At the end of the last episode, Erik Ahlberg and his cronies awakened something lurking deep in the ocean depths. Something with bright, penetrating eyes. Something so large it could only exist underwater. And now, the creature has arrived in “The Beast of Cauldron Island.”
(As always, spoilers ahead.)
1.) It’s Coming….
Written by Tom McKeon and directed by Andy Coyle, “The Beast of Cauldron Island” bristles with tension. McKeon and Coyle take their time developing the creature, lingering in its presence. Its disturbances reverberate throughout the harbor.
In an unusual turn, the episode features a cold open. It’s an out-of-perspective scene with the Wood Man, doing some quiet night fishing when his boat is suddenly attacked. There’s the usual visual slew of looming shadows and exaggerated expressions before the boat is smashed to smithereens, with the Wood Man still on it.
Slowly, gradually, the creature’s impact on Trolberg continues to grow. A group of sailors declare something is sinking their ships. A draugr, cursed to clean up the remnants of a sunken pirate ship, cowers and quivers at a strange sound from out of the deep….
Actually, even beyond the stuff leading to the creature’s arrival, “The Beast of Cauldron Island” expertly wields its tension. The episode is filled with scenes where boats come in attack formation over the horizon, the continued rumblings from deep within the center of the earth, and Erik Ahlberg’s complete and total disregard of what’s around him in his constant quest for validation.
2.) Trolberg is Heading Toward the Dumps
Anyway, we also see the growing populist rhetoric spreading through the city. “The Beast of Cauldron Island’s” story kicks in when some angry sailors corner Ahlberg, and his far more competent deputy, at the piers. They claim they’re being attacked. They say they’re losing everything. They tell Ahlberg that while he talks a big game when it comes to trolls, he’s neglected attention to literally any of the other threats out there.
And it’s not so much the sailors, maybe a lot of Trolberg itself, see having the Trolberg Safety Patrol around as a matter of defense, but rather an entity to remove anything in their way. Someone’s quick to put the blame on the Lindworm, that contract-making dragon with crippling social anxiety (no surprise that she and David hit it off swimmingly) that lives on Cauldron Island, and the rest of them are even quicker to agree that the Lindworm has gone on for too long.
With his constant campaign against the trolls, Ahlberg has let the people know it’s okay to think only about themselves, to act solely in their own self-interest. The people on the docks are aware the Lindworm has done nothing to them, but they see her as a scapegoat, a direction to direct their anger. They see her as something that they have to deal with. Given the chance to remove her, they think nothing of it. They’re all too happy to assemble the fleet.
“The Lindworm is a monster and I promised the people a monster,” Ahlberg tells Hilda.
Naturally, the group is met with a force beyond their comprehension. It decimates their fleet. It sends them running and cowering in fear. I have no sympathy for what they lost, charging in so blindly and selfishly and stupidly. A group, the episode says, that acts so brash, irresponsible, and aggressive, is headed straight for the edge of disaster.
3.) Because They Release the Kraken
Because they release the Kraken.
In typical Hilda fashion, especially when dealing with a creature who’s infiltrated the popular culture, the animators turn to the source interpretations for their designs. Therefore, we get this crab-like behemoth with multiple eyes and long tentacles (no suction cups though, which I imagine would be a strain on the animators and the animation budget), and this gaping enormous, multi-layered mouth. The creators even take the Erik Pontoppiodan observations into account, having the creature actually be Cauldron Island.
Continued belowThe Hilda kraken is missing some various features of the mythological beast. There’s no whirlpool that sucks everything in its immediate vicinity to the depths of Hell. Nor does it hunt food with its own fecal matter, which I’m sure wouldn’t be easy to get past the ratings board for an all-ages program, much less visualize and realize.
I’m not sure where the idea that krakens, or at least kraken babies, eat wood comes from, though. That might be something the filmmakers made up specifically for the episodes, especially for the finale.
4.) Yes, Humans Are the Real Monsters
The Kraken in “The Beast of Cauldron Island” is more dangerous because its cycle has been disturbed — “It’s not due to wake up for another 175 years,” the Wood Man says — and its children are being threatened. Human hubris once again.
While Ahlberg and the sailors who remain prepare the torpedoes and ready the harpoon, Hilda and Frida manage to approach the kraken and find a way to communicate with it using magic. It’s a revelation that’s one part The Last Jedi and one part Avatar: The Last Airbender.
In line with so many of the other resolutions from this season, really from the series in general, the kids save the day through compassion and understanding. Frida’s able to figure out what the kraken’s ultimately after and point it in the right direction. The show takes time to stress how the creature’s actions and motivations don’t stem from a place of malevolence. It doesn’t attack people because they’re in its way or because it’s bored. Mostly, we get the sense people are too small for the kraken to concern itself with anyway. The attack, and retribution, only comes when its been disturbed or its children have been targeted.
5.) The Maternals
There’s also another parallel to make between the kraken and Hilda’s Mum. Over the course of the season, Hilda’s been hiding the truth of her actions and making up various stories to tell her mom before Hilda goes out. Hilda’s Mum has given her space to explore and be herself, but we’ve also watched her grow more suspicious about what danger Hilda’s constantly putting herself in.
“All this lying is going to catch up with you,” Alfur warns.
And it does! Hilda’s caught in the web of deceit she’s built around herself. At the end of the episode, Johanna grounds her indefinitely and Hilda runs out of the kitchen in tears. We’re a little over halfway through the season at this point and, as anyone who’s read the comics know, Hilda’s punishment plays a substantial part in later decisions and events. Especially in the story’s endgame.
For a show about honesty and compassion, having its main character lying and sneaking around obviously pushes against its message. Rules can be broken, the creators say, but break too many and it will catch up with you. Hilda’s Mum is as worried and concerned for Hilda as the kraken for its offspring, even if she’s not swiping away a fleet of imposing ships. I do have the feeling, though, that Hilda will deal far more damage in retribution than the baby krakens could ever imagine.
