- This article is about an episode. For the place by that name, see Badlands (location).
"Badlands" is the eight episode of Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders. It is a character development episode for Fallon. Its international titles include Catalan "Les terres ermes", French "La Réconciliation" ("The Reconciliation"), German "Der Streit" ("The Quarrel"), Italian "Fuga dalle malefiche terre" ("Escape from Badlands"), Portuguese "Terras más", Russian "Страшное место" ("A Scary Place"), Serbo-Croat "Pustinja" ("The Desert"), and Spanish "Los páramos".
The girls are on a mission to escort a caravan that includes Fallon's parents who disapprove of her being a Jewel Rider. To do this, they must cross a dangerous canyon of Wizard's Pass and fend off a band of Outlaws sent by the evil Lady Kale.
Plot summary[]
Badlands - "Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders" Intro - Season One - S1 Theme Song
Riding Moondance, Fallon wins a race against the Pack in the Great Forests by taking a leap over dead man's bluff, which was not on the route. King Jared decides that this is proof of Fallon's courage and skill.
Before Fallon can compete in the other field games, Tamara informs her that Princess Gwenevere invited them to accompany her on a trip to Castle Greenwood for Lady Robbins' baby naming ceremony, where she plans to meet Lord Batton. This makes Fallon angry, as she prefers outdoor activities to social functions.
The very annoyed Fallon storms the Princess' room to give her a piece of her mind, and this does not turn out well. Fallon argues that she is no good at social activities and even questions Queen Anya's judgement, and she and Gwen get mad at each other as Tamara and the babies awkwardly listen to all this.
So the Jewel Riders ride out to the titular Badlands, where they join Dennan's caravan headed for Castle Greenwood. There turns out to be some very special travelers in this caravan: Fallon's parents Alfred and Winerva.
At night, at a camping site, Gwen tries to set up a meeting between Fallon and Winerva, but this does not go very well and Fallon hates Gwen for this. It turns out that she has not seen her parents in years, she never talks about them, and her relationship with them is quite poor since she became a Jewel Riders and not a craftsperson like them. After yet another fight, she spends her night outside with Moondance, who she believes is the only one who truly understands her.
The next day in Badlands, the evil sorceress Lady Kale and the bandit leader Civello meet up to plan a raid on the caravan at the canyon of Wizard's Pass. Kale wants to capture Gwen unharmed and warns the overconfident Civello, who wants to just loot the wagons for booty, not to underestimate the Jewel Riders.
Meanwhile, we learn why Fallon is pissed at her parents: they refused to go to her Friendship Ring ceremony. Her parents also do not seem to understand that Moondance is Fallon's friend, not just a creature she is bonded to.
All of sudden, the Outlaws ambush the caravan. Gwen blasts some incoming arrows and learns a spell to cast a power shield, while Fallon's magic is directing at rappelling ropes and turns them into snakes. The bandits are routed.
Fallon's parents start to accept that Fallon is actually good at being a Jewel Rider. They start asking Fallon questions about Jewel Armor and riding the Wild Magic. It is also revealed that Winerva wanted to go to Fallon's Friendship Circle ceremony, but Alfred did not let her go.
Then Lady Kale gets personally involved as she blasts some rocks into the caravan's escape way, causing them to backtrack to a different route. Fallon warns Gwen and Sunstar in time before Kale carried by Grimm can capture them, and Kale goes after Fallon when Moondance insults Grimm. But Fallon manages to fool Grimm with an illusion wall.
Suddenly, Gwen and Sunstar are captured by the Outlaws when they fly into a net trap. The Outlaws plan on ransoming the Princess, but Kale arrives by Grimm and steals their catch away. Kale tells Gwen that she wants Merlin's key.
Fallon races after Grimm and bravely leaps onto the Dragon Wagon to help Gwen escape. Gwen and Sunstar fly down safely, while Fallon in a desperation move uses her Moon Stone to cast a magic shield to cushion her fall, in which she is helped by the Sun Stone. After Fallon hits the ground safely, Kale flies back to her castle.
At the naming ceremony, Fallon's parents accept that their daughter is a Jewel Rider. Gwen and Fallon apologize to each other. Fallon ends up getting dance requests from all the men, while Gwen is stuck dancing with Archie.
Behind the scenes[]
Original script[]
{{Main|Badlands (script)}
The inspirations for the episode included Disney's Sleeping Beauty. As usual, various lines and entire scenes in the script have been cut from the episode (such as these of Kale barely missing Gwen and Sunstar with a deadly power blast, Grimm's fire chasing Fallon and Moondance, and Gwen and Sunstar saving Fallon in turn from Kale's another blast, all of these removed presumably to limit violence), while some others were changed.
Avalon: Web of Magic connections[]
- This episode is basically Ghost Wolf. In that book, Adriane confronts her parents about staying in Ravenswood, and her mother gradually accepts that Adriane has a connection to magic. Fallon's exchange with Gwen from the end of the episode is even said word-for-word at the end of the book.
- More Fallon / Adriane similarities: both characters have parents who are traveling artists. Adriane also occasionally sculpts; Fallon used to sculpt but she does not have time for it now.
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