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Willow season one ending explained

The finale of Willow‘s first season had a little bit of everything, and also seemed to be just the beginning of an even larger story. The first season climaxes with a wedding, a massive fight, and more than a little bit of magic.

What more can a devoted Willow fan possibly want? Let’s dive into exactly what went down and what it means for a season two (if there is one):

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Warning: This post contains spoilers for the entire first season of Willow.

The Crone is almost triumphant

Willow and his allies stand in a forest in Willow.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Briefly, it looks like the Crone is going to have her way with our main cohort. Airk and Elora are almost brainwashed into marrying one another before Elora snaps out of the Crone’s enchantment and Willow shows up to more definitively break her curse. Once the Crone’s plot has failed, a battle breaks out between her minions and Elora and Willow’s crew, with Elora and the Crone facing off one on one.

Even as the Crone and Elora square off, though, Graydon intercedes and casts a massive spell. The Crone is ultimately able to counter it though, and send Graydon into a world that looks like hell. He seems to be dead, which gives Elora the righteous anger she needs to finally end this conflict once and for all. After some psychic encouragement from Willow, Elora manages to take down the Crone once and for all, transforming her into her previous form.

Meanwhile, Kit and Jade take on Airk, and manage to convince him that they won’t leave him again. Airk awakens, and all seems to be well.

How does Willow actually end?

Willow fights with magic in Willow.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

While this fight is the climax of Willow‘s story for the season, the show doesn’t end there. Instead, they mourn Graydon and acknowledge that the fight is far from over. They know that the Wyrm is still amassing their forces and that they’ll have to be prepared for more fighting to come.

Even as his friends mourn him, though, we see that Graydon is not actually dead. He wakes up on the battlefield, alluding to the vision of him that Willow has been seeing all season. Elora is there with him and she says that this is the dawning of a new age, one that she believes belongs to her. She’s going to need someone to help her lead the world into the light, and she believes that person can be Graydon. The last thing we see is Elora with a full army arrayed behind her, including a massive two-headed dragon.

Will Willow be back for a second season?

Willow | Official Trailer | Disney+

Based on that ending, it’s clear that Willow still has more story it would like to tell. At the moment, though, it’s unclear whether the show will be back for another go or not. Streaming services like Disney+ don’t feel any obligation to announce how their shows are performing, so we don’t know much about how many people are watching Willow regularly.

Fans of the show, and of the movie it’s based on, would definitely like to see more from Elora, Willow, and the rest of their crew. Whether they’ll get that chance is another question entirely.

Joe Allen
Joe Allen is a freelance writer at Digital Trends, where he covers Movies and TV. He frequently writes streaming…
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