MTV has dabbled in fantasy programming with Teen Wolf, but The Shannara Chronicles is taking the network fully into Game of Thrones territory.
For the uninitiated, Chronicles is based on the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. The original trilogy started with The Sword of Shannara in 1977 and since then has expanded into 29 various novels, short stories, and even a graphic novel that carry on the original world—and there are more on the way.
The world in question is The Four Lands, otherwise known as Earth thousands of years after a chemical and nuclear holocaust destroyed everything. Environmental queues in the trailer like the Space Needle tell us The Four Lands are at least partly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States (even though, like all good fantasy, it was filmed on location in New Zealand). Civilization is now a hodgepodge of primitive technology and magic with elves and druids and other fantastical denizens of plush habitats reclaimed by nature.
The show itself centers on a half-human/half-elf named Wil (Austin Butler, The Carrie Diaries), an Elven princess named Amberle (Poppy Drayton), and a full human named Eretria (Ivana Baquero of Pan’s Labyrinth fame) who set out on a quest to save The Four Lands from a Demon army. The world of Shannara is clearly sprawling, and MTV seems to have respected the challenge of adapting it by throwing the requisite budget down to really bring Brooks' words to life. It also has John Rhys-Davies as King Eventine, which is super cool. This is definitely not Awkward or Faking It or Catfish.
Pause at: All over the place for some very un-MTV programming, but we especially love 0:33, 0:47, and 0:51
Essential Quote: "It has begun."
