August 15, 2021
The Forgotten Lands was a fantasy Minecraft web series made by TFL Productions. The first season was about a warrior named Gage going on a journey to rescue his sister, Krystal. She got kidnapped by a criminal organization called the Bandit. After fighting a Bandit's camp, Gage met a woman in a blue coat named Lauren. Later on, she got kidnapped by the Religion, the military of the Capital, Gage found an underground bunker called the Refuge. The Refuge had a rebellion group against the Religion called the Refugees. With the help of the Refugees, Gage saved Lauren and his sisters. Overall, the show had fantastic set designs, the increase of the escalating tension, unique but loveable characters, intimidating antagonists, incredible mysteries with satisfying answers, and a perfect soundtrack. Even with its faults of unnecessary swearing, a rushed redemption arc, and a fake death, the Forgotten Lands was the best series on the internet. Each of the ten episodes was special of their own and deserved their review.
The first episode was called Beginning
. It started with a flashback of Gage and Krystal running away from two Bandits. After the flashback, an older Gage woke up in a city called Euroville. When Gage went to a store, he gave one aureus to a pech for information about Bandit’s camps. He told Gage to stay on the left and look for signs. At the Bandit's camp, Gage killed most of the Bandit and went on top of the embrasure. Gage spared the last surviving Bandit member and asked for archives for kidnaps from ten years ago, but the Bandit told him that only their leader, Kain had the information. When Gage murdered the last Bandit, he snooped inside the embrasure and found a compass. After leaving the camp, he met Lauren, gave her the compass, and let her follow him. When Gage returned to the shop, he asked the pech for Kain's location, and Lauren asked for a cipher. The pech responded to kill the beast that destroyed his shipments for their reward. Overall, the episode had great set designs, established a mystery to Gage, and introduced his personality. Eurovilla had a simple design that gave the town a character. The lanterns outside of the wooden buildings established a historical setting. The stone path covered in dirt to the swamp showed there was neglect to the point where nobody cleans up the mess. The swamp was a sense of danger because there were more dead bodies and skulls the farther Gage goes. The mystery of Gage increased the interest of the audience. Gage refused to talk about his past because he did not want to remember Krystal getting kidnapped. Also, the lack of communication established Gage’s motivation to rescue his sister and get revenge on the Bandit.
The second episode was called Beast
. It started with Gage and Lauren gathering healing potions, arrows, and bows. While looking for the beast, Gage told Lauren about the Capital, his original hometown, and his reason for hating it. After passing a broken bridge, Gage and Lauren found out the possessed knight was the beast. The possessed knight was a demon controlling the dead body of a knight. After they killed the knight, the pech gave Lauren the cipher and told Gage that Kain was at the ruins past the mountains under the redwoods. The episode had the most actions in the season. The mystery of Gage's tragic backstory made him a sympathetic character because the little information revealed he lived in the Capital, an oppressive city with a poverty problem. Also, the knight was a dangerous threat before the fight because there were dead bodies around the beast. So, Gage planned to fight the knight face to face while Lauren shot it with her crossbow. The fight scene had great tension. Even though Gage hit the knight at its vulnerable position, it threw him to the air, made him struggle to dodge its massive ax, and injured him to the point where he used two healing potions. Also, the fight scene made Lauren useful by killing the knight with a shot in the back, which proved Lauren and Gage to be great partners.
The third episode is called Murder
. It started with Gage and Lauren walking to a village called Valicton and found two dead bodies hanging on a pole. At Valiction, they found more dead bodies near the mine. A man named Jordan told them about the murders in the village, and they should walk across town for a bounty. When they arrived at the cabin, there was a blood trail. Gage told Lauren to follow the blood trail as he goes to the attic. In the attic, Gage found a skeleton, and Lauren found a diary that belonged to Sarah, the owner of the cabin with her husband, John. One night, something was following Sarah and broke inside it. As John fought the intruder, he got his arm bitten. For three days, John slowly lost his sanity, which caused him to bite Sarah. She locked John in a backroom and went to the mines. In the backroom, Gage and Lauren found John, who was barely alive. Gage put him out of his misery. In the mines, they killed Sarah. The episode was an example of how to slowly built tension with a satisfying ending. The two dead bodies established a sense of new dangers because it was unusual for the Bandit to hang people, and the bodies were new since Lauren walked to the same path two weeks ago. When more bodies appeared as Gage and Lauren walked farther, the scene slowly escalated the situation to be more dangerous. The diary established a type of virus that Gage and Lauren never heard of. The fear of the unknown made the audience worry for their safety. The mines created a helpless environment by making Lauren scared. When Lauren was vulnerable and at her weakest point, the audience worried for their safety. Also, there was only a glance of infected Sarah as she dashed into the darkness, and the way she breathed was inhuman. The breathing was slow, and its sound came from something dying. Also, the set design created an unsafe environment. Valicton looked like a ghost town because it was smaller than Euroville, and there was a large wheat farm that had not been harvested, showing the village had a small population. Inside the cabin, there was a trail of dried blood, a skeleton in the attic, and cobwebs which indicated the cabin was abandoned for weeks. The dark mines created a disturbing atmosphere because they showed no sign of human activity. Deeper Gage and Lauren go, there was more unknown red substance appeared.
The fourth episode was called The Crooked House
. It began with a flashback of when Gage and Krystal were inside a castle in the Capital. The ruler of the Capital, the Lord, told Krystal that her parents brought her due to her magical powers. After the flashback, a woman asked Gage and Lauren to help her with a creature haunting her house. When they arrived at the house, the woman told them that she lived with her son. Also, she stated not to go to his room and the basement. Since the woman acted suspiciously, Gage and Lauren went inside the basement and found a human heart and a chest full of weapons and bones. When they went to their son's room, there was a youthful spirit. They went to the woman and told her that she murdered her son, and she needed to kill herself to release the soul into the spirit world. Gage and Lauren told the woman that they cannot help her and left the decision to her. When they returned to the cabin, Gage told Lauren that her sister got kidnapped ten years ago, and he lied about living in the outskirts of Capital. Gage shared this information because Lauren asked about Krystal since he talked about her when he was asleep. Lauren stated she was willing to help Krystal if Gage was willing to help her home. The best part of the episode was the build-up to the twist and development between Gage and Lauren. The twist worked because the beginning showed signs that the woman was untrustworthy because she refused to let Gage and Lauren go to specific rooms, and she angrily responded no when Gage asked to see her son. The basement and her son's room foreshadowed that the woman murdered her son because the weapons in the chest and the spirit were not dangerous. The woman was sympathetic because she felt guilty, causing her to cut her heart out for a demon to bring her son back to life. Also, she had been killing strangers because her original idea did not work. The woman was mentally ill because she was a recovering alcoholic due to the trauma of her husband trying to kill her and her son. Then, she realized that she must kill herself to release her son's spirit. The ambiguous ending allowed the audience to depict whether the woman killed herself to free her son's spirit or continuing killing people in hopes of her son’s resurrection. Another good part of the episode was Lauren gained trust with Gage by asking about Krystal. Since Gage respected Lauren, he was willing to tell the truth to her.
The fifth episode, called Truth
, started with Gage going to Lauren's stone tower while raining. When Lauren and Gage arrived near the tower, the rain stopped, so Lauren wanted to find out. Lauren and Gage went to the basement to find an altar with a magical setup. Lauren’s mission was to decode the cipher. A few days later, Lauren finished the ritual, which created a mysterious key. Before Lauren looked for Krystal, she told Gage that her old friends and family were the Bandits that took Krystal. After Gage and Lauren left the tower, they went to the ruins, but Gage did not find Kain. They went inside a hole in the ruins leading to a cobblestone room. Lauren stated there was a door with a picture of the moon, goblet, and two unknown images on it. Gage told Lauren to open the door as he went outside. Gage found Jordan. He planned to kidnap Lauren. When Lauren opened the door, Gage escaped with Lauren. The episode had a beautiful tower providing a majestic origin for Lauren and established the character of Gage. The tower was shown to be centuries old, with outside rubbles and cracked stone walls with massive holes. The basement had colorful crystals covering the room, and an altar with a glowing black and gold square levitated in the center. The most beautiful room was at higher levels. Lanterns were hanging down the ceilings, and the holes served as windows. The scene when Gage found the tower to be fantastic was heartwarming because he never had a permanent home. Also, Lauren’s backstory on her tower was emotional because she revealed it was her permanent home after running away from her old family and friends. After all, she was afraid they would hurt her Lauren suffered endless guilt for letting the Bandits kidnap Krystal because she felt responsible for doing nothing. Also, Gage created a sibling-like relationship with Lauren by understanding she was not as bad as the Bandit and glad for the reassurance that Krystal got kidnapped. Lauren agreed to help with Gage because she wanted to take responsibility for her past.
The sixth episode, called The Caves
, started with Lauren and Gage running away from Jordan until they found a hallway with carved smooth walls with stone spikes on the top and bottom. Then, they found a stone building which led to a drop to the entrance of the caverns. Gage and Lauren walked into a forest with a pond, tree, light, and a stone path covered in moss leading to a door. Lauren found a backpack with a diary. It was relieved that time goes faster in the caverns, sleeping for long periods was a wrong idea, and to be watchful for creatures with the ability to disguise as familiar people called ventiers. After leaving the caverns, Gage and Lauren arrived at a large cave, so Gage found a ventier disguised as his mentor, Daniel. After leaving the cave, Jordan got kidnapped by Lauren because he stated he works for the Religion. Then, Jordan's boss, the twins, shot Jordan and Gage caused them to fall into a lake. The episode established higher steaks, and the design of the cavern and cave was beautiful. In the beginning, the cavern slowed down tension because there were signs of peace like trees, grass, lights, and a pond, which made the audience forget about Jordan. The diary created new tension. For example, Gage mentioned the ventiers were more dangerous than a possessed knight, which hurt Gage to the point of using two healing potions. Also, Lauren did not sleep at the tower because she focused on decoding the cipher. Lauren's exhaustion created a massive risk of her sleeping. The cave looked better than the cavern because it was bigger, which allowed lakes, waterfalls, average size trees, and vines to hang from the sky. The light was coming from a hole in the ceiling, providing sunlight. When Lauren got kidnapped, there was a larger threat than the Bandit called the Religion. One flaw in the episode was Gage asked,
What the fuck?
when Lauren mentioned the drop led to a cave. The swearing was unnecessary and made the scene unintentional hilarious.
The seventh episode was The Dungeon
, which started with a flashback when Daniel found an unconscious Gage. After the flashback, Jordan and Gage climbed out of the lake. Then, Gage found a venteir disguised as Lauren, so Jordan told him that Lauren was not there and walked into the black jasper room. While walking, Gage asked how much Jordan was making for the kidnapping, and he stated five hundred aurei. Jordan said he got paid too much because Lauren might have magical gifts. After the conversion, they arrived at a room with a smoke door and a Bahamut guarding it. After killing the Bahamut, they arrived at a swamp. They swam across to a room with dead trees and grass. Then, they went into a room where everything was upside down. The episode was great because Gage and Jordan were great characters and the rooms created a spine-chilling environment. Gage threatened to kill someone for the first time, which showed Gage found someone to love with Lauren. The scene was unique because the audience never saw Gage be this angry. Jordan was a hilarious comic relief. When Gage asked why Jordan took the bounty of Lauren and other innocent people, he responded,
Don’t give me that shit. You take a few bounties yourself.
Jordan would find any stupid excuse to defend his terrible actions. Each room was terrifying in its ways. For example, the jasper room was entirely dark with white, undead corpses. These corpses beat Gage halved to death. The room with a smoke door had a fire on each side of the room, chandeliers, candles next to each stone pillar, and a throne for the Bahamut. The fight between the Bahamut allowed Gage to demonstrate his intelligence with his fighting strategy. Gage told Jordan to distract it with his ax as he shot it. Also, Gage used his surroundings to his advantage by dodging the fireball by using pillars as shields. The swamp was disturbing because there was no reason for trees and grass to be dead, which gave off curse vibes. The flaw of the episode was Jordan's redemption happened too quickly because Jordan apologized for kidnapping Lauren and thanked Gage for saving his life. The apology came out of nowhere because Jordan was being sarcastic and insulting Gage throughout the entire journey.
The eighth episode was called The Refuge
. The episode started with Gage and Jordan leaving the upside-down room. They found an underground bunker which reminded Gage about a refuge under the Capital. Then, Jordan found a journal that revealed the mines were closed because the resources became unnecessary, so Gage and Jordan decided to go to the mines. When Religion members came to the mines, they hid. After the Religion members left, they stopped hiding and found two Refugees named Jake and Lilith. They took Gage and Jordan to the Refuge. Lilith said the Religion took control of most of the Refuge. Gage tried to leave the Refuge, but two guards stopped him because Sam, the commander of the Religion, made the place stay in lockdown. When Gage went to Lilith's room, he told her about his life mission to find Kain. She said that Kain left the mines and revealed that Kain and Sam were partners until they split up. Then, Lilith came up with a plan to go to the Capital and meet the Lord and Kain. After discussing the plans, Gage and Lilith went to Sam’s office. Lilith told Sam that the Refugees were on good terms with the Capital, but Sam’s restriction might ruin the terms. Also, Sam found the Refugees to be disposable. During the meeting, Sam revealed that he kidnapped children during his partnership with Kain. The children had their magic harvested, which killed them. Sam set the Refuge on fire. While the Refuge was burning, the plan had changed. Gage was going to the Capital with Sam, Jake, and Noah. Lilith decided to stay in the Refuge and helped people escape the fire. The episode did an excellent job establishing hope, the character's motivation, and the antagonist. The journal was a hope symbol for Gage and Jordan because it showed they had a chance to escape by going to the mines, but they could be lost since they had no sense of the direction. Gage was so close to completing his mission that it was depressing because he suffered throughout his lifetime. For example, Gage could have his revenge on Kain if he did not hide. Also, Sam told Gage that Krystal died, making Gage's ten years journey to be pointless. Now, the only person Gage had in his life was Lauren, and he had a small amount of time to save her. Lilith was a unique character because she wanted to talk with Lord and Kain to stop the oppression. Lilith was the only character who solved their conflict peacefully since most of the characters kill their enemies. Sam was a great antagonist. One of the best ways to make a great antagonist was their close connection with the protagonist. Sam was Kain’s ex-partner, and Kain was responsible for Krystal's kidnapping. Sam was evil by letting the Refuge burn and has no regret killing children during his partnership.
The ninth episode called The Capital
started with Gage, Sam, Jake, and Noah going to the warehouse, but it locked. So, Jack recommended meeting a Refugee named Lucy to get the key. Lucy told the group to put Sam in the warehouse’s cellar. Then, Gage asked Sam where all the kidnapped children went. Sam responded most of them got taken to the Lord, but leftovers went to the higher class prison. After the conversation, Gage went to recuse Lauren, so Jack followed him, which upset Gage. In the higher class town, Gage attempted to seek into the prison, but the guard said the Lord had not taken any new prisoners. After Gage’s plan failed, Jake took him to the pech since the pech owed Jake a favor. The pech told them to arrive at the prison during dawn and wait for his signal. Since the pech refused to let Gage and Jake stand in his store, Jake decided to stay with Godfrey, his father. Gage revealed that Godfrey was a noble, proving Jake had a relationship with the Religion. Then, Jake said he was against the Religion's ideology, and the Lord kidnapped elves because of their blood for magic. They sought into the prison, but the frostmaw attacked the place, so Gage sent Jake into the warehouse. Gage avoided the frostmaw and helped Lauren escape by taking her to the sewers. Then, Lauren revealed that Krystal was alive. The episode had a fantastic demonstration of Sam's intimidation and Gage’s faults. The conversation between Sam and Gage showed Sam as a threat. Even though Sam was locked up, he managed to cause mental damage to Gage by telling Gage that he was alive due to Lilith sparing him. Also, he said saving Lauren was a waste of time because he cannot seek into the prison with his disguise. Sam mocked Gage by calling him weak and getting rid of his hope. Gage had the most relatable fault in the series, which was not accepting his past. Gage hid the facts that he lived in the Capital from Jack because he did not want anyone to know his association with Religion. Also, Gage felt endless amounts of guilt for letting Krystal get kidnapped because his escape plan failed, and he did not knew the Religion’s involvement which caused him to waste his life going to Bandit's camps. The guilt affected Gage's character. He sent Jack to the warehouse because he did not want to get Jack killed. Gage did not want to be responsible for getting someone hurt. One major flaw of the episode was Krystal was not dead. There were two problems for keeping Krystal alive. The first problem was the series did not take a risk by making Gage's journey pointless. The second problem was the fake death prevented a potential character development for Gage. If Krystal was dead, Gage can find closure in his past and accept his failures. Also, Gage saving Lauren would be more meaningful because he was unable to save his sister, but he can save his friend. Lauren was important to Gage because they had a sibling-like relationship.
The tenth episode is called Final
. It started with a flashback when Daniel told Gage that he was not ready to save Krystal, so Daniel trained him. When Daniel died, Gage started his journey to recuse Krystal. After the flashback, Gage and Lauren planned to save Krystal, but Lilith found them. She told them to go to the warehouse. Lilith was injured because she saved the Refugees from the fire. At the warehouse, she offered to help them, but Gage refused the help. Lilith refused to take no as an answer and forced herself to be a part of the mission. Lilith was so determined to help Gage was to show the Religion that the Refugees can fight back. She brought her group and made a plan. Lauren stated the twins planned to overthrow the Lord by draining Krystal’s magic in the banquet, a dinner party for the Lord to show his appreciation to the nobles. Due to the castle's tight security on the main entrance, the group planned to seek in the sewers. Lilith wanted to lead the group to the vessel, a place for kidnapped victims since she knew the corridor's direction, but her injuries made her unable to move safely. Jake hired Sam to help navigate the mission. Lilith and Noah would provide a ship as an exit, and Jake would go with Godfrey to distract the twins. Sam, Lauren, and Gage sought in the sewers. Sam took Lauren and Gage to the Lord’s potion collection and trophy room because they can take some potions. When they arrived at the vessel, Sam could not open the locked door. He told the guards that there were intruders in the castle. Gage told Lauren to open the door as he looked for guards. While looking for guards, Gage overheard the twins’ plan to kill the Lord, and the banquet got canceled due to Sam’s alerts. When Lauren opened the door, she and Gage recused Krystal. As they tried to escape, the twins caught them. Gage told Lauren to escape with Krystal as he fought the twin with the red-eye. He was too powerful for Gage, causing Gage to escape. After the escape, Gage met the Lord, and he wanted to know about Gage’s motivation for recusing Krystal. After the interaction with Gage and the Lord, two guards caught Gage until Jordan killed them. When Jordan and Gage returned to Krystal and Lauren, they escaped the castle. The next day after the rescue, Lilith brought Gage and Krystal to their permitted home overseas with Jack. The episode was a great season finale because of the great character dynamic, a set design that can establish a mood, and great antagonists. The flashback was amazing because Daniel demonstrated to be a fantastic parent figure to Gage. While Daniel trained how Gage to shoot a bow at targeting dummies, Gage told Daniel that he used a sword because he kept missing, so Daniel told him not to rely on one weapon and tried again. When Gage tried again, he poorly hit the dummy, causing him to want to quit, but Daniel told him to focus on one objective. When Gage followed Daniel’s advice, he hit the dummy accurately, which showed Daniel was responsible for making Gage into a warrior. The last scene between Gage and Lauren was tear-jerking because they were splitting apart. Their final goodbyes were an end to a beautiful friendship showing the audience that a healthy relationship will eventually end. The final scene of the episode was perfect. The conversation between Krystal and Gage started out upsetting but slowly became happier. The conversation began with Krystal losing all sense of time and believing she was in the castle for six years or less. Also, Krystal apologized for believing Gage was dead, and he apologized for not saving her earlier. The scene became more heartwarming when sunshine set. Gage paid respect to Daniel by telling Krystal. Gage said Daniel taught him how to survive the wilderness and became a warrior. Then, Gage gave Krystal his sword, symbolizing he would protect and teach her how to defend herself. The design of the sewers created a gloomy mood because of the stone walls with dirty wooden floors. There was little light due to the small number of lanterns. There were disorganized barrels of alcohol lying on the floor and rows of cages of elves and creatures crying in pain. The Lord was a symbol of the abuse of total control and power. He was the tallest character in the series. Also, he was completely covered in armor and wore a red cape. Tallest symbolizes superiority, and red symbolizes strength. When Gage threatened to shoot the Lord, he was not scared or even tried to kill him, but he said,
You can if you like, but you won’t achieve much
, which caused Gage to spread his life. The Lord put Gage at a disadvantage by utilizing the weakest part of his mental state. For example, the Lord used his magic to bring Gage and himself to Daniel’s house, making him think of childhood memories causing him to lose focus. The only reason why the Lord visited Gage was to know his reason to recuse Krystal because he was taking care of him. When Gage refused to answer his question and told him not to delay the process of Krystal's recuse, the Lord revealed Gage’s true motivation of wanting to forget his past. Another sign of power was the Lord killed the twins and knew that they planned to betray him. The red-eye twin used his magic to shoot ice, fire, and piece of stone at Gage. When Gage started attacking him upfront, the twin created an earthquake. Gage used all his potential in the fight, as he used pillars as shields to dodge attacks, but he still got hit. Also, Gage used all his potions to keep himself alive, but the twin beat him close to death, causing him to run away, which was the only fight he ran away from.
Resources
The Forgotten Lands