Review: Primal “Echoes of Eternity”

Overview:

After traveling great distances and escaping impossible circumstances, Spear, Fang, and Mira face one last hurdle that stands in the way of their well-deserved happiness. The culmination of endless pain, death, and vengeance push Fang and Spear past their limits for their final showdown.

Oh, and Fang’s dino twins learn to swim. It’s stupidly adorable.

Our Take:

“Echoes of Eternity” is a particularly poignant title for Primal’s second season finale, an episode that both considers the future of these characters, but also takes one last look to their pasts and if they’re destined to these cycles of violence. Spear and Fang have traveled incredible distances this season to get where they are today. These episodes, while deeply diverse, have repeatedly highlighted the endless pain that’s present in the lives of Spear, Fang, Mira, and Kamau. “Echoes of Eternity” posits that this violence will carry over to the offspring of Fang and Kamau, but also the ancestors of Spear and Mira. Primal is made up of generations of warriors who cannot escape their destructive, berserker fates as much as they try. That doesn’t mean that their lives are void of love and affection, but it’s no coincidence that as Primal’s second season–and the adventures of Spear and Fang as a whole–come to a close that this episode reaffirms these characters’ roles and the painful purpose that they’re set to fulfill in life.

Mira has become distinct enough of a character over the course of this season that at this point it’s not exactly necessary to delve into her backstory, but it’s appreciated that this valuable member of the cast finally gets some meaty origin material to explore. There’s also some well-earned symmetry in the structure of both “Echoes of Eternity” and this second season as a whole, which book-ends itself through the carnage of Eldar and his Norse warriors. While Mira tends to her scarred-over wounds of the past, Spear fights for his life and to prevent himself from suffering a comparable fate. The revelations between Mira’s past are eye-opening, but what’s equally impressive is the level of empathy and understanding that Spear is able to apply to Mira during her time of need. The callback to their moon prayer ceremony is just as touching and heartwarming. He’s come a long, long way from his tone-deaf days of not being able to pick up on Fang’s signals and emotional needs.

Mira’s backstory feels long overdue to some extent. However, it’s a bit of a shock when this season finale applies the same delicate treatment to Spear. There’s a fascinating look into the character’s past with an ultra-violent flashback that pits him and his father in a tag-team deathmatch against a pack of sabretooth tigers. It’s an absolutely gutting encounter that pushes to commit absolutely vicious acts of violence–perhaps for the very first time–in order to save his father and do his memory justice. 

Spear’s vast accomplishments can occasionally make it feel as if he’s invincible, but Eldar’s reborn state presents him with an unprecedented level of danger. It should come as no surprise that Genndy Taratakovsky clearly relishes every frame of this heightened elemental slugfest. Eldar splits the Earth and conjures weapons and snakes made out of fire that bring Tartakovsky’s previous series, Samurai Jack, to mind, as well as the gargantuan boss battles that make up video games like Shadow of the Colossus or God of War. There’s zero compromise in any of the beats of this fight, but some moments are also genuinely frightening, like when Spear temporarily gets engulfed in flames. In any other series this wouldn’t be cause for concern, but in Primal it feels like this could truly be Spear’s finish. The conclusion of this showdown is among the most suspenseful, and heartbreaking, material that Primal has ever produced. All of which culminates in a tour de force finish that’s both a drastic change of pace and also the perfect continuation of what Primal has built for two seasons. 

Every single episode of Primal’s second season has not only been a delight, but a genuine masterclass in animation, storytelling, and action choreography. “Echoes of Eternity” doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the high standard that this season sets and it ends the show’s sophomore year on a note that both hints at an even bigger future for the action series, but would also function as a fulfilling series finale if Primal happens to experience an early ice age. Genndy Tartakovsky deserves the opportunity to further expand what he’s built here, but if that can’t happen then we should cherish the 20 episodes of animated bliss that were possible.