Legend of the Seeker 2.03 "Broken"

[emeraldstag]

I'll be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this episode from what I'd read it was going to be about and what the title was. Amazingly it went in a completely different direction than I was expecting but by the end I was left with a depressed feeling anyway.

• Cara. Ever since her inclusion to the group, I've enjoyed the dynamic she's brought except for one part - Kahlan seems to have an uglier side when it comes to her and that really came out in this episode with the news of her sister being eliminated by Cara. When I'd heard of the episode I'd expected the capture and actually thought she was going to be broken physically. I didn't realize this was going to be an origin story or that it would be emotionally that Cara would be broken. It was interesting to see her sister and where she came from, and sad how they convinced her to kill her father and the teacher that recruited the girls was a clever position. Rounding out the character of Cara.
• Kahlan. I was really disappointed to have the news of the apparent death of her sister, nephew thrown in offhandedly at the beginning of the episode. It really made the rescue they did of her during Season 1 seem moot and those characters deserved more than being killed off screen. Cara's invasion of the group has changed Kahlan's character, where last season she was the voice of reason and the wise, now it seems Richard has embraced the role and Kahlan is quick to judge and letting emotions rule her decisions. I'm seeing aspects of her character this season that aren't that good and with the new status quo between her and Cara I don't see that changing anytime soon.
• Zedd. The one lighthearted part of the episode had to have been Zedd's capture of the rune boy. Also it was a nice throwback with the magic mirror and Zedd changing his appearance to trick the boy into being a more willing travel companion. I'm wondering how long they'll have to take him around, the group seems too large with him in it and he hasn't added much that has been needed to the show.

This was probably my least favorite episode this season, and I didn't see how necessary it was to add onto the friction that Cara & Kahlan had with having Cara be the killer of her sister. Especially something this fracturing and defying, I was worried that it would be impossible to have Cara continue with them, so the ending with Kahlan realizing how endangered her kind was and knowing that Cara would protect Richard with her life so agreeing to have her continue with them saved the ending, but not the episode.