The penultimate episode of Willow, “Beyond the Shattered Sea,” is now streaming on Disney+ and it features Willow (Warwick Davis) and the party facing one of their biggest challenges yet as they attempt to find and rescue Airk (Dempsey Bryk). Meanwhile, Airk is dealing with some big obstacles of his own as he comes face to face with another person for the first time since his kidnapping. He meets Lili (Game of Thrones’ย Rosabell Laurenti Sellers), a woman who is trapped in the Immemorial City. However, things aren’t exactly what they seem. Warning: Spoilers Ahead…
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Airk and Lili quickly strike up a flirtation, but he eventually realizes that she has been taken over by the Crone. Lili quickly turns sinister and forces Airk to drink from the pool and by the time Kit (Ruby Cruz) and Elora (Ellie Bamber) reach him, it appears they may be too late. Not only has Airk transformed, but it looks like he is now in service of the Crone. At the Willow premiere, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with Sellers who talked about her villainous turn in the episode.ย
“Oh my God… it was one of the best roles I’ve ever played in my life,” Sellers shared. “Being a quiet, petite, naive-looking young woman, I feel, I always get passed for very similar roles. Being able to break that expectation and play a monstrous, disgusting, ugly villain was so satisfying, from an artistic point of view.” She added of preparing for the series, “I definitely watched [Willow] again, but that was just out of fun also because I love the movie.”ย
Is Val Kilmer in Disney+’s Willow?
Sadly, the Willow series does not feature the return of Val Kilmer as Madmartigen. Kilmer has struggled with his health after a battle with throat cancer, and filming during COVID didn’t feel safe, so they ended up having to write him out of the series. However,ย his presence is felt throughout the show, and last week’s episodeย sort of featured the return of Madmartigen…ย
In the episode, Madmartigen’s daughter Kit (Ruby Cruz) meets Allagash (Christian Slater) who reveals there is a secret vault in the prison mines that Madmartigan entered before he disappeared. Kit is drawn to the vault and finds her father’s sword and hears his voice, begging her for help. Turns out, Kilmer did play a part in Madmartigen’s small return. Since the actor was unable to fully record the cameo, his son with Whalley, Jack Kilmer, helped provide Madmartigan’s voice in the episode.ย
“Jack has been a great friend toย Willowย all along, you know,” showrunner Jonathan Kasdan recently toldย Decider. “Between Joanne and Val he basically is the child of theย Willowย franchise.” Kasdan added, “We actually recorded with Val and we used his performance as a guide track. Then Jack was given Val’s performance to listen to and then copy what his dad had done in terms of you know, the performance elements of Val’s thing.”
The season finale of Willow drops on Disney+ on January 11th.
