"A Spark of Light in a Sea of Darkness"
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What You Need To Know:
The second half of Season Two of THE WINGFEATHER SAGA is full of suspense, excitement and humanity. The art direction and animation are also superb. Episodes Four through Seven of Season Two promote the virtues of courage, family, hope, faith, sacrifice, and overcoming human slavery. However, the episodes include intense physical combat, human-to-animal magic experiments, and a main character trapped inside a child labor factory. The second half of Season Two of THE WINGFEATHER SAGA is rather darker than the typical youth fantasy program, especially Episode Six. So, MOVIEGUIDE® stresses caution for older pre-teen children.
Content:
(CC, BB, ACACAC, O, VV, A, MM): Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements: A strong Christian, moral worldview exposes the cruelty of the enemy faction and stresses courage, family, faith (characters make positive references to the Creator, who they call “the Maker”), sacrifice, and overcoming human slavery, a brave family rebels against their reptilian overlords, a grandfather and his daughter risk their lives to protect their offspring, a Zorro-like fighter fends off a lizard army, a sorceress uses illegal magic to turn human prisoners into evil reptilian soldiers, a boy reunites with his love interest, the same boy defies a child-labor factory and escapes, and a daughter defies her immoral pirate father to assist a main protagonist; Foul Language: No foul language; Violence: Moderate stylized cartoon violence and peril throughout, humans fight the Fang army with swords and archery bows, various Fang soldiers are killed onscreen (no blood or gore is shown), a boy is chased and captured by homeless citizens, a thief sticks his foot on a boy’s neck (the same boy is captured alive), three factory workers beat up a slave who tried to escape, a factory owner is hit in the face and in the foot, a boy is thrown into a gulag-like containment box, and a boy throws a bottle of wine against a man’s head; Sex: No sex; Nudity: No nudity; Alcohol Use: Alcohol is not directly mentioned, but one lizard soldier orders a drink at a bar; Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse: The grandfather character takes a whiff of smoke, a slave overseer develops an addiction to apples, and the bad guys use illegal magic to turn human prisoners into evil lizard soldiers; Miscellaneous Immorality: A human mercenary runs a weapons factory with child labor, the child slaves are treated as nameless “tools,” the main protagonist is thrown into a “punishment box” for a total of five days, a girl slave is taken away from her friends at the factory, and another boy is captured alive by a clan of thieves.
More Detail:
THE WINGFEATHER SAGA is an animated fantasy action series by Angel Studios. The show follows the Igiby family’s quest against a regime of evil lizards. In the second half of season two, Janner Igiby and his family seek refuge in the Ice Prairies. During a failed escape attempt, Janner and his younger brother Tink are captured by human mercenaries. Will the brothers be able to rejoin their clan?
In Season Two: Episode Four, “The Roundish Widow,” the Igiby/Wingfeather family makes a pit stop at Dugtown, a grimy city under Fang dominion. While hiding, the Wingfeathers chart their course to the remote location of the Ice Prairies. With a bounty over their heads, the family hires a human mercenary to safely lead them out of Fang territory. However, the mercenary quickly sells the Wingfeathers out to the lizards. Can the Igibys escape this trap?
Episode Four is full of exciting action and suspense. The story explores the dire circumstances of the family’s current predicament. The Wingfeathers are stuck in enemy territory with little in the way of outside help. Despite alerting the guards, the family exhibit immense bravery and use the city environment to distract the guards. The episode is also impressive with its “crowd simulation,” where a hundred Dugtown citizens are shown walking in the same scene. Animating a large amount of characters on a shoestring TV budget is a remarkable feat.
In Episode Five, “The Sundering,” the Wingfeather family is forced to separate after a surprise ambush from the previous night. Janner Igiby, the serious older brother, and Tink, the carefree younger brother, and heir to the throne, are forced to hide on the surface of Dugtown. Janner tries to convince Tink to stay low while looking for the rest of the family. Tink refuses, saying that the stress of their quest is weighing him down. Meanwhile, the other Wingfeathers recover in the city tunnels from the previous night’s battle. However, shady actors soon hunt after the two brothers. Will Janner be able to save his brother?
“The Sundering” offers great chemistry between Janner and Tink. Both brothers are aware of their responsibility to defeat the Fang but are too young to fully grasp this duty. While it would have been easy to portray the brothers as best friends, the writers stress the immense stress that causes them to split up. The episode also features a great chase scene of Janner running away from the homeless mercenaries. Janner uses his wits and parlour skills to outrun them but is then captured, which leads to the best “arc” of the season.
In Episode Six, “The Fork! Factory!,” Janner Wingfeather is taken prisoner at a Fang weapons factory. He’s forced into sharpening swords with other kidnapped children. Janner tries to escape, but is dogpilled by the Overseer and his minions. Janner reunites with Sara, his female neighbor who was kidnapped back in Season One. With his determined spirit, Janner befriends the other child slaves and brainstorms an escape plan.
Episode Six features the darkest subject matter in the series so far. The main character is thrust into child labor, gets physically beaten for trying to escape, and thrown into a “punishment box” for two days. Moreover, the other children are treated as “tools with no names.” However, Janner provides assistance to the slaves, gives them advice, and holds onto “hope” despite the circumstances.
One downside to this season is some of the more disturbing ideas. In a subplot, Peet Wingfeather, the half-man half-bird uncle to Janner, is being interrogated by the Fang. Peet learns a disturbing secret: The Fang are using dark magic to transform human prisoners into mindless lizard soldiers. These humans must endure this procedure or risk death. In the series, Peet reacts to this process with true horror. This idea is a little too extreme, even for a children’s show.
Season Two concludes in Episode Seven, “Escape to the North.” Janner executes his escape plan. He manages to sneak out of the factory but is forced to leave his neighbors behind him. When Janner returns to the underground tunnels, he discovers a shocking note. His family has left for the Ice Prairies. Moreover, the thieves guild has captured his brother, Tink, and sends him to the “black carriage,” where he’ll be turned into Fang soldier.
The season finale ends on a satisfying note. It illustrates Janner’s clever problem solving skills and his observations of the environment. It features a great escape sequence, a few comedic bits, and Janner’s persistence in saving his family. The cliffhanger promises more perilous adventures in Season Three, which is scheduled to be released in 2025.
The second half of Season Two of THE WINGFEATHER SAGA is full of suspense, excitement and humanity. Episodes four through seven stress the virtues of courage, family, faith, sacrifice, and overcoming human slavery. The art direction and animation are also on point. However, these episodes include intense physical combat, some human-to-animal magic experiments, and a main character being trapped inside a child labor factory. The final two episodes of THE WINGFEATHER SAGA: Season Two are rather darker than the typical youth fantasy program. MOVIEGUIDE® stresses caution for older children and no watching for younger children, especially for Episode 6.
