Lords of Midnight
A couple of fantasy movies by HBO and a good adaption of the classic computer game, very well received and benefiting from good production values. Ok, the game provided a fairly basic story, definitely not high literature nor an instantly recognisable best seller, but it was a good starting point for a fantasy production which would test the waters and pave the way for a grander project, probably a full blown series based on a big name.
But that's not to say that they were lesser material, the writers did a good job of adding meat to the story, casting was good, props and effects where well done, overall there was a philosophy that the work being done in Lords would be repurposed and the practical lessons learned would payoff for further projects, this was a base on which to build on and so it wasn't to be skimped or done on the cheap.
So, about the story, the land is threatened by a "Witch-King" ready to plunge it into a dark eternal winter, but thankfully there is hope as the "Moon prince" Luxor organises the resistance and rallies the free people's armies with the help of the sage Rorthron and Corleth, a fey warrior. Meanwhile his son, Morkin, embarks on a quest to locate and destroy the "ice crown", a magical artefact from which the Witch-King draws his power. Hopefully Luxor's campaign and Morkin's quest will split the Witch-King's attention and allow one of them to get trough and strike a blow, either against the king himself or the ice crown. On the other side, the king can draw on powerful armies of men and evil creatures and the crown is safely kept away in a tower in a discreet location in his icy domains. He only needs some time, time to muster and move his large but disorganised armies, time to wear down and crush Luxor's resistance.
The first movie, "The war of the solstice" deals mostly with Luxor's efforts to halt the Witch-King's invasion and ends with the king's armies defeated and halted for the moment, as the alliance of free men and fey has proved stronger than expected, rivalries have been set aside and a great victory has been won trough clever strategy and brave deeds. Meanwhile, Morkin has managed to enter the frozen lands and the movie ends as he hears a light, cheerful laughter and turns around...
Onwards to the second movie, "The Ice Crown", the Witch-King has been halted for the moment but he can still draw on reinforcements and grind down the free armies, he also plans on tricking them into spending their strength attacking one of his main fortresses, it's just a matter of making them think that the ice crown is there...
But back to Morkin, as most of the movie will follow his quest in the frozen lands. He has met a kind of fey or spirit, playful and ethereal, she seems attracted to him. Soon he finds that she is a spirit of the wind, the last fugitive of a people enslaved by the Witch-King and bound to the tower of the ice crown, their powers used to spread an unnatural winter across his domains.
The tower is well protected against magic and sorcery, and hidden from scrying and divination by several wards, and its guards will take care of any curious wanderer that stumbles upon it. But if she and Morkin can mount an attack together they will have a chance to overcome the defences and destroy the crown. The Witch-King has turned his attention to the war against the free peoples, as far as he's aware she is an annoyance to be taken care of later, powerless against the magical defences of the tower, he doesn't know of Morkin and the last thing that he expects is an attack on the tower.
And it is a winning strategy, the wind spirit leads Morkin to the tower, dodging the Witch-King's minions along the way, where he manages to break in and destroy one of the protective wards, allowing the spirit in too. The guard does rally and tries to trap Morkin but he manages to break more of the wards and free some of the captive spirits, things spiral out of control from there as the freed spirits overwhelm the guard and Morkin manages to reach the crown's chamber.
Meanwhile the Witch-King had been busy plotting the destruction of Luxor's army, dismissing the first reports of trouble at the tower, unfortunately for him the situation there deteriorated rapidly and by the time he turns his attention to it the guard is in serious trouble already and the spirits of the wind are breaking free. He tries to channel some of his magic through the remaining wards and even teleport one of his most feared champions in but it's too late as Morkin defeats the champion and now has the crown at his mercy. Desperate, he halts his forces and tries to communicate through the crown to plead and bargain, it's all for nothing, the crown is destroyed and the magical backlash knocks him down senseless, as his magic fails he begins to crumble and fade away. Outside, his creatures and magical constructs crumble while his minions are stunned and left directionless by the psychic backlash of his death. The storm clouds and the unnatural overcast that followed his armies break up as the winds are now set free and the sun starts shining brightly through the gaps.
It's the end, and the movie ends with Luxor and Morkin reunited as the seasons return to their natural course and the days grow longer as they should after the solstice, a little ethereal laughter echoes as a gust of wind blows and shakes the snow away from a nearby tree branch.
And that's it, the movies were always meant to stop here rather than trying to adapt Doomdark's Revenge, it was felt that it would be better to close the story on a high note after this couple of movies and see what the public reception would be like while developing the next big fantasy project.
And thanks to good ratings and a good reception that big project would be a series, Nine Princes in Amber, which would prove to be bigger and even more successful, but that's a story for another time.
Before closing, a funny factoid, while the villain is identified as "Doomdark" in the credits (as in the computer game) he is never called that by the characters in the movie, he is always referred to as "Witch-King", "The tyrant", "The king" and so on, that didn't stop some people from claiming that they've heard a "Doomdark" in the movies though, that little urban myth seems fated to last forever despite all evidence against it.