I won't pretend to know much about the source material, but from what I've learned, it's not much better than this travesty of a show. This review is not well thought out or planned, I'm just remembering stuff as it comes because honestly this show doesn't deserve the minimal effort it would take to craft a well thought out review.
The pacing was badly done, with them jumping ahead by months regularly, yet there no real feeling of progress or anything changing. The characters were all dull, lackluster and the worst kind of Mary Sue/Gary Stu imaginable, especially Victoria.
Jack was whiny and infantile if the first five episodes and not much better in the second five. Victoria, however, was easily the most annoying character in the whole series. She's the very definition of a Mary Sue. She's Bella Swan and. Anastasia Steele in a high fantasy setting. Starts.out as a seemingly ordinary girl with some magical ability, yet by the 6th episode she's inexplicably the object of affection for the BBEG's son, Kirtash (the same guy who went around slaughtering all Idhunese, who openly admits over and over that he wants to kill her allies/friends and who also happens to be fused with the soul of a giant, winged, semi-divine flying snake... If it's not obvious, I'm rolling my eyes just recalling it). He loves her so very much, even though his Big Bad Daddy doesn't approve and orders him to kill her. The bulk of episodes 6-10 are spent on eyerollingly long, positively nauseating dialogues between Victoria and Kirtash about "do you really have feeling for you since you're...you know, a giant flying snake" "Of course I love you, my dearest, I'll protect you at all costs. But by the way...I'm going to kill your friends. One of whom you're also in love with in addition to me (Jack)". OR, it's Victoria whining to Jack about how horrible she is for loving Kirtash but being unable to help it and yet also having feelings for him and promising to protect him even as she runs off to lip lock with the giant serpent.
Jack and Kirtash have a natural animosity towards one another because, OH, by the way, Jack is actually a dragon, the LAST dragon (he's also a special GOLDEN dragon. Ooooh.....ahhhhh.... AMAZING. >_>;), and dragons have a natural aversion to the snake things of which Kirtash is one. I can't be bothered to remember what the snake things are called. Snec? Shec? Whatever. And of course, Jack loves Victoria so much that he doesn't even resent her for exchanging spit with the guy who aided in the murder of his parents. He just wants to kill Kirtash for hurting her, but oh wait, never mind, he realizes that Kirtash really, really loves her (for reasons I'll never get), so everything is peachy now, except for, you know, Jack and Kirtash hating one another. In the end they all rush to her rescue after she's captured by the BBEG because in the most unsurprising surprise ever, she's the missing last unicorn and at the end of this daringly obnoxious rescue scene, HURRAY, Kirtash joins the rebels. Happy day.
The worldbuilding and lore all take a backseat to the god awful love triangle that honestly needs to die in a fire. Immediately. It needs to be burnt to ash and then the ashes need to be burnt again until only the smallest atoms remain, then those atoms need to be scattered to the wind or, better yet, hurled into the sun to be completely annihilated and forgotten. And if what I know of the books is accurate, the love triangle would have only gotten more sickeningly convoluted and idiotic. Thank GOD this show was cancelled. Never bring it back. As for myself, I'll be doing my best to forget it ever existed.
The pacing was badly done, with them jumping ahead by months regularly, yet there no real feeling of progress or anything changing. The characters were all dull, lackluster and the worst kind of Mary Sue/Gary Stu imaginable, especially Victoria.
Jack was whiny and infantile if the first five episodes and not much better in the second five. Victoria, however, was easily the most annoying character in the whole series. She's the very definition of a Mary Sue. She's Bella Swan and. Anastasia Steele in a high fantasy setting. Starts.out as a seemingly ordinary girl with some magical ability, yet by the 6th episode she's inexplicably the object of affection for the BBEG's son, Kirtash (the same guy who went around slaughtering all Idhunese, who openly admits over and over that he wants to kill her allies/friends and who also happens to be fused with the soul of a giant, winged, semi-divine flying snake... If it's not obvious, I'm rolling my eyes just recalling it). He loves her so very much, even though his Big Bad Daddy doesn't approve and orders him to kill her. The bulk of episodes 6-10 are spent on eyerollingly long, positively nauseating dialogues between Victoria and Kirtash about "do you really have feeling for you since you're...you know, a giant flying snake" "Of course I love you, my dearest, I'll protect you at all costs. But by the way...I'm going to kill your friends. One of whom you're also in love with in addition to me (Jack)". OR, it's Victoria whining to Jack about how horrible she is for loving Kirtash but being unable to help it and yet also having feelings for him and promising to protect him even as she runs off to lip lock with the giant serpent.
Jack and Kirtash have a natural animosity towards one another because, OH, by the way, Jack is actually a dragon, the LAST dragon (he's also a special GOLDEN dragon. Ooooh.....ahhhhh.... AMAZING. >_>;), and dragons have a natural aversion to the snake things of which Kirtash is one. I can't be bothered to remember what the snake things are called. Snec? Shec? Whatever. And of course, Jack loves Victoria so much that he doesn't even resent her for exchanging spit with the guy who aided in the murder of his parents. He just wants to kill Kirtash for hurting her, but oh wait, never mind, he realizes that Kirtash really, really loves her (for reasons I'll never get), so everything is peachy now, except for, you know, Jack and Kirtash hating one another. In the end they all rush to her rescue after she's captured by the BBEG because in the most unsurprising surprise ever, she's the missing last unicorn and at the end of this daringly obnoxious rescue scene, HURRAY, Kirtash joins the rebels. Happy day.
The worldbuilding and lore all take a backseat to the god awful love triangle that honestly needs to die in a fire. Immediately. It needs to be burnt to ash and then the ashes need to be burnt again until only the smallest atoms remain, then those atoms need to be scattered to the wind or, better yet, hurled into the sun to be completely annihilated and forgotten. And if what I know of the books is accurate, the love triangle would have only gotten more sickeningly convoluted and idiotic. Thank GOD this show was cancelled. Never bring it back. As for myself, I'll be doing my best to forget it ever existed.