Manlinks

Beastmaster Episode Review

In which Tao falls on his head and we meet Arina.

What Happened

Tao is captured by Manlinks, ape-men who have moved into the Mydlands from the Frozen North. Also new in the area is the warrior woman Arina, who helps Dar find Tao and Tor, a captured friend of hers.

Because he blames the Manlinks for the deaths of some of his men, King Zad attacks their tree-top home. Everyone is able to escape when Curupira shows up, annoyed that Zad is burning down her forest to smoke out his enemies.

The Manlinks move on, but Arina and Tor remain, scouting the land and peoples in advance of their ruler's army.

The Good

• Zad's Terrons got beat up? Well that's nothing new. He's in a bad mood about it? Also not new, but fun.
• Curupira and King Zad. Dude, don't make fun of her feet.
• Zad handing the Sorceress his axe so that he can look through her spy-glass. Loved the "hey, this is new" look on her face.
• Zad: "No, most of you might look like apes, but none of you can climb... bring me fire." He's smart... except for the part where burning down her forest is a guaranteed way to piss off Curupira - as the Sorceress points out.
• "They didn't fail at becoming human, they succeeded at becoming who they are." I like that.

The Bad

• Right, Tao's a clutz. We might have forgotten that over the summer.
• Tao: "If I happen to meet her [the woman who left the footprints Dar saw], I might be little while." Nah, she'll knock you out in no time. See?
• Dar: "Knocked out by a woman? That's funny. That's just great." Don't be a pig, Beastmaster.
• Tao makes his brilliant escape attempt, resulting in a few more blows to the head...

The Cliche

• Tao thanks Do. Because even if they don't know a single word of each other's language, she'll understand "Thank you."

What Did I Think?

"This is a strange world. We have a lot of work to do to make it ours." Almost makes me curious to find out what happens next.