Review: Blacktalon “Returned”

The insanity has finally culminated. Blacktalon‘s story so far has been out of this world. Warhammer Storyforge crafted a fantastic stepping stone into the Age of Sigmar, and has (mostly) been animated well. So what happened?

Ultimately, this was the final battle between Thysis with the forces of Nurgle and the Blacktalons. Where “Sorrow” was all exposition, “Returned” was the action payoff. The problem here was that there was nothing really meaty to go on. Hendrick didn’t get his comeuppance from Neave, but did get killed by Thysis.

The great part though, is that Neave is stewing. Neave knows that there’s shit going on with Hendrick. You see that Neave still has the memories she had before she got killed. The best part is the tease for a possible season two, because it brings a tease of a bigger threat to the Blacktalons.

I think “Returned” falters because it’s almost action. Besides when Thysis tells Neave that he was Neave’s (assumed) sister. You can tell that Neave knows still, and she’s just covering for herself. The nuance covering her actions and what was actually taken from her on her rebirth is really well done. However, I think “Sorrow” and “Returned” would have been served better as one episode. Both episodes feel like they’re missing what the other brought.

The animation and fight choreography was awesome. There wasn’t a lot, and the battle wasn’t as large scale as I had imagined, but Storyforge made sure it didn’t need to be. There were more spotlight fighting with the vanguard of the Stormcast Eternals, and the focus was more on the Blacktalons. I think shifting the focus away from the Blacktalons as soon as Hendrick was killed, and showing more of the vanguard fight protecting Hammerhall would have served to show the severity of what was going on. I never got the sense that there was imminent danger during this episode.

All in all, I think that “Returned” was a great action piece, but failed to convey a proper finale. There wasn’t much to go on because of the split feeling between “Sorrow” and “Returned.” This was really the only misstep this entire season. But that was it. The fight scenes were great, as well as Neave’s return. It was just missing…something. However, I am really excited for a possible season 2.