The Slayer

Beastmaster Episode Review

In which Dar has crap taste in women.

What Happened

A young woman cursed by the Ancient One is training a wolf to kill a "man in the shadows," a figure of evil whose death represents her freedom. When she meets Dar, Zuraya believes that he is her enemy and blames him when a slaver captures her friends.

The Good

• The slaver Baha and his vendetta against Ruh.
• The obligatory Sorceress/Sharak scene. Ooh, flashback to them plotting against the Ancient One.
• "If I could have the Beastmaster's powers, just for one hour." Aw. A nice motivation to her actions.
• The Ancient One: "Have you been communing with Seers? Horrible, vicious gossips." He is so gleeful as he pops in and out.
• Zuraya's loneliness, more than a little vague as far as curses go. But at least she and Dar didn't "lift the curse," if you know what I mean.
• Ruh deciding not to kill Baha. The animals are fully-rounded characters, even though they can't talk.

The Bad

• Gaping at Zuraya, Dar? What happened to Kyra? You know, the love of your life?
• That wolf is awfully patient, to put up with all of Zuraya's nattering.
• Dar spends so much time explaining the snake metaphor to Tao, Slayer could have come up and ripped his throat out at any time.

The Cliche

• Jump to conclusions much, Zuraya? She spent all together too much time stomping off, determined look on her face, and too little asking intelligent questions.

What Did I Think?

A little padded in places, yet still lacking in pertinent details. Such as how and why Zuraya got cursed in the first place?