SYNOPSIS:

Darken Rahl is determined to have his personal wizard, Giller, harness a powerful magical force that will help Rahl enslave the world. But Richard's attempts to rescue his friends from the sadistic wizard's deadly experiments send him into his first explosive face-to-face confrontation with the evil Rahl.

REVIEW

"Conversion"
Reviewed by BlackDaemon

For those folks who have been waiting for the series to "get good" before bothering to tune in, now is the time - and frankly, you're a little late if you missed "Denna" and "Hartland". This is the absolute can't-miss episode of the series.

The teaser is a refresher of a previous episode: Rahl is still searching for the third Box of Orden, though he knows it's in Zedd's hands; most of the D'Haran soldiers believe that the Seeker is dead; and Richard, Kahlan and their old companion Chase from Hartland search for the Keep of Edron to find Chase's captured family.

Just in case viewers were in any way unconvinced that Darken Rahl and those who side with him are evil, we next see the horrors inside the Keep. Giller, a wizard on Rahl's payroll, performs terrible experiments on the women held in the Keep. Surrounded by D'Haran soldiers and Mord Sith, Giller - with the perfect amount of creepiness despite his white robes - is free to torture the prisoners at will.

Of supreme interest is the next scene in which two D'Haran soldiers discuss the horrors Giller exacts on the innocent women and children held captive in the Keep. While they serve D'Hara and Lord Rahl, they are honorable soldiers who - while understanding their untenable position - know that they must stop Giller, and kill Rahl. This is one of the few times where we see that even those supposedly on Rahl's side know what a monster he can be.

Meanwhile, Richard and friends devise a plan to break into the Keep and free Chase's family. Naturally, things are never as easy as they seem, and freeing the prisoners is only the beginning of the adventure.

What's great about this episode: Craig Parker's Rahl finally gets to strut his stuff. So far, he's been mostly menacing and creepily sadistic, but other than his annoyed courting of the queen in "Puppeteer", there has been no real evidence of his wicked charm. In this episode, he tortures Kahlan and Richard with his words alone in a scene that almost leads the viewer to believe he's going to win and all will be lost for our heroes. Rahl's seductive power is beautifully portrayed by Parker, and it's clear in the fight scene with Richard - the first time they meet face-to-face in the series and one of the best sword battles I've ever seen on television - that they are evenly matched. This isn't a case of the hero far exceeding the villain's strength, agility or intelligence. Rahl is Richard's perfect counterpoint, and vice versa. To summarize: Parker finally gets let off his leash. He's a talented actor, and in this episode, he gets to show off his chops.

It's rare to see this kind of good vs. evil balance in television. Using Raimi and Tapert's previous television series in comparison, note that there were few times when Hercules or Xena faced some foe who was a complete and total match. For example, even in the times when Xena faced Callisto, perhaps one of the strongest villains on "Xena: Warrior Princess", it was always clear that Xena would somehow get the upper hand. (In fact, the only person who could truly defeat Xena wasn't an enemy. It was Gabrielle.) It seems the nature of hero-based television to have most of the villains be only a mild and temporary challenge. Hence the popularity of the "warlord of the week" phenomenon. This is truly not the case with Richard and Rahl.

And this epic battle between good and evil, between Richard and Rahl, who finally meet face to face? It's only *halfway through the episode*.

With all that's been said so far about what a great episode "Conversion" is, the best scene hasn't yet been mentioned. The episode takes a powerful and unforgettable turn when a captive and tortured Kahlan truly believes that Richard is to be made Rahl's unwilling and irrevocable slave. Her only defense is the Confessor's Blood Rage, a power she doesn't even know she possesses. Only Giller has the good sense to recognize her power when it reveals itself, and urges Rahl to escape. Earlier in the episode, Kahlan makes a momentous declaration that is almost unnoticed with all the other revelations - the power of a Confessor comes from love. Who does Kahlan love more than Richard?

We've seen great moments between Richard and Kahlan  before - when Richard was captured by the Mord Sith, and again when Richard prepared to leave Hartland before the boundary was restored, blocking him from his homeland forever. In this scene, however, when Rahl calmly taunts Kahlan and Richard with the one thing they think they cannot have - a physical union between them - we see the pain that such a truth causes them, and coupled with the realization that Richard will beRahl's slave, Kahlan can take no more. Regan is *amazing* in this scene, and when Kahlan's rage is unleashed, she is indeed a sight to behold.

What's not so great: Kahlan and Richard enter the Keep knowing that a wizard and Rahl await them, even though Zedd isn't there to assist them. It's a tad farfetched, given the plot constraints so far,  but apparently necessary to create the gut-wrenching confrontation scene between Rahl, Kahlan and Richard. Also, a minor continuity point: Kahlan is tortured extensively, but there are no marks on her in the final resolution scene. Bad form.

While the series has veered dramatically from the books, it has taken the story of the Seeker and his Confessor to new places. "Legend of the Seeker" has become the kind of romantic adventure that is worth watching.

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