Sacrifice

Legend of the Seeker Episode Review

In which Kahlan gets new family. We find out what happened to Kahlan's sister (thought she was dead, did you? so did I) on Legend of the Seeker.

What Happened

Kahlan is found by a group of Confessors. They are the last in the land and the Mother Confessor is taking them to the island of Valeria for safety. Kahlan feels her duty is with the Seeker and decides not to go with them. As they talk, a man comes by looking for Kahlan's sister Denee. He is still confessed, indicating that Danee is still alive.

Kahlan is determined to rescue Danee, so she pretends to be a Mord'Sith and brazens her way into a garrison. They rescue Danee - who turns out to be pregnant. The Mother Confessor is thrilled that there will be a new generation... until the child is born a boy.

Horrified, Richard watches as they prepare to kill the infant. Kahlan and Zedd tell him that male confessors never gain control of their powers. They are monsters and are traditionally drowned at birth. Richard refuses to believe that they could possibly know how a child will turn out and tries to save the baby.

Danee wishes to save her child as well, so Kahlan agrees to help. Seeing what is going on, the Mother Confessor confesses Zedd and forces him to drive Richard back and take the baby. Telling the others what has happened, Kahlan gets them to agree to stop the Mother Confessor. In the battle that follows, the Mother Confessor is killed and her hold over Zedd is broken.

The confessors elect Kahlan as Mother Confessor and decide to stay in the Midlands. Danee and her husband take their child to Valeria. It is hoped that with no one on the island to confess (his parents being immune), he will not fall prey to his powers and bloodlust.

The Good

Real conflict between Kahlan and Richard instead of contrived third-party interference. Well... I suppose that Danae and the Confessors count as a third party. What we aren't getting, however, is random blondes who show up for just the day and then vanish.

The Bad

I do wish we'd seen more of Kahlan as Mord'Sith. I suppose they really didn't have time, but the contrast between the Mord'Sith and the Confessors was a rich story possibility that they didn't do much with.

The Cliche

Baby issues! First, we have pregnant women always go into labor at the most inconvenient moments. Thank goodness no one falls apart but people do start asking "Have you done this before?" Answer: No. Stop asking!

And we do get a big dose of gender and/or race and/or species as Destiny. Boy confessors never learning to control their powers. I loved Richard pointing out the similarity between him and the baby, but he was never wining that argument. Every TV tradition in existence requires that story point.

What Did I Think?

Given the dramatics with Richard, Kahlan is remarkably calm about Danee's boyfriend. I guess everyone figures he's already Confessed, so there's nothing to do about it. (Deeper into the second season, Kahlan makes a point of saying the Confessors usually pick mates that they don't love so as to avoid the whole question.) The whole thing boils down to arguing over Tradition and Babies, which doesn't make for riveting story. But there's enough focus on Kahlan and Richard to hold my attention.

(Completely off topic, it's kind of fun to note that this episode is directed by Michael Hurst.)