Stream It Or Skip It?

The first season of Wolf King was a classic quest story, as Drew Ferran found out he was the last Wolf King, and he learned to use his powers. In the animated series’ second season, the quest is more about rescuing someone from the evil Lions’ clutches, but it’s still a quest.

WOLF KING SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: King Leopold (Ralph Ineson) holds his crown up against the horizon he sees as he’s on the roof of his castle, and he grumbles.

The Gist: Drew Ferran (Ceallach Spellman) is back in Lyssia, having defeated the Lions and ascended to the throne as the last Wolf King. But he doesn’t want to do any royal duties, like go to council meetings. We see how much he wants to spring into action and use his wolfen powers when he chases down a Lion trooper who stole a loaf of bread. He thinks it’s his brother Trent (Louis Landau), but when he catches up with the soldier, he finds he’s mistaken.

He’s now late for the council meeting, as is Hector (Chris Lew Kum Hoi), whom Drew made Lord Chancellor. He also encounters Whitley (Nina Barker-Francis) trying to teach Gretchen (Georgia Lock) how to control here were-being powers. When both Drew and Hector arrive late, they’re castigated by Whitley’s father, Duke Bergan (Paterson Joseph).

Bergan wants to make sure Drew is safe and gets to his coronation; he feels that if there are still Lion warriors in the kingdom, the army should take care of them, not Drew. For his part, Drew chafes at the prospect of having to deal with the more boring aspects of being a head of state, like looking over treaties. Bergan also encourages Drew to find a woman to be his queen.

He figures the most logical person to ask is Gretchen, but so badly stumbles over the proposal that all he does is drive her away. As she’s lamenting Drew’s lack of real feelings, though, she’s kidnapped by Leopold’s son (and Drew’s half-brother), Prince Lucas (Tom Rhys Harries).

When he hears that Gretchen has been taken, he runs after her, against the wishes of just about everyone on the Council. He encounters a Lion trooper, and Whitley helps knock him out. When the trooper gets up, he’s so disoriented he runs and trips over a railing, falling to his death. Drew and Whitley ask Hector to use his power to commune with the dead, and the now-undead trooper says that “Before the new moon rises, death will come for the young king.” Undaunted, Drew and Whitley set out to find Gretchen.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Based on Curtis Jobling’s popular Wereworld book series, we compared the first season of Wolf King to the recent incarnations of He-Man, and we stand by that.

Our Take: There second season of Wolf King shows Drew somewhat settled into his role as the Wolf King of Lyssia, but it’s a settling-in that’s rife with issues, mainly because he still wants to fight the Lion kingdom that overtook all of the other were-beings in the kingdom. So now he has a mission: Rescue Gretchen from Prince Lucas, which we’re sure will involve more battles with the Lions and King Leopold.

Of course, the show works when everyone’s were-beings come out and fight each other. Drew is definitely in much better control of his wolfen being, but it’ll be fun to see his werewolf comes out when it’s needed — and when it’s not.

What makes the story more interesting in the second season are the relationships that developed between the four main characters — Drew, Whitley, Hector and Gretchen. Those relationships are key to the story; Drew not only wants to save Gretchen because he’s loyal to her, but there is definitely some more emotions going on than just friendship. Being a dopey young guy, though, he just has no idea how to express it. Perhaps once they reunite, he’ll be able to.

What Age Group Is This For?: Because of some of the fighting and occasional deaths, we’ll say Wolf King is for ages 8 and up.

Parting Shot: As Drew and Whitley run through the night, the lion trooper’s words ring in both their heads.

Sleeper Star: We’ll give this to Chris Lew Kum Hoi as Hector, because Hector wants to do the right thing for the kingdom, but his loyalty to Drew often overrides that.

Most Pilot-y Line: Nothing we could find.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Wolf King continues to be a good-looking animated series with well-written, multi-dimensional characters and relationships that help make the second-season plot make sense.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.