SPOILERS: Richard Crosses the Valley in “Perdition” (S2E10)
January 31, 2010 by Michael
Filed under Featured Story, Spoilers
WARNING: This post contains spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched the episode and don’t want to know what happens in advance then stop reading right now! No, really, stop reading! We mean it! This post outlines pretty much everything that happens in the episode so make a note; you were warned!
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This episode begins with Richard being woken up by Sister Verna. He looks around wondering where he is (with his chest so chiseled). Verna tells him that he hasn’t left the Palace of the Prophets since he came to be trained to be a Wizard and gives him some sad excuse about the intense concentration required for studying affecting young wizard’s mind. Richard gets dressed and follows Verna into a main chamber where Kahlan (wearing a white dress) is waiting for him. She looks a little beat up and dirty.
Richard tells her something is wrong, when a young girl named Sonya, runs towards Kahlan and she is introduced as Kahlan’s daughter. A young-ish man, wearing the Sword of Truth, enters the room and is introduced as Phillip the Seeker. Kahlan and Phillip are married and Sonya is their daughter. Awkward moment all the way around.
Richard wonders how all this has transpired since he has only been gone a week however Kahlan tells him that the Stone of Tears was destroyed, that the rift to the underworld can never be closed and that Richard has been gone for 7 winters. Zedd, Cara, everyone he knew is dead or lost. Richard starts putting answers together that make sense, to place some logic to this insane situation; however “Kahlan” seems to have a plausible answer for everything and Richard states he will help her but that he doesn’t believe any of it. (Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt you know).
Richard has it out with the Prelate where he has been told that he has been training for months and that he now is almost done his training; that he does have wizard powers. Richard makes a vase lift by using his mind but as this is happening Banelings breach the gates and come in large numbers to attack. Richard is wounded but continues to fight on and then uses Wizard’s Lightning/Fire (a weird combo) and just starts zapping all the banelings in anger (undertones of Darth Vader as Anikan Skywalker turns to the dark side). With the Banelings defeated Richard watches Kahlan, Phillip and Sonya come together as a family and his sense of loss deepens.
Verna informs Richard that the Banelings have cut off all the exits and that there is no escape. Richard, being the Seeker and being Richard, tells them not to give up in a Winston Churchill like speech.
We cut to a desert scene where Richard is stumbling through a barren wasteland with human bones all over the place repeating what he is telling them in his mind. In the background Verna and the Prelate are watching Richard as he attempts to cross the Valley of Perdition. The Prelate gives you a little back story on the Valley and how it was created thousands of years ago by Wizards to prevent the New World and the Old World from meeting. The Prelate wants to leave Richard there because he will die; she calls it “the will of the Creator” because the prophecy states that if Richard Cypher lives he will help the Keeper destroy all life. Verna looks on saddened that this is happening to Richard.
Back at the Palace of the Prophets Nicci is in a neat little handcuff contraption. At first she denies being a Sister of the Dark, she tries to pretend she freed Richard because it was the right thing to do but Verna and the Prelate are having none of that. Nicci states that the Prelate won’t kill her because they want to put Richard’s power back in him but the Prelate informs her of Richards location (in the Valley) and that he will die, that the prophecy will not come true.
Cara, Zedd and Kahlan are marching onwards, being lead by the compass. Cara and Leo have a little bit of flirty flirty back and forth about what kind of bird they would be and Cara is having a hard time opening up. Kahlan notices and makes a comment but Cara shrugs it off as the feelings “that all men have” for her. They find the entrance to the Old World and enter into it with Kahlan whispering “we’re coming Richard”.
Back in Richard’s mind the nightmare vision continues and gets worse as it goes on. The Prelate in his mind tells him that the Keeper has already won, that there is no chance and no hope. The sisters all eventually stab themselves to death. They would rather go back to the Creator than let the Keeper take them.
In the real world Nicci (looking pretty buff in handcuffs) is being tortured by the Prelate. She gives the Prelate all the names of the Sisters of the Dark stating that it will do no good because they have already fled and are in hiding doing the Keepers work. The Sisters of the Dark are doing magic where they summon the spirit of the Keeper and infect a spider that runs to the Palace and Sister Nicci then frees her by getting the Rada’han off her neck in some weird glowing magic type thing.
Nicci, now free of the Rada’han, opens a can of whoop ass on the chains using magic, now that she is able to use it again, and then blows a hole in the wall escaping with both her and Richard’s Han. The Prelate states that this is the most powerful Han the world has ever known. Nicci reunites with her Sisters of the Dark stating that Richard is in the Valley of Perdition and that they must rescue him so that the prophecy can be completed. One of the Sisters of the Dark informs Nicci that there is another way; that if they can kill the Mother Confessor the Keeper can win.
Cara, Zedd, Leo and Kahlan are walking towards the Palace to rescue Richard.
Richard’s nightmares increase as Cara has apparently turned against him in his mind. He uses his new Wizard’s lightning against her however it has no affect. Sonya is killed in a battle with the Banelings as is Phillip when he attacks Cara. Kahlan stabs Cara with one of her daggers but Cara manages to mortally wound Kahlan at the same time with her A’geil. Richard has now just watched everyone that he loves die.
Back in the real world Cara and Leo are on watch together while Zedd and Kahlan sleep. A little bow-chicka-bow-wow happens between them. Cara is quite the aggressive little Mord-Sith when she wants to be. The next day Cara tells him that “it was pleasurable but it doesn’t make me your mate for life”. Still, you can see in her eyes that she isn’t quite telling the truth. Kahlan tells her that she knows something is up and that it’s a hard world they live in, to take those chances when they come.
They all arrive at the Palace of the Prophets to see Richard and quickly learn that Richard is no longer there. The Prelate has decided to hold the Mother Confessor hostage in the Palace so that she cannot be killed and the prophecy cannot be completed.
Richard’s visions worsen as he is now the last living person in his nightmare. He looks outside and sees the world laid waste and that there are ruptures to the underworld everywhere.
Cara attempts to tell Leo that she cares for him but is stumbling over her words. For a brief moment you can actually see a human woman in the red leather. Before she is able to tell him anything a Sister comes in and they learn that Richard is no longer in the Palace and that they are being held hostage in the Palace, that there is a new prophecy.
The Prelate throws a dagger into Zedd’s back and we begin to have a Mexican stand-off as Zedd, with dagger in back, is about to unleash Wizard’s fire on the Prelate. Verna decides to pick her side and quickly taking the dagger out of Zedd and throwing it into the Prelate’s shoulder. The standoff is broken and we learn that the Prelate seems to have a bit of a god complex when she states that the creators will and her own are the same. The Scooby gang busts outta the Palace after forcing the Prelate to unseal it. They find Richard in the Valley but Verna holds Kahlan back from running into the valley to rescue him.
The Sisters of the Dark are in the Dessert as well. We are about to have an epic battle in which the Sisters fight Kahlan, Zedd, Leo and Cara while Richard lies helpless a few hundred feet away. Zedd tries to unleash Wizard’s fire however Nicci is ultra uber powerful now and blasts his ass with a bolt of something. The Sisters of the Dark advance in a wedge formation preparing to do battle.
Richard is still in la la land having nightmares but this time a vision of Kahlan appears to him telling him that it’s ok if he dies, that she can be with her forever. Richard knows that this is not the Kahlan he knows and loves, that Kahlan would tell him never give up. This jolts Richard out of his delusion. He wakes up and begins to walk out of the desert.
Meanwhile, this mega battle rages onward. Nicci takes aim at the Mother Confessor while Kahlan is distraction and throws one of her ninja daggers at her but Cara intercepts the magic dagger and repels it, killing a Sister of the Dark. Nicci, not to be denied, takes aim at Kahlan again, this time using her stolen Wizard’s power combined with her Sisters of the Dark power and throws a bolt of pure energy at Kahlan. Leo sees this and dives to intercept it. He is killed almost instantly as he bursts into flame when the bolt strikes him. Cara’s face is awash with anguish and pain as she watches the only man (so far) that she had real feelings for. She never even got to tell him how she really felt. Leo falls to the ground dead.
Sister Verna and Cara pull back to prepare for the final stand; both of them protecting the Mother Confessor as they face the remaining sisters.
But wait, what is this?
The Sword of Truth is picked up by a familiar hand. Richard is back baby and he’s pretty pissed off! He charges into combat (and almost loses Kahlan’s dagger in his boot if you want to watch a funny part of that scene). He tears through the sisters like they were lingerie and faces Nicci who now stands alone.
Nicci unleashes what can only be described as Force Lightning on Richard but the Seeker uses the Sword of Truth to absorb or deflect the energy. The Magic of the Sword is protecting him. While Nicci is distracted Zedd gets up and uses his signature move; Wizard’s Fire. Nicci is hot but now she is REALLY hot cause she burns until Zedd hits her with another blast basically disintegrating her entirely. You can see a green cloud as Richard’s Han is released.
Richard and Kahlan hug and kiss and have a moment to make out as they are re-united. Zedd and Sister Verna look on and smile as Cara runs to Leo and kneels over the chared remains with what look like tears in her eyes. She cannot give him the breath of life because his “body is beyond saving”.
They burn Leo in an honorary funeral pyre. Cara places a small flower on his body that Leo had given her and finally tells him how she feels with a simple “I too care about you”. Cara then lights the fire and gives Richard the compass stating that “you’re going to need this back” and that they have a quest to get back to.
Mord-Sith training takes over and she marches away from the pyre never to look back.
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