the circumstances of this episode vastly differ from those in the book, however, i like it. overall, i have been rather impressed with how they’ve managed to squeeze in bits from the book into this series. i still wish Gellar were involved. but i guess fewer characters makes for more action with the main characters.
Zedd the entertainer. i like it.
RACHAEL. whilst the evil princess Violet goes off to get some jewelry, Zedd is left with Rachael. here’s is where he’ll do all Gellar’s stuff.
meanwhile, Richard and Kahlan attack some guards to stall Lord Rahl from going to Tammerang (sp) and getting the box. Richard kills a guard Kahlan was going to Confess because he didn’t think Kahlan was going to Confess him fast enough, and she’s pissed that Richard is being to protective. but they have the guard’s journey book.
Rachael’s back story is different, too. her family (brother too) was killed by the queen. her brother was supposed to have been killed by Nass, the child molester. so Rachael gets sent to sleep outside for talking to Zedd without permission, but first she has to go to the kitchen to complain about the princess’ lunch. the kitchen lady, who is nice to Rachael, bitches about the queen and princess, just as the queen walks in behind her. eh. i don’t know why the queen would bother herself with going to the kitchens. of course the kitchen lady is going to be executed, but Zedd mentions that it might be a bad idea to kill a cook before the princess’ birthday party, so she gets a stay of execution.
Rachael is outside and talking to her little doll Zedd gave her. the doll tells her she has to help him steal the box of orden so the queen can’t hurt anyone ever again.
Rachael sneaks back into the castle and the princess’ bedroom to take the key from the princess. she brings to to Zedd. Zedd promises that after he gets goes to get the box, he’ll take Rachael away and find her a nice family to live with.
meanwhile, Richard and Kahlan are reading the journey book and find out that Lord Rahl himself is on his way. Richard thinks he can kill him. so they write in the journey book, in blood, telling Rahl where he should go.
now princess Violet is waking up and realizes her key is gone.
Zed takes the box of Orden, leaving a decoy. then arrives Princess Violet. Zedd puts some sort of pustules on her face to scare her into not screaming. warts rather. he makes them go away, but tells her if she ever tattles on him, the warts will return. so he has the box and goes to get Rachael, who doesn’t want to leave without the cook who is going to be beheaded after the princess’ party. Zedd gives in. en route to the servant’s quarters they encounter the queen who sends guard back to watch him so that he doesn’t wondering around any more.
the next day Zedd gives Rachael instructions on how to get the box out and where to meet Richard and Kahlan.
so Rachael goes to the kitchen for a loaf of bread to hide the box in, per Zedd’s instructions. hijinx ensues. the princess arrives to lick the bowl and Rachael drops the box in the cake to keep the princess from seeing. she then wants to know why the cake isn’t in the oven yet. the cook doesn’t know what else to do so she puts the cake in the oven with the orden box inside. eh. i don’t care for such chicanery. it feels like filler.
elsewhere Richard and Kahlan wait for Rahl to show up so Richard can shoot him with a crossbow and Kahlan thinks it’s going to be that easy. ha. and she’s telling him how when everything’s all done he could go off and find someone to start a family. then the d’Haran forces come by… and it’s not Lord Rahl, it’s a decoy. the real Rahl is apparently already in Tammerang (sp) crashing Violet’s birthday party.
the cook is going to try to cut the box out the cake and fix the damage before anyone notices. nope. she’s stopped and the cake is wheeled into the banquet hall. this is really annoying me now. i was so psyched up for this episode. Rachael was supposed to escape with the box in a loaf of bread. she was supposed to be a hero.
instead i bet Rahl is going to get the piece with the box in it. or if anyone saves the day, it’ll be Zedd. ugh.
I hope if there’s a positive outcome to this, Rachael is the one who orchestrates it.
ugh now Lord Rahal is cutting the cake. Zedd intervenes.
didn’t Zedd use the name Rubin Rebnick whatever in a later book. i do like call backs to canon.
Zedd the puppeteer makes a Richard the Seeker puppet. puppet Richard is cheeky, and puppet Rahl wins. then when Rahl gets up again to cut the cake, Zedd pulls out the stops and makes the puppets animate without their strings. Rahl turns back to watch and the cook gets the box from the cake and gives it to Rachael.
Rachael runs off.
Rahl goes to the box and realizes it’s a fake.
the queen says no one in her castle has magic.
Rahl is not pleased with her stupidity. he orders the castle sealed and the puppeteer brought to him.
Lord Rahl knows that the first wizard’s name is Zedd and disappeared around the time the Seeker was born.
the seeker is back, and so it would seem that the wizard would be as well.
Rachael escapes the same way she did in the book, by threatening to tell the princess that the guard wouldn’t let her out.
someone tells Rahl that the guards let out a little girl, he then sends the guards out after Rachael.
Rachael forgets which way she was supposed to go, and her doll won’t talk to her anymore. the guards see her and chase. when they have her surrounded, she’d rescued by Kahlan and Richard. Rachael gives them the box.
Zedd tells Rahl that he wasn’t defeated by the Seeker or the Great Wizard, but he was defeated by a 10 year old girl.
Zedd meets up with Richard and Kahlan and Richard with the cook in tow. mutherfucker. don’t tell me Rachael goes to live with the cook. she belongs with Chase and his 23 children. assholes. that is not what is supposed to happen.
Rahl kills the queen after promising to enslave her daughter. he then writes in his journey book to Richard et all… I Will Find You.

firstly, i understand bringing Zedd into the story instead of Gellar and giving Richard and Kahlan the B plot with the attempt Rahl assassination. they are the main characters of the series and thus need to be main characters in the episodes even if that’s not how it was in the book.
that said, not having Gellar did lose something. i miss that moment where you realize that he died because Rachel’s doll no longer spoke. then when the good guys come along they put everything together and see that Gellar died a hero. of course, they couldn’t kill Zedd to get the same effect.
why couldn’t Chase have been in the episode? he could have been the one to save Rachael in the woods. they must not be planning on making the rest of the books. i know Rachael was in Stone of Tears with Chase. and i understand she’s in the final trilogy.
i went in to this episode with high expectations. i understand that compromises were made with the sourse material and i’m okay with that. but my god. Rachael was the one who finally stood up to the princess and locked her in the box. they did not show how clever and brave she was. and most importantly, Rachael does not belong with that cook lady.

the previews show something about a baby that’s evil so they must destroy it, but Richard doesn’t want to kill the baby. and there’s Mord Sith. it looked all very dramatic and important, but i don’t remeber any damned thing about a baby. maybe it’s going to be a confessor’s son, because they have to kill those.

i’ll reserve judgement.