“Champions of the One True God”
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What You Need To Know:
A strong Christian worldview with elements of occult worldview. A poetic yet violent epic series is extensively detailed. A heavy score brings a strong emotional depth. Strong caution advised for sensitive teens and young children due to violence, disturbing imagery, use of magic/sorcery, power struggle, bloody battle scenes, and dark themes.
Content:
A strong Christian, moral worldview, despite being a fantasy epic with elements of magic and sorcery, rooted in some history with real places, but also with fantastical settings as well, where the hero and heroine find the One True God, set in a world run by false gods, pagan rituals, false religions, and mysticism, but the Christians and their One True God are the shining beacon and light of goodness in a dark world and Christianity comes to defines the baby Moses figure, Taliesin, an evangelical figure who is a character worthy of biblical scripture, although he’s fictional, he begins as a Druid with a strong gift of foresight where pagan gods war for his soul from the beginning, but he follows none, as a bard his song captivates his audiences like no other but God seeks him out and he’s granted with the blessing of seeing the face of God himself, so he’s suddenly full of biblical knowledge and recognized by the Christian monks, Taliesin becomes a prophet and foretells the coming of King Arthur and of a perfect world of truth and love worthy of God, plus a woman is an unbeliever at first, but comes to God through her husband and is set free in her new Christian life;
No foul language;
Strong intense violence with some blood includes murder, battles with swords and arrows, a woman bloodied and charged by a bull, man fatally stabbed, and woman gives birth;
No sex is shown, but implied, and two people are shown kissing in several scenes;
Upper male nudity;
No alcohol use;
No smoking or drugs; and,
A female character uses magic to deceive and seduce a man with her appearance.
More Detail:
The series is based on a series of fantasy novels written by Stephen R. Lawhead. Stephen was a friend of Dr. Ted Baehr, who promoted the book in MOVIEGUIDE®. Fans called Dr. Baehr to thank him for being the first major Christian to appreciate fantasy novels. The first book in the series won the Evangelical Christian Publisher Association’s Gold Medallion Award for Fiction in 1988.
With a strong Christian worldview with elements of occult worldview, this poetic yet violent epic series is extensively detailed with a heavy score bringing a strong emotional depth. Strong caution is advised for sensitive teenagers and young children due to violence, disturbing imagery, use of magic/sorcery, power struggles, bloody battle scenes, and dark themes.
Episode 1, “Island of the Mighty,” begins with an unnamed narrator. This narrator explains he made it his affair to save King Arthur. This is to be Arthur’s story, but to understand him, the narrator says, you must understand the land, the Island of the Mighty. You must also understand the narrator, the one who made Arthur.
The setting is Britain, 4th Century AD. A bundle travels down a river. Men are gathered at a riverbed. Young Elphin is hoping to break his curse. He pulls up empty fishing nets. As the disappointed men turn to leave, he finds the bundle in the last one. Elphin opens it to find a baby. The mage announces that the child is good fortune who will grow into a bard and in his voice will be “born a kingdom of summer.”
Cut to a stadium in Atlantis, the Island of the Bull God. A beautiful blonde, Charis, prays to the bull god of the underworld, Bel, for strength, courage and valor. She meets her team on the field as they face the bull. On the second round, the god Bel himself appears as a white bull. She believes the god is there to kill her himself. The ground shakes, and a large volcano erupts.
Cut to 20 years later. A “mage” or wizard at Caer Dyvi sees a vision that the barbarians are coming, and he tells King Elphin. However, the King’s son, Taliesin, has better sight. He’s praying in the sacred druid circle. He has a visitor who encourages him to look into the past and raise the sacred stone. The horned ancient one forces him to make a choice. Taliesin asks his father why these gods are warring for his soul.
At Caer Seoint, a Roman Stronghold, a battle rages at the wall as King Elphin and his men wait at the top of the hill. Taliesin and the mage both hold their staffs out, whispering. The men charge as smoke billows.
Cut to the “Summerlands.” Two Christian monks are standing in front of a modest hut. They find Charis, believing she’s Mary, the mother of Jesus. Charis says she’s never heard of this goddess. They explain they worship only the One True God. After some discussion, she claims she killed the last god she trusted. She says they will need King Avallach’s permission to restore the building.
At Ynys Avallach castle, Charis’s sister, Morgain, informs her that their father, King Avallach, requests her presence with King Elphin and his people, who have lost their land. Later, Taliesin sings a captivating song and accidentally oversteps with Chalis. He helps the power-hungry Morgain on his way to finding Charis at the lake. Taliesin pursues the homesick Charis. The power-hungry Morgain is heartbroken. He rides and stumbles on the monk’s new dwelling, where a powerful force reveals itself in the cross.
Episode 2: The Vision of Taliesin
In Episode 2, King Avallach offers King Elhin and his men land. They agree stop fight to defend him. However, they refuse, because they believe it’s cowardice of them to not be willing to fight for themselves. Charis has a flashback to the calamity that destroyed Atlantis.
Meanwhile, Taliesin is lying on the ground recalling visions and biblical scripture to the monks after his vision. He proclaims he shall henceforth be known as a prophet of the One True God.
Charis explains to her father, King Avallach ,where he went wrong, but he refuses to hear it. She says his kingdom is a mere illusion, an echo of Atlantis. Meanwhile, Morgain tries to deceive Taliesin.
Riding in the woods, Charis is attacked by bandits and saved by Taliesin, who proposes. She says her life died with Atlantis. He insists they can have another life if they receive it. They kiss.
Charis tells King Avallach of her attack and insists that their people needs them. He needs to reconsider his offer. He forbids her from leaving until they are gone. She insists that he not do this. Taliesin does the same with his father, who insists that they are weak cowards openly insulting them. Taliesin tells the mage of the true God to whom he has committed. The mage says no one knows from where he comes, but only he knows where he is going.
Morgain tricks Charis and has her locked in her room. Taliesin sneaks inside the room. She offers him a special sword as an acceptance of his proposal. They leave and make their own way and are baptized. Charis is with child, and Taliesin dreams of an ideal kingdom of Christian virtues, but tragedy looms.
This epic tale is just getting started.
The first two episodes of THE PENDRAGON CYCLE: RISE OF THE MERLIN are captivating and poetic. Viewers will want to watch future episodes. The first two episodes also have a strong Christina, moral worldview
With a strong Christian worldview mixed with elements of occult worldview, this poetic yet violent epic series is extensively detailed with a heavy score bringing a strong emotional depth. Strong caution is advised for sensitive teenagers and young children due to violence, disturbing imagery, use of magic/sorcery, power struggle, bloody battle scenes, and dark themes.
It should be noted that the series, like almost all series, deviates from the books.
