Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight Part 6 Episodes 21-24

The Dark Wizard Wagnard has seized Little Neese, the last component of his plan to resurrect the Goddess of Destruction, Kardiss.  Spark and his friends join Parn and Deedlit on a speedy mission to unite with their other allies only to run into an old enemy once more: Ashram.  But between the Black Knight, a demented Wizard and the demonic forces of Marmo, there is one other threat that has gone unnoticed: The Grey Witch Karla.  Determined to maintain the balance of power on Lodoss, what lengths will Karla go to prevent Kardiss’s resurrection herself?

I’ll admit, Chronicles of the Heroic Knight did try to make an effort to be better heading into the back stretch this week.  The usual problems persisted and I know theyre not going away this close to the end.  Still, I enjoyed more than my usual share of stuff this time around.  Let’s get into things, shall we?

The big draw of this weeks set was the two generations of heroes coming together to make the final push to Marmo.  Watching Parn and Spark fight side by side was pretty cool and Deedlit got her fair share of screentime in the action too, looking oh so beautiful everytime she was around.  Oh and we got Dragons, LOTS OF DRAGONS!!! Sure some of them were led by Shiris, still looking for a reason to be included in this franchise all together, but her Dragon Riders, as well as Parn and Spark’s group all got to team up against the Marmo Dragon Narse in a fight that was epic…and could’ve been more so if not for the damn still frames…and I think ive said all I need to say on that matter and I don’t want to repeat myself again.  It’s a crappy production shortcut and its unacceptable.  Still, we did get to see a giant Golden Dragon curb stomp Narse after an epic brawl, that was fun.

Thankfully, the generations teaming up lasted beyond the walls of Rood.  Granted, I could have done without a pointless test trek through the swamps of Marmo, courtesy of Karla.  That just felt like wasted time and just an excuse to stretch out the team up of Parn and Spark rather than pushing to the bigger threat: Karla.  Ignoring the fact that Parn should have been pissed that Karla ditched Woodchuck’s body in favor of another (seriously, we get to listen to Spark cry out for Neese like Kevin Conroy’s Captain Sunshine screaming for WONDERBOY!!!! (that’s a Venture Bros. reference) but we cant get a second to acknowledge that a good friend of Parn and Deedlit’s is truly gone?), the battle against Karla was…well wasn’t anything really.  In the OVA it was an all out mini war that cost the lives of both Ghim and Woodchuck in order to free Leliya.  Here, Karla throws out an ultimatum and Spark smacks it out of her hands.  Soooo…is Karla NOT going to help Wagnard speed up the resurrection of Kardiss to wipe the Lodoss board clean and start balance anew?  Whatever, let’s move on.

Throughout the Siege of Runo and the initial landings on Marmo, Ashram finally reappeared and curiously, he’s changed his tune a bit.  He has no interest in Wagnard’s resurrection plots, nor does he want to hold Marmo to the last man.  Shockingly, Ashram’s become way more level headed and sensical.  Not that he looks any less menacing in that all black costume, but this weeks set humanized Ashram far more than the OVA when his feelings for Pirotess became more clear.  Ashram wants to save his people no matter what, and if that means leaving Marmo for greener pastures and leaving Lodoss to rot in a death scape…so be it.  Huh, when you word it like that it does make Ashram remain the jerk he’s always been.  Honestly, I don’t know why he and Parn don’t team up like they sort of did in the OVA to stop Wagnard before having their final duel.  Ashram did hint he still has one other person to visit before he bows out and I’m pretty sure he’s talking about Parn, though he did say farewell to Wagnard.  Ashram’s a tough nut to crack but I like this more considerate side for the people of Marmo.  It’s acknowledging the needs of his people over power itself that makes me think Ashram, Parn and Kashue could’ve gotten along one day, or to nod to an old Star Trek quote, “In another lifetime, I might’ve called you ‘friend’.” 

And what of the other, more enjoyable adventures of Spark and Neese over on Welcome to Lodoss Island?  Well Parn’s being accused of being “old”, so he’s freaking out about that and almost got Spark and Neese killed on an old bridge.  And Wagnard made his WTLI debut in an intense cookoff with Neese to see who could make the best “Neese’s Cookies”.  Ah, random but adorable humor.  You truly do make all the problems with Chronicles of the Heroic Knight worth it just to get to you two minutes of imaginative freedom.  Really, I’m gonna have to grade Welcome to Lodoss Island separately from Chronicles of the Heroic Knight because I refuse to let this amazing bit of comedy save an otherwise subpar series.  Chronicles doesn’t deserve the immense helping hand these shorts have been.

Well I’ve complained a lot, even about the stuff ive liked.  Is there any point being excited for “The End”?  Maybe in the respect that this series will be over and done with and I can finally move onto better shows…I hope.  Check back this Friday for the series finale of Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight.  Be seein ya.