My Favourite TV Scene of 2023
I interrupt my Coffee in Noir series because in addition to my favourite movies of 2023, I wanted to talk the TV scene which affected me the most.
I can’t stop thinking about this, from Willow 1.07 “Beyond the Shattered Sea”
If you only saw this with no context, you might not know these two characters from incredibly different backgrounds who — without knowing the full details of who they themselves are, let alone the other girl — were at odds and each others’ throats from jump.
Elora thinks Kit is a spoiled, know-nothing brat; an entitled obstacle to Elora reaching her boyfriend, Airk. Kit scorns Elora for many reasons, including Kit’s own insecurities and because she knows Airk's flavour-of-the-week proclivities.
Neither is completely (or even mostly. or even much at all.) wrong. Both are naïve about the quest for different reasons, and all these roiling feels alongside their mutual dislike makes them overtly combative.
As with any life challenge with willing people over time [1 + x ⋅time], a good fantasy quest teaches and builds character, and both Kit and Elora grow separately and together on their journey.
I’ve written (a lot) on how film techniques depict Kit’s character arc, including her evolving relation to Elora; the angles evolve as they do, showing their progress and setbacks.
After they overcome initial distaste to grudgingly respect the others’ bravery, they hit a new, huge obstacle. When Elora’s true identity is revealed, she is overwhelmed by her ‘destiny,’ and Kit has to face the realisation Elora is the person she’s resented her whole life, whom Kit’s father sought to protect above all others, leaving Kit feeling alone and rejected.
A lifetime of abandonment issues and a new expectation of ‘saving the world’ is a lot for two young people to process, and it strains Kit and Elora’s tentative friendship. They have to navigate this new obstacle, and to complicate things the only real way for Elora to save the world . . . is with Kit, taking on the very role of protector she resents her father for seeking.
To sum up the conflict and grudging compromise and eventual acceptance is rather besides the point. You’ve got to watch it — experience it — unfolding over several hours for it to have full impact.
Suffice it to say: by the time of this my favourite scene, after ups and downs and rejection of prescribed destinies, both Kit and Elora have accepted not so much their fate, but their faith in each other.
Elora recognises the prophesy cannot be avoided, but also not fulfilled by herself alone. Kit understands she hasn’t simply been prophesied to be Elora Danan’s protector, she has willingly become so, and in her acceptance of responsibility is also acceptance of potential death in service to Elora.
Kit swears her fealty, putting aside her position as princess and her deep-seated pride; something she wouldn’t have done for anyone at the start of their journey, not even Jade. This is the utmost.
I will follow you, to the forsaking of all others if I must. I will abandon my friends, my lover, my sense of safety, to leap not blindly but knowingly over the edge of the world. You and me, alone together.
The stakes are vastly different to what they sought at the start: Kit adventure, glory, and escape; Elora acceptance, her lover, and indeed, adventure. Instead they face sacrifice and loss, perhaps to save the world, more likely to die. It’s depicted as them falling out of focus, in each others’ arms, into a white void — nothingness representing all that will be known of their story should they fail.
They take the leap of faith literally entwined, a deeply emotional depiction not often seen outside of a long and/or romantic relationship history.
But Kit and Elora have not only been through so much together, they’ve made the decision to continue to trust and love each other, and back up that choice with action and for all they know the ultimate sacrifice.
Of course, it’s that faith which saves them.
It’s one of the more beautiful developments of a friendship on screen the last few years. It’s the burn of enemies to loved ones, of a love that deepened not through good times, or even merely by suffering through bad times together (though more than one person I’d call a best friend I met in terrible circumstances; don’t underestimate trauma bonding!)
It’s love through growth and understanding, and of course encouragement and laughter.
You can find love through learning about each other; helping each other as you help yourself; stupid, ridiculous, silly experiences; changing as people striving toward a better, brighter, impossible future; willingness to face the darkness and an end, together.
Watching Kit and Elora embrace all that as they fall off the edge of the world, out of focus into whiteness into the void, is terrifying and beautiful.
And this moment, reached after pain and distain and growth, as a direct result of everything which came before — that sort of development being the whole point of storytelling, and why I love TV above all else — the best thing I saw last year.
