Analyzing the Hero's Journey in The Shannara Chronicles

Madison Stearns

The Shannara Chronicles Heros Journey Analysis

The Shannara Chronicles is a complex and thrilling tv show that portrays the hero’s journey in an interesting way. The show follows both a male and female protagonist.This leads to an interesting dynamic in the hero's journey. While both heroes undergo the process in their own ways, there are changes that are only developed through the protagonists being together. The first protagonist the audience is introduced to is Amberle. Her story is surprisingly similar to the traditional hero’s journey despite being a heroine. A heroine’s journey traditionally has her becoming very masculine. Amberle does not, however. She is a competent fighter - part of her princess background

When she returns home she must sacrifice herself by becoming part of a sacred tree that keeps demons locked away from the world. The part that I found most unexpected in Amberle's journey that matched her male counterpart's journey, was that she also had a female as a temptress. Amberle has her call to adventure when the sacred tree shows her a vision where demons have broken free and killed most of the population. Her refusal of the call is when she dismisses this vision as a fluke from lack of sleep. Supernatural aid came to Amberle when the tree gave her a vision where she saw herself killing her boyfriend. This vision spurs her to leave the castle sending Amberle across the

Their road of trials is extensive. The tv show illustrates early on that their trials will be extensive by using many aerial shots to show the land that they must cover. They go through ten separate events much of which includes being held captive with the likeliness of being tortured and killed. Will and Amberle save each other's lives many times. Will, in particular, is extremely affected by this. He could not save his mother and thought of himself as a simple farm boy. Amberle becomes a better hero through all of this because it teaches her to be even more selfless. Both protagonists have to deal with Eretria as a temptress. Eretria is a nonconventional temptress because she comes from a highly questionable background. Both Will and Amberle are distrustful of Eretria due to her background and the fact that she betrays them multiple times. Will was challenged by Eretria first. Eretria is successful with her seductions of Will. Eretria attempts to seduce Amberle later on in the tv series, however, is unsuccessful. The producer emphasizes Eretria’s influence as a temptress by using the gaze technique. This shows the classical sexual tension seen with this technique but is very nontraditional with Amberle because both characters are female. Will and Amberle return from their journey together by horseback to the castle. When they reach the castle grounds they are rescued from without by gnomes. They also