See’s sixth episode of the season was something that kind of dragged out the inevitable. After spending a bit too much of its time with the uncomfortable incestuous relationship of Queen Kane and Kofun. Queen Kane is waxing lyrical about Kofun’s caring and affection for her, but in actuality all she’s doing is driving a further wedge between Kofun and his family – whilst Kofun spends the day training in turn, not being as skilled as Toad but willing to put in the effort to learn – although it does seem a bit late in the game – Kofun’s arc hasn’t been anywhere near as exciting as Haniwa’s this season. Nothing about this show is any kind of surprise, it’s heading on paths that we know it’s heading down, and any peace talks were ultimately doomed before they even started, because this is a show that has built around the promise of having Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista go head to head with each other – and whilst the early episodes have showed signs of excitement especially with everything set at the House of Enlightenment being top-notch, the middle act has slowed to a crawl and it feels like rather than needing the eight episodes to tell its story, See would have struggled to do it in five.
The uneasy relationship dynamic between Baba Voss, Lord Harlan and Maghra is at its most awkward in this episode – Baba Voss is clearly itching to kill Harlan and Maghra is able to keep him at arm’s length, for now – but surely, it’s only a matter of time before Harlan’s number is up. We learnt a bit more about Maghra’s scheming – she believes that she can displace Queen Kane and take her place on the throne, believing that Kane has looked out of touch and vulnerable with one too many misplaced judgements in the past season, but it turns out that Kane isn’t out of a fight just yet – and war was always her plan.
What’s perhaps most heartbreaking about this episode is the split between Haniwa and Wren, who grew so close only to be ripped apart – both doomed lovers on the wrong side of a war. Wren believes that Haniwa played a part in the betrayal and seduced her only to keep her at arm’s length from the assassination down below, but that did seem a bit forced given Wren was the one that broke Haniwa out of Edo’s prison in the first place – she then runs to Edo and eventually, after helping her put together a piece of a puzzle, reveals that she can actually see after all. Now Edo has a knowledge that he lacked in the past – and will no doubt use that to his advantage in the upcoming war, that we’ve known for a good few episodes is going to happen. Talk about delaying the inevitability – no matter how interesting it was to watch the group try.
The Truth About Unicorns unfortunately was very much a meandering calm before the storm episode – and with two episodes left of the season, slowly puts the pieces in place for what will no doubt be an interesting third, which it already has been renewed for. With everything said - I wonder what the fate of See will be going forward. It’s come out at a packed time in Apple TV+’s schedule, they have The Morning Show, Truth Be Told, Foundation and Ted Lasso all airing around it. Understandably this show isn’t going to be the top of everyone’s priority watchlists. But despite the middle act largely being a misfire, the first few episodes of Season 2 were incredible, and if it can find its form again then the last few episodes will no doubt be a treat.
