There's a worthy successor to Game of Thrones for your new medieval fantasy obsession, as
the Arthurian legend of the Lady of the Lake gets an epic reimagining in Cursed.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan and in this video I'm revealing what the showrunners
left out from the ending of Cursed and how it reveals the truth about Nimue's fate, plus
why some character deaths may not be what they first seem.
Spoilers ahead, of course, so take care if you're not all caught up.
At the end of Cursed the creepy religious fanatic Iris shoots a pair of arrows into
Nimue, sending her plunging into the waterfall below,
but the big question is whether Nimue is dead or alive.
The ending was foreshadowed in the very first episode when a deer was shot dead with an
arrow right in front of Nimue, and it was also foreshadowed in the many recurring
visions she has of herself sinking into a pool of bloody water with arrows stuck in
her body.
But what's missing from the finale is a crucial epilogue scene from the book on which the
Netflix show is based, in which we discover that Nimue does indeed survive.
The book by Tom Wheeler and Frank Miller reveals that:
"Nimue's body washed up on a sandbar in the shadows of [...] the Minotaur Mountains.
The arrow in her back had broken off to a stump.
The other arrows were bent under her weight.
Her breath came in heaving intervals."
And there are some subtle details in the TV show that support the idea that Nimue will
survive her fall into the water.
In the very final scene, Iris takes up her new position in the Church's Trinity Guard,
but shots of Nimue sinking below the water are rapidly cut in;
and, crucially, gasping, breathing sounds have been mixed into the audio and score at
this moment.
[gasping breaths] [gasping breaths continue]
And if you pause on some of those flashes you'll also see that Nimue's eyes have opened.
On top of that, mixed into Nimue's visions are glimpses of her underwater but swimming
back up to the surface.
The book also tells us what happens after Nimue washes up on the shore:
"Something moved near her.
Dozens of bodies swayed over Nimue.
Blistered hands, some missing fingers, pushed and probed at her.
the ghoulish hands reached underneath Nimue's body and lifted her into the air.
The leper mob swarmed her limp body and spirited it into a dark and foreboding tunnel."
The leper mob mentioned here are the gruesome militia that serves Rugen, the Leper King,
and are the ones who came to take Merlin away to meet the dark Shadow Lord.
If Nimue does end up captured by the Leper King in the second season, then it's worth
remembering that her father Merlin is now Rugen's enemy after the wizard stole the Fey
Fire from his hall of treasures.
So, how did Nimue survive a steep drop into water with two arrows stuck in her?
Well, regardless of whether she has the sword or not, Nimue has access to some incredibly
strong magic.
As a child she saved herself from certain death when she was viciously attacked by a
giant Demon Bear.
Remember how her mother telepathically told her to summon the help of the Hidden
"Call to the Hidden to aid you.
Reach out to them.
Call them with your thoughts."
And with that power she was able to bring down a huge rock to crush the giant bear's
skull.
And as the first season progresses, she moves from struggling to control her ability
when she's angry to being able to call on it at will,
such as when she uses the woods to attack a small army of Paladins that she draws into
a trap.
Although I fully expect Nimue to survive, she may end up transformed into something
else by her drowning.
For a hint, let's examine Nimue's vision from the fourth episode when she's almost drowned
by a Red Paladin.
In this premonition, after she sees herself sinking into bloody water, there's a shot
of some bloody hands rising up to grab some branches, and if you look very closely, these
hands even have little green shoots or foliage growing on the fingers.
Is this Nimue dying and then rising again in a different form?
In the first episode, just before the deer is shot, Nimue hears a voice telling her
"Death is not the end, Fey Queen."
If Nimue is reborn after drowning, it seems likely that she is now the Lady of the Lake,
the fabled enchantress who, in the original legends, gifts Arthur the magical sword Excalibur.
There's a big hint in the book that this is what the writers may have in mind for the
series.
In the novel, as Nimue feels herself slipping away under the cold water she thinks to herself,
"This was my vision.
I will keep the sword safe.
Neither the Church, nor Uther, nor Cumber will have it.
The War of the Sword dies with me.
Until a true king rises to claim it."
As for Gawain, well, he's another main character who we shouldn't presume is actually permanently
dead.
When Nimue discovers he's died from the torture inflicted on him by the Red Paladins,
she cries out in grief at the loss of her dear friend, unleashes an incredible amount
of power, then collapses.
Spoiler alert for Avengers: Age of Ultron; this moment reminds me of Scarlet Witch in
that film after her brother dies.
Later in Cursed though, when the Paladins come to cart off Nimue, look carefully because
there are now golden leaves and shoots that have grown on his skin.
And then a mass of green grass and leaves grow up from the ground around him to encase
him, presumably to form some kind of protection or cocoon until he is ready to be reborn.
In Cursed, Gawain is also known as the Green Knight, and in some of the Arthurian myths,
the Green Knight is green-skinned.
It'll be interesting to see if this is something the showrunners plan for Gawain when he rises
again.
I think Gawain's revival will prove that Nimue actually has the power to bestow life.
Remember that she was able to make a withered old fruit tree grow an abundance of apples,
and when Merlin asked her what she had done to make this happen she told him,
"I thought about someone I love."
Could Gawain be the person she was thinking of platonically in that moment?
And perhaps because of the grief she felt at losing him, she unknowingly brought him
back to life by wishing he hadn't died.
And what if as Nimue was drowning she recalled this advice from Merlin to draw upon the powers
of the Hidden?
"Imagine the result you want.
Create an intention... and then surrender that intention to the Hidden."
The idea of rebirth and transformation isn't just limited to Nimue and Gawain in Cursed.
For example, Morgana is infected by the Spider-God, the Cailleach, when she meets a vision of
her dead girlfriend Celia.
Morgana then becomes a powerful sorceress when she kills the deathly Widow and transforms
into that character.
In case you missed it, it happens during the animated transition after Widow catches Morgana.
The sword first pierces the Widow and kills her, but then the Widow's essence or spirit
seems to enter Morgana and take her over.
This moment completes Morgana's transformation into Morgan le Fay, the powerful enchantress
from the Arthurian legends.
The Weeping Monk also transforms from being a weapon of evil and destruction for the Church
and converts back to his original Fey nature, taking back his real name, Lancelot.
Merlin too is renewed after picking up the sword, going from a mortal and magicless trickster
to finally getting his mojo back, including some impressive lightning powers
when he goes all Thor: Ragnarok on the Red Paladins.
Squirrel has also graduated to the position of a knight by proving his bravery to Gawain;
and with the reveal that his real name is Percival, this sets him up to be the Grail
Knight from the legends.
There's also the diminutive but deadly Iris who rises from the status of an ordinary nun
who had to take orders from Sister Igraine, to becoming a member of the Pope's fearsome
Trinity Guard.
"Together, we shall accomplish great miracles, my child."
And let's not forget Arthur too, who begins the show as a liar and thief who hangs around
with low-life mercenaries like Bors, but he ends up as a leader and protector of
the Fey people, even willing to sacrifice himself for them.
Arthur also saves Red Spear's life during the battle with Cumber's army and the meeting
between these two at the end sets up a future storyline.
"I am the Red Spear, exile of the court of Cumber the Ice King."
"I'm Arthur.
We'll do all in our power to help your people... if you help save our queen."
In the book, Red Spear introduces herself to Arthur as Guinevere in this moment, something
that doesn't happen in the show.
In the Arthurian legends, Guinevere is actually Arthur's wife and queen,
so it'll be interesting to see if there will be any hints at romance between Arthur and
Red Spear next season, and how Nimue might react to that if she finds out.
So, what did you think of the first season of Cursed?
And which were your favourite moments and characters?
Let me know in the comments below!
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Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!