darest wane,
The Myrddin Wylt obscured a Shadow's bane.
Three forces elemental thou must seek.
In marshland, caverns deep and mountain's peak.
Where worthy perish,
Ye'll prevail in night
And eclipse all who quarry with thy might.
"In darkest tide when Daylight darest wane" may imply that the Amulet of Daylight (on its own, anyway) would be useless in the Dark Lands. How this would be the case may vary (powered by Earth's magic, the dark magic in the Dark Lands would be too strong, a safety precaution to protect its magic, etc), either way, the Trollhunter would be vulnerable should they enter the Dark Lands. The Dark Lands and Gunmar's influence is "darkest tide" and "Daylight" means the Amulet and the very legacy of the Trollhunter "wan[ing]".
"[T]he Myrddin Wylt obscured a Shadow's bane". "Myrddin Wylt" is concretely established to be Merlin (who may or may not be the Amulet's creator) and "Shadow's bane" is presumed to mean "Gunmar's bane", as in "bane (the thing that can harm) of Gunmar". However, why would Merlin "obscure" such a thing? Wasn't the Trollhunter created for fighting the forces of darkness?
"In marshland, caverns deep and mountain's peak" is easily explained for where they could (and have) been found, but "Where worthy perish, [Y]e will prevail in night [A]nd eclipse all who quarry with thy might" is a bit more ominous. "Where worthy perish" could mean that Jim will lose what made him worthy of the Amulet. Perhaps by some traumatic incident that made him resort to using his darker impulses and traumatize him somehow, "[Y]e will prevail in night" representing the abandonment of the valor, glory and virtue found in heroes in favor of the darker side of such power and responsibility, and thus would adapt to the new, darker-looking "Eclipse" armor he is seen wearing in the Season One finale Cliffhanger.
Also, let's not forget about the stones powering the Amulet now. The Triumbric stones are notable for their connection to Gunmar the Black (Lord of Darkness and all that). The first was what remained of the corrupted Heartstone Gunmar was birthed from (the Birth Stone), the second was harvested from the first troll he ever murdered (Killing Stone) and the right-eye of Gunmar himself (the Eye of Gunmar). The thing that birthed Gunmar, the thing Gunmar murdered and the thing from Gunmar. How can such darkness be trusted to end Gunmar so easily?
Lastly, after the new Eclipse armor formed over Jim, he was able to detach the amulet from his armor (something he could not do before) and leave the Amulet behind in Troll Market as he ventured into the Dark Lands. This could be a sign that he was moving beyond Daylight and leaving it behind, and it is possible that if he tried reapplying the Amulet after returning, it would not work (or at least not like how it did).
If all this is true and if the love of his friends and family bring him back to the side of good, one thing can be certain: Jim will never be the same.
- Jossed. There does not seem to be any negative side-effects in using the Triumbric stones and Jim does not seem worse for wear in using them.
Merlin himself is famous for being the mentor and royal wizard to the legendary British noble King Arthur Pendragon. Many legends surround Arthur have lasted through the ages (the round table, the Lady of the Lake, the Holy Grail), but none more legendary than the holy sword Excalibur. Various interpretations of Excalibur describes it as an impossibly beautiful and powerful sword, where Only the Chosen May Wield. The Sword of Daylight shares many of these traits, the Trollhunter being the only being capable of wielding it (as seen when Jim tired giving it to Draal, only for it to reappear in his hands).
It also does not help that in the first episode, Jim accidentally gets the sword stuck in a rock twice.
Of course this also brings up two possible sub-theories in the process:
- King Arthur was the first human trollhunter (not Jim) and such a fact became lost to time.
- King Arthur was actually a troll the entire time and modern day trolls knew this, but not mankind.
This also applies to the name "trollhunter". When this was brought up, it is explained away that it only means "hunting bad trolls." Even so, the title seems far to exact for such a dodgy explanation.
If this theory is true, why would the questionably sentient Amulet choose trolls to be trollhunters so often that troll-kind would think anything other than a non-troll trollhunter be preposterous? There could be a number of reasons. Perhaps at some point the Amulet was expertly tampered with so that it dedicates its power to protecting trolls. Perhaps the Amulet itself became so aware that it started deciding how its power could be used. Who knows?
In "Recipe for Disaster", when one of Strickler's knifes get imbedded in a wall, one can briefly see a portrait of what one could assume be Jim's father, him resembling Jim but wearing a pair of glasses and a naval-uniform. This confirms that Jim's father is in some way involved with the military. It is never stated exactly what rank of the military or government position he held, but it is possible that he could have been very high in the hierarchy, so high that whatever called him away prevented him from telling his family where he was going and why.
With the odds of Because Destiny Says So, whatever called away James and kept him away all of these years may be Troll-related, or at least something supernatural happening to keep him from home, finding out his son being the Trollhunter (should he ever appear) become a topic of fascination for the man.
- Jossed. Strickler does not officially appear until the very end of the season (not counting the alternate timeline presented in "Unbecoming") and Barbara does not learn about the trollhunting or makes that many appearances in the second season.
- Jossed. According to the wiki, he is Austrian.
How the magic affected them may depend, as both where inside the Heartstone at the time and the process used to undo the spell over them affected the Heartstone to such a noticeable degree.
Where he left off too in the gyre is up for debate, but this theory places him taking a spiritual journey to an ancient location where he comes to the realization about his place in the world, returning to Arcadia a changed man... er, changeling... and dedicates himself to getting back in Jim's good graces. He spends the rest of the series committing acts of good, going along with the Trollhunters and their missions, taking figurative (and sometimes literal) punches from the Trollhunters and the trolls of Trollmarket and commits a public act of altruism so moving and impactful in front of the troll-public that they all raise him as a hero to the people by the end.
- Could technically be, since she's not dead and can't be killed, but for the moment being her incapacitation is considered permanent.
To those of you who have not seen Season Three or don’t want to be reminded of its Bittersweet Ending, please stop reading now.
…you still here?… alright then.
With much apprehension, Jim agrees to sacrifice his human life by becoming a troll through Merlin’s spell. It is made clear that this spell is permanent and that when he does it, he will be a troll for good. Merlin has no spell that could reverse it (the closest thing we ever see being a temporary spell done on Blinky by complete accident) and the spell won’t wear off, forcing him to abandon his human life to become the troll hunter 24/7.
It is established that the plot of Wizards will be that the Trollhunters and the protagonists of 3 Below will team-up Avengers-style with newer protagonists to fight some apocalyptic level threat. This is confirmation that the central cast of Trollhunters is not done for good and that we will be seeing a lot more of them later. With Merlin, Blinky and Claire joining Jim on their pilgrimage to New Jersey to set up a new Trollmarket, it is unlikely that they will take this lying down. After all, they all went to such extreme lengths to formulate a plan to enter the Darklands to rescue Enrique. Even if Jim accepts his fate, his friends sure as hell won’t and will try and find the closest thing to a cure.
And with the name of the show being Wizards, it is very likely we will meet various mages and spell casters that have learned to use magic in a modern age, possibly discovering spells and forms of magic the antiquated and ancient Merlin did not even dream of yet… or at least vow to help him on his quest to regain his lost humanity.
- Jossed, though Jim does turn human again. It was just by accident.
If you haven't watched Wizards, SPOILERS!
Jim may have had such an exciting adventure throughout his journey as the Trollhunter. However, during his time in the past, fighting off the Green Knight's shard of evil magic that left him critically injured and openly defenseless. After returning to the present, he was corrupted into a full-on troll and left under the Green Knight's control.
Although he does regain his humanity, thanks to Claire's undying love for him, it shouldn't wave off the fact that Jim could experience psychological/emotional trauma after everything the Green Knight and the Arcane Order have put him through, along with the rest of his genuine near-death experiences and the choices he's made in the past. Jim would question his self-worth if he even deserves to wield Excalibur (due to his corruption), experience nightmares of the Green Knight and his full-troll form (and maybe even his half-troll form, lecturing him on all of the consequences his choices/sacrifices effected the world around him), and/or keep his mental trauma a secret from his loved ones to keep them from worrying. However, this would be EXACTLY what he did with his mother when he kept his Trollhunting a secret from her, so, of course, his loved ones would still worry for him anyway.
And even though he'll try to live a normal life, it's not the same life he would try to live, now that Arcadia knows the existence of the supernatural. Of course, now that he's freed from his position as the Trollhunter, he would likely question what his true purpose would be now.
Jim may also have a scar on his chest where King Arthur stabbed him with his shard, which can symbolize Jim's internal turmoil and how he's not fully healed from everything he went through. He would still feel flashes of pain (which is not physical, but mental, yet it feels like it hurts).
One of the major plots of the film would be Jim trying to heal himself from his internal conflicts/turmoil and prove to himself that he's worthy to wield Excalibur, lead the Guardians of Arcadia, and save the world from the Arcane Order.
Again, haven't watched Wizards? SPOILERS!
It was confirmed by Aaron Waltke that the amulet has its own "life", so (technically speaking) it knew that it would be destroyed once King Arthur would use it to resurrected his sister, Morgana, from the Shadow Realm. So, in order to keep its magic alive, in case Jim was ever freed from his corruption, it transferred all of its magic into him, turning him into a Living Battery of sorts. Also, he'd still be able to summon his armor and weapons without the amulet (and without the incantation). Although, he and everyone else would be unaware of this. And, you know, as they all say, opposites attracts (Jim would have light magic while Claire is dark).
However (if the above is ever true), if Jim does show signs of PTSD, it would likely trigger the dormant daylight magic in Jim. To add more fright to his own nightmares, his light magic would make his full-troll form and the Green Knight real, manifesting from Jim's conflicts and pain. Like how Douxie helped Claire master shadow magic, he would try to help Jim heal himself from his internal pain and control his magic.
And if Jim were to wield Excalibur, Jim's new light magic combined with the sword's might would add much more power if Jim is ever gonna defeat the Arcane Order, along with the rest of his friends.
SPOILERS!
First of all, Lake is his last name. That seems to have to do something with the Lady of the Lake, Nimue, so maybe they're related? No one has a clue of where his father, James Sr., came from, and his mother, Barbara, is completely human. It makes one wonder if Jim is actually a demigod himself, just like the Arcane Order, since there's still the possibility that James Sr. and Nimue could be related in a way, as Nimue is mentioned to be a goddess. Perhaps Nimue is James Sr.'s great great grandmother or something?
Also, it's highly unlikely that Steve is worthy enough of wielding Excalibur. He did promise that he'll reform the Knights of the Round Table, but to be honest, Steve can be quite cowardly, as he ran from Bular and had Nimue fight him off for him. Jim, on the other hand did a lot of admirable things, as he was the one who killed off Gunmar and indirectly Bular, saved the trolls from Trollmarket when Gunmar took over, and resisted killing Draal when Gunmar tried to get him to do it, so I also think that he has a stronger will than Steve does.
Next, Jim is a foil to King Arthur. Jim moved on from his losses, still cared about the magical beings in the world, and was willing to sacrifice himself to save his friends from Morgana when she was still evil. King Arthur, on the other hand, never moved on from Guinevere's death, hated magical beings even when he was a boy (Guinevere's death pushed him into his extreme, genocidal crusade against them), and indirectly led to Morgana's death when he sliced off her hand.
Finally, after Jim was wielding the Sword of Daylight at his house, he accidentally got it stuck in a boulder, and tried to get it out but couldn't. However, he eventually got it out. It is highly believed that this is a foreshadowing of his wielding of Excalibur.
Arguebly, Jim was destined to wield Excalibur from the very beginning. Daylight was meant to help prove he's worthy while Excalibur will be his final weapon. The reason why he was unable to pull it out the first time was because he gave up and believed he couldn't do it, as he even questioned if he was still the Trollhunter since he no longer had the Amulet of Daylight. Due to all of this, I think that all Jim needs to do to wield Excalibur is remember the lines, "I'm the Trollhunter, Amulet or not", and believe in himself, that he can pull out Excalibur and that he is worthy of it, and one day, he will pull out Excalibur and wield it as if it were his own.
Allowing him to return to his human life.
- Jossed. Jim becomes fully human again by the end of Wizards.
All the crystals in Trollmarket amplify cell signals, allowing for reception.