The Quest - Season Finale - Recap: Holding Out For A Hero

Recap and results for The Quest - Season Finale - Escape from Rana Village / One True Hero:

Welcome to the recap and results for The Quest Season Finale, "Escape from Rana Village" and "One True Hero"! Last week's episode brought us left us with four Paladins: Andrew, Shondo, Lina, and Patrick! Can Verlox be defeated? Who will save Everealm and be declared the One True Hero?

LIZARD LICK THROWING

So we waste no time in getting into the action, as Sir Ansgar, Crio, The Queen and the Paladins are captured by...lizard people?! Yup, it looks as though these scaley-looking beasts are in control, as they take the group back to its stronghold to meet their leader, just as Shondo wonders how things could possibly get any uglier in Everealm, in an amusing soundbite. Also interesting, for different reasons, is Patrick's refusal to kneel for the lizard leader, as he argues that his knee only bends for the Queen. It's actually a really cool little moment that shows the amount of investment these people have in the story and its world, as this feels less and less like a reality competition and more like an actual fantasy series.

Of course, The Queen is desperate to have the lizards help them in the fight against Verlox, as Everealm needs all the help it can get against the looming threat. But, to the surprise of absolutely no one, it is revealed that The Grand Vizier is the man behind the lizard invasion. He's not only betrayed the Queen, but he's revealed himself to have been evil all along, which -- yeah, we could see that.

Credit: ABC

In an interesting twist on the standard challenge, the Paladins' captivity is actually made into the next challenge, as each Paladin must escape from his or her own cage by throwing a lasso to pull themselves towards knives. They then must use the knives to cut themselves free and release The Queen, Crio, and Sir Ansgar. Naturally, the challenge sounds way more exciting in theory than it actually is in execution, as Andrew basically breezes through the thing. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it certainly didn't feel like it took Andrew all that long to free himself, and then the others. He earns the Mark of Strength for his challenge prowess, in addition to immunity from the Fates' Challenge.

FATES-OFF

From the lizard stronghold, the Paladins are led through the wild by Sir Ansgar, who takes them to the Fates. It's down to Lina, Patrick, and Shondo, who is in the Fates’ Challenge for the first time. And it's a doozy of a challenge, as the Paladins must brave rickety bridges in order to bring an offering of fruit to the wild banshee on the other side. If you fall off, you have to start all over again. First person to shut the banshee up with fruit wins, and it's already a challenge so richly absurd that I'm reminded why I love this show.

And unlike the earlier challenge, this one is a lot closer, as Lina takes the lead after Shondo and Patrick try to rush through the challenge, falling into the water and having to start from the beginning. However, Lina falls just as she has the end of the course within sight, meaning she must head right back to the start. This provides an opening for Shondo to take the lead and, ultimately, win the challenge, saving himself from elimination.

Faced with the choice of whom to banish, Shondo and Andrew are at a loss, as neither can agree on which Paladin deserves to stay and which should be headed home. This leads into an interesting showdown, as we finally discover what happens in the event of a tie judgment: Shondo stands behind Patrick while Andrew stands with Lina, and the Fates declare that because of his Mark of Strength in the earlier challenge, Andrew gets to decide who stays. Um...that's actually kind of lame and anticlimactic. But now that I think about it, I can't think of any other way to break a tie, other than to come up with another challenge for the final two to compete in, on the spot. And even then, what kind of challenge would it be? I suppose that's a question for another time, as we say goodbye to Patrick, who is banished.

PATRICK is eliminated from THE QUEST!

And so this leaves us with a final three of Andrew, Shondo, and Lina, and while the odds seem balanced in the guys' favor, the fact that Lina has managed to survive all of these eliminations hints at her resiliency in the competition.

Credit: ABC

AND THEN A HERO COMES ALONG

So it's time for the showdown with Verlox, as the group returns to Castle Saenctum, only to spot Verlox's forces waiting for them on the path back. Sir Ansgar does just about the most stupid/brave thing ever by creating a diversion that amounts to little more than charging, head-long, into the throng of Verlox's riders. This gives the group just enough time to escape, and to encounter the Fates, who make a super-rare daytime appearance to warn them that now is the time for the final test. Wait, what? Already? Not that I'm complaining, of course, as I love that this show keeps such a steady, urgent pace, particularly now, at the finale.

The final challenge is an exhaustive combination of previous challenges in the competition, to be held in stages. As befitting the final challenge of the season, this is also the most exciting, as each of the remaining Paladins seems to have a shot at winning. In the first stage, the Paladins must cut through vines in search of a scroll to discover what their next task is. Shondo tears through this stage, while Lina is close behind. Surprisingly, the formerly formidable Andrew is in dead last, desperately clawing his way through the dirt to find the damnable scroll so he can advance to the next stage. Of course, he's already way far behind, since Shondo and Lina are ripping through the second stage, which involves perfectly balancing items on a scale, like in the challenge in which the proper amount of medicine had to be balanced in order to create a potion to save the Queen. Granted, that was a Fates' Challenge, but it's still a worthwhile challenge to implement here, if only to prove that not every challenge is about brute strength.

However, this is where things start to change, as Shondo falls behind, giving Andrew enough time to catch up and put a real dent in Shondo's lead. This is even better for Lina, who takes the lead herself, balancing the scales and advancing to the third stage ahead of the other two. And it's this stage that is arguably the craziest, as the Paladins must chain wooden doors in order to keep the beast behind it from escaping. And Lina makes fairly short work of the challenge thanks to her propensity for following instructions, which the men fail to do. They continually cross their chains the wrong way, and fail to keep the door secure, necessitating a do-over. Lina locks the door, advancing to the final stage, and Andrew comes in second. Since only two Paladins can advance to the final stage...

SHONDO is eliminated from THE QUEST!

Awww, I loved Shondo. I would have loved for him to have been the One True Hero, but hey, he gave it a real good shot.

As for Andrew and Lina, we get a showdown that actually had me pretty nervous, for both Paladins.

It's basically a challenge in which all the Paladins have to do is hit a bulls-eye target with their bow-and-arrow. It's neck and neck, as Lina burns through a preposterous amount of arrows in the attempt (she gets off something like 15 shots). Andrew doesn't do much better, as his shots seem hasty and unfocused. Ultimately, Andrew's haste costs him, as Lina remains patient and focused, able to line up her shot from across the river and nail the bulls-eye, dead center. And with that, Andrew is immediately banished, meaning...

LINA IS THE ONE TRUE HERO!

Credit: ABC

Well, I never would have seen THAT coming, even a week ago. But I'm stoked for her, as Lina proved to be one of the most resilient, resourceful competitors on the show, proving that this doesn't have to be a game about pure brawn. Heart counts for something on a show like this.

So Lina finally puts all the pieces of the Sunspear together, and seeing it fully assembled is strangely exhilarating, as it's a visual representation of the competition's culmination. Speaking of heartening visuals, the other Paladins all appear out of nowhere, kneeling before Lina as their One True Hero. The Fates declare that Lina now has her army, and Sir Ansgar is here to pledge her his sword. Okay, this is AWESOME. And Lina seems overwhelmed by all the respect being shown to her. If the season had ended here, I'd have found it fairly satisfying simply for how the journey culminated, but we still have a final battle, and a dark lord to defeat...

Credit: ABC

THE WAR TO SETTLE THE SCORE

In an unexpectedly thrilling climax, the Paladins charge towards Castle Saenctum, which allows Lina an opening to sneak past Verlox's forces to face the dark lord himself. It's a one-on-one showdown, and I expected this to be far cornier than it ended up being, as Verlox offers to free Crio and The Queen if she hands him the Sunspear. But Lina refuses, prompting Verlox to declare that he'll simply have to take it from her. "You can try," Lina says, in a moment so stunningly badass that I'm wondering why the editors haven't focused on her more over the course of this season, and instead waited until the end to start giving her a "winner's edit".

It's a pretty fun fight sequence, as Lina attacks Verlox, Sir Ansgar takes down the Vizier, the Paladins keep Verlox's army busy, and evil is finally banished from Everealm: Lina essentially uses the spear to completely obliterate Verlox, in a scene that will either have you pumping your first or laughing out loud. I was far more the former than the latter. I'm sorry, but this is just awesome, this show. I couldn't possibly have been more satisfied with this conclusion.

And so The Quest comes to an end, with Lina having saved Everealm from evil. Presumably, everyone lived happily ever after, but you never know in a fantasy realm.

So what did you think of the finale? Should The Quest get a second season? Sound off in the comments!