1. Down Down Under
At the end of the last episode, Niko and the gang were confronted by the newly formed hyena creature. Turns out, Nar Est can augment his creations because that hyena thing is even larger and angrier and armed with a club tail. It’s not any smarter though, which makes it pretty easy for Lyra, Niko, Flicker, and Mandok to escape. They wind up in these underground tunnels, pursued by giant, venomous ants. Legend has it there’s a monster called the Diggantus lurking somewhere in that maze of tunnels. Within his horde of treasure there’s allegedly a set of impenetrable armor.
The crew might be trapped in these caverns but they’re nevertheless determined to make the best of it.
2. Get Tripped
The adventure is complicated when Lyra gets bitten by an Exuber-Ant and for a moment it completely lays her out. However, the venom works like speed because before you know it, Lyra’s up and bouncing off the walls exuberantly. Niko, who’s been taking on the role of the little brother more and more as the series progresses is stuck trying to make sure she’s safe and fighting the approaching ant army while avoiding the hyena monster trying to pound down on them on the surface. For the first time, we see him exhausted and worn out by the turn of events. He can apparently deal with betrayal from every which direction or with giant animals trying to eat him or with the evil warlock doing everything in his power to curse him, but losing Lyra is incredibly taxing upon him.
For her part, Kari Whalgren commits. I think you can tell she’s having a lot of fun with the plot turn here. The animators are also clearly having blast having Lyra act in some heightened, energized version of her character. I particularly liked how everything on her person seemed to be vibrating when she stood still, as if there was just so much to contain. Oh, and how she calls called Niko, “Champ! Champ! Champ!”
3. Nothing is as It Seems. Whoooooo-oooo-ooohhh
“From the Tunnels of Terror to the Den of Doom” starts out as a fairly by-the-numbers episode of Niko and the Sword of Light. The characters encounter a series of obstacles and suddenly they’re faced with the big boss of the area, an enormous rolly-polly/ankylosaurs called the Diggantus. (It’s voiced by Stephen Root.) There’s a brief action scene but this time, instead of being a cursed creature or some genuinely evil beast, the Diggantus is sort of annoyed. He’s not a bad character or a good character. When they mention Nar Est, he’s like, “Oooh, that’s a bad hombre,” but doesn’t seem concerned enough to do much about it. Same when it comes to the Exuber-Ants. Mostly, he’s annoyed warriors keep barging into his home and trying to steal his treasure. I guess since the creators were able to get Root for this episode they wanted to get more mileage out of him? Take advantage of his aww shucks, down home tone?
4. Niko’s Choice
The major conflict of this episode isn’t world-shattering or all that detrimental to our characters’ plight. It doesn’t even come up until the last third of “From the Tunnels of Terror to the Den of Doom.” The Diggantus presents Niko with the mythical armor they’ve been searching for. He also provides him with an antidote to the Exuber-Ant venom. Naturally, Niko chooses to help Lyra. As if there was any doubt.
This, however, is one of those minor things that will probably come back to Niko’s benefit. Impenetrable, invincible armor sounds great but it’s not the way Niko operates. He’s surrounded himself with friends, made alliances all throughout this world. He puts the well-being of others first (unless there’s a slide involved). Niko and the Sword of Light is aimed at a young audience and it could very well be that Niko is among the first of this archetype kids see. I think it’s important for them to have Niko go, “I’m gonna help Lyra,” and when he’s told he should have made the other choice, say, “We’ll figure it out along the way.” It’s a nice moment for him.
Continued below
5. Almost There
And once more, we’re even closer to the volcano and Niko’s confrontation with Nar Est. He doesn’t seem too worried or anxious about it. In fact, it’s often one of the few things he even cares about. Not a lot happened in this episode beyond some world-building and nice character moment but it does feel like a breath of air before we head into the final couple episodes. Judging by how this show usually runs, we’re in for something whose ambition exceeds its execution. Niko and the Sword of Light has shown its capable of well-delivered drama. I’m hoping they pull it off now we’re in the home stretch.
